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CHRISTIAN ESSAYS:

TO WHICH IS ADDED

AiN ESSAY ON THE INFLUENCE OF A MORAL LIFE ON OUR,
JUDGMENT IN MATTERS OF FAITH.

BY THE

REV. SAMUEL CHARLES WILKS, A. M.

FROM THE SECOND LONDOX EDITIOX,

B O S TO N :

PUBLISHED BY PERKINS & MARVIN.

1829,

|TK KNEW YORK;

f PUBLIC library!
1 161132

I ASTOR, LENOX ANt>
k TILDfclM FOUNDATIONt.
I 1839.

To

MRS. HANNAH MORE,

THE FOLLOWING

ESSAYS

ARE AGAIN, IN THIS SECOND EDITION,
RESPECTFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED,

WITH

AUGMENTED ESTEEM FOR HER CHARACTER,

VENERATION FOR HER TALENTS,

AND
GRATITUDE AND REGARD

FOR THE PLEASURE AND IMPROVEMENT DERIVED FROM

HER WRITINGS AND CONVERSATION,

BY
HER GREATLY OBLIGED FRIEND,

AND MOST FAITHFUL. SERVANT,

THE AUTHOR

St. John's TVood, Re^enVs Park,
January 1, 1828.

INTRODUCTION.

No apology can be necessary for intro-
ducing to the American public a work from
the pen of the Editor of the Christian Ob-
server. The ability with which he has con-
ducted that celebrated journal, and the ster-
ling value of several of his separate works,
have given Mr. Wilks a reputation, which
must attract notice to any production bearing
his name. The present '' Essays," however,
have claims upon public favor, of a still more
unequivocal description. They have already
passed the ordeal of public opinion, and re-
ceived the stamp of decided approval. Several
years have now elapsed since they first issued
from the English press, and this interval has
only served to extend the popularity which
greeted their first appearance. It is some-
what surprising, that a publication of such
acknowledged merit should not have found
its way, before this, through the American
press.^A new and corrected edition, recently

VI INTRODUCTION.

put fortli by the Author, has afforded an op-
portunity for supplying this deficiency — and
it is hoped that by embracing it, an acceptable,
and not unimportant, service has been ren-
dered to the cause of Christianity.

Independent of their general merits, these
Essays have some peculiar excellencies, to
which it may be proper to advert in this place.
No one can have observed the present state of
theological discussion, without perceiving that
there is a growing taste for simplicity and
scriptural authority. The respect once paid to
uninspired names and opinions, is passing away.
An excited and stirring age protests against
confining Christian truth in those swaddling
bands of scholastic device, called Systems. It
requires that Religion should be restored to
its native freedom, and be exhibited with all
that warmth, and freshness of coloring, which
distinguished the writings of its primitive
champions. There is evidently an increasing
distaste for the "inventions of men" which
Iiaveoeen engrafted upon it — which were in-
troduced to clear it of obscurity — but which
liave only resulted in perplexity and dissen-
sion. In one word, that the proper province
of human reason, is to investigate the credi-
bility and im])ort of the Scriptures — thnt tiie
state in which thri/ exhibit Religion, is pre-

INTRODUCTION. Vll

cisely the state in which we are to receive it —
that no attempts should be made to explain
what they have left obscure, or reconcile what
they have left in seeming inconsistency — these
are opinions becoming every day more current
and authoritative in the Christian world.

And with this improvement in the mode of
theological discussion, there should be — and it
is hoped there is — a corresponding improve-
ment in the ability with which it is conducted.
"The time past should suffice us" to have
tolerated dull common-place, merely because it
is marked by traces of piety. In the defence
and illustration of Christianity, there are de-
served and required the best talents of men ;
and before individuals enlist themselves as au-
thors in this cause, they should possess other
claims to regard, besides sincerity and zeal.

Nor should we consent longer to laud works
for their strength and solidity, merely because
they use the '' set speech" of party, or ring
the changes upon some scale of religious phra-
seology. There can be no reason why Re-
ligion, a subject pertaining above all others to
*' men's business and bosoms," should not ad-
dress them in popular language. Where its
peculiarities (for it has peculiarities,) are to
be designated — where this designation cannot
easily be made, except by a single term —

VIU INTRODUCTION.

let that term be used which the Scrip-
tures employ, and the Holy Spirit has sanc-
tioned. This is essential to perspicuity, and
should be practised, without giving the least
heed to imputations of cant or fanaticism. —
But where such necessity does not exist —
w^iere the Christian peculiarity can as well be
expressed by circumlocution — or where the
idea to be expressed involves nothing exclu-
sively Christian — there to employ a peculiar
term, is bad philosophy not less than bad taste.
If ever Christianity is to be properly under-
stood and felt by the mass of men — especially
if ever it is to command the respect and atten-
tion of cultivated men — it must put on the
garb which is worn by other truths. It must
clothe itself in a diction sanctioned by the
usage of classical writers in other departments
of Moral Science. Those technical terms,
which have been so justly denominated " the
lights of science, but the shades of religion,"
must be laid aside. Those phrases must be
disused which can be learned by rote — which
are so often repeated without being under-
stood, and which tend so much to induce the
pride and presumption of knowledge, without
its reality. The language of Religion should
be the full and free outpouring of enlightened
minds, and animated hearts. It should be fit-

INTRODUCTION. IX

ted to awaken thought and feeling. It should
commend itself to the best taste and judgment
of the cultivated mind. In short, it should be
that language which becomes a Religion des-
tined to mingle with all the pursuits, and hal-
low all the thoughts and affections of men.

In these respects, the present Essays have
a high claim to regard. It is not pretend-
ed that they are faultless — or that improve-
ments might not be suggested by the in-
telligent reader. But it is the opinion of
competent judges, that few^ works, embodying
evangelical truth, have recently appeared, that
are liable to less exception on the score either
of style or sentiment. In his views of Chris-
tianity, Mr. WiLKS is eminently scriptural. —
He makes no attempt to be wise above what
is written — to render that plain v/hich the
Holy Spirit has left obscure. He descends
into no subtle distinctions, where the light of
Revelation ceases to be his guide. His system
of faith has the freedom from constraint which
characterized the preaching of the Apostles,
and recommends itself at one and the same
time to our understandings, our consciences,
and our hearts. In his train of thought he is
clear and manly — in his diction pure, animated
and impressive. When he speaks of the dis-
tinctive traits of our Religion, he does not

X INTRODUCTION.

hesitate to call them by their distinctive names.
He does not dread to illustrate and adorn his
thoughts with apposite quotations from the
sacred volume. But his general style is clas-
sical, and the whole work one which, while it
cannot fail to instruct and interest the hum-
blest Christian, ought to command the atten-
tion, and rouse the sensibilities, of the most
enlightened.

To the original work is added another
Essay of the same author, on the *' Influ-
ence of a Moral Life on our Judgment in
Matters of Faith." This Essay has been
already republished in this country, in a
pamphlet form, and is inserted here for the
purpose of giving it a more permanent and
extended circulation.

With the earnest prayer that this volume
may be made instrumental in promoting the
influence, and extending the knowledge, of
pure and undefiled Religion, it is now com-
mended to the blessing of God, and the favor
of the public.

Boston, October, 1829.

CONTENTS.

ESSAY I.
True and False Repose in Death, 1

ESSAY II.
Full Assurance of Understanding, 39

ESSAY III.
Full Assurance of Faith, 56

ESSAY IV.
Full Assurance of Hope, 80

ESSAY V.
Christian Obedience, 100

ESSAY VI.
The Form and the Power of Religion, 115

Xn CONTENTS.

ESSAY VII.

Sources of Error in Opinion, 136

ESSAY VIII.
False Modesty in Religion, 158

ESSAY IX.
Affection between Ministers and their Flock, .... 189

ESSAY X.
Natural and Revealed Religion, 208

ADDITIONAL ESSAY.

The Influence of a Moral Life on our Judgment in

Matters of Faith, 321

CHRISTIAN ESSAYS.

TRUE AND FALSE REPOSE IN DEATH.

If the conduct of men be a just criterion of their
feelings, it would appear to be the first desire of human
nature that death might never arrive ; the second, we
might therefore conclude, would be, that seeing death
is inevitable, we may become duly prepared for its
reception. This, however, though a very natural de-
sire, is by no means always followed by a correspond-
ing system of conduct ; so that while men in general
wish, with Balaam, to " die the death of the righteous,"
few live that life which they imagine ought to be at-
tended with so auspicious a result.

There is but one modification of human existence
which we have any good reason to believe v/ill be
accompanied with either safety or repose at our depar-
ture into another world. What is the nature of that
peculiar modification cannot assuredly be doubtful ;
for if Christianity be a divine revelation fitted to the
wants of man, and the only system which teaches him
how he may obtain acceptance with God, then nothing
short of the full effects of the Gospel upon a human
soul can fit that soul for its eternal change. We may
be moralists or philosophers ; we may be esteemed
wise and amiable ; we may live without reproach, and

TRUE AND FALSE

meet death without a pang ; yet amidst all, if we
know not practically the necessity and the value of a
Redeemer, and have not obtained a scriptural hope
of an interest in his salvation, we are venturing de-
fenceless and exposed upon a wide ocean of storms
and uncertainties, and are braving all the terrors of
eternity without a single well-founded expectation
beyond the grave.

The importance of procuring accurate ideas respect-
ing religion and the mode of salvation, as connected
with the safety and repose of a death-bed, is by no
means universally considered in its full extent. There
is a vague unmeaning sort of piety, or at least of what
unjustly bears that sacred name, which persons in
general are too often willing to consider as all that is
required for sustaining with patience the approach of
affliction or death. Thus a constitutional sweetness of
disposition, or the negative blessing of not having been
permitted to fall into any gross vices, is frequently
viewed both by the sufferer and the spectators, as
sufficient to render the hour of dissolution easy and the
prospect of futurity welcome. If tranquillity be but
obtained, it is of little consequence in the estimation of
the world at large in what manner it was procured, or
whether it be true or false ; and thus that spiritual
insensibility which, both in itself and its results, is the
greatest of evils, is boasted forth as the natural and
proper effect of a well-spent life.

The propriety of such a conclusion is more than
questionable ; for who that is conversant with the ef-
fects of sickness has not observed how often there
supervenes (independently of religious considerations),
a languid indifference to life or death, to the world and
to eternity, which is evidently nothing more than the
natural effect of affliction long-sustained, and of a mind
weakened and worn out by the near approach of disso-
lution ? The faculties almost subdued by the pressure
of natural causes oftentimes leave scarcely a sufficient

REPOSE IN DEATH. 3

degree of capacity for reflection to make it appear to
the sufferer a subject of any importance what is the
fate of either body or soul. Thus the mind is said to
have been tranquillized, when, in fact, it was only
benumbed, and rendered incapable of summoning its
natural energies even to a contemplation so important
and pressing as that of an eternal world.

Whether this gradual insensibility, so often attendant
upon sickness, is to be viewed as a merciful provision
of the Almighty in order to divest the physical circum-
stance of dying of a part of its terrors ; — or w^hether it
was intended as a warning to early and deep repent-
ance before the approach of so precarious a season, it
is not at present necessary to inquire. The only
inference intended to be deduced is this, that if all the
terrors of futurity, all the moral pains of dissolution, all
the hopes and fears of an unknown world, are so often
found incapable of arousing a dying man from the
natural lassitude and indifference attendant upon the
slowly-approaching hour of mortality, the mere circum-
stance of dying in calmness is by no means a sufficient
evidence of a well-grounded hope of the felicities of
Heaven. The inference is still more forcible, if sur-
rounding friends, as too often happens, have anxiously
guarded every avenue, to prevent the intrusion of that
religious instruction and advice which were necessary
to open the eyes of the unconscious sufferer.

Moral causes may likewise combine with physical as
a sedative in death. Ignorance, or unbelief, or " hard-
ness of heart, and contempt of God's word and com-
mandment," may spread a deceitful calm which will
but end in a sad reverse of eternal bitterness and dis-
appointment. Allowing, however, for every hmitation
and exception, it may still be laid down as a universal
proposition, that where there visibly exists a firm belief
in a future state of retribution, with a due sense of
human sinfulness and guilt, nothing but the means of
salvation revealed in the Gospel can give peace and

4 TRUE AND FALSE

satisfaction to the soul. If the powers of mind are
worn down by disease, this vivid perception may not
exist ; but where it really does exist, there is assuredly
but one means of obtaining repose.

If this proposition be correct, it follows that wherever
a death-bed has been really calm without any specific
dependance upon the Redeemer, the effect has been
produced either by ignorance or unbelief ; either by
not knowing and believing in a future state of retribu-
tion, or by not duly considering that guilt and sinfulness
of man which ought to render the idea of retribution
alarming to the fallen mind.*

These two primary causes, may, however branch
out into various subordinate ones ; but all these may
be again traced back to their original sources of igno-
rance or skepticism. The various causes of falsely-
happy deaths have been so well pointed out by a
revered author of the present age that no apology is
necessary for the quotation.

" The blind are bold ; they do not see the precipice
they despise. — Or, perhaps, there is less unwillingness
to quit a world which has so often disappointed them,
or which they have sucked to the last dregs. They
leave life with less reluctance, feeling that they have
exhausted all its gratifications. — Or it is a disbelief of
the reality of the state on which they are about to
enter. — Or it is a desire to be released from excessive
pain, a desire naturally felt by those who calculate
their gain rather by what they are escaping from, than
by what they are to receive. — Or it is equability of
temper, or firmness of nerve, or hardness of mind. —
Or it is the arrogant wish to make the last act of life
confirm its preceding professions. — Or it is the vanity
of perpetuating their philosophic character. — Or, if

* It will be seen that in this and the following remarks, it is taken
for granted that the mind is capable of due reflection, and not become
languid or indifferent by disease, or kept from serious thought by
any external artifice.

REPOSE IN DEATH. 9

some faint ray of light break in, it is the pride of not
retracting the sentiments which from pride they have
maintained — the desire of posthumous renown among
their own party ; the hope to make their disciples
stand firm by their example ; ambition to give their
last possible blow to Revelation — or, perhaps, the fear
of expressing doubts which might beget a suspicion
that their disbelief was not so sturdy as they would
have it thought. Above all, may they not, as a pun-
ishment for their long neglect of the warning voice of
truth, be given up to a strong delusion to believe the
lie they have so often propagated, and really expect to
find in death that eternal sleep with which they have
affected to quiet their own consciences, and have really
weakened the faith of others."^

Among the various particulars included in this state-
ment there are several which do not exactly a])ply to
the question at present under consideration. The
greater number of these cases are evidently those of
apparent, and not real tranquillity ; cases in which a
mask is worn to deceive the spectator while the mind
is fully conscious of its own suppressed agitations.
There are but three modes in which a real calm in
death can be produced ; — by ignorance respecting hu-
man guilt and a future state ; — by skepticism concern-
ing tliem ; or by a knowledge that guilt has been expi-
ated and punishment sustained on our behalf. It may
not be improper to illustrate and confirm this remark
by a few distinct references and observations.

If we look back to the heathen world, we shall, it
is true, discover almost innumerable instances of tran-
quil and even triumphant dissolution ; but in the ma-
jority of these cases ignorance was evidently the pa-
rent of this false peace. A human being wholly un-
conscious of spiritual subjects, unacquainted with his
own immortality, with the nature of God and of him-

* Practical Piety, by Miss H. More»
1*

6 TRUE ANlJ FALSE

self, with his aggravated offences against his Creator,
and with the awful retribution which his offences merit,
may die at ease because he " dieth as the fool dieth."
Amongst persons of this class the best and most en-
lightened individuals of the heathen world must be
included.

Ignorance sometimes assumes a different form, so
that persons conscious of part at least of the truths
just mentioned may still die in false peace through their
ignorance of the remainder. One single incorrect
idea, whether it be respecting the supposed indiscrimi-
nate mercy of God, or the innocence of man, or any
other subject intimately connected with repose in death,
may by its lethargic influence prevent the salutary
effect of every other article of belief. A person may
fearlessly plunge into an overwhelming stream, either
from not knowing its rapidity and depth, or from a
false opinion that he can stem its torrent, but in neither
case is his rash security to be envied.

The example, therefore, of a heathen, however en-
lightened, ought not to be cited as a sufficient proof
that a person ignorant of Christ, yet conscious of a
future retribution, may nevertheless die in unaffected
peace; for though the person in question might know
much, he could not possibly know all that was neces-
sary to render the experiment complete. Allowing,
for the sake of example, that he fully believed in the
immortality of his soul, and in a judgment to come,
still he could not be duly sensible of his own corrupt
nature and personal demerits without being first
acquainted with ihe original condition of man, his sub-
sequent fall, the strictness of the divine law, his own
personal transgressions of it, and in short, with all
those circumstances which rendered an atonement
necessary for human redemption. It is only therefore
in cases in which these points are fully understood and
believed, that we can correctly ascertain whether any
consolation short of a genuine faith and dcpendance

REPOSE IN DEATH. 7

upon Jesus Christ can give satisfaction to a truly en-
lightened mind.

Let us then turn from the heroes and philosophers
of the classical world to that large class of persons
who, educated within the limits of Christendom, are
seen to pass into eternity without manifesting fear or
perturbation, though evidently destitute of any realiz-
ing views of that salvation, a knowledge of which is
maintained to be so necessary for the repose of every
well-informed and tender conscience. Instances of
this kind, w4iich are, alas! sufficiently numerous, may
be urged as irreconcilable with the doctrine laid down
in the preceding remarks ; and in point of fact are so
urged every day with a view to prove that after all our
speculations there is in reality no great need for those
religious feelings and sentiments to which persons of
seriously-disposed mind usually attach the highest im-
portance. If men, we are told, can die thus happily
by means of their present general views of Christianity,
there can be no particular necessity for entering more
deeply into its peculiar disquisitions.

In this objection it will be seen, that the knowledge
and belief of the individual in Christianity are taken
for granted from the mere circumstance of his having
been born of Christian parentage and educated in a
Christian country. Should it however appear, as will
be hereafter shown, that notwhhstanding these advan-
tages he may very possibly be still ignorant or unbe-
lieving respecting some imjiortant points revealed in
the Gospel, it will follow, that amidst all his presumed
light and information he is but a heathen with the name
of a Christian, and may therefore be but too justly
included in the remarks already made respecting the
nations who know not, or believe not, those truths
which made an atonement indispensable.

In the mean time it should be observed, that that
objection may be carried much further than the objec-
tor himself might be disposed to allow. For if the

S TRUE AND FALSE

single circumstance of calmness in death is to deter-
mine the sufficiency of a person's religious belief,
heathenism itself will not be without its triumphs, and
all the calm and heroic deaths of classical antiquity-
must henceforth be narrated as proofs of the adequacy
of the systems beneath whose influence they originated.
Had this calmness been connected with a due know-
ledge and belief, the case would have been far more
relevant and convincing.

It would be, perhaps, considered as a somewhat
harsh assertion, though it is perfectly true, that the
deaths of a large portion of professed Christians are
tranquil only on the very same grounds as those of
many heathens were tranquil also. INIen are often-
times accustomed to bring forward the generic rather
than the specific idea of piety. In proof of this re-
mark, it is by no means unusual to find professedly
Christian writers selecting examples of happy deaths
almost indiscriminately from heathens, heretics, and
true believers, with, perhaps, scarcely a single warning
to point out the important specific differences between
the religious systems of the various persons whose
characters are discussed. Thus, under one generic
name, we are told of the pious and happy death of
Cyrus, or Socrates, or some other favorite of antiquity,
in nearly the same terms which are elsewliere em-
ployed to characterize that of a Christian martyr or
apostle. The features which are common to all are
minutely pourtrayed, while those which are peculiar to
the latter are overlooked. It is the frame of mind
simply considered, and not as connected with Chris-
tian truth, that excites their attention. The marked
and important difference, not merely between the hopes
of these classes of persons, but also between the
grounds on which those hopes depend, is quite over-
looked amidst the spurious Catholicism of a universal
creed. The worshipper of Jehovah and of Jove are
placed side by side ; and because the one found in an

REPOSE IN DEATH.

awful ignorance of his moral condition that calm which
the other derived from a well-founded hope in his Re-
deemer, it is predicted of both alike that they expired
in piety and peace.

It would howevei be very probably urged by the
objector in return, that his argument was intended to
apply solely to professed Christians. He would, per-
haps, allow that in a heathen, or even in a vicious man,
a peaceful death must of course be connected with a
considerable degree of ignorance or unbelief ; but he
would add, that where the individual was a baptized
person, and there existed no particular viciousness of
character, calmness in death, even though unconnected
with any peculiar reliance on the atonement of Christ,
would be nevertheless not a deceitful but a rational
and well-founded repose, grounded on general views
of the Creator's mercy, though not specifically depen-
dent upon any idea of the merits and propitiation of
the Redeemer.

Here then we return to the precise point of contro-
versy ; and in every view of the subject it is far from
being an idle speculation ; for if wiiat is currently ap-
plauded and envied as an easy and hopeful death, be
in truth oftentimes nothing more than the natural con-
sequence of ignorance or infidelity, or both in conjunc-
tion, nothing surely can be more evident than the
necessity of careful self-examination, in order that our
tranquillity in dissolution may not be followed by a far
more dreadful death than the one whose terrors we
had thoughtlessly despised.

How often do we hear it remarked respecting per-
sons the most heedless and irreligious, that " he died
like a lamb." — He died like a lamb ! Impossible, if
in the full possession of his mental faculties he seri-
ously contemplated his Maker and himself, as they are
both exhibited in Scripture, without at the same time
taking fully into his account the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus. Impossible, if he adequately saw and felt

10 TRUE AND FALSE

the disease without being enabled to apply the remedy.
Impossible, if he knew and believed his guilt, without
reposing by faith in Him who alone can take away the
sin of the world. If dying ignorant of Christ Jesus,
he died in comfort, or at least in what unjustly bears
that name, he could not assuredly credit the denuncia-
tions of Divine wrath ; or, believing them, did not see
how justly they applied to himself. Here then existed
some degree of ignorance or unbelief; and, in fact,
there is no subject upon which men in general, even in
a Christian country, are so skeptical as on that of their
own personal sinfulness and spiritual inability. If they
do not discredit altogether the doctrine of future re-
wards and punishments, they are at least ignorant or
unbelieving respecting their own individual demerits,
and consequently expect, what the Almighty has no
where promised to grant, that their contaminated and
imperfect righteousness shall be found worthy of pro-
curing their admission into heaven. But if they really
felt, with the true members of the church, that " there
is no health in them," nothing short of a scriptural
knowledge of the great Physician of souls could
possibly calm their apprehensions. If they seriously
believed that eternal punishment is their desert by
nature, they could venture to cherish no hope of heaven
but by the free grace of Christ. The expectation of
the end without any reference to the only means is
evidently a serious error ; or if, in order to supply this
defect, the means are supposed to consist in human
merit and human works, that very ignorance is inci-
dentally betrayed the existence of which it was the
object of the present argument to prove. To know
Revelation justly includes in its very elements the
knowledge of our being by nature in a situation so
guilty and alarming that " without the shedding of
blood there is no remission."

It is true that hardness of heart, and the other
causes which have been already enumerated, may con-

REPOSE IN DEATH. 11

duce to a false peace ; but the means by which they
operate are undoubtedly connected with the encour-
agement of latent ignorance, or infidelity ; for were
the whole subject fully understood and credited, who
would be able to harden his heart, or proudly to cher-
ish an unfounded confidence ? To discern accurately
and believe fully would create in the dying sinner much
the same mental feelings as those which he must ne-
cessarily experience at the last day, when knowledge
and conviction shall both irresistibly flash upon his con-
science. The awfulness of his condition will not be
in itself more alarming a million of years hence than it
is at the moment of dissolution, and the only reason
why it will affect the mind in a more powerful and im-
pressive manner is, that he will then be permitted no
longer to fortify his heart either by misconception or
skeptical indifference. Satiety and disappointment,
equability of nerve and philosophical pride, with all
those other causes which have been mentioned in a
preceding extract,'^ would have no power to make a
sinner really calm in death, were they not combined
with some secret ignorance or doubt respecting the
certainty of that eternal punishment which his sins
have incurred.

The case of our great English moralist is a most
decisive illustration of the impossibility of discovering
any mode of solacing a scripiurally enlightened con-
science except that which the Gospel has revealed.
Had Dr. Johnson been ignorant of his sinfulness in the
sight of God, he might have expired, as thousands
every day expire, in a blind and fatal repose ; or had
he been inclined to infidelity, he might have jested,
like Hume and others of a similar school, on the sub-
ject of his approaching dissolution. Neither, however,
of these effects would have constituted that true peace
which his spiritually directed mind so eagerly sought,
and which, before his death, he most certainly obtained.
• Page 4.

12 TRUE AND FALSE

A few practical remarks upon the subject of the last
hours of this illustrious man will not only be a forcible
comment upon the foregoing propositions, but will tend
to show that what Dr. Johnson's best biographers have
been almost ashamed to confess, and have industriously
exerted themselves to palliate, constituted, in truth, the
most auspicious circumstance of his life, and was the
best proof of his increase in religious knowledge and
holiness of mind.

Whoever considers with a Christian eye the death
of Dr. Johnson will readily perceive that, according to
the usual order of Providence, it could not have been
free from agitation and anxiety. Johnson was a man
of tender conscience, and one who from his very in-
fancy had been instructed in Christian principles. But
he was also, in the strict judgment of revealed religion,
an inconsistent man. Neither his habits nor his com-
panions had been such as his own conscience approved ;
and even a short time before his end we find one of
his biographers lamenting that " the visits of idle and
some worthless persons were never unwelcome to him,"
on the express ground that " these things drove on
time." His ideas of morality being of the highest or-
der, many things which are considered by men at large
as but venial offences appeared to him as positive
crimes. Even his constitutional indolence and irrita-
bility of mind were sufficient of themselves to keep him
constantly humbled and self-abased ; and though among
his gay or literary companions he usually appears upon
the comparatively higli ground of a Christian moralist,
and the strenuous defender of revealed religion, yet
compared with the Divine standard and test of truth,
he felt himself both defective and disobedient.

Together with this conscientious feeling he had
adopted certain incorrect, not to say superstitious,
ideas, respecting the method of placating the Deity.
He seems, for example, to have believed that penance^
in its confined and popish sense, as distinguished from

REPOSE IN DEATH. 13

simple penitence, is of great avail in procuring the Di-
vine favor and forgiveness. Thus when Iiis conscience
distressed him on account of an act of disobedience to
his parent, we find him many years afterwards remain-
ing a considerable time bare-headed in the rain, ex-
posed in the public streets to the ridicule and the con-
jectures of every spectator. As far as filial affection
and true amiableness of mind are concerned, the actor
in such a scene deserves and ensures universal venera-
tion and esteem. Even while we smile at the some-
what ludicrous nature of the action, we instinctively
feel a sympathy and respect which perhaps a wiser but
less remarkable mode of exhibiting his feelings miglit
not have procured. But Johnson seems to have per-
formed this humiliation from higher considerations than
mere sorrow for the past ; for he emphatically adds,
" In contrition I stood, and I hope the 2)e nance was ex-
piatory.^^

If these words really mean any thing — and when
did Dr. Johnson utter words without meaning ? — he
must have intended by them to express his hope that
the previous fault was really atoned for, in a religious
sense, by the subsequent act of self-denial ; or, in
other words, that God accepts human penance as an
expiation for human sins ; a doctrine to which revealed
religion gives no sanction whatever. Johnson's system
appears at this time to have been, as it were, a sort of
barter between himself and Heaven, and consequently
his chief fear was, lest the equivalent which he pre-
sented should not be sufficient to entitle Inm in the di-
vine mercy to the pardon of his transgressions. His
trust on the Redeemer, though perfectly sincere, does
not appear to have been either exclusive or implicit ;
for though all his prayers for mercy and acknowledge-
ments of blessings were offered up solely through the
merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, he seems, in
point of fact, for many years to have viev/ed the atone-
ment rather as a medium through which God is pleased
2

14 TRUE AND FALSE

to accept our imperfect services and to make them ad-
equate, by the conditions of a remedial law, to the
purchase of heaven, than as a sacrifice by which alone
heaven is fully secured and freely given to the believ-
ing penitent. Dr. Johnson's line of reading in Divinity
was perhaps unfavorable to a full perception of Chris-
tian truth. The writings of Mr. Law, in particular,
which he had studied with some attention, were by no
means well adapted to his peculiar case. For a
thoughtless, a frivolous, or an impenitent sinner, the
"Serious Call" might have been eminently useful in
exciting a deep consciousness of guilt, a salutary re-
morse for the past, and holy resolutions for the future ;
and as far as these elements of religion extend, the
perusal of this celebrated book might doubtless have
had some good effect upon the mind of Dr. Johnson.
But in the consolatory parts of the Gospel, in the free
and undisguised exhibition of a Redeemer whose sa-
crifice is perfect and all-sufficient, in the inculcation of
the gracious promises of a reconciled Father to the
returning prodigal. Law, and other writers of a similar
school, are undoubtedly defective, and the same defect
seems to have characterized for many years the views
of our illustrious moralist. He lived in a perpetual
dilemma, by trusting to works which his well-informed
conscience told him were not good, and yet on the
goodness of which, in conjunction at least with the
merits of Christ, he placed his dependence for eternity.
To give therefore comfort to the mind of such a
man as Dr. Johnson, there were but two modes ;
either by blinding his conscience, or by increasing his
faith ; either by extenuating his sins, or by pointing out
in all its glories the sufficiency of the Christian ransom.
The friends who surrounded this eminent man during
the greater part of his life, were little qualified to per-
form the latter, and therefore very naturally resorted
to the former. They found their patient, so to speak,
in agony ; but instead of examining the wound and

REPOSE IN DEATH. 15

applying the remedy, they contented themselves with
administering anodynes and opiates, and persuading
their afflicted friend, that there existed no cause of
danger or alarm.

But Johnson was not thus deceived. The nostrum
which has lulled its millions to a fatal repose, on him,
by the mercy of God, had no effect. His convictions
of sin were as lasting as they were deep ; it was not
therefore until he had discarded his natural and long-
cherished views of commutation and human desert, and
had learned to trust humbly and exclusively to his Sa-
viour, that his mind became at peace.

Let us view some of the recorded circumstances of
the transaction ; and in so doing, we shall, as Christians,
have much more occasion to applaud the scriptural
correctness of Johnson's feelings respecting the value
of his soul, and the guilt of his nature, and the inade-
quacy of man's best merits and repentance, than to
congratulate him upon the accession of such " misera-
ble comforters" as those who appear to have surround-
ed his dying pillow.

Finding him in great mental distress, " I told him,"
remarks one of his biographers,"*^ " of the many enjoy-
ments of which I thought him in possession, namely, a
permanent income, tolerable heahh, a high degree of
reputation for his moral qualities and literary exer-
tions," Sic. Had Johnson's depression of mind been
nothing more than common melancholy or discontent,
these topics of consolation would have been highly ap-
propriate ; they might also have been fitly urged as
arguments for gratitude and thanksgiving to the Al-
mighty, on account of such exalted mercies. In either
of these points of view, the piety of Dr. Johnson would
doubtless have prompted him to acknowledge the value
of the blessing, and the duty of contentment and
praise. But, as arguments for quieting an alarmed

* Sir John Hawkins.

16 TRUE AND FALSE

conscience, they were quite inadequate, for what
would it liave profited this distinguished man, to have
gained all his w^ell-merited honors, or even were it
possible, the world itself, if, after all, he should be-
come, as he himself afterwards expressed it, " a cast-
away f "

The feelings of Dr. Johnson on this subject were
more fully evidenced on a subsequent occasion. " One
day, in particular," remarks Sir John Hawkins, "when
I was suggesting to him these and the like reflections,
he gave thanks to Almighty God, but added, that not-
withstanding all the above benefits, the prospect of
death, which was now at no great distance from him,
w^as become terrible, and that he could not think of it
but with great pain and trouble of mind." Nothing
assuredly could be more correct, than Dr. Johnson's
distinction. He acknowledi^ed the value of the mer-
cies which he enjoyed, and he gratefully "gave thanks
to Almighty God " for them ; but he felt that they
could not soften the terrors of a death-bed, or make
the prospect of meeting his Judge less painful and ap-
palling. Hawkins, who could not enter into his illus-
trious friend's more just and enlarged views of human
guilt and frailty, confesses himself to have been " very
much surprised and shocked at such a declaration
from such a man," and proceeded therefore to urge
for his comfort the usual arguments of extenuation.
He reports that he " told him that he conceived his
life to have been a uniform course of virtue ; that he
had ever shown a deep sense of, and zeal for religion ;
and that, both by his example and his writings, he had
recommended the practice of it ; that he had not rest-
ed, as many do, in the exercise of common honesty,
avoiding the grosser enormities, yet rejecting those ad-
vantages that result from the belief of Divine Revela-
tion ; but that he had, by prayer and other exercises
of devotion, cultivated in his mind the seeds of good-
ness, and was become habitually pious."

REPOSE IN DEATH. 17

This was the rock on whicli numberless professed
Christians have fatally split ; and to the mercy of the
Almighty must it be ascribed, that the great and good
Dr. Johnson did not add one more to the melanclioly
catalogue. For what was the doctrine which the nar-
rator attempted to inculcate but this ^ that his friend,
like the Pharisee in the Gospel, ought to place his
confidence upon his being more meritorious than other
men, and instead of attributing the praise to Him who
had " made him to differ," was to " sacrifice to bis
own net, and burn incense to his own drag." Can we
wonder, that with such flattering doctrines constantly
sounding in his ears. Dr. Johnson was suffered to un-
dergo much severe mental discipline, in order to re-
duce him in his own esteem to that lowly place, which
as a human, and consequently a fallen being, it was his
duty, however high his attainments or his talents, to
occupy f

The snare of spiritual pride, which Sir John Haw-
kins thus unconsciously spread for his dying friend,
was the more seductive from the circumstance of Dr.
Johnson's life having been upon the whole correct and
laudable, and from his writings having been eininently
useful for tlie promotion of morality and virtue. The
convictions of a profligate man might have been sup-
posed too keen and alarming to be quieted by such
common-place soporifics ; but where there was really
so much apparent cause for self-complacency and
gratulation, as in the case of Dr. Johnson, it must ap-
jiear almost wonderful that the self-righteous delusion
did not succeed.

It would undoubtedly have given this biographer
much satisfaction to have heard from Iiis friend the
usual language of an unsubdued heart. " I thank God,
that upon the whole I have acted my part well upon
the stage of life. We are all frail and fallible, but I
have no great sins to account for. I have been honest
and charitable ; my conduct, I trust, has been, with

18 TRUE AND FALSE

some few exceptions, ' one uniform course of virtue ;'
I therefore die in peace, looking forward to that hap-
piness which, 1 trust, my actions have ensured, from a
God of infinite mercy and compassion." But to the
humble and well-informed Christian, the penitential
sorrows of Johnson, (springing, as they did, from a
heart ill at ease with itself; not so much on account of
any one flagrant sin as from a general sense of the ex-
alted nature of the divine law and the imperfections of
the best human obedience,) will appear a happier and
surer pledge of his scriptural renovation of niind than
the most rapturous expressions which Pharisaic confi-
dence could have produced.

The self-righteous arguments of Hawkins could not,
however, touch the case of Johnson. " These sug-
gestions," he continues, " made little impression on
him ; he lamented the indolence in which he had spent
his life ; talked of secret transgressions, and seemed
desirous of telling me more to that purpose than I was
willing to hear." Happy was it for Dr. Johnson that
his confessor's arguments produced so little effect, and
that he was at length instructed by a better guide than
his well-meaning, but inexperienced friend. Had the
arguments of Hawkins effected their intended opera-
tion, we should have seen one of the greatest and most
powerful minds that ever animated a human frame,
quitting its frail receptacle in a flimsy robe of self-
righteousness, which must have fallen from its grasp
immediately after death, leaving the soul naked, and
guilty, and defenceless before its Almighty Judge.

It is easy to conceive the langunge of a plain prac-
tical Christian, while he stood beside the death-bed of
such a man as Dr. Johnson, and poured in the balm of
religious consolation. " I fully admit," he might have
said, " your sins, yet 1 would point you to an all-
powerful Saviour, and turn those very apprehensions
and that godly sorrow into motives for repose. True,
you are in yourself all that you have confessed your-

REPOSE IN DEATH. 19

self to be ; and if you were not, a Redeemer would
be of no value, for Christ came ' not to heal the whole,
but them that are sick.' I rejoice that you thus feel
and acknowledge your transgressions ; for though be-
yond most men you have cause for gratitude, though
you have enjoyed God's highest gifts, though by his
preventing grace, operating through the medium of a
religious education and a tender conscience, you have
been enabled to preserve a moral deportment, yet your
' righteousness extendeth not unto God.' What you
have you have received, and great therefore as may
have been your talents, and useful as may have been
your life, you have nothing so good and perfect as to
be fit to offer to the Almighty as a claim to heaven.
Yet, on the other hand, is not your very consciousness
of guilt the best hope of safety, the brightest omen of
pardon ? Has it not bowed you down in contrition ?
Has it not taught you the inestimable value of the Re-
deemer's sacrifice and death f You acknowledge
yourself a sinner ; and what is the characteristic of the
Gospel, but that the blood of Christ cleanseth from all
sin ? On this rock only can you find a firm founda-
tion for the hopes of a human soul ; but here it may
build securely, amidst all the agitating storms of an
alarmed conscience and a tempestuous world. Re-
pose tlien upon your Saviour in simple and firm reli-
ance, knowing that he possesses the same ability and
will to be merciful to you as to him who, like you,
confessed himself the ' chief of sinners,' but who nev-
ertlieless found peace in his Redeemer, and was even-
tually filled ' with joy unspeakable and full of glory.'
Look then to Him who is ' the Author and Finisher of
our faith,' and to Him from whom ' all good desires do
proceed ;' contemplate the end, the nature, the extent,
the value of the sacrifice of Christ, and see whether
there be any scriptural reason why you should be ex-
cluded from its benefits. Look also to that Divine
Spirit, who is the guide, the enlightener, the consoler,

20 TRUE AND FALSE

and the sanctifier of the Christian Church, to subdue
unbelief, to increase faith, and to implant a never-end-
ing hope which shall support you amidst all the afflic-
tions of life, and raise you far above the terrors of the
grave."

Thus a plain and honest religious friend might have
gone on to " preach the Gospel" in that simplicity with
which it was at first dispensed, and to exhibit, in all
their amplitude and freedom, the grace, the mercy,
the compassion of God ; the atonement and interces-
sion of Christ ; the promised influence of the Holy
Spirit ; with every other topic connected with the
salvation and happiness of a penitent transgressor.
There might, indeed, have been nothing remarkably
novel or inviting in the manner of stating these simple
truths ; yet, coming from a warm and honest heart,
and being accompanied with that divine benediction
which is never wanting where the soul has been pre-
pared by humility and contrition for its reception, they
might have produced the happiest efl^ects, when philo-
sophic suasion and human advice had exerted them-
selves in vain. In moments of great mental distress,
arguments which even a child in religion could readily
discover and apply, might be wanting to quiet the mind
of even such a man as Dr. Johnson himself.

But in the narrative of Hawkins, and in the argu-
ments which we find him proposing to the dying
moralist, these and similar topics of genuine consola-
tion appear to have had no place. That " blood which
cleanseth from all sin" is scarcely, or only incidentally,
mentioned ; and we find the narrator continuing in the
following strain his inefficient consolations :

" In a visit which I made him in a few days, in con-
sequence of a very pressing request to see me, I found
him laboring under very great dejection of mind. He
bade me draw near to him, and said he wanted to
enter into a serious conversation with mo ; and upon
my expressing my willingness to join in it, he, with a

REPOSE IN DEATH. 21

look that cut me to the heart, told me that he had the
prospect of death before him, and that he dreaded to
meet his Saviour. I could not but be astonished at
such a declaration, and advised him, as I had done
before, to reflect on the course of his life, and the ser-
vices which he had rendered to the cause of religion
and virtue, as well by his example as his writings ; to
which he answered, that he had written as a philoso-
pher, but had not lived like one. In the estimation of
his offences he reasoned thus : ' Every man knows his
own sins, and what grace he has resisted. But to
those of others, and the circumstances under which
they were committed, he is a stranger. He is there-
fore to look on himself as the greatest sinner that he
knows of.' At the conclusion of this argument, which
he strongly enforced, he uttered this passionate [im-
passioned] exclamation : ' Shall I, who have been a
teacher of others, be myself a cast-away ^ "

In this interesting passage — interesting as detailing
the religious progress of such a mind as Dr. Johnson's
— how many important facts and reflections crowd
upon the imagination ! We see the highest human
intellect unable at the approach of death to find a sin-
gle argument for hope or comfort, though stimulated by
the mention of all the good deeds and auspicious fore-
bodings which an anxious and attentive friend could
suggest. Who that beholds this eminent man thus de-
sirous to open his mind, and to " enter into a serious
conversation" upon the most momentous of all sub-
jects which can interest an immortal being, but must
regret that he had not found a spiritual adviser who
was capable of fully entering into his feelings, and ad-
ministering scriptural consolation to his afflicted mind ?

The narrator informs us in this passage, that " he
could not but be astonished at such a declaration" as
that which Dr. Johnson made. But in reality, where
was the real ground for astonishment ^ Is it astonish-
ing that. an inheritor of a fallen and corrupt nature, who

22 TRUE AND FALSE

is about to quit the world, and to be "judged accord-
ing to the deeds done in the body," should be alarmed
at the anticipation of the event, and be anxious to un-
derstand fully the only mode of pardon and accept-
ance ? Rather is it not astonishing that every other
intelligent man does not feel at his last hour the same
anxieties which Dr. Johnson experienced ? — unless, in-
deed, they have been previously removed by the hopes
revealed in that glorious dispensation which alone un-
dertakes to point out in what way the Almighty sees fit
to pardon a rebellious world. No man would or could
have been astonished who knew his own heart ; for, as
Dr. Johnson truly remarked, every Christian, how fair
soever his character in the estimation of others, ought
to look upon himself as " the greatest sinner that he
knows of;" a remark, be it observed, which shows
how deeply Dr. Johnson had begun to drink into the
spirit of that great Apostle, who, amidst all his excel-
lencies, confessed and felt himself, as was just remark-
ed, " the chief of sinners."

What a contrast does the advice of Hawkins, as
stated by himself in the preceding passage, form to the
scriptural exhortation of our own Church ! Instead
of advising his friend seriously to examine himself
*' whether he repented him truly of his former sins,
steadfastly purposing (should he survive) to lead a new
life, having a lively faith in God's mercy through
Christ, with a thankful remembrance of his death, and
being in charity with all men," he bids him look back
to his past goodness, and is astonished that the survey
is not attended with the hope and satisfaction which he
had anticipated. But the truth was, that on the sub-
ject of religion, as on every other. Dr. Johnson enter-
tained far more correct ideas than the friends around
him ; and though he had not hitherto found peace with
his Creator, through the blood of Jesus Christ, yet he
could not be satisfied with the ordinary consolations of
an uninformed or Pharisaic mind.

REPOSE IN DEATH. 23

The sun did not, however, set in this Jong continued
cloud ; for Johnson at length obtained comfort, where
alone true comfort could be obtained, in the sacrifice
and mediation of Jesus Christ ; a circumstance to
which Sir John Hawkins transiently alludes, but the
particulars of which must be supplied from the narra-
tive of Boswell, whose words are as follows :

" Dr. Brocklesby, who will not be suspected of
fanaticism, obliged me with the following account :
'For some time before his death all his fears were
calmed and absorbed by the prevalence of his faith,
and his trust in the merits and propitiation of Jesv^
Christ, He talked often to me about the necessity of
faith in the sacrifice of Jesus, as necessary, beyond all
good works whatever, for the salvation of mankind.^ "

Even allowing for the brevity of this statement, and
for the somewhat chilling circumstance of its coming
from the pen of a man who " will not be suspected of
fanaticism," what a triumph was here for the plain un-
sophisticated doctrines of the Gospel, especially that of
free justification by faith in Jesus Christ ! After every
other means had been tried, and tried in vain, a sim-
ple penitential reliance upon the sacrifice of the Re-
deemer, produced in the heart of this devout man a
peace and satisfaction which no reflections upon human
merit could bestow. He seems to have acquired a
completely new idea of Christian theology, and could
doubtless henceforth practically adopt the animating
language of his own church in her eleventh article,
'' that we are justified by faith only, is a most whole-
some doctrine, and very full of comfort."

There are several ways in which the distress of Dr.
Johnson during his latter years may be considered, of
which the most correct perhaps is that of its having
been permitted as a kind and fatherly chastisement
from the Almighty for the inconsistencies of his Hfe.
Both Johnson himself and his most partial biographer
intimate that his character was not perfectly free even

24 TRUE AND FALSE

from gross sins : but, omitting these unpleasant recol-
lections, we are at least certain that his general habits
and companions during a considerable part of his life
were not such as a strictly consistent Christian would
have chosen, because they were not such as could in
any way conduce to his spiritual comfort or improve-
ment. Dr. J. was indeed called in the usual course
of Providence to " live in the world," but it was his
duty so to have hved in it " as not of it ;" and with
the high sense which he uniformly entertained of reli-
gion, and the vast influence which he had justly ac-
quired in society, his conduct and example would have
been of the greatest service in persuading men to a
holy as well as a virtuous life, to a cordial and com-
plete self-dedication to God, as well as to a general
decorum and purity of conduct.

It is certain that in reflecting upon his past life he
did not view it as having been truly and decidedly
Christian. He even prays in his dying hours that God
would " pardon his late conversion ;" thus evidencing
not simply the usual humility and contrition of every
genuine Christian, but, in addition to this, a secret
consciousness that his heart had never before been en-
tirely " right with God."

Had Johnson survived this period of his decisive
" conversion," we might have expected to have seen
throughout his conduct that he had indeed become " a
new creature in Christ Jesus." His respect for reli-
gion, and his general excellence of character, could
not perhaps have admitted of much visible change for
the better ; but in heavenly-mindedness, in love and
zeal for the souls of men, in deadness to the world and
to fame, in the choice of books and companions, and
in the exhibition of all those spiritual graces which be-
long peculiarly to the Christian nature, we might and
must have beheld a marked improvement. Instead of
being merely the Seneca of the English nation, he
might possibly have become its Saint Paul ; and would

REPOSE IN DEATH. 25

doubtless in future have embodied his moral injunc-
tions, not in the cold form of ethical philosophy, or
even in the generalities of the Christian religion, but in
an ardent love to God and faith in our Lord Jesus
Christ ; in a union to the Redeemer and a dependence
upon that Holy Spirit who is the Enhghtener and Sanc-
tifier. That such a supposition is not visionary, may
be proved even from the meagre accounts afforded by
a spectator who would of course be inclined rather to
soften down than to give prominence to any thing
which might be construed into " fanaticism." We
learn then from this witness, that in point of fact there
was already a marked alteration in Dr. Johnson's lan-
guage upon religion, as instead of spending his time
upon barren generalities, " he talked often about the
necessity of faith in Jesus.^^ That of which Dr. John-
son spoke thus earnesdy and often, must doubtless
have appeared to him as of the utmost importance ;
and w^e have to lament — if indeed any dispensation of
Providence may be lawfully lamented — that Johnson
had not lived to check the Pelagianism and Pharisaism
of his age, by proclaiming " often," and with all the
weight of his authority, that " faith in the sacrifice of
Jesus is necessary, beyond all good works whatever,
for the salvation of mankind."

It will of course be readily allowed, that the consti-
tutional melancholy of this great man might have had
much influence in causing this religious depression ;
but whatever may have been the proximate cause, the
affliction itself may still be viewed as performing the
office of parental correction to reclaim his relapses,
and teach him the hatefulness and folly of sin. But
without speculating upon either the final or the efficient
cause, the medium through which that cause operated
was evidently an indistinctness in his views respecting
the nature of the Redeemer's atonement ; an indis-
tinctness common to Dr. Johnson with no small class
of moralists and learned men. He beheved generally
3

26 TRUE AND FALSE

in the sacrifice of Christ, but he knew little of its ful-
ness and its freeness, and he was unable to appropriate
it to his own case. He was perhaps little in the habit
of contemplating the Son of God as *' a great High-
Priest, who can be touched with the feeling of our in-
firmities," and who is graciously interceding on our
behalf. The character of the Almighty as a recon-
ciled Father and Friend, with whom he was to have
daily " communion and fellowship," Was less promi-
nent in his thoughts than those attributes which render
him " a consuming fire." He feared and respected
religion rather than loved it, and by building his struc-
ture for many years on a self-righteous foundation,
rendered the whole fabric liable to be overthrown by
the first attack of an accusing conscience.

In reply to any general inference to be derived from
these remarks, it may be urged, that Dr. Johnson's
was a peculiar and exempt case ; and that his painful
feeling of sin, and his consequent dissatisfaction with
his own righteousness, were rather the effect of his
natural malady than of any peculiarly correct ideas
upon religion. But even admitting this to have been
the fact, the inference is still nearly the same ; for who
can assert that either his understanding or his charac-
ter has been superior to Dr. Johnson's, and that there-
fore he may be justly sustained in death by a support
which this eminent man — from whatever cause — found
unavailing. If the greatest moralist of his age and
nation was obliged at length to seek repose in the
same free mercy which pardoned the thief upon the
cross, who that knows his own heart will henceforth
venture to glory in himself.^ The conscience may in-
deed be seared ; we may not feel as Johnson felt ; we
may be ignorant both of God and of ourselves ; and
thus, for want of knowing or believing our spiritual
danger, may leave the world with a false tranquillity,
and enter the presence of our Creator " with a lie in
our right hand." All this, however, is our misfortune,

REPOSE IN DEATH. 27

and ought not to be our boast ; for if our minds were
as religiously enlightened, and our hearts as correct!}^
impressed as Dr. Johnson's, we could obtain hope only
where he obtained it, by " faith in the sacrifice of
Jesus."

The case, however, of Dr. Johnson is not an ex-
empt case ; for what has been the feeling of true Chris-
tians in every age, but one of a similar, though perhaps
less marked and conspicuous kind ^

The devout and eminent George Herbert remarked
upon his death-bed, " I have nothing to present to
God but sin and misery ; but the first is pardoned, and
a few hours will now put an end to the latter." His
friend, like Dr. Johnson's, began to remind him of
" his many acts of mercy," but this holy man ventured
not to put any trust in them for his salvation. " They
he good ivorks,^^ said he, " if they he sprinkled with
the blood of Christ, hut not otherwise^ He did not
speak slightly upon the subject of good works ; he felt
their importance and necessity ; and doubtless concur-
red with that kindred spirit, Richard Hooker, in his
well-known remark, " We acknowledge a dutiful ne-
cessity of doing well, but the meritorious dignity of
doing well we utterly renounce." No inference there-
fore can be more wide of that intended to be deduced
in the present essay, than that the retrospect of a holy
life is of little importance upon a death-bed. On the
contrary, good men in every age have felt it to be a
high consolation, and a source of the most unbounded
gratitude to God, if they have been enabled by his
grace to maintain a holy and exemplary deportment ;
but as the meritorious cause of human redemption, as
the plea upon which our hopes are to be founded for
eternity, nothing assuredly can be more unscriptural
and fallacious than self-dependence and desert.

Dr. John Donne, the proverbially pious satirist and
poet of the sixteenth century, remarked upon his
death-bed, in nearly the same words with his friend

28 TRUE AND FALSE

George Herbert, " Though of myself I have nothing
to present to God but sin and misery, yet I know he
looks upon me, not as I am in myself, but as I am in
my Saviour."

With the names of Donne and Herbert is intimately
and pleasingly associated that of the meek and learned
Hooker ; and who that has heard of the eminently re-
ligious, and amiable life of this revered man, but re-
members also his deeply penitential confession in the
hour of death ? *' I have lived to see that this world
is made up of perturbations, and I have long been pre-
paring to leave it, and gathering comfort for the dread-
ful hour of making my account with God, which I now
apprehend to be near. And though I have by his
grace loved him in my youth, and feared him in mine
age, and labored to have a conscience void of offence
to him, and to all men ; yet if thou, O Lord, be ex-
treme to mark what I have done amiss, who can abide
it ^ And therefore where I have failed, Lord, show
mercy to me ; for I jjlead not my righteousness, hut
the forgiveness of my unrighteousness, for His merits
iuho died to j^urchase a pardon for penitent sinners.''^
It was this plea of free grace that enabled him to say
with his last breath, " God hath heard my daily peti-
tions ; for I am at peace with all men, and he is at
peace with me ; and from which blessed assurance I
feel that inward joy, which this world can neither give
nor take from me."

After mentioning Hooker, we ought not to pass over
that other great apologist of the church of England,
Bishop Jewel, from whom we hear similar confessions
and anticipations. He was not, he said, afraid to die,
but assigned as his reason, not the goodness of his past
life, though it had been almost inimitably good, but
that he had " a gracious Lord," adding, *' there is
laid up for me a crown of righteousness. — Christ is
my righteousness.^^

But these persons, it may be said, were divines, and

REPOSE IN DEATH. 29

might therefore be supposed to be more intimately ac-
quainted with the technical language of religion than
other men. Select then the case of the virtuous and
heroic Philip Sidney.* He was a soldier, and a brave
one; yet he died the death of a humble Christian. In
him we see a character upon which calumny herself
has been able to fix no spot. His country reposed
upon him with full confidence as its most hopeful friend
and protector, and in defence of that country he lost,
in' the field of battle, his valuable fife. Posterity has
vied with his contemporaries in doing justice to his
memory and perpetuating his varied excellencies.
The venerable Camden speaks of him at once with
rapture and regret, as " the great hope of mankind,''
" the most lively pattern of virtue, and the darling of
the world ;" the hero " whose virtues have come to
perfection," and whom men ought for ever to com-
memorate " not with tears but admiration." Yet this
man, of whom historians foretold that " Sidney shall
live to posterity," and upon w^hose virtues and un-
timely death rival universities poured forth volume
upon volume of eulogies and regrets ; — this man, thus
flattered and caressed, found at length that " all was
vanity," and that nothing could give him peace upon
a death-bed but the same humble hope which fills the
bosom of the most illiterate and lowly Christian.

As a soldier, nothing could daunt the mind of Sir
Philip Sidney ; yet, remarks one of his biographers,
" the guilt of sin, the present beliolding of death, the
terror of God's judgment-seat, which seemed in hot
displeasure to cut him down, concurring, did make a

* It may perhaps be necessary to apologize for the triteness ol
such examples as Johnson, Herbert, Donne, Hooker, Jewel, Sidney,
&.C. which are selected, not because others equally appropriate, and
less hackneyed, might not have been easily produced ; but because
the celebrity of these persons renders their conduct more interesting
and convincing than that of persons less generally known and admi-
red. Novelty therefore has been purposely rejected for the sake of
practical effect.

3*

30 TRUE AND FALSE

fear and astonishment in his naind." He, however, at
length obtained peace through his Saviour, " giving
thanks to God that he did chastise him with a loving
and fatherly coercion, and to his singular profit, whe-
ther to live or die." Deeply feeling his transgressions,
he " vowed with an unfeigned heart and full purpose,
if God should give him life, to consecrate the same to
his service, and to make his glory the mark of all his
actions."

The mental distress of Sidney did not arise, any
more than that of Dr. Johnson, from the usual remorse
attendant upon an irregular and vicious life. On the
contrary, both these men had lived virtuously and
usefully in the world ; but, amidst all their exemplary
qualities, they could find no security in their last hours
except in self-renunciation and faith in Christ. Sid-
ney's biographer expressly relates that, " although he
had professed the gospel, loved and favoured those
who did embrace it, entered deeply into the concerns
of the church, taken good order and very good care
for his family and soldiers to be instructed, and be
brought to live accordingly ; yet entering into deep''ex-
amination of his life now in the time of his affliction, he
felt those inward motions and workings of* [God's
Holy Spirit in his conscience] exciting him to a deep
sorrow for his former conduct." Again, " his former
virtues seemed nothing, for he wholly condemned his
former life." " I have no comfort," added he, " in
that way : [reflecting on his past virtues,] all things in
my former life have been vain, vain, vain."

How different these expressions of a renewed heart
from that unscriptural common-place gratulation which
is so often witnessed on similar occasions I If even
a Sidney, that " most lively pattern of virtue," could
not look back with complacency or forward with hope,
trusting in nny measure to his own merits, who under
similar circumstances of life can be reasonably consid-
* Hiatus in MS.

REPOSE IN DEATH. 31

ered as entitled to a higher degree of self-confidence ?
The important subject which occupied his time from
the moment of his fatal wound to his death, was the
ascertaining the real bearings of his religious char-
acter.

" He did grow weaker and weaker in body, and
thereby gathered that he should die, which caused him
to enter yet into a more correct consideration of him-
self, what assurance he had of salvation ; and having,
by the promises of God, and testimony of his graces
which he felt working in him, gathered his assurance
of God's favour unto eternal life, and made him per-
ceive that he did chastise him, as a most kind Father,
to fashion him to his will, he said that he feared not to
die."

This paragraph, though couched in language very
different from the current phrases of modern theology,
being such as to many persons may appear somewhat
unphilosophical and enthusiastic, contains, when pro-
perly considered, a most important lesson for ascertain-
ing the truth or fallacy of our religious hopes. Sir
Philip Sidney, we find, was desirous as every dying
man of course ought to be, of ascertaining " what as-
surance he had of salvation," which, on the ground of
human desert, we have already seen he did not ven-
ture to expect. In order to come to a decision, he
directs his view to the " promises of God" as revealed
in scripture, and the " testimony of his graces" as ex-
hibited in his own heart ; or, in other w^ords, he first
endeavors to discover to whom pardon is offered in the
gospel, and then proceeds to examine how far he was
himself included in the character described. He foun-
ded his hopes wholly and exclusively upon God's im-
mutable '' promise "in Christ ; yet, at the same time,
brought the subject to a practical account, by inquiring
w^hether the " graces " of the Christian life had been
implanted in himself.

Thus this celebrated man " wrought out his own sal-

32 TRUE AND FALSE

vation with fear and trembling," knowing that " it vvaa
God that worked in him both to will and to do of his
good pleasure." For some time his frequent subject
of lamentation was that " he had not a full and sure
dependence upon Christ ;" and thus " sowing in tears,"
he ultimately " reaped in joy ;" for it was not long be-
fore he began to exclaim with almost his expiring
breath, " I would not change my joy for the empire of
the world." From this moment his religious comfort
seems never to have left him ; for, observes the above-
mentioned biographer, " It now seemed as if all natural
heat and life were almost utterly gone out of him; that
his understanding had failed, and that it was to no pur-
pose to speak any more unto him. But it was far
otherwise. I spake thus unto him : * Sir, if you hear
what I say, let us by some means know it ; and if you
have still your inward joy and consolation in God, hold
up your hand.' With that he did lift up his hand and
stretched it forth on high, which we thought he could
scarce have moved ; which caused the beholders to
cry out with joy that his understanding should still be
perfect, and that the weak body, beyond all expecta-
tion, should so readily give a sign of the joy of the
soul."

For death thus to become a delightful instead of a
terrific image, the spiritual affections as well as under-
standing must have been duly cultivated. To him who
can really say with the apostle respecting his Redeem-
er, ** whom having not seen I love;" or with the Psalm-
ist, " whom have I in heaven but Thee, and there is
none upon earth that I desire in comparison of Thee;"
the dissolution of soul and body can present no unwel-
come theme of meditation. But a cold and specula-
tive theology, even should there be nothing heterodox
in the creed, or very exceptionable in the life, will not
support a mortal sinking into eternity. At such a mo-
ment, the helpless soul feels its need of a Father, a
Protector, a Guide : it is about to pass into that awful

REPOSE IN DEATH. 33

and unknown world whence it can never return, and
desires therefore an Ahnighty Friend to welcome its
arrival. It is not the Deity, simply considered, but
" God in Christ reconciling the world unto himself,"
that renders heaven a wished-for and congenial abode
to the genuine believer.

To an ardent and grateful attachment to the Re-
deemer, not less than to faith in his merits and obedi-
ence, must be ascribed the pleasurable anticipations
of holy men in death. Stephen expired in peace, not-
withstanding his outward sufferings, because he " look-
ed unto Jesus," and trusted to him to " receive his
spirit." Saint Paul beheld with dehght the future
world, because he " knew in whom he had believ-
ed," and had arrived at the joyful conclusion that " to
live is Christ, and to die is gain." Or, to advert to
later examples, the venerable Bede, amidst much
bodily infirmity, exclaimed that he " earnestly wished
to behold the King in his beauty ;" and the cele-
brated Peter Du IMoulin, reproving a friend who spoke
highly of his good works, remarked how greatly he
was grieved by such flattering language, and attributed
all he had done to the sovereign grace of God operat-
ing by the weakest instrument ; adding, on another oc-
casion, " My God, how weary am 1 ! When shall I
rest in thy bosom ? When shall I drink of the river
of thy pleasures ? I am unw^orthy of it, O my God !
but thou art glorified by doing good to the unworthy.
It is not for them who are whole, but for those who
are sick that thy Son, the great Physician, was sent.
I am going to my Father and my God : I go to him
with confidence, /or he has arrayed me with the robe of
his righteousness.''^

How different from these sublime aspirations were
the forebodings of the most virtuous heathens ! Death
had not to them lost its sting, nor was the grave rob-
bed of its terrors. Doubt and uncertainty were their
brightest portion ; there might be a future state, and

34 TRUE AND FALSE

the virtuous might be happy after death ; but beyond
this plausible conjecture unenlightened reason had no
power to aspire. To allay the tortures of conscience
there was no " blood of sprinkling ;" they knew of no
" fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness." They
had never heard the consolatory promise, " though thy
sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow ; though
they be like crimson, they shall be as wool ;" or been
taught " the blessedness of that man whose iniquities
are forgiven, and whose sins are covered." That
Jesus Christ " came into the world to save sinners,"
was a mystery hid from their knowledge, and that the
*' kingdom of heaven is opened for all believers," was
a truth far beyond their utmost powers of investigation.
But, cheered by the doctrine of the atonement, the
meanest Christian learns to " depart in peace," be-
lieving that, notwithstanding his frailties and his trans-
gressions, his omnipotent Redeemer is still able and
willing to " save to the uttermost all that come unto
God by him."

It appears then, from the foregoing observations, that
death-beds in general, may be reduced to four descrip-
tions. The first is the case of those persons who die
in tranquillity, but who ought, alas ! if scripture be true,
to have died far otherwise. Here we may discern the
infidel, the hardened sinner, the ignorant, the self-
righteous, and various other kinds of characters ; in all
of whom, however, want of knowledge, or want of faith,
must have tended to produce this false security ; for,
would these unhappy persons have understood as they
understand now^ would they have believed as they now
believe, assuredly no human artifice whatever could
have lulled them to so fatal a repose.

The second class is the exact converse of the first,
including numerous individuals of characters variously
modified, but the hopes of all of whom, being really
fixed upon a right foundation, ought to have been, we
might have conceived, brighter and more satisfactory

REPOSE IN DEATH. 35

than in the actual trial they perhaps appeared. In-
stances of this kind will sometimes occur, (as in the
case of the poet Cowper,) for which it is not easy to
account. We may, indeed, oftentimes discover, with-
out much difficulty, the immediate cause ; we may as-
certain, for example, the existence of some malady.^ or
incorrectness of apprehension, but the ultimate design
of the Almighty in so distressing an event, and the be-
neficial effect intended to be produced upon the suf-
ferer, may not be quite so apparent.

But since it is evident, both from scripture and ex-
perience, that the death-bed of a consistent Christian
is usually rendered a scene of comfort and composure,
if not of positive delight, we may oftentimes discover,
when an apparent exception occurs, that there existed
some obvious cause quite adequate to the production
of the effect. The Almighty does not contend with
the Christian without reason. There had possibly
been frequent or notorious lapses from the right path ;
some favorite sin had been indulged, some incorrect
doctrine had been harbored, some secret fear of man,
or dread of temporal disadvantage had prevented an
explicit avowal of Christian principles. There had,
perhaps, existed a culpable degree of ignorance re-
specting some important part of the gospel dispensa-
tion, especially those parts which relate to the believer's
privileges and the freedom of salvation. Or, perhaps,
repentance had not been sufficiently deep ; self-renun-
ciation was> not impartial and unreserved ; the flesh
had not been sufficiently mortified ; self-denial had not
been duly practised ; reliance by faith on Christ had
not been sufficiently simple and implicit. There was
some latent inconsistency, some unsubdued temper^
some daily-besetting sin, some undue adherence to the
world, some secret feeling of rebellion against God, to
intercept the light of the divine countenance, and to blot
out the fair face of the celestial world. Conversion,
though genuine, was, perhaps, as Dr. Johnson remark-

36 TRUE AND FALSE

ed of his own, late ; the Holy Spirit had been often
grieved ; his influences had been long resisted ; Christian
virtues had dwindled and decayed ; while earth-born
principles and feelings had sprung up in all their native
luxuriance, and impeded the growth of every heavenly
implanted grace.

Still, however, in the majority of those cases in
which faith, though weak, is really genuine, a light is
at length seen to " spring up in darkness ;" some indi-
cation occurs to prove that the last moments of such
a person, though checquered with anxiety and distress,
are yet, (even independently of the final result,) in-
finitely more blessed than those of the impenitent and
unbelieving.

The third class consists of persons who have died
unhappily, and who had apparently no scriptural ground
for dying otherwise. It includes in its vast scope an
indefinitely varying range of characters, from the ordi-
nary sinner, who, dying, " makes no sign," to the Anti-
christ of Ferney himself, whose agonizing groans and
execrations spoke — though how imperfectly ! — the tor-
tures of his departing soul. Here we may place also
skeptics of that more common class, who fear eternity
without believing in the scriptures, and who trembling-
ly expect a future state of rewards and punishments,
without any trust in Him who alone " hath the keys of
hell and of death." Infidelity may, indeed, boast that
some of its disciples have met death with composure,
and even cheerfulness ; but, alas ! who shall so balance
between rival horrors as to decide whether the death
of a Hume or a Voltaire is to be preferred ; whether
to quit the world in false repose, and " in hell to lift
up one's eyes," be a better or a worse lot than to fore-
see and to shudder at the destruction which it is too
late to avoid !

The fourth class consists of those who die happily,
and whose happiness is well-founded. Of such per-
sons several instances have been already brought for-

REPOSE IN DEATH. 37

ward, nor is even the present age destitute of nume-
rous witnesses to the power of the gospel in the hour
of dissolution. There are, indeed, many motives for
the true Christian's meeting death, not merely with ac-
quiescence, but even with pleasure. The pious and
amiable Melancthon was accustomed to console Inin-
self with tlie following reflections, which he recorded
as some of the reasons why he himself should not be
sorry to quit the present world : " Thou," said he,
" shalt bid adieu to sin. Thou shalt be freed from
cares, and especially from the rage of controversialists.
Thou shalt enter into light. Thou shalt see God.
Thou shalt behold also his Divine Son. Tliou shalt
comprehend all those wonderful secrets which thou
couldst not understand in the present life. Thou shalt
know why we are framed as we are. Thou shalt
learn also the mystical conjunction of the divine and
human natures in Jesus Christ."

This holy man might have been justly mentioned
among the preceding examples of persons who in their
last moments, deeply felt and penitently confessed the
guilt of their nature and their conduct, but who, amidst
all, blessed God that Christ had become their Saviour
and Redeemer. The passages of scripture which
gave Melancthon most delight and comfort upon his
death-bed, and which he was accustomed frequently
to repeat, were chiefly those which speak of faith in
Jesus Christ. The three following were among the
number : " God so loved the world that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever htlieveth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life." " Whoso
seek the Son and believeth on him, hath eternal life."
" Being justified by faith, we have peace with God."

Thus fixing his hopes upon an immutable foundation,
his aspirations after immortality became daily more
fervid and intense. He appropriated to himself the
words of St. Paul, " I have a desire to depart and be
with Christ ;" and so completely was his mind en-
4

'JD true and false repose in death.

grossed by scriptural ideas, that he is said to have
chaunted in his sleep, in the manner then customary at
pubh'c worship, those affecting words of our Lord be-
Ibre his last supper : " With desire I have desired
to eat this passover with you before I suffer ; for I say
unto you, I will not any more eat thereof until it be
fulfilled in the kingdom of God."

Resembling our own Hooker in many important re-
spects, he resembled him in this also, that the word
2)eace dwelt upon his lips even in death. He adopted,
as many pious men in every age have done, the ex-
clamation of Simeon : " Lord, now lettest thou thy ser-
vant depart in jjeace, for mine eyes have seen thy
salvation." Like Hooker, he had " lived to see the
world made up of perturbations," and though both of
these excellent men sacrificed much, and indeed every
thing but their conscience, for peace, yet from the
nature of the controversies in which they were en-
gaged, neither of them had been permitted to enjoy it
upon earth. But Melancthon was now about to enter
that state " where the wicked cease from troubling,
and where the weary are at rest." He was at peace
with God through the reconciling blood of his Re-
deemer ; he was at peace with his own conscience ;
and, as for the world, he was quitting at once its plea-
sures and its cares for evermore. He possessed all
tliat he had long sought ; his heart was full ; and when
asked by a friend if there were any thing more to be
desired, he replied in that brief but emphatic exclama-
tion,

ALIUD NIHIL NISI CCELUM !

(39)

THE

FULL ASSURANCE OF UNDERSTANDING.

COLOSSIANS, ii. 2.

To understand, to believe, and to enjoy, form the
threefold attainment of the advanced Christian ; and
hence we meet in scripture with those remarkable ex-
pressions, " The full assurance of Understanding,"
*' The full assurance of Faith," and '' the full assurance
of Hope." The infidel may in some measure com-
prehend the gospel, without believing its divinity ; as
condemned spirits believe its divinity, without enjoying
its blessings. But the beatitude of the disciple of
Christ consists in the threefold union of a knowledgt
which unfolds the doctrines of the Cross, Rfaitft which
admits their truth, and a hope which whispers that their
promised blessings shall be his own.

Christian piety being a reasonable service, and
springing not from the vivacity of the imagination, but
from the legitimate use of an understanding enlighten-
ed by the Holy Spirit to perceive what is right, and a
will disposed by the same divine Agent to embrace it,
must of necessity pre-suppose knowledge as a prepara-
tive for faith ; for although, in various instances, faith
is seen to consist with a considerable degree of igno-
rance, yet it never appears so exalted, so spiritual, and
consequently so much resembling the full assurance of
celestial intelligences, who drink immediately at the
fountain-head of wisdom itself, as when it is grounded
on an extensive view of the whole economy of re-
demption, in all its bearings and results. But while by
the recognition of this truth we prevent that unnatural

40 FULL ASSURANCE

alliance which superstition once thought fit to form be-
tween devotion and ignorance, we must guard infinitely
more against that pride which would incite the enlight-
ened but unimpressed professor of Christianity to value
his speculative knowledge above the humble faith and
ardent hope of the less intelligent disciple. A strong
check to this pride is the reflection, that the knowledge
of the one, however accurate or extensive, is but the
ordinary result of tlie human understanding operating
upon a system of speculative truths ; whilst that of the
other, though perhnps detached and circumscribed,
evinces by the practical excellency of its effects, that it
emanated from that divine Enlightener, " frorji whom
all holy desires, all just counsels, and all good works
do proceed."

Since, however, this doctrine though consistent both
with reason and scripture, is opposed, not only to the
ordinary pride of the human heart, but in an especial
manner to the skepticism of an age in which super-
natural agency is exploded as a " cunningly devised
fable," it becomes necessary to view the subject more
at large, and to show that the full assurance of under-
standing is a divine gift, and not a merely human at-
tainment ; a gift freely bestowed upon every ingenuous
and humble inquirer, but withheld in equitable judg-
ment from the presumptuous and insincere.

On this subject the Bible is our only guide ; and to
those who profess to believe its inspiration no other
can appear necessary. VV^iat then is the testimony of
revelation ? Is it not laid down in terms too explicit
for ignorance herself to misunderstand, or sophistry to
evade, that " the world by wisdom knew not God ;"
tliat " the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit
of God ;" and that " the natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God ; for they are foolishness
unto him : neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned."

It is true, indeed, that the apostle in another place

OF UNDERSTANDING. 41

asserts that the heathen had a sufficient idea of a Divi-
nity to render them inexcusable in their wickedness ;
but even admitting that this knowledge might not be an
immediate emanation from Him who never leaves him-
self without witness in the secret tribunal of conscience,
or might not be a vestige of universal tradition, a re-
flected gleam of light on the mountains of error long
after the luminary itself had set in darkness — still it was
by no means that full assurance of understanding which
would lead men to regard their Creator with earnest
hope, unrivalled affection, and implicit confidence, and
to aspire after that holy intercourse and communion
with him for which man was originally created, and
which religion teaches us to look for as the reward of
glorified spirits in a future world.

Sliould it be objected that the above-cited passages
relate merely to the original inability of man to have dis-
covered the truths of revelation, but by no means im-
ply, that those truths being once revealed and open to
inquiry, any superadded assistance is now necessary in
order to produce the full assurance of understanding,
the objection may be obviated by other passages which
not only imply the ignorance of man, but explicitly
point out the agent of bis illumination. " We have an
unction from the Holy One," said the seraphic apostle
St. John, " and know all tilings." Isaiah confidently
predicted, " all tliy people shall be taught of God."
Our Saviour, in strict conformity with this prediction,
promised that after his ascension the Comforter, which
is tlie Holy Ghost, should teach his disciples all things ;
and St. Paul, relying on these assurances, did not
cease to pray for his Colossian charge, that they might
be •' filled with the knowledge of God's will in all
wisdom and spiritual understanding."

It is edifying to observe how forcibly this doctrine
of the divine teaching is inculcated in the formularies
of the Established Church. The Collect for Whit-
sunday is particularly striking : " God, who as at this
4*

42 FULL ASSURANCE

time didst teach the hearts of thy faithful people, by-
sending to them the light of thy Holy Spirit, grant us
by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all
things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort."
Such was the language of our forefathers. Among the
various errors in the scanty creed of modernized the-
ology, the exclusion of the divine interposition is one of
the most glaring. It cannot, however, excite wonder
that t'.iose, w^io are insensible to the want of the Holy
Spirit as a Comforter, should fail to acknowledge him
as an enhghtener and guide. But the true Christian,
feeling his own weakness, and the strength and subtlety
of his spiritual foes, perceives the value of the divine
assistance ; while therefore he " rejoices in the holy
comfort" of the Spirit, he prays to him also for " a
right understanding in all things." He is conscious
that we can neither understand nor obey, without "the
grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may
have a good will, and working with us when we have
that good will." To separate the commands of God
from that proffered assistance which is necessary for
their fulfilment, is to dislocate the whole system of
Christianity. The injunction would be useless without
the promised aid ; but the aid is never denied where
there is a sincere desire implanted to comply with the
injimction. If we are exhorted " to work out our own
salvation," it is immediately added, as a check to pride
and an encouragement to exertion, that " it is God
who worketh in us both to will and to do of his good
pleasure." Thus we are instructed equally to avoid
self-sufficiency and spiritual sloth. We are not to sit
contentedly in indolence, waiting for those influences
which are promised to sincere exertion. The opera-
tion of the divine Spirit was never intended as a bar to
the use of our natural faculties. Were a person to
resolve, that, because he cannot attain the full assur-
ance of understanding by his unassisted endeavours, he
would never use any labour for that purpose, his infe-

OF UNDERSTANDING. 43

rence would be as hostile to scripture as it is to natural
reason. The Holy Spirit is unreservedly promised to
"all that seek him." The evident means, therefore,
of obtaining spiritual understanding is diligent exertion,
accompanied with earnest prayer. Either by itself is
not enough.

A principal cause, perhaps, why persons otherwise
well disposed fail to perceive the reality of the Holy
Spirit's work, is that they confound the agent with the
means which he employs. A pious education, the
intercourse of religious friends, the Christian ministry,
the scriptures and devotional books, are not agents, but
merely instruments, and " means of grace," and would
be therefore wholly ineflicient, but for the powerful
interposition of Him who appointed them to accomplish
his designs. How dim-sighted, then, alas, is man !
from whom the thin veil of ordinances can conceal that
celestial hand which directs them to their destined
end !

From the preceding remarks it will appear that the
acknowledged necessity of the influences of the Holy
Spirit as tlie illuminator of the understanding, is by no
means a doctrine justly chargeable as superstitious, or
tending to check the exertion of our rational powers.
God might indeed produce, in a moment, the full as-
surance of understanding in a heathen who had never
heard of the gospel ; but he has been pleased, in the
general course of his providence, to operate in a man-
ner less apparently miraculous, employing and conse-
cratins; the faculties of the mind and the affections of
the heart to produce the intended effect. The Creator
is ever willing to leach as many as he makes desir-
ous to learn ; so that a failure to search into the doc-
trines of the Bible is a settled contempt of his Holy
Spirit. It is not necessary, under the present circum-
stances of Christianity, that open displays of power,
such as attended the conversion of St. Paul, should be
daily seen to take place. The influences of the bless-

44 FULL ASSURANCE

ed Spirit are not less real for being less ostensible.
We should judge rather by the ultimate and permanent
effect, than by the concomitant circumstances. The
humble Christian, whose religious knowledge has been
gradually and almost unconsciously acquired in his
early years, till at length made effectual by a corres-
pondent faith, will not less acknowledge the omnipo-
tent hand of the divine Enlightener, than a converted
heathen, on whose mind Christianity, like the tropical
sun, has burst with almost instantaneous effulgence.
The silent removal of a doubt, the imperceptible sub-
jugation of a prejudice, even the secret implantation of
a holy desire to examine into the question, if they ul-
timately end in salutary knowledge, prove themselves
to be as much the operation of God as the most mi-
raculous conversion recorded in the annals of the
Christian Church. The influences of the Spirit are
not less valuable or less efficacious when they gently
" distil as the dew," than when they assume the most
energetic and unexpected forms.

It may be urged, that if the divine influences be
oftentimes so gradual and almost imperceptible, there
can be no practical end attained by distinguishing them
from the ordinary operations of the mind ; for that the
doctrine is but a metaphysical subtlety, and of no use
in real experience. To this it might be a sufficient
answer, that if the doctrine had not been of importance,
it would not have been so carefully inculcated in the
volume of revelation. Its practical tendencies are,
however, singularly striking. It teaches humility and
self-renunciation, by instructing us to attribute our reli-
gious attainments not to ourselves but to a higher source.
It guards us against despair, and animates us in our
Christian race, by pointing out to us divine assistance
that is never withheld where it is devoutedly implored ;
while it collaterally proves that degradation of our na-
ture which has made supernatural assistance necessary
to enable us to perceive the glories of a system into

OF UNDERSTANDING. 45

which pure spirits most ardently desire to look. In a
word, it connects God with man, and teaches iis to
view ourselves, not as beings overlooked or forsaken,
but as placed continually under the inspection of a
Heavenly Parent, whose Holy Spirit is ever employed
in enlightening our understandings and divinely influ-
encing our aflbclions.

These two operations are indeed more closely con-
nected than the mere philosoplier might be disposed to
allow. A humble mind and devout affections are emi-
nently serviceable, and even absolutely requisite, in at-
taining the full assurance of spiritual understanding.
Our Saviour said, not that he who possessed the great-
est powers of intellect, but he who wished to do the
will of God, should know of his doctrine, whether it
was of God, or whether he spake of himself.

To a divinely instructed mind, there shines forth
a beautiful consistency in the doctrines of revelation.
The fall and the atonement, the inability of man, and
the assistance of the Holy Spirit, appear evidently
intended to correspond. When man fell, he became
darkened in his understanding, as well as depraved in
his will : his intellectual faculties were obscured, as
w^ell as his moral powers deranged. Those things
which he once intuitively understood became unknown.
His Creator now appeared as a being involved in im-
penetrable mystery, and providence seemed a dark
and inextricable maze. The tempter, while he har-
dened the heart, having also blinded the understand-
ing, the first operation of the Holy Spirit is to remove
the veil, and to restore man to his primeval faculty of
spiritual perception. Hence the apostle says, that
*' the new man is renewed in knowledge after the im-
age of Him that created him." Every thing becomes
new. Where is the proud being, wrapt in conscious
dignity, who trusted to his inherent merit, and chal-
lenged heaven almost as a right .^ He is a penitent,
humbly prostrate at the throne of mercy. He has

46 FULL ASSURANCE

been taught tlie simple fact on which the whole system
of Christianity is founded, namely, the sinfulness of
man. Enlightened by divine instruction, he is sur-
prised that he could so long have failed to perceive
the meaning of texts of scripture the most evident and
important. " By one man sin entered into the v.orld,
and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men,
for that all have sinned." " Who can bring a clean
thing out of an unclean f Not one." " The whole
world lielh in wickedness." " There is none right-
eous, no, no one." "All have sinned, and come short
of the glory of God ;" with various other passages of
similar and equally decisive import.

This fact being once perceived, all things rise in
proof for its confirmation ; for what is the whole histo-
ry of man, but a complicated tissue of weaknesses,
imperfections, and crimes, which awfully illustrate and
confirm the scriptural doctrine of our fallen state .^
Every thing around us proves that man is deeply pol-
luted by sin. What are the pride, the sensuality, the
irreligion, the raging passions of the great body of the
world, but the effects of the general contagion ^ " All
we like sheep have gone astray." Let us compare this
description with real matter of fact. Let us turn, for
instance, to the aged ; to those whom experience has
made wise, and who, being on the very brink of eter-
nity, may be supposed to exhibit the most exemplary
pattern. Delusive expectation ! Fraud, avarice, un-
subdued passions, callousness of heart, and confirmed
habits of sin, are visible on every side. The love of
wealth is usually their predominant passion ; and upon
the very precipice of the grave they stand counting
their gold, heedless of death, who with rapid step si-
lently approaches behind them, preparing to precipitate
them into the tremendous gulf.

But these men, it may be said, are hackneyed in
the ways of the world, and have become gradually con-
taminated by continual bad example. Let us then

OF UNDERSTANDING. 47

turn to the bloom of childhood. Here we may, per-
haps, discover minds untainted. Evil passions may
here be unknown, and contagious example may not yet
have produced its hateful effects. Purity and in-
nocence, which have been exiled from the busy world,
may here have found a congenial abode. Ah, no !
nothing like it ; the farthest from it possible. Every vice
and passion exists here in embryo. Pride, obstinacy,
revenge, selfishness, falsehood, are but a small portion
of the vices evident at our first entrance.

But the refinements of society may make a differ-
ence. Turn then to the higher walks of life. Still
the same scene, gilded indeed with wealth, and varnish-
ed with elegance, yet still substantially the same. Yet
before we despair, let us behold the cottage of the pea-
sant. This may possibly be a more innocent and hea-
venly spot. The contagion of cities and of courts may
not have penetrated here, and the continual presence
of the works of nature, and the simplicity of rural em-
ployment, may have given the mind a more celestial
inclination. Vain expectation ! The refinements of
life may not indeed have found their way to so remote
a scene ; but sin, die universal guest, has obtained ad-
mittance. Here are all the vices of the higher ranks,
without that tbin veil of refinement, which, though it
cannot render them less criminal, makes them at least
less openly disgusting. Particularly we may observe
profaneness, inebriety, theft, and that general brutality
of character which is the natural consequence of sin.
No rank, therefore, no profession, is free from the dire
contagion.

The renovated understanding thus convinced of sin,
cannot fail to observe those passages of scripture
which threaten its punishment. These passages are
of the most decisive and awful nature. " The wages
of sin is death." " The wicked is reserved unto the day
of destruction." " The wrath of God is revealed from
heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of

48

FULL ASSURANCE

men." " Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire,
and brimstone, and a horrible tempest. This is the
portion of their cup."

With tliose passages which thus speak of the sinful-
ness of mankind and the wrath of God impending over
his head, the full assurance of understanding combines
those also which point out his inability to procure par-
don or justification in the sight of his Maker by his
own merits and obedience. " Enter not into judg-
ment with thy servant, O Lord, for in thy sight shall no
man living be justified." " If thou be righteous, what
givest thou unto God, or what receiveth He at thy hands ?
Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art, and thy
righteousness may profit the son of man." '' My
goodness extendelh not unto thee." " There is none
righteous, no not one." " All our righteousnesses are
as filthy rags."

But, while on the one hand the enlightened under-
standing thus contemplates

" Man's first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our wo,
With loss of Eden,"

it perceives throughout the volume of inspiration men-
tion made of " one greater man," who, by his obedi-
ence and death, should

" Restore us, and regain the blissful seat."

This most animating and delightful doctrine ap-
pears conspicuously in every part of tlie Bible. " As
by one man many were made sinners, so by one shall
many be made righteous." " God hath not appointed
us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus
Christ." " He hath made him to be sin for us who
knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him." " Christ hath once suilbred for sins,
the just for the unjust, tliat he might bring us to God."

OF UNDERSTANDING. 49

" He hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, by
being made a curse for us." " He was delivered for
our offences, and rose again for our justification."

The doctrines of the depravity and impotency of
mankind, and the vicarious sacrifice and obedience of
Christ being thus proved, the renewed understanding
naturally proceeds to investigate the nature of the bles-
sings procured by the atonement ; and reposing upon
the promised guidance of the Holy Spirit in its re-
searches into divine truth, it cannot fail to obtain all
needful information. Is man sinful and exposed to
the divine wrath ^ Pardon is ensured. " I have blot-
ted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a
cloud thy sins." " God was in Christ reconciling the
world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto
them." Is the human heart by nature at enmity with
God ? Reconciliation and peace are obtained. " You
that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your
minds by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled."
" Being justified by faith, we have peace with God."
Was man unrighteous and unholy ? " In the Lord
shall all the seed of Israel be justified." " Ye are
washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified, in the name
of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."
Was he exposed to the unutterable penalties of the
second death ? Jesus Christ " abolished death, and
brought life and immortality to light through the gos-
pel." " He became the author of eternal salvation to
all them that obey him." " These are they that came
out of great tribulation, and liave washed their robes,
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb ; there-
fore are they before the throne of God."

The procuring cause of these inestimable blessings
being thus ascertained to be the obedience and death
of Christ, the method in which they are conveyed to
the recipient naturally becomes the object of inquiry ;
nor will the scriptures conduce less to enlighten the
mind on this than on the former points of investigation.
5

50 FULL ASSURANCE

*' We conclude," saith the Apostle, " that a man is
justified hy faith, without " the deeds of the law."
Should it be asserted, (what cannot however be prov-
ed,) that Saint Paul intended only the ceremonial law,
still this exalted grace will not hence be excluded from
its office of justifying ; for he expressly affirms, in
another place, that " God shall justify both the circum-
cision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith."
" By grace ye are saved through faith.'''' " Whosoever
believeth on Him, shall receive remission of sins ;" but
" without faith it is impossible to please God."

The full assurance of understanding will easily ob-
viate the difficulty which appears, at first sight, in com-
paring those texts which speak of all men as naturally
sinful and unholy, with those which declare that " with-
out holiness no man shall see the Lord," by referring
to that renewal of heart, that implantation of a sacred
principle, which is represented as making us " meet
to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light."
If man be naturally unfitted by sin for a world where
nothing that defiles can procure admission, what can
be more consistent with reason than that such a change
should take place as is expressed in scripture by the
terms conversion, being horn again, and being raised
to newness of life ^

ShiOuld it be objected, that nothing more is intended
by these expressions than what is necessarily conveyed
in the Sacrament of Baptism, it would be easy to ad-
duce various passages of scripture, 'which distinctly
speak of the " renewing of the Holy Ghost," as well
as the " washing of water ;" of an inward and spiritual
grace, as well as an outward and visible sign. But
let us appeal to facts. Is it not a matter of notoriety
that Baptism is not necessarily followed by holiness of
heart or morality of life ? Must not therefore some
change be necessary which Baptism does not always
convey ? If a baptized person can become a delibe-
rately wicked character, what alternative is there, but

OF UNDERSTANDING. 51

either to give him up as beyond the reach of mercy,
or to inculcate the necessity of conversion, that is, an
entire renovation of heart, to make him meet for a
world which an impenitent sinner cannot obtain and
could not enjoy. The instructed understanding cannot
therefore but perceive the doctrine of an entire mental
transformation to be an important scriptural tenet, and
will consequently acknowledge in the words of Divinity
itself, that '^ except a rnan be born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God."

The full assurance of understanding is conspicuous
in reconciling two important articles of belief, which,
by the unskilful and irreligious, are usually represented
as in direct opposition ; namely, the absolute freedom
of salvation procured by Jesus Christ alone, and gra-
tuitously applied to us by faith, irrespectively of human
works or human merit, and the equally absolute ne-
cessity of that imparted " holiness without which we
cannot see the Lord."

There are three common errors on this subject.
The first, which imagines our supposedly good works
to be the real ground of our acceptance with God, is
confuted by Saint Paul, who teaches that " we are
jusii^ed freely by God^s grace through the redemption
that js in Christ Jesus." The second, which allows
that justification may be obtained by a speculative faith
unproductive of good works, is silenced by the pointed
interrogation of Saint James, " C^n faith save him?"
The third, which combines the grace of God and our
own works as co-efficients in procuring salvation, (a
doctrine the most common, and not the least delusive
of the three,) is refuted by that decisive passage, in
which Saint Paul abundantly shows the impossibility of
such a union : " If by grace, then it is no more of
works ; otherwise grace is no more grace ; but if of
works, then it is no more of grace ; otherwise work is
not work." But the well-informed and well-disposed
inquirer readily escapes these difficulties by viewing

52 FULL ASSURANCE

the merits of Christ as the procuring cause, faith as the
appropriating and uniting principle, and hohness, which
is the generic term under which all good works as
well as motives are included, as the necessary result.
Widely differing from the self-righteous man, he as-
serts that our trust for salvation must be placed entire-
ly on Christ's having suffered and fulfilled the law for
us, while he explicitly denies the latitudinarian infer-
ence, that we are therefore emancipated from moral
restraints. He views the Messiah as a Prophet, a
Priest, and a Saviour ; but he does not reject him as
a Prince, a model, and a guide ; a reformer of human
manners, and a patron of moral excellence. While
he perceives the indispensable necessity of faith, he
does not forget that God observes actions as well as
sentiments, and that Christianity is a regulator of the
life as well as of the creed.

The preceding remarks are by no means intended
to discourage the uneducated Christian, who laments
his inability fully to comprehend the whole system of
divine truth in all its harmonies and relations ; espe-
cially since the expression, " the full assurance of un-
derstanding," refers, perhaps, upon the whole, rather
to the certainty and stability, than to the extent of our
spiritual comprehension. Knowledge may be limited,
and yet be perfect in its kind. It is not for man, the
being of a moment, accurately to survey with his fee-
ble glance an edifice whose base is the whole world,
and whose summit aspires beyond the third heavens :
it is enough for him, if perceiving its utility, he be
taught to shelter in it his defenceless head before the
impending storm. The best informed Christian, as
well as the most ignorant, must lament with the Apos-
tle, " We see but in part and know but in part," and
each has an equal claim to derive comfort from the
subsequent declaration, that, " When that which is per-
fect is come, that which is in part shall be done away."
The obvious and important inquiry is not so much

OF UNDERSTANDING. 53

whether our knowledge be complete, as whether it be
of the right kind ; whether it embrace the essentials of
Christianity, and whether it evidence itself to be that
" wisdom w^hich cometh from above," by being " first
jDure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated,
full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and
without hypocrisy." On subjects unimportant in
themselves, or unimportant to us, it will be no diminu-
tion of our felicity to have been uninformed, especial-
ly if the consciousness of our ignorance teach us to as-
pire more ardently after those regions of light and
knowledge, where doubt shall be lost in certainty, and
probation be exchanged for reward.

It is important to remark, that the full assurance of
Christian understanding is invariably accompanied with
Christian humility. The arrogant dogmatists in the
professing church of Christ, are usually those who have
blindly moulded one half of revelation into a system,
without regarding that other half, which would have
tau2;ht them to modify or correct their premature con-
clusions. Nor is this observation unconfirmed by gen-
eral experience in other sciences. The deep philo-
sopher, who perceives the difficulties which encompass
either side of his favourite system, is usually less ar-
rogant than the mere sciolist who espouses the dogma
without entering into the merits of the objection, and
therefore ignorantly asserts what he cannot defend.
Modesty and understanding should ever be combined
in the Christian character. If the philosopher be
taught self-diffidence, by knowing that every atom that
floats in the sun-beam, every drop that sparkles in the
ocean, may furnish questions which the most enlight-
ened cannot answer, and difficulties which the most
profound cannot solve., how much more the Christian,
whose difficulties are greater in proportion as the sub-
ject which he attempts to investigate is more removed
from the ordinary province of the human understand-
liig. It is, indeed, as certain as it is consoling, that we
5*

54 FULL ASSURANCE

may, without difficulty, comprehend all that is neces-
sary for our happiness here or hereafter ; but those
things which would only satiate our curiosity, without
influencing our motives or regulating our actions, are
wisely involved in undeveloped mystery. The full as-
surance of understanding, though it does not attempt to
fathom those doctrines which are evidently among the
" secret things which belong unto God," will, however,
readily perceive the practical ends which they were in-
tended to impress. If, for example, it cannot account
for the introduction of moral evil into a world of holi-
ness and felicity, it will be content to admire and adore
that infinite wisdom which contrived out of it to educe
good, and condescend to disclose in the volume of in-
spiration a remedy commensurate with the disease. If
it cannot unfold the mystery of the Trinity, it will hum-
bly submit to the scriptural statement, knowing it to
have proceeded from God himself : it will believe the
divinity of the three sacred Persons, and endeavor to
become acquainted with them in their various relations
to the Christian — thus deriving every practical benefit
from the doctrine, without professing to unravel the
difficulties with which it is surrounded. If the passing
events of Providence, and the unaccomphshed designs
of futurity, appear confused and inexplicable, the re-
newed understanding is satisfied with ascertaining the
consolatory fact, that " all things work together for good
to them that love God, that are the " called according to
his purpose," the government being for that end placed
upon Him who *' redeemed his church with his own
blood."

But while the full assurance of understanding en-
deavours to trace in scripture the stupendous system
of human redemption, it naturally proceeds to inquire
into the exciting cause of such astonishing effects.
Contemplating with wonder the exuberant streams of
mercy, it ascends to their inexhaustible fountain, the
infinite, the gratuitous, the immutable love of God, un-

OF UNDERSTANDING. 55

folded in the person of his dearly beloved Son. But
here tlie powers of the understanding sink beneath the
delightful task. God is love ! — Love ineffable ! es-
sential ! unchangeable ! Our views of Christianity
cannot be said to amount to the plenitude of under-
standing, unless we are enabled to encircle every thing
else wiili this golden chain which bounds and connects
the whole. The heaven-taught mind will perceive
this essential attribute of the Deity displaying itself
from everlasting, in ordaining a remedy for the fall of
man ; in devising that immutable covenant, that
" counsel of peace," by which the co-equal with the
Father was to leave the right hand of the Majesty on
high, to '^ take upon him the form of a servant, to be
made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
those who were under the law," that " bringing many
sons to glory," he might " see the travail of his soul
and be satisfied." Inconceivable philanthropy ! How
does every idea of human merit and human pride fade
away, while we gaze at this dazzling scene of divine
mercy and compassion ! How should the suavities of
our bosom be enlarged and multiphed towards our fel-
low-creatures while we contemplate this mysterious,
this unspeakable charity of our common Parent ! Once
arrived, in the full assurance of understanding, to the
contemplation of so interesting a theme, there remains
in scripture an exhaustless subject of devout medita-
tion for the longest life. New excellencies will every
day unfold themselves. The Christian advancing in
divine knowledge resembles a mariner gliding down a
river ! at first the stream appears shallow, and he
seems almost to touch the bank on either side ; hut as
he proceeds it becomes deeper and wider, till at length
he is lost in an ocean where his plummet can find no
bottom, his eye can perceive no bounds.

56 FULL ASSURANCE

THE FULL ASSURANCE OF FAITH.

It is important in studying the sacred volume, ever to
retain in mind that it was not intended to be written
with that systematic precision which is expected in
works of merely human science. Without adopting
the formality of mathematical discussion, it seemed fit
to the Author of all Wisdom to inculcate in the course
of epistolary, prophetic, historical, or devotional writ-
ing, the most important truths in the way best adapted
for general instruction. Even in the more argumenta-
tive books, remote inferences, fervent appeals, sudden
ejaculations, rapid transitions, followed often by a re-
sumption of the subject equally rapid and unexpected,
characterize the method of instruction adopted in the
sacred writings. Human artifice is evidently discard-
ed ; so that amidst images and doctrines the most
sublime, every thing partakes of a simplicity which
banishes all idea of fraud or collusion. Partly, per-
haps, owing to this free method of writing, and partly
to the imperfection of human language, we often find
in scripture the same word used in different accepta-
tions ; so that we are mercifully constrained to peruse
its various parts, " comparing spiritual things with spi-
ritual," in order to form a perfect idea of almost any
one subject. These observations are suggested by
considering the different scriptural significations at-
tached to the important word Faith, as used in the
inspired writings. It stands not less for that superna-
tural principle which enabled Judas, though a wicked

OF FAITH. 57

man, to work miracles ; for that transient feeling which
supported Demas for a time, but could not prevent his
ultimate relapse ; and for that theoretical persuasion in
Agrippa by which he believed the prophets, — than for
that saving principle which actuated St. Paul and the
most devoted converts of the primitive church. These
significations, however, though distinct, are analogous,
all implying in their elements a firm persuasion of cer-
tain truths, and differing chiefly in the mode, the dura-
lion, the agent, and the effects of that belief.

It is not an uncommon error to speak of faith as
being little more than the simple result of the judgment
exerted in deciding upon the evidences of Christian-
ity. In its highest sense, however, it is a far more
complex principle, including the operations of the un-
derstanding, the will, and the affections ; comprehend-
ing every spiritual grace, and virtue, and displaying it-
self in acts and habits the most varied and distinct.
Faith employs and concentrates every faculty of the
soul. But however high its attainments, however wide
its influence, it may be ultimately traced to its elemen-
tary principle, a belief in the divine inspiration of the
holy scriptures. The chief danger is when to this
elementary principle, this preparatory attainment, are
attributed those saving effects which can arise only
from a subsequent and superadded grace. Justifying
faith, it is true, is founded on a recognition of the divi-
nity of the Bible ; but the mere recognition of its divi-
nity, is not therefore justifying faith. It is indeed im-
possible to peruse the New Testament without per-
ceiving that effects are attributed to this exalted grace
which cannot be predicated of a mere speculative
belief.

In persons of reflecting minds, it is highly conducive
to the full assurance of faith during the future stages of
their spiritual course, that they should have early ex-
amined into those outward evidences by w4iich the di-
vine inspiration of our holy religion is irrefragably prov-

58 FULL ASSURANCE

ed. It often occurs that religious parents, while they
properly inculcate on their children the necessity of
fahh in its highest signification, overlook the importance
of teaching the outward evidences of Christianity.
Unless therefore they become partakers of this hea-
venly grace, no motive remains but the influence of
education or compliance with custom, for retaining
even the forms of religion : whereas a persuasion of
the truth of the Bible, grounded on rational evidence,
is a permanent principle, and may keep the mind open
to further conviction long after the honest prejudices of
education are effaced.

The full assurance of historical faith may be easily
attained in the due and humble use of the reasoning
powers. Admitting the being of a God, it can be
proved a possible case, that he should reveal himself
to his creature man. The possibility being admitted,
it will appear that it is also highly probable : for if man
was intended to be left entirely ignorant of his Maker,
to what purposes were the higher faculties of his soul
created ? Besides, might not many valuable ends be
attained by such a revelation ? Might not his morals,
with which his happiness is evidently connected, be
possibly rendered more consistent with right reason ^
Might not new motives be added to virtue, and new
discouragements to vice ^ — a result which even an
atheist, who professes to regard the well-being of so-
ciety, must admit to be desirable.

Again — since it is evident that man has by nature a
conscience, which often disturbs his happiness on the
commission of a crime, by suggesting to him ideas of a
superior Being, and perhaps foreboding something of
a futurity, might it not be desirable, for many obvious
reasons, that he should be furnished with more certain
information on the subject ? These, and similar re-
flections, will render the idea of a divine revelation
by no means improbable. At this juncture, Christian-
ity presents itself, and challenges investigation. Is

OF FAITH. 59

there any thing in it that previous to all inquiry renders
it impossible or even improbable that it should have
been a revelation from God ; and which therefore
presents a bar to further discussion ? By no means ;
ibr it relates to subjects, which, if true, are highly im-
portant, and every way worthy to be revealed. What
then are its evidences ? Here a wide field of inquiry
is laid open, from which no person possessing a sound
judgment and a well-disposed mind could ever com-
plain that he returned unsatisfied. What, for instance,
can be more conclusive than a long series of minute
prophecies, followed, many yoars after, by correspond-
ing events ? both which points can be fully proved by
the unimpeachable faith of historical evidences. Where
shall we seek for arguments stronger than the nume-
rous miracles which are attested to have been perform-
ed ; and that in the sight of persons rational and dis-
interested, many of whom may be proved to have
written accounts of what they had witnessed, and to
have suffered the most bitter torments, rather than re-
tract their evidence? How again can we account for
the acknowledged harmony existing between the nume-
rous books that compose the sacred canon,' — books
written at long intervals of time, on subjects the most
various, and infinitely above the unassisted powers of
reason, and by persons of very different stations in life,
(by prophets, by historians, by poets, by legislators, by
fishermen, by mechanics, by kings,) without acknow-
ledging them to have had some common source of in-
formation ; and what source could there possibly be
but the Divinity himself? The extensive diffusion of
the gospel, (a system completely opposed to the na-
tural pride and prejudices of the human mind,) in op-
position both to the secular and the ecclesiastical power
of every nation upon earth, is a fact for which nothing
but supernatural assistance can account. But among
such varied evidences, there is none perhaps more im-
mediately striking than the present state of the Jews,

60 FULL ASSURANCE

and its correspondence with scriptural predictions; a
circumstance observable by all, and which infidelity
itself can never explain away. To many minds, how-
ever, these obvious arguments are not more forcible
than those minute correspondences, those unexpected
corroborations, which diligence has discovered by com-
paring scriptural passages with each other, and w^ith
the works of contemporary authors.

A person unacquainted with the foregoing argu-
ments, may obtain satisfactory evidence of a somewhat
different kind. Observing that wise and good men,
w^hose opinion he has been accustomed to regard with
veneration, acknowledge the scriptures as the word of
God, he has already a presumptive argument in their
favor. This argument is greatly corroborated by his
own examination. He sees the correspondence be-
tween scripture and matter of fact. Having observed
the wickedness which appears in the world, (a state of
things for which no uninspired author has ever been
able to account,) he finds at the very commencement
of the sacred volume the most satisfactory solution of
the difficulty. He discovers in the Bible an exact
and practical description of human nature, whilst the
most boasted theories of philosophers are uniformly
found inapplicable to real facts. Comparing his own
heart with the delineations of it in scripture, he per-
ceives a similarity which convinces him that none but
the Searcher of Hearts could have drawn the picture.
The character ascribed to the Deity, as a being infi*
nitely potent, wise, equitable, holy, beneficent, — a
character so evidently just, yet so widely differing
from Pagan descriptions, confirms him in his belief.
If there be difficulties, as undoubtedly there are, they
are such as may be analogically proved to be very
compatible with a divine revelation. The tendency of
the whole system, even in a moral point of view, is
evidently Jiood, to make men wise, virtuous, and
happy; which is a sufficient evidence in itself that it

OF FAITH. 61

orginated not in human fraud, much less in the sugges-
tions of infernal spirits, but in the infinite source of be-
nevolence and perfection itself.

A conviction grounded on evidence, is at all times a
valuable Christian attainment ; but especially so in an
age of skepticism, and in seasons of great distress and
unbelief. Oftentimes when the affections are cold and
the will vacillating, the judgment retains its hold upon
the divine evidence of Christianity, and thus helps to
support the soul, when every thing else is for a mo-
ment lost. We may be plausibly tempted to view our
other powers as subject to delusion, but we shall not so
easily question the truth of what has been impartially
demonstrated by our boasted faculty of reason ;
especially if having once determined the point, we
keep the leading arguments ever present in our view.
These remarks, however, by no means tend to deny
the absolute necessity of " that unction from the Holy
One," by which alone " we know all things ;" they
only suppose, what is undoubtedly true, that God may
make use of the humble and prayerful exertions of
our rational powers as a n:ieans of grace to confirm
our faith.

But while the importance of a well-grounded his-
torical belief is strenuously maintained, in opposition to
the error of those who assert that Christianity cannot
be proved by rational argument, it must never be for-
gotten that a much higher principle than a mere
speculative or educational belief is necessary to render
us true disciples of Jesus Christ. The evidences of
Christianity are not Christianity itself. If they be im-
portant, as they certainly are, it is solely on account
of the importance of the system to which they refer.
Having therefore once attained a firm belief of the
truth of the gospel, it becomes absurd to confine our
attention wholly, or even chiefly, to this first principle :
" Rather let us go on to perfection." Why content
ourselves with surveying externally the walls and
6

62 FULL ASSURANCE

buttresses of the edifice, when we are invited to enter
and behold its interior beauties f Whilst the merely
theoretic Christian is proving the gospel to be true,
the practical believer is enjoying its blessing ; having
clearly ascertained that gold is to be found in the
mine, he begins to dig in order to obtain it. The
faith to which such high encomiums are attached in
scripture, not only admits the Bible to be true, but
feels it to be practically important. It perceives in
the plan of redemption an incomparable excellence
and congruity, which are of more weight than a thou-
sand external arguments. It finds that the gospel
comes home to the feelings and the heart. The bless-
ings promised are realized. The experience of the
soul corresponds with the conclusions of the under-
standing. All is rational, consistent, and agreeable to
the evidence of fact. This kind of argument is highly
satisfactory, and it is that which the Divine Spirit usu-
ally employs to build up the Christian in his most holy
faith. It is not uncommon for persons to enjoy a high
degree of faith, so as even to be wilhng to become
martyrs for their profession, who know little of the ex-
ternal evidences of Christianity, and who depend for
its truth chiefly upon its wonderful suitability to the
condition of fallen man, and its more than natural in-
fluence on their own minds. Faith, it is indeed cer-
tain, is always grounded upon knowledge ; but that
knowledge may be often far less than the pride of in-
tellect is willing to allow. The mind, gradually en-
lightened by the Holy Spirit, may have perceived at
an early period of investigation, such internal marks of
divinity in the scriptures, as shall possibly lead to the
full assurance of faith long before they conduct to the
perfection of knowledge. A considerable point is
gained, when an inquirer, confessing and feeling the
Bible to be the Book of God, determines unreservedly
to admit and embrace its truths as they successively
unfold themselves to his understanding. A person

OF FAITH. 63

thus humbly and piously disposed is in a state of mind
infinitely more safe, and will arrive at the full assurance
of faith far more certainly, than the most diligent col-
lector of the mere evidences of Christianity. Know-
ledge, however, and faith are both desirable, and in
ordinary cases increase together. They are twin-
sisters, and the presence of the one usually pre-supposes
or induces the presence of the other.

If further proof be wanted to show that Faith, as
used in its higher significations in scripture, is far
more than the bare admission of an orthodox creed,
the effects attributed to it would decide the point.
Saint Peter speaks of it as " purifying the heart ;"
Saint Paul calls it " the faith that worketh by love ;"
and Saint John asserts that it " overcometh the world."
Now, is it not demonstrable by facts, that the principle
which too often passes current in the present day for
Christian faith, is totally inadequate to the production
of these exalted effects f Are not the possessors of it
oftentimes as impure, as worldly, and as selfish, as
though purity, love, and conquest over the world, had
never been recorded as characteristics of saving faith ^

To the Christian grace under consideration is con-
tinually ascribed in scripture the office of purifying us
in the sight of God ; not however as being an intrinsi-
cally good work, or the conditional commandment of
a remedial law, but as uniting us to Christ Jesus, and
thus making us partakers of the benefits which by his
obedience and death he procured for all that believe
in his name. No fact is more conspicuous in scrip-
ture than that Christ suffered on our account, in order
that *' as by one man many were made sinners, so by
one should many be made righteous." The being
made righteous, or its synony me justification, is an im-
portant blessing, implying not merely pardon, but a re-
storation to all our forfeited privileges as completely as
if sin had never existed. The obedience of Christ is
the procuring cause of this justification, but faith is the

64 FULL ASSURANCE

means or instrument of its application to the recipient ;
for faith apprehends the Redeemer in all his relations
to fallen man ; and helieving Him to be made unto us
" wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemp-
tion," relies upon Him for these inestimable blessings.
It appropriates and applies those doctrines which theo-
retical faith admits only as barren speculations. This
observation may be illustrated by a slight review of the
three well-known characters which our Saviour bears
to the Christian, namely, his Prophet, his Priest, and
his King.

As a Prophet, or teacher sent from God, the true
believer not only acknowledges the authenticity of his
mission, but sits humbly at his feet to receive his pre-
cepts. He learns the utter depravity of man, and his
inability to merit heaven by the best obedience which
since the fall it is in his power to bestow. He be-
comes acquainted with the necessity of that repentance
and change of heart which our Saviour so earnestly
inculcated when upon earth. He believes the divinity,
the co-eternity, and co-equality of the three Divine
Persons in the unity of the Godhead, because the In-
carnate Word taught it, both personally, and by his
followers under his unerring inspiration.

Jls a Priest, faith beholds the Messiah offering him-
self a sacrifice for sin, and thus procuring pardon and
justification for all who should believe in his name. It
conceives of this atonement as full, perfect, and satis-
factory, to the exclusion of every thing else as the
meritorious or procuring cause of redemption ; and en-
ables us to rely upon it fully for pardon and accep-
tance with God. To expect salvation in any other
way than as penitent sinners, trusting wholly to the obe-
dience and death of Christ, is to degrade him from his
sacerdotal function. Saint Paul in his epistle to the
Hebrews expatiates on this eminent character of the
Messiah in a manner the most sublime and the most
consolatory — the most impassioned, yet the most judi-

OF FAITH. 65

cious and edifying. Ineffably glorious are the scenes
which he has unfolded to the eye of faith ! He repre-
sents the second person in the Trinity, the co-equal
and co-eternal with the Father, as consenting, by a
divine agreement entered into from everlasting, to be-
come " a great High-Priest," and " once in the end of
the world " to appear " to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself." This covenant, in the fulness of time,
was performed, and Christ Jesus was " made like unto
his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful
High-Priest in things pertaining to God, to make recon-
ciliation for the sins of the people." Thus become in-
carnate, he " through the Eternal Spirit offered himself
without spot to God," and " being made perfect, be-
came the author of eternal salvation unto all them that
obey him." The sacrifice thus fully performed, and
never needing to be repeated, he still retained " an un-
changeable priesthood," in consequence of which " he
passed into the heavens," " to appear in the presence
of God for us." Having prayed and interceded for
his followers when upon earth, he now mediates for
them in heaven, and as a High-Priest offers up their
prayers upon " the golden altar of incense." This
doctrine of the intercession of Christ is embraced by
faith as an important and consoling truth, from the
consideration of which Saint Paul, in his usual method
of deriving the most simple rules of practice from doc-
trines the most sublime, infers that we " should hold
fast our profession," and " should draw near to God
with a true heart, in full assurance of faiths This
heavenly principle therefore beholding Christ Jesus at
the right hand of the Majesty on high, interceding on
our behalf, teaches the Christian to offer up his prayers
in holy confidence and hope, fully assured that his
Heavenly Father is able and willing " to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think," through
the merits and intercession of our adorable High-
Priest.

6*

66 FULL ASSURANCE

As a King, Faith receives his commands, and sub-
mits to his authority. It expels from the heart every
rival povi^er, so that religion becomes the unreserved
allegiance of a willing subject. Devotion to God, dis-
played by a sincere and voluntary, though imperfect,
obedience to his will, whether as relating to our creed
or our practice, is a necessary result of the full assur-
ance of faith. The gospel thus provides in an effectual
manner for good works, by implanting a holy and ac-
tive principle in the mind which cannot fail to produce
them ; while it sets aside pride, by making our salvation
due, not to them, but entirely to the merits of Christ.
The doctrines of " the cross of Christ " are eminently
adverse to human vanity. Salvation is represented as
entirely an act of grace.

To renounce ourselves, — to conquer all the natural
ideas of the fallen mind relative to the attainment of
heaven, — to trust to the mercy of God conveyed to
us solely through Jesus Christ, not for any worthiness
in ourselves, but gratuitously on account of hi^ own
sovereign favor and loving-kindness, — to rely as hum-
ble penitents upon the Saviour of mankind for the ap-
plication of his obedience and merits to us, as our
claim to pardon, justification, and eternal glory, with
a firm belief that such reliance will not be in vain, —
all this, however difficult, however apparently humiliat-
ing, however opposed to the natural suggestions of the
unrenewed mind, seems to be included in the scrip-
tural idea of the assurance of faith. It cannot there-
fore excite wonder that so exalted a principle should
suppose as exalted an Agent, or that an apostle should
in consequence affirm, that " faith is the gift of God."
Ignorance may vaguely depend upon the divine mercy,
because it does not perceive the heinousness of sin, or
estimate aright the justice of God in decreeing its pun-
ishment : — presumption may arrogantly hope to obtain
heaven, because it magnifies our supposed excellence,
and extenuates our real c;uilt, till it has formed such a

OF FAITH. 67

character as it imagines deserves the Creator's appro-
bation ; but for the humble penitent, feeling and ac-
knowledging on the one hand his inherent depravity,
his actual transgressions, and his utter unworthiness,
(all which will appear more aggravated as his repent-
ance is more profound,) — and perceiving on the other
the infinite holiness and inflexible integrity of the
Creator, who has inseparably appended misery to sin,
— for a person thus penitent and thus instructed, pos-
sessing a tender conscience with an enlightened under-
standing, to enjoy the full assurance of faith, is a par-
adox, resolvable only on the principles of the Christian
revelation. Faith and hope thus implanted where,
humanly speaking, despair appeared inevitable, evince
themselves to be indeed " the gift of God."

It is not unusual, w-hen the necessity of faith is men-
tioned, to subject oneself to a reproof, as if the import-
ance of good works had been denied ; a supposition
both ungenerous and unjust. Even could it be proved
that the doctrine of justification by faith is hostile to
morality, this fact could not efface that doctrine from
the Bible, where it appears in characters indelible by
human artifice ; but it would furnish an argument much
stronger than any that has ever been yet suggested,
against the divine inspiration of that volume. No
method therefore of defending the honor of Christian-
ity can be more injudicious than merging or softening
down the doctrine of justification by faith in order to
inculcate, as we suppose, more forcibly, the necessity
of good w^orks. It is the most candid, and indeed the
most judicious method, boldly to meet the supposed
difficulty, without endeavoring by forced constructions
to steal from the sacred volume a doctrine, which, after
all our efforts, will still appear too conspicuously to be
concealed.

But, in reality, what difficulty is there in the sub-
ject, v/hen it is expressly allowed that where there is
not morality and obedience there cannot possibly be

68 FULL ASSURANCE

faith ? It is not a dead faith, but a holy and effica-
cious principle, which is contended for. Faith, it is
true, operates immediately upon the understanding, the
affections, and the will ; but is it therefore hostile to
outward correctness of conduct ? Does holiness of
heart necessarily preclude morality of hfe ? Cannot
a converted penhent believe that his sins, though
many, are pardoned through the obedience of his sure-
ty, without consequently feeling a desire to renew
them ? Is it not even possible that he may have so
completely felt the wretchedness, the folly, and ingrat-
itude, as well as the impiety of a sinful life, that a re-
turn to it would not be an emancipation but an intole-
rable slavery ?

Cleanse the fountain, that the streams may be pure,
is the dictate of wisdom. If good works be necessary
or desirable, as undoubtedly they are, begin with the
sources of action. " Out of the heart proceed evil
thoughts, murders, adulteries," and every other crime ;
the heart therefore must be purified, if the conduct is
to be reformed. Now is not the purifying of the heart
expressly mentioned by Saint Peter, in the Acts of
the Apostles, as the property of faith f Any principle
short of this would have produced only a partial and
perhaps transient effect. But that which sanctifies,
not merely the conduct, but the heart, becomes uni-
versal in its influence. Nothing can interfere with its
operation. A pebble thrown into the current agitates
not the fountain-head ; but if the fountain-head be
agitated, the current necessarily becomes disturbed.
Why then in religion alone should men be censured
for beginning with the beginning ? Why when they
attempt to inculcate a " religion of motives," should
they be censured as vindicating licentiousness of con-
duct ^ Good works are confessedly indispensable, but
faith is the germ from which they must spring. Holi-
ness, from which good works necessarily flow, is es-
sentially connected with justifying faith. We are as

OF FAITH. 69

much said to be " sanctified in Christ Jesus," as to be
justified by his merits and obedience. A principle
which purifies the heart causes war with all that is im-
moral in the hfe ; so that where faith exists, a divine
sanctity pervades the soul, rendering us " meet to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light," and
producing in the conduct " whatever is lovely and of
good report."

Again, faith " worketh by love." Its origin, its ten-
dency, its end, are congenial to the most amiable dis-
positions of the soul. It involves nothing austere or
terrific in its operations. It wields not the torch of
the inquisitor, or the lash of the self-tormenting devo-
tee. Its "Author and Finisher" is the glorious and
gracious Being who is emphatically denominated
" Love." Aspiring towards its source, it teaches us
to " love him because he hath first loved us." Hence
faith, working by love, incites to a cordial and filial
obedience to his commands, and thus affords the
strongest pledge for morality and good works. Duty
becomes pleasure, obedience a delight. But whilst
God is honored, mankind also is benefited ; for the
humble penitent, gratefully remembering that Christ
died for him, will remember that he died not for him
alone. The being partners in the same misfortune and
the same remedy becomes a new source of attachment
to our species. Faith, therefore, while it " worketh
by love," in elevating the soul in devout affections to
our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, operates no
less in benevolence towards all mankind. It prompts
us to love God, but we cannot do this without loving
our brother also. The circles are distinct, but they
are concentric, and we cannot embrace the larger
without including the less. The Messiah comprised
the whole law in two commandments, neither of which
is ever kept where the other is disregarded. True
faith honors both. The apostle teaches us that of the
three cardinal graces of our holy religion, the greatest

70 FULL ASSURANCE

is charity ; by which he undoubtedly means a princi-
ple of love to God followed by love to man, and
prompting to every exertion and every sacrifice in the
cause both of our Creator and of human kind. Char-
ity therefore must be applauded as the highest of
Christian graces ; but charity, it must never be forgot-
ten, is the daughter and the inseparable companion of
Christian faith.

It is by no means a subject for surprise that, persons
accustomed to understand by the word Faith a vague
inoperative principle, a merely speculative or educa-
tional assent to a system of religious truths, should
exclude it from the important office of justifying, or
should ask in the well-known, but often-perverted
words of St. James, " Can faith save him ?^^ Justifi-
cation is indeed a blessing of such inestimable value,
that too much caution cannot possibly be exerted in
determining the mode of its attainment. It is readily
acknowledged, that if a mere recognition of the truths
of religion, a barren faith teaching us to call Christ
" Lord, Lord," without doing his will or walking in
his steps, were the instrument of justification, the ut-
most injury would accrue to the sacred interests of
morality. But when the case is widely different,
when the heavenly principle, to which the office of
justifying is attached, is one producing every result
which the moralist can desire, we need fear no danger
from the assertion of St. Paul, that " a man is justi-
fied by faith." The faith of the Christian is the fruit-
ful parent of all that Is excellent both in the heart and
life. The Apostle John incidentally furnishes us with
the two premises of a syllogism which undeniably
shows how incompatible are faith and immorality.
" Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin ;"
" Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born
of God ;" the conclusion from which is irresistible,
that whosoever believeth that Jesus Is the Christ doth
not commit sin, at least habitually and with a willing

OF FAITH. 71

consent. Both Saint Peter and Saint Paul, in speak-
ing of the all-sufficiency of faith, guard their doctrine
from abuse by alluding to one or more of its essential
properties, in order that their converts might not boast
of an inefficient creed while their hearts and conduct
were unrenewed. Faith, that purifieth the heart and
worketh by love, could not easily be supposed to mean
a mere barren assent to the truth of Christianity.

Among the characteristic properties of faith there is
no one more remarkable than that mentioned by Saint
John, and to which allusion has been already made,
namely, that it " overcometh the world." It is evident
from universal experience, that no other principle can
produce this effect. Faith, however, performs it by
a mode of operation peculiar to itself; by presenting to
the view things that are invisible, and showing their
great superiority to the vanities of time and sense. —
The reason why men prefer this world to that which
is to come, is not that their judgment is convinced, but
that their passions are allured. Heaven is allowedly
the greater object, but it is distant and invisible :
whereas the world is ever at hand with its fascinations.
It assumes every shape, addresses itself to every passion,
obtrudes into every recess. We are never free from
its influence. Whatever we see around us is the world ;
and if we look into our own hearts, the world and
worldliness are triumphant there. The voluptuous
man worships it in the shape of pleasure ; the covetous,
of gold ; the ambitious, of honour ; the retired, of
ease. It dvv^ells in cities ; but, not confined to these,
it seeks the lonely retreat, it enters the temple of the
Almighty, it intrudes into the closet of the most
heavenly-minded Christian. Persons the most unlike
in every other respect are here equally enslaved. The
profligate and the morahst, the infidel and the ostenta-
tious devotee, are under its influence. Business and
pleasure, pride and pretended humility, sensual and

72 FULL ASSURANCE

intellectual enjoyments, all partake more or less of the
world.

An object thus prepossessing, and thus obtrusive,
must of necessity influence our minds, unless some-
thing more important be introduced. " Now, faith is
the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen." It brings heaven nigh. It antedates
eternity. It prevents the unhallowed intrusion of the
world by pre-occupying its place, and presenting to
the mind objects infinitely more important, and which
are overlooked only because they are remote and
spiritual. Upon every earthly scene it inscribes,
" Vanity of vanities, all is vanity ;" while it invests
every thing relating to a future world with inconceiva-
ble importance. Men in general view heaven as a
dream and earth as a reality, and their conduct cor-
responds to their perceptions ; but faith reverses the
scene, and thus " it overcometh the world." It pre-
sents motives to duty more forcibly than the highest
temporal considerations, whilst it assures us of that
divine encouragement and support which alone can
enable us to surmount every impediment. This is a
double influence, and is not easily counteracted.

St. Paul illustrates his definition of faith by nume-
rous examples. He represents Moses, for instance,
as surrounded with the world in its most attractive
forms. He possessed the pleasures, the affluence, and
the wisdom of Egypt, and was presumptive heir to its
crown. These were objects visible and tangible ; but
faith weighed them in the balance of the sanctuary,
and found them lighter than nothing and vanity, so
that he in consequence " esteemed the reproach of
Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for
he had respect to the recompense of the reward."
Faith was thus " the evidence of things not seen." —
The Apostle continues to exemplify his position by a
glorious " cloud of witnesses," proving to the Hebrews
that faith in the expected Messiah had enabled their

OF FAITH. 73

forefathers to overcome the world in its most varied
forms. Its blandishments and its tortures were equally
impotent: pleasures could not seduce their affections,
nor pain overcome their constancy. The inference he
deduces is, that we, who enjoy greater information, and
have witnessed the coming of Him whom they only
expected, should imitate their example, and " run
with patience the race that is set before us, looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith."

In the present day, we have not indeed those appal-
ling difficulties to overcome with which the apostle and
his contemporaries were environed : but the world is
an enemy ever present, an enemy that must be hourly
opposed, but which can never be conquered but by the
same principle which enabled so many of the primitive
Christians to become martyrs for the cause of their
Redeemer. Saint John triumphantly inquires, " Who
is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth
that Jesus is the Son of God f" Surely no one. All
other men are its slaves and willing captives. It never
even occurs to them that they are required to over-
come it ; or that its " pomps and vanities" are to be
renounced by the express letter of their baptismal en-
gagements. On the contrary, they lament that they
cannot revel more fully in its enjoyments. If any new
species of worldly gratification be invented, they long
to taste its delights. The man who possesses most of
the spirit of the world, and has drunk deepest of its
poisoned chalice, becomes an object of admiration and
envy ; while the Christian, who has in any considerable
measure lived up to the spirit of his baptismal vows, is
regarded with mingled hatred and contempt.

But what, it may be asked, is the nature of that
world which faith teaches and enables us to overcome ?
The " beloved apostle" speaks of it as comprising " the
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life,"

The first of these is subdued by really believing that
*' our bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghost," and
7

74 FULL ASSURANCE

constantly calling to mind, that " the grace of God
which bringeth salvation, teaches us, that, denying un-
godliness and worldly lust, we should hve righteously,
soberly, and godly in this present world."

The second, which includes every kind of covet-
ousness, is not less a characteristic of the world than
the former. If we use illicit means to procure riches,
if we covet our neighbour's possessions to increase
them, if we sacrifice to them that time and attention
which ought to be devoted to our Creator, if we love
them inordinately, if we dispose of them merely for our
personal gratification, without considering the impor-
tant purposes for which they were sent, we are among
those unhappy persons described by Saint Paul, who,
not perceiving that " the love of money is the root of
all evil," " have erred from the faith, and have pierced
themselves through with many sorrows." The full as-
surance oi faith would evidently have prevented these
unhappy effects.

The third characteristic of the world is " the pride
of life," which no principle short of true faith can ef-
fectually subdue. Pride, we might almost imagine,
was that fabled Proteus which sprung up in a new
form after every apparent conquest, — that hydra
which multiplied sevenfold as often as wounded, — that
Antaeus which could never be conquered on his native
earth. The man of business is often proud of liis
skill, the man of family of his honors, the vigorous of
his strength, the affluent of his riches, the learned of
his talents, the elegant of his accomplishments ; nay,
often the Christian himself of his spiritual graces and at-
tainments. But faith abases pride, by pointing out Him,
*' who, being in the form of God, and thinking it no
robbery to be equal with God," yet " made himself of
no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of man ; and being found
in fashion as a man, humbled himself, and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."

OF FAITH. 75

Pride shrinks away from a sight like this. The char-
acteristic of Christian faith is Christian humility. The
man of piety views himself as a heing fallen from the
state of dignity and happiness in which he was created,
into an immeasurable gulf of sin and misery. His
passions, his transgressions, his ignorance, his corrupt
affections, his unhallowed will, the temporal and eter-
nal punishment which he deserves, contrasted with the
unmerited mercies which he has received, and the still
greater, which through the merits of his Saviour he
expects, all tend to create deep self-abasement and
humility. " Pride was not made for man."

It is remarkable, how completely this description of
the things which are in the world, and which faith is
required to overcome, seems to include many of the
most fashionable amusements of the present age. If
any diversion, however specious the forms it may as-
sume, (forms, perhaps, so specious as oftentimes to
gain it admission into families otherwise moral and
exemplary,) tend in any manner to inflame the sensual
passions, to foster or gratify the insatiable cupidity of
the selfish heart, or to encourage that pride of life
which religion so severely condemns, it is surely in-
cluded under those things which faith may and ought
to overcome. Whether scenic amusements and public
assemblies be not usually conducted in such a way as
to bring them under both the first and third of these
characteristics, may deserve inquiry before we venture
to join in them. Gaming, in all its forms, is evidently
included in the second. A man who enjoys the full
assurance of faith, cannot possibly delight in unhallow-
ed pleasures. The spirit and the temper of his mind
are at variance with them. If any amusement be un-
dertaken with a view to our health or innocent recrea-
tion, it cannot be unlawful, so long as we find it does
not unfit us for our duties to God and our neighbour ;
so ions; as it does not encroach on moments that should

76

FULL ASSURANCE

be better employed, and does not indispose the mind
for meditation, prayer, and self-examination ; but if
any one of these effects arise from our partaking in any
diversion, either the diversion was sin in itself, or was
pursued to an inordinate excess, both which render us
criminal in the sight of God. Were we always to live
in the full assurance of faith, the most trivial occur-
rences of life would be consecrated by its influence ;
but " whatsoever is not of faith is sin ;" so that every
pursuit on which we cannot consistently expect the di-
vine blessing becomes a crime. The true Christian
desires not any stronger argument against question-
able amusements than the words of Saint John — " these
things are not of the Father, but of the world." To
him who desires to live up to the spirit of his baptismal
engagements, this apostle could urge no stronger ob-
jection against the world than that it is worldly ; as
Saint Paul, in describing the malignity of sin, says only
that it is " exceeding sinful."

To a person just beginning to yield himself up to
his Creator, the world is a most formidable enemy ;
for his faith, though genuine in kind, may not yet be
sufficiently matured to effect so great a conquest as is
implied by victory over the world. Struck with a
sense of our real interest, and feeling the unparalleled
importance of eternity, we resolve for a moment to
profess ourselves decided followers of Christ, and de-
sire to live up to our holy profession ; but too soon the
impression is obliterated, and the discarded syren,
with her allurements or her frowns, regains us to her-
self. Such is her influence, that if she cannot fasci-
nate, she overpowers ; if she cannot make sin appear
smiling and agreeable, she equally succeeds by repre-
senting holiness as terrific and austere. We dare not
be different from the majority of heedless beings
around us, although we believe our salvation depends
upon the issue. We sacrifice our souls for the sake

OF FAITH. 77

of fashion, and prefer the broad way that leadeth to
destruction, because it is the common custom among
our associates to walk in it.

As the world is one of the first enemies which
Christian faith has to encounter, so also it remains one
of the last. It clings to our dying pillow. It inter-
poses between us and heaven. Faith may have over-
powered our natural fear of death and dread of futurity,
long before it has completed its conquest over this ver-
satile enchantress. If, however, we do not find that
terrestrial scenes become daily less important to us;
that the w^orld with its opinions, its pleasures, and its
possessions, is sinking in our view — that eternity, as
it approaches nearer, becomes more interesting, while
the objects of time and sense relinquish their hold upon
our heart, — we may be assured that we do not possess
that full assurance of faith, whose essential property it
is to overcome the world. Faith, however, by no
means resembles that romantic sickliness of fancy, that
l^everish discontent, that cherished melancholy of poefi-
cal feeling, which not only render their possessor
dissatisfied with the present scene, but also disqualify
him for performing his duty in it. The heavenly grace
under consideration is practically beneficial in its influ-
ence. It does not terminate in gloomy reverie and
self-absorption. While it shows that our time will not
be long, the conclusion which it derives is not that we
may therefore be idle, but, on the contrary, must be
doubly vigilant and active. It evidences its sense of
the importance of eternity, not by neglecting the duties
of time, but by a diligent and conscientious discharge
of them ; knowing that a world of probation, though
transitory and unsatisfying in itself, is awfully momen-
tous in its connexion with the everlasting realities of a
future state, especially at that solemn crisis when we
shall be judged " according to the deeds done in the
body."

To remarks of the preceding nature it is often ob-

78 FULL ASSURANCE

jected, that the state of mind spoken of as constituting
the operation of Christian faith, is but one among the
many modes of factitious excitement, — a mere delu-
sion, engendered and fostered by a well-disposed but
credulous imagination, and by no means encouraged
by the cool and rational spirit of the gospel. If this
objection be admitted, in what way shall we account
for the continual recurrence in scripture of such ideas
as the following : — walking by faith, living by faith,
standing by faith ; of being purified by faith, sanctified
by faith, justified by faith ; of Christians being mutu-
ally comforted by faith, of having access to God by
faith, of Christ's dwelling in men's hearts by faith,
with various other expressions of similar import ? Does
the sacred canon describe as real and essential, what
is but visionary and delusive ? Far from it. If there-
fore Saint Paul avowed that " the life which he lived
in the flesh he lived by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved him and gave himself for him," it is surely
not enthusiastic to expect a somewhat similar, though
perhaps less remarkable experience, in all who profess
the same unchangeable religion.

Faith then is a divine grace, produced externally by
the truths of the gospel, — not however as the efficient,
but the instrumental cause, — and internally by the
teaching of God the Father and the Holy Ghost. —
Without it " we cannot please God." When matured
to full assurance, it produces the most celestial effects.
" Looking unto Jesus," its author and finisher, it ena-
bles us to " lay aside every weight, and the sin that
doth so easily beset us." It prompts us to emulate
that glorious company of saints, confessors, and mar-
tyrs, " of whom the world was not worthy ; " but who
obtained so " good a report through faiths It teaches
us, in the spirit of self-renunciation, implicitly to rely
upon God as " a faithful Creator." From this moment,
" to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Beyond the
valley of the shadow of death the eye of faith perceives

OF FAITH. 79

a heavenly light breaking forth, and gradually increas-
ing to the perfect day. Surrounded with clouds and
darkness here, the Christian beholds an unsetting sun
beaming on the distant hills beyond the grave. If
mortality can boast of happiness, it is the lot of that
man who, ready to depart, forgetting a world which had
proved itself unworthy of his affections, and looking
forward towards his native home, can in the confidence
of his faith assert with Job, " I know that my Re-
deemer liveth ;" or exult with the apostle of the Gen-
tiles, who, in the near prospect of dissolution, his heart
glowing with rapture and melting with divine love,
could exclaim, in a voice already attuned to the music
of the third heavens, " I am ready to be offered, and
the time of my departure is at hand : I have fought a
good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the
faith ; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness, which the Lord the righteous Judge
shall give me at that day." This was the triumph of the
gospel ; the full assurance of Christian faith. Theo-
retical religion, a mere orthodox creed, could never
have exalted the apostle to so sublime, so enviable a
height of gratitude and adoration.

When the moment comes in which the writer and
the reader of these pages, with all their relatives and
friends, and contemporaries, must yield their present
stations to a succeeding race, what more glorious epitaph
can they desire than the aposde's most emphatic words,

" THESE ALL DIED IN FAITH."

80 FULL ASSURANCE

THE FULL ASSURANCE OF HOPE.

HEBREWS, Vi. 11.

The Christian's highest attainment is the full assur-
ance of hope. Faith is the principle that points out the
all-sufficiency of Christ Jesus for our salvation, and
unites us to Him ; but the well-assured expectation of
glory which succeeds this union is more correctly de-
nominated hope than faith. The functions, however,
of these two divine graces are oftentimes so blended,
that it is not easy to draw the exact line of demarca-
tion between them ; so that what is predicated of the
one might in many cases be applied with equal pro-
priety to the other.

Christian hope may be defined a heavenly and well-
grounded expectation of salvation and eternal glory,
by Christ Jesus, in the method propounded in the
gospel.

It is heavenly, both because it emanates from God,
and because it tends towards him. God is called the
" God of hope," and is said to have given the Chris-
tian " a good hope through grace." The principle,
thus celestial in its origin, is not less so in its tendency.
Rising above the mists that hover round sublunary
scenes, it aspires after the invisible source of beatitude
and perfection. Its language is, " Whom have I in
heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth that I
desire in comparison of Thee." Christian Hope is
further defined to be ivell-grounded, in opposition to
the presumptuous hope of the Pharisee, the delusive

OF HOPE. 81

hope of the hypocrite, and the vague dependence of
the careless and uninformed. It is expectation, as dis-
tinguished from perception ; for " hope that is seen is
not hope." Salvation and eternal glory are men-
tioned as its objects, in order to distinguish it from
human and worldly expectations ; for although it is the
exclusive privilege of the Christian that he has " the
promise of the life that now is," as well as " that which
is to come ;" yet his hopes being conversant almost
entirely with objects spiritual and eternal, he learns to
view every thing else as subordinate ; and would be
willing to sacrifice every outward enjoyment, and to
sustain every outward misery, for the hope of the prize
of his high calling. Lastly, — Christian hope can exist
only through Christ Jesus, who is expressly entitled
" our hope," and can be truly derived only in the
method propounded in the gospel, by faith in his name.

If the preceding definition be correct, no principle
that is human in its origin, or worldly in its tendency,
that rests on false or insufficient grounds, or that ex-
pects salvation in any way but solely through the merits
of Christ Jesus in the scriptural method, by a true and
lively faith, can fairly claim the title of Christian hope.

In meditating on this exalted principle, three obvious
considerations occur to the mind, namely, its nature,
its effects, and the means of its attainment and increase.

To comprehend the nature of Christian hope, it is
necessary to consider both the sublimity of the objects
which it embraces, and the immutability of the basis
on which it rests.

Among the objects of the Christian's"^ hope, the first
is pardon of sins. The magnitude of this blessing will
conspicuously appear from the various considerations
which naturally rendered it of improbable attainment.
Was not our forefather and federal representative
forewarned, and was he not endued with power to
stand ? What reason then could there be to hope that
the omnipotent and infinitely just Being, whom he had

82 FULL ASSURANCE

offended, would, under these aggravated circumstances,
condescend to provide a remedy ? Is not the gleam
of hope still farther darkened by considering, that the
only way in w^hich the wisdom of God saw fit that sin
should be pardoned must be by the incarnation and
death of his co-equal and well-beloved Son f Both
the infinite price of redemption, and man's unworthiness
of it, conspired to render it a hopeless blessing. If to
this we add our own personal demerits, our continued,
our multiplied, our aggravated transgressions, our sins
committed against light and against knowledge, against
the remonstrances of God's Spirit and the precepts of
his word, taking also into our view the unbending jus-
tice and unimpeachable veracity of the Creator, — we
shall perceive the pardon of sin to be no ordinary ben-
efaction.

But Christian hope, being commensurate with Chris-
tian faith, looks still higher, expecting not only pardon,
but justification ; that is, a complete and satisfactory
acquittal, an oblivion of every charge against us, and a
re-investiture in all the original but forfeited privileges
of our once happy primogenitor. Hence this animat-
ing principle, though far from attempting to veil the
malignity of sin, or furnishing motives for its encourage-
ment, yet being grounded on a sense of the immeasura-
ble love of God and the infinite value of the Redeemer's
sacrifice, looks forward, even in this world, to the
highest blessings. It humbly expects unfailing sup-
plies of grace in the due use of all appointed means,
with new and continual accessions of knowledge, of
faith, and of holiness. Amidst all the inherent weak-
nesses of the Christian, and the spiritual enemies which
would, if possible, pluck him from his Redeemer's
hand, hope teaches him to expect the preserving mercy
of God to keep him in his arduous course, assured that
whom the Heavenly Parent loveth he loveth unto the
end. Faith having once credited the astonishing as-
sertion of the apostle, that " all things work together

OF HOPE. 88

for good to them that love God, to them that are the
called according to his purpose," the map of provi-
dence, even in its darkest shades, instantly becomes
illumined with the cheering rays of hope. " All
things!" Deprived of health and friends, of the com-
forts and conveniences of life — enough will still remain.
Hope builds upon the universality of the proposition.
We perceive not the mysteries of futurity ; but hope,
mingled with faith, includes them all in the glorious
catalogue of blessings. Every moment, as it glides by
upon its silent pinion, appears commissioned to perform
an errand of mercy. Nature, pursuing her appointed
course, is unconsciously producing the intended effects.
Even losses, afflictions, and persecutions, unexpect-
edly concur in the general design. Enemies involun-
tarily become friends ; and hope, instead of wantonly
lacerating her feet with the briars that infest her path,
contrives from every thorn to pluck a flower. Even
temporal mercies, though but of secondary importance,
are anticipated by her upon the faith of that consoling
promise, " Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his
righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto
you."

Christian hope has its highest triumph where natural
hope entirely fails. It embraces objects unseen and
eternal. It extends beyond the grave. " This is
the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal
life." Faith having taught us that we must rise again,
hope anticipates a resurrection unto happiness. It
expects the moment when our " vile body shall be
made like unto Christ's glorious body," and when,
invested with the garment of the Redeemer's right-
eousness, we shall be found " perfect and entire, lack-
ing nothing." Already hope hears the thrilling accents,
" Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into
the joy of thy Lord." Heaven from that moment be-
gins. The great object for which the world was crea-
ted is accomplished. Fallen man has arrived at the

84 FULL ASSURANCE

portals of the celestial world, and has begun to enjoy
the unclouded presence of his Creator. The glory of
God, to which human felicity was intended to be sub-
servient, is now complete.

Hope, in looking forward to these ineffable scenes,
expects infinitely more than she can conceive. She
limits the anticipated joy by nothing but the power of
the Creator to bestow, and the glorified spirit to con-
tain. Where the full assurance of hope exists, how
intense oftentimes are the aspirations of the soul after
the expected bliss ! Terrestrial objects begin to pall
upon the sense, except when taken in their important
reference to eternity. Nothing but eternity can fill
the expanded soul. Fallen as mankind is, his powers
are still too noble to be satisfied with any thing that
earth can afford. Saint Paul prayed for a blessing,
nothing less than that his Ephesian converts might be
" filled with all the fulness of God." From the death-
bed of the expiring Christian, melhinks I hear the al-
ternately soft breathings and rapturous anticipations of
the heaven-born principle of hope. '' When shall this
mortal put on immortality ? Why, O Lord, are thy
chariot wheels so long in coming ? Why tarry the
wheels of thy chariots ^ When shall this thirsty soul
drink at the fountain-head of the river of life, the
streams of which eternally make glad the city of God ^
Roll swiftly on, ye lingering moments, and bring me to
my eternal reward. Vanish, ye interposing clouds,
that veil from my mortal gaze my Redeemer's throne.
How brightly does eternity begin to dawn upon my
parting soul ! Even now I beiiold the distant shores
to which I am hastening. Already they appear illu-
mined with celestial radiance. The past is forgotten.
The vanities of time gone ! Nothing remains but the
remembrance of the mercy and the truth which have
followed me all my days. God hath been my guide
even unto death, and will sliortly become my portion
forever. Mine eyes shall see the King in his beauty,

OF HOPE. 85

they shall behold the land that is v^ery far off. Every
tear shall be wiped away. The wicked shall cease
from troubling, and the weary shall be at rest. The
disappointments of life are over, and shall never recur.
All is now certainty and repose. My Redeemer hath
triumphed over death and hell : he hath led captivity
captive, and hath insured the victory even to me, the
weakest of his followers. All things are mine, whether
' the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things
to come ;' all are secured to me by the same unaltera-
ble tenure which secures them to my almighty Re-
deemer; for I am Christ's, and Christ is God's. How-
do earthly delights shrink into nothing in comparison
with the glories of eternity ! What equivalent can life,
with all its boasted enjoyments, afford for the uncloud-
ed presence, the beatific smile of Him, * whom, having
not seen, I love ; in whom, though now I see him not,
yet believing, I rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of
glory t ' Every thing short of this is less than nothing
and vanity. But this will satiate the most enlarged
desires of my soul. Then shall 1 be satisfied when I
awake in thy likeness."

Such are the anticipations that oftentimes fill the
bosom of the dying Christian ! Such is his foretaste
of the glory that shall follow ! But, look again — the
last sigh has escaped, and hope has winged her eager
way to scenes where she is forever lost in divine fru-
ition.

If then Christian hope be a principle embracing
such illimitable objects of enjoyment, it becomes
highly necessary to inquire into the stability of the
basis on which it rests. It is no common foundation
that can support so vast an edifice. Were human
merit or human promises our ground of expectation,
we might be eventually obliged to exclaim with Job,
" My hope hast thou removed like a tree." But the
trust of the Christian, being founded upon the immuta-
ble promises of Him who cannot falsify or retract, is in-
8

86 FULL ASSURANCE

finitely more stable than any earthly confidence. The
power of the promiser being supreme, his beneficent
intentions cannot be frustrated ; from which considera-
tion the apostle of the Gentiles was accustomed to
derive the highest satisfaction. " I know in whom I
have believed, and that he is able to keep that which
1 have committed unto him." The eternal hills shall
sink away, the sun shall forget to run his diurnal
course, earth shall be dissolved, and all the starry
w^orlds which adorn the brow of night be blotted from
existence ; but while Deity itself shall survive, the hope
of the Christian is secure. The omnipotence and un-
impeachable truth of the sacred Trinity are combined
with unbounded love and mercy in support of the be-
liever's expectation. Our trust, the apostle affirms,
was made to rest upon " two immutable things in which
it was impossible for God to lie," in order " that we
might have a strong consolation who have fled for
refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us in the
gospel." These two immutable things, therefore,
namely, the promise and the oath of the Eternal, are
irrevocably pledged in behalf of all those who are in-
cluded in the character described. It is consoling to
know that the promises of God are confirmed in Jesus
Christ ; that " in him they are all yea, and in him amen,
unto the glory of God by us." Saint Paul therefore
expressly entitles the Messiah, " the Lord Jesus Christ
our hope." No pledge could possibly be stronger,
or convey more forcibly to our weak minds, (what,
how'ever, would have been equally true thougii no
pledge had been given,) the immutable nature of the
divine promise. No pledge, it is asserted, could have
been stronger ; for " if God spared not his own Son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with
him also freely give us all things ?" A promise sealed
with the blood of the incarnate Son of God is solemn
and inviolable. The obedience of Christ being com-
plete, to the exclusion of every thing human as the

OF HOPE. 87

meritorious cause of salvation, the promised blessings
will not, cannot be withheld from any who answer to
the character described. Unchangeable veracity, al-
mighty power, and godlike beneficence, all concur to
forbid such an idea. We may even conceive that our
Heavenly Parent beholds with sacred complacency the
hope which he himself has implanted ; a hope spring-
ing from him as its source, tending towards him as its
end, and embracing as its objects those eternal realities
which he himself hath taught us to desire.

Such then is Christian hope ; such are its ohjectSj
and such the immutable basis on which it rests.

What then are its effects ? for hope is no dormant
principle ; in the spiritual as well as moral world its
operation is energetic and unceasing. It is the grand
spring of vigour and alacrity. What but the hope of
conquest and renown nerves the arm of the warrior ?
What but the expectation of enjoyment and repose
after the fatigues of the day, supports the laborer
amidst his incessant toil ? Incited by this flattering
principle, the adventurous merchant quits his native
clime, and tempts the dangers of a faithless element.
Unwearied in his pursuit, he contentedly pants be-
neath the fervors of a tropical sun, and braves the
rigors of the tempestuous north. His object is afflu-
ence ; but how often does his hope deceive him ! how
often does his eventful voyage terminate in the bitter-
ness of disappointment ! Even if his end be attained,
how unsatisfactory and how fleeting his envied posses-
sion ! Yet still he persists. And shall Christian hope
— a hope conversant with objects infinitely more im-
portant in their nature, and, which adds inexpressibly
to their value, objects eternal and unchanging — be es-
teemed a speculative or inefficient principle ? The
promises of the gospel were intended to awaken men
to spiritual life and activity. A mere belief of the ex-
istence of Heaven and Hell, without any means of at-
taining the one or avoiding the other, would but have

88 FULL ASSURANCE

chilled the affections of the heart, and have paralyzed
every generous faculty into inaction. It is the pro-
perty of despair to benumb the soul, while hope adds
toit unwonted elasticity and ardor. As the weary
traveller, lost at midnight in the pathless wild, and
scarcely able to urge along his sullen step, if by chance
he perceive at a distance the cheerful glimmering of a
taper, redoubles his pace, and in the eagerness of hope,
forgets for a moment the fatigues and anxieties of the
way, — so the Christian, exploring his path to the hea-
venly Canaan through this vale of tears, is oftentimes
incited by the brightness of the distant prospect to new
exertions in his course, and learns, from the considera-
tion of his most triumphant privileges, to adopt in his
practice the exhortation of Saint Paul, " Be ye stead-
fast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the
l^ord, forasmuch as ye know that you?' labor is not in
vain in the Lord.^^

The Apostle, in writing to the Gentiles, often illus-
trates the practical effects of Christian faith and hope
by allusions to the well-known Grecian games. He
describes, for instance, the candidates in the Isthmian
foot-race, as practising rigid temperance and self-denial,
and submitting to the most painful restraints, in order
to prepare themselves for the important contest. Their
highest ambition was excited ; all their renown acquir-
ed in former victories, and which was usually conside-
rable, and dearer to them than life itself, was now at
stake. This last contest was to decide their lot, and
they were to return home covered with glory, or over-
whelmed with reproaches, the most despised or the
most illustrious of men. Having once become candi-
dates for the prize, there remained no alternative be-
tween the extremes of honor and contempt. To
elevate their minds to the utmost ardor of artificial
excitement, the most studied efforts of friends and
countrymen were incessantly employed. The song
of the poet and the eulogy of the historian continually

OF HOPE. 89

sounded in ibeir ears. No stimulant of virtue to arouse
the torpid energies of the fallen mind was omitted. —
Pride, envy, patriotism, natural affection, and the ap-
probation of their gods, all conspired to raise them to
the highest pitch of phrensied expectation. Thus pre-
lernaturally excited, they approached the eventful
scene. If new incentives were wanting, they were
now abundantly supplied. The presence of their
kings and heroes, of their poets and philosophers, the
alternately breathless silence and rapturous shouts of
myriads of their expecting countrymen, the applauses
of their friends, and the taunts of their enemies, the
remembrance of former victories, the dread of future
disgrace ; above all, the honorary chaplet that waited
the victorious brow, conferring a glory superior in their
eyes to the diadem of princes, — all concurred to infuse
the proudest hopes, the most ardent desires, into their
undaunted souls. The race once begun, every nerve
and ligament is strained to obtain the long-hoped-for
prize. One object only fills the panting bosom. —
Every consequence is risked. If victory be gained,
they value not life itself for its attainment. Thus
winged by expectation, and treading as it were on air,
they urge with incredible celerity their breathless
course, their hopes and fears rapidly increasing as they
approach the goal, till at length a few moments put an
end to their toil, and crown the victor with the hard-
earned wreath. Alluding to this scene, a scene with
which the Corinthians were perfectly conversant, the
Apostle introduces an observation as striking and im-
portant as it is natural and unaffected : " Now they
do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incor-
ruptible ;" evidently implying that the conduct of the
Christian should correspond to the unequalled magni-
tude of his hopes, and the arduous nature of his contest.
The antagonist of the Olympic wrestler was but a
mortal like himself; but " we wrestle not whh flesh
and blood, but with principahties, and powers, and the
8*

90 FULL ASSURANCE

rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wick-
edness in high places." The spectators of his contest
were frail and ignorant men, who proved by their
ardor in such a worthless cause, how little they knew
of the really dignified ends for which mankind was
created ; but the contest of the Christian is beheld and
approved by kindred spirits upon earth, by an innume-
rable company of saints and angels in heaven, and by
the Eternal Judge himself, " who giveth us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ." Above all, thei?'
reward was but a perishable garland, which has long
since mouldered away with the brow which it adorned ;
while the prize of ow high vocation is " an inheritance
incorruptible, undefiled, and that fudeth not away, re-
served in heaven for us." As therefore our hope is
inexpressibly glorious, our spiritual exertions ought to
be constant, energetic, and unreserved. The health
and vigor of the soul are to the Christian, what the
health and vigor of the body were to the Olympic
champion. Let us then study to preserve them by
mortifying our corrupt affections, and by a continual
spirit of prayer and watchfulness, of dependence and
humility.

Another effect ascribed by the apostle to Christian
hope, is, that every person possessing it, " purifieth
himself, even as God is pure." It is remarkable that
this very property of purifying the heart is ascribed
also to faith, which not only shows the intimate con-
nexion between these two principles, but also effectu-
ally obviates any suspicion of their being hostile to good
works.

The necessity of purification evidently implies, that
by nature we are polluted with sin ; a doctrine indeed
so luminously displayed in scripture, that it is difficult
to conceive how it should ever have been denied. —
But in what manner, it may be asked, does hope
purify the soul.^ What connexion can it have with
sanclificaiion ? The answer is easy. In the first

OF HOPE. 91

place, It is evidently congruous that he who expects
such high and heavenly hlessings should be qualified
by holiness for the enjoyment of them. And as it is
congruous, it is also necessary; for though our only
title to heaven is the infinite mercy of Christ applied
to us by faith, yet our qualification for it is holiness
of heart, and, by consequence, of life, " without which
no man shall see the Lord." A hope which looks
forward to a scene where worldliness has never in-
truded, where sensual gratifications are unknown,
where avarice and pride, voluptuousness and evil pas-
sion— in a word, where every thing sinful and contami-
nating is forever excluded — must of necessity be ac-
companied with some degree of mental purification.
The only limit affixed by the apostle is, " even as God
is pure ;" and although this expression corresponds, it
must be lamented, rather to the Christian's habitual
desire than to his actual attainment, yet it shows at
least the radical excellency of that principle from
which so glorious a desire can spring.

Among the effects of hope, it is scarcely necessary
to observe that joy is especially included, since this is
confessedly its most natural and evident result. Saint
Paul speaks of " rejoicing in hope," as not less a duty
than being " patient in tribulation," and " instant in
prayer." A man who really expects that " all things
will work together for his good," cannot but be happy.
Though involved in an arduous conflict, he knows that
through the " Captain of his salvation," the victory is
secure. He therefore rejoices in hope now, and shall
rejoice in eternal fruition hereafter.

A valuable property of Christian hope is, that at the
worst of seasons, it preserves us from defection. It is
" the anchor of the soul," which being " cast within the
veil," renders our feeble bark steady and secure amidst
the storms of a tempestuous world. Hence the apos-
tle says, *' we are saved," that is, preserved, "by hope."
The firm belief and pleasurable anticipation of future

92 FULL ASSURANCE

glories are more than a counterbalance for every pre-
sent danger, persecution, or disappointment. The
apostle was an illustrious example of his position,
that we are preserved by hope. " In stripes, in impris-
onments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fast-
ings, in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils
of robbers, in perils by his own countrymen, in perils
by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the
wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils amongst false
brethren, in weariness, in painfulness, in watchings
often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold
and nakedness, besides those things which were with-
out, the care of all the churches ;" what, but the full
assurance of hope of the eternal glory that should fol-
low, could have preserved his unwearied constancy ?
But incited by this unconquerable principle, he cheer-
fully submitted to all that malice or misconception
could inflict. Plunged continually in an overwhelm-
ing sea of troubles and persecutions, the buoyancy of
hope instantly elevated him to the surface, and enabled
him calmly to overlook the surrounding storm. We
have no instance upon record of his ever being once
betrayed into impatience, despondency, or irritation.
His exertions were grounded upon principle, and were
therefore permanent and uniform. In patience he pos-
sessed his soul. His success among the heathen may
in a great measure be imputed, under God, to two
Christian graces, for which he was remarkably con-
spicuous,— the " meekness of wisdom," and the " pa-
tience of hope ;" both, however, under the benign in-
fluence of that "love unfeigned" which pervaded his
whole soul, and added an engaging sweetness to all his
labors. That faith in the gospel, and a fully assured
hope of its inestimable blessings, should inflame his
zeal and diligence in preaching it to others, was no un-
common result ; but that a zeal so ardent, a diligence
so unconquerable, should have been uniformly guided
by the " meekness of wisdom," was a circumstance of

OF HOPE. 93

rare occurrence. In persons of ordinary character it
is not unusual to perceive an eager and laudable zeal
for the eternal welfare of their fellow-creatures, conn-
bined, however, with but little of that meek discretion
which in a world of sin and prejudice is required to
give due effect to the most praise-worthy exertions ;
and with still less, perhaps, of that " patience of hope,"
which is necessary to support the pious philanthropist
amidst the delays, misrepresentations, ingratitude, and
disappointments, incident to so momentous an attempt.
To be destitute of the " patience of hope" is however
a serious defect in a religious character. Zeal without
long-suffering and humility is of little value. When
the Christian was commanded to let his " light shine
before men," it was not meant that he should resemble
a meteor, dazzling the world for a moment with an un-
meaning glare, and then angrily sinking into darkness ;
but rather, that he should imitate the celestial luminary,
which daily rises almost unheeded to perform his im-
portant task, and gradually waxes brighter and more
fervent ; and patiently and steadily diffusing blessings
around him both on the evil and the good, without
being at all influenced by the applauses or the censures
of this lower world.

If then Christian hope be so exalted an attainment,
it becomes a question of great practical importance, in
what manner it may be acquired ? It is not the san-
guine, unauthorized expectation of a presumptuous
fancy, but the deliberate dictate of a mind enlightened
by the Holy Spirit to discover the true evidences of
Christian piety, and taught by the same Spirit to de-
cide humbly, but correctly, upon its own state. To
cherish hope without previous self-examination, is not
less a mark of folly than of presumption. Before
therefore we profess to obtain " a good hope through
grace," it is necessary that we should institute an im-
partial inquiry into our real state. Have we, for in-
stance, sincerely repented of sin, feeling, as our Church

94 FULL ASSURANCE

expresses it, " the remembrance of it to be grievous,
the burden of it to be intolerable ?" Perceiving, at
the same time, our utter inability to save ourselves by
our own merits, have we humbly applied to our Crea-
tor for pardon, through the worthiness and obedience
of his dearly beloved Son, the only Mediator between
offended Deity and offending man? Has such a
change taken place in our hearts, that sin, even in its
more specious forms, has become hateful, and holiness
and obedience to God our element and delight? Do
we love and serve our Maker supremely and without
reserve ? Have we complied with the exhortation of
the apostle, " Be not conformed to this world, but be
ye transformed by the renewing of your minds ?" Has
a sense of the value of the soul and the importance of
eternity become predominant in our minds ? Have we
cheerfully submitted to the mode of salvation revealed
in scripture, as conscious sinners, feeling our guilt and
inability, and in humble penitence trusting to the
merits of the Redeemer alone for acceptance with God?
Is our faith evidenced by good works ? by the implan-
tation of Christian graces and virtues in the soul, and
the hourly exhibition of their benign influence in our
lives and conduct? Do we know the value, and
practise the duty, of prayer and divine communion ?
Do we cultivate and rejoice in all " the means of
grace," which vi^ere expressly intended to keep alive
in us " the hope of glory ?" Do we earnestly pray
that God would " search and try us," and enable us
faithfully to ascertain our true character ? In a word,
have we " presented ourselves, our souls and bodies, a
living sacrifice unto God, which is our reasonable ser-
vice ; " resolving " to live no longer unto ourselves,
but unto Him who bought us with the price of his own
most precious blood ?"

In estimating the propriety of our hopes, we should
never cease to remember, that no hope is well founded
which is not accompanied by faith and love. Trust

OF HOPE. 95

in the promises of God, through Christ, is the ground
of Christian hope ; charity is its never-faihng effect.
The soul beholding by the eye of faith the glories of
futurity, and already enjoying them by lively anticipa-
tion, cannot but melt into ardent love to their benefi-
cent Dispenser. A consequent desire to behold him
as he is, to enjoy his eternal smile, and to utter before
him the delightful homage of gratitude and adoration,
becomes a predominant feeling of the bosom. Since,
however, the infinite Source of benevolence and loveli-
ness is invisible to mortal eyes, and needs not mortal
assistance, the enraptured soul can only vent its fervent
desires and heavenly affections, by transferring to his
visible image upon earth those labors of love, those
ardors of charity, which are but faint and feeble imi-
tations of the Creator's unspeakable love and benefi-
cence towards us. But faint and feeble as they are,
he graciously accepts them ; " Forasmuch as ye did it
to the least of these little ones, ye did it unto me."

Thus are the three Christian graces connected by
an indissoluble bond. Faith is the parent of hope,
and hope is the companion of charity. Faith shall
soon be lost in sight, and hope in enjoyment ; but
charity shall still survive, the same in kind, though
much higher in degree, with that which even now in-
spires the heaven-born soul. The two former were
intended only for a state of probation ; the latter is
essential and eternal, being the bond which joins the
Creator to his creatures, and by which his creatures, in
proportion as they resemble him, will be mutually unit-
ed to each other. The Christian's love to God, which
is now so cold and imperfect, shall then be exalted to
transports inconceivable. When faith and hope are
superseded, this immortal principle of love will be
continually receiving new accessions of fervor by the
unclouded presence and nearer approach of its long-
expected object. If then we would ascertain the na-
ture of our faith and hope, let us especially examine

95 FULL ASSURANCE

whether they be accompanied by divine love ; a love
tending primarily and supremely to God, and display-
ed by a constant disposition to benetit the bodies and
souls of our fellow-creatures. " The end of the com-
mandment is charity, out of a pure heart, and, good
conscience, and faith unfeigned." *' Love is the fulfil-
ling of the law."

It not unfrequently occurs, that sincere Christians,
who, upon careful self-examination, accompanied with
earnest prayer, appear to have good reason to believe
themselves possessors of true religion, are still far from
experiencing that full assurance of hope which is al-
ways a desirable attainment. The fault being how-
ever in ourselves, and not in our Heavenly Parent, who
never withholds the comforts of religion, except where
he perceives that we are not yet made sufficiently
meet to receive them, it may not be useless to suggest
a few practical hints for obtaining the desired blessing.

Meditate frequently upon God ; not so much, how-
ever, in his abstracted perfections, as in his covenantal
relations to us in the economy of human redemption.
A mere belief in a Being omnipotent and everlasting,
self-derived and unapproachable, infinitely holy and in-
flexibly just, is by no means necessarily productive of
the full assurance of hope. Learn rather to view him
as a reconciled Father, an almighty Guardian, a divine
Comforter, a patient and unerring Guide. Contem-
plate his benignity, his compassion, his long-suffering.
Repose in him as an unchanging friend, aspire after
him as your " exceeding great reward." Behold his
immutable veracity, his supreme power, and his un-
bounded wisdom, not as mere abstract properties of
the Divinity, but as harmonizing with that goodness
and mercy which prompted him to redeem a wicked
and ungrateful world. Reflect with holy fervor upon
his love, as displayed in the person of his Son, the
all-powerful Mediator and Advocate between God and
man ; and upon his promises of pardon and blessing

OF HOPE. 97

to the returning penitent, througli faith in the beneficent
Redeemer. Study to be more humble, more vigilant,
and more submissive to his will. Quench not his Holy
Spirit by worldliness or unbelief. Watch over those
evil tempers and unhallowed propensities which too
often intercept the light of his divine countenance. —
Learn from your past experience of his mercy a lesson
of implicit confidence. Especially neglect not that
important means of obtaining the full assurance of hope
— fervent and continual prayer. Hope, like faith, is
the gift of God, and is bestowed freely on all who ask;
Saint Paul therefore makes it the subject of one of
his most animated intercessional benedictions. " Now
the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in be-
lieving, that ye may abound in hope, through the
power of the Holy Ghost." It cannot be doubted but
that "the Author of every good and perfect gift" can
produce within us the plerophory of hope in such a
manner as to raise the mind above all doubt and per-
turbation. This appears to have been eminently the
case of Saint Paul : " I have fought a good fight, I
have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Hence-
forth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at
that day." " The Spirit itself," the same apostle
teaches, '^ beareth witness with our spirit, that we are
the children of God." Prayer, therefore, for the in-
fluences of this Holy Spirit is an evident means of
obtaining the comfort of hope. The very act of
prayer, if it spring from the heart, evidences that we
already possess some degree of hope in the willingness
of God to listen to our petitions ; and since habitual
prayer familiarizes us to the contemplation of his gra-
cious encouragements and promises, it tends to
strengthen and confirm the hope from which it sprang.
For hope is an increasing grace ; like other habits it
becomes stronger by practice, and it contains in itself
the seeds of its future growth and perfection. Where
9

98 FULL ASSURANCE

it exists but in the lowest degree, it causes love to its
celestial objects ; and love, by its habitual contempla-
tion of God, daily beholding in him new grounds of
trust and confidence, gives birth, in return, to more
exalted hopes. Thus do understanding, faith, hope,
and charity, mutually act and re-act, augmenting and
augmented by their reciprocal influence, till they all
arrive at that maturity which constitutes the Christian's
highest attainment in this present world.

It is delightful to behold the advanced spiritual
traveller, after the fatigues of his toilsome day, arriv-
ing in the evening of life within sight of his eternal
home. Elevated, like Moses, upon the heights of
Pisgah, far above the busy crowd with whom he has
so long associated, he is enabled from the serene emi-
nence on which he stands to behold at once the coun-
try he has left, and that to which he is hastening. He
looks back upon his chequered path, surprised that
obstacles which now appear so trifling, compared with
the importance of the objects in view, should so long
have retarded his progress. The interposing moun-
tains which once he thought impassable, have now
lost their asperities, and appear but as airy clouds in
the distant horizon. With sorrow he retraces his fre-
quent deviations from the direct path in search of giddy
phantoms, which oftentimes, after all his efforts, eluded
his pursuit, or if obtained, proved but an encumbrance
to him in his arduous pilgrimage. Animated by the
beauty of the country which lies before him, and
which is separated from him only by the dark river of
death that rolls along its sullen wave to the ocean of
eternity, he looks back with regret and wonder upon
that infatuation which so often induced him to prefer
the trifles of the scene through which he was journeying,
to the celestial glories of yon blissful shore. " For-
getting therefore these things which are behind," he
*' reaches forth to those which are before." His hopes
are in heaven. He adopts the language of the

OP HOPE. 99

Psalmist, " What wait I for?" — For worldly honors ?
They cannot fill the unbounded grasp of an immortal
soul. For pleasures ? They are unsatisfactory and
fleeting. Thousands of dying voluptuaries have con-
fessed their inability to produce happiness, and have
bitterly lamented their own folly in pursuing them. —
For riches ^ They are valuable only as applied to the
responsible ends for which they were bestowed, but
by no means tend to make a death-bed easy, or eter-
nity more welcome. " What then wait 1 for ? Surely
my hope is in thee, O Lord." I wait not for any
thing mutable or terrestrial. Wealth, and honors,
and long life, will not satiate my desires. God shall
be my portion forever. I shall " be filled with all the
fulness of God."

1 f^l 1 '^O

( 100 )

CHRISTIAN OBEDIENCE.

Few errors are more common, or more injurious, than
the idea that our Saviour came upon earth to soften
down the requisitions of the divine law. We do not
perhaps avow the sentiment in plain terms, but does
not our general spirit too often prove it to be a latent
article of our belief?

The most ostentatious formalist will not assert that
he has fully performed that unlimited obedience which
God required of Adam before the fall. He sees in-
deed that the thing is impossible. He even readily
acknowledges some trifling imperfections, some casual
inadvertencies, some slight mental aberrations. He
will not exactly affirm that a wrong thought never once
glanced through his mind — that a useless or improper
word never once passed his lips — that a selfish, or
thoughtless, or otherwise imperfect action never once
marked his conduct. He dares not say, that from his
very infancy he has loved the Lord his God with " all
his heart, and soul, and mind, and strength," or that
he has loved his neighbor exactly as himself. He
trusts, however, that his heart is good, that he has no
flagrant crime to answer for, and that his " sins, negli-
gences, and ignorances," are all of so venial a kind as
to be easily forgiven.

Without stopping to comment upon the various ob-
jectionable parts of this statement, especially the total
ignorance which it implies of the nature and extent of
the divine requisitions, were we to proceed to ask upon
what he grounded his hopes of salvation, which, by his

CHRISTIAN OBEDIENCE. 101

own acknowledgment, could not be claimed upon
the condition of unerring obedience, the answer would
probably be, " God is merciful : he does not expect
men to be angels : he made us, and will allow some-
thing for our natural infirmities."

Still, however, this answer, to say no worse, is vague
and unsatisfactory. Reasoning upon the principles of
natural religion, it may be fairly assumed, that if by
being angels is meant being perfect in holiness and
obedience, God does expect man to be as holy as an
angel, for he originally made him such, and never sup-
erinduced any thing to render him otherwise. If by
our fall we became incapable of perfect obedience, it
is our crime and our misfortune, but by no means our
excuse. God made us " very good," and capable of
performing all that he required. Our sins and infir-
mities are entirely self-derived.

The question then still recurs, and must be an-
swered some other way. Natural religion being foiled
in its attempts, modernized Christianity enters, and
thoughtlessly professes to solve the difficulty. " We
live under a lenient dispensation. The obedience and
death of Christ have great weight ; so that if our con-
duct be upon the whole moral and sincere, all is well.
A ^e\v thoughtless amusements, a few venial faults, a
few giddy follies of youth, will never be regarded by
our Creator as unpardonable crimes."

Now, is it not the obvious tendency of this language
to prove that God is too merciful to be just, too atten-
tive to^his benevolence to spend a thought upon his
veracity ^ Not being able or even willing to reach the
standard of his law, we strive to lower his law to our
imperfect practice. But upon what principle of reli-
gion, either natural or revealed, do we make the at-
tempt ? Admitting that God is originally entitled to
universal obedience, whence do we infer that he has
relinquished his claim f Surely not from natural rea-
son, and much less from scripture ; for though the
9*

102 CHRISTIAN OBEDIENCE.

Redeemer died to procure pardon for our awful viola-
tion of obedience, when by repentance and faith we
turn unto him whom we have forsaken, he did not
render obedience less a duty. So far indeed from it,
he defined its nature, and added new motives and en-
couragements to its performance. Obedience to God
is the original law of our creation. It is an obligation
eternal and immutable. The excellency of Christiani-
ty consists, not in superseding its necessity, but in ma-
king it an object of desire and delight, at the same
time that it reveals pardon by the vicarious obedience
of Christ Jesus to those who by the decision of natural
religion must have been otherwise reduced to despair.

The idea therefore that we who live since the ad-
vent of the Messiah are placed under a more accom-
modating law — a law which is satisfied with r partial
obedience — is evidently derogatory to the unchangeable
perfections of our Creator. The peremptory requisi-
tions of God's law are unaltered and unalterable, and
so that it is not by pleading our own imperfect obedi-
ence, however sincere, but the full and perfect obedi-
ence of our Surety, that we can scripturally hope for
the blessings of salvation. If a partial obedience had
been suflicient, Christ died in vain.

Extremes frequently approach, and it is evidently
so in the case before us. The anti-legalist, in his ex-
clusive zeal for doctrines, asserts that Christ entirely
abolished the moral law as a rule of conduct : while
the nominal Christian persuades himself that he c- ■-
to soften down its requisitions ; that is, abolished it
in part. The first, it must be confessed, substitutes
the "law of love" in the place of the moral code ; but
the system of the latter is wholly incongruous and
disjointed. If Christ has in any measure lowered the
obedience that was naturally due to God, so that a
person whose works are allowedly imperfect may be
saved by them, because they equal the usual standard
of professed Christians, to what degree of absurdity

CHRISTIAN OBEDIENCE. 103

may not the doctrine be carried ? If a mere thought-
less, giddy worlding may expect salvation by this
remedial law, because perhaps he has not been guilty
of flagrant acts of turpitude, we could not reasonably
exclude another who was but one shade worse ; and
thus we might proceed in the scale of moral depravity,
till there was not an individual in existence to whom
salvation was not justly due.

It is owing to the frequent, though perhaps almost
unconscious encouragement of this serious error, that
the great doctrine of the atonement is not more dis-
tinctly acknowledged and acted upon by the majority
of professed Christians. They think they shall surely
arrive at heaven because Christ, they imagine, has
rendered the conditions of obtaining it perfectly easy ;
— so easy indeed, that a baptized person may indulge
the " lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the
pride of life," and yet be a Christian amidst all. Not
considering the extent and immutability of the law,
they perceive not the nature or value of the gospel.
They cannot indeed, on account of their acknow-
ledged imperfections, trust entirely to the inexorable
" covenant of works" under which Adam was creat-
ed ; yet being unwilling to comply with the humbling
" covenant of grace," which, while it promises free
pardon upon our repentance and faith, makes a holy
and obedient heart the indispensable criterion of our
having been enabled to accept that covenant, they wa-
ver between the two, and endeavor to soften down the
irreversible law of our creation by a few qualifying
clauses wrested from the covenant of grace.

This conduct is, however, highly unchristian ; for
our Lord, so far from having come upon earth to ren-
der the divine law less strict, expressly pointed out its
spiritual and universal nature, and applied it to the
very " thoughts and intents of the heart." He did not
emancipate us from our allegiance, though he pro-
claimed remission of sin and punishment to all who

104 CHRISTIAN OBEDIENCE.

lamenting that they had broken it, should, with earnest
repentance and implicit faith in his mercy, return to
the propitiated Sovereign from whom they had revolt-
ed. He reconciled us unto God ; not that we might
from henceforth live with impunity " Atheists in the
world," seeking our own pleasure, and following our
own devices ; but that being adopted into his family, we
might become spiritual and holy, and meet for the
heavenly inheritance which he had provided for his
returning child. He did not preach grace in order
that sin might abound ; but, on the contrary, attached
the application of his grace inseparably and exclusively
to such a renovation of heart as should make sin ap-
pear an object of abhorrence.

It is then obvious that the expectation of heaven,
so usual even amongst those who never once seriously
considered how it might be scripturally obtained, arises
from ignorance of the natural and unalterable requisi-
tions of the divine law. We trust to the uncovenanted
mercies of God, because we are not sensible of what
his justice demands. It cannot therefore be uninte-
resting to those who " call themselves Christians," seri-
ously to inquire w4iat is the real nature and extent of
the obedience which we owe to our Creator.

In the first place, it should be universal, without
partiality or reserve. David said, " I shall not be
ashamed when 1 have respect to all God's command-
ments." It is not occasionally splendid acts, but uni-
formity of principle that God requires. To be free
from the grosser violations of duly, whilst we willingly
tolerate what we call trifling faults, is of no avail. As
far as the habit of mind is concerned, — and it is this to
which Omniscience chiefly looks, — the distinction be-
tween venial and mortal sin is unscriptural and delu-
sive. " ^Vhosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet
offend in one point, is guilty of all." Willingly to in-
dulge any one evil habit, even supposing we were free
from all others, would render us partakers of the guilt

CHRISTIAN OBEDIENCE. 105

of Saul, who slew the Amalekites, but spared Agag
their king. Every thought must be brought into wil-
ling captivity. It is to little purpose that the judgment
is convinced, if the will, the fancy, the affections, be
disobedient. He who has an unalienable right to the
whole, will not be satisfied with a part. Obedience
that extends only to what is agreeable, and lasts only
as long as it suits our convenience, is too partial and
too transient to deserve the divine acceptance. If we
love religion while she inspires our hopes, but part
from her as soon as she thwarts our inclinations, our
friendship is worthless and insincere. While we pray
that " we may obtain that which God doth promise,"
we must also "love that which he doth command."

Our obedience also must correspond to our know-
ledge of the Creator's will. "To him that knoweth
to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." There
are many things which though tolerated and even ap-
plauded in general society, including, perhaps, most of
the worldly amusements of the present age, are yet in-
consistent with the self-denying and heavenly spirit of a
professed inhabitant of a better country, who is only
passing through the present world as a state of proba-
tion and moral restraint. Of these. Christian obedi-
ence demands an impartial and cheerful surrender. It
forbids compromise or reserve. It is a stranger to
that worldly policy, which sometimes affecting the
name of Christian prudence, consents to commit a
questionable evil in order to produce an unquestionable
good. Saul, perhaps, imagined that reserving a part
of the spoil of the Amalekites, though God had com-
manded the whole to be destroyed, would be more
than atoned for by so great an act of piety as the of-
fering a magnificent sacrifice to Jehovah. It is thus
that we often yield something to the world, in hopes
that the world in return will be induced to yield some-
thing to religion. We follow an acquaintance to a
doubtful amusement, with a view of afterwards alluring

106 CHRISTIAN OBEDIENCE.

him to an instructive sermon. We read his bad book,
in hopes that he will read our good one. We propose
what we believe to be wrong, to prevent, as we profess,
what we know to be worse ; thus making, as it were,
a tacit calculation of how much sin we may commit in
order to produce a certain quantity of holiness.

This, however, is not acting up to the light of Chris-
tianity, which teaches us never to violate one com-
mand of God under pretext of doing something more
to his honor. The Supreme Disposer of Events may^
indeed elicit good from evil ; but he never approves
the sinner even when he overrules the crime. Nothing
therefore is more inconsistent with true obedience than
" doing evil that good may come," or trusting that the
end will sanctify the means. " Simplicity and godly
sincerity " are essential qualities of Christian obedi-
ence. It should be our chief effort to learn what is
our duty, and to persist in it without fear of dange-
rous consequences, which he who overrules all hearts
will either never permit to happen, or, if they happen,
will never impute to our account.

Again, true obedience must be the obedience of
faith. Even under the Jewish economy this heavenly
grace was indispensable ; and although it could not
then be extended to many particulars which since the
coming of the IMessiah are revealed, yet it was to be
perfect in its kind. It embraced those promises which
were to be fulfilled when Shiloh should come, and re-
hed upon the veracity of God for their accomplishment.
It was faith that made the ceremonial observances acts
of genuine obedience. When Saint Paul, rapt in di-
vine meditation, beheld the glorious " cloud of witnes-
ses," and sketched with the glowing colours of a se-
raph their immortal deeds, he ascribed them all to
this exalted principle. Their obedience was the obe-
dience of faith. The same acts performed without
the same motives would have been worthless and
unaccepted.

CHRISTIAN OBEDIENCE. 107

Select any one example from the glorious catalogue,
and try it by this test. When Abraham, for instance,
was commanded to offer up his son, he had to contend
not only with his paternal affection, which must have
been doubly harrowed up by the affecting minuteness
of the command, " thy son — thine only son — Isaac
— whom thou lovest ;" but with that distrust of the
divine goodness, and veracity, and power, which natu-
rally represented the mandate as wholly subversive of
a former promise, " in thee shall all the nations of the
earth be blessed." Yet knowing that the word of
Jehovah was inviolably firm, he feared not the result.
At the awful moment when every hope was about to
be extinguished, — his son bound upon the altar, — the
parent's hand extended to inflict the mortal stroke,
faith rose triumphant in his bosom, and " accounted
that God was able to raise up Isaac even from the
dead." His trust in God was unconquerable by hu-
man reason or hum.an foresight. Having once ascer-
tained the divine will, he implicitly and even cheerfully
obeyed.

Let us now imagine the same action performed
from a different motive. Suppose, for example, he
had complied, viewing his Creator as an unreasonable
tyrant, who was able to punish him still more severely
in case of disobedience. " Resistance," he might
have argued, " is in vain. If I fail to comply, my son
will still be taken, and perhaps by more severe and
lasting torments. My whole household also may share
his misfortune, and my grey hairs at length, stained
and dishonored, be brought with sorrow to the grave.
Cruel, therefore, as is the command, I will, I must,
comply."

Now is it not evident that compliance from such a
motive would have been wholly unacceptable to God ^
Our Maker looks for trust and dependence. A good
action performed, or a bad one avoided, merely from
a principle of slavish dread, would neither merit nor

lOS CHRISTIAN OBEDIENCE.

receive his approbation. In addition therefore to faith,
love is an essential quality in Christian obedience ;
for *' in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any
thing, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by
love." No act, therefore, whether ceremonial or mo-
ral, (" circumcision or uncircumcision,") is truly ac-
ceptable, unless it spring from " love to God, and
faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." The divine com-
mand is, " My son, give me thy heart ;^^ but the religion
of more than half the world is an attempt at commuta-
tion. The voluptuary stipulates, that if he may be
allowed quietly to resign his heart to the vanities and
pleasures of the world, as long as he retains his vigor
and his youth, he will give in exchange a few ardent
prayers upon a death-bed, a (ew unavailing tears, a iew
sighs of deep-felt contrition, a few closing moments of
devotion to God, out of a whole life, due to his honor
and his service. The covetous man yields his heart
to his gold, but trusts that Heaven will accept the
posthumous equivalent of a charitable bequest. The
nominal Christian is content to yield an hour's exter-
nal homage on the Sabbath, on the condition that the
world shall enjoy the undisputed possession of his af-
fections during the week ; or should conscience some-
times begin to reproach him, he throws into the scale
a fast or a festival, and doubts not but this will effectu-
ally turn it in his favor. The inconsistent devotee,
whose heart is usurped by the avaricious and malignant
spirit of gaming, is determined that the commutation
shall be perfectly liberal, and therefore, perhaps daily,
frequents the service of the church, and endeavors,
during its continuance, to spend as few thoughts as
possible upon the interesting engagement that is so
soon to succeed. This restraint, however, being very
irksome, is looked upon as purchasing a more than
usual indulgence for a worldly spirit ; and sbould even
a little pride, or discontent, or anger, or covetousness,
or envy, or censoriousncss, shortly after find admis-

CHRISTIAN OBEDIENCE. 109

sion, it will be easily excused at the tribunal of con-
science, on account of the precious stock of merit
acquired by so good an act.

Penances, and pilgrimages, and masses, and laza-
rettos, and college endowments, and churches or
chapels "adorned and beautified," are but a few of
the ostentatious equivalents whicii have been offered to
our Creator for the revolted affections of the heart ;
but He who " giveth not his honor to another " spurns
at the degrading compromise, and accepts of no gift
that does not spontaneously flow from the cordial obe-
dience of faith and love. " Halh the Lord as great
delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying
the voice of the Lord ? Behold, to obey is better than
sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams."

Not indeed that external observances are to be
neglected ; not that prayers, and fasting, and alms-
deeds are to be discountenanced : they are undoubtedly
all excellent and indispensable, and the only danger
is when they are intended as substitutes for something
higher. The " form of godliness " is necessary, but
cannot atone for the absence of the " power." —
Where the heart and affections are devoted to God,
these things will not, cannot, be left undone ; but the
converse is by no means true, that wherever these
things are performed, the heart is necessarily devoted
to God. The act which men applaud for its piety, is
oftentimes but a sacrifice to decency or custom, if not
to ostentation and the love of praise.

It is to the motive that we must chiefly look for the
immense difference between the moralist and the
Christian, the Pharisee and the genuine disciple. The
good works of the one spring from a principle of grati-
tude and affection ; those of the other from habit, or
expediency, or fear, or at best from an arrogant expec-
tation of purchasing heaven by the performance. —
The one is an obedient child, the other an unwilling
slave.

10

110 CHRISTIAN OBEDIENCE.

If, however, an earthly parent would not be satis-
fied with an obedience wholly unprompted by affection,
why should we offer the same insult to our Father
which is in heaven ? No person who loves any object
better tlian his Creator can be said to be truly obedi-
ent. God requires our supreme and unrivalled affec-
tions; which being once engaged, our conduct will
necessarily become holy and acceptable in his eyes.

To render obedience complete, it must be constant
and unremitted. There are no excepted moments in
which a rival is allowed. Amidst the fatigues and the
anxieties of life, our spirit must be uniformly Chris-
tian. Religion, though not always in our thoughts,
must be so interwoven with the first springs of action,
as to be always conspicuous in our conduct. Sur-
rounded with the worshippers of the world, we must
never bow our knee to their enchanting idol. The
apostle exhorts us in the very same verse both to be
diligent in business, and " fervent in spirit, serving
the Lord ;" so that the importance of our callings in
life is by no means an excuse for our neglect of eter-
nal concerns. God is far from accepting that aguish
piety which works itself up into a warm fit of devotion
every seventh day, and then contentedly shivers and
freezes the other six. Our devotion should be the
regular glow of a soul in spiritual health, and not the
alternate frost and fever of mere sentimental Christi-
anity. A few tears shed in passion-week will not
evince our love for the Redeemer, if we are delibe-
rately " crucifying him afresh, and putting him to an
open shame" during the remainder of the year. Un-
usually solemn occasions, it is true, call for unusually
solemn acts ; but the general impression should remain
long after the individual act has ceased. The gospel
being intended for all ages, and climates, and conditions
in liie, was made of such a nature that its energy
might be unintermitled in every possible variety of
circumstance. Had it simply consisted of a stated

CHRISTIAN OBEDIENCE. Ill

routine of ceremonies, its operation must frequently
have been suspended, or even rendered wholly im-
practicable ; but what season or circumstance is there
which can prevent the obedience of the hearth In
business and at leisure, at home and abroad, in pros-
perity and adversity, in sickness and in health, the
habitual desire to obey God will find means to operate
in acts appropriate to the occasion. There is no mo-
ment in which there is not some temptation to be
avoided, none in which there is not some duty to be
performed.

In reply to these remarks, it may be said, that if
our Creator requires an obedience such as has been
described, — an obedience universal and impartial, fully
commensurate with our knowledge of his will, uni-
formly grounded on faith and love, and exerted during
the whole of our lives without intermission or reserve, —
who can possibly be saved ^ for where is the favored
mortal who in this world of imperfection can boast of
such an obedience ?

These questions conduct us at once to the whole
scheme of Christianity. It is evident that upon the
condition of perfect obedience our case is hopeless ;
and it is equally evident that imperfect obedience,
however sincere, will not satisfy the divine law, which
has a right to demand all that God originally created
man able to perform. But infinite wisdom, combining
with infinite goodness, devised a plan by which every
difficulty is removed. How completely therefore do
the doctrines of the gospel meet our case ! ]\lan, on
account of his disobedience, finds himself obnoxious to
the divine wrath, and therefore needs an atonement.
An atonement is provided. " He who knew no sin
became sin for us, that we might be the righteousness
of God in him." The Messiah was constituted the
'* Mediator of a better covenant." It harmonized with
the attributes of Deity to accept his vicarious obedience
as the means of our pardon and justification. This is

112 CHRISTIAN OBEDIENCE.

the ineffable mystery which human reason could never
have discovered, but which is unequivocally revealed
in a volume that possesses indubitable marks, both in-
ternal and external, of the divinity of its origin. We
are required to believe this obedience to be perfect
and all-sufficient to the exclusion of every thing else as
the procuring cause of our redemption. This, how-
ever, is no easy task. We are unwilling to allow that
Jesus Christ discharged the whole debt, and are ever
attributing some degree of merit to our own perform-
ances ; forgetting that the coin which we naturally offer
in part of payment is defective in quality as well as
quantity — that it is false as well as inadequate — that for
want of Christian motives it is a mere counterfeit obe-
dience, worthless in the sight of God, and unable to
purchase the rewards of heaven.

The expressions in our thirteenth Article are so ex-.
ceedingly strong upon this subject, that were they not
evidently founded upon scripture, w^e might be inclined
to question their truth. " Works done before the
grace of Christ and the inspiration of his Spirit are not
pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not out of
faith in Jesus Christ ;" — " yea rather for that they are
not done as God hath willed and commanded them to
be done, we doubt not but they have the nature of
sin."

It appears therefore that a renovation of heart is ne-
cessary to render our best acts of obedience acceptable
to God. The actions of a converted man assume a
new character, being performed from new motives, and
under the influence of the divine "inspiration." It is
an elevating thought to believe our Creator ever pre-
sent, assisting us by his Holy Spirit to perform such
works as shall be acceptable in his sight, and silently
guiding us in the delightful paths of Christian obedi-
ence. Those very acts which, though laudable in
themselves, once " partook of the nature of sin," by
reason of the sinfulness of their agent, now become

CHRISTIAN OBEDIENCE. 1J3

acts of holiness, and are grateful to our Heavenly Pa-
rent on account of the renovated principles from which
they spring.

The Church of England, in the Article preceding
that which has been just quoted, renders this subject
exceedingly plain. " Albeit that good works, wliicli
are the fruits of faith, and follow after justification,
cannot put away our sins or endure the severity of
God's judgments, yet they are pleasing and acceptable
to God in Christ, and do spring out necessarily of a
true and lively faith ; insomuch that by them a lively
faith may be as evidently known as a tree discerned
by the fruit."

From this Article we may evidently infer several
important facts.

1. That our good works cannot, in the opinion of
the Church, " put away our sins, or endure the severi-
ty of God's judgments ;" or, what is nearly the same
thing, that they have no power to justfy us, since they
cannot even exist till cr/ifer justification, being ihe fruits
of faith, and not its precursors. We are thus neces-
sarily led to look to some other cause of justification ;
namely, the vicarious sufferings and obedience of
Christ, which are gratuitously applied to all who with
*' hearty repentance and true faith turn unto God."

2. We learn that after justification, and as fruits of
faith, the works of the Christian are highly pleasing to
God. A cup of cold water given to a disciple, in the
name of a disciple, will not lose its reward, while the
most praiseworthy actions, if performed from simply
natural motives, or intended to co-operate with the
merits of the Redeemer in purchasing salvation, are
too worldly and self-sufficient to be esteemed acts of
genuine obedience.

3. We learn not to trust to a dead inefficient faith ;
since the exalted principle to which the office of justi-
fying is ascribed, ^^ necessarily^^ produces good works;

10^

114 CHRISTIAN OBEDIENCE.

" insomuch that by them a lively faith may be as evi-
dently known as a tree discerned by its fruits."

How explicitly, yet how temperately, are Christian
doctrines stated, how equally are they balanced, and
how wisely are they guarded from unchristian inferen-
ces, in the judicious formularies of our venerable
Church !

To the true Christian who feels and laments the
imperfection of his obedience, who knows the delight
of unreserved compliance, but finds that perverseness
and depravity still remain to pollute his motives and
contaminate his actions, nothing can be more consoling
than the consideration of the plenary atonement of
Christ, and the influence of the Eternal Spirit. Well
might our Church assert that justification " by faith
only," is " a most wholesome doctrine and very full of
comfort ;" — a doctrine, be it remembered, which can
never be abused except by wilful perversion ; for both
repentance is necessary as the preparative for true faith,
and obedience is its necessary result. Repentance im-
plies that sin has become hateful in its nature, as well
as terrific in its consequences. It is therefore the su-
preme desire of every true penitent to live a life of
obedience : he laments only that his efforts are not
more undivided and effectual. He should however
remember, for his comfort, that his sanctification,
though slow, is constantly progressive. If he daily
increase in discovering and lamenting his sinfulness, it
is not because he is in reality become worse, but be-
cause his knowledge is growing more accurate and
his conscience more susceptible. Let him therefore
derive comfort from the promises of assistance and
support which are treasured in the volume of life, and
let him anticipate those realms of bliss where he shall
perfectly obey his covenant Father without intermis-
sion or reserve.

(115)

THE FORM AND THE POWER OF RELIGION.

Saint Paul, in writing to Timothy, has pointedly
foretold what classes of persons should exist in the
latter days. He prophesied that " perilous times"
should come, and the specific argument on which he
grounded his assertion was, that men should be " lov-
ers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud,
blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unho-
ly, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false ac-
cusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are
good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures
more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness,
but denying the power."

Had the apostle been all his life conversant with
the various classes of society in the present age and
country, it would have been impossible for him to have
sketched a more correct outhne of modern character ;
but this will not excite wonder, if we reflect that " holy
men of old wrote as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost," and were instructed to describe the evil before-
hand, in order that we who are exposed to its contagion
might be guarded against its influence.

Were we to select from the apostle's catalogue of
vices those characteristics which more especially mark
the present day, scarcely one particular in the enume-
ration could be omitted, and it should be remarked
that these appalling features are not the mere indis-
criminate traits of human character, but are eminently
specific and appropriate. They point out the peculiar
as well as the general faults of modern times, and could
not have been foretold but by that omniscient Spirit
who knew the end from the beginning.

116 THE FORM AND THE

But the most extraordinary feature in the whole
portrait is, — not that men should be guilty of such vices,
but that amidst them all they should still seriously
" profess and call themselves Christians." When the
apostle viewed with his holy and enlightened mind the
real nature of the gospel, and felt, as he most deeply
did, its sanctifying power in his own bosom, we might
have thought he could scarcely have conceived it pos-
sible for men to profess the religion of Christ, while
they revelled in all that was sinful and unchristian.
But the guidance of immediate inspiration supplied
what in those purer times of the church experience had
scarcely began to suggest ; and hence the ppostle was
enabled to foresee the inconsistencies which should
shortly arise among professed Christians, and a know-
ledge of which may in the present age be, alas ! too
easily acquired without the aid of any new communica-
tion from above.

The possibility then, of having the form of godhness
while the power is denied, cannot be a subject of
doubt : in the present remarks, therefore, it will be
simply attempted, for the sake of practical instruction,
to point out a few characteristic features, by which the
power may be distinguished from the form, and to make
such oiher general observations as incidentally arise
from the subject under consideration.

In the present age and country, a great majority of
persons seriously profess themselves to be Christians ;
but amongst the individuals comprised under this com-
mon denomination, there are found some of almost
every shade of sentiment and character. There is,
however, one large class which may be passed by with-
out controversy, namely, persons of openly immoral
and vicious habits, and who indicate by overt signs that
Christianity is with them avowedly but a name. Of
men of tliis description, charity itself can have no hes-
itation in afllrming that as yet they have " no part nor
lot" in the blessings of the gospel. Their case is as

POWER OF RELIGION. 117

decisive as it is awful. A man, for instance, who
never frequents divine worship, but revels in open in-
iquity, is a broadly-marked character, and carries con-
viction both to himself and others, that whoever may
be right he is certainly wrong. He publicly neglects
God upon earth, and cannot therefore have so much as
a rational pretence for imagining himself an heir of that
celestial kingdom of which the presence of the Creator
constitutes the very bliss and perfection.

But the majority of professed Christians consists of
persons of a somewhat more decent, but, perhaps,
often equally delusive, character. They have not
abandoned the profession of the gospel, nor forgotten
the propriety and duty of attending public worship ;
they entertain a kind of vague dependence upon the
death and sufferings of the Redeemer, and hope for
pardon through his merits, in conjunction with their
own works, which, judging by a very false and inade-
quate standard, they venture to denominate good. If
seriously questioned as to their hopes of a future world,
they usually reply in such a way as to show that amidst
all their exterior decencies they have no true and peni-
tent sense of their transgressions, nor of that change of
heart and character without which no man can see the
kingdom of God. Yet relying on an educational pro-
fession of Christianity, they imagine themselves secure,
and, in many cases, not all the solemnities of a death-
bed can open their eyes to the delusion.

Genuine religion is, however, something transcend-
ently above this easy form and profession. It is of no
spiritual utility to " name the name of Christ," unless
also we '' depart from iniquity :" it is of no avail to
avow a belief in revelation, unless our hearts be really
moulded according to its precepts. To profess reli-
gion from mere custom, without being really taught by
the Spirit of God, is but to trust to an outward form,
which simply and in itself is of no efficacy whatever
towards human salvation.

118

THE FORM AND THE

The power of religion differs, in the first place, from
the form, in springing from the heart, and being ground-
ed on a deep conviction of our sinfulness, and the ne-
cessity of the redemption which is offered in the gospel.
It is nothing superficial, or evanescent, or insincere.
The partaker of it must have felt in his soul what he
professes with his lips, that " he is tied and bound with
the chain of his sin ;" he must have perceived his guilt
before God, and must have been " weary and heavy
laden" with the consciousness of his infirmities; he
must have niourned over his evil nature, and must have
acknowledged his inability to merit heaven by his best
observances : in a word, he must have experimentally
learned some, at least, of the primary and fundamental
truths of the gospel, before he can be truly said to have
risen one single step above the mere formalities of
religion.

A profession of piety which has not thus involved in
its very elements a penitent consciousness of sin, will
necessarily forsake us when we most need support,
especially on a death-bed and at the last day. But
the joy that succeeds a really " godly sorrow" will be
lasting and substantial ; for when in moments of dan-
ger the voice of conscience shall recall our sins to
remembrance, the scene, though awful, will not be
new ; we shall come prepared to acknowledge the
worst, yet by the mercy of God to hope the best ; our
character will have been ascertained long before, and
having learned that " the blood of Christ cleanseth
from all sin," we shall be enabled through him to cher-
ish a humble expectation that our transgressions are
forgiven and have lost their condemning power. We
shall, indeed, feel them to be hateful, and doubly so
on account of the pure and holy nature implanted in
our hearts ; but having long repented of them, having
earnestly prayed and exerted ourselves against them,
having desired, by the grace of God, never more to
commit them, and, above all, having been enabled by

POWER OF RELIGION. 119

faith to view them as expiated by the sacrifice and
merits of Him who alone can expiate sin, we shall
learn to look up with holy confidence, that at the last
day they shall not be permitted to appear in judgment
against us, but shall be blotted out by the blood of the
atonement. We shall not extenuate their malignity,
we shall not place our supposedly good works in the
opposite scale as a counterpoise to them, but fully
knowing and confessing thern in all their aggravations,
we shall yet cherish " a good hope through grace,"
that they are atoned for by the sufferings and death of
our ever blessed Redeemer.

But who shall describe the terrors of that man who
having had throughout life " a form to live while he
was dead," and wlio never having once really felt the
guilt and misery which he so often professed with his
lips, begins, for the first time, on a bed of sickness and
in the prospect of death, to think seriously of his spiri-
tual concerns and his eternal destination t Every past
scene will then recur to his mind ; his sins and vani-
ties will now flit before his eyes as ghastly phantoms ;
and a consciousness of guilt will flash on liis soul with
painful and irresistible conviction. He will resemble
a man, who having long neglected to settle his tempo-
ral affairs, when he at length begins to examine them,
finds himself utterly ruined and insolvent. Scenes
which he once thought merely idle, he will now feel to
have been positively vicious ; and what, as a rational
being, he could not but despise, even while he profes-
sed to enjoy, he will now, with his newly-enlightened
mind, perceive to have been as sinful as is was puerile,
as fatal to his soul as it was unbecoming the dignity of
his nature. At such a moment the mere form of reli-
gion will be useless, the power only can sustain the
dying penitent, and enable him to triumph over sin
and death, in the cheering prospect of those celestial
regions where sin and death shall exist no more.

The power again differs from the form, by being

120 THE FORM AND THE

exclusively the work of the Spirit of God ; whereas the
latter is oftentimes nothing more than the offspring of
custom, or education, or a sense of moral decency and
political decorum. It is not difficult to continue dur-
ing our whole lives regular attendants upon the exteri-
ors of divine worship, by the mere force of good
education and example ; but this is a feeling very
different from that influence of the Holy Spirit upon
the heart, which alone can dispose us to " do unto
God true and laudable service," impressing us with a
deep and permanent sense of the value of our souls,
and the im[)ortance of eternity, renewing our earthly
affections, inclining us to God, and making us children
of our Heavenly Father and heirs of his everlasting
kingdom.

One of the greatest defects in the religious views of
persons in general is, that they do not thus sufficiently
recognize the Holy Spirit's influence, at least as a
practical and personal concern. Hence they look
upon the conversion of heart, of which the scriptures
so often speak, as a slight, and, perhaps, an unimpor-
tant change of character ; but were they duly to con-
sider the power and majesty of the Agent, they would
learn to infer the greatness of the operation, and would
see that it is to little purpose to profess religion out-
wardly, unless tlie Spirit of God has really enlightened
and converted the heart.

The power also differs essentially from the form, in
being of a purifying nature. It makes the Christian
desire to be perfect, even as his Father which is in
heaven is perfect ; for though he feels that sin may
and must remain in him as long as he continues in the
present world, yet the aspiration of his mind is towards
the ineffable beauty of holiness, and the beatitude of a
sinless state. We have certainly no scriptural reason
to imagine our religion genuine, unless we are thus
partakers of a new nature, inclining us to all that is
holy, and rendering us averse from all that is sinful,

POWER OF RELIGION. 121

however much it might have been once naturally loved
and admired, and however consistent it may still re-
main with the customs and the maxims of the world.

To evidence satisfactorily that our religion is more
than form, we must be daily seeking after new attain-
ments ; forgetting those things which are behind, we
must, like the apostle, press forward to those which
are before. Where the power really exists, there will
be a " growth in grace ;" an increasing knowledge of
the doctrines of the cross of Christ, and a correspond-
ing love for its precepts ; a growing devotedness to
God, and deadness to the world ; a progress in every
thing spiritual and holy, and a retrocession from all
that is earthly and impure. There will be daily con-
tests with " the world, the flesh, and the devil," and,
by the assistance of the Holy Spirit and faith in the
Redeemer, daily victories over them. There will be
an increasing dread of sin in all its forms ; so that a
thousand things which once appeared innocent or lau-
dable, will now be decidedly shunned as incompatible
with an entire and unreserved devotedness to our
Creator. We shall learn to feel more and more the
proneness of our nature to temptation, and more and
more the power of divine grace to overcome its allure-
ments. The tenderness of our conscience will in-
crease, and the fear of grieving the Spirit of God, and
of wounding our own souls will become more deeply
rooted and confirmed. There will be a susceptibility
of religious feeling of which we had before no concep-
tion. Not only open sins, but the very glancing of a
wrong thought through the mind will cause a holy
sensation of pain and imeasiness, and will be followed,
when we are in a right frame of soul, by a renewed
prayer for pardon and reconciliation. The desire to
increase in all Christian graces, and to be assimilated
more and more to the image of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ, will become a permanent wish of the
heart.

11

122 THE FORM AND THE

To the attainment of this end, among many other
means, self-examination will be constantly practised ;
a duty which cannot possibly be omitted where the
power of religion really exists. There will be an abid-
ing wish to know our real state and character ; we
shall not shrink from the light, but, on the contrary,
shall dread nothing so much as false security and self-
deception. Every wish and feeling of the soul, every
word which proceeds from the lip, every action of the
life, will furnish a person thus rightly disposed with
abundant matter for self-examination. Even when we
are least conscious of it, we shall find, upon reflection,
that if our hearts are really in a right state, we habitu-
ally and almost insensibly refer our thoughts, and
words, and actions, to the standard of truth, and that
we learn to view every thing immediately in its connex-
ion with God and with eternity. It is not in our more
sober moments only that we shall practise these duties;
for we shall acquire a habit of constantly, and as it
were naturally, investigating the nature of our conduct,
and ascertaining what conclusion it suggests respecting
our religious state. When sin presents itself before
us, w^e shall feel a struggle to overcome its fascinations ;
and the heart will be elevated towards the throne of
grace, for power to effect that holy purpose. The
conquest, thus divinely bestowed, will be followed by
a peaceful satisfaction ; or, if we fall in the contest,
there will ensue a salutary remorse, a godly contrition,
very far above the merely natural remonstrances of
conscience, teaching us that we have acted unwisely
and ungratefully ; that we have crucified our Re-
deemer afresh, and brought darkness, if not despair,
into our own minds.

This uneasiness under conscious guilt will not abate
till we are again enabled with true contrition to repent,
to pray, to plead the merits of our Redeemer, and to
obtain strength from above against the recurrence of
temptation. Yet still there will remain a wound : the

POWER OF RELIGION. 123

remembrance of the past will be grievous; and though
the peaceful consciousness of a latent hope in God's
mercy will distinguish this genuine penitence from that
"sorrow of the woild" which worketh death, yet
abundant cause will be left for renewed humility and
watchfulness. Indeed, without these, the power of
religion cannot survive ; for when we are unguarded
in our religious frame, we are inevitably exposed to the
attacks of our spiritual enemies. The man who en-
joys any thing of the power of his holy profession will
aspire after a more humble and dependent frame of
mind : he will long to be " clothed with humility,"
knowing from experience that pride, especially spiritu-
al pride, is not only hostile to the whole tenor of the
gospel which he professes, but invariably lays a snare
before him, and causes him to fall. So far, therefore,
from his superior privileges rendering him proud, they
will serve to promote humility, by reminding him
every moment of that free and unmerited grace which
alone made him to differ from the mere formalist and
Pharisee. Thus his very graces and conquests over
sin increase his circumspection, and self-abasement,
and prayer. The less power the world has over him,
the more he is afraid of its allurements : the less sus-
ceptible he is of temptation, the more he avoids its
influence ; for it is not a mark of strong faith, biat of
very weak faith, or rather of none whatever, to sport
on the brink of temptation, and to dally with those
spiritual enemies whom we are commanded most anx-
iously to avoid.

The power of true religion is further and most
importantly evidenced, by an habitual communion and
intercourse with God in prayer. Tliere will be a holy
enjoyment, a sacred complacency, in this delightful
ordinance, which never attends the mere form, wliere
the essence is unknown. Prayer will become — what
of course it ought to be — the constant disclosure of
our wants, with a well-grounded consciousness that

124 THE FORM AND THE

our Heavenly Father is able and willing, out of the
fulness treasured up in Christ Jesus, to supply thera
all. Not only will it be a tribute of love and grati-
tude, and an earnest desire after pardon and accept-
ance, but it will incidentally produce an important
effect in meliorating the heart, and producing lliose
very dispositions and graces which we implore. If
prayer has not been really found to operate in this
manner upon the heart of the worshipper, it must have
been hitherto a form without power ; for where the
power exists the soul will necessarily partake, in some
measure, of those affections which the lips express ;
the act of confession will be truly accompanied with a
sense of the burden of sin, the act of praise with sen-
sations of love and grateful adoration, and the act
of supplication with a deep feeling of human neces-
sity and divine compassion. Words without meaning
will no longer glide from the lips, but devotion will
become, what it had never before been, a " reasona-
ble," and through the merits and intercession of Christ,
an " acceptable" service.

Of these facts the sacred writings furnish numerous
examples. What but the power of religion, as distin-
guished from the form, caused Enoch to " walk with
God," and maintained in the souls of David, of St.
Paul, and various other scripture characters, that sa-
cred communion with " the high and lofty One that
inhabiteth eternity," of which the scriptures so often
speak ^ We perceive these holy men constantly evi-
dencing that kind of spiritual life which has been al-
ready described : we observe them in possession of
such heavenly comforts and satisfactions as the mere
exterior of religion could not possibly afford. It was
the language of their very heart, and is still the lan-
guage of those who follow in their steps. How may I
best glorify God ^ How may I realize more of the
spirituiil [)rcscnce of my Redeemer, and the strength-
ening and consoling influences of my omnipotent Sane-

POWER OF RELIGION. 126

tifier ? How may I live near to God ? How rnay I
enjoy " the light of his countenance," and how may I
best cultivate a spirit of dependence upon him, and of
grateful acquiescence in his will ? How may I pro-
mote his cause in the world ? How may I live so as to
glorify my Father v^hich is in heaven ? In a word,
How may I most experience the genuine influence and
vitality of religion, as distinct from mere conventional
forms and ceremonial observances ?

Without, however, considering the Christian charac-
ter in its full extent, we may learn to distinguish the
power from the form by some of those tests which the
apostle has laid down in the words already cited al the
commencement of these remarks. After specifying a
long catalogue of vicious qualities, he concludes with
pointedly observing, that persons thus characterized
possess the form of godliness without the power. We
may therefore infer, independently of other evidence,
that those who really live under the power of religion
will be remarkable for qualities of a very different
kind ; that they will not be lovers of themselves, that
they will not be covetous, that they will not be boast-
ers, or proud, or blasphemous, or disobedient, or mi-
thankful, or unholy, or without natural affection, or
truce-breakers, or false accusers, or incontinent, or
fierce, or despisers of those that are good, or traitors,
or heady, or high-minded, or lovers of pleasure more
than lovers of God.

It is indeed true, and a truth which must not be
forgotten, that every scriptural description of the
Christian's exalted character points out rather' the
ultimate mark towards which his efforts are directed,
tlian conveys an actual estimate of what his enlighten-
ed conscience would venture to specify as his owa
individual progress; but still, if our Lord's assertion
be correct, that " by their fruits ye shall know them,"
we are certainly not to overlook those exterior marks
"^A?hich indicate the presence or absence of internal
11*

126 THE FORM AND THE

principles. But in thus forming our estimate, it is
necessary to be sure that we select a standard suffi-
ciently lofty and correct ; and should above all things
beware of concluding that our religion is more than
form, merely from the circumstance of our having
been mercifully preserved from the grosser vices of
our nature. VVe must view sin, not as men in gene-
ral view it, but as our Saviour portrayed it in his ser-
mon on the mount, as extending to the very thoughts,
and feelings, and desires. Especially should we con-
sider the state of our minds in reference to those
things which, though censured by the scripture wri-,
ters, and by devout men in general, are far from in-
juring our reputation in the estiii^ation of the world at
large. Saint Paul, in the foregoing enumeration,
brings together dispositions of mind the most varied
and distinct, yet he predicates of them all indiscrimi-
nately, that they indicate the substitution of the form
of religion for the power. The proud man, the lover
of self, and the lover of pleasure, are classed with the
traitor, the incontinent, the truce-breaker, and the
blasphemer ; not, however, because there are not vari-
ous shades in the degree of immorality, but because
the habitual prevalence of any one evil disposition is
not less a mark of the absence of the spirit of religion,
than the tendency to an open and flagitious vice. His
intention is not to extenuate the evil of those things
which are allowedly and grossly wrong, but to show
more fully the evil of those also which might otherwise
have passed under a specious appearance as almost
right. He did not class the traitor and bh^^phemer
with the lovers of pleasure more than of God, in order
that the former might learn to think the less of their
enormities, but in order that the latter might be arous-
ed from their indifference, by seeing that even their
decorous vices place them in the same general class
with more open offenders against their Maker.

The very first test laid down by the apostle is one

POWER OF RELIGION. 127

that applies closely to the subject in question. " Men
shall be lovers of their own selves ;" — the inference
from which is, that where the power of religion exists,
men will not be lovers of themselves, as far, at least,
as religious principle prevails over the corrupt propen-
sities of nature. Indeed, how can he admire his own
supposedly good qualities who every moment feels in
himself an evil principle, which, as far as it remains
unsubdued by grace from above, is constantly thwart-
ing the better dispositions of his renewed mind, and,
as the apostle remarks of himself, " bringing him into
captivity to the law of sin ?" The true Christian ac-
knowledges, that whatever he has was freely received ;
and therefore while he surveys the value of the gift,
he learns to love, not himself, but the almighty Giver.
It is, in fact, the immediate tendency of that divine
principle which constitutes the power of religion to
heighten self-love into love to God, and to make the
latter the ruling motive of action. The genuine be-
liever, therefore, when in the full exercise of his exalt-
ed privileges, feels that, by the divine assistance, he
could gladly sacrifice self, and all that is connected
with self, for the cause of his Redeemer. The flame
thus enkindled spreads around, and loving God, he
learns to love his fellow-creatures also. Affection
to his Saviour shows itself by affection for those for
whom, in common with himself, that Saviour died.
He thus becomes united to his species by a thousand
new and endearing ties : his affections are expanded
and his heart enlarged : every man becomes his broth-
er, so that he would willingly " spend and be spent,"
not only in the service of his God, but even for the
good of mankind ; in much the same spirit, though
not, perhaps, to the same extent, as the apostle, who
was willing to be *' accursed from Christ, for the sake
of his brethren, his kinsmen, according to the flesh."
Self-love is not, indeed, extinguished, but it is elevated
to the best and noblest objects : it embraces heaven.

128 THE FORM AND THE

and places its satisfaction in the favor of God. Thus
purified, it prompts, not to self-esteem and self-indul-
gence ; but, on tlie contrary, to every necessary suffer-
ing and sacrifice in the cause of God and man, identi-
fying its own gratification with doing the will and
submitting to the awards of an ever-gracious and over-
ruling Providence.

The power of religion as distinct from the form
may be defined to consist in that renewal or transfor-
mation of mind of which the scriptures incessantly
teach both the nature and the necessity. That such a
renovation or " new birth" is indispensable for the en-
joyment of heaven, who will venture to deny, when he
considers the character of the fallen mind, and the
nature of that celestial world into which " nothing that
defileth" can obtain admission ? The company of
condemned spirits, who still love sin though they are
suffering its punishment, would be more congenial to
an unrenewed heart than the purities of heaven and
the spiritual felicities of an angelic world.

Yet, on the other hand, it is very possible to find,
even in the present day, persons whose minds are al-
ready attuned, as it were, for the enjoyment of a future
state ; persons to whom religion is a continual source
of happiness and expectation, and who apjiear never
so much to enjoy existence as wlien the blessings of
the gospel are immediately present to their minds.
Yet there was a time when ihey also loved the world,
and when God was not in all their thoughts. Whence
then the ha|)py change ? Why are they more willing
to die, and better prcjiared for death than before.'^
Why has the world ceased to engross them, and why
have their thoughts assumed a more heavenly direc-
tion ? What has infused such energy, and spirit, and
enjoyment into their prayers and services ; and what
has expanded their hearts in tenderness and comi)as-
sion towards their fellow-men ? The answer is not
distant; — the power of religion has been added to the

POWER OF RELIGION. 129

form ; and they have begun really to experience and
enjoy the genuine effects of what was before nothing
beyond a decent succession of superficial observances.

For the sake of practical illustration and instruction,
it may not be useless to show the sort of process which
oftentimes takes place in the human mind in its pro-
gress from formal to real religion. There is, indeed,
great danger on this subject of systematizing far too
much, and thus of reducing piety to a precise series of
mental operations ; yet, on the other hand, if there be
in reality such a process as that renewal of mind which
is described in scripture as necessary to salvation,
there must have existed certain definite, if not strong-
ly-marked gradations between the incipient steps and
the ultimate attainment. Let us then suppose the case
of a formalist in religion, of a person by no means
vicious in his conduct or heterodox in his creed, but
on whom Christianity, notwithstanding its admitted
excellence, has produced no very decided or remarka-
ble effect. This is a case of probable and frequent
occurrence ; and in viewing it more closely, let us en-
deavor to observe whether there may not be more
than fancy in the renovation which has been supposed.
Men, in general, are sufficiently willing to allow of the
propriety of a reformation in a person of profligate
habits, but they cannot discern what change can take
place for the better in a man of virtuous and regular
deportment. He attended divine worship, he was
sober, and just, and charitable, and in the sight of the
world at large " was a really good man."

So far it is well : but suppose that by reading the
scriptures, by the conversation of a religious friend,
by the public ministry of God's word, by the confes-
sions of his own church, or by some other appointed
means of Christian information, he becomes really con-
vinced of those fundamental truths which have been
already frequently noticed, especially his personal sin-
fulness, and the consequent terrors of the divine law j

130 THE FORM AND THE

he now finds, that amidst all his boasted religion, he is
in reality a transgressor against God, and that, dying
as he is by nature, he can cherish no good or scriptu-
ral hope of salvation. He knows that his heart and
affections ought to have been set upon things above,
yet he feels that so far from this being the case, he
has been attached supremely, if not exclusively, to the
things of time and the enjoyments of sense, and amidst
all his religious professions has been proud, or self-
righteous, or insincere, or unholy, or a lover of pleas-
ure more than a lover of God.

A person thus opening his eyes to the first principles
of genuine religion, is surprised that, notwithstanding his
formal profession, he never before perceived things
which now appear so plain as to enforce the most poig-
nant conviction. Tlie more he surveys himself with
his newly-acquired insight into religious truth, the
more he feels confused and astonished : he finds him-
self at once guilty and helpless, and sees no natural
means of safety and escape. He trembles at the
thought of death and judgment ; yet amidst all, he bles-
ses iiis Creator for having brought him to a correct
spiritual perception before it was too late ; thus evidenc-
ing, by the whole tenor of his conduct, that even al-
ready he finds the mere form of religion incapable of
sustaining a sinner amidst the convictions of an enlight-
ened conscience.

Thus far sensible of his sinfulness and danger, he
begins perhaps to make various attempts for quieting
his mind. Finding, however, the arrow too deeply
rooted to be extricated by the common expedients of
business, or diversion, or company, he recurs to that
new species of formality which our spiritual enemy is
ever ready to suggest, as an adequate remedy, namely,
a Pharisaic reformation instead of a genuine conver-
sion. He begins to imagine, that if he change his life
a little for the better, by becoming somewhat more
charitable, by repeating his prayers somewhat more

POWER OF RELIGION. 131

often, and by other similar and equally superficial
performances, he will become justly entitled to those
blessings which his former course of action was insuf-
ficient to ensure.

Soon, however, he begins to find his best resolu-
tions broken, his holiest deeds contaminated, and his
heart still radically corrupt. He now, perhaps, advan-
ces to the important discovery of something more be-
ing required for human salvation than any imperfect
obedience which the best of fallible men has it in his
power to bestow. Were he even to become, (which,
however, he finds impossible,) perfectly good and holy
from the present moment, he could not by this means
necessarily claim oblivion of his past transgressions.
The more therefore he views his case by the unerring
light of revelation, the more awful it appears. His
judge is God, who seeth the very secrets of the heart,
and from whose justly-provoked anger there is no nat-
ural mode of escape ; so that, by the fair deductions of
right reason, the conscious sinner can perceive nothing
but what is unsatisfactory and alarming.

Now, even in this painful state of mind, there is suf-
ficient evidence that Christianity has ceased to be a
mere form : it has not, indeed, yet produced its ulti-
mate and happiest effect, but it has evidenced its pow-
er by causing a salutary wound, which nothing but its
own influence, under the direction of its almighty
Revealer, can effectually heal.

The more awful parts of revelation having thus
ceased to be matters of form, its promises and bles-
sings will undergo a similar operation. While it was
nothing more than a vague unmeaning ceremony to
confess, what we did not feel, that " we have erred
and strayed from God's ways like lost sheep, and
that there is no health in us," it could not but be a
subject of equal indifference to learn that Christ Jesus
came expressly " to seek and to save them that were
lost." To those who " trusted in themselves that they

132 THE FORM AND THE

were righteous," it must have appeared quite superflu-
ous to be told of the Redeemer's being " made unto us
righteousness," and of our being made " the righteous-
ness of God in Him." While our confessions of sin,
and our professed fears of eternal punishment were
merely verbal forms, the promises of God to the peni-
tent believer must have been correspondingly lowered
in our estimation ; and while, notwithstanding the ex-
pressions uttered by our lips, we preserved in our
hearts a high sense of the meritorious nature of our
imperfect observances, it could be little more than a
grave mockery to be informed that mankind can be
redeemed only by the blood of Christ, and justified
only by faith in him.

But the threatenings of revelation having now been
made by the Holy Spirit to assume their just impor-
tance, and the humbled penitent having seriously felt
his danger, and the insufficiency of his own best deeds
to merit salvation, the remaining truths of the gospel
are no longer subjects of indifference or contempt.
It ceases to be a mere submission to customary forms
that induces him to read that holy volume, and attend
those sacred services by which he learns that the law
which he had broken has been honored, and the pun-
ishment which he had deserved has been sustained.
It is not to him any longer an uninteresting or unaffect-
ing truth, that although man has " destroyed himself,"
yet " in God is his help." He was once content with
a simple recognition of the fact ; but he now desires
also faith to enjoy the blessing. Jt is not enough to
ascertain, as a general truth, that mercy is offered ; he
wishes to bring the subject to bear upon his own indi-
vidual case, that what he knows to be correct as an
abstract proposition, he may find to be consolatory and
influenlini as a personal concern ; for it often happens
to a penitent of tender conscience, that many things
which he allows to be true of every one else, he can
scarcely venture to assume as applicable to himself.

POWER OF RELIGION. 133

That very holiness and renovation of mind which con-
stitute the best pledge and proof of his being a genuine
Christian, are at the same time the very causes of dif-
fidence and oftentimes of distress; for the more the
power of religion predominates over the form, tlie
greater will be the dread of insincerity and self-decep-
tion.

The Divine Spirit is not, however, an uninterested
spectator of the progress of that religious feeling which
he himself has implanted ; and since he wounds only
that he may heal, it follows that wherever he has made
the threatenings of Christianity effectual in producing
a salutary sorrow for sin, he will ultimately make its
promises conducive to a w^ell-grounded and permanent
repose. The Christian thus far advanced, has evident-
ly become " a new creature :" his heart is changed :
sin, which was once his delight, is now his burden : he
recoils from it, as being that which is contrary to his
better nature, and which was the direful cause of his
Redeemer's sufferings : he desires to be entirely freed
from its influence, and rejoices in the anticipation of
heaven, not solely as a relief from eternal punishment,
and an entrance into eternal bliss, but because he shall
there be forever emancipated from sin and temptation,
from the seductions of an evil heart, and the fascina-
tions of a deceitful world.

The power of religion will now have subverted some
of the dearest opinions and prepossessions of the unre-
newed heart. The supposed individual has become in
his own view a being fallen, yet redeemed ; deserving
wrath, yet enjoying favor ; exposed by sin to the pains
of hell, yet rendered heir, through his Saviour, to the
felicities of heaven. His daily wish is to know the
will of God, and his daily endeavor is to perform it.
Scripture has become to him the most interesting of
books, and religion the most important of concerns.
The affairs of eternity are ever prominent in his
thoughts, and produce a corresponding influence upon
12

134 THE FORM AND THE

his conduct. He venerates the Almighty as his Crea-
tor, he feels grateful to him as his Preserver, he fears
him as his Parent, he loves him as his Redeemer.

Thus various sentiments arise in his mind with re-
gard to God, which were not there by nature ; nor are
his views in reference to himself less conspicuously
changed. He is no longer, in his own conception, that
lofty being who looked to himself with pride and admi-
ration, trusting to his own efforts, and boasting of his
own inherent claims. He confesses himself to be a
corrupt being, who, if saved at all, must be saved by
free mercy ; and while, perhaps, tlie world around is
wondering at the change in his character, and thinking
that he now imagines himself the best and most holy
of men, he is secretly lamenting his defects, and pour-
ing out his soul at the throne of mercy for acceptance
and forgiveness solely through the merits of his adora-
ble Redeemer.

Having traced the power of religion thus far, it
would be easy to carry the delineation much farther.
But for the purpose now intended it is not necessary
to describe the advanced Christian : it is enough if it
have been shown that even the first steps in religion
presuppose far more than is usually included in the
idea of modern Christianity. True religion implies a
complete revolution of character, and a dereliction of
many of the most natural feelings and opinions of an
unsubdued mind. Its-effects have been already faint-
ly sketched as they appear in the general tenor of a
Christian's life, but they will be most conspicuous and
interesting in circumstances of peculiar difficulty and
distress. In trouble, there will be a calm, a resigna-
tion, an acquiescence, which no natural considerations
could possibly have produced. In death, there will be
a well-grounded trust in God, very different, on the
one hand, from the despair of him who is " driven
away in his wickedness;" and, on the other, from the
faLe confidence of him who *' hath no bands in his

POWER OF RELIGION. 135

death." Above all, the power of religion will be evi-
dent in preparing ils possessor for that world which,
as has been already observed, a wicked man not only
cannot attain, but could not even enjoy ; that world of
which purity is at once the characteristic, the privilege,
and the delight.

]36 SOURCES OF

SOURCES OF ERROR IN OPINION.

It would he sometimes useful, both in order to sub-
stantiate a correct opinion, and to detect a false one,
to ask the simple question that occurs, for example, at
finding ourselves possessed of a suspicious bank-note ;
" How came it into my possession ?" If the source be
either doubtful or unknown, our opinion or our bank-
note, as the case may happen, demands a careful in-
vestigation, for the purpose of ascertaining its authenti-
city. Men do not materially object to those human
laws which render us liable to a legal process for be-
ing detected with a forged paper in our possession,
even though they know that in many cases it might
have been our misfortune and not our crime; still less
therefore can we censure the justice of our Creator ia
punishing us for essentially false opinions in religion,
which might have been corrected by the diligent use
of the means of Christian information.

When upon examination the source to which we
retrace our opinion or our bank-note (for the analogy
still holds good) is found to be wholly unexceptiona-
ble, we must not hastily throw it aside, to please the
first person who chooses to affirm that it is false. A
doctrine or precept evidently derived from the volume
of inspiration should satisfy our minds much in the
same' manner as a note which we remembered having
received immediately from the bank from which it
purported to issue.

Were we thus at all times accurately to retrace
the steps by which we first arrived at any particular
conclusion, it would be of inestimable use towards es-

ERROR IN OPINION. 137

tiraaling the value of our sentiments. At one stroke
half of the false and absurd opinions which infest the
world would be swept away. They could not sustain
the cool inquiry, " How were they derived ?" Our
assent would, in future, be proportioned to the evi-
dence produced. We should deliberate calmly, and
decide with moderation. Error would melt away,
while truth would receive the utmost increase of sta-
bility and vigor.

Imagine, for instance, that an intelligent North-Brit-
on, who believed in second-sight almost as firmly as
in the truth of revelation, should begin to retrace his
ideas upon these subjects to the fountain-head, endeav-
oring to conduct his investigation with the unsparing
impartiality of a neutral inquirer ; what would be the
result ^ His first conclusion would possibly be, that
as far as concerned himself, both points rested upon
exactly equal and similar ground, the mere prejudice
of education. Were he to stop here, his religion
would suffer just as much as his superstition, and both
would lie expiring by a mortal wound. But the next
step rectifies the whole. He believed in second-sight
by the force of education ; and having discarded this
prejudice, he finds no rational ground for his opinion.
But Christianity he perceives is founded upon evi-
dence, and assumes new claims to credibility in pro-
portion as his scrutiny is more severe. The same
process therefore that melted away the dross, would
serve only to purify the gold. The wheat would be-
come more valuable, by being separated from the
chaff.

It is not, however, always practicable thus to retrace
our opinions to their original source, and to ascertain
upon what evidence they originally reposed. We
oftentimes resemble an aged traveller, who knows that
he once visited a certain spot, though he has long lost
the manuscript that described his journey. Whether
he arrived by water or by land, on foot or in any vehi-
12*

138 SOURCES OF

cle, is perhaps irrecoverably forgotten ; so that he can
assert only the unconnected fact of his having certain-
ly been there. A person believes, for instance, that
there once existed such an individual as the intolerant
Queen Mary ; but in what manner he first formed
that opinion, he is wholly unable to determine. The
fact was probably mentioned to him at a time of life
when he was ready to credit the most extravagant
fairy tale ; so that had he never received subsequent
evidence on the subject, he would hardly have failed
of classing the fiction and the fact together, and of
supposing, that because he had been deceived in the
one he was equally so in the other also. The appli-
cation of these remaks to higher subjects is too obvious
to need illustration.

A man of tliouglu, while reflecting upon the muta-
tions of character and the fluctuations of opinion in the
world around him, will sometimes look back to observe
how his own sentiments were imbibed, and his own
character msitured. He will thus endeavor to as-
certain upon what evidence his opinions rest. In mak-
ing his retrospective observations, he will soon per-
ceive that the revolutions of empires are not more sur-
prising than the changes which have taken place in his
own bosom. He is not the same being he was some
twenty years ago.

But should he revert to the faint remembrance of
past days, and endeavor to realize long-forgotten in-
cidents, hoping to discover by what process his mind
was formed and his habits of thinking matured, he will
soon find himself enveloped in the clouds of darkness
and confusion. He discovers that he possesses a thou-
sand opinions for which he can assign scarcely any
possible reason. He makes use of the theorem, but
has forgotten the demonstration ; or, to recur to a
former allusion, he finds himself in ])ossession of the
note, but knows not whence it was derived. For in-
stance, he has grown up perhaps with an aversion to a

ERROR IN OPINION. 139

particular individual or a particular opinion, utterly
unconscious in what manner it was originally conceiv-
ed. It w^as possibly a mere trivial accident in his
childhood, that caused his present feeling; so that
could he divest himself of prejudice, and form his ideas
anew, that offensive individual or opinion might, under
his present circumstances, prove eminently congenial
to his own state of mind. Yet he dislikes, he knows
not why ; as persons taught in their infancy to dread
the gloom of midnight, oftentimes retain the feeling to
the very end of life, without remembering how it was
first impressed, or by what means it has been still
continued.

The philosopher thus reviewing the formation of his
mind and character, resembles an aged linguist, who
should attempt to recollect in what book or company
he first became acquainted with each word which he
has been so long accustomed to consider as his own.
He wmII find that most of the gradations of his mind
and opinions were unmarked ; that they were some-
times too minute to attract observation, and sometimes
too distant to be regained by memory. In retracing
the current of life, he would observe with astonishment
what new qualities it had imbibed from the various soils
over which it had glided, and the different rivulets
with which it had mixed. Every new association of
thought, every book which he had read, every friend-
ship that he had formed, every company which he had
entered, every event which he had witnessed, had, in
some degree, tended to model or confirm his present
character. The exact feelings of childhood and in-
fancy conld not indeed be retraced : every attempt to
recal them would be but grasping at a dream. A
momentary glimpse, it is true, might sometimes be
obtained ; but before a perfect image could be formed,
the illusion would vanish, transient and obscure as the
shadow^s of evening.

Yet from what could be recalled, he would ascertain

140 SOURCES OF

that scarcely one feature of resemblance now remain-
ed ; that every day, as it fostered his growth and ma-
tured his reason, had insensibly modified his character;
and that every region of his mind had undergone fre-
quent revolutions by the recession of former inmates
and the introduction of new ones.

It must not, however, be supposed that our philos-
opher would start from his reverie, without having
learned some useful rules of conduct, and happily there
are two important ones which obviously result from the
preceding speculation.

The first is the necessity of opposing every thing
vicious or absurd at the very entrance. His mind hav-
ing been perpetually, though gradually changing, he
infers that it may continue to change ; and dreads to
reflect that when he again takes a retrospect of himself,
he may perhaps discover that some good impression
has been imperceptibly obliterated, or has given place
to one of a very different character. It may be with
his mind as with the index of his watch, which has
completely veered round, though he never once per-
ceived it move. When therefore he considers with
what facility every new idea, however disgusting at
first, becomes naturalized in the mind, and what un-
foreseen effects it may afterwards produce upon the
feelings and the conduct, he will be anxious to exclude
every thought that may possibly, however remotely,
tend to mislead his understanding or corrupt his heart.
Every page of history affords evidence, as decisive as
it is lamentable, of the astonishing growth of evils which,
if attacked in lime, might have been effectually sup-
pressed.

Revert, for example, the disgusted eye from Mas-
salina the slave of impurity, to Massalina the modest
virgin, guarded by youthful delicacy, and thoughtless
of her future guilt. Trace in imagination the inter-
mediate gradations. How slow ! yet how silently pro-
gressive ! Behold her gliding from unshaken inno-

ERROR IN OPINION. 141

cency to hesitating reluctance ; thence to tremhhng
concession ; thence, by a thousand shades of progres-
sion, to famiharity with vice ; and thence, by more
rapid stages, to avowed licentiousness, to publicity of
guilt, to exultation in her disgrace.

Our philosopher's second rule of conduct would be
of a somewhat different kind. Perceiving in how im-
perceptible and unsuspected a manner many of his
opinions have been formed, he will not be ashamed
frequently to review them, in order to distinguish be-
tween what is simply the result of prejudice or custom,
and what has been deliberately adopted by subsequent
investigation.

It is frequently possible to conjecture with tolerable
accuracy the opinions and feelings of an individual by
knowing the circumstances of his life. We are indeed
scarcely conscious how much oftener our sentiments
are formed by exterior objects and events, than by the
deliberate efforts of our own minds. How many of
the giddy flutterers, the busy worldlings, the indolent
voluptuaries, the unmeaning formalists of the present
age, taking their measures of Christianity from sur-
rounding and defective examples, imperceptibly con-
clude that they themselves are good Christians, and in
consequence, close up every avenue by which the light
of conviction might break into their minds. Were
they but candidly to inquire, " How were my religious
opinions formed .^" they would find that the volume
of inspiration, which they acknowledge to be the only
true guide, had little or no share in determining their
judgment.

It will be the object of the succeeding remarks to
point out several sources of error, which, either sepa-
rately or in combination, appear to influence almost
every person who is not possessed of two very rare
qualities, a well-balanced understanding, and a sincere-
ly pious mind. To enter fully into the subject does

142 SOURCES OF

not concur with the present design ; so that a few of
the more frequent causes only will be adduced.

Should the reader of these pages have reason to
imagine that his own opinions, [especially those upon
religion,) have in any measure resulted from the op-
eration of these or similar causes, it will evidently
become his duty to raze the tottering fabric, and to
rebuild it upon a more rational, and scriptural, and
solid plan.

The first cause of error which needs be mentioned
is impatience. Truth is usually found to be a mean
between two extremes. It is simple, while error is
infinite ; so that an impatient person has no more
probability of obtaining it than a traveller, at full speed,
of discovering a valuable jewel which happened to lie
unobtrusively beside his path, amidst a thousand peb-
bles of similar color and dimensions.

To many minds doubt and inquiry are torture. An
impatient man cannot suspend his judgment : indiffer-
ence or mediocrity does not afford sufficient stimulus
to his feelings : every thing must be at first sight su-
perlatively disgusting or irresistibly prepossessing.

A person thus disposed will not often deny himself
the unwise pleasure of forming and expressing an opin-
ion upon every subject that comes under his most
transient observation. It would be ludicrous, were it
not morally distressing, to observe the solemn authority
with which he utters his edicts upon topics which he
no more understands than an insect the mechanism of
a watch, upon the surface of which it has accidentally
alighted. He cannot ))erceive the necessity of a mi-
nute induction of particulars in order to deduce a gen-
eral inference; but seeing a little, and presuming a
great deal, he precipitately jumps into a conclusion.
It is curious to observe how trifling a proportion the
little that is seen sometimes bears to the great deal
that is presumed, and to contrast the magnificence of

ERROR IN OPINION. 143

the conclusion with the apparent poverty of the pre-
mises.

To examine every subject upon which we are called
to decide is evidently a reasonable duty ; but unhap-
pily it is one far removed from the habits of a large
portion of mankind. The suspense of investigation is
naturally unpleasant, and it is not without much mental
discipline that it at length becomes habitual. In reli-
gion especially, though a subject of acknowledged im-
portance, the majority, even of persons otherwise well
informed, cannot be brought to submit to the restraint
of serious inquiry.

To correct our natural impatience of suspense is one
great end of scholastic pursuits ; and in consequence,
those studies which inure the mind to the fatigue of un-
prejudiced deliberation have always been considered,
even irrespectively of their immediate end, as of high im-
portance. But suspense, simply considered, can never
become agreeable. It may be familiarized by custom,
and made the companion of our highest pleasures, but
it cannot possibly be welcome upon its own account.
The pleasure, for example, excited in the mind of a
novel reader by an intricate plot, or that of a mathe-
matician by an abstruse series of demonstrations, though
necessarily connected with suspense, does not arise im-
mediately from it ; for if so, how much soever each of
these characters might be interested in his subject, he
would never desire to arrive at the conclusion, since
his pleasure, which, on diis supposition, is contempo-
rary with his suspense, and dependent upon it, would
be thus entirely destroyed. This, however, is con-
trary to fact ; for who, in the midst of an interesting
narrative or argument, was ever known finally to close
the volume, in order that the pleasures of suspense
might not be lost in certainty ? On the contrary, the
very desire to arrive at the conclusion may be attrib-
uted, in a great degree, to the wish of being liberated
from the anxiety of suspense.

144 SOURCES OF

It is in consequence of the uneasiness of suspense,
that when for a time two questions appear almost
equally balanced, expedients the most puerile are some-
times employed to produce an imaginary preponde-
rance. The cast of a die, the wanderings of a bird,
the casual opening of a volume, and a hundred other
accidents equally trivial and uncontrollable, have been
permitted to decide the fate of nations, and to give
laws to the sovereigns of the world. The mind wea-
ried with doubt, instead of grasping that side of the
question which, upon the whole, appears most correct,
sinks supine, and gladly reposes upon the bosom of
imagined infallibility.

It appears, then, that one great source of error is
that impatience which prevents our calmly discussing a
question before we venture to form an opinion. It is
so easy upon the one hand to "jump into a conclu-
sion," and so difficult and tedious upon the other to
balance opposite probabilities, to unweave intricacies,
remove objections, collate rival opinions, detect error,
elicit truth, anticipate contingency, pursue causes to
their effects, and resolve effects into their causes, that
we cannot wonder that the larger portion of mankind
should be content with first prepossessions, and anx-
iously avoid even a temporary suspense of unbiassed
examination. A few plausible arguments, a feAv un-
sifted facts, are sufficient oftentimes to cause an unal-
terable decision ; whereas the very next argument that
was offered, the very next fact that occurred, might
have overturned the whole visionary fabric.

It is frequently observed, that persons of unusually
lively mind are far from being celebrated for the cor-
rectness of their opinions. A man of common thought,
who has learned to suspend his judgment, will not often
be obliged to retract his positions : but the impatient
genius, to whom deliberation is torment, is incessantly
employed in obliterating past decisions, or involving
himself in new absurdities of error. Till the mind

ERROR IN OPINION. 145

has been accustomed to patience amidst the tantalizing
delays of suspense, nothing of a permanent value can
be ensured.

In no instance, perhaps, are our opinions more like-
ly to be influenced by impatience than in judging of
character. We see, in a mixed company, two persons,
one of whom appears generous, intelligent, and manly ;
the other frivolous, insignificant, and self-conceited. —
In such a case, it is impossible not to feel immediately
a corresponding predilection or contempt, and not very
easy, perhaps, not to hint our opinion to our neighbor.
But who can say whether a further intimacy, or an in-
quiry among those who know their real characters,
might not soon convince us that the apparently noble
qualities of the one were but natural endowments, which
served as a passport to imbecility or pride, if not to in-
correctness of moral principle ; while that which dis-
gusted us in the other was but a defect in manner, of
which the individual was unconscious, or which he had
already labored to remove ?

It is true, indeed, that w^e may usually form some
idea of a person's character by those common rules of
judging, which are insensibly acqin'red in general inter-
course with society. But induction, however exten-
sive, being necessarily partial, v/ill not always, when
individually applied, answer the purposes of truth : nor
should we ever therefore decide upon an unknown
character, merely because the person to whom it be-
longs resembles, in some exterior points, another with
whom we are well acquainted. The minute varieties
of human nature are so indefinitely multiplied, that
nothing but individual experience can be a decisive
test. Unexpected modifications of character, novel
workings of passion, eccentricities, obliquities, and
paradoxes innumerable, will occur upon every side, to
confound our most specious calculations.

Truth usually lies at an equal distance from the two
extremes of party spirit. It is not often that the book
13

146 SOURCES OF

which we are requested to read is the most useful or
the most dangerous that was ever written ; that the
person to whom we are introduced is the very best or
the very worst man in the world; that the institution
which we are requested to patronize is either the most
useful or the most injurious that was ever set on foot.
Yet such possibly were the descriptions of party zeal,
and which are eagerly adopted by that spirit of impa-
tience which always loves to form an opinion, even at
the expense of reason and of truth.

The sentiments of an honest and wise man, being
the result of calm inquiry, will usually incline towards
moderation. Having explored the extremes, he will
gladly rest in the mean ; as the pendulum, after vibrat-
ing from side to side, settles at its centre of gravity and
remains unmoved.

Another frequent cause of error is what may be de-
nominated moral reaction. The prevalence of infi-
delity upon the continent of Europe naturally arose
from those mummeries of superstition which, under the
semblance of Christianity, have gone far to ruin its
cause, disgusting at once the man of piety by their
wickedness, and the man of taste by their absurdity.
A person who is required to believe too much, often
revenges himself by believing nothing. He sees, for
instance, myriads of absurdities arising from the doc-
trine of transubstantiation, and therefore revolts from
the whole system to which this hypothesis is most in-
juriously appended.

The tendency to this moral recoil is often so general
as to become a national concern. We have in our
own history a strong corroboration of this remark. —
During the time of the interregnum, the religious senti-
fuenis of too many zealous partizans had been of a
very extravagant nature. The doctrines of revelation
had been disjoined from its precepts; so that one half
of the l>ible became useless, except, perhaps, in the
hands of an unusually skilful allegorizer, who had the

ERROR IN OPINION. 147

art of extracting a merely speculative theorem from tlis
most practical command. . The language even of secu-
lar intercourse was modelled upon that of the receiv-
ed translation of the sacred volume. The most un-
christian acts were described in the most Christian
terms. Men thought themselves religious if they used
the language of the Bible, however flagrantly they
might oppose its spirit. He who could give to a text
the most fanciful twist, the most recondite allusion, was
esteemed the ablest divine. The union of a sound
creed with an irreligious life, of a clear insight into rev-
elation with a neglect of all its duties, had become
alarmingly common ; so that hypocrisy and the most
repulsive affectation were very widely apparent. Even
some truly pious men, led away with the error of the
times, neglected sufficiently to insist upon several of
those essential graces which constitute the beauty of
the Christian character ; and as for social and moral
duties, they were very generally forgotten.

Such was the state of affairs at the Restoration. —
Here then was a conjuncture of circumstances remarka-
bly disposed for that moral reaction which ensued, and
the effects of which are felt to the present hour. The
religionists of the succeeding Stuart reigns, thought,
that, in order to be right, they must be as far as pos-
sible removed from the opinions and practices of their
predecessors. Such was the extraordinary nature of
this revulsion, that it is almost wonderful that they did
not assert that there was no God, in order to distinguish
themselves from the Puritans, who, with all their faults,
certainly believed and felt that there was one. Short,
however, of this, there was scarcely any thing in which
they did not oppose the opinions of the period imme-
diately preceding. It was quite in course that an avid-
ity for public amusements of the most exceptionable
kind should become epidemic ; that the stage, amidst
all its licentiousness, should be frequented as a school
for virtue ; that profaneness should not only be tole-

148 SOURCES OF

rated, but actually patronized and esteemed ; because
all these things were evidently most pleasant sarcasms
upon the strictness of the preceding age. It had been
so much the custom to conceal a sinful life under the
exterior garb of religion, that men now began almost
to take credit to themselves for the openness of their
iniquity. To turn the language of scripture into ridi-
cule by impious jests, was esteemed an excellent libel
on those men who were accustomed to speak of it with
the highest veneration.

All this was very natural : it was but such a reaction
as might have been confidently anticipated. But the
great difficulty still remained. The pulpit, it might
have been thougl)t, was too sacred for a similar ex-
periment. Besides, many of the doctrines which had
been taught, even in the most fanatical times, though
miserably wrested, and detached, and overstated, were
yet substantially the doctrines of revelation and of the
Established Church. In ordinary circumstances, there-
fore, it would not have appeared quite decent either
openly to oppose, or even silently to suppress them ;
but so great, at the season in question, was the prejudice
against the puritanic age, that every thing else was
willingly sacrificed for its gratification. The recoil was
fearful. At one undiscriininating stroke, the preach-
ing of a large portion of the established clergy was dis-
membered of almost all the peculiarities of the Chris-
tian dispensation. " Another gospel," which however
" was not another," was made to supersede that by
which pardon and justification had hitherto been pro-
claimed to the beHeving penitent solely through the
merits and obedience of tiie omni[)otent Redeemer.
Reaction in this case performed more tlian the greatest
direct force. The utmost efforts of infidels to banish
from our pulpits the peculiar, but essential, tenets of
the gosj)el, would have been in vain ; but the desire of
avoiding the manners of an obnoxious party easily pro-
duced the effect.

ERROR IN OPINION. 149

It is to be lamented that our church by this means
received a shock from which it has never completely
recovered. The dread of Puritanism has been ever
since employed by the great enemy of mankind to de-
press that spirituality and heavenly-mindedness which
are the very badges of Christianity. The doctrines of
the Bible, and their practical effects upon the heart as
well as life, have been too often superseded by mere
ethical philosophy ; so that had not our public forms
remained unaltered, we might, in many cases, almost
doubt what had been the religion of our forefathers.

In politics also, the violent and arbitrary principles
of the Stuart reigns produced the still more violent
counter principles of the leaders of the rebellion ; and
the excesses of these, in their turn, paved the way for
the re-admission of the principles of the Stuarts.

Thus, again, the romantic institution of chivalry pos-
sibly originated in an ill-regulated attempt to correct
the unreasonable error of the preceding age, in which
the female sex had been treated with insult and con-
tempt. The world had not yet arrived at that true
medium, which, making women neither, on the one
hand, divinities, nor, on the other, beings inferior and
subservient to man, had represented them in their real
dignity, as his equals, his companions, and his friends.

Thus, again, before the time of the crusades, Europe
had silently Iain for ages in torpid indifference. This
was the season in which men, if once aroused, were in
danger of reverting to the most unexpected extremes.
They wanted but an incitement; which being supplied
by the romantic zeal of Peter the Hermit, they started
from tlieir slumbers, grasped their swords, and endeav-
ored to atone for their past apathy, by hurling the
crescent from the minarets of Palestine, and involving
all Europe and Asia in the horrors of an extermina-
ting war.

In a more recent instance of this reaction, we have
seen the citizens of Paris, at one moment, proud of
13*

150 SOURCES OF

their slavery to their monarch ; the next, exulting with
republican fury around his scaffold, and literally rush-
ing to dip their hands in his blood ; and again resign-
ing their liberties and lives to a despot.

When, alas ! shall there universally prevail some
principle of action, pure, efficient, and uniform, to cor-
rect the sallies and moderate the passions of ungovern-
able man ?

This reaction is frequently visible in more confined
societies. The heir of the avaricious parent often be-
comes a prodigal; and the youth too austerely educa-
ted, bursts the trammels of domestic subjection, and
plunges headlong into hcentiousness. Who could not
point out, among his acquaintance, the relatives of
pious individuals throwing off the restraints of a reli-
gious education, and openly despising what they had
been most instructed to admire ^ A person of this
description might say, " I should perhaps have loved
religion, but for the form in which 1 saw it arrayed.
It was incessantly pressed upon me in my infant hours
of amusement, not only without any attempt at concili-
ation, but with all the force of chiding, if not of punish-
ment. Instead of select moments and favorable con-
junctures being sought out and embraced, I was daily
condemned to the same irksome task, even at times
when my mind ought to have been amused with pue-
rile recreations. Besides, I too often observed indi-
viduals, who professed to be unusually religious, ex-
hibiting the most unamiable proofs of their want of
common meekness and urbanity. The Almighty was
represented as a tyrant, and man as a slave. In short,
the whole process of my education tended to deprive
religion of every lovely association, and to render what
was represented as necessary to my salvation, utterly
repugnant to my reason and my feelings." Such is
the language that is sometimes heard from the apos-
tate children of religious but injudicious parents ; and
though it cannot justify the speaker, it ought to con-

ERROR IN OPINION. 151

vince the hearer of the necessity of associating religion,
as far as possible, with pleasing rather than painful
recollections. A child may and should be taught
urgently and frequently all things necessary to his sal-
vation, without, however, having just cause afforded
him of complaint for harshness or unreasonable de-
mands. Nothing is more to be dreaded than this
moral reaction. It is as much the object of a judi-
cious preceptor to teach a child to love the Bible as to
make him understand it : nay, more ; for love will soon
lead to knowledge, but knowledge is of no avail with-
out love.

Another cause of error is mental vmbexUity. There
are persons who, for whatever reason, seem utterly
unable to draw moderate and equitable conclusions-
They are the dupes of every new speculation. The
slightest argument impels them to the most absurd
opinions. The singularity of a proposition, far from
exciting their suspicion, serves only to confirm their
belief. They are always wrong, always in extremes,
yet always imagine themselves right and reasonable,
and are surprised that others do not see the force
of what to them appears so obviously true. It must
not, however, be imagined that the class in ques-
tion is composed only of thoughtless or illiterate
minds. The imbecility that is intended to be descri-
bed is compatible, though in a subordinate degree,
with a very high order of general intellect ; for even
the most learned and sagacious men have been some-
times seen conscientiously to embrace opinions which
a well-informed child would be ashamed to own.

There are persons who seem to think rightly upon
every subject, perhaps, but one ; as a madman may be
found to reason perfectly well, except upon the partic-
ular topic that caused his derangement. For there is
in many human beings a kind of idiosyncracy, which,
independently of pride, or passion, impels them to say,
and to do, the most eccentric things. Even the man

152 SOURCES OP

of genius is not necessarily exempted from this state-
ment ; for there are few opinions so absurd as not to
have found sincere advocates even among persons of
undoubted talent. How often has one favorite hypoth-
esis led persons, otherwise sensible and well-informed,
to a train of the most extravagant conclusions ! There
are writers who, having by some unaccountable imbe-
cility admitted one error, which runs, like a black vein
in a block of Parian marble, through the whole of
their argument, have rendered their otherwise masterly
works almost entirely useless. Without selecting an
extreme case, the learned and highly valuable com-
mentary of Hammond might be brought forward as an
illustration. It is amusing to observe how gravely he
introduces us to our old enemies the gnostics, and
without a syllable of parley begins the favorite attack ;
and this at a time when we least expected their com-
pany, and hoped to have passed comfortably on with-
out a single blow on either side. In such a case as
this, the defect in judgment may by no means lead to
any errors of a very dangerous nature ; but instances
might easily be produced in which a similar cause has
tended to the most injurious results.

The predominance of fancy over the judgment pro-
duces a peculiar species of mental imbecility. To
this may be attributed many of the improprieties of the
mystic writers. The strange explications of scripture,
which have sometimes amused or astonished the world,
may be traced, when they do not spring from pride, to
this same source. The powers of the fancy may bo
so strong, and under such slight regulation, that a per-
son who possesses common sense sufficient for ten
other men, may not have enough for himself. To
what but the influence of this giddy deity over the
more sober decrees of the judgment, can be ascribed
the eccentric opinions of the amiable Bishop Berkley ?
To charge such a man with general imbecility, would
be absurd ; yet could any speculation be more imbe-

ERROR IN OPINION. 153

cile than that of the nonentity of matter, and the im-
materiahty of all visible scenes ? One siring, we find,
may jar in a mind the most harmoniously arranged.

There is an unfortunate species of imbecility which
displays itself in a constant change of opinions, and
that perhaps for others equally unworthy of belief.
Occasional corrections ought not to stamp a character
with the imputation of mental weakness. They may
occur in the best regulated mind in consequence of a
new influx of light and knowledge, and in such cases
are often successive approximations towards truth.
But widely differing from this, is that idle restlessness
which can never be satisfied but by the charms of nov-
elty. Persons under this influence not only change
often, but with the most unmeasured violence. They
never repair without pulling down ; they never forsake
their present error without reverting to the opposite.
Their scale is graduated only for the widest excesses
of apathy and passion, of heat and cold.

To treat with ridicule or contempt those unhappy
persons whose erroneous opinions arise from either
total or partial imbecility, is not only cruel but useless;
for if we would reduce them to moderation, it must
not be by shocking their minds with harsh assertions,
but by acting towards them with unaffected kindness
and mild expostulation. Thus may we silently, but
efl^ectually, turn aside the helm, and deflect their
course from the rocks of Scyila, without exposing
them to the dangers of Charybdis.

Controversy is another source of error ; and it is
astonishing to observe in how forcible a manner it
sometimes operates. Its peculiar effect is to give un-
due prominence to the controverted point by the ex-
clusion of almost every other ; so that through its influ-
ence the best arranged system often loses the beauty
of its proportions.

A man, whose opinions have been quietly formed,
will usually find that each point is more or less con-

154 SOURCES OF

spicuous in his system, according to its intrinsic conse-
quence. But no sooner does he issue forth into the
field of controversy, than this equitable balance is in
imminent danger of being destroyed. The particular
doctrine that is sttacked instantly becomes a favorite,
as an afflicted child is usually preferred to all the rest.
The very habit of defending a point invests it with un-
wonted importance ; so that it is scarcely possible to
open a polemical work, without being informed that
the subject under consideration, whatever it may be,
is about the most momentous that was ever dis-
cussed. The writer was possibly at one time as in-
different to it as his reader ; but the constant act of
defending his position has impressed it upon his mind
with a power not its own. He has every moment
perceived some new argument in its favor ; and has
been equally sagacious in discovering the ill effects of
the system of his adversary. Thus has he proceeded,
till his favorite tenet has eclipsed all others. Sym-
metry, which is as indispensable in a system of opin-
ions as in an architectural design, is entirely forgotten.
His descriptions become harsh and overcharged ; so
that what was perhaps substantially true and laudable,
is rendered false and dangerous by his distortion and
extravagance.

To this natural effect of controversy may be ascrib-
ed many of the unguarded statements even of pious
and learned men upon subjects connected with religion.
Perceiving, perhaps, that some particular scriptural
doctrine was much neglected, tliey have felt it neces-
sary to show its importance ; but while they have ea-
gerly pursued this laudable end, they have forgotten
the equal importance of all the rest. In arguing against
a common error, strong language must sometimes be
employed ; nor can we wonder if this language is
sometimes stronger than the occasion requires. Were
we to judge of the relative importance of the thirty-nino
articles of religion by the controversies which have ex-

ERROR IN OPINION. 155

isted upon the subjects therein discussed, we might im-
agine each one in succession to have been tlie most im-
portant ; for controversy disturbs the natural order of
distances and magnitudes. The individual truth, the
insulated error under consideration, occupies the whole
sphere of vision, so that other truths and other errors
of equal or superior importance are in danger of being
overlooked.

These effects of controversy, though highly injurious,
may unconsciously consist with the most innocent in-
tentions; but there are others equally common which
always involve actual guilt. It is impossible to survey
the annals of literary or theological warfare without dis-
covering, even amongst the best of men, something too
much resembling obstinacy or prevarication. A con-
troversialist may begin moderately, but he seldom ends
so. Heated with opposition, he tries to remove him-
self as far as possible from the opinions of his oppo-
nents. He finds it necessary to go to greater lengths
than he intended, in order to defend what is undoubt-
edly true. " If I am obliged to give up this, I must
give up more." So powerful is this cause of error that
an obstinate man would almost refuse his assent to the
postulates of Euclid, if he suspected that they might be
made use of to refute his favorite opinions.

The last, but not the least prolific source, that needs
be mentioned, is pride. This is closely connected with
several of the foregoing causes, and without it they
could not always exist. But independently also, and
distinctly, it has a most extensive and energetic effect.

An ambitious man who cannot attract attention by
superiority of talent, will often endeavor to do it by
singularity of o[)inion ; for he who is unable to surpass
others in illustrating known truth, may easily become
conspicuous by some novelty in error. Hence most of
the wild theories, paradoxes, and speculations, that infest
the world. It is scarcely possible to find a very ec-
centric book in which there are not evident indications

156 SOURCES OF

of pride. The unusual opinions, for example, of Bi-
shop Warburton are remarkably characterized by this
quality ; indeed, so much so, that it may be fairly sus-
pected that pride was often the reason why they were
unusual. A still more forcible illustration may be de-
rived from almost every work published by our modern
pseudo-philosophers. Nearly the same principle that in-
clines one person to comply with every modish senti-
ment of the times in which he lives, induces another to
resort to the contrary extreme of opposing whatever he
finds established by public opinion. The pestilent
philosophers of modern days have acquired much ce-
lebrity by this easy practice. They have railed against
the most important institutions, without offering any
thing of equal value in their place ; as the ambitious in-
cendiary, who could not perhaps build a hovel, hoped
to become illustrious by consuming the temple of
Diana.

Since, however, all proud men cannot invent new
systems of opinion, many are content with adopting the
absurdities of others ; being perhaps aware that some
sentiments are so eccentric and unlikely to be generally
admitted, that the imitator becomes almost as conspic-
uous as the original artist. There are persons whose
pride hourly leads them into erroneous opinions, by
prompting them to differ from every body else ; so
that where others are right they must necessarily be
wrong. Their politics, their religion, their literature,
must possess something new and remarkable. They
court opposition for its own sake. To judge of their
opinion upon any given subject, it is necessary to in-
quire what is not the opinion of ordinary men. They
are afraid of being considered tame characters. They
are too proud to profess the same creed with their
pious neighbors. No sentiment can recommend itself
to their judgment that does not also gratify their love
of notoriety.

To enumerate other sources of error would increase

ERROR IN OPINION. 157

the number of these remarks beyond ihe intended de-
sign. Prejudice, education, love of pleasure, the pas-
sions, and various other causes, might, however, be
mentioned, as not less extensive and powerful than
those already detailed. But the object of these hints
was chiefly to suggest a few practical ideas, in order
to assist in answering the very important question,
" How came I to possess such or such an opinion f"
If conscience reply, that the grounds on which it rests
are improper or insufficient, the line of conduct that
ought to be pursued is too obvious to need recital.

14

158 FALSE MODESTY

)

FALSE MODESTY IN RELIGION.

" I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ J^

It is by no means a subject for astonishment that men
should have been ashamed of Christianity at its first
promulgation. The Messiah liad just suffered cruci-
fixion, vvliich was a mode of punishment confined to
malefactors and the lowest classes of society : liis
followers were persecuted from city to city with the
most implacable and cruel bigotry, and every thing
was practised to bring the gospel into disrepute. It
cannot therefore excite surprise, that persons in gen-
eral, and more especially the proud, the rich, and the
learned, were ashamed of the new dispensation. But
in the present ^day, when Christianity has long been
patronized as the religious code of the most enlight-
ened quarter of the globe, when its evidences are
acknowledged to be irresistible, and its blessings of in-
finite value, it is surely astonishing that men should be
ashamed of so inesiimable a blessing. Yet tiie more
we inquire into the subject, the more we shall discover
this to be the fact.

To a man who believes Christianity to be a system
" generally necessary to salvation," it is distressing to
reflect over how small a portion of the world it is yet
diffused. Amidst the vast tracts of Africa, Asia, and
America, scarcely is it known, except in the different
European colonies. But from these desolate scenes
let us turn our eyes to those brighter spots on which
the light of revelation has shone. Christendom may
present a more animating sight. Yet, alas ! though
the spiritual sun is indeed visible over the whole of
this extensive tract, he too often appears "shorn of
his beams," and enveloped in the clouds and darkness

IN RELIGION.

159

of error. Superstition (and what superstition can be
more degrading to the gospel or to the human intellect
than that of the unreformed church?) has obscured the
light of genuine Christianity. In some (ew countries,
however, the gospel is professed in its purity, and
amongst those our own holds the most conspicuous
place. Nothing can be more spiritual, or scriptural,
or worthy of the highest intellect and understanding,
than the worship of the Church of England. Yet
were the great Author of our religion orally to reveal
his mind to us as he did to Saint John, he might say
of us, as he said of the Ephesian church, " Neverthe-
less, I have also something against thee." For is it not
a fact rather to be lamented than denied, that a large
portion, not only of those who vaguely call themselves
Christians, but of those who zealously profess them-
selves members of the pure and apostolical church
established in these realms, are, in reality, ashamed of
the gospel of Christ? Since, however, this charge is
of a most weighty, and apparently an invidious, nature,
it becomes necessary to inquire into the evidence upon
which it depends.

At the first promulgation of Christianity, the mere
recognition of it as a religious system was sufficient to
draw down the utmost violence of persecution. The
number of merely nominal professors was therefore
comparatively small ; for few persons would go so far
as to acknowledge Christ Jesus as their teacher, and
thereby make themselves partakers of his reproach,
who did not intend to go further, by fully admitting
his doctrines, and leading a life strictly consistent with
his commands. But in the present age and country
the case is widely different ; a general belief in Chris-
tianity is rather a source of reputation and credit, than
of censure or opposition ; and by no means necessarily
supposes any great sacrifice or privation for the sake
of our nominal Redeemer. Merely to say, " I am
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ," costs us nothing.

160 FALSE MODESTY

We run no risk, incur no odium, raise no suspicion.
Being born within tlie limits of Christendom, it is con-
sidered a thing of course that we should not verbally
deny our titular Lord. All the prejudices of our
country and our education concur to make Christianity,
as a system, respectable in our eyes. Except, pos-
sibly, in some few licentious pseudo-philosophical cir-
cles, not to be a Christian, in the common acceptation
of the term, is never spoken of as a claim to honor or
applause. It is therefore very possible to deceive our-
selves in supposing we inherit the apostle's spirit,
merely because we can literally adopt his words, for-
getting that the circumstances under which we repeat
them are essentially different. It is little to assert
that we are not ashamed of that to which no mark of
shame is ever thought of being attached. Many who
in the present century name the name of Christ in
Great Britain, would have opposed it, had they been
contemporaries of the apostles in Judea or Asia Minor.
It is evident, therefore, that the bare acknowledgment
of Christianity in a Christian country, is a very insuf-
ficient test of our religious character. We have seen,
not many years since, in a neighboring nation, whole
bodies of men who professed the name of Christ, and
who were possibly as much attached to his religion,
and on the very same grounds, as many nominal pro-
fessors of it among ourselves, becoming ashamed of it
as soon as it ceased to be countenanced by the dis-
tributors of emolument and patronage ! This is surely
an important fact, warning us to ascertain whether our
religion is merely the unexamined prejudice of educa-
tion, or that internal principle which enabled Saint
Paul to submit to every opposition rather than renounce
his Lord.

From these remarks it will appear, that in examin-
ing whether or not we are " ashamed of the gospel
of Christ," we should look beyond the unmeaning
recognition of Christianity which the worst as well as

IN RELIGION. 161

the best men around us will readily profess; and
should consider the apostle's words in an extended
view, as including the whole of a genuine Christian's
belief and practice, not only as distinguished from that,
for'^nstance, of a iMahometan or irifidel, but from that
also of the ignorant and irreligious of his own nominal
persuasion. Admitting this, it becomes, alas ! too easy
to show (hat many professed Christians are, in reality,
ashamed of the " Cross of Christ." Nor is it neces-
sary to advert to the licentious and profane, as exam-
ples of this truth. We find it oftentimes exhibited in
persons who possess far greater claims to our respect —
in the decorous, the moral, the benevolent, the sin-
cere.

Let us, as an example, select a character, such as
is often seen in the more decent ranks of life, of a
person taught by education and custom to respect
Christianity, and perhaps confirmed in his veneration
by observing the unrivalled moral excellence of its
effects. At divine worship his attendance is regular,
and his conduct exemplary. In his worldly afiliirs he
is punctual and just, in his temper mild and amiable,
in his alms liberal yet judicious, in his general conduct,
upright and sincere. He even perhaps ventures fur-
ther, willingly lending both his influence and his pro-
perty to promote Christianity, and education, and good
morals amongst the ignorant and destitute. Of a per-
son thus well disposed, it cannot but be painful to
speak otherwise than in the language of unqualified
approbation. The hand of candor would willingly
draw a veil over every thing that might cast a shade
on so lovely a picture, were not this falsely-kind office
inconsistent with true Christian charity.

Should such a person as has been described be in-
clined to undertake the important duty of self-exami-
nation, accompanied with earnest prayer for the divine
guidance in ascertaining his true character, he might
possibly discover that amidst so much that is laudable
14*

162

FALSE MODESTY

there Is much also that is wrong, and that how praise-
worthy soever may be his general conduct, he, in real-
ity, studiously avoids the reproach of the cross of
Christ. It is not necessary that we should deny the
divine mission of our Saviour, in order to constitute us
enemies of the gospel ; for it is very possible that indi-
viduals of such a character as has been sketched out,
though apparently devout and orthodox, may be justly
obnoxious to the same serious charge. The line of
conduct which has been described is by no means an
undeniable proof of willingness to bear the shame of
the cross, since it is evident, that far from being
attended with disgrace, it is not unusually the direct
road to admiration and esteem. The very same ac-
tions would have pre-supposed, in the times of the
apostles, a disposition of mind which is by no means
their necessary companion in the present day. It is
not too much to say, that our conduct may in every
thing be externally Christian, without our heart being
right in the sight of God. The mere outward ac-
knowledgment of Christianity in this highly Christian
land, by no means indicates our real attachment to our
professed Lord. Where tliere is no possible tempta-
tion to waver, there can be no exertion of principle in
remaining firm. While therefore we are grateful to
that beneficent Providence which has placed us in an
eminently pious country, and made us subject to no
external pains and penalties for our religion, we should
be incited to greater rather than less scrupulousness in
ascertaining its real effects upon our hearts and con-
duct.

It is very possible, and indeed very common, to ac-
knowledge Christianity in the gross, and yet to be
ashamed of it in detail; to contemplate it at a distance
as an object of applause and veneration, but to shrink
from any minute examination of its individual parts.
We do not hesitate to admit its authority, but we blush
to be found living in its spirit. We confess it as our

IN RELIGION. 163

religion, but do not adopt it as our rule. We unmean-
ingly pay homage to it on the Sabbath, whilst we con-
travene its influence during the remainder of the week.
It is an outward badge which prevents our being mis-
taken for Pagans or Jews, but not, as it ought to be, a
principle interwoven in our hearts, which distinguishes
us from those thoughtless persons who live " without
God in the world " among our own compatriots and
friends.

If the assertion of our Saviour be true, that " out of
the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," we
may in some degree judge whether or not we are
ashamed of the gospel of Christ, by the general tone
of our daily conversation. Do we, in our intercourse
with the world, habitually refer every thing to this
standard ? Do u^e delight to converse on the impor-
tant realities which are disclosed by revelation ; and
that not abstractedly as subjects of mere literary taste
and argument, but as practically connected with the
improvement of the heart and life ? Or, on the con-
trary, do we instinctively shrink from topics thus im-
mediately connected with the cross of Christ, and seek
for delight in worldly ones ? Does not the passing
rumor of the day usually interest us more than the im-
mutable realities of eternity ? If religious subjects,
strictly so called, be introduced, do we not often prove,
by our silence or uneasiness, if not by our contempt,
that we are heartily ashamed of their admission ? Do
we not also evidence this false modesty by represent-
ing religion as an unfit theme for habitual meditation,
or conversational intercourse, and as calculated only
for admission into pulpits and theological books ; thus
completely dissenting from the general spirit of the
early Christians and of our own pious forefathers, who
were never ashamed, as often as proper occasions arose,
to join in strictly devotional conversation. Awe for re-
ligion is the assigned cause ; but indifference to it, and
a desire to avoid it, are the real ones, w^hy it is almost

164 FALSE MODESTY

banished from modern intercourse. Men are not
ashamed to speak of the existence of a Deity, or to
converse upon any other subject of what is called natu-
ral religion ; but no sooner are the peculiarities of the
gospel introduced, than our false modesty, or rather
our active dislike is excited, and we strive to put an
end to the discussion. To a professor of another re-
ligion, we must oftentimes appear like a company of
persons, who, for some unknown or unworthy motive,
have determined to support, in the eyes of their neigh-
bors, a system of which each is secretly ashamed, and
which, therefore, all agree to banish from general con-
versation, and to confine to ceitain slated periodical
formalities, in which each may venture to take a share
without any distinct charge of credulity being attached
to any.

Ti)e wise Reformers of the English Church showed
themselves well acquainted with our natural propensity
to be ashamed of the gospel, when they admitted into
the baptismal service those emphatic words, " We do
sign him with the sign of the cross, in token that here-
after he shall not be ashamed to confess the faith of
Christ cmcified, and manfully to fight under his ban-
ner against sin, the world, and the devil." Yet, alas !
how often is their wise precaution rendered vain ! —
Baptized into the Christian faith, we too often volun-
tarily and even eagerly yield to those spiritual enemies
which by our sureties we had protnised to renounce.
We are even ashamed of genuine religion in others.
An individual may make high advances in moral virtue
and religious decorum, not only without his intellect
or his sincerity being called into question, but with an
evident increase of reputation to both. His motives
not being suspected to be exclusively christian, his
conduct is applauded and admired. But if he candid-
ly point to the letter of his baptismal engagements as
the rule of his conduct ; — if he evidence that he is re-
ally determined to " figlit under Christ's banner against

IN RELIGION. 165

sin, the world, and the devil," by exhibiting a life of
faith, of pra3'er, of humility, of dependence upon God,
of watchfulness against every sin both in the heart and
conduct, of eagerness to perform the divine commands,
and of determined hostility to those " pomps and vani-
ties of the world " which he has so solemnly vowed to
renounce, — do we not instantly suspect him of enthu-
siasm or affectation ; of an imbecile understanding, or
a hypocritical heart f Do we not further evidence
that we are ashamed of the gospel in its genuine spirit,
by silently avoiding his company, if not by more open
and direct modes of warfare ? In short, are we not
willing to applaud every virtue of every man, unless
when we perceive it to be the immediate effect of
practical faith in Jesus Christ ?

In our conduct, it is evident that we are ashamed of
the cross of Christ, if we prefer acting by the current
maxims of the fallen mind, rather than by the injunc-
tions of the Bible ; or if, instead of adhering strictly to
our Christian engagements, we study how far we may
conform to the spirit of the world, how far we may in-
dulge the " desires of the flesh, the desire of the eye,
and the pride of life," without absolutely forfeiting our
claim to the name and privileges of Christians.

An anxiety to avoid that unmerited reproach which,
as disciples of Christ, we ought to rejoice to bear, is
often perceptible in the most trifling occurrences of
life. If, for instance, a worldly gratification be pro-
posed, which, though not, perhaps, verbally condemned
by Christianity, is at least inimical to its general spirit —
which supposes us to be habitually living as inhabitants
of another world, as followers of the humble, holy, and
patient Redeemer, and as imitators of those who have
been most successful in copying his example, — should
we in such a case dare to be singular in avoiding the
unhallowed gratification, and candidly assigning as our
motive, that it appears to us to be inconsistent with the
heavenly spirit of our religion, and a virtual renuncia-

166 FALSE MODESTY

tion of our baptismal vows ? Even when we decline
the queslionable j)leasure, it is not unusual to act in
such a way as to be conscious to ourselves that we are
ashauied of the cross of Christ, at the very time we
profess to adhere to his commands. We plead, for
example, (and perhaps truly,) indisposition or a pre-
engas^ement, when our duty required an explicit refu-
sal ; softened indeed by all the courtesies which enter
into ihe happiness of civilized and polished life, but by
no means compromiising sincerity and conscience, or
disposing our thoughtless friend to believe, that if the
intervening engagement had not taken place, if the
unfortunate indisposition had not unhappily occurred,
theie .was nothing to prevent our complying with iiis
unchristian request.

Again — we evidence our reluctance to bear the re-
proach of Christ, if in our own conduct we do not
openly act up to our principles; if in our domestic cir-
cle we fail to promote, as lar as possible, family devo-
tion, the study of the sacred scriptures, and a heartfelt
regard to their doctiines and commands ; and if in our
general intercourse with society we do not conscien-
tiously add our testimony, humble as it- may be, to the
power and importance of true religion. Men are never
backward to applaud virtue and condemn vice, as such,
because these terms do not belong exclusively to the
language of revelation ; but sin and holiness^ on ac-
count of their reference not only to the outward act,
but to the actuating principle, and from their describ-
ing our conduct rather as it appears in the sight of God,
and as it res|)ects his revealed laws, than as relating to
merely moral and political considerations, are usually
avoided as suspicious terms by those who do not cor-
dially admit the essential peculiarities of the gospel. It
is, however, always a sign of our desire to avoid the
shame of the cross, when we studiously neutralize the
characteristic doctiines or language of scripture, or at-
tem])t to lower down its deeper coloring to the slight

IN RELIGION. 167

shades of ethical philosophy. If our ideas of Chris-
tianity, ihoiigli they may admit it to be a divine revela-
tion, teach us to regard it rather as the religion of our
country, and of great moral and political importance,
than as immediately connected with the salvaiion of
the human soul, and the interests of eternity, we
admit no more than is awfully compatible with a de-
liberate disavowal of its most essential doctrines, and a
systematic neglect of its most binding precepts ; — no
more than the prejudices of country and education
might be expected to produce on a mind the most hos-
tile to persotjal religion.

To persons such as have been described in a former-
part of these remarks, persons whose moral excellence
of character makes it truly lamentable that they siiould
be deluded in their religious views, no test, perhaps,
is more appropriate than the absence or possession of
Christian iiumility. What, for instance, if the deco-
rous behavior, the regular attendance on divine wor-
ship, the integrity, the amiableness, the beneficence
which we have admired, instead of being, as they ought
to be, the fruits of Christian faith and love, are in-
tended to supersede, or even to co-operate with, that
perfect and complete sacrifice and obedience whicii are
exhibited in the gospel as the only meritorious cause of
our redemption ? Must they not in this case prove
the fruitful sources of self-complacency and spiritual
pride ? Will they not oppose the humbling spirit of
that dispensation which has made our pardon an act of
unmerited giace and compassion — " not of works, lest
any man should boast," but exclusively on account of
the gratuitous mercy of God in Jesus Christ ?

It is lamentable to reflect, as it may appear harsh to
assert, that persons of the decorous character just de-
scribed are frequently more ashamed of the cross of
Christ than persons of less exemplary habits. For
what is the cross of Christ ^ Is it not the revelation
of free pardon to a rebellious world solely through the

168 FALSE MODESTY

vicarious obedience and death of Christ? Are there
any classes of persons mentioned in scripture so
naturally good as to deserve being exempted from the
universal list of proscription, and for whom therefore
the death of Christ was a supererogated work ? Or are
there two methods of salvation proposed, the one for
the profligate, and the other for the moralist ? So far
from it, we find that he who owed fifty pence was as
unable to pay as he that owed five hundred, and the
creditor is said to have freely forgiven both.

This doctrine, however, though evidently scriptural,
is so completely opposed to the natural pride of a man
who feels conscious of the outward propriety of his
conduct on the one hand, and knows not the extent of
the divine requisitions on the other, that it is not often
that he can be readily induced to acknowledge its
truth. He scornfully rejects the idea of being saved
in the same manner as Zaccheus or the thief upon the
cross ; forgetting that one great and specific end of
the gospel was to abase human pride, a sin not less
heinous in the sight of God, and ultimately not less in-
jurious to society, than the former extortion or dishon-
esty of these afterwards repentant characters.

The expectation of being saved either wholly, or in
part, upon account of our own merits, derogates essen-
tially from the sufficiency of our Saviour's obedience
and death. Our pride indeed seldom goes so far as
boldly to set aside the necessity of the sacrifice of
Christ; but we virtually produce the same effect by
supposing that we already possess much that is good,
and therefore need only a 'partial redemption to com-
pensate for our acknowledged deficiency. To this
serious error a person such as has been described is
peculiarly liable. He sees in himself much that is
praiseworthy in the sight of man, but forgets that " his
goodness extendeth not unto God." Comparing his
actions with those of many of his neighbors, he thinks
he perceives reason for self-gratulation and applause ;

IN RELIGION. 169

but were lie to examine himself by the standard of
God's revealed law, he would soon discover that he
has been an ungrateful and unprofitable servant. Can
he, for example, assert that his heart has been supreme-
ly and undividedly fixed in holy love and devout adora-
tion upon his ]\Iaker, which is evidently the great law
of his creation ? Have every thought, and word, and
action been consecrated to his service .'' Supposing
even that his conduct had been uniformly good, with-
out the slightest deflection from the path of rectitude,
(a supposition, of course, wholly incompatible with
fact, and which arrogance itself will not venture to
assert,) yet has it invariably sprung from Christian
motives? Has it been always intended to promote the
glory of God, and the eternal welfare of his own soul ?
Has no spirit of pride or worldliness ever mixed with
his motives or contaminated his actions? Have love
to God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ been the
predominant princi[)les of his heart, and have they
been evidenced in his conduct, by undeviating love for
all mankind f Are anger, resentment, and desire of
superiority wholly unknown ? In a word, taking our
Saviour's Sermon on the Mount for his guide, will he
conscientiously assert, that he has perfectly complied
with God's holy will and commandments in their spi-
ritual import and extent ? Surely no man in a Chris-
tian country, whose ignorance is not at least as great
as his pride, will venture upon such an assertion. We
are, tlierefore, all confessedly guilty before God. Yet
while we acknowledge thus much in a general point
of view, we often evince our shame of the gospel, by
hesitating to admit the scriptural doctrine on this sub-
ject in its full extent. We assert that our heart and
life, though not perfectly good, equal or exceed the
average standard of mankind ; and as God is merciful,
we trust to the merits of our Saviour to make up for
our defects.

Does not, however, this language show a reluctance
15

170 FALSE MODESTY

to admit llie unqualified doctrines of that gospel which
teaches us to approach our Creator for mercy, only
through our all-prevailing Mediator and Advocate ;
feeling that we have offended the Divine Majesty, and
acknowledging that no action of our own can possess
any legal merit towards procuring our forgiveness ?
The apostle Saint Paul, perceiving that the idea of
our heing saved partly by our own works, and partly
by the merits of our Surety, was an error highly de-
rogatory to the honor of the Redeemer's sacrifice, and
tending greatly to encourage that spiritual pride which
Christianity was expressly intended to counteract, — op-
posed the plausible doctrine with all the force of argu-
ment and all the vehemence of zeal. Had he never
written more than one well-known sentence, this surely
would have been quite conclusive on the subject. If
salvation, he asserts, be " by grace, then it is no more
of works, otherwise grace is no more grace : but if it
be of works, then it is no more grace, otherwise work
is no more work." There is therefore no medium be-
tween being saved entirely either by works or by
grace : the first, owing to our acknowledged imperfec-
tions, is impossible ; the latter therefore should be our
only hope. To expect salvation by the merits of
Christ in conjunction with our own, is to oppose the
spirit of the apostle's argument, and evidently indicates
a reluctance to submit unreservedly to the humbling
doctrines of the cross of Christ.

The reason, perhaps, why persons of moral character
so often err on this essential part of Christianity, is, that
they do not sufficiently perceive the extent of human
corruption. They join indeed habitually in those
strong general expressions of sinfulness, guilt, and
spiritual impotence, which so frequently occur in the
Bible, and its offspring the Liturgy ; but they have
never considered the awful fact as it relates to them-
selves. Thoy contend that " their heart is good," for-
getting the statement of Omniscience itself, that " the

IN RKI-UilOV. 171

heart of man is deceitful above all tliin2;s, and despe-
rately wicked." They seem unconscious that llie fall
of mankiiul has so com[)letelv chani:;ed our moral con-
dition, that noihins; we can perform by nature is truly
good ; or, in the language of our Church, that " works
done before the grace of Christ and the ins|)iration of
his Spirit, are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as they
s[)ring not of faith in Jesus Christ." They tail there-
fore to perceive the necessity of that renovation of
heart, that implantation of the " grace of Christ,"
which, notwithstanding their jn-opriety of conduct,
may not yet have taken place, hut antecedent to which,
no human action is well pleasing unto Ciod, on account
of the evil natm'e of the motives from which it springs.

One error in religion usually depeni.ling upon another,
we cannot be surl1ri^ed that those who do not corilially
admit the doctrine of human guilt and inability, should
be ashamed of anotiier essential part of revelation, the
necessity of the Holy Spirit's inOuences. Conscious
that their sn|)posedly good works, which, upon their
hypothesis, deserve wholly, if not, at least in part, the
rewards of heaven, were the offspring of merely nat-
ural motives, they are by no means prepared to allow
the declaration of our Aiiiele, that " we have no power
to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God with-
out the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we
may have a t!;ood will, and workini; with us when we
have that good will."

It appears then but too certain that even in this
Christian country no small portion of the jirofessed dis-
ciples of Christ are, in reality, ashamed of many of the
peculiarities of his gospel ; and this railieal fault we
have seen is discoverable, not oidy amongst the utterly
thoughtless and licentious, but among many also of the
moral and sincere. To live in the genuine spirit of
our profession, emulating the holy conduct of saints,
coidessors, martyrs, and our Divine Master himself, con-
stitutes no part of the aim of many, who nevertheless

172 FALSE MODESTY

profess to differ widely from the irreligious and profane.
False shame of the gospel is a temptation exactly suit-
ed to the disposition of those who would be startled at
the more oj)en assaults of our spirtitual enemy. It is
so plausibly veiled under the naiDes of modesty, proper
deference to the opinion of others, and a desire of
avoiding ostentatious singularity, that we are not always
aware of its pernicious influence. A person whose
sensitiveness of character, and whose temper and edu-
cation, incline him to avoid whatever may excite the
" world's dread laugh," will find this a most formi-
dable temptation. To certain coarse and wayward
minds, singularity, even without any adequate reason,
seems to possess intrinsic charms. Men thus inclined,
(unless happily restrained by that factitious m-banity
which often veils what religion only can overcome,)
delight in courting unprovoked controversy. They
love to set the opinions and maxims of the world at
defiance. They invite noise and controversy, not for
the sake of truth, but on account of their inherent
attractions ; and seem never to enjoy existence more
than when surrounded with a circle of auditors who are
listening with mingled astonishment and indignation to
their affectedly eccentric opinions. The opposition,
which to others would be intolerable, is to them but
a kind of j)leasing stimulus. A man thus naturally
or educationally inclined, if he happen to turn his
thoughts towards religion, is oftentimes too willing to
suppose that he is bearing the reproach of the gospel,
when he is only gratifying his favorite propensity, a
propensity not less corrupt when employed on religion
than when on other objects. He fancies he is not
ashamed of the cross of Christ, because he boldly
avows his theological tenets ; forgetting that he does
no more for Christianity than he would do for the most
indifferent speculation in politics or philosophy. He
escapes, it is true, that " fear of man" which '' bring-
eth a snare j" but he forgets that his victory is owing

IX RELIGION. 173

rather to the audacity of his brow, and the ri-zidity oi'
his nerves, than to his real veneration for the lioly
cause which he defends.

There are persons, however, of a very different
temperament, and to whom the corporeal pains ol
martyrdom itself would be the least part of its terrors.
A mahcious hint, a reproachful smile, are torture to
their minds. Convinced in their judgment that Chris-
tianity may be something more than they once conceiv-
ed, they yet fear the ridicule of being " righteous over-
much," and therefore fail to enter completely into its
spirit. They know what is right, but false shame
prevents their putting it in practice. The contemptu-
ous smile of an irreligious acquaintance outweighs with
them both the force of scripture and the deliberate
convictions of their own impartial reason. They dread
lest the slightest approximation to primitive piety
should subject them to the charge of imbecility or
enthusiasm. In a word, they shun the cross of Christ.

But is not this obviously unchristian f Are not
pride and worldliness, however variously disguised, its
exciting cause ? No just plea can possibly be found
to excuse so flagrant a violation of our allegiance to
our professed Lord : it is a temptation which we are
bound to resist. If the peculiar doctrines or spirit of
the gospel necessarily excite the frown or suspicion of
the world, we must be content to bear them. " One
is our master, even Christ." " We cannot serve God
and rvlammon." We may be courteous, and amiable,
and well-bred, without denying or even merging our
religious principles. Christian politeness is far re-
moved from hypocrisy. If we would evidence that we
do not wantonly affect singularity or oppose the max-
ims and opinions of men, let it be shown, not by a
suppression of the doctrines or practices of our holy
religion, but by the sweetness, modesty, and prudence
with which we exemplify and inculcate them. We
should remember also, for our comfort, that the great-
15*

174 FALSE MODESTY

er the difficulty we find in bearing the reproach of
Christ, the greater is our reward if we are enabled
resolutely to comply wilh the obligation.

There is no class of persons upon whom the shame
of the cross is more likely to produce a powerful effect,
than upon the younger members of amiable, but not
decidedly religious families. Having, ])erhaps, been
providentially thrown into circumstances in which they
have had an opportunity of seeing a standard of re-
ligion more elevated and more resembling the apostolic
age than the one to which they had hitherto been
accustomed, and having perceived the necessity of
more than merely nominal Christianity, a " form of
godliness without the power," "a name to live while we
are dead," they have determined, by the grace of God,
to act up to their conviction — '* to confess the faith
of Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under his
banner against sin, the world, and the devil, and to
continue his faithful soldiers and servants unto their
lives' end." As they examine more closely the sacred
scriptures, they perceive more evidently that a line of
conduct is required widely differing from that of the
mere educational Christians wilh v^hom they are sur-
rounded. Their judgment is convinced. The doc^
trines and injunctions of the Bible, not to say of their
own church, appear to them so plain, that they cannot
withhold their assent. Instructed and influenced by
the Divine Spirit, thev have been taught to overcome
their first natural prejudices against a life of piety, and
Iiave felt that to dedicate themselves to their Creator
is a deliglilful as well as a reasonable service. Reli-
gion has not only convinced their judgment, but won
their hearts. Moral and amiable as their lives may
liave been, yet perceiving the truth of the scriptural
doctrine, that in the sight of God they, like others,
are sinners, and deserve his eternal wrath, — they have
imbibed the most ai'dent love and gratitude to their
adorable Savioin-, who redeemed them with the price

IN RELIGION. 175

of bis own invaluable blood. They have determined,
in consequence, by his assistance, to walk in his ways,
and to make the concerns of eternity their great object
of care in tliis fleeting world.

Thus convinced, and tiius resolved, they begin their
Christian course. The glories of heaven are full in
their view. The pomps and vanities of the world
have become insipid and even hateful to them. They
can enjoy nothing that appears inconsistent with their
heavenly vocation and tlieir vows of fidelity to their
celestial Lord. Their supreme desire is to be holy
as God is holy, and perfect as he is perfect. But too
soon " the fear of man bringeth a snare." They could,
perhaps, have borne the pains of the cross, but they
know not how to sustain its reproach. They coidd
brave the open rigors of persecution rather than yield
to an unchristian pleasure, or omit a Christian duty ;
but they know not how to support the tender solicita-
tions or reproaches of mistaken affection, or the lail-
lery, half playful, half severe, of a respected friend.
Susceptible and tender, they shrink beneath the cruel
chai ge of unnecessary singularity, if not of hypocritical
preciseness ; conveyed, perhaps, (to add the more to
its poignancy,) by those whom they highly value and
revere. They weep while they see friendship and
affection, which have hitherto been uniformly exerted
for their good, combining themselves with authority
which they have always felt it a delightful privilege to
obey, in order really, however unintentionally, to pluck
them from their Redeemer's hand, and if possible to
plunge them into that giddy vortex which their baptis-
mal vows, confirmed and ratified by mature reflection,
have taught them to avoid. It is in circumstances like
these that the reality of religious professions is brought
to the test. The difficulty is often increased when
surrounding friends are persons who would not invite
to any pleasure, or deter from any duty, except where
the voice of general and respectable custom seemed

176 FALSE MODESTY

fully to authorize their conduct. A religious youth
placed among persons of openly immoral hahits, finds
no great cause lor emharrassment or hesitation. In
shunning tiiem, he not only does not meet with censure,
but even gains applause. But among persons of regu-
lar, yet not decidedly religious character, it is often
quite impracticable to preserve tenderness of con-
science, without incurring misrepresentation or re-
proach ; since it is impossible to convey to the world
at large those nice susceptibilities of Christianity by
which she instructs men to shrink from the very
appearance of evil.

In cases of this kind, the reproach of the cross is a
most formidable impediment in the Christian course ;
but formidable as it may be, it must be overcome by
all who value the salvation and prosperity of their
souls. Great, however, as are the obstacles of this
nature which perplex the youthful Christian in the
present age, they are unworthy of comparison with
those which surrounded the first converts to Christiani-
ty. Surely, then, they are not insurmountable by those
who inherit any portion of the faitli, the hope, the zeal,
the patience of the apostolic age, and who, being con-
vinced of the treachery of their own hearts, the mu-
tability of their will, and the feebleness of their resolu-
tions, continually look up to a higher Power for such
a portion of the " wisdom of the serpent," and the
" harmlessness of the dove," as may enable them to
act, on the one hand, with modesty, propriety, and
affection, without, on the other, betraying tlieir Divine
Master, or shrinking from the honorable reproach of
his cross. In cases of doubt, it should ever be admit-
ted as a rule, that God must be preferred to man ; and
should dim-sighted expediency attempt to suggest
modifications or limitations to this rule, we may coun-
teract iier unchristian policy by another maxim equally
simple and decisive — " Do not evil, that good may

IN RELIGION. 177

It is interesting to conceive the case of an amiable
young Greek or Roman, converted by the preaching
of St. Paul, and just beginning to bear the reproach of
his Redeemer's cross. Imagine him endowed witli
large mental powers, enjoying a high rank in the scale
of society, and heir to all the worldly gratifications
which the wealthy and luxurious city of Rome, or
Athens, or Corinth, could afford. Attached, however,
to the service of his heavenly Master, he finds that no
prudence or amiableness can avert contempt or opposi-
tion. His dearest relatives, his most intimate associ-
ates, not only despise his religious views, but endeavor
by every taunting argument, if not by open persecu-
tion, to bring him back to the spirit of the world. He
feels that he really gives them pain and concern upon
his account, and knows not how to prevent it, except
by yielding his conscience as the equivalent. What a
field for the cultivation of the most difficult Christian
graces and virtues ! How urgently would the apostle
have exhorted such a convert to combine that zeal for
God, and that love for his Redeemer, which would
prevent his shrinking from the " reproach of Christ,"
with that meekness, that prudence, that conciliating
temper, that patience under injuries and opposition,
which conspicuously marked his own character,
prompting him cheerfully to become " all things to all
men, that he might by all means save some." How
earnestly would he have dissuaded him from indulging
in angry disputes and contumelious censures, and
especially from affecting a tone of superiority over
those who might not possess his own degree of spiritu-
al knowledge. How diligently would he have instruct-
ed him to pray for that joy and peace in believing,
which, displaying themselves in habitual serenity and
even cheerfulness of disposition, might convince his
associates that Christianity is not the gloomy phantasm
of a morbid imagination, but an unfailing source of
true beatitude and repose. In a word, how feelingly

178 FALSE MODESTY

would he have enjoined him, as he loved his divine
Saviour, and valued liis own soul, to cultivate the
amiable graces and tempers of the Christian character,
acting uniformly with wisdom, humility, and affection,
in order *' by well doing to put to silence the igno-
rance of foolish men."

Yet, on the other hand, how urgent and explicit
woidd have been his cautions against spiu'ious candor,
unhallowed compliances, and shame of the cross of
Christ. His language to the chiistianized Hebrews
is, " Follow peace with all n)en :" but, as if to prevent
their imagining that, in order to obtain it, they might
occasionally couipromise their conscience, or in any
way lower the standard of Christian piety, he immedi-
ately adds, " and holiness, without which no man
shall see the Lord." He would never have permitted
temporal interest, universal example, or even the
stronger argument of veneration and affection for rela-
tives and friends, to have been urged by his youthful
convert, as a valid plea for the slightest infringement
on his baptismal vows. Where the duty was clear,
he would have yielded nothing whatever to worldly
policy or false shame. He could pity weakness, but
he would not sanction error : while he admired con-
ciliation, he would have expected consistency.

It is pleasing to imagine what hai)py effects the hum-
ble, affectionate, yet firm and upriglit conduct of such
a convert might produce upon discerning and well-dis-
posed friends. Seeing his good works, they might
insensibly learn to " glorify his Father which is in
heaven," and to become " followers of him even as
he also followed Christ ;" for a character correctly
modelled upon the pi-incij)les of our Lord and his
faithful followers, is the most poweiful demonstration
of the beauty and efficacy of religion.

The various evils which result from being ashamed
of the gospel are too obvious to need recital. To a
person under this unhappy influence, knowledge serves

IN RELIGION. 179

only to Increase guilt, and susceptibility of conscience
is but a source of continual pain, by teaching what
it does not of itself give power to perform. To avoid
the reproacl) of the cross, men not only neglect posi-
tive duties, but commit positive crimes, applauding and
practising, for the sake of worldly conformity, what
their judgment allows to be wrong, and what their
knowledge, if unbiassed by their feelings, would prompt
them to avoid.

It may not, therefore, be improper to add a few con-
siderations, which point out the absurdity, as well as
the wickedness, of being ashamed of the gospel of our
Redeemer.

The most powerful of these, is that w^hich is men-
tioned by St. Paul, in his epistle to the Romans. "I
am not ashamed of the g(jspel of Christ ; for it is the
power of God unto salvation to every one that be-
lieveth." He does not say that he was not ashamed
of the gospel on account of its being patronized by the
State and connected with honor and emolument, for
this w\is not then the case ; nor because it was a
powerful instrument of civil order and popular deco-
rum ; nor even because of its unrivalled moral excel-
lence, which is usually its highest claim to praise in the
opinion of many modern panegyrists of Christianity.
Forgetting these minor, though in themselves itnpor-
tant considerations, he viewed the gospel at once in its
most prominent and most important aspect, as "the
power of God unto salvation to every one that be-
lieveth." He considered it as the record of the most
astonishing events that were ever destined to occur in
the annals of eternal ages ; as the highest energy of
Omnipotence exerted for the salvation of a ruined
world. When man had deserved the utmost punish-
ment that God could inflict, his offended Judge became
his covenant Father, and devised the most stupendous
method of reconciling his own unchangeable attributes
with the restoration of his offending child. The eter-

180 FALSE MODESTY

nal and co-equal Son of God, veiling his divinity in the
humble garb of our fallen nature, magnified and made
honorable the law which we had broken, and became
a personal sacrifice for our transgressions. The gospel
unfolds these itueresting facts. It shows how we may
become " sons of God," and " heirs of the kingdom of
heaven;" how we may escape eternal punishment, and
become entitled to eternal felicity. Such is the reli-
gion which we despise ; — for surely no despite can be
greater than to profess to believe it, while we act as if

it were a delusion. We are ashamed of what ?

Of a glorious revelation from our adorable Creator,
which, amidst the darkness of a dreary world, has burst
upon us with celestial effulgence, bringing " life and
immortality to light." Seraphs, the most exalted of
created intelligences, desire to look into it ; while man,
for whose benefit it was designed, too often treats it
with contempt, professing to believe its truth, while he
lives in the habitual violation of its spirit. We do not,
it is true, professedly withdraw our allegiance from our
Redeemer. We continue to nan^e his name, and de-
nominate ourselves his disciples, yet are ashamed of liis
most characteristic doctrines, and violate his most es-
sential commands. We blush that men should think
we are actuated by a constant sense of the presence of
an unseen God, aiid live in habits of divine communion
with our Maker; — that we cherish the most humiliat-
ing views of ourselves, as guilty sinners, justly deserv-
ing his eternal wrath, and depend for salvation, not
upon any supposed merit in ourselves, but entirely
upon the obedience and death of our all-sufficient
Surety ; — that, despising and forsaking the pomps and
vanities of the world, we live a life of laith and holi-
ness, of dependence and humility, and resolve " to
know nothing among men but Jesus Christ, and him
crucified." Not to be ashamed of the gospel, would
not, we might imagine, require any great degree of pi-
ety or self-possession. For, is it not, confessedly, a

IN RELIGION. 181

divine rev^elation ^ Is it not consistent with reason ?
Is it not established by proof? Is it not even admit-
ted (if that were an argument,) by the most exahed
human authority ? Are not its blessings inestimably
valuable, its precepts supremely good, its doctrines in-
effably sublime ? If, therefore, there be cause for
wonder, it is, tljat we do not make it our constant glo-
ry and delight. Not to desj)ise it, is far too little. It
must become our rule, our companion, our guide.
We must in)bibe its spirit, live up to its injunctions,
exhibit its effects. We must be firm in the cause of
Christ, and pray and labour for this decision of heart
and character. The fear of the world, and our natu-
ral dread of a contemptuous appellation, are to be
overco.me. We must learn to glory in Him, who was
not ashamed ignominiously to die for us. We must
begin to love and serve him here, that we may enjoy
his presence and his smile forever hereafter, when
the contempt of men shall be forgotten, and the once
despised Redeemer of men be all in all.

There is certainly notliing even in the most exalted
heights of Christian piety which is irrational, or de-
grading to the (nost refined human intellect. Why
then are we so often ashamed of the gospel ? Evi-
dently because we fear the face-of men. VVe ])erceive
that true religion is despised — that habitual devotion to
God, founded upon faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, is
looked upon as the offspring of a weak mind or ca-
pricious imagination, if not of spiritual hypocrisy or
pride. Such are the mighty causes that blind our un-
derstanding and iiarden our hearts ! But viewing our-
selves as rational and responsible creatures, what is
tiiere so important in the o|)inion of frail and fallible
men, that we should sacrifice to it our conscience and
our hopes for an eternal world ^ Contempt and ridi-
cule were but a part of those j)ersecutions which the
first Christians, and even our own forefathers, were
compelled to under2;o. How many thousands of per-
16

182 FALSE MODESTY

sons, not excluding clilldren and numbers of the weak-
er sex, have consented to wear the thorny crown of
martyrdom, rather than deny tlie gospel of their Sa-
viour ! And shall modern Christians be ashamed of
that trifling portion of worldly contempt which may fall
to their share ? Shall we sacrifice our souls for the
vain customs of a world which in a few years we must
leave forever ?

Observe the firmness of Saint Paul. Nothing could
daunt his resolution. He gloried in the cross of Christ,
though he was ridiculed for it by some of the most po-
lite and learned nations then upon earth, and perse-
cuted by some of the most cruel and implacable. He
travelled from city to city, disseminating, amidst the
scoffs and taunts of an enraged j)opulace, the doctiines
of a crucified Redeemer. '^I'o the Greeks, his preach-
ing was foolishness ; so that in the long list of his per-
secutions may be enumerated what, to a man of the
apostle's refined education and literary attainments,
must have been peculiarly mortifying, the charge of
being a weak and ignorant enthusiast. Now, is it not
absurd for us to profess to be converts to the same re-
ligion, while we possess nothing of the same spirit f —
If we cannot submit to an idle taunt, how could we
have borne these " cruel mockings .^" — how could we
have "jeoparded our lives unto the death .^" If we
know not how to sustain the petty vexation of an un-
ceremonious hint, how could we, like the apostle, have
traversed the world, promulgating, in defiance of hu-
man power and human malice, the doctrines of the
cross, and at length sealing the truth of our testimony
with our blood? If, when placed in a Christian coun-
try, protected by a Christian legislature, and enjoying
a national form of worship, (which of itself bears wit-
ness to the holy principles and practices of our fore-
fathers,) we shrink from a cordial participation in their
tenets, their feeliuijjs, and their conduct, and pervert
iheir venerable formularies to the lifeless and unscrip-

IN RELIGION. 183

tural system of modernized Christianity, what would
have been our conduct, if, like them, we liad been
called to " bear the burden and heat of the day," and
to suffer persecution and torture for the sake of our
religious principles ?

It would be of great service to us often to recall to
mind the solemnity of that moment which has been
already mentioned, in which we were admitted by
baptism into the outward and visible church of Christ.
The remembrance is exceedingly impressive ; and if
in our infancy, though then unconscious of the benefit,
we were externally dedicated to the service of our
Creator, shall we, when matured in understanding to
see the propriety of the dedication, voluntarily exclude
ourselves from the proffered blessings f

It may be mentioned as a necessary result of reli-
gious consistency, though it does not deserve to be
admitted as a legitimate argument, that it raises rather
than lowers a character in the sight of the world.
Men, even while they ridicule, feel a secret respect
which inconsistency can never procure. He who pro*
fesses to believe the gospel, yet is ashamed of its doc-
trines and its rules, deserves, even by human maxims,
a contempt which coherence of conduct would have
avoided. There is something manly and noble in an
honest avowal of Christian principles, and an undis-
guised exemplification of Christian conduct ; and
should there be those, who contemn them in the days
of health and strength, they will be among the first to
envy their possessor upon a death-bed and in sight of
an eternal world.

To profess Christ nominally, while in our hearts we
are ashamed of his gospel, is as absurd as it is wicked.
It were almost safer to confess ourselves complete infi-
dels, than to act in so impious and inconsistent a man-
ner. We learn to pity the heathen, because they pos-
sess not the scriptures, and have not heard of a Re-
deemer— forgetting bow much more severe will be our

184 FALSE MODESTY

judgment, if, having known these things, " we neglect
so great salvation."

And what is our motive ? Why truly we cannot
overcome the fear of man, and are afraid of heing
esteemed rigid and precise. But if we feel sliame
now, what shall we feel when all the world is assem-
bled at the last day, and men and angels are witnesses
of that sentence which the Almighty Judge shall pass
upon those who denied Christ upon earth ? The Sa-
viour himself, when incarnate atnonc; men, left a warn-
ing on this important suhject : — " Whosoever shall be
ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son
of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own
glory, and in his Father's, and of the Iioly angels."
It is impossible fully to conceive the import of these
admonitory words. They show, however, that God
will punish men, as it were, by a law of equitable re-
taliation. As our motive for slighting the gospel is
fear of shame, so our punishment shall be " everlasting
contempt." But how great the difference ! The
shame that prevents our living up to our profession is a
cowardly fear of mortal man ; while the shame which
we incur is an eternal " confusion," the mockery of
men and angels, and the endless taunts of our com-
panions in destruction. No one will pity, but all will
scorn us for our absurd and wicked choice.

The more therefore we reflect, the more shall we
see the folly, as well as criminality, of being ashamed
of the gospel. It is sacrificing eternity for a moment.
Had we the alternative proposed of a long life of honor
among men, with never-ending shame and contempt
in the world to come, or of a little opposition while we
are here, followed by an eternity of that inconceivable
honor and glory which are reserved for those who are
not ashamed of Christ upon earth, we could not rea-
sonably doubt whether of the two to prefer. And yet,
while we are not certain of an hour or a moment, we
try to avoid the reproach of the cross of Christ, though

IN RELIGION. 185

we are conscious it is at tlie expense of our everlasting;
interest. The reproach which we desire to avoid
would soon end of itself, or we shall be sheltered from
it in " the haven where we would be ;" but when mil-
lions and millions of years are fled, the shame which
we so wantonly incur will still be new and still begin-
ning.

As a proof of our unchristian fear of man, were a
thoughtless companion at this moment to enter our
presence, should we not perhaps be ashamed of the
important but humbling reflections that may be passing
in our minds, and gaily attempt to smile away our con-
victions by the levities of worldly conversation, forget-
ting that instead of an agreeable companion, it might
have been one for whose approach we are little pre-
pared, and who even now may be waiting the Crea-
tor's signal for admission ? At the sight of death, the
censure of mortals will be nothing to us — we shall be
above them ; they will be over for evermore. But
when shall the confusion of that man end, of whom the
Saviour says, " I will be ashamed of him, when I come
in my glory and that of my Father."

As a contrast to these painful, though necessary, re-
flections, it is delightful to imagine the raptures of the
apostle Saint Paul, when he quitted the world, and
found himself in the presence of his beneficent Cre-
ator. We may conceive him humbly pointing to his
epistles, to his labours among the Gentiles, and to the
body which he had quitted on earth, still reeking from
the axe of the executioner, as proofs that he had not
been ashamed of the cross of his Redeemer. But
who shall paint his ecstacies of joy, when the glorified
Messiah acknowledged him before his Father and the
holy angels, saying, " Well done, good and faithful
servant ; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord !" His
pains, his dangers, his sorrows, would be forever for-
gotten, and the shame which he bore for the sake of
Christ would then indeed appear his highest glory.
16*

186 FALSE MODESTY

But why refer to mortal examples ? Let us rather
consider " Him who endured such contradiction of
sinners against himself;" who was buffeted, and revi-
led, and persecuted for the sake of mankind, even of
those who had despised and rejected him. When we
behold the " Lord of life and glory" thus condescend-
ing to become " an outcast of the people," and bear-
ing every pain and indignity that malice coidd inflict,
bow trifling does that portion of shame appear which
his followers are called upon to sustain ! It is less
than nothing in comparison. What ingratitude, there-
fore, as well as impiety, is it to shrink from a little
shame for his sake who has done so much for us !

Let us not then fear to profess before men that we
are in earnest about the salvation of our souls ; that
we feel an ardent love and gratitude to the Redeemer ;
that we depend by faith upon his sacrifice and obedi-
ence for our salvation ; and that we desire to live in
the holy, self-denying spirit of his religion. They
may indeed wonder at the change in our character,
and designate our conduct by some contemptuous
epithet ; but if we enjoy the smile of our God and our
conscience, all will be peace. The hope of the glory
that awaits the Christian far outweighs, even in the
present world, the contempt of men ; and it will not be
long before those who ridiculed his conduct will wish
that they were partakers of his reward.

Let us not fear then to advocate the doctrines of
the cross of our Saviour. Let our conversation and
spirit prove that we are not ashamed of prayer, of
praise, of studying the scriptures, of devotional inter-
course, or of that divine operation of the Holy Spirit
upon the heart, which constitutes so important a doc-
trine of Christianity. Let us explicitly act up to our
sentiments. It is not unusual to find dying persons
lamenting their former want of sincerity and firmness
in this important particular. We know not what poig-
nant regrets we are laying up for our departing hours,

IN RELIGION. 187

if we recoil, while in health, from an unreserved and
constant avowal of our religious principles. When
we come within view of eternity, nothing will more
grieve our minds or darken our prospects, than the
consciousness of having, through fear of the reproach
of Christ, concealed, perhaps even from our dearest
intimates and friends, our views on the most important
of all subjects which can interest a human being.
Having acted disingenuously towards our Saviour in our
days of health and usefulness, how can we expect that
he will irradiate our expiring moments with his divine
presence and manifestations ? The written rule of
God's conduct is, "them that honor me I will honor;"
and why should we think that in our particular case he
will reverse it ? When eternity approaches, it usually
appears so unspeakably important, and the opinions of
men so completely lose their former influence upon
the mind, that the repentant sufferer is astonished
at the fatuity of his own conduct in not acting up to
the plain, unsophisticated spirit of his heavenly profes-
sion. How often do we hear of persons, constitution-
ally the most timid, summoning around their death-bed
their thoughtless relatives and dependants, to declare
to them, for the first, and, perhaps, the last time, what
they bitterly acknowledge ought to have been their
own conduct, and what they affectionately trust will be
the conduct of their surviving friends ^ Piety never
yet excited a blush in a dying man :

" Men may live fools, but fools they cannot die.**

Let us not then ask, as persons too commonly do,
What will men say were we to begin to make a consist-
ent profession of religion ? Let us ask rather, What
will conscience say if we neglect to do it ^ W^hat will
the holy angels say, when they see before the bar of
Heaven an accountable and immortal being, who knew
what his heavenly vocation required, but who feared
the momentary contempt of man more than the eternal

188 FALSE MODESTY IN RELIGION.

wrath of God f What will condemned spirits say,
when they find that their malicious arts have seduced
us into an inextricable snare ? Above all, What will
be the language of the omniscient Judge, when in the
dreadful day of account we appear before his impartial
tribunal ? How do the opinions of mortals vanish into
nothing before these important considerations !

Let us" then regard the world as it really is ; or,
what is much the same thing, as it will appear to us
when we are about to quit it. Let us view it as false,
as unsatisfying, as probationary ; and let us habitually
contrast it with that unchangeable and eternal world
towards which we are so rapidly approaching. This
will be a powerful argument against being ashamed of
Christ ; for what is the frown or the applause of a few
misguided mortals to the man who expects in a few
days, or years, to be a glorified spirit in the presence
of his omnipotent Creator, enjoying the delights of
heaven for evermore ^

( 189 )

THE DUTY OF CHRISTIAN AFFECTION BE-
TWEEN MINISTERS AND THEIR FLOCK.

Love to God and charity to our neighbor are the sum
and substance of the decalogue. 'I'he latter part of
tlie duty forms that " new commandment" which our
divine Lord gave to his disciples, and which is an
epitome of the second table of the other ten.

The universality of the duty of loving our neighbor
does not, however, prevent its applying with peculiar
force to the more intimate relations and connexions of
life. Husbands and wives, parents and children,
brethren and sisters, masters and servants, are placed
by the gospel under particular obliii;ations to the prac-
tice of this delightful command. There is also another
connexion which is frequently and pointedly mentioned
in the New Testament ; namely, the sacred and
responsible relation, between spiritual pastors and
their flock.

Emancipation from ecclesiastical tyranny is reckon-
ed, and justly, amnui:; the privileges of modern times.
But in thiowing off a burdensome and useless yoke, in
restoring conscience to its just and unalienable rights,
may not men, in the usual spirit of innovation, have
done more than was necessary, more than was wise .'*
The present age has not indeed materially abridged
the immunities of the church ; but has it not introdu-
ced, what, to a clergyman who really values the souls
of his fellow-creatures, must appear jar more injurious,
a general diminution of affection and esteem for its

190 THE DUTY OF CHRISTIAN AFFECTION

ministers ? Has it not discarded most of those innocent
prepossessions in their favour, which, with whatever
disadvantages it might he attended, once formed also
a plentiful source of usefulness ? Compared with for-
mer days, how little do we now hear of persons apply-
ing to their religious teacher for advice in difficulties,
for direction in scruples of conscience, for mediation
in cases of contest and dispute ?

The laity, in fact, tend to fill the church with indo-
lent, unskilful, and irreligious ministers, by not making
it a public disgrace not to be the very reverse of these
characters. Were they unanimously to show, that
they expect from their pastors, not simply the accus-
tomed public services, but private advice and instruc-
tion, and an example of all the holy, humble, self-de-
nying graces of the Christian and ministerial charac-
ters,— im})roper persons would be in a great measure
excluded from the church, by finding that it was an
arduous, and, to them, irksome employment, instead
of the pleasant sinecure which they had been taught
to expect. They could not withstand public opinion.
The clerical function would be a torment to a mere
man of the world, and he would seek refuge from it in
some less spiritual vocation.

But so long as the laity are willing to tolerate irre-
ligious ministers, they must not be surprised if such
ministers abound. The general opinion of the world
is indeed no excuse for a pastor who does not live up
to his holy profession ; but this opinion, if correctly ex-
erted, would be a powerful drawback upon those who
intended to assume the sacred garb only for the sake
of interested considerations.

The great mutual duty between clergymen and their
parishes is Christian affection ; for where this exists,
it will prompt its possessor to discharge every other
obligation of his allotted calling.

On the part of a minister^ the necessity of Christian
afTection is self-evident. His very office is a " labor

BETWEEN MINISTERS AND THEIR FLOCK. 191

of love." He is a shepherd, a guide, a messen2;er of
peace ; and every thing that can demand affection and
fidelity belongs to his responsible vocation. When he
considers how the incarnate Son of the most high
God, — "that great Shepherd of the sheep," laid down
his life for his flock, how can he avoid feeling some-
thing, though comparatively but a small pait, of his
divine Master's love ? Dady employed, as he must
necessarily be if he live up to the duties of his profes-
sion, in teaching men to " put on bowels of mercy,
kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffer-
ing," and to fulfil that new comtnandment of Christ,
that, " as he loved us, so should we love one another,"
how can he but imbibe something of the blessed spirit
which he inculcates upon others f How can he him-
self avoid learning what he thus teaches to all human
kind.?

One of the most striking features of the apostolic
age is the Christian regard that subsisted between
pastors and their flock. The language and wishes of
St. Paul are inexpressibly affecting. To atten)pt to
select individual examples of his tenderness for his
Christian converts would be superfluous ; for what
[)age is there of his writings that does not abound in
them f 111 like manner, the beloved apostle who
leaned upon Jesus' breast, and seems there lo have
imbibed no small portion of that meek philanthropy
which adorned the character of the Redeemer, was
accustomed to exhibit by the most endearing epithets
the Christian affection of his heart. Brethren, — my
beloved, — n)y well beloved, — my little chddi'en, — are
the usual titles by uhich the venerable Saint John was
wont to address his interesting charge ; whilst every
thing that he uttered or recorded proved the amiable
feeling of his own heart, and was well adapted for
infusing a kindred principle into the hearts of others.

Theie is much in every class of character and eve-
ry situation to excite the affection or pity of a Chris-

192 THE DUTY OF CHRISTIAN AFFKCTION

tian minister. For ibe younger part of his flock, he
surely cannot but feel an inexpressible anxiety whilst
he considers their ignorance and thoughtlessness, and
how in the bloom of their days, and at the very time
when they ought to yield themselves unreservedly to
their Creator, they are gaily and smilingly running the
road that leadelh to destruction. For the aged he
sheds a more bitter, because more hopeless tear,
while he views them, though upon the very brink of
eternity, more insensible oftentimes of their danger
than youth itself. Over early piety he watches with
the affectionate solicitude of paternal regard. For
the advanced Christian he feels the love and esteem
due to a brother in Christ Jesus ; while to the aged
disciple, bending beneath the weight of accumulated
years, and about to be gathered, like a shock of corn
fully ripe, into the heavenly garner, he looks up with
the' veneration of a son beside the death-bed of an
expiring parent.

How intense are his feelings when upon the Sabbath
he beholds his flock collected to receive instruction
from his lips ! " These immortal souls are given to
my charge,'^'* He needs no other reflection to excite
his affection. This one thought contains a volume.
What tie so binding ^ What responsibility so awful ^
What claim to Christian love so strict and so endear-
ing ? Would you ascertain the ardor of his feelings.'*
Trace, if possible, the ferv&nt aspirations that silently
ascend from his inmost soul to the throne of mercy,
while he beholds one unhapj^y sinner ignorant and
inattentive, another callous and impenetrable, a third
evidently grovelling in the world, scarcely unharnessed
from the overpowering cares of the week ; and even
of those who seem, for the moment, really interested
and affected, the greater part obliterating the hallowed
impression as soon as the solemn service is conclr.ded.

So completely indeed ought Christian aflection to
be the characteristic of a pious minister, that he should

BETWEEN MINISTERS AND THEIR FLOCK. 193

become the entire property of otiiers. Forgetting him-
self, and his personal feelings, he should become " all
things to all men ;" he should " weep with them that
weep, and rejoice with those that rejoice ;" " to the
weak he must become as weak, to gain the weak ;" he
must seek, " not his own, but another man's" pros-
perity, and must comfort tiiose tliat are in trouble,
" by the comfort wherewith he is himself comforted of
God."

Without however entering more deeply into this ex-
haustless part of the subject, it may be more generally
useful to consider the propriety of a reciprocal affection
in the flock towards their spiritual pastor.

If a minister really exhibit an affectionate spirit,
gratitude demands a similar return.

St. Paul very forcibly urges this consideration in his
apostolical advice to the Thessalonians : — " We beseech
you, brethren, to know them who labor among you,
and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you ; and
to esteem them very highly in love for their work's
sake." A minister is, or ought to be, like his adorable
Master, a spiritual physician ; and surely if we feel
grateful to tliose who are anxious to restore to health
the diseased body, we should not forgot those who
evince an equal anxiety to [)erform a still more kind
office for the immortal soul ; especially when we con-
sider, that in so doing they are often obliged to sac-
rifice their own personal feelings, and to bear opposi-
tion and ill-will for the unsparing faithfulness of their
exertions.

Could we once fairly enter into the feelings of a
conscientious minister, we could not surely withhold
our gratitude, even though we might not duly perceive
the necessity of his solicitude upon our account. We
see, and perhaps applaud him, in his more open min-
istrations ; but forget that his private moments, his
silent njeditations, his literary hours, his sleepless nights,
his unseen retirements, are not less spent for our
17

194 THE DUTY OF CHRISTIAN AFFECTION

benefit than the stated periods of public devotion.
When we see him not, he is thinking upon us, and is
perhaps pouring forth intercessions to his heavenly
Father upon our account.

But, in addition to the ties of gratitude, we should
be prompted to this Christian duty by onr own interest
and welfare. If we value the gospel, we must endeav-
or to feel esteem and regard for those wfio dispense it ;
otherwise the most interesting truths will be coldly re-
ceived, on account of our indifference to the person by
whom they. are proclaimed. How often have individ-
uals, for the sake perhaps of a trifling dispute, (in which,
after all, they were possibly conscious that their min-
ister's conduct had been perfectly correct,) imbibed
such prejudices as to refuse to hear the message of
peace from his lips, and have thus irreparably injured
their own immortal souls, for the sake of gratifying an
unchristian temper !

If the conduct of our teacher be such that he fails to
deserve our esteem and regard, the guilt is liis and not
ours ; but thoughtless or voluntary prejudice, (and it is
to such only that the present remarks apply,) is a sin
against ourselves. Tlie recoil in this case is always
greater than the direct stroke. It is poor revenge to
destroy our own souls for the pleasure of breaking an-
other man's repose. Where a spirit of unkindness
exists, we may attend the most practical and useful
ministration for years together, without deriving any
spiritual improvement. When the heart is firmly
intrenched in obstinate prejudices, life often wears
away before the religious instructer can sap even the
outworks of the citadel. The Holy Spirit, it is true,
can melt the most obdurate heart into contrition, and
exemplify the efficacy of the gospel where it was most
despised : but this is not the ordinary mode of his
operation ; for we usually find, that where his celestial
•influences are systematically opposed by deliberate
prejudice, he at length withdraws them altogether, and

BETWEEN MINISTERS AND THEIR FLOCK. 195

leaves llie proud offender to voluntary " hardness of
heart and contempt of his word and commandment."

But how pleasing is the reverse of this painful
scene! How delightful the message of peace from the
lips of one whom we regard in the bonds of Christian
affection ! A beloved pastor attracts us to our duty,
and we i-eceive delight and improvement from his la-
bors. Even his reproofs, (to use the allusion of the
Psalmist) are " like excellent oil that shall not break
the head ;" — how much more then his encouragement
and advice !

It is not, however, our own interest only that is af-
fected by our attachment or hostility towards our spiritu-
al pastor. We cannot estimate ilie future consequen-
ces of rancor or even coolness towards one who is
really the servant of God. Our example may influ-
ence our friends and dependants, so that many, who,
like the Ninevites, might have been brought to repent
of their sins, and have received the pardon of them
through faith in their Redeemer, may have eternal
cause to reproach us as the instruments of their
destruction. Nothing, on the other hand, more pro-
motes true religion than Christian amity between tnin-
isters and their flock. Even the persecutors of the
primitive church could not but feel admiration while
they exclaimed, " Behold how these Christians love
one another." But where enmity, or even indifler-
ence, exists, our spiritual enemy takes advantage of
them to obstruct the cause of religion, and to lay an
insuperable impediment for the weak and uninformed.
Where therefore we find a minister faithful to his
heavenly-delegated trust, great mutual advantage will
result from our confidence and regard ; for few things
will more constrain him to constant zeal, watchfulness,
prayer, self-denial, humility, and general consistency
of conduct, than finding that he is the spiritual adviser
of those, who, like himself, are really in earnest re-
specting their salvation.

196 THE DUTY OF CHRISTIAN AFFECTION

Should it be asked, what is the proper line of con-
duct where a minister is evidently not a man of piety,
or personally deserving of religious esteem, it would
be diflicult to give a precise reply. 'J'he circum-
stances of the case will, however, almost always direct
a conscientious mind ; and a prudent and religious
friend is usually the best casuist. General casuistry,
however occasionally useful to persons really sincere,
is much ofiener consulted to discover plausible evasions
of duty, than really to enlighten a scrupulous con-
science. It is a grievous task, as in the supposed
instance, to provide rules for what ought not to exist.
There are, besides, a thousand minute shades of char-
acter from hiin who is not decidedly religious, to liim
who is decidedly profligate and abandoned ; so that
no one rule can possibly apply to every individual case.
We may respect and regard, and even derive partial
profit from many an individual, in whom, however, we
cannot confide respecting all the essentials of salvation.

But what, it may be asked, are the effects of this
divine grace of Cliristian aflection, where it exists in
its due power and extent.'* *

On the part of minisicra^ it will produce Christian
diligence and faithfulness. To " reprove, rebuke,
exhort," so far from being inconsistent witli true afTec-
tion, are its surest maiks ; provided they be performed,
as the ajiostle directs, " with all long-sufTering and doc-
trine." On the contrary, to speak " peace, peace,
where there is no peace," is a refinement in cruelty, at
which Christian tenderness would shudder. The cler-
ical function was not appointed to delude men, and lo
make them ha|)py with the hopes of heaven while they
persist in the way that leads to destruction. It is the
part of ministerial charily to show even professed
Christians, even the moral and sincere, that they are
inheritors of a corrupt nature ; that they are " very far
gone from original righteousness ;" that, born with in-
nate propensities to evil, they have wilfully and contin-

BETWEEN MINISTERS AND THEIR FLOCK. 197

ually indulged those propensities in their actual practice ;
that they have sinned against light and against know-
ledge ; against the silent remonstrances of God's Spirit
in their consciences, and the open prohibitions and
mandates of his word. A minister wlio really desires
the spiritual welfare of his hearers, will go on to state
the awful consequences of sin. He will delineate it in
its terrific proportions, not only as a moral and political
evil, but as directly hostile to the divine nature and the
divine law, anrl as meriting the utmost indignation of
our offended Creator. Far from extenuating its guilt,
or reducing it to an almost pardonable human frailty,
he will exhibit the denunications of scripture against
it, and shew the awfulness of the eternal punishment to
which it has rendered us exposed. To point out un-
seen and unsuspected danger is an indispensable duty
of genuine affection. A faithful minister will therefore
warn his hearers with fervor and a heart-felt interest
for their eternal safety ; invariably accompanying his
exhortations with earnest prayer to that divine Enlight-
ener of the human understanding, who alone can ren-
der them effectual.

Should his efforts be blessed ; — should an inquirer,
fully perceiving his offences, and " worthily lamenting
them," be brought to examine into the spiritual method
of salvation, the anxious pastor's ^' labor of love" is yet
but begun. Before he dares attempt to heal the
u'ound, he must examine whether it has been suffi-
ciently deep ; he must ascertain tliat the repentance
has not been superficial, or partial, or insincere ; that
not merely the dread of future punishment, but a real
haired to sin, and a holy fear of offending God, actu-
ate the returning penitent. This essential point being
ascertained, ministerial affection assumes its more
pleasing office of guarding against false refuges, and
exhibiting the true. It points out the impossibility of
being saved, either wholly or in part, by a covenant of
vv^orks which we have repeatedly and wilfully broken.
17*

198 THE DUTY OF CHRISTIAN AFFECTION

It warns the inquirer against the equally unscriptural
hope of being under a mitigated law, and shows that
salvation is unattainable in any of the methods sug-
gested by mere natural religion. Were heaven capa-
ble of being purchased by one good thought, even this
price would be far beyond the unassisted power of
man to bestow.

Every delusive expectation being excluded, it be-
comes the delightful task of a Christian instructor un-
reservedly to point out Him "who takeih away the sin
of the world ;" and to exhibit the sufficiency, the free-
ness, the suitability of the redemption provided in the
gospel. Nothing can be more congenial to Christian
affection, than to expatiate upon the infinite and gratu-
itous mercy of Him who is emphatically denominated
Love; and to reply to the penitent inquirer, in the
words of Saint Paul to the jailer at Philippi, "Believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."
The " inestimable love of God in the redemption of
the world" is the most prominent topic of a Christian
pastor's instructions. Every thing else is subordinate,
and comparativdij uninteresting. The endeavor even
to convince men of sin is but preparatory to this ; for
the knowledge of our spiritual disease would be of no
value, if it did not lead us to resort to the heavenly
Physician.

The Christian minister, therefore, affectionately pro-
ceeds to show the necessity of being united to the Re-
deemer by such a true and lively faith as accepts him
in all the relations which he is mercifully pleased to
bear to mankind. In virtue of this union by faith we
are said in scripture to be justified ; and being thus
justified, to enjoy " peace with God."

But the Christian affection of a pious minister to-
wards his flock does not end even iiere. It is not
enougii that he has proclaimed the terrors of the di-
vine law, and faithfully exhibited the " redeinption that
is in Christ Jesus :" iie must earnestly and continually

BETWEEN MINISTERS AND THEIR FLOCK. 199

exhort those who have believed, that *' they be zealous
to maintain good works," tliat " they adorn the doc-
trine of God their Saviour in all things," that they " go
on to perfection," that they exemplify in their hearts,
their conduct, and their life, the holiness, the zeal, the
humility, the affection, the vigilance, of the Christian
character. He must continually and earnestly incul-
cate the amiableness and the necessity of every moral
and social virtue ; not indeed as detached and self-
dependent, but as connected with Christian motives
and Christian ends. He must exhort his hearers to
abound in " whatsoever is lovely and of good report."
In a word, he must never be really satisfied till by the
blessing of God he sees every individual committed to
liis charge " renewed in the spirit of his mind," living
up to his baptismal engagements, and loving the Lord
bis God with all his heart, and his neiglibor as him-
self. It needs not be added, that here is an object
for the most ardent affection, a labor for the longest
life. Alexander might sit down and weep because he
had no new world to conquer ; but he whose object is
the subjugation of vice and misery, of prejudice and
irreligion, will find that, after all his efforts, Lis task has
but commenced.

Non Hydra, secto corpore, firmior
Vinci dolenteru cievit in Herculem.

But why attempt to describe, in a few brief hints,
the sublime effects of a truly apostolic minister's affec-
tion for his flock? Behold him persisting in his
course during his whole life, in the midst perhaps of
insensibility, opposition, and unkindness; overcoming,
by patience and consistency of conduct, the impedi-
ments thrown in his way by envy or misrepresentation ;
hourly practising humility and self-denial ; devoting
his time, his talents, his property, for the good of
others ; anxious to fulfil every public and private
duty 5 instructing the poor and ignorant j reproving

200 THE DUTY OF CHRISTIAN AFFECTION

the profane ; watching over the wavering ; comforting
the afflicted ; preparing the sick and the dying for
another world ; leaching the rich and prosperous hov7
they ought to live in this ; sacrificing his own will and
interest for the sake of others ; resigning the ornaments
of taste and learning for " plainness of speech" and
general utility ; and, like his divine Master, exerting
himself earnestly and unremittingly, during his whole
life, in doing all possible good to the bodies and souls
of men, especially of those immediately committed to
his charge. This is surely an interesting spectacle ;
and it may be justly inquired what duties Christian
affection demands from his flock in return ?

The first is teachableness ; apparently the most easy,
yet the most difficult lesson which man can learn. To
divest ourselves of prejudice and partiality, of critical
fastidiousness and learned pride, and to sit down, like
the multitude of old, waiting for the ministers of Christ
to distribute to others that bread of life which their
Master had dispensed to them, is our privilege as well
as our duty.

Far, however, from this, we too often listen to a
sermon as to a mere literary composition submitted for
our opinion, rather than as to a piece of instruction and
advice intended for 'our improvement. We perhaps
feel greater pleasure in refuting arguments than in
weighing them ; in showing how easily we could im-
prove u[)nn the doctrine or the style, than in striving to
exemi)lify the duties which are inculcated.

A sermon is not, however, necessarily useless be-
cause it happens to be thought dull, or because it
teaches what we knew before. That we have souls,
we are well aware — that we must die, is certain — that
eternity will succeed, and man be judged, and heaven
or hell be our portion forever, are acknowledged ar-
ticles of our belief; — but do we never need to be re-
minded of the practical importance of these forgotten
truths ? do we never require them to be explicitly set

BETWEEN MINISTERS AND THEIR FLOCK. 201

before us as motives to duty, as warnings to repent-
ance, as incentives to faith ? Are we as humble, as
vigilant, as prayerful, as benevolent, as holy, as we
ought to be? ]\lay not a very common-place dis-
course chance to remind us of something we had omit-
ted, or stimulate us to something we ought to perform ?
Even where a minister dwells simply upon an out-
ward duty, without inculcating, as he ought, the scrip-
tural motives of action, a pious and intelligent hearer, if
such happen to be present, may usually extract some
portion of spiritual benefit. He may convert heathen
morality into Christian, by adding in his own mind
what the preacher had omitted, and rectifying what he
had misplaced. The sermon, for exam})le, had per-
haps inculcated the duty of alms-giving, but in a way
more resembling the dictates of the schools of ancient
ethics, or modern sentimentalism, than those of the
humble and spiritual college of Galilee. Now this,
though far, very far, from being what a true disciple of
Christ wishes to hear, or a minister of Christ ought to
preach, may yet be converted into gold by the trans-
muting power of a wise and teachable spirit. We
have only to remember, that the duty prescribed is to
be a fruit of our faith and love towards God, and not
a bribe to purchase heaven ; — that, in order to be ac-
ceptable, it must spring, not from human motives, but
from the divine operation of Him from whom " all
good works do proceed ;" — that it must not minister to
pride, or ambition, or self-love ; — that it must remind
us more of how little we perform than how much; and
lead us to the free salvation offered in the gospel, and
not to any dependence upon our own supposed m.erits.
It is only necessary to intersperse tacit reflections pf
this kind, in order to derive spiritual utility from many
a discourse, which had no imniediate or striking ten-
dency to produce such an effect. We should hear a
sermon of this kind as we read the Offices of Cicero,
(many of whose duties, by the way, are far more scru-

202 THE DUTY OF CHRISTIAN AFFECTION

puloLis than the generality of Christians think necessary
to be tianscribed into their own practice,) with the con-
stant reflection, that if natural religion requires so much,
how much more is requireci by revealed r If a merely
nominal and superficial Christian inculcate such high
and arduous duties, how surpassingly virtuous and holy
should be the conduct of him who possesses truly
evangelical nioiives to obedier)ce ?

But if a judicious and docile spirit can thus derive
benefit even from discourses constructed upon such in-
ferior principles, how much more fiom others, which
although far from exhibiting any great novelty, or
depth, or ele,<i;ance, are yet consistent with tlie analogy
of faith, and honestly and diligently intended to ad-
vance the spiritual interests of mankind ? Here Chris-
tian affection ought completely to overcome a captious
and fastidious spirit. We are not to be " respecters of
persons:" we are not to indulge our taste at the ex-
pense of our religious improvement. Our attachment
to our pastors must be proportioned to their piety, and
not to their talent. We sl)ould consider, not the man,
but the message which he bears. Thus teachably dis-
posed, we may confidently expect the divine blessing
upon a discourse of but very humble literary merit,
and delivered perhaps in a manner very far from pleas-
ing to the natural feelings ; while, on the contrary, the
pious fervor of Saint l^iul, embodied in the eloquence
of an Apollos, would probably be useless to the man
who came to hear with voluntary prejudice and want
of Christian regard.

There is another duty frequently mentioned by the
apostolic wi'iters, and one vvliich this holy affection
should always prompt us gladly to perform, in propor-
tion as a minister is found l";iithful to his trust — namely,
a just deference to the authority with which he is in-
vested by the great " Shepherd and Bishop of our
souls." In purer ages of the church, the mild reproof
of a faithful pastor was usually sufficient to awe tiie

BETWEEN MINISTERS AND THEIR FLOCK. 203

most licentious of his flock. Men who could meet
every other eye with inflexible audacity, blushed for
their sins in the venerable presence of their spiritual
guide. Ecclesiastical disciphne almost superseded the
necessity for judicial punishment. Nothing of impor-
tance was begun or concluded without the prayers and
admonitions of the church.

It is to be lamented that this state of things too often
induced ecclesiastics to '' lord it over God's heritage,"
and to assume " dominion over men's faith," instead of
becoming '^ helpers of their joy ;" and therefore im-
peratively demanded both censure and amendment.
But, in avoiding this evil, have we not reverted to the
opposite extreme ^ Our forefathers made the power
of ministers so great as to be susceptible of abuse ; we
therefore, in the too frequent spirit of modern impiove-
ment, have reduced it almost to nothing. A minister,
except in his church, has become a private individual.
We should perhaps esteem it little less than an insult
for our parochial teacher, in virtue of his office, to
enter into our presence, with the view of remonstrating
with us on any impropriety in our conduct, and of be-
stowing on us his religious advice and admonition.
We yield, perhaps, some latitude to a clergyman in the
rustic circle of an obscure hamlet; we allow him to usurp
some little powder over laborers, and peasants, and
mechanics : we do not deny that he may put his hand
to the latch of an alms-house, or a cottage ; because we
perceive that his visits,, thus confined, may conduce to
the general benefit of the community, and that while
he converses, unsolicited, amongst these humbler
ranks, he does no more than the immemorial customs
of the country, and the stated subordinations of life
would allow, without any appeal to s])iritual authority ;
— but let his reproofs or instructions come home to his
equals or superiors in life, and we instantly prove, by
our conduct, that what in former days was acceptable

204 THE DUTY OF CHRISTIAN AFFECTION

even to nobles and to kings, is utterly opposed to the
spirit of modern times.

But Christian affection ought to receive the efforts
of a faithful pastor in a very different manner : it will
not conclude that he is a proud and supercilious in-
truder, because he merely had the boldness to say,
'* My friend, 1 am grieved at your deportment : per-
mit me to remind you of the duty you owe to society
and to your God." We willingly hear the advice of a
skilful and honest neighbor in our temporal affairs :
why then should we refuse to listen to tlie messenger
of truth, whose object of concern is the welfare of
our souls, and who can have no other end in view,
except the discharging of his own conscience, and the
honor of his God ^

The apostolic injunction is very strong ; and unless
the spiritual relation between ministers and their people
can be proved to have been since altered by divine
command, is still applicable in its full energy and im-
port : — " Obey them that have the rule over you : sub-
mit yourselves; for they watch for your souls as they
that must give account, that they may do it with joy
and not with grief."

Another evident effect of Christian love to our pas-
tors will be co-operation with them. The natural
difficulties of the sacred function are surely enough,
without the additional imjiediment of finding every
scheme of utility thwarted by coldness or opposition.
We should therefore endeavor to preserve " the unity
of the spirit in the bond of peace." It is an amiable
sight to behold a church at harmony with itself; each
member united in Christian affection towards his
neiglibor and his spiiitual guide, and stuflying noth-
ing but what may conduce to the glory of God, and
the temporal and eternal welfare of human kind. A
band of brothers is not easily broken ; and we may
always be assured, that where God is pleased to infuse

BETWEEN MINISTERS AND THEIR FLOCK. 205

into ministers and their people a mutual spirit of co-
operation in his cause, He clesiij;n3 to produce much
good by their combined instrumentality.*

* As a proof of this co-operation, it w^s the custom in former as^cs
for the more atihient and charitable metu!)ers of a parish to inaUe
their minister the almoner of at lea'^t a part of their henevolence.
To the individual, (he secrecy of this method of doing good must
have been a pleasing proof that he " did not his alms to be seen of
men ;" and a principal reason perhaps wliy it has fallen into compara-
tive disuse, is the ostentations desire of men to see their name and
deed blazoned in the honorary lists of charitable subscription. It is
easier to give a tithe of onr income to swell a printed rei)ort, than
silently to glide a thousandtli part of it into the hands of the poor and
afflicted, through (he confidential medium of a friend. Where, how-
ever, we are perfectly satisfied of an almoner's faithfulness and pru-
dence, many advantages will attend the revival of this primitive
custom — a custom which happily is not wholly lost, though it is very
much neglected.

In tlie first place, we cannot hut conceive that one who is daily
ealled to explore the haunts of wretcliedtiess, with a view to adminis-
ter either temporal or spiritual aid, must be a better judge of the im-
mediate wants and claims of the surrounding poor, than the man of
business or affluence, whose time and attention are devoted to very
different pursuits.

Again — a minister's access to the indigent sick and afflicted, and
consequently his opportunities of usefulness among them, often de-
pend, in no small measure, upon his opportunities of relieving their
temporal afflictions. The religious visit is seldom duly appreciated,
unless it close with an act of pecuniary charity ; for the lower classes
of mankind have oftentimes little conception of disinterestedness;
and can he brought to believe its existence only when it presses upon
them in the shape of temporal reli^-f. A sacrifice of time, or a vio-
lence done to the feeling-s, have seldom much effect upon their mind.
Prayers and good wishes, and zeal for their eternal welfare, they
think cost nothing ; but alm-^giving open-* the avenues of their hearts,
and prepares a way for all the rest. They cannot doubt that those
are in earnest of whose bounty they have received so sensible a de-
monstration. But alas ! in what way are -clergymen, especially in
large and indigent parishes, to indulge the lil)eral feelings of Christian
philanthropy, out of the trifling pittance which so frequently falls to
(heir lot? Too often are they oI)liged to leave the couch of poverty
and anguish, with a mind harrowed up by the reflection of how much
benefit might be conferred, how much ii-.isery miaht he prevented,
by an abiidgment, which would scarcely be felt, of a few luxuries upon
the part of their more opulent pari-^hioners. The\ return to a home
of frugality and self-denial, conscious that what they have bestowed,
though more, perhaps, than they ought to spare, is yet less than can
be of any real utility ; and knowing, that with every di^po-^ition to be
bountiful, the very object whom ihey desire to relieve will measure

18

206 THE DUTY OF CHRISTIAN AFFECTION

Another effect of this Christian love to ministers will
be prayer for them. We are required to intercede for
all men, but in an especial manner for those who watch
over us in the faith. If he who was not " a whit be-
hind" the chief of the apostles thought it necessary,
upon various occasions, to say to the Hebrews, the
Ephesians, the Thessalonians, *' Pray for us," it is
surely no disparagement to modern pastors to suppose
that they stand in need of the same assistance, and no
enthusiasm to expect that the sincere prayers of their
flock will be effectual to the same end. In the public
services of the church, we earnestly remember our
ministers at the throne of mercy, and there are few
manuals of prayer for individuals, or for families, in
which they are forgotten 5 so that we have no possible
excuse for the neglect of this easy and interesting
obligation.

Were we duly to appreciate the difficulties and the
responsibility of the sacred function, we could not fail
to supi)licate the especial blessing of God for all on
whom it has devolved ; and amongst these, our own
pastors ought, evidently, to claim a distinct enumera-
tion. Our benevolent wishes will also rebound upon
ourselves ; for we are never so likely to derive profit,
as from one for whom we have supplicated the throne
of mercy.

Such then are some of the effects of Christian affec-

their charity rather by what they do not, than by what they do ; and
will iiiipule to avarice or want of feeling what resulted liom uncon-
trollable necessity.

How easily might these effects be prevented, and the visits of
ministers be rendered doubly agreeable to themselves, and doubly
usefid both to the bodies and souls of the affhcteil poor, by a very
trifling sum given into their hands for this purpose by those who are
able, and are therefore in duty botind, to assist in relieving then- bur-
dened neiglibors. The sums, though very considerable, which the
laws of the country require, by no means discharge us from voluntary
ahns, if our means are adequate to the demand. We give nothing
from genuine philanthropy if we give only what we cannot withhold.

BETWEEN MINISTERS AND TUBIR FLOCK. 207

tion. By the reciprocal discharsre of these interesting
duties, the ministerial relation will be rendered mutual-
ly useful and happy, till that eventful moment arrives,
in which the distinction between pastors and their flock
will be forever forj^otten, by all becoming " one fold
under one Shepherd."

308 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

COMPARATIVE VIEW OF NATURAL AND
REVEALED RELIGION.

In looking around among the majority of professed be-
lievers in revelation, a serious observer is sometimes
induced mentally to ask, — " In what manner do these
persons differ from mere deists ?" Their character,
perhaps, is not immoral : but this single mark is too
equivocal to stamp their designation ; for natural re-
ligion enjoins morality, while health, and comfort, and
the hopes of respect in society, all combine to render
it eligible.

As yet, therefore, there Is nothing exclusively Chris-
tian in tiieir deportment. — " But they occasionally, or
even habitually, attend Christian worship." A prudent
or time-serving deist may do this, fiom a regard to
decoium, or ))opular sentiment, or the well-being of
society, which he acknowledges could not exist with-
out some sliow of religion ; and Christianity being, he
thinks, not worse, and piobably belter, than others, he
adopts it, with all its suj)posed evils, for the sake of its
exterior good eflecis.

But perhaps the persons in question really believe
the articles of the Christian faith : — so far is well ; yet
if their creed be merely an unmeaning recognition,
they are still not necessiirily unsuitable companions for
the deist, who will scarcely wrangle with them for a
latent article of belief, so long as they contrive that it
shall have no visible effect upon their conduct or their
heart.

STATURAL Ax\D REVEALED RELIGION. 209

Wliat then is tlieir real religious system ? Why evi-
dently they have none. Religion has never seriously
entered into their calculations. So far, however, as
their ideas have attained a definite shape, we may per-
ceive a few principles of what is called natural refigion,
mingled with certain crude, ill-understood notions from
revelation, but without any harmony or proportion in
the general design.

The persons under consideration, while they do not
deny the truths of Christianity, seem to think it some-
what too strict in its requisitions. Thotjgh they do not
perform, as they admit, all tiiat scripture, strictly con-
strued, may seem to require, they comfort themselves
with supposing that they observe with tolerable propriety
all that the light of nature suggests, and all therefore
that God in reality demands. Their domestic and social
relations, we are told, are respectably filled : they are use-
ful and iionorable members of the community; so that,
upon a general review of their character, they fondly
conclude, that whoever ma}^ be finally excluded from
the joys of heaven, they at least shall not be among
the unhappy number.

In reasoning upon the subject of religion, especially
with those who acknowledge the truth of revelation, it
is not always safe to quit scriptural ground, and to re-
cur to the principles of merely natural theology. Jf,
however, the practice be on any occasion allowable, it
is surely so in making the endeavor to convince the
professed Christian of tlie unsuitability of his conduct
to the dictates of revealed religion, by sliowing how
completely he falls short even of the imperfect stand-
ard of deistical philosophy. For this purpose, it will
be endeavored, in the succeeding pages of this essay,
to point out a few prominent characteristics of what is
called natural religion, with the corresponding duties
and obligations of its professor. Deists theniselves,
though in their own conduct often the most profligate of
men, have yet sometimes inculcated in their writings,
18*

210 COMPARATIVE TIEW OF

(perhaps for the purpose of spreading their pernicious
tenets with more effect,) a morahty and seriousness far
beyond wliat many professed Christians think it neces-
sary to attain.

Lest, however, the following views of natural duties
should seem to convey an impression that the sincere
though imperfect fulhlment of them, (if they had been
thus fulfilled,) would have been sufficient for human
salvation, and thus supersede or diniinish the neces-
sity for the system of mercy offered in the gospel, it
will be desirable to add several characteristics also of
Christian theology, and to allude to som.e of those im-
portant points which are made known exclusively by
divine revelation. It must, however, be premised, that
a general comparison of natural and revealed religion
is by no means intended, and much less a complete
delineation of either. A few detached points of ob-
servation are all that will be marked out, without even
regularly entering into the proofs upon which the ad-
mitted principles depend.

To ascertain precisely how much is implied in the
term natural religion is impossible, since no two deists
themselves exactly cohere in their plan of speculation.
Were it not that hatred to Christianity forms an indis-
soluble bond of union between them, we might often
doubt whether they were disciples of the same school-
It is not true that deism is free from its sects and fac-
tions. It partakes of them as much as is possible in a
system of mere negatives. The deistical writers disa-
gree, among other important subjects, upon the mate-
riality or immateriality of the human soul; — upon the
question respecting innate ideas, which is evidently a
momentous point for consideration in their system ; —
upon the nature of the rewards of virtue and the pun-
ishment of vice, and whether these may or may not
extend beyond the present state ; — and especially do
they differ upon the method of ascertaining and en-
forcing moral duty ; some asserting that it arises from

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 211

an innate sense ; others from reason pointing out the
eternal fitness of things ; and others froin the mere lo-
cal knowledge of social and political regulations.

The difficulty of ascertaining how much or how little
is included in what is termed the religion of nature, is
greatly increased hy the general system of borrowing
without acknowledgment from the precepts, and even
the doctrines, of revelation. By the free, though un-
acknowledged, use of this assistance, certain deistical
writers have contrived to adorn their pages with some-
tliing that much resembles a tolerable system of exter-
nal duties. It is true, that the whole spirit and vitality
of the duty is in such cases entirely lost from the
absence of those Christian motives by which alone it
could be produced ; yet the duty itself continues to re-
main on the deistical page, — not indeed as what was
ever intended seriously to be enforced, — but as what
was necessary to allure those more sober free-thinkers
who still professed to admire the morality of the gospel.
The delicate exotic evidently faded in its new soil, yet
its withered trunk and lineaments were exhibited as
proofs of its having been indigenous to the unkindly
spot.

To learn, therefore, the true extent of natural reli-
gion, it might seem expedient to refer to those writers
who flourished antecedently to the Christian era ; or
to those modern pagans to whom Christianity is entirely
unknown : yet even here we might be deceived, since
whatever of God is acknowledged among the heathens
themselves, may, for what deists know to the contrary,
be only traditional vestiges of an early revelation, or
may have been indirectly introduced by means nf Ju-
daism, or even in later times of Christianity itself.

Strictly speaking, therefore, the very term natural
religion, if meant to imply a religious code impressed
generally upon the human mind, even irrespectively of
serious reflection on the subject, is liable to much ex-
ception. The very idea of a superior Being, though

212 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

almost universally diffused, is more probably the result
of reasoning and argument, if not of remote tradition,
than of an innate persuasion necessarily coeval with the
first dawnings of the human understanding. To vindi-
cate the goodness and justice of God, which may seem
to our feeble reason to require that he should not leave
himself without witness in the conscience of any intel-
ligent being, it is by no means necessary to suppose
the idea of his existence to be a native impression. If
such an idea really exists, it matters not, in the present
argument, in what manner it was derived.

On the present occasion, therefore, disquisitions of
this kind are by no means required ; for if a duty has
been explicitly admitted by deists thejiiselves, (what-
ever might be their motive for its admission,) it will
equally answer the present purpose, — namely, that of
appealing to the consciences of professed Christians, —
whether the duty were really suggested by natural rea-
son, or whether, being first disclosed by divine revela-
tion, it appeared so rational, that even those who re-
jected revelation in general could not refuse to admit
that individual precept.

Natural religion, as professed by deists, is founded,
in common with revealed, upon a belief of the exist-
ence of God. From this primary doctrine spring all
our moral obligations ; so that nothing can be more
important than to keep it ever present to our view. —
We cannot, indeed, easily find persons who formally
and avowedly deny it ; but a considerable degree of
practical forgetfulness on the subject is almost univer-
sal. For this forgetfulness, the best remedy is indeed
the constant perusal of the sacred volume. There we
uniformly perceive traces of the Divinity : there his
nature, his perfections, his offices are plainly unfolded.
We are explicitly taught in what manner he made, and
in what manner he governs the world. Scarcely any
event is recorded without evident marks of his inter-
position. The whole volume of revelation, therefore,

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 213

is admirably and specifically calculated to remedy that
lamentable defect in human nature, by which we are
so often inclined to forget what we nevertheless ac-
knowledge, in our deliberate judgment, to be true.
He who in theory believes that a God exists, will in
scripture find himself constantly reminded of this im-
portant fact, and will derive, almost unconsciously,
various useful and practical inferences for the regula-
tion of his conduct and his heart, without which his
speculative assent would be of no avail.

But, even independently of revelation, merely
natural considerations, we might suppose, would keep
alive in us this primary article of all religious belief.
For are not vestiges of a divine hand stamped upon every
object, animate and inanimate, in nature ^ Is not our
own frame, in particular, a frame most "fearfully and
wonderfully made," a perpetual evidence to us of the
existence of our Creator.'^ Or, if we look from our
bodies to our minds, do not we perceive still further
proofs of the same indisputable fact.''

The first deduction of reason is, that something
must have existed from all eternity. We cannot cou'
ceive of things having been produced absolutely with-
out cause.

Now, whatever exists must have existed either by
the necessity of its own nature, or by the agency of
some other being. If by the agency of some other
being, we may in imagination trace it to its cause, and
to that cause go on to apply the same reasoning, till
we ultimately arrive at something which we acknow-
ledge must have existed absolutely, and by its own
nature from all eternity. This argument fairly con-
sidered is irresistible ; and the only possible way of
seeming to elude its force, is by a sort of half- formed
idea that this ultimate cause might have begun to ex-
ist m time^ and not have been from all eternity. But
if it began to exist in lime, there must have been some
cause of its beginning, some reason why it was produ-

S514 COMPARATIVE VIEW OP

ced ; whic[i was contrary to the supposition which had
supposed that we had g;one back as far as possible to
the ultimate cause of ail.

Iina2;ine that we could retrace the origin of all the
oak trees now existing upon the earth to a few thou-
sands; thence to as many hundreds; thence to fifty;
thence to ten ; and so on, till we came to a single tree,
which was the parent of all the rest. It is still as difficult
to account for the existence of that single tree as for a
million of full-grown oaks. That tree was either eter-
nally existent, or it was produced by some other cause ;
for, as nothing can possibly give itself being, the first
cause, whatever it be, must necessarily be eternal.

Having thus inferred that something must have been
eternal, we are yet still far from having necessarily
inferred tl)at this something must have been what we
denominate God. We may, however, arrive at this
inference by the help of two or three further ideas.

The first cause, whatever it be, must have existed,
it appears, from all eternity. How then was it de-
rived ? Assuredly not from nothing, without cause,
for that is obviously absurd ; neither from any exter-
nal cause, it being by the stipposition antecedent to
every other cause. It must therefore have been self-
existent.

Now, what is included in the idea of self-existence ?
Not surely self-derivation, for that is evidently an ab-
surdity. Nothing can create itself. Self-existence
must tlierel'ore imply and include necessary existence ;
an existence absolutely essential, and which cannot be.
denied without an absurdity. The universe cannot be
this self-exittent being, for we may without absurdity
conceive ii annihilated ; but still tliere would remain
something self-existent and eterucil, from which every
thing else had its origin.

From such preliminaries moral philosophers have
proceeded to establish, even a priori, the essential at-
tributes of the Great First Cause. They have demon-

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 215

strated that matter is not God ; but that there must have
been an Intelligence, eternal, self-existing, omnipotent,
omnipresent, all-wise, and endowed with infinite good-
ness, justice, truth, and every other moral perfection.
Now, although many, perhaps most, of the particulars
in this enumeration must have been previously derived
from revelation, yet even deists have admitted their pro-
priety : nay, further, — because these things, beiJig once
known, were evidently congruous to reason, and in some
measure capable of proof, they have even pretended that
the knowledge of them was perfectly natural, and need-
ed not to be revealed. Surely, then, if deists can thus
argue, there can be no excuse for professed Christians
who neglect the important considerations which result
from a belief in the being of a God.

But for the purpose of continually recalling to mind
what we all readily acknowledge to be true, these
metaphysical proofs, allowing them to be correct, are
by no means so apt as others of a very different de-
scription. They may serve indeed occasionally to
confute the " vain philosophy" of the professed atheist,
but by no means bring the subject home to the feelings
and the heart. Indeed nothing, as was before ob-
served, can completely do this except the constant pe-
rusal of tiie sacred volume. There are, however, nu-
merous other proofs of the Divinity, sufficiently pres-
sing and at hand, to put to shame the thousjhllessness
of many nominal professors of Christianity, to whom
alone these remarks are intended to apply.

I'hat argument for the being and atti-ibutes of God
which is derived from the universal consent of nations,
though exceedingly strong, is not exactly to the point
in hand ; for those who formally acknowledge their
Creator, yet habitually forget him, will not be likely to
be adequately reminded of his presence by an idea,
however forcible, that may not perhaps recur to their
minds twenty times in the course of a long life. We
need practical and pressing arguments ; and the chief

216 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

of these, of an external nature, are the created objects
with which we are surrounded, and which were ex-
pressly intended to be continual monitors to remind us
of our adorable Creator.

Would men habitually and devoutly peruse the
Bible, humbly imploring the guidance of its divine
Author, they would not require any secondary helps
to keep before their minds the idea of his existence ;
but since a large numher, even of professed Christians,
act habitually as though the existence of their Creator
were a fable, nothing, however subordinate, can be
wholly unimportant, which seems calculated to lead
them to call to mind his presence ; — not indeed that
they may deisiically rest there, but that being continu-
ally impressed with the idea of his presence, they may
may have constant recourse to that hallowed volume
which reveals his will.

Saint Paul, in addressing the atheists, deists, and
polytheists of his time, was accustomed to refer tiiem
to the natural world, asserting that "Me invisible things
of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, even
his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are
without excuse : because that ivhen they knew God,
they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful ;
but became vain in their imaginations, and their fool-
ish heart was darkened.^^ The devout Psalmist also
considered it ihe summit of folly not to regard the
Creator in the operations of his hands : — " O Lord^
how grlat are thy works, and thy thoughts are very
deep. A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a
fool understand tJdsy

In truth, the surrounding evidences of the Deity are
infinite. Every part, for example, of the human frame
has been frequently proved to be a master-piece of
divine skill and power. It is impossible, we might
sup[)ose, to behold an organic display of this complica-
ted system without the idea of a God pressing upon

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 217

the mind ; and lliat not merely as a simple speculation,
but with something of those auTuliy sublime feelings
of human dependence and responsibility with whicli
such a spectacle ought ever to be accompanied.

We always believe that there is a God, but upon
particular occasions we seem to feel that there is one.
The Deity is brought nigh to us in the wisdom, the
power, or the mysteriousness of his works. There is
an awful and undefineable correspondence between
the outward object and the internal sensation. To a
spectator, for example, not accustomed to a survey of
the ocean, the first sight of it, if he be in a situation
freely to commune with liimself, can scarcely fail to
bring to his mind so vividly the idea of a God, as to
make him, for the moment, shudder at tlie thought of
offending so great a Being. In this individual case,
the effect seems to be produced, not so much by the
mere grandeur of the scene, as by the idea conveyed
of perpetual restlessness and motion, than which noth-
ing more powerfully impresses the human mind, or
more forcibly leads it to the consideration of a corres-
ponding agent. It is the motion of the world, the
planets, and other heavenly bodies, that so forcibly
suggests to a devout astronomer the idea of Divinity.
Even should an atheist induce himself to believe that
the mere matter of these vast bodies may have existed
from eternity, he can never hope plausibly to account
for their motion, especially when he considers its regu-
larity and beneficial effects, without acknowledging a
God.

If from the inanimate world we turn to contemplate
ourselves, the idea of a Creator presses strongly on
the mind. We are mysterious beings. We know
not whence we came, and, if ignorant of revelation,
are equally uncertain whither we tend. We know
only that w^e exist, and that we are constantly sur-
rounded with an unseen but uncontrollable energy.
W^e cannot command events : the sun will shine, the
19

218 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

wind blow, the grass wave, and the ocean be ruffled,
independently of us : we could not prevent these and
innumerable other events, were our existence to be
suspended on the result. We are sonaetimes healthy
or prosperous, without knowing wherefore ; at other
times in poverty, or sickness, or distress, against all
the efforts of our strongest volitions. We cannot pre-
arrange the order of events in general, or even of our
own lives. We were born and we shall die without
our own voluntary concurrence. We are continually
stretching forward after something new : never satisfied
with the present, we are incessantly anticipating the
future, which, however, we awfully feel will roll on
under the guidance of laws of which we are wholly
ignorant. Yet, amidst all, we seem to have a sensa-
tion as if happiness, pure and complete happiness,
were somewhere to be found. We feel as if these first
imperfect rudiments of existence cannot be all that is
attainable : there is a void in the bosom which we are
persuaded might be filled, though we know not how.

Observe a husbandman daily employed during a
long life in ploughing the same field, or reaping its
produce, or partaking of its fruits, with scarcely any
visible purpose for which he has existed, except per-
haps to leave a successor to tread the same uniform
round. Surely this cannot be all. There is evident-
ly something so incomplete and unsatisfactory in the
whole scheme of human life, when considered without
the light of revelation, that it is impossible to know in
what manner to regard it, except as a means towards
some end with which by nature we are unacquainted.
It is evidently not a finished plan, and yet still more
evidently it is not a mere lusus of sportive chance. It
is imperfect, yet there are clear evidences of design.
We learn from history, that in all past ages men were
substantially the same as at present ; which, by the
common laws of calculation, could not have been the

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 219

case had every thing been fortuitous. Is there not
some end to all these day-dreams which surround us .''

We are conscious that we are in the hands of an-
other. We have no power to make a hair white or
black. We could not make the least approach towards
superadding a new limb or feature to our frame, were
we seriously to exert ourselves for that purpose during
the longest life. Now if the doctrine of appetency
were true, this could scarcely be the case ; for surely
appetency would not refuse to exert itself at the call of
so powerful and constant a volition. We are tlierefore
either under the power of God, or of uncontrollable
necessity and fate. The latter is utterly incredible ;
and indeed the utmost which we can conceive of what
is caWed fate, is the irresistible will and power of an
omnipotent Being. The law of fate (supposing the
doctrine true) could no more exist without a cause
than the law of gravitation. Antecedently to the ad-
mission of the existence of the Creator, it is perhaps
impossible to conceive of any thing being necessary. —
To imagine that something exists in nature which is
the fateful cause of all effects, is only to make nature
intelligent, and to endue her with the qualities that
constitute our idea of Divinity.

But, a posteriori, the argument against either chance
or necessity is still more convincing. No person can
rationally believe that he is under tlie government of
so uncertain a principle as the one, or so inflexible a
principle as the other. There is far too much order
in the world to be the result of chance, and too much
variety to be the result of fate. Atheists themselves
have been long ashamed of the doctrine of chance.
Fortune has lost her unmerited honors, at least in
books of grave philosophy, though in common language
she may possibly maintain her place, till Christian
truth or common sense shall have banished, even from
colloquial intercourse, the lingering relics of heathen
superstition.

220 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

There is nothing in our experience to lead to the
doctrine of necessity. The utmost we can conceive
of fate, as was just observed, is the irreversible will of
Him, without whose existence nothing is necessary;
and his existence being once admitted, fate and neces-
sity are superseded by the wise and equitable system
of an universal Providence.

Jf again we look at our intellectual faculties, they
bespeak a God ; for how could inanimate matter be-
stow what evidently it does not possess ^ The con-
tinual restlessness of human curiosity, a principle which
can never be satiated while we remain on earth, seems
to indicate a futurity ; for if complete knowledge and
happiness be not things which really exist, how came
the idea of them to enter the human mind ^ — and this
not as a vague speculation, but as a principle which
forcibly influences our actions during the wliole of life.
Unless we admit the idea of a Deity, who implanted
such principles for ends infinitely wise, we must per-
petually wander in the mazes of darkness and uncer-
tainty.

Since then we are ever present to ourselves, and
since in ourselves are contained such various proofs of
the existence of a God, we are constantly furnished
with much to awaken in us the dormant recollection
of our dependant state. Every speculation, if cor-
rectly and humbly conducted, would thus remind us of
Him in whom " we live, and move, and have our
being."

If from ourselves we turn to surrounding objects,
the same great truth every where presses upon the
rnind. Creation teaches not only the being but many
also of the attributes of the Creator ; and the study of
it, if conducted with prayer and docility, would lead
us to the study of that holy volume in which he is
more fully displayed.

How conspicuous, for instance, is \\\s power ! "Lift
up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 221

these things, that bringelh out their hosts by number :
he calleth them all by names, by the greatness of his
might ; for that he is strong in power — not one failelh."
Surely He who created the universe, and still continues
to regulate its concerns, can be no less than omnipo-
tent. The mere mass of matter in existence is in-
conceivably great ; and when this is multiplied into
the quantity of motion distributed throughout its parts,
the idea is far too vast for human comprehension. The
intellect is bewildered ; and all that we can distinctly
perceive, amidst the stupendous ideas that rush upon
the mind, is, that there must be an infinitely powerful
Beins; who re2:ulates the whole.

Hence then we may infer his icisdom ; to see w^hich
still more conspicuously, we might turn from the grand
and terrific to objects the most minute and unobserved.
The smallest insect displays the wisdom of the Creator
as much as an earthquake or a world declares his
power. We might take instances almost without the
labor of selection. " O Lord, how manifold are thy
works! In wisdom hast tliou made them aZ/.'" If
we gradually ascend from the varieties of inanimate
nature to the innumerable tribes of the vegetable
world ; — thence to the still more elaborate structure
and powers of animals, till we arrive at the unspeaka-
ble wonders of the human frame ;— and if, having thus
taken a survey of individuals and species, we begin to
inquire into the natural and almost infinite correspon-
dencies and relations between them, we shall at every
step discover indubitable traces of divine wisdom and
ability. Amidst myriads of proofs, were we to select
only the eyes of animals as convincing marks of the
skill of the Creator, not only the atheist, but the
thoughtless deist also, would be left without excuse.

Another essential attribute of the Deity, his infinite
goodness, is not, it must be confessed, so perfectly de-
monstrable by natural religion as the former. The
introduction of moral and physical evil has veiled in a
19*

222 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

great measure the display, though it has not disproved
the existence, of this divine perfection. Hence, from
the gospel only can we learn it to its full extent.
Natural reason, whether correctly or otherwise, seems
to suggest to us that man had a sort of claim to be
happy while he was perfectly good ; and therefore not
knowing of the state of equitable probation in which
our first parents were placed, and their voluntary fall,
it must be unable to account for the fact that our Cre-
ator has not made our present existence a state of
unmixed enjoyment. Here it might be impossible to
answer an objector upon merely natural principles,
without using arguments, which, though in reality un-
answerable, he might not be willing to admit. The
idea of a future retribution, for example, would be a
clue to unravel many of his difficulties; but this doctrine
he might not be disposed to acknowledge. Again —
allowing, as revelation informs us, that man has of-
fended his ]\Iaker and deserves punishment, the natural
arguments for the existence of the divine goodness
become irresistibly strong ; for even punishment is
mercy, w^iere the punishment is evidently less than the
offence. Weeds and biiers are a partial evil ; but,
compared with what man had deserved, they serve
rather to remind him of his transgression than adequate-
ly to punish it.

Yet upon the w^hole, even setting aside for a mo-
ment the ideas from revelation which thus effectually
prove the possibility of the Creator being beneficent,
notwithstanding the quantity of unhappiness that ac-
tually exists in the world, we may perceive, even
amidst every trouble of life, manifest traces of the
divine benevolence. Willi regard to the inferior ani-
mals, we know not sufficiently their nature to be able
to form an accurate estimate of their pleasures or their
pains. That the former superabound is in most cases
evident. Incapable of reflection, or of anlicipnting
futurity, the utmost they can know of pnin is the hun-

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 223

ger, or thirst, or bodily suffering of the moment ; but
these are largely counterbalanced by the enjoyments
which they hourly possess in satiating their animal
wants, and even, perhaps, by the mere feeling of ex-
istence, which, independently of positive enjoyment,
must be to them a desirable sensation. Their death,
when it arrives, is usually sudden, and not perhaps
very painful ; and being unforeseen, cannot deduct
from the general proportion of good which they have
previously enjoyed.

But in reference to man, we are certain from expe-
rience, that creation and preservation are, even in
themselves, inestimable benefits. Life is, indeed, a
treasure so great, that mankind, with comparatively
few awful exceptions, are willing to linger it out, even
under the greatest calamities, rather than resign so
valuable a blessing. IMany of those enjoyments which
are least noticed, are yet of incalculable value. Almost
every part of nature is evidently designed with a view
to our use and comfort. The heavens afford us light
and a thousand useful influences, while the earth bears
us on her bosom, and unfailingly supplies our wants.
It is possible that every mineral, and plant, and ani-
mal, may be at length discovered to have been intended
for beneficent purposes, which at present we do not so
much as suspect. Even as far as relates to man,
nothing may have been made in vain. What, for ex-
ample, could seem less likely to have any beneficial
influence on us, or indeed any influence at all, than
the satellites of Jupiter, a few masses of matter millions
of miles distant from this earth, wholly invisible to the
naked eye, and consequently quite unknown to the ma-
jority of mankind. Yet, by the aid of telescopes even
these distant objects have become of very great impor-
tance to the navigator, and by consequence to mankind
at large. May they not then be produced as one,
among innumerable testimonies, of the intention of
Providence indirectly to benefit us in things in which

224 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

we might least have expected to find any traces of
love to mankind f*

The deist then must allow, and how much more the
professed Christian, that there are on every side of us
objects sufficient to impress constantly upon our minds
the existence, and some of the attributes, of the Crea-
tor. We know not the whole of his perfections. Even
the volume of revelation itself may have wisely passed
by many attributes of the Deity, which either we could
not have understood, or which, if understood, it might
have been useless for us to know. But from what we,

* The writer is far from attempting, even were he able, to enter
into the vast subject of the perfections of God, as displayed in the
works of nature. He has rather alluded to it than begun to discuss
it- There is happily a large variety of works on this interesting sub-
ject; and were there none but Archdeacon Paley's judicious epitome
of what others had recorded, and he himself had verified, enough
would have been written incontrovertibly to prove the point. A
great merit in Paley is that correctness of judgment and soberness of
fancy which prevented his bringing forward any thing as proof which
was not fairly entitled to the appellation. Several other authors, in
the same track, have not been so judicious. The " Religious Philo-
sopher" of Nieuwentyt, for example, from whom Paley seems to
have derived several of his most valuable hints, is something excep-
tionable in this respect, frequently adducing as proof what no atheist
could admit to be conclusive, and what theretbre no judicious Chris-
tian would desire to see employed in so doubtful a service.

Valuable as is the Natural Theology of Paley, it might, perhaps,
have been rendered still more so, had the author entered a little into
those proofs which are derived from chemistry, and which, since the
new era of that science, have been nuiltiplied with astonishing ra-
pidity. Till within a few years, arguments from this quarter would
have been little understood ; but since chemistry has become so gen-
eral an object of study, they rise greatly in importance. We see the
wonderful yet simple methods taken to apply the apparent waste of
nature. We observe every particle of undecoiupouiided matter ca-
pable of going through a perpetual round of useful offices, and of com-
bining in various forms with others tor that important purpose. What,
for example, can be more wonderful than that the elements of com-
mon atmospheric air, the essential support of animal existence, should
be composed of the very sanie elastic fluids which constitute, when
mixed in a different proportion, the most corrosive acid in nature ?
Had chance been the chemist employed to mix the gases for the use
of uiankind, we might have occasionally expected such a uiistakc in
the propoition as vvoulil have converted the salubrious breeze into
the pestiferous fumes of oqiin-fut lis, and have destroyed a city or a
nation without possibility of escape.

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 225

as Christians, do profess to understand, and even from
what is acknowledged by deists themselves, we are
necessarily led to inferences which may put to shame
every thoughtless and inconsistent believer in the true
and only revelation.

Let us view the matter a little more in detail. The
first duty of natural religion, a duty admitted even by
those who reject revelation, is to contemplate and ven-
erate our Creator. If we but glance at his ineffable
perfections, what theme can appear so worthy of our
serious consideration ? Created by his hand, and
supported by his power, it is surely reasonable that
we should reverentially fix our thoughts upon his tran-
scendent majesty. We should carefully, yet humbly,
inquire into his nature and attributes, in order that we
may adore him as we ought. If we possess the gift of
reason, what duty can be more evident than the dili-
gent exertion of that reason in contemplating the works
and prerogatives of its divine Bestower ? For what
purpose were curiosity and the love of knowledge
bestowed upon man, if not, among other things, to
prompt him to investigate all that may be humbly
learned respecting the Divinity, through the medium
of his providence and his works ? If his creation is
so wonderful and admirable, how much more wonder-
ful and to be admired is its admirable Author ! The
workmanship was doubtless specially intended to re-
mind us constantly of the hand by which it was fra-
med. We cannot, indeed, know God to perfection ;
and the very wish to discover more than he has been
pleased to reveal would be presumptuous ; but there
is an obvious difference between the daring researches
of an unhallowed curiosity, and the devout efforts of a
mind which longs to become more and more acquaint-
ed with its Creator, only that it may obtain new mo-
tives for love and admiration.

The due contemplation of God, in addition to its
immediate moral advantages, is the most delightful

226 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

subject which can occupy a reasonable being. Admi-
ration is always a pleasing sensation ; and how great,
how ennobling, must it become, when God is its ob-
ject ! There is no created being, however vast or
wonderful, that can perfectly fill the imagination, and
bound the researches of man. Even the truths unfold-
ed by astronomy, though the most sublime that the
universe can suggest, may become at length familiari-
zed to the mind, and in consequence fail to raise it to
its accustomed pitch of admiration and delight. But
God is an object of contemplation so immeasurably
great — his nature and perfections are so completely
inexhaustible — such vast and unexpected ideas arise
from every new contemplation of his essence and his
works, that we need not fear that we can ever become
satiated with the astonishing theme.

From the contemplation of God, even our reason
seems to point out various duties corresponding to the
perfections which we discover in his nature. We
ought evidently to be occupied in reverential admira-
tion while we view his unsearchable wisdom, his in-
finity, and his unbounded power. With what intensity
should love glow in our bosoms, while we survey his
works of beneficence which so conspicuously appear
on every side ! How should gratitude expand our
hearts, while we reflect upon the innumerable blessings
which we enjoy, beginning with that primary blessing
of existence, which put us into a capacity for enjoying
all the rest ! His justice, when viewed, as it ever must
be, in connexion with our acknowledged imperfections,
demands our fear ; his mercy calls for thankfulness
and hope. We should repose in liim our trust, be-
cause he is faithful and immutable : we should aspire
after a nearer union with him, because in that consists
our happiness and the perfection of our nature.

Again — prayer and praise are duties which even
natural religion suggests to nations the most unenlight-
ened 5 and though the mode of expressing them is

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 227

often so highly offensive to reason as to be not only
unworthy of the Ahiiighty, (for what can any man give
that is worthy of Him f) but even a disgrace to the
worshipper himself, yet the obligation to these duties
still remains fixed and unimpaired, notwithstanding the
absurdities to wliich human imperfection has given
birth. It is true that the Christian only can worship
God in an acceptable manner, because no other person
is acquainted with the sole Mediator between God and
man ; but the duty itself would be binding, had Chris-
tianity never been revealed. A prayerless and thank-
less person offends not only against the specific requi-
sitions of the gospel, but against the antecedent and
unalterable obligations of his nature.

Every man, then, who is conscious that he is de-
pendent upon God, must feel that he ought to implore
his blessing. The majority even of deistical writers
have contended for this point.* The often-heard ob-
jection, that prayer derogates from the honor of the
Creator, either by seeming to imply that he is unac-
quainted with our wants, or that, knowing them, he is
unwilling to supply them, might be readily confuted,
even upon the princi])les of what is called natural reli-
gion. In the first place, prayer does not derogate
from the supposition of the divine intelligence, because
the very act shows that we believe that the Almighty
knows what is felt in our hearts, or uttered by our lips,
which, when we consider the number of worshippers
in the whole world, could not be the case were he not

* It must be again observed that prayer and praise, and the other
duties which have been just mentioned as dictates of natural religion,
are not strictly natural ; hut have rather been conveyed by traditions
more or less pure, from some of those revelations which God made
in the early ages of the world to mankind. But since they are ad-
mitted by most deists themselves, they properly apply to the present
argument, which is simply to show, that if those who deny revelation
think it is expedient to admit and inculcate so much, how perfectly
inexcusable are those, who, professing to acknowledge the infinitely
superior light of Christianity, yet live far beneath the requisitions of
a deistical creed.

228 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

both omnipresent and omniscient. Neither, in the
second place, does it indicate distrust in his goodness,
but the contrary ; for who, but the ignorant and super-
stitious barbarian, would pray to a malignant being
from whom lie expected no favor in return? Prayer
is the expression of subordination and dependence, and,
as such, is a natural obligation ; to which revelation
has added new motives, by enjoining it as the appoint-
ed means of grace by which the Almiglity conveys
the blessings which he sees fit to bestow.

Thanksgiving is still more evidently a natural duty
than prayer ; for to enjoy food and clothing, and all
the necessaries and conveniences of life, without think-
ing of the source from which they are derived, or
bestowing in return our gratitude and acknowledg-
ments, would be plainly contrary to right reason and
the boasted fitness of things. Totally to omit these
duties of prayer and praise, is virtually to deny that
there is a Being who deserves them ; greatly to neg-
lect them, even though we should not wholly omit them,
is to imply, that although we do not formally deny his
existence, we neither habitually fear his anger nor
desire his approbation.

It is possible that many nominal Christians, who
suffer themselves to be carelessly whirled in the vortex
of fashion, thoughtless of their Creator and their eter-
nal destination, may be sometimes more startled at
considerations of tliis kind, than even by an enumera-
tion of the more express duties enjoined by Chris-
tianity ; because here they cannot possibly have any
room for the frequent plea of unnecessary strictness,
since nothing has as yet been urged but what the
graver class of deists theinselves acknowledge to be
right and reasonable.

Let then the nominal Christian seriously inquire, —
I will not say whether he has lived up to the full sj)irit
of his transrendenlly holy religion, — but whether he
has even fulfilled in a decent measure, the first ac-

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELir.ION. 2i9

knowledged obligations of what the deist liimself con-
siders as nnerely natural duty to his Creator. Has
he reverenced his name ; contemplated his perfections ;
yielded himself to his service? Has he constantly ap-
plied to him by humble prayer for every needeil
blessing, and as constantly returned fervent thanks for
every benefaction? Has he uniformly thought of him
with veneration, and never uttered his name but in
terms appropriate, so far as possible, to his exalted
majesty ? Has he at no time spoken or performed
any thing; that seemed to imply contempt or forgetful-
ness of his presence and perfections ?

Would not a deist himself, if living up to the requi-
sitions of his scanty creed, feel shocked at the irrev-
erence with which some professed Christians act to-
wards their Creator ? A person who is in the habit
of tracing the marks of supernatural goodness and
power, in the various objects which surround him, and
who, in consequence, felt deeply im|)ressed with a
sense of the presence of God, if he went no further,
would avoid, we might suppose, every thing profane
or derogatory to the divine perfections and dignity.
As one example among many, would not the stage, as
at present conducted among professed Christians, be
disgusting to such a person, on account of its manifest
and undeniable impiety ? Would not also the trifling
and irreverent appeals to the Almighty, which are
constantly heard in ordinary conversation, shock the
ears of one who felt but as much awe and veneration
towards him as a loyal subject feels for his temporal
monarch ?

To the credit, however, of revealed religion, it may
be fairly asked, Where can a deist, thus practically
susceptible in what relates to the honor of God, be
found ? It is a collateral proof of the divine character
of the gospel, that no person is ever discovered to be
a devout and consistent theist, who is not also a true
Christian. Natural religion, at least tliat which is so
20

230 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

called, may seem to point out the broad outline of
duties ; but Christianity alone can incline the heart to
perform them. No man adequately or truly venerates
the name of God, who has not learned this important
precept from his revealed word.

Love to our Creator is so evidently a reasonable
duty, that the obligation scarcely needs to be systemat-
ically proved. The motives to it are as innumerable
as the blessings which we enjoy. He is the original
fountain of amiableness ; and whatever is lovely, is in
reality truly so only in proportion as it resembles
sometiiing in the divine nature. We cannot be said
to love God truly, unless we love him supremely. To
love him only as a rival with any one of his creatures,
is to degrade him to tlie measure of a finite good.
He must, even by the decisions of reason, be para-
mount in our affections, and every thing must be
rendered subservient to his glory. But have we per-
formed this duty ? Does our love prompt to universal
obedience ; to a full and implicit performance of every
dictate of conscience, from the moment in which we
become intelligent creatures to the moment in which
we return to our Creator to give an account of our
actions ^ Surely we can give no reply to these inter-
rogations but what must condemn us, even on the
ground of natural obligation.

If from the catalogue of (^uties which naturally flow
from the acknowledgment of the being and perfec-
tions of God, anotiier might be mentioned, which, like
the preceding, applies a fortiori to tlie professed
Christian, it should be that of acknowledging his
providence. The very Greeks and Romans, and most
other civilized heathens, have admitted this duty. By
the classical writers, their fabled deities were esteemed
the efficient agents in every concern. Infinite as
were the errors, the crimes, and the absurdities of hea-
thenism, the express denial of a superintending Provi-
dence was confined to a {q\w self-sufficient philoso-

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 231

phists. Virgil is almost proverbial for tracing every
thing to the gods ; and tliougli nothing can be more
absurd than the offices which he and others made
them to pejform, yet the general abstract idea of the
existence of a divine agency, though miserably abused,
was substantially true.

Professed Christians, it is to be feared, oftentimes
derogate essentially from the honor of their Creator,
by a rejection, not indeed absolute, but certainly virtu-
al, of his providential interposition in the government
of the world. Though they do not expressly deny
the presence of God, they forget it, and seem glad to
interpose any thing whatever to shield themselves from
his agency. How common is it to hear men speak of
nature in such a way as evidently to prove that they
are very far from being accustomed to look beyond
nature up to nature's God. Accustomed to the con-
stant presence of a vicegerent, they overlook the fact
that there is a Superior, whose commands that vice-
gerent implicitly obeys.

It shows, indeed, the wisdom and the power of God,
that he was able so to arrange the system, both of the
natural and moral world, that visible interpositions of
bis hand should not often be required ; but he by no
means intended that we should, on that account, at-
tribute to his creature the praise that belongs only to
himself. In describing the creation of the universe,
Moses never speaks of nature as an agent. The hea-
thens made her a deity, and, as such, paid her divine
honors ; and even the philosophers of France emulated,
in the open face of revehuion, the same absurdity and
impiety. The habit of thus speaking of things corpo-
real, or even inanimate, as endued with intellectual
powers, was one fruitful source of ancient polytheism
and superstition. The vulgar idea of nature, though
almost naturalized in Christendom, may perhaps be
traced back to the peripatetic philosophy, in which the
world was considered as eternal, the divine agency

232 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

being consequently excluded in its formation, if not
also in its government. Every person who really be-
lieves in a God, should be cautious of employing lan-
guage which seems, and was by sotne pseudo philoso-
pheis really intended, to derogate from his providential
interference.

But however excusable mere error in language
might be considered, the present is a matter of plain
fact. The inadequacy or inaccuracy of language is in
this case too true an index of the inadequacy or inac-
curacy of mental conception. For it is obvious that a
large portion of professed Christians by no means ha-
bitually view the Creator of the world as its constant
governor. " God is not in all their thoughts :" they
have no sense of his presence or his agency ; so that if
we except a few occasional ceremonies, paid, perhaps,
rather as a mark of respect to the customs of their
country than from reverence to their adorable Creator,
we miglu faiily doubt whether they were in reality
persuaded of the divine existence and government.

The ancient sect of the Epicureans was more con-
sistent. Its advocates explicitly denied the providence
of God, because they had no such conception of his
perfections as to suppose him capable of governing all
parts of his creation at the same moment. Whilst he
was rolling his thunders over the sands of the torrid
zone, they could not believe that he was present also
to '' pour out his ice like moi-sels" at the distant poles,
or to fertilize with his showers, and refresh with his
breezes, a thousand intervening tracts.

But that those who acknowledge God's omnipotence,
his ubiquity, and his omniscience, should fail of being
constantly j)enetrated with the deepest feelings of ado-
ration, we might suppose impossible, were it not con-
firmed by universal experience. Absurd as atheism
has always and justly been considered, is it not, if pos-
sible, still more strange to profess to believe in a God,
and yet to act as though his existence were a fable f —

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 233

a charge, however, to which no small number of pro-
fessed Christians are undeniably obnoxious.

These reflections upon that part of natural religion,
so called, which relates to our contemplation and vene-
ration of the Deity, cannot be better concluded than
with the following passage from the works of the devout
Robert Boyle, an author whose high merit it is, that
we cannot study his writings for the sake of becoming
acquainted with human philosophy, without also being
continually elevated to a still more noble object, by his
comprehensive and adoring views of the ever-blessed
Creator : —

" I think then that it becomes us to use an awful
circumspection ; not only when we make philosophical
ijKjuiries about God, that is, when we presume to dis-
course of Him, but when we solemnly design to praise
Him ; for it is one thing to say true things, and another
to say things worthy of God. Our ideas of Him may
be the best we are able to frame, and yet may far bet-
ter express the greatness of our veneration for Him,
than the immensity of his perfection ; and even those
notions that may be worthy of the most intelligent of
men, will fall extremely short of being worthy of the
incomprehensible God. The brightest and least un-
like idea w^e can frame of God is infinitely more infe-
rior, with regard to him, than a parhelion is with regard
to the sun. He has not, in my opinion, the truest ven-
eration for God, who can set out his excellencies and
prerogatives in the most high and pompous expres-
sions ; but he who, willingly, has a deep and real sense
of the unmeasurable int'eriority of himself, and his best
ideas, to the unbounded and unparalleled perfections
of his Maker. And, as even our hymns and praises
of the Supreme Being deserve our blushes, and need
his pardon ; what confusion will one day cover the
faces of those, who not only speak slightly and care-
lessly, but even contemptuously of that supreme and
infinitely perfect Being, to whom they owe those very
20*

234 COMPARATIVE VIEW or

faculties which they so ungratefully and impiously mis-
employ ? Indeed, such trancendent excellencies as
are the divine, might justly discourage us from offer-
ing so much as to celebrate them, if infinite goodness
were not one of them. I shall not therefore allow
myself the presumption of pretending to make a pane-
gyric on God, but content myself with a humble ado-
ration of those perfections whereof my utmost praises
would rather express my own weakness than their
excellence ; since, of this ineffable object the highest
things that can be expressed in words must fall short ;
for words cannot express him."

If from our duties to our Creator we proceed to
those which respect our neighbor, the habitual neg-
lect and criminality of too many professed Christians
will appear scarcely less conspicuous than in the for-
mer case.

We owe to our fellow-creatures, upon the admission
of deists themselves, perfect justice and benevolence;
but which of these virtues can any man be said to
exhibit in its full extent ^ The writings of many of
the heathens, how imperfect soever their own practice,
are standing mementos of our deficiency. Cicero
even inculcates the duty of loving others as ourselves;
yet this simple rule of natural duty is what no man
can say that he has completely followed. Our highest
stretch of philanthropy is scarcely a visible approach
towards this almost inaccessible spot ; — inaccessible,
not on account of the essential nature of things, but in
consequence of the lapsed conditions and sinful pas-
sions of mankind.

But it would be needless to enter into a full exposi-
tion of our violated duties towards our neighbor ; or
even of those which respect ourselves. To live up to
the full and most rigorous dictates of conscience, in
spite of all the suggestions of ease, or pleasure, or
profit, is so obvious a law of our nature, that the
heathens denominated conscience a god, and consid-

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 235

ered disobedience to its suggestions a high and flagrant
breach of moral duty. In short, what ought to be our
line of action on the mere ground of natural religion,
may be fully learned from a remark of Plato, that we
ought as far as possible to assimilate ourselves to the
Deity ; — a precept which, thus acknowledged by a pa-
gan, ought surely to press with far greater force on the
conscience of every believer in the Christian dispen-
sation.

But to quit the present line of argument, so far as it
is connected with the mere admission of the being of a
God, we may proceed to another alleged dogma of
natural religion, — the existence of a future state. It
is true, (as we shall see more fully in a future part of
these remarks,) that this doctrine was not and could
not be completely ascertained by natural reason ; yet
as it is often admitted by deistical writers, and, when
once known, is capable of considerable proof from
natural argument and analogy, it ought to find a place
even in the present imperfect enumeration.

It is utterly improbable, on the principles of mere
reason, that so wise and good a being as we acknow-
ledge the Creator to be, should have bestowed upon
us such exalted faculties as we possess, solely for
the comparatively mean purposes of the present life.
Boundless as are our desires after knowledge, no hu-
man intellect ever yet understood any one science to
perfection ; yet, is it probable that the God of infinite
order and congruity created the high powers of man to
cut them short just when they begin to attain their
vigor and capacity for action ^ Are the expanded
minds of the best and wisest mortals to be annihilated,
and all their capacities and capabilities in a moment
destroyed ^ This is not consistent with the analogy of
the vegetable creation, when it declines at the approach
of winter, and buries its glories in the earth. The
atheist may indeed, in full accordance with his own
principles, imagine mankind to be as accidentally

236 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

ended as he conceives him to have been accidentally
formed : but really to believe in a God, and yet to
imagine that he created the human soul for the mere
purposes of the present existence, is a glaring incon-
sistency with the views wliich we profess to entertain
of the wisdom of the Creator. Can we conceive that
machines so noble were formed for the mere purpose
of being ahnost immediately shattered to pieces ? Is
it not then morally certain, to say nothing of revela-
tion, that our Creator intends us for a state where all
the incipient faculties of the human mind shall expand
and flourish to all eternity ?

Besides, if, as we all allow, we are under the moral
government of an equitable God, and if, moreover,
happiness and misery are not in this life proportioned
to the various degrees of virtue and vice, there must
necessarily be another world. This, it needs scarcely
be observed, is the strongest argument derivable from
mere reason for a future state ; but that it is not abso-
lutely irresistible, may be inferred from the doubts of
the wisest heathen philosophers, who rather hoped for
an eternal existence than confidently expected it. It
was the gospel only that could fully bring *' life and
immortality to light."

Now, if there be a future world, and if mankind are
thus under the moral government of their Creator in
the present, human life is a probationary state, and
must be considered as subject to various duties corres-
ponding with such an idea. But do the great body of
nominal Christians really live under such a prevailing
impression f Do they constantly view themselves as
responsible beings, and do they act accordingly f Are
the giddy flutterers of the day seriously impressed with
the thought that life is a deposit which is neither to re-
main unemployed, nor to be spent in frivolity ; but to
be " put out to usury," that it may turn to good ac-
count in the hour of final retribution f

But to pass by persons of this more trifling cast of

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 237

manners, even others who are neither inactive nor im-
moral, neither useless nor unamiable, may too often be
open to the charge of not living up to the idea of a
state of probation. For, do they display that acqui-
escence in affliction, that resignation in disappointment,
which would necessarily characterize the conduct of a
man who habitually felt, — not only that these things
are the inflictions of a wise and merciful Creator, — but
that they were expressly intended to prepare him for a
future state, in which he shall fully perceive the pro-
priety of every apparently adverse event, and find it
counterpoised with an eternal and unspeakable "weight
of glory r

Is not then every murmur, every complaint, every
feeling of discontent with our condition, a crime in one
who acknowledges, in theory at least, that he is placed
under the merciful and infinitely wise government of
his Creator f Surely the most moral and amiable
person must confess that his thoughts and language
have been too often such as would have given the
highest offence to an earthly monarch, and must there-
fore be far more culpable as applied to the omniscient
Ruler of the universe. Who would submit to endure
from a child in a state of pupilage, and for whom we
were conscious that we were acting in the most wise
and tender manner, a thousandth part of those constant
repinings and rebellious thoughts which our Creator
has daily witnessed in ourselves ? The man who
should fully realize the idea of his life being mercifully
as well as wisely intended for a scene of trial and not
of permanent repose, would learn to lie passive in his
Maker's hand, and would unrepiningly, and even cheer-
fully, submit to the awards of his equitable providence.

Again — is not every feeling of envy and malice, and
still more, every attempt at revenge, a tacit impeach-
ment of the justice of God ? Does it not even as it were
rob him of that judicial prerogative which the idea of
a future state necessarily implies ? The world would

238 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

witness but little of that quick resentment at injuries,
and that ardor for retaliating them, which are now so
common, were men constantly to act up to those duties
which flow from the belief of the present life being
merely a state of being in which the all-wise Judge of
the world beholds both the injured and the injurer,
with the intention of deciding equitably between tliem
at a future day. To have personally revenged an
injury, would, even at a human tribunal, be considered
an affront to the majesty of the laws, and prevent our
obtaining that redress to which we should otherwise
have been entitled. Irritated, therefore, as we might
be, by an unprovoked aggression, our respect for the
laws of our country, even irrespectively of other con-
siderations, would probably restrain us from immediate
revenge. Now, the disposition to retaliate is, in refer-
ence to the laws of God, what the act of retaliation is
to the laws of our country ; since each equally im-
peaches the justice or the power of the legislator.
Did we therefore habitually repose the same confi-
dence in the ultimate equity of the decisions of the
moral Governor of the world, respecting the feeling
and the motive, which we repose in a human judica-
ture respecting the outward act, every thought of
revenge would vanish from our minds, and we should
commit our cause humbly and implicitly to Him who
will equitably survey and impartially determine.

From the preceding remarks on the obligations of
natural religion, it will instantly appear how little force
there is in the common allegation of inconsistent
Christians, that though they may not have performed
all that the requisitions of the gospel demand, yet that
upon the whole, they have done all that can be reason-
ably expected. So far, however, from this being the
fact, there is probably not a single injunction even of
what is claimed as natural religion with which they
have fully complied. Had Ciiristianity never been
revealed, they could not, in the eye of reason, have

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 239

confidently stood before their Maker as persons who
had discharged those acknowledged obligations which
many even of the heathen acknowledge themselves
bound to fulfil ; unless, indeed, blinded by a false
philosophy, they could assume the unexampled arro-
gance of a Rousseau, and present their very vices
before the Almighty Judge, daring him, as it were, to
do his worst. But can we suppose that Rousseau
ever fulfilled his boast ^ Before his fellow-men he
might with impunity affect to believe that amidst all
his crimes, (to the amplitude of which the very pages
that record the boast bear sufficient witness,) he was
entitled to the approbation of his Maker : but if, at the
moment in which he arrived in the divine presence,
the excuses and palliations which lie has recorded in
his Confessions were all that he had to propose, how
unspeakably awful must have been his disappointment!
When w^e picture to ourselves scenes of this kind in
all their terrors, how great should be our gratitude for
that dispensation of mercy, by which pardon is reveal-
ed gratuitously to us, through the vicarious obedience
and death of the incarnate Son of God ! Even Rous-
seau, approaching, with penitence, humility, self-renun-
ciation, and faith, would not have been rejected by
Him who embraced with the extended arms of mercy
the repentant thief upon the cross.

Without, liowever, anticipating remarks of this na-
ture, which will occur in the future prosecution of the
argument, it is time to reply to an objeciion that may
be urged by very different classes of readers, namely,
that if natural religion enjoin so much as has been
described, Christianity is rendered unnecessary. This
conclusion, however, by no means follows from what
has been advanced ; for even though enlightened rea-
son should be admitted as teaching much, it is very
possible that it may not teach all that is essentially
necessary to be known ; and this will incontrovertibly
appear to be the case, when we consider the great

240 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

point in which natural religion, so called, with all its
supposed excellencies, avowedly falls short. But in
the mean time it should again be remembered, that
what has been adduced for the sake of argument, as
natural religion, may not in reality be such, though
admitted as true even by deists themselves. Most
devout Christians will attribute the whole to revelation ;
and even the deist must acknowledge that Christianity
has added much to improve the system ; for it is
observable, that the classical writers of Greece and
Rome speak very little of those more spiritual and
elevated virtues which are so constantly and fully
expatiated upon by almost every advocate for natural
religion who has written since the revelation of tlie gos-
pel, and which betray the source from which they were
derived. Upon every hypothesis, therefore, the gospel
is shown to be not only desirable, but absolutely neces-
sary, for the promulgation of the code of moral duty.

So far, indeed, from Christianity being superseded
by natural religion, the latter, were it sincerely follow-
ed up, would rather teach us the necessity of the for-
mer. IMany of the heathen philosophers wished for a
divine revelation ; and some ventured so far as confi-
dently to predict it. The acknowledged imperfections
of their own system led them to look for something
better. Even independently of that great point which
we shall show made a revelation absolutely necessary^
several others might be mentioned which seemed to
render it highly desirable.

Love to God, for example, has been urged as an
acknowledged duty of what is called natural religion;
but how can we properly love him with whom we are
unacquainted? Without a divine revelation, we cannot
be assured that we have not mistaken the character of
our Maker, and are in consequence worshipping an
unknown God. Again — love desires to become con-
versant with its object ; especially love to God, which,
being founded upon a knowledge of his attributes, of

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 241

those, at least, by which we feel ourselves most bene-
fited,— must be variously heightened and modified
according to the degrees of our spiritual information.
Lastly, love prompts to obedience, and therefore im-
plants a corresponding desire to be more and more
acquainted witli the will of the Almighty, without a
knowledge of which, our services, we might conclude,
would prove unacceptable in his sight. It is incredi-
ble therefore that a man should fully practise the du-
ties of natural religion, and not feel the need of rules
of conduct more certain and explicit than unenlighten-
ed reason can suggest.

Thus then to a person who was adequately impres-
sed with the obligations of the alleged " religion of
nature," and was anxious unreservedly to obey them,
a revelation would be highly desirablp.. Suppose
therefore that a system, such as Christianity professes
itself to be, should be presented to his notice as the
very object of wliich he had been in search. Surely
his attention will be excited. He will inmiediately
perceive, that, if Christianity be true, it will effectually
put an end to all his former uncertainties. At all
events, professing to come from that Being, whom, by
the liypothesis, he already loves and serves to the best
of his natural power, it cannot fail to meet with his
respectful and impartial attention. To oppose it Vvith-
out examination, might " haply be found fighting
against God." Exercising therefore all those disposi-
tions which we have supposed him to possess, he be-
gins fairly to examine into its evidences ; and no man
who has fairly examined into them himself can doubt
what would be the result of his meditations."^

* The evidences of Christianity, for which this mijjht seem (o be
thfe proper place in a reo;u!ar treatise upon Natural and Revealed
Religion, are purposely omitted ; not only because they are far better
illustrated in other works than it would be in the power of the writer
of these paoes to illustrate them, but because the present Essay was
intended to apply, not to deists, but to those who profess to believe
in the gospel, how inattentive soever they nxay be to its real spirit
and design.

21

242 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

Christianity being thus once fixed in his mind as a
divine revelation, would not his conduct, supposing
him to be endued with those ingenuous dispositions
which have been already imagined, begin immediately
to correspond with his improved conceptions ? Hav-
ing admitted the gospel as a creed, might we not fairly
expect him to show practically his veneration for its
doctrines, and his admission of its precepts ? Would
it not be his highest wish to be moulded into its spirit ;
that as he had served God to the utmost of his know-
ledge in his former state, so his new life might equally
correspond to the greater extent of his religious infor-
mation ?

Here then again we perceive, what has already
several times forced itself upon the attention, how com-
pletely every thoughtless professor of the true religion
is condemned by the mere light of natural conscience.
Reason teaches us that what comes from the Almighty
deserves the highest attention ; yet how many persons,
even in this enlightened country, — by no means ex-
cluding the more decent and moral circles of society,
— remain as indifferent to the sacred volume, as though
it had been long ago proved to be a forgery. Reason
again suggests that if the will of the Creator is known,
it should be implicitly followed ; yet of those who
already know it, or at least have the means of informa-
tion in their power, are not a large portion, are not
even the majority, as thoughtless upon the subject as
though they had been born amongst the most unenlight-
ened nations ? Pursuing the daily round of busy, or idle,
or of dissipated life, and heedless, not only of the pecu-
liarities of the gospel, but even of the first alleged prin-
ciples of natural religion, they sink into futurity with
scarcely any thing of the Christian except the name,
and consequently with as little rational hope of the re-
wards of the gospel as though they had never been
baptized.

True it is, that the preceding hypothesis, of a per-

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGIOX. 243

son in a state of nature thus fully acting up to what are
supposed, for the sake of argument, to be the principles
of uninspired religion, is wholly unsupported by expe-
rience and fact. But, for the purpose for which it was
adduced, it is fully sufficient ; namely, to show what
would necessarily be the conduct of such a person,
were sucli a person to be found ; and to infer from this
conclusion the folly and even falsehood of that common
plea, — " True, 1 have not attended much to the niceties
of religion, but I have lived, upon the whole, a decent
and reasonable life, and hope therefore to be saved at
last." Now, if the foregoing remarks be true, no man
in an enlightened Christian country, can be said to
have lived in a reasonable manner, who is not a prac-
tical Christian. Enlightened reason, we have seen,
would begin by teaching the knowledge of a God, and
the essentials of our duty towards him. This sense of
duty would excite to an examination of what professed
to be a divine revelation of his mind and will. Ex-
amination, if fairly conducted, would end in a full as-
surance of the truth of the gospel ; and a full assur-
ance of its truth would lead, upon the principles of
reason, to an acquiescence in its doctrines, and an
habitual desire to live according to its requisitions.
Surely then no person is truly rational in his conduct,
who, with the means of information within his reach,
has not become a Christian in the very tenor and dis-
position of his soul. The most unreasonable life that
can be conceived, is that of a person who professes to
believe in the religion of Christ, and yet lives as careless
of its true spirit and extent as though it were allowedly
untrue.

Thus have we seen that Christianity is far from be-
ing superseded by natural religion, even supposing that
revelation contained nothing more than a lucid display
of our duties and obligations to our Creator. But this
is very far from being the whole extent of the gospel.
Even admitting that natural religion were complete in

244 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

its requisitions and commands, there would still be a
fatal deficiency in the system ; for it is evident, that
in teaching us our duty it makes no provision in case
of failure. It proceeds upon the supposition that a mu-
tual contract exists between us and our Creator, and
that nothing has occurred to violate the terms of that
contract. It lays down its laws and specifies its sanc-
tions, but it fails to"^ point out in what way even an inad-
vertent offender may be pardoned.

We perceive then tliat the rehgion of nature regards
man as he ought to be, and as revelation informs us he
once was, rather than as he is at present found. The
prime law of our creation was full obedience to God : —
"This do, and thou slialt live." Such was tiie equita-
ble "covenant of works" under which we were cre-
ated ; and should this covenant be broken on the part
of man, human reason could invent no certain means
of reconciliation. Infinite justice must necessarily be
inflexible ; for if it was not repugnant to tlie attributes
of the Deity to attach punishment to transgression, it
cannot be so to inflict rigidly what he had equitably
threatened.

Let us then assume, (what shall be hereafter proved,)
that man has grossly violated the conditions of natural
religion. The displeasure of his Creator must be a
necessary consequence of that violation ; since it would
be absurd to suppose a law demanding obedience with-
out a penal sanction to insure its fulfilment. An in-
junction without a penalty would be futile. Even the
most mitigated and kind command of a tender parent
to an obedient child is tacitly enforced by the fear of
that parent's displeasure in case of disobedience. On
the assumption then of our having violated the primary
law and obligation of our existence, in what manner is
the penalty to he avoided, or the forfeited enjoyment
to be retained ? Here natural religion, taken in its
widest signification, and including all its boasted provi-
sions, begins to fail. It may condemn, but it cannot

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 245

pardon : it may t^^ach some of the immutable princi-
ples of ckity, but is not adequate to the case of a man
who has confessedly broken his allegiance, and has
thus become obnoxious to the divine displeasure.

It will of course be objected, that the religion of na-
ture suggests repentance as a compensation which the
Almighty is willing to accept in place of perfect obe-
dience. This assertion is in fact the very bulwark,
not only of Deism, but of Socinianism also, and of
every other heresy that has relation to the doctrine of
the atonement. Upon this point hinges the most im-
portant part of the controversy between the friends and
the enetnies of revelation ; for if it could be proved
that God is willing to accept penitence as an atone-
ment, and that this importaiit fact was discoverable by
human reason, the absolute necessity for a divine reve-
lation would be done away, and Christianity nmst in
consequence be content to stand on much lower ground
than at present ; and instead of proclaiming itself, as
it now does, the only system that is conmiensurate
with human wants, or WTjrth human acceptance, it
must be satisfied with that portion of credit which it
would still deserve as the best religion amongst various
others, all radically good.

We need not however entertain any anxiety for the
honor of the gospel as it stands affected by the subject
under consideration ; since it is impossible to prove,
either by reason or by revelation, that God is willing
to accept repentance as an atonement for sin. The
analogies are all on the other side. Human legisla-
tures, (and " how can we reason but from what we
know r") are not accustomed to forgive an offender,
especially one whose crimes are numerous and aggra-
vated, merely because he feels sorrow for the past,
and promises a more correct line of conduct in future.
Should it be replied, that human inquisition cannot de-
termine the degree of credit due to such professions,
and that therefore the two cases essentially differ ; it
21*

246 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

may be urged in reliirn, that admitting the delinquent
were sincere, yet, for the general welfare, and the
peace of others, an example must be made, lest the
impunity with which his offence was passed over
should produce evil effects on society at large. Now
may not some such analogy occur in the moral govern-
ment of our Creator ? May it not be necessary, for
ends infinitely wise and good, that past sin should be
punished, even where the offender is really desirous of
amendment in future ? It is not intended to be asserted
that such absolutely is the fact, but only that it possibly
may be so, and that consequently human reason cannot
unreservedly promise forgiveness on the ground of re-
pentance and amendment.

The widely-spread custom of sacrificing animals, in
order, as the worshippers suppose, to placate the
Deity, is still further proof that there is no natural and
necessary appearance of connexion between mere
repentance and forgiveness. For if natural reason
sanctioned the idea now inider consideration, whence
arose so remarkable a rite as that of vicarious sacri-
fice ? If, as the Christian believes, from early revela-
tions, or the record of those revelations in the IMosaic
scriptures, the question is decided at once in favor of
inspiration, and the doctrine therein contained of the
atonement ; but if from merely human invention, it
follows, that repentance alone did not appear to natu-
ral reason a sufficient atonement for sin, but that a
substituted sacrifice was conceived necessary to com-
plete the effect.

The light of nature, it is true, instructs men not to
violate the known commands of God ; and conscience,
illuminated by it, renders them uneasy upon the com-
mission of a crime. Hence, in a certain degree, natu-
ral feeling and reflection incite to repentance and reso-
lutions of amendment. But this is all. A dreadful
uncertainty would still exist. The past would remain
indelible. Judging by the natural fitness of things,

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 247

nothing could appear less probable than pardon ; for
rebellion against God is an immeasurable crime, and
cannot necessarily be atoned for by any subsequent
obedience, especially as that obedience is itself no
more than is required by the original law of our crea-
tion, and therefore cannot constitute a supererogated
stock of merit to set against other deficiencies. Be-
sides, the offence was perhaps repeated and aggrava-
ted : wiiat natural or reasonable plea therefore could
be devised to divert the award of punishment? In
vain was any law given, if its stipulation might be
infringed with impunity. If penitence were all the
atonement which a violated law required, who would
not repent rather than be punished ; especially as he
might deliberately offend again as soon as a new temp-
tation occurred, and again wash off his guilt by a re-
newed repentance ; thus rendering all law and threat-
ening of no avail ?

Repentance is indeed most reasonable, and it is also
the first step towards a return to duty. But the ut-
most that natural religion can attribute to it is the
probable deprecation of future punishment by the en-
deavor to avoid future delinquency. Not to have re-
pented would have been an additional and positive
crime ; repentance therefore appears to natural reason
so far, but so far only, an atoning virtue.

Had repentance been really suggested by natural
reason as an atonement for sin, we might have fairly
expected that its measure and extent should have been
defined. But is this the case ? Are there two indi-
viduals in the world whose natural perceptions on this
subject are precisely the same ? Upon the principles
of commutation, who shall decide how many years of
repentance are required for so many years of vice ?
What depth must our repentance acquire before we
have reason to hope that it has atoned for a given of-
fence f How often may we violate God's law, and
yet continue to expurgate ourselves by penitential

248 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

tears ? What is the exact proportion between the re-
pentance that ought to be felt by different classes of
transgressors ? Can a person who has offended against
his natural conscience for a given number of years be
pardoned at last ? Where, in short, is the exact point
at which hope ends and despair begins?

Psovv, if natural reason cannot decide these and simi-
lar questions of conscience, we may conclude that it did
not suggest the original idea from which they arise ; for
to have given the rule without pointing out its method of
application would be to little purpose. l( natiu'al re-
ligion indicate that repentance is allowable as a compen-
sation for vice, it ought to teach also how we may judge
of its proportions ; otherwise a scrupulous mind may
torment itself beyond the necessity of the case, while
the more sanguine offender, in attempting to atone for
his faults, may so miscalculate the time or degree of pen-
itence which is an adequate commutation, as to deceive
himself, and thus fail of obtaining his object at last.

The idea of repentance being accepted as an atone-
ment seems to arise from a consciousness that we have
nothing better to bestow, combined with the hope that
if we give all that we possess, a merciful God will not
look for more. But does not this expectation, while it
seems to magnify the clemency of God, essentially de-
rogate from his justice.^ The attributes of Deity are
necessarily in unison : it is only from our imperfect
conception of them that they are made apparently to
clash with each other. Whatever justice demands, in-
finite love and pity will equally approve. Ignorant
mortals may not be able to blend those seemingly adverse
attributes into one harmonious whole, but that there is
such a union of them in the divine nature we cannot
doubt. To apply the idea of "amiable weakness" to our
Maker, is immeasurably absurd. If we arc to suppose
that there is an attribute in God so similar to the humant
feeling of unchastised pity as to be at eternal war with
the execution of his just denunciations, we introduce

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 249

such a scliism into the Divinity as must subvert the
whole system of his moral government and regulations.

Against this doctrine of repentance being a natural
atonement for sin, it is no trivial objection, that the
most virtuous and sagacious heathens did not make the
discovery. Socrates himself, the very high-priest of
deism, candidly allowed that lie could perceive no way
in which the Deity might consistently forgive human
transgressions. He felt that there was a radical de-
fect in the religion of nature, and, in consequence,
doubted not but that the x\lmighty would at length con-
descend to reveal, by some divinely-taught instructer,
that most interesting of mysteries, how he will see fit
to pardon sin. This hope — it might almost be de-
nominated tliis prophecy — of Socrates, has been real-
ized by the Christian dispensation. How absurd then
is it to build our expectations for futurity upon a system
which appeared fimdamentally defective in the eyes of
its greatest advocates, and which is now confessedly
superseded by the brighter discoveries of revelation !

By persons who know nothing of the general com-
plexion of the religion which they profess, except what
may have been carelessly derived from a few current and
ill-understood phrases, such as " making our peace with
God," and atoning for our sins by sincere repentance,
it may be objected that the preceding remarks, if they
prove any thing, prove far too much, and that they affect
the gospel as much as they do the religion of nature.

This objection, however, proceeds on a radical mis-
conception of the whole genius of Christianity. Re-
vealed religion by no means recognizes the doctrine of
repentance atoning for sin : nay, it is grounded upon
the fundamental principle that nothing human could
make atonement. It presupposes that man was wholly
unable to render compensation, or any thing that might
be accepted as such. " Repentance for the remission
of sins" is indeed an important and conspicuous doc-
trine of Christianity ; but we are further taught, not that

250 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

our repentance, but that the merit of our Redeemer,
constitutes the procuring cause of that remission. Re-
pentance is a means, or medium, or instrument ; but
must not assume a lilgher name.

If, in point of fact, penitence, or austerities, or alms-
giving, could cover iniquity or propitiate the divine jus-
tice, it follows that " Christ died in vain." The pri-
mary doctrine, therefore, of revelation is — not that of-
fending man can atone for himself, but that a full atone-
ment is gratuitously provided through the voluntary
obedience and death of the incarnate Redeemer.

When, however, persons familiarly speak of making
their peace with God, it is too often apparent that they
have no distinct or adequate conception of the only
propitiation that has been, or will be accepted by the
Almighty Judge. The ordinary phrases which are
used on such occasions, are very far from conveying
the idea — an idea which ought never to be forgotten —
that it is solely by " being justified by faith" that we
have ^^ peace with God,'''' and that "without the shedding
of blood there is no remission." Again — it is not un-
common, when an individual is involved in great dis-
tress by his vices, to hear it said in extenuation, " I
trust the Almighty will accept his sufferings as some
atonement for his sins." Familiar expressions like
these oftentimes indicates the general complexion of
the speaker's religious sentiments ; and if so, it follows
as an undeniable fact, that the great characteristic and
fundamental tenet of revelation has no place — no place,
at least, adequate to its real importance — in the creed
of a large class of modern Christians.*

* It is not intended to pjround a serious charp;e on a mere inadver-
tence of expression ; especially as in a subordinate sense such phra-
ses as that of " tnakinji; our peace with God," may be used without
nteanino; any thino^ contrary to sound doctrine. But, in general,
where an expression, as is the case with the present, is more likely
to excite deficient, if not positively erroneous ideas, than to suggest
the correct and appropriate scripture doctrine on the subject, it sure-
ly would bo |)rcfcral)le to convey our meaning in terms more specific
and less liable to mislead the mind of the hearer.

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 251

Revelation has admirably guarded the doctrine of
repentance from the abuses of which at first sight it
might appear susceptible. It was expedient, on the
one hand, that every facility should be afforded to the
returning penitent, without, on the other, the smallest
encouragement being given to a continuance in sin.
Natural reason could not have performed this impor-
tant problem. Its requisitions must have been either
too relaxed or too confined. Had those periods and
circumstances been pointed out in wdiich the transgres-
sor should " fill up the measure of his iniquities," one
man might have despaired, as being beyond the reach
of mercy, while another was hardened in his crimes,
as not having reached the statutable allowance.

The Almighty, therefore, on the one hand, command-
ed repentance to be preached to every man. Even
the penitence of a death-bed was not rejected. But,
on the other, in order that no person might steel his
heart and procrastinate his repentance, the solemn
warning was repeatedly added, that " whoso being oft-
en reproved, hardeneth liis neck, shall suddenly perish,
and tiiat williout a remefly." This threatening we find
often exemplified ; for nothing is more usual than for
persons who have long revelled in vice, deferring their
repentance to a more convenient opportunity, to be
swept away without notice, or to be deprived on their
death-bed of that intellect which they had abused
while in health and strength. The Almighty, it should
ever be remembered, is as much the author of true
repentance as of faith ; and therefore if we continue
to refuse what he is mercifully })leased to promise to
work in us, we cannot be surprised if at length we find
that the power to repent is not vouchsafed, and that
the heart is in consequence given up to its own hard-
ness and machinations. The motives to immediate
repentance are as strong as possible, so that no en-
couragement is aflbrded by Christianity to a systematic
continuance in sin.

252 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

Neither, again, on the Christian scheme, can repent-
ance be misapplied to ilie office of liquidating one
debt in order that we may contract another ; for the
very word repentance^ as used in the New Testament,
indicates a change of disposition which renders sin as
much an object of abliorrence in itself as of terror in
its consequences. No man is considered as " truly
repenting of his former sins," who does not, by God's
grace, " steadfastly purpose to lead a new life." The
two things are permanently and inseparably connect-
ed ; and the absence of the latter would prove, that
the former was not the genuine repentance intended to
be described in the holy scriptiu'es.

It appears, then, that on the assum})tion of our having
violated the law even of what is called natural religion,
human reason sug2;ests no certain method of obtaining
forgiveness. Natural religion was a safe code for in-
nocent, but not for gnilty man. When our 6rst pa-
rents were created, it is quite reasonable to suppose
that their Maker imprinted upon their hearts the duties
and promises of what we denominate natural theology.
The peculiarities of the Christian revelation, which are
founded expressly on the supposition of sin having en-
tered into tlie world, would then have been superfluous.
Even the boasted fitness of things teaches, that man,
as proceeding from the hands of his all-perfect Crea-
tor, must have been wholly ivee from the taint of moral
evil. Elevated in the sublimity of divinely-imparted
wisdom to believe in the Deity, he would doubtless in-
fer, by simple arguments, what appeared worthy of God
and of himself. His piety would be almost intuition.
Every object in nature would raise his mind to the
knowledge and adoration of the Creator. His will
and affections being rightly affected as well as his un-
derstanding, he would in every thing act worthy of liis
high destinies ; and every duty being adequately ful-
filled, no need would be felt of a revelation of pity or
forgiveness.

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 253

Such, the Christian believes, man originally was ;
and natural religion is necessjirily founded on the same
supposition, tliat he still remains much tl)e same. It
admits, therefore, what is undoubtedly true, that there
exists a beneficent God, who delights in making his in-
nocent creature a partaker of his own felicity ; but
should it be proved that mankind is no longer innocent,
it is unable to suggest a suitable remedy.

The deg7'e€s of guilt, whether great or small, make
no radical difference in the present question. If the
obligations of known duty have been violated but in the
smallest measure, guilt unavoidably arises ; and repent-
ance, we have already seen, has no necessary conriex-
ion (setting revelation aside) with forgiveness and recon-
ciliation. There is, therefore, no rational medium in
natural religion between certainty and despair ; for if
we are conscious of unspotted innocence, our reward
is certain ; and if conscious of sin, our punishment is
equally sure. To a being pure and perfect as man once
was, such a religion must have been an inestimable bles-
sing; but to man in his present state, and on the assump-
tion of sin having entered the world, it must inevitably
prove the destruction of all well-founded hope.

From every consideration, then, it results that the
doctrine of the atonement is the characteristic of Chris-
tianity. The gospel recognizes a new and most im-
portant principle, and treats with man as he actually
exists at the present moment. It is a religion for fallen
and guilty, but penitent creatures, returning to their
forsaken allegiance. We have seen that in natural re-
Jigion God appears simply as a supreme lawgiver, wil-
ling to confer beatitude upon an obedient and unspotted
creature ; but in the economy of the gospel he repre-
sents himself as a reconciled Father, delighting in mer-
cy and forgiveness. In both dispensations, the condi-
tion was perfect and unerring obedience ; and the spe-
cific character of Christianity is not that the claim to
this obedience is set aside, or that a remedial law is
22

254 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

substituted, but that the law was magnified and made
honorable by the obedience of the Son of God himself,
who consented to become a piacular victim for human
transgression.

Thus the problem of Socrates is divinely solved. —
Every human contrivance must necessarily have intro-
duced intestine war among the attributes of God. Ei-
ther justice or mercy must have been sacri6ced ; for
no means could have been invented by which, as in
the gospel, " mercy and truth should meet together ;
righteousness and peace should kiss each other." But
an atonement has been accepted through the medium
of which, in the language of the apostle, the Almighty is
*' fl6/e" as well as willing, " to save to the uttermost,"
all that come to him — able, not in point of mere power,
(for who can doubt this ability ?) but in complete ac-
cordance with all his divine attributes and perfections.

It is not necessary to prove that such a transaction
was absolutely requisite on the part of God, with a
view to human salvation. It is enough for us, that
being once revealed, it is evidently congruous to our
reason and our highest conceptions of the Divine
nature, which might seem, perhaps, to require that in
forgiving the offences of mankind, a full exhibition
should be made of the abhorrence of the Almighty to
moral evil. Whether God could, in full consistency
with all his attributes, have acted otherwise, is not for
us to inquire : we are at least certain, that the mode
actually chosen was eminently fitted for a display of
those attributes, and was capable of producing many
excellent effects of a moral kind upon those for whose
benefit it was immediately intended, as well, possibly,
as on other intelligences of a higher order, with whom
we are at present unacquainted.

The knowledge of a Deity, the idea of futurity, and
many moral duties, both to our neighbor and our God,
were partly known before the revelation of the gospel ;
so that although Christianity has cast such heavenly

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 255

light on these and various other important subjects as
would render a serious comparison between our holy
religion and any other system professing to be divine
as unreasonable as it is unchristian, yet a peculiar, an
exclusive attribute by which the gospel is distinguished,
is the fact, that " God was in Chjist reconciling the
world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto
them." This is a doctrine which natural reason does
not so much as profess to have discovered. " I am
persuaded," exclaims an admirable writer already
quoted,* " that for God to reconcile his inflexible
justice, his exuberant mercy, and all those other attri-
butes that seemed to clash inevitably about the design-
ed salvation of man, and make them co-operate to it,
is a stupendous manifestation of wisdom ; there being
no proposition in Diophanies or Apollonlus^ in algebra
or in geometry, near so difficult to be solved, or that
requires a greater number of proportions and congrui-
ties to be at once attended to, and made subservient
to the same end, as that great problem propounded
by God's infinite goodness to his divine wisdom, — the
redemption of lost and perverse mankind upon the
terms declared in the gospel ; which are admirably
fitted to promote, at once, God's glory and man's
fehcity."

Is it not then surprising, that many professed Chris-
tians, who cannot, we might suppose, be ignorant of
the circumstances w^hich made a divine revelation of
gratuitous pardon necessary, should yet, in point of
fact, constantly recur to the provisions of merely natu-
ral religion ? Human merit has but too conspicuous
a place in the system of innumerable religionists, and,
unhappily, the habit of depending upon it is oftentimes
in an inverse proportion to the probability of its exist-

* The Hon. Robert Boyle. — The author is glad to avail himself of
such a passage, though perhaps even already, in his anxiety to point
out the atonement as the very characteristic of the gospel, he has
repeated the same idea more frequently than was necessary.

256 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

ence. The best men are, in religion, as in other
thins;s, the most liumble ; wliile those whose lives are
the most inconsistent with the principles and spirit of
the gospel, are often tiie very first persons to arrogate
merit to themselves for their alleged observances,
and, consequently, the last to feel the value of a dis-
pensation of free unmerited forgiveness.

Let, however, a person thus disposed seriously in-
quire, even setting Christianity aside, whether he has
lived up even to the spirit of his own defective system.
Have not the duties of natural religion, as acknowledged
by deists themselves, been far more than he has
been/iccustomed to perform ? One chief reason why
men do not feel much wish to become interested in
Christianity, in the fullest extent of the term, is, that
they habitually keep out of sight the important fact of
their personal guilt, and their consequent incapacity
for receiving any blessing from an irreversible cove-
nant which they have constantly infringed. For, can
any person compare himself, even in his best moments,
with the just standard of what he ought to be, and of
what man actually was as he came from the hands of
his Creator, without perceiving an awful contrast ?
He may not, perhaps, be the slave of vicious appetites
or ungovernable passions; his conduct may, upon the
whole, have been decorous and correct ; but has he,
in the genuine spirit of what he allows to be natural
religion, gone to the full extent of loving his God su-
premely, and his neighbor as himself f When he
reflects that the great end for which the infinitely wise
and potent Sovereign of the universe bestowed upon
him those exalted endowments which distinguish him
from the inferior orders of the creation, was, that he
might devoutly contemphue and adore the eternal
Source of goodness and perfection ; — that he might
regard the works of nature as constant mementos of a
Divinity whom he was bound to love and worship with
all his heart ; — that in every event of providence he

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 257

might be reminded of his duty to the Almighty Dispo-
ser of men ; — that in discharging this duty he might
uniformly act, without prejudice or imperfection, in
the way most pleasing to the Almighty ; — that he might
be supremely anxious to learn the divine will and to
perform the divine commands ; — that he might place
the perfection of his nature in his Creator's approba-
tion ; — that he might seek his happiness in fully con-
forming to the law under which he was created — a law
which required constant love, and grjititude, and prayer,
and praise to God, and to men the utmost ardors of
universal charity — a law which enjoined purity and
disinterestedness, justice and resignation ; in short, the
complete abstinence from every vice, and the unceas-
ing cultivation of every virtue, with an entire conquest
over every frailty, and the constant aspiration after
every perfection : — when a reasonable being seriously
reflects that such were the ends for which his intellec-
tual faculties were expressly bestowed, and feels con-
scious on the other hand that those faculties have been
employed in a very different manner ; — that his time,
his talents, his attainments, have been devoted to the
world ; — that God has not been in all his thoughts ; —
that the love of admiration, of pleasure, of riches,
of honors, or other objects far beneath the high ends
for which man was designed, have been suffered to
rival his Creator in his affections ; — that the delight-
ful communion with the Supreme Being in prayer and
meditation, and praise, which natural religion suggests
in common with revealed, has been greatly neglected,
or at best but remissly followed ; — and that even when
his conduct has not been overtly sinful, it has been
virtually so by a decided and systematic preference
for those things which ought to be but secondary and
subordinate in human esteem : — when a person thus
candidly examines his heart and conduct by the ac-
knowledged and immutable laws of his creation, he
cannot surely but confess that he is an offender against
22*

258 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

God, and is justly obnoxious to the divine displeasure.
It then becomes no uninteresting information, that
Christianity is a system of gratuitous mercy, rising
infinitely beyond the provisions of natural religion, in
the substitution of an atonement and the appointment
of an Intercessor.

It appears then that the plea of our sins not having
been multiplied or great, — even were such a plea valid
in itself, — is one which we could not possibly urge.
Setting aside individual offences, is it no fault to have
lived habitually inattentive to the supreme ends of our
being f By nature, as our nature has become by the
fall, our general system, and pursuits, and predilections
are fundamentally wrong ; and our very insensibility
to our moral condition proves at once the blindness of
our understanding and the hardness of our hearts.
Were we duly to practise self-examination, which is
an obligation essential in Christianity, and perfectly
consistent with the regulations of natural religion, we^
could not fail to perceive the great necessity that ex-
ists for a covenant of free and unmerited grace.

The preceding course of argument has been ground-
ed on the supposition that a large class of professed
Christians are in reality, though perhaps unconsciously,
trusting to the mere principles of natural religion, and
not to the method of salvation revealed exclusively in
the gospel, for their pardon and acceptance with God.
That this supposition, however grievous, is not un-
founded, is too evidently true ; for every hope of eter-
nal happiness that is not immediately derived from the
merits and sufferings of the Redeemer, is undeniably
a recurrence to the natural covenant of works. Yet
how common is it to hear an amiable deportment, a
benevolent heart, or any other moral grace that hap-
pens to be most conspioioiis in a given character,
spoken of as a sort of tacit claim to the kingdom of
lieaven. If the life of an individual have been free
from the grosser violations of rectitude, the majority of

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 259

nominal Christians immediately infer the safety of his
eternal state, without any distinct or immediate refer-
ence to that free redemption which is exhibited in the
gospel as the only refuge for fallen man.

Aniongst those, however, who do not ivholly merge
Christianity in the religion of nature, it is not unusual
to perceive an attempt to blend the two discordant sys-
tems. The professors of this unscriptural coalition re-
ly partly upon their own merits, and partly upon those
of the Redeemer — in direct opposition to the constant
warnings of the apostle respecting the fruitless attempt
to unite the law of nature and the law of grace, for the
purposes of human justification.

The origin of this too common doctrine may be ea-
sily traced. There is a large class of persons, who
have no wish to yield themselves wholly to the self-
denying conditions of the religion of Jesus Christ, and
yet are unwilling to lose the blessings connected with
these conditions. They contrive therefore to reject
almost the whole of Christianity except its promises,
while they live a life which even many deisiical advo-
cates for natural religion vv^ould condemn. Where hu-
man reason is less explicit in suggesting a duty than
the volume of revelation, they affect to believe that
they cannot greatly err under the guidance of the for-
mer ; but wliere a blessing or an immunity is in ques-
tion, they zealously profess their attachment for the
latter. They resemble a servant who should attempt
to stipulate to receive his remuneration from one mas-
ter, while he employed his whole time and abilities in
the service of another. On earth they often act like
unbelievers, yet they confidently hope to arrive at the
heaven a])pointed solely for the genuine disciples of
the Redeemer.

Even those who do not thus systematically amalga-
mate natural religion with revealed, often adopt the
same fallacious system, from culpable ignorance and
inattention. Yet what can be more plain than the dis-

260 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

tinction between these two economies ? God has given
two covenants to man ; that of nature, and that of rev-
elation ; that of works, and that of grace. The re-
wards of each are eternal happiness : the penalties of
each eternal misery. The covenant of works we have
broken, and even our best obedience is infinitely im-
perfect, so that by it our doom is sealed without any
reasonable hopes of deliverance. The covenant of
grace, on the contrary, has provided a Mediator, an
Advocate, a Surety ; and thus its blessings are perma-
nently secured, if only we become interested in its
stipulations. How great then must be the depravity of
our understanding as well as of our will, if we should
fail to make a right choice, when life and death are
thus plainly set before us.

Men would be more anxious than they are to seek
the blessings of the gospel, if they had not a sinful
aversion to its commands. Penitence, self-renuncia-
tion, and dependence for salvation wholly on the vica-
rious merits of a Redeemer, are to the natural heart
humiliating duties. A life of holiness also appears to
an unrenewed mind to be but another name for a life
of mortification and misery. It was, however, a most
wise provision for the interest of human morals, that
none can be a true disciple of Christ, whose heart has
not been filled with penitential sorrow for sin. What-
ever may be the imaginations of the enemies of religion,
no genuine Christian ever derived from the freedom of
the blessings of the gospel that unworthy inference,
" let us sin, that grace may abound."

The precise ends for which the Christian revelation
was added to the light of nature, can be ascertained
only in the sacred writings. Saint Paul has most con-
cisely, but beautifully, unfolded them in his admirable
speech to king Agrippa. Having described his " man-
ner of life from his youth," and his zeal for the extir-
pation of the rising church of Christ, he proceeds to
narrate his miraculous conversion, and the words in

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 261

which the glorified Messiah addressed him on that
memorable occasion. After a promise of support and
protection amidst tlie dangers which he must unavoid-
ably encounter in his mission to tiie Gentiles, his
heavenly Instructer proceeded to explain to him the
specific objects which the gospel was intended to em-
brace. The apostle was about to preach Christianity
in countries, many of which were already enlightened
by great learning and civilization, in vvhicli tlie boasted
reason of man was almost deified and adored. He
was not therefore suffered to make his appearance
among those proud philosophical inquirers without be-
ing provided with a complete answer to the question,
" Wherefore art thou come ?" Fully satisfied with
the dim light of nature, the inhabitants of Greece and
Rome would expect a very explicit detail of his in-
tentions in proclaiming a divine revelation. He was
therefore expressly taught the exact objects of his
mission ; namely, " to open their eyes, and to turn
them from darkness unto light, and from the power of
Satan unto God, that they might receive the forgive-
ness of sins, and inheritance among them which are
sanctified by faith that is in Christ Jesus.'*''

Such then are the defined objects of revelation. —
Concise as is the specification, it contains an admira-
ble epitome of the whole of the New Testament, as
indeed it could not fail to do, when we consider that
it came from its divine Author, who must necessarily
be w^ell acquainted with the intention of his own sys-
tem. In carefully following such a clue, we can scarce-
ly wander ; and perhaps a few pages cannot be em-
ployed more usefully or appropriately than in an en-
deavor to unfold the full import and extent of these
concise expressions.

The preliminary design, then, of the gospel is, to
open men^s eyes. The inspired writers uniformly n'"^
ceed upon the supposition that the hump" ouaerstand-
Jno- Jc riori^onoM Kv cin. ]\Jan wlth all b''"' vaunted

262 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

dignity, is evidently but a ruin. A few venerable
fragments of a once stately edifice are all that now re-
main. The will, the judgment, the affections, have
lost their original aptitudes and proportions ; so that
the whole moral structure needs to be rebuilt, before
it can again become what it was intended to be, a
temple for the Almighty Sovereign of the universe.

For the sake of argument it has been conceded,
that some of the fundamental principles of religion
might possibly have been discovered by the legitimate
use of the natural understanding; and Saint Paul him-
self on this very ground attests, that the Gentiles were
without excuse in their idolatries and vices. Yet so
great is the usual inattention of men to the subject of
religion, that none but a few philosoj)hical individuals
of Greece and Rome seemed to think that they had
any interest in theological inquiries. Grovelling in the
affairs of the world, the great body of mankind could
never, of their own accord, reflect upon their spiritual
interests. There was therefore an obvious necessity
for persons to be delegated, like Saint Paul, by the
Almighty himself, to counteract this natural indifference
by inculcating the essential principles of knowledge
and of duty.

Inattention was not, however, the only cause of that
moral blindness which Christianity was intended to
remove. Voluntary prejudice and false philosophy
greatly corrupted the understanding of even the more
intelligent heathens, and there is therefore little cause
to wonder at the fact that persons of the lower classes
of intellect were entirely depraved. A man who
should have completely discovered all those truths
which modern deists affect to consider as included in
natural religion, and who should have attempted to
exemplify their efficacy in his life, must have been
•^"'nstrained to break through most of the prejudices and
maxims of hh country and his education. It may
thereloi-. be inferred what a powerful effect such preiu-

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 263

dices and maxims must have habitually exerted in
darkening the mind of heathen communities. Even
those persons who had succeeded in conquering their
natural listlessness and repugnance to moral and theo-
logical discussion, were still in great danger of being
seduced into error by the force of established and un-
suspected habits and opinions. If to this we add the
constant prevalence of vicious propensities which cloud
the reason, and produce a moral inability to serious
investigation, remembering also that men thus inclined
to vice would (eel an interest in preferring voluntary
darkness to the knowledge of those truths which could
serve only to alarm their conscience and render them
uneasy in their irreligious course, we cannot wonder
that there should have existed an imperative necessity
for that merciful office which the apostle was commis-
sioned to perform.

We may appeal to facts. Were not even the
Greeks and Romans wholly ignorant respecting what
deists themselves consider to be some essential points
of religion ? Did not many of their greatest philoso-
phers quit the simplicity even of natural reason, and
involve themselves in the greatest absurdities of error .^
It is to little purpose to infer that they might have
been better informed by a due exertion of tlieir pow-
ers, if, as appears in their writings, they were not so
in point of fact ; for, in either case, it was equally
necessary to "open their eyes" in reference to the
important subjects respecting which they were either
ignorant or inattentive.

Not, however, to strain the argument to its fullest
extent, let it be conceded that some few moralists
and philosophers had obtained considerable informa-
tion concerning the nature of God, and the consequent
duties of man ; yet do we find that the light which
had been thus partially enkindled in the schools had
extended, or was likely to extend, its rays to the ma-
jority of the people.^ Far from it; — universal igno-

264 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

ranee and irreligion were not to be conquered by the
feeble arm of a few philosophical individuals.

Retrace in imagination the long succession of ages
antecedent to the Christian era, and enumerate as they
pass in review the most enlightened moralists who ap-
pear to have existed in die course of every thousand
years. Or, to abbreviate this labor, select Greece
and Rome as favorable specimens, and confine the
research to these alone. How mortifying to human
intellect the gloomy retrospect ! Take away from
Greece her Socrates, her Plato, and her Aristotle }
and from Rome her Cicero, her imported Epictetus,
her Antoninus, her Seneca, and a few others, and try,
if possible, to supply the defect from the remaining
hosts of philosophers. How vain the attempt ! A
few remarkable men, who were not specimens but
exceptions, cannot disprove the necessity that exist-
ed for the illuminating rays of the gospel even in a
moral point of view. In general, the very schools of
philosophy were darkened both by ignorance and vice,
and with regard to the body of the people, the great-
est moralists gave them over in despair.

To affirm that the knowledge and virtuous princi-
ples which were inculcated by the above-mentioned
individuals, and a few others who imbibed their spirit,
produced any visible effects on the mass of their con-
temporaries or successors, would be a flagrant exag-
geration. In contempt of philosophical remonstrance,
we find that idolatry, and its attendant immoralities,
remained almost universal. Even the teachers them-
selves often yielded to the absurd practices of their
disciples ; whilst the latter, contented with the superi-
ority of being initiated into a few moral speculations
which distinguished them from their unthinking neigh-
bors, were wholly inattentive to the practical effects
which ought to have followed from their admitted prin-
ciples. Vain glory and the love of disputation were

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 265

almost the only results that attended upon their boasted
acquaintance with natural religion.

Considerable, however, as might be the moral infor-
mation whicli certain philosophers had found means to
obtain, it was far from being either so pure or so com-
plete as to preclude the necessity for a divine revela-
tion. Even admitting, what cannot be proved, that
their system was both beneficial and self-derived, still
their most lucid speculations, when compared with the
light of Christianity, were but " darkness visible." A
mere rustic, who has been taught the elements of the
Christian catechism, is infinitely better informed in
religion than Socrates himself. The most virtuous
heathens deplored their own ignorance, and were
anxious for divine communications of light and infor-
mation. Even natural religion, as recognized by deists
who have written since the establishment of Chris-
tianity, admits several doctrines and inculcates various
precepts with which the most illustrious heathens were
unacquainted. The more minutely, therefore, the
gospel is examined, the more will its necessity be dis-
covered, and its excellence be appreciated. In it the
scattered hints of natural religion are collected and
enlarged ; what was partly known is rendered more
clear, and what was doubtful or confused is lucidly
displayed.

But the paramount glory of Christianity is not that
it improves, but that it reveals ; not that it exhibits
important incidental communications, but that its whole
nature and design are important. It has been already
seen that the most essential point, and that which
chiefly required a divine revelation, was the discovery
of a method in which the Almighty would see fit to
pardon sin. This fimdamental circumstance coidd
not in the nature of things be discovered by unassisted
reason ; for God only could know how God would
act. The apostle was therefore sent to the Gentiles
to " open their eves" upon this most important sub-
"^23

2C6 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

ject, and to show them that " as in Adam all died,
so ill Christ should all be made alive." He preached
the doctrine of pardon and reconciliation by the death
and merits of the incarnate Redeemer ; — a method of
salvation which, as we have already seen, human rea-
son could never have discovered, but which, being
once revealed, appears evidently congruous to (he
nature both of God and man.

But the doctrine of the Atonement was not an in-
sulated topic. It was necessary that men should be
tauglit those facts which made an atonement requisite,
and that they should ascertain more of themselves and
of their Creator than the mere light of nature could
unfold. Revelation therefore includes an extended
range of topics, all of which are however more or less
remotely applicable to that supremely interesting sub-
ject, the pardon of sin and the ultimate happiness of
the human race.

To this end, the chief points upon which the apostle
was commissioned to "open the eyes of the Gentiles"
were the true nature of God, and several im])ortant
facts relating to mankind.

To begin with the being and attributes of God, the
information conveyed by Christianity, as distinct from
what is called natural religion, is unspeakably impor-
tant. The heathens possessed, at best, but a few
indistinct notices of the Divinity. Their perceptions
were neither vivid nor correct. The unity of the di-
vine nature, though allowedly capable of being deduced
from the })rincij)les of right reason, was scarcely ad-
mitted by their greatest philosophers ; most, if not all,
of whom habitually spoke of the Deity in the plural
number, and thus sanctioned by their example the
gross absurdities of polytheism.

If, as we all allow, there is a God, must he not be
justly offended at being made but one amongst vari-
ous objects of adoration ^ Can we conceive of any
error more derogatory to the great Author of all things,

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 267

than that polytheistical system which prevailed amongst
the nations of classical antiquity, and which contradict-
ed, what Deists themselves allow to be a funda mental
principle of human reason, that there could not have
been two independent First Causes ? The whole sys-
tem of nature and providence evidently possesses far
more symmetry and consistence than could have result-
ed from the operation of two or more distinct and
independent Intelligences.

But even supi)osing that the heathen world had fully-
acknowledged the unity of God, and therefore needed
no further illumination upon this part of the subject,
yet the doctrine of a triune subsistence in the divine
nature, was what no natural intellect could ever have
discovered. But revelation being admitted as true,
(and it has been before observed that it is not the ob-
ject of these pages to prove it, but to argue upon its
admission,) it appears that the knowledge of this doc-
trine was of essential importance. If, as orthodox
Christians believe, the method of pardoning sin which
God saw fit to propose was founded upon this very
fact, how could natural religion be esteemed a suffi-
cient guide, seeing it could never have suggested so
mysterious though important a truth .? The doctrine
of the Trinity was no vague dogma, no inoperative
speculation. It was a tenet without a knowledge of
which the question of Socrates could never have been
answered. We could not indeed liave established the
point in question a priori^ but, admitting Christianity
to be a revelation from God, it becomes indisputable ;
for is not the whole gospel a scheme of pardon founded
upon the fact that there is a triune personality in the
Godhead, to which the offices of Creator, Redeemer,
and Sanctifier were attached ? and if such be the fact,
how could men be taught the mode of reconciliation to
God, without having their eyes previously opened to
that mysterious peculiarity of his nature upon which he
thought fit to ground the revealed mode of ])acification ?

268 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

The importance of the doctrine of the Trinity is,
perhaps, sometimes overlooked by professed Chris-
tians, owing to the associations of thought which are
often connected with it. The very term which has
been introduced to express this divine relation, being
an extra-scriptural word, involuntarily calls to our
minds the pages of human controversy, rather than the
hallowed and practical instructions of scripture truth.
^Jany persons, perhaps, have scarcely heard of the
doctrine but in a polemical way. The pulpit dis-
courses, for example, which are delivered at that great
festival which is most peculiarly set apart for our medi-
tation upon the holy and undivided Trinity in Unity,
are sometimes such as would be considered inappro-
priate to any other occasion ; being so critical and
controversial that no lesson for practice can be derived
from them, except, indeed, the important one of reve-
rence and awe at the contemplation of the mysteries of
the Godhead. A person, therefore, whose views of
this doctrine have been formed solely by such occa-
sional discourses, cannot enter into its real importance
and practical effects. He will feel as if he could
almost do without this doctrine in his religious system,
considering it rather as an insulated topic, and appro-
priate chiefly to particular occasions, than as the legiti-
mate and necessary foundation for every Christian ar-
gument and discourse.

When therefore it is contended that the doctrine of
the Trinity in Unity was the first great point upon
which the apostles were commissioned to open the
eyes of the Gentiles, it is far from being intended that
they formally discussed the subject in the terms of hu-
man art, or spoke with the minuteness of those creeds
which the heresies of succeeding times rendered neces-
sary. It will scarcely be supposed that Saint Paul
ever preached what would be strictly called a Trinity
Sunday sermon.

The plain fact is, that the doctrine under discussion

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 269

is not merely an awful mystery, but a subject of essen-
tial practical utility, and without wbich no other doc-
trine of revelation can be satisfactorily explained. We
are baptized " in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost," not merely for the sake
of confessing ourselves to be Trinitarians, but that we
may become practically acquainted with the actual
blessings which flow from a spiritual union with the
three Divine Persons. Every sermon therefore ought
to be constructed on the principle of God being the
Father, the Divine Son the Redeemer, and the Holy
Spirit the Comforter, of the sincere believer. It was
in this method that the doctrine of the Trinity was
taught by the apostles. Had Saint Paul entered the
philosophical assemblies of Greece, and disputed on
the triune nature of the Deity in the mere language of
barren metaphysics, he would probably have excited
great admiration by his learning, and perhaps have
founded a school of disciples ; but in so doing he
would have misapplied his knowledge to a very mea-
gre and unsatisfactory purpose.

But Saint Paul was far from acting thus : he
preached the doctrine not systematically but practical-
ly ; not as what was to be speculatively discussed as a
mere abstract fact, but as what was necessary for an
infinitely important end. This end was the salvation
of the human race. The greatest of all problems
was to be solved, and it w^as incidental to its solution
that the triune existence of the one Jehovah should be
known and believed. The apostles therefore preach-
ed the doctrine specifically in reference to the redemp-
tion of mankind ; not as a philosophical discussion, but
as a practical truth. They constantly exhibited the
offices which the three Divine Persons in the one
Eternal Essence were pleased to bear in tiie covenant
of grace. It was impossible, therefore, to embrace
the gospel, as taught by the apostles, without being
clear upon this important point of faith. The young-

270 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

est convert could answer that God the Father made
him, that when he had fallen Christ died to redeem
him, and that he was to look to the Holy Spirit for
grace to help and sanctify him in his new and arduous
coui'se to the regions of eternal joy.

Not only, however, did men, with all the boasted
light of natural religion, require to have their eyes
opened to perceive the unity and the mode of subsist-
ence in the Godhead, but they needed information
also respecting those attributes and perfections which,
even if they were imperfectly guessed at by natural
reason, could never be truly ascertained without an
express revelation. Men were unable to discover that
" God was in Christ reconciling the world unto him-
self, not imputing their trespasses unto them," or even
those attributes of the Deity upon which this important
doctrine is founded. The gospel therefore not only
revealed what had been entirely hid, but clearly dis-
played what was uncertain and obscure. The wis-
dom and power of the Divinity were indeed already
visible in the works of nature ; but how much more
conspicuously were they unfolded in the economy of
human redemption ! The justice of God was here
eminently displayed in the voluntary sufferings of the
self-devoted Victim, while his love and his mercy tri-
umphed in the gratuitous restoration of an offending
race. Even had every attribute and perfection of God
been fully discoverable by natural reason, the method
of pardoning sin would have still remained a secret ;
for, in fact, the more the divine nature is considered,
the greater the difficulty appears. It is ignorance only
or presumption that will undeitake to assert that God
was obliged by his attributes to pardon mankind upon
their repentance and amendment.

Anotlier essential i)()int uj)on which the Christian
dispensation was intended to open the eyes of the
world, is the nature and end 'of man. The ignorance
of the wisest heathens upon this most interesting topic

NATURAL AND RKVEALED RELIGION. 271

must appear quite astonishing to the advocates of natu-
ral religion. It might have been thought impossible
that men should faifseriously to inquire into the nature
of those objects for which they were placed in the
present world. Were a person to be carried during
sleep into a distant country where every thing was new
and surprising, his first inquiry would be, " In what
manner arrived I here, and for what end am 1 placed
in such a situation .'^" The same question applies
morally to all mankind ; especially as it is quite in-
credible that a being so highly endowed as man should
have been placed upon earth for merely the worthless
purposes to which we see human life usually devoted.
Yet obvious as is this idea, how few have habitually
made it a subject of adequate consideration !

But revealed religion clears this momentous topic
from those difficulties with which the religion of nature
was obliged to leave it enveloped. It shows man ex-
actly what he originally was, what he at present is,
and what in future he may expect to be. Without
this essential knowledge it is impossible that we should
ascertain either our duties or our privileges. The sa-
cred writings therefore were intended to put us in full
possession of every leading principle and fact relating
to the subject, and thus to furnish a complete guide
for our present conduct, and an unerring standard for
regulating our future expectations.

Man then, it appears from the inspired volume, was
created for the most exalted ends. Beaming with the
reflected rays of the Divinity in whose image he was
formed, he was placed in a world of order and beati-
tude, where his bounden duty and his highest happi-
ness were to study and perform the will of his Creator.
His soul, the higher part of his nature, was fitted for
the most ecstatic intercourse with its Maker. It was
an intellectual being, perfect, innocent, and comj^letely
blessed, and was united to a body, of human linea-
ments indeed, but of a symmetry doubtless the most

272 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

perfect, and adequately prepared for the reception of
so exalted a eiiest. This immortal volatile intelligence
was constituted by its very nature for endless duration,
being uncompounded and consequently indiscerptible ;
and there seems every reason to conclude that its
enjoyment would have been everlastingly increasing,
since it must have been every moment receiving the
additional reward of its obedience, and might there-
fore approximate forever to the felicity of the Supreme
himself, to which, however, no finite being can ever
fully arrive.

Alan thus innocent and happy, was penetrated with
love for his Creator, the source of loveliness itself.
The world also, which was appointed for his habitation,
was commensurate with his desires. Every thing that
was created was *' very good ;" and he himself, be-
sides being fully capable of perceiving all the excel-
lencies, and enjoying all the delights, with which he
was surrounded, had the great additional satisfaction
of viewing every thing as the bounty of his Almighty
Friend. Love, gratitude, adoration, every disposition
that can elevate or beatify the purest soul, was con-
stantly present in his bosom, giving the highest zest
even to his secondary enjoyments. " My Father made
them all!"

Tlie fcict of man's original bliss was indeed partly
known to the heathens themselves, through the univer-
sal prevalence of early tradition ; but an express reve-
lation alone could assure the world of the great design
for which we were created, namely, to live to the
praise and glory of our omnipotent Creator. To la-
bor in the world for a (ew years, to take daily care for
the repose and refection of our mortal frame, and to
leave a race of successors to tread in our steps, could
not rationally have been considered as the highest ob-
jects for which we were endowed with such dignified
powers and capacities ; yet those objects, suborchiiate
as they confessedly appear, — not only to the cnlight-

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 273

ened Christian, but lo modern deists themselves, who
have indirectly acquired more certain information from
the gospel, — were all ihat the generality of the hea-
thens professed lo understand. The main-spring of
morality was thus wanlinsj ; for if man was ignorant
that the grand design of his being was, that he should
approximate in iiis probationary stale as far as possible
towards the perfections of his Creator, the whole merit
or demerit of his actions was necessarily obliged to be
regulated by some less appropriate and exalted stand-
ard.

That image in which revelation teaches us that man
was originally created, he was required to preserve by
unerring holiness and obedience. The task was easy
and delightful ; for his Creator every moment pre-
served his powers of body and of mind, and enabFed
him to direct them to their destined end. Before
transgression and its attendant miseries could be intro-
duced, there must inevitably arise a voluntary defec-
tion of the human will. This will had hitherto been
perfect and unpolluted, nor could any blame be at-
tached to the infinite Source of wisdom and benefi-
cence, if ever it should become otherwise. Man was
formed expressly to " delight himself in God," and
had pownr so to do as long as \\\swill was unimpaired.
Perfectly conversant with all visible creation, observing
with admiration and delight the innumerable beauties
and congruities of the material world, he ascended to
the uncreated Source of all things, delighiing in God
as his Maker, his Preserver, his Benefactor, and con-
versing with those celestial intelligences whose supreme
aim, like his own, was to gain a more intimate acquaint-
ance and communion with the common Lord of all.

The intention of revelation being at once to convince
us of our present state of degradation, and to exhibit
the means of restoring us to the original purity and
happiness of our nature, it was requisite that the pre-
ceding facts should be known, in order that we might

274 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

perceive the extent of the disease, and duly appreciate
the remedy which has heen discovered. Cliristianity,
wliilst by its provision of a vicarious obedience, and
its offers of supernatural assistance, it seems evidently
to regard us as weak and fallen creatures, was far
from being intended to leave us ultimately such. It
reveals pardon to sinners ; but its final end is that they
shall be sinners no longer ; so that its energy and
operation are never to cease, till the subject of them
arrives at that world where he shall find himself re-
stored to all, and more than all, the aboriginal perfec-
tions as well as delijrhts of his nature.

No heatlien philosopher could possibly be quite blind
to the existence of moral evil, though he might fail to
perceive it in its full extent, and might be unconscious
of the method of its original introduction. Yet, on the
other hand, it is equally impossible to contemplate the
character of the Deity without deriving the natural
conclusion that " God made man upright;" — but to
reconcile the apparent discrepancy which arises from
these two equally undeniable facts, was far beyond the
intelligence of natural religioti. It was, however,
highly important that we should obtain correct infor-
mation on the subject, were it only to justify the con-
duct of our Creator, whose wisdom and holiness would
be impeached by the supposition that man was origin-
ally made such as he now appears to exist.

But how clearly is the whole subject unfolded in
the simple narrative of Holy Writ ! We there learn
the important fact that the first parents of mankind
were created such as has been described, but that
their state was probationary, and their future happiness
or misery at their own disposal. The general condi-
tion of the covenant formed between God and man
was obedience to the divine commands. This obedi-
ence was voluntarily infringed by our forefather's
plucking the fruit of the " forbidden tree ;" and the
simple, easy nature of the command, far from justify-

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 275

ing ihe offence, only rendered him less excusable in
his transgression. Had the test been made more
severe, we might have presumptuously ventured to
blame our ]\Jaker for his conduct ; but if so trifling a
temptation was sufficient to induce man to violate his
alle2;iance, we have no reason to believe that he would
have stood firm under any other dispensation. The
sj)irit and letter of the covenant were as much infringed
by the breach of this apparently ceremonial command,
as they would have been by the most flagrant and ac-
knowledged immorality ; nay, even more so, for in
proportion as the prohibition may be thought unimpor-
tant in itself, the act of disobedience argues greater
practical contempt for the authority of the legislator.

It was the object, therefore, of revelation to " open
the eyes" of men to iljeir present fallen and unhappy
condition ; a condition not originally forced on man
against his will, but superinduced by volutitary trans-
gression, and since awfully evidenced by the accumu-
lated sins of six thousand years. We learn from
revelation, what experience but too fully proves, that
mankind has become radically depraved ; that " by
one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
and so death passed tipon all, for that all have sinned."
The literal meaning of this curse, namely, in its appli-
cation to natural death, is obvious to all. But in a
moral and spiritual view also it is no less true. That
divine intercourse with God for wliich we were origin-
ally formed, and in the desire after which consisted
the very life of the soul, is by nature now unknown.
Our perceptions and our hearts are evidently debased.
Every thing must convince us, if we would only open
our eyes to obvious tliough unwelcome facts, that we
need the vivifying influences of that celestial Spirit
who first breathed into us the breath of natural life, to
invigorate the torpid powers of the soul, and to raise
ihem to their original object of admiration and desire.
It is for want of being thus fully " convinced of sin,"

276 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

that the majority of professed Christians feel so little
need of the merciful provisions of the economy of
grace and salvation. They do not, indeed, deny the
general fiict of human depravity ; but they fail to enter
into it with that minuteness of detail, and that constant
individual application, which alone can impress upon
the mind the full necessity for the gospel dispensation.

The next leading fact respecting which revelation
has opened the eyes of men, is the immortality of the
human soul. This tenet is evidently essential to our
well-being, since it necessarily leads us to the highly
momentous doctrine of human life being a state of
probation, and futurity a state of rewards and punish-
ments. Here, in fact, is the strongest foundation for
all hope anfl all morality ; and this being done away,
all pleasurable anticipation vanishes, and not less the
sanctions for virtue and correctness of life. Without
a knowledge of this point, vice might too often appear
the truest policy, so long at least as it remained con-
fined within those sober limits which would neither
injure the corporeal frame, nor destroy our character
and estimation in the world.

Accustomed from our childhood in a Christian
country to hear of this important doctrine of man's
immortality, we can scarcely enter fully into the feel-
ings of nations uninstructed upon the subject. The
wisest henthens, however, though they did not wholly
disbelieve, felt considerable doubts; and a strong hope
was the utmost that a Socrates, a Plato, or a Cicero
could obtain. The very Athenians, enlightened as
they were, mocked, we are told, when the apostle, in
compliance with his instructions, began to " open their
eyes" in reference to tlieir own iutm-e existence.
They had no conception that the body which moul-
dered in the grave, or was consumed on the funeral
pile, could be reintegrated and made heir to eternal
duration. At best, their notices of immortality were
too feeble and indistinct to conquer the seductions of

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 277

the present world, and to make them live worthy of
their primeval destination.

Tlie alleged physical difficulties which have been
sometimes urged upon the subject of the resurrection
can have no effect upon the man who believes that
God can do every thing that is not morally wrong, or
that involves a positive contradiction, of which latter
point especially he is himself the only infallible judge.
The absurdity of the most ignorant Elottentot's attempt-
ing to define how far the powers of a Newton might
extend, would be literally nothing to that of professing
to point out what is possible or impossible with God.
If the evidences for the divinity and inspiration of the
sacred scriptures be admitted as complete and satis-
factory, (and this is the hypothesis on which the re-
marks in this Essay are avowedly constructed,) a
difficulty in the execution of a project must not be
allowed to affect the principles themselves. If God
can do what the scriptures stale him to have already
performed, by fair comparison, there is no physical
difficulty in the future resurrection which he cannot
also overcome.

But, in reality, the doctrine of the immortality of
the soul, instead of creating, obviates difficulties; since
with it the whole of human life is a clear and intelligi-
ble plan, and without it, an inextricable labyrinth of
doubts and incongruities. For what is the entire
scheme of providence and the moral government of
God, but an enigma, the solution of which dej)ends
almost entirely upon the doctrine under consideration ?
To survey the events of the present world, without
acknowledging a futurity, must almost necessarily lead
to the absurdities of atheism ; for how shall we recort-
cile tlie existence of a wise, potent, and equitable
moral Governor, with the actual and acknowledged
circumstances of mankind ? Why do wars desolate
the world ? Why are conquerors and usurpers permit-
ted to deform the fair face of nature and of nations ^
24

27S COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

Or, to turn from this large scale of events to individu-
als, why are the wicked so often in prosperity and the
righteous in adversity ? Why is an infant, beautiful
and engaging, torn from the fond breast of an amiable
mother, around whose heart it had entwined itself with
its innocent caresses, wiiiie, perhaps, a rebellious and
ungrateful child remains to bring its parent's hoary
hairs with sorrow to the grave ? Why in the Christian
church are heresies and persecutions permitted to
exist ? Why are not hypocrites unmasked, and the
faithful rewarded according to their desert ? The ob-
vious and the only answer to these and similar interro-
gations is, the acknowledgment of the doctrine under
consideration, with a reliance on the truth of that in-
spired assertion, " What I do thou knowest not now,
but thou shalt know hereafUr.'^''

In some cases it must be allowed that the most
inscrutable events of Providence are so fully explained
by subsequent occurrences, even in the present life,
that, setting aside the idea of a future existence, the
equity of God is fully vindicated. How often do cir-
cumstances the most dark and mysterious, and appa-
rently the most unkind, ultitnately pioduce the very
effect which we most desired ! Our tenderest con-
nexions may, perhaps, have been broken, our warmest
hopes disappointed, our dearest wishes blighted, and
all our happiness we thought irrecoverably fled ; but
the revolution of a few days or years has })ossibly
convinced us that our murmurs weie unjust, and that
even these things tended towards our final good. —
Even events that seem for the moment almost to au-
thorize the conclusion, that tiie world is governed by
chance, and that Providence is a fable, oftentimes in
the end most forcibly prove that " verily there is a
God who reignelh in the earth, and governeth the
hearts of the children of men."

Hear the broken-hearted patriarch exclaim, "Ye
have bereaved me of my children ; Joseph is not, and

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 279

Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin also ; all
these things are against me." " JMy son shall not go
down." But how soon was he constrained to dry
his tears and hush his murmurs ! Follow him to
Egypt, and observe his altered language : — "Joseph,
my son, is yet alive !" How wise, as well as wonder-
ful, must the designs of Divine Providence have ap-
peared in the eyes of this enlightened patriarch !
Severe as had been his affliction, it was surely greatly-
overbalanced by the joy of finding that his long-lost
son had been the unexpected instrument, not only of
preserving from famine the populous kingdom of
Egypt, but of communicating the same blessing to
various other nations, including his own unnatural
brethren, by whom he had been sold to slavery. The
whole maze of Providence was thus gradually unrav-
elled, till at length the astonished Israel, melting into
gratitude to God for the beneficial results of his appa-
rently adverse dispensations, was obliged to acknowl-
edge at once his wisdom and his love. He kissed,
we are told, the children of Joseph, who were present-
ed to him in his old age, and, embracing them, said
to their father, who was standing beside his dying
pillow, '* 1 had not thought to see thy face, and lo \
God hath showed me also thy seed !"

Instances of this kind might be produced in abun-
dance from the volume of revelation ; and being really
facts that occurred in history, they are quite applicable
to the present discussion. But even adverting from
that holy book, which is the only authentic guide to
the mysteries of Providence, and referring to the com-
mon historical events of nations and individuals, and
especially to the extraordinary scenes which the
present generation has had occasion to witness, may we
not oftentimes perceive such traces of the divine su-
perintendence as ought to convince us of the certainty
of the doctrine in question ^ But in the majority of
cases the existence of a future state is the true index,

2S0 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

without which the whole plan must he unintelligible.
The Almighty, in his wisdom, discovers his hand suf-
ficiently to show that the world is not governed by
chance, yet not so fully and so often as to furnish even
a plausible argument against the necessity of future
retribution.

To the heathen world the events of Providence
must have proved an inextricable labyrinth ; but reve-
lation has furnished a clue to all their windings. Is
man, for example, evidently " born to trouble as the
sparks fly upwards ?" He is ; and from the circum-
stance a pagan might deduce an inference to the dis-
honor of his Creator ; but the scripture clears up the
difficulty, by informing us that God made man com-
pletely happy, but that he drew misery upon himself
by his own voluntary transgression. The simple nar-
rative of the fall of man has elucidated a point which
mere philosophy could never have made known. It is
true that when we come to speculate seriously upon
the introduction of moral evil, the ultimate question
still remains, " Why did not God prevent what he
must have necessarily foreseen ?" — and to this ques-
tion no satisfactory answer can be given upon any sys-
tem whatever, with which mankind is acquainted.
The mysterious subject lies evidently far beyond the
limits of human sagacity. Perhaps it was not reveal-
ed because the Almighty knew that to our finite ca-
pacities, in their present state, the solution would be
incomprehensible ; or, because even if understood, it
would have conveyed no practical lesson to mankind.
When it can be proved that the full understanding of
this awful subject is essential to our well-being, then,
and not till then, we may venture, perhaps, to hope that
it will be made a matter of immediate revelation. In the
mean time, we are fully apprized of the whole transac-
tion of the f^ill, as far as it related to ourselves, and may
therefore be well content for futurity to explain thosQ
secret things which belong exclusively to God.

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 281

Upon the whole, however, it may be remarked for
the purpose of " vindicating the ways of God to man,"
that from the permission of moral evil the great Dis-
poser of events has educed incalculable good, having
made his own attributes and glory to appear with a
lustre which tliey might never otherwise iiave exhib-
ited. His mercy, his long-suffering, his wisdom, and
even his justice, were unspeakably magnified by the
stupendous method which he saw fit to employ for the
salvation of mankind.

Revelation not only recognizes the idea of our im-
mortality, but embodies it in its various instructions
and observances. The very doctrine of redemption
itself, the grand fundamental article of revealed reli-
gion, seems to stamp such a value on the human soul
as could never have been considered appropriate had
it not been eternal and imperishable. To have spent
so costly a sacrifice for the preservation of a frail and
temporary existence would not have corresponded
with our ideas of divine wisdom. Again — in order to
strengthen our faith in this doctrine, we have actual
instances recorded in scripture of miraculous resusci-
tation, under such circumstances as render fraud or
collusion impossible ; and especially in the case of our
Saviour himself, who rose from tlie dead the third
day, and " became the first fruits of them that slept."
As the first fruits are a specimen and a pledge of the
whole harvest, so the resurrection of the Redeemer
confirms us in the full hope and expectation of our
own revival. He predicted that he would rise again
to prepare eternal mansions of happiness for his disci-
ples, that where he was they might be also ; and hav-
ing verified tlie former part of his assertion, namely,
his own resurrection, he has given an adequate pledge
for the completion also of the remainder of the pro-
mise.

The immortality of the human soul was therefore a
principal subject upon which the apostles were to open
24*

282 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

the eyes of their fellow-creatures. They were to
teach them that " the fashion of this world passeth
away," and were to incite them to prepare for a far
higlier state of eternal existence. They represented
the present life hut as a scene of education for futurity.
How dignified, how noble, does himian existence ap-
pear when viewed in this interesting aspect ! How
lowly soever in itself, it instantly derives an exalted
character and color from the consideration of its ulte-
rior design. Connected, as it is, with the celestial
world, it cannot be unimportant. Were the present
state all that we are to expect, there would be little
in life for which it is worth having been born. But
how is the whole path of human existence illumined
when beheld by the light of this celestial truth ! Its
darkest shades disappear. Affliction itself becomes a
blessing, when viewed as a merciful preparative for
everlasting bliss. The mourner is taught to rejoice
with "joy unspeakable and full of glory," while he
counterpoises his " light afflictions, which are hut for a
moment," with that " exceeding weight of glory"
winch is " eternal."

Again — in connexion with this doctrine the moral
government of God begins to appear consistent with
itself. Where is the envied prosperity of the wicked,
and the consequent discouragement to the righteous,
when the life of each is taken in connexion with his
death, and with the eternal retribution that must as-
suredly succeed ? Or what cause is there for despair
amidst the short-lived troubles of life, to the man wha
expects ere long to be a glorified spirit before the
eternal throne ^ The present scene, dark as it may-
be, will not last forever. The sun will rise, the
clouds will break away, and the full propriety of every
event become iiresistibly apparent. A single moment
will solve all the doubts, and rectify all the misconcep-
tions of the present world. Wickedness shall weep
over its own success, while the tears of piety shall be

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 283

forever wiped away. Virtue and vice, sin and holi-
ness, sliall meet tlieir due reward. The decision siiall
be so public as fully to vindicate the ways of Provi-
dence, and eacii individual shall feel the decision per-
fectly agreeable to the dictates of his now awakened
conscience.

The most impressive aspect in which eternity can
be viewed is this of a state of rewards and pntiish-
ments " according to the deeds done in the body ;"
for if we are to be thus judged, how important is the
knowledge of the fact, in order that we may be pre-
pared for the tribunal at which we are shortly to
appear !

Natural religion, therefore, in order to be fullv ade-
quate to the case of man, should explicitly teach him
that his soul is immortal, that he shall be judged for
his actions, and that eternal happiness or eternal
misery shall be his award. But on every one of these
points this boasted system fails ; not so much indeed
by not partially intimating the truth, as by not pre-
senting it with prominence and clearness. Its bright-
est light is but an obscure glimmering. To the man
who should arrive at the above-mentioned truths with-
out the express aid of the gospel, tfiey will never
appear with that vividness which is necessary to give
them their practical effect. He would be ready to
say, amidst his speculations, " If 1 were assured of
what I confess appears very probable, I would act
upon the information ; but why give up present and
substantial enjoyment for a prospect which, after all
my conclusions, may be but an illusion .^"

But Christianity impresses these truths upon the
mind in a manner the most urgent. They are re-
peated and enforced. They are taught in various
forms, and accommodated to every capacity. The
whole system of revelation is expressly founded upon
the supposition of a future state. We have a complete
copy of the charge to be exhibited against us, and

2S4 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

of the expected sentence of our omniscient Judge.
There is no seductive ambiguity to lull us to a fatal
repose. The punishment and tiie reward are exhibit-
ed in the plainest colors ; so that no possible excuse is
left to the in)penitent offender, while every cheering
prospect, every encouraging motive, is presented to
him who is anxious to return to his violated aliei^iance.

Revelation also infinitely transcends what is styled
natural religion in another point intimately connected
with the doctrine under discussion ; namely, that while
it clearly exhibits the eternal punishment and reward,
it fully explains also how the one may be avoided and
the other obtained ; — a subject upon which human
reason, as has been already seen, leaves its admirer in
the greatest perplexity and doubt. The gospel alone
could infortn us that " God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses
unto them."

In immediate connexion with the doctrine of a Me-
diator, to which this last passage of scripture refers,
may be mentioned the method of approaching God in
the act of worship ; a subject of acknowledged practi-
cal importance, but one upon which the religion of
nature could afford no certain information. If there
be a God, as we all allow, even unassisted reason
might suggest the propriety both of internal and exter-
nal homage. But if man by his offences have aliena-
ted himself from his Creator, in what way may he
approach him with acceptance ? That the idea of a
Mediator as an answer to this question is not inconsist-
ent with natural reason, may be inferred not only from
the usual practice of men in their own affairs, but from
the mythology of the heathens themselves, who often
represent their inferior deities as interceding with the
Suj)rcme.

The more completely man feels his guilt and the
excellence of the divine perfections, the more difficult
will the means of access appear. What then can be

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 285

more agreeable to right reason, or more consoling to a
tender conscience, than the discovery that *' a great
High Priest" has been provided to plead in our behalf,
and to offer up our petitions and thanksgivings at the
throne of unbound<3d mercy ? Imperfect and sinful as
we are, the mediation of our divine Intercessor can-
not but be effectual ; and thus are superseded innu-
merable austerities and superstitions to which men in
every age and every country have been excited by a
sense of guilt and a desire to placate the Deity by
the vain riles of heathenism.

In the worship of God, as enjoined by Christianity,
there are no local and inconvenient observances, such
as we find in almost ail false religions. The gospel
being intended by its divine Founder for the religion
of the whole world, was so framed as to be capable of
becoming co-extensive with human nature itself. " All
languages, nations, people, and tongues," may equally
worsliip with acceptance. It neither pre-supposes nor
prescribes any particular form of civil government.
An enjoined pilgrimage, for example, such as that to
Rome, or Mecca, or Jerusalem, would have destroyed
its universality. But where is the nation that cannot
adopt the public reading of God's word, and the prac-
tice of expounding his will ? Wliere is the individual
whose local circumstances or habits can prevent the
aspiration of his soul to God in prayer, and the stated
return of gratitude and praise ^ Wliat is there to ren-
der inconvenient in any nation the love and " commu-
nion of saints," or to prevent the most elevated feelings
of universal charity ? The rites of heathenism were
injurious to man and unworthy of God. They cor-
responded in fact with the nature of the fabled deities to
which they referred ; some of whom being severe and
others voluptuous, cruelty and impurity became the
respective characters of their worship. Even Judaism
itself, thougli at first of divine establishment, yet on
account of its being a ceremonial religion, a " shadow

286 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

of goofi things to come," was too much burdened with
inconvenient and local observances to render it fit for
an oecnmenical church. Christianity alone can supply
that great desideratum in natural religion, the method
in which fallen and sinfid beings can with acceptance
approach and worship their justly offended Creator.

From the foregoing particulars it appears that the
preaching of the gospel was admirably and specifically
calculated for the office of infusing religious knowl-
edge into mankind. This, however, was not the sole
or uhituate object of its Author ; for it would have
been of little practical utility to have illuminated the
understanding, if the heart was still suffeied to remain
unimpressed and unimproved. The " law of the
Lord," therefore was no less intended to convert the
soul" than to '• enlighten the eyes." The affections
of the heart having been depraved by the fall of man
as well as the powers of the understanding, a complete
renovation of nature was rendered necessary, in order
to our entering the kingdom of heaven.

The apostle was therefore authorized and enjoined
to inculcate the necessity of co/it;emo7i. He was not
only to "open the eyes" of mankind, but also to
" turn them from darkness unto light, and from the
power of Satan unto God."

It has been already seen that Christianity begins
with convincing men of their defection from their Cre-
ator ; but its further design is to bring them back to
their allegiance. We are taught by it that we were
originally formed to be the willing subjects of our right-
ful Proprietor and Sovereign, upon our fidelity to
whom our happiness was made to depend.

This fundamental point, though scarcely recognized
by the religion of nature, is strictly conformable to the
suggestions of right reason. Inhere have been men
who have denied the existence of a God, but none
who, admitting his existence, have denied his claims to
human affection and obedience.

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 287

The simple fact, however, as stated hy revelation, is
that we have all revolted to an usurper, who, in awful
violation of his own duty, became an apostate himself,
and has constantly em|)loyed every artifice to entice
the human race to imitate his example. Having in-
volved himself in irretrievable ruin, and caused his
adorable Creator to become his enemy, he attempted,
by his sinful allurements, to destroy the divine image
in mankind ; and our first parents having listened to
his sui;2;estioi)S, became their victim. Since that awful
moment the scriptures describe mankind as being
" taken captive by the devil at his will." His king-
dom is called " darkness." He is himself expressly
denominated *' the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now workelh in the children of disobedience."
We are taught that in violation of every natural rule of
dutv, in contempt of every natural hope of present and
future happiness, we have resigned ourselves to the
dominion of this apostate, who is therefore emphatically
entitled " the god of liiis world."

This appellation he is represented as but too well
deserving, since he rules absolutely and supremely in
the heart of every individual who has not been '' turn-
ed from, darkness unto light." He allures men by the
specious pleasures and advantages of sin, and terrifies
them by the pretended austerities of a life of holiness ;
his chief aim and intention being to " keep his goods
in peace."

it is easy for the skeptic to ridicule these scriptural
facts, especially as upon the subject of supernatural
influences, whether celestial or infernal, revelation is.
our only guide. There is, however, nothing contrary
to reason or analogy in the general idea, though the
doctrine may be abused by weak or by designing men.
The evil thoughts which continually enter into minds
which would be thought the best disposed, seem to
indicate the existence of an agency wiiich the scrip-
tures inform us really takes place. Some nations have

288 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

even worshipped evil and malignant deities, so called ;
a system evidently absurd, since there can be but one
God, and he, as was before seen, is far removed from
all moral turpitude, and is " neither tempted with evil,
neither tempteth he any man."

But there is nothing but what is perfectly reasonable
in the scripture statement ; for it is very credible that
he who has caused almost every part of the material
world, so far as it comes within our knowledge, to
teem with animal life, should adopt a somewhat similar
plan in the creation of the intellectual world also.
There is an immeasurable distance between the Divini-
ty and the human soul ; can it therefore be incredible
or surprising that in this wide vacuity a super-human
order of existence has been placed ? This much be-
ing admitted, it is not irrational again to suppose, that
a part or even the whole of these exalted intelligences
may have fallen from their allegiance, and in conse-
quence have become what the scriptures represent
" Satan and his angels" to be. Had the volume of
revelation asserted that the Great First Cause of all
things created an order of sinful beings for the purpose
of tempting and seducing the human race, the state-
ment would have contradicted the most essential ideas
which we can form of the divine nature : — but that
evil spirits should actually exist, however awful the
idea, is not inconsistent with the deductions of reason,
when we consider that they are described as becom-
ing such, not by the creative power of their divine
Author, but by their own voluntary defection from his
laws. That beings thus circumstanced should envy
the primeval happiness of man, and in consequence
endeavor to destroy his innocence, upon which they
well knew that happiness depended, cannot shock our
reason or our faith ; — and that their artifices should be
permitted to succeed, is equally wiihiti the compass of
rational credibility, when we consider that the state of
our first parents was probationary, and that God having

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 289

given them full power to stand, did not become the
author of evil, if by their own voluntary act tliey fell.

]( from scripture we turn to acknowledsied facts, it
is impossible not to perceive how completely actual
experience corresponds with the revealed doctrine of
man beini^ by nature under the power of Satan. Had
we duly served our Creator, it would be impossible
that pain or sorrow should be known ; for moral evil
is the^only parent of natural evil. But admitting the
scripture hypothesis of our having revolted from him,
we cannot wonder that innumerable evils infest the
world, and that the stage which was erected for the
display of the Creator's glory, should have become
one wide Aceldama, " a field of blood."

But it is not necessary to advert to the more fla-
grant vices as proofs of ihe doctrine under considera-
tion. Sensuality, and oj)en offences, are by no means
the only designating marks of that pandemonium which
revelation teaches us has been erected upon earth. It
has been not unaptly remarked, tiiat our spiritual ene-
my being an incorporeal being, is " neither a glutton
nor a drunkard, yet still he is a devil." Pride, envy,
avarice, revenge, ambition, and other mental sins, are
perhaps quite as conspicuous indications of the corrup-
tion of our nature, as ihe most open immoralities ; es-
pecially when we recollect that these and similar
vicious qualities are the characteristic marks of fallen
spirits, and are directly in opposition to the mind of
that holy and merciful Being to whom every amiable
attribute belongs.

From these premises it may be inferred that natural
religion is radically deficient in not inculcating the ne-
cessity of a change of heart analogous to that which is
called in scripture conversion and being born again.
For if we acknowledge, what it is indeed impossible to
deny without impeaching the attributes of our Creator,
that man is not at present such as he was originally
made, what is more rational than that he should be
25

290 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

brought back to the original and appropriate dignity of
his nature ? What is called in scripture conversion, is
the first approximation towards this point ; what is fur-
ther denominated by theologians progressive sanctifi-
caiion, consists of nearer and nearer approaches ; till
the consummation is at length fully attained, (which it
could not be on earth,) at that eventful moment when,
freed from the restraints of mortality, the renovated
spirit appears in perfect glory before the throne of God.
If it be true that what is called natural religion ad-
mits into its system the doctrine of a celestial world, it
is inconsistent with itself in not prescribing the qualifi-
cations which are necessary for enjoying that unknown
stale ; and from this inconsistency the creed even of
many nominal Cliristians is by no means free. They
imagine themselves perhaps undoubted heirs to the
kingdom of heaven while they are living in the very
spirit of the world. They even ridicule the doctrine
of conversion to God, though in point of fact their own
system is chargeable with the very absurdities which
they unjustly apply to that of others. For do not all
serious and intelligent persons acknowledge that some
change must ultimately pass upon the human soul be-
fore the spiritual delights of eternity can be congenial
to its feelings ? Select in a gay and thoughtless mul-
titude the first individual who expresses a hope of ar-
riving at heaven, and inquire whether the acknowledged
employments of that exalted state correspond with the
present temper of his mind. He will probably confess
tlie negative; or if not, let him fairly try the experi-
ment, even upon an imperfect scale, by associating for
a short time exclusively with those persons who seem
most to approximate to the standard of the inhabitants
of the heavenly world. Banish every thing that is not
connected with religion and a future state ; and see
how weary, stale, fiat, and unprofitable such a course
of life would ap|)ear in his estimation. It is obvious
that such a mode of living in the present world would

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 201

be wholly inconsistent with the duties of our allotted
station, nor could it indeed really take place in its full
extent. But in heaven the scene will be realized, and
prayer and praise and acts of divine worsliip will con-
stitute the delightful and never-ceasing employment of
the beatified spirit. Yet even in the inferior degree
which we have imagined upon earth, how displeasing
would such employments appear to the taste of an un-
converted mind ! How eagerly would the subject of
the experiment recur to the world, to efface the uncon-
genial impression ! Yet this is the candidate for
heaven ! This is the being who expects to spend
eternity in adoring his Creator ! The employments
which, even in an inferior degree, cannot be borne for
a (ew days upon earth, are by some unexplained pro-
cess to become the highest objects of his delight
throughout everlasting ages in heaven. The mo^nent
of death, it seems, is to become the moment of such a
conversion as shall render him disposed supremely to-
wards what had hitherto been an intolerable burden !
The plain fact, however, is, that he hopes for heaven,
not because it is what heaven is described to be, but
because it is not hell. He confesses, if not by his lips,
yet by his conduct, that he has not a single capacity
for enjoying its delights ; yet he expects that they shall
be conferred upon him, and that the hour of death shall
completely renovate him for their enjoyment.

In such a scheme what is there the least plausible or
consistent ? On the contrary, what can be more ra-
tional, as well as scriptural, than to suppose that the
candidate for heaven is to be gradually prepared upon
earth for his eternal employment ; and that as he had
quitted his God, and entered into allegiance with the
spirit of evil, he should be brought back to his Creator,
and thus, through the merits of his Saviour, and the
renovation of the Holy Spirit, be " made meet to be a
partaker of the inheritance amongst the saints in light .^"
So far therefore from there being any thing ridiculous

292 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

in this doctrine of a moral and spiritual change, reno-
vation of heart, all the absurdities find refuge on the
other side of the argument. It is even inconsistent
with reason for a being whose present enjoyments are
sinful and worldly to expect that the mere circumstance
of dissolution, the mere disjunction of soul and body,
shall so entirely change his long-acquired habits as
necessarily to render him fit for the ejijoyment of a
state of existence which is opposed to all his incipient
predilections and desires. This would indeed be in-
stantaneous conversion in a sense which every thinking
man must be ashamed to own.

But Christianity entirely obviates these and similar
difficulties by showing that we must be fitted upon
earth for the anticipated enjoyments of heaven. The
gospel is built upon this simple hypothesis, that a sin-
ner is not fit to be admitted into the celestial world ;
and that, even if admitted, he could not enjoy its de-
lights. It supposes that a process of spiritual educa-
tion is required, which may be compared to that of a
minor about to take possession of a foreign estate. Its
object being not only to exhibit pardon for transgres-
sion, but ultimately to bring us back to the original
perfections of our nature, and to enlarge those perfec-
tions to an inconceivable extent, it regards us as in a
probationary state, and commences its operations, even
in the present world, by " turning us from darkness
unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God."

Christianity represents this change of heart as neces-
sary, not only to the open profligate, but even to per-
sons moral and sincere. Such was Saint Paul himself.
Nor is the doctrine unreasonable ; for have not we all,
even the best of us, wandered from our Creator, and
unfitted ourselves for the spiritual enjoyments of the
unseen world f* If so, how complete a conversion of
mind must ensue before we can be restored to the lost
dignities and happiness which we all profess an anxiety
to recover !

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 203

Conversion to God, when scripturally explained,
and divested of those unjust associations which fas-
tidiousness or ignorance often connect with the term,
is at once the most sublime and rational as well as
happy change which can pass upon a fallen being. It
includes far more than a partial or external reformation,
for it extends to the very " spirit of the mind." Every
power and faculty of the soul is taught to assume a
new and more exalted tendency. The Almighty dig-
nifies and hallows by his presence that temple of the
heart which had been desecrated by the occupation of
a rival. The individual who had " forsaken the foun-
tain of living w^aters, and hewn out to himself cisterns,
broken cisterns, which can hold no water," now re-
turning to the inexhaustible Source of goodness and
perfection, finds every want and every wish supplied.
He is enabled through Christ to repose in God as his
ruler, his guardian, and his friend, and to commune
with him by prayer, and praise, and submissive con-
fidence. Every want which he feels serves but to
unite him more closely to that great and gracious Be-
ing, who is both able and willing to supply it. When
weak, he relies on him who is all-powerful ; when he
most discovers his own ignorance, he looks to him who
is infinitely wise ; when surrounded with enemies and
dangers, he prays to him who is ever watchful ; in a
word, every defect in himself causes him to depend
more implicitly and humbly upon the perfections of
his God.

A thousand new and interesting sentiments now
occupy his heart. That holy Being whom he once
regarded only as a justly offended Judge, he now ven-
erates as a merciful Creator, regards with pious grati-
tude as his Preserver, reveres as his Almighty Parent,
loves as his Redeemer, invokes as his Comforter in
affliction, and his Sanctifier amidst the pollutions of the
world. His trust in God is, however, radically differ-
ent from the unfounded hope of an unchanged mind.
25*

294 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

It is a trust perfectly rational as well as devout, and
such as is quite consistent with reason, though it could
have been produced only by the energetic influence of
unsophisticated Christianity. Believing that " God
spared not his own Son, but delivered hiin up for us
all," he infers, with the inspired writer, that " with
him he will freely give us all things." He trusts
therefore to God to do for him, " exceeding abundant-
ly above all that he asks or thinks ;" — that is, beyond
the most enlarged prayer of faith, and beyond the most
unbounded wishes of the heart.

Here then we have arrived at a highly important
and interesting part of the Christian dispensation, and
one in which it infinitely transcends the supposed reli-
gion of nature ; namely, the superiority of its promises
and rewards. When Saint Paul was instructed to
open men's eyes, and as an instrument to turn their
hearts, he was informed also of the benefits that were
attached to a cordial reception of his message. Where
had been the motive for a return to God, were not
some blessing connected with the duty ? The apostle
was therefore further commissioned to preach ^^for-
giveness of sins, and an inheritance among them that
are sanctified" as the gift of God offered to the re-
turning and believing penitent.

In order more fully to estimate the superiority of the
gospel over natural religion, it may not be uninteresting
to enter into a slight survey of the nature and extent
of these invaluable benefactions.

The rewards of Christianity are by no means similar
in any respect to those which heathenism was able to
propose. Infinitely diflxM'ing from tlie fabled fields of
Elysium, or the paradise of the false prophet of Arabia,
the heaven of Christians is perfectly spiritual and an-
gelic. It neither influences the desires, nor appeals to
the passions, of the unrenewed heart. Saint Paul was
authorized to promise simply, " forgiveness of sins,
and an inheritance among them that are sanctified ;"

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 295

the former of which may be considered as referring
to the benefits conferred by the gospel in the present
world, the latter to its consummation in the life to
come.

The proclamation of a pardon through the merits of
a Redeemer, applied to us upon our repentance and
faith, is that great blessing of the gospel to wliich all
others, both for time and eternity, are appended.
That change of heart which has already been con-
sidered, is, in itself, a blessing of no ordinary magni-
tude ; for when we view the natural ignorance and
depravity of mankind, we cannot surely but esteem it
an act of infinite mercy in our Creator to bring us
back in any measure to our original state of holiness
and peace. How rationally therel'ore does Christianity
proceed in exerting its energies upon the huinan heart!
it begins with repentance ; which is not a momentary
pang, a transient compunction, but a deep and lasting
impression upon the mind, and the commencement of
a mutation of the whole character. Under its influ-
ence sin appears as offensive in its nature as it is dan-
gerous in its consequences. The spirit is humbled
towards its offended Creator, and is thus placed, as it
were, in a fit attitude for the reception of mercy. Re-
pentance softens the heart ; or, to use a scriptural
metaplior, '• breaks up the fallow ground," and pre-
pares it for imbibing the gentle dews of divine compas-
sion which fall unheeded on the callous and impenitent
offender. It tends, as it were, to repair, if this were
possible, the injury which had been offered to the
divine perfections, since it admits the claims of the
Creator to our obedience, confesses the guilt of our
transgressions, acknowledges the justice and propriety
of our sentence, and teaches us to commit ourselves
wholly to that transcendent wisdom and compassion
which alone could devise the plan of our redemption.

To penitence, the scriptures teach us to add faith,
which, by uniting us to the Redeemer, puts us in pos-

296 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

session of all the blessings which he lived and died
upon earth to procure. These blessings are concisely
included in the scri})tural term justification^ which is
that act of divine beneficence by which we are con-
sidered as absolved through Christ from our sins, and
become by adoption heirs to the felicities of a future
world. When man had offended the Majesty of
Heaven, his omnipotent Judge saw fit to accept a
propitiatory sacrifice in his behalf. Faith embraces
or lays hold of the benefit thus procured.

It should, however, be remarked, that the requisi-
tions of the law under which we were created are
not done away, nor is faith considered as a sort of
equivalent which God was willing to accept in place
of complete obedience. The substitution which Chris-
tianity admits is not in the duty itself, but in the appli-
cation of a vicarious merit. While, however, the
blessings under consideration are thus represented as
purchased for us, and bestowed gratuitously, they
never become ours till, as the Church expresses it,
" with hearty repentance and true faith we turn unto
God ;" so that it is antichristian and impious to profess
to depend upon the Saviour for justification, if we are
not partakers, in some humble measure at least, of that
renovated character to which the promised benefits are
exclusively attached.

The next blessing resulting from that forgiveness of
sins which the apostle was commanded to promulgate,
is mutual reconciliation ; for " being justified by faith,
we have peace with God." Christianity supposes us
to be by nature hostile to the divine laws and perfec-
tions ; it views us as having not only quitted the path
of duty, but as lifting up our feeble arm in open
rebellion against Omnipotence. Unassisted reason,
therefore, could never have devised any mode of re-
union without giving up that supreme holiness which
forbids the access of a sinner to the divine presence,

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 297

and that equity vvliich demands the piinisliment of his
transgressions.

But the substitution of a Mediator has removed the
impediment. The infinite source of purity and justice
has been proved to be not less the fountain of unex-
tinguishable mercy. Attracted by this display of the
love of his Creator, the returning penitent is led to
cast away the hostile weapons of rebellion, and to re-
pose in holy confidence upon that heavenly Parent
who is ever willing to receive his once offending child.
A hallowed amity, if such a mode of speech be allowa-
ble, now ensues, which is evinced on the part of man
by prayer, and love, and sacred meditation, and praise;
and, on the part of the Almighty, not only in pardoning
sin, but in diffusing through the soul a holy serenity, a
" peace which passeth all understanding," the conse-
quence and the companion of Christian faith.

The believer thus justified and at peace with God,
is said to be adopted into his family : he is affiliated
with saints and angels, and is even considered as
united to the Son of God himself by a fraternal bond.
Thus made " an heir of God and joint heir with
Christ," he becomes mercifully entitled to that " in-
heritance among them that are sanctified," which the
apostle was commissioned to proclaim.

The Christian's union to his Creator is far more
strict and endearing than that merely natural tie of
creation and preservation by which the Deity may be
considered as the Father of all mankind. Being
adopted into so heavenly a household, he begins, as it
were, to assimilate with the famiily into which he has
been received ; his dispositions and habits are changed ;
" old things are passed away, and behold all tilings
are become new." Every object even in nature is
now rendered more interesting and lovely to him by
being viewed as the work of his Almighty Parent ;
and thus tends to raise his mind in cheerful adoration
towards the unbounded source from which it derived

298 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

its existence. Even this mortal life is endeared and
exalted by its connexion with the enjoyments of the
celestial world ; and death itself begins to lose its
terrors, by being viewed as but the removal of a
veil which interposed between the Christian and his
Father's throne.

Thus adopted into the family of God, he is " kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation."
He feels that far more than his own unassisted strength
is requisite to preserve him in the paths of holiness and
obedience ; yet he doubts not that He who prepared
the inheritance towards which he is hastening, will
enable him to overcome every difficulty in his progress
to it, both "guiding him with his counsel," and after-
wards " receiving him to glory."

Here then is the consummation of the gospel. The
apostle was to preach " the forgiveness of sins," not as
a final end, but as a means and preparative towards the
obtaining that eternal " inheritance among them which
are sanctified," which is the ultimate, the immeasura-
ble blessing of the economy of human salvation.
Christianity has not only eclipsed natural religion by
showing how sin might be forgiven, and in what man-
ner, even in the present life, the various benefits con-
nected with that forgiveness might be attained, but it
has also superadded an eternal reward, which " eye
had not seen, nor ear heard, neither had it entered
into the heart of man to conceive."

The more we contemplate the final blessings pro-
posed by revelation, the more, as was before noticed,
will the sacred writings be seen to outvie every false
religion. What, for example, are the highest enjoy-
ments offered by that system which professed to be an
improvement, not only on natural religion and the code
of Moses, but upon Christianity itself.^ The heaven
of AJahommed is but a fancied scene, where the volup-
tuary may indulge in sensual delights with somewhat
greater zest and less satiety than was possible upon

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 299

earth. It is, in fact, but a slight refinement upon the
vicious pleasures of an oriental palace. It supposes
mankind in a future state to possess no other senses
and appetites than those which enslave him in the
present world.

But Christianity may be said to add to the renova-
ted soul a new faculty as incomprehensible by nature
as colors to a blind man ; namely, that of enjoying the
presence of God. It is a strong collateral proof of the
divine origin of the Christian system, that there is
nothing in it calculated to fascinate the natural passions
of the soul. Its highest rewards are purely spiritual
and refined. They are such as nature unrelbrmed
does not covet and could not enjoy. The whole dis-
pensation is calculated to raise mankind above the
grosser elements of which he is composed, and to
make the celestial part of his nature predominate over
the sensual and terrene. How elevated soever pagan-
ism might be supposed to appear in some of its less
disgusting points of observation, it loses all its dignity
the moment we survey it in its secret mysteries and
retirements. The gospel, on the other hand, assumes
new claims to admiration in proportion as it is more
minutely inspected. Its very arcana^ and adyta, and
2?enetraUa, are not only free from licentiousness or ab-
surd observances, but are eminently marked by the
contrary characteristics of holiness and rational obedi-
ence. It affects no concealment : the only difference
between the outward court and the inner recesses of
the Christian temple is, that the one is holy, the other
the " holiest of holies."

The unspeakable reward of future glory which is
offered to the believer includes an assimilation to the
Divine image, and a fruition of the beatific presence in
heaven. " It does not yet appear what we shall be ;
but we know that when He shall appear, ^ve shall be
like him, for we shall see him as he is." Even upon
earth, the tendency of the gospel, where practically

300 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

admitted into the heart in its true energy and power,
is so to "transform men in the spirit of their minds,"
as to bring them back in no small irieasure to the origi-
nal dignity of their nature. Its influence is, however,
constantly impeded by that "body of sin" which can
never be wholly conquered upon earth ; so that tlie
anxious Christian learns to look forward with ardent
desire to that future woild in which sin and imperfec-
tion shall be forever done away.

In this new and exalted state, we are taught that
even our outward frame itself shall be clothed with in-
conceivable glory ; for Jesus Christ " shall change our
vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glo-
rious body, according to the working whereby he is
able even to subdue all things unto himself." At pres-
ent, neither the spiiitual nor the terrestrial part of our
nature could sustain long and exquisite enjoyment :
excess, as has been frequently witnessed in a sudden
transition from deep grief to unexpected joy, would
soon dissolve the feeble union that subsists between
the soul and the frail receptacle to which it is con-
signed. But in heaven, the powers and capacities of
our nature being immeasurably enlarged, the promised
beatitude will not be confined to that scanty measure
which a merely human being could endure. He who
pours forth the exuberant streams of eternal bliss, will
correspondently enlarge and deepen the thirsty chan-
nel in which they are to flow.

The human soul and body, tlius glorified, we are
taught, shall be admitted into sacred mansions suitable
to their exalted destiny. " We know that if the
earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we
have a building of God, a house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens." The future world, however,
may be better understood when considered as a state
than as a place, or, in other words, as an eternal abode
where the God and Father of all condescends to ex-
hibit more immediately his unveiled perfections, pro-

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 301

duciiig happiness inexpressible in all who are thus
admitted to his presence.

Here, however, the human mind finds its highest
conceptions inadequate and futile. We know not, we
cannot know, what is included in the idea of the un-
clouded and reconciled presence of our Creator. The
nearest earthly approach is infinite distance. " Pres-
ent in the body, we are absent from tlie Lord." Our
brightest li2;ht is darkness, compared with that efful-
gence of glory which shall burst upon the enraptured
soul, when, " released from the burden of the flesh," it
beij;ins its new and infinitely happy existence. The
veil shall be drawn aside, and the " light of God's
countenance," the smile of Heaven, be fully visible.
Rapt in celestial bliss, the redeemed spirit shall survey
the " high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity," the
boundless, the inexhaustible ocean of perfecli(^n ; the
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of all
created things.

The image of the Creator will then clearly appear
in his works, which will doubtless convey to the soul
made perfect in knowledge, the most stupendous proofs
of the divine intelligence and power. Yet still more
conspicuously will these glories appear in that co-equal
and co-eternal Son, who, by his incarnation, became
*' the Mediator between God and man ;" but who,
even in his state of humility, was " the brightness of
the Father's glory, and the express image of his
person."

It was the promise of the Son of God, when upon
earth, that where he is, there shall his servants be.
Saint Paid therefore longed " to depart and to be with
Christ," which he considered as " far belter" than to
remain chained (to adopt his allusion to the Roman
malefactor) to a polluted body of sin and death. In
fact, the love that the Christian bears to his Redeem-
er, as well as our inability to consider celestial be-
ings otherwise than through some medium intelligibl*
2G

302 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

to tlie human mind, concur to make the presence of the
once incarnate, but now risen and glorified Saviour, a
high object of the Christian's wishes, and, as it were,
a tangible blessing, on which to repose his meditations.

But, great as are the manifestations of God the Fa-
ther in his works and in his eternal Son, they will not
supersede the immediate aspect of the Father himself.
Divinity only, pure, unveiled divinity, so far at least as
the sight can be supported by created intelligences,
will be necessary to complete the enjoyment of the
future world, and to fill and bound the vast desires and
affections of the enraptured soul.

This vision of the Deity must of necessity excite
new and increasing degrees of love and admiration ;
and these in return shall give birth to new capabilities
of pleasure and enjoyment. No pause, no satiety,
shall occur to obstruct the full tide of everlasting bliss.
Conformity to the will of God, and assimilation to his
image, will be at once the duly and the reward of the
glorified inhabitants of heaven.

This reward cannot be forfeited ; this duty cannot
be infringed ; for the future state of bliss being a scene
not of probation but of reward, not of experiment but
of unchangeable security, the same power that created
the spirit for enjoyment will preserve it forever from
all hazard of defection. Nothing that defilelh can
procure admission into the angelic world ; so that the
holiness and felicity which are once communicated,
must remain unclouded and eternal as the God from
whom they were derived.

It is not difficult to represent a belief in these pro-
mises of the gospel as enthusiastic and visionary ; but,
in fact, so far from such charges being well founded,
the intellect of man, when seriously exerted, can con-
ceive of no reward more suitable to the original dignity
of our nature, or more fully consistent with the sup-
posed aptitudes of things, than the eternal enjoyment
of the divine presence and perfections. Such a reward

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 303

is quite congruous to the most exalted conceptions
which we can form of the nature of the human soul
and its real capacity for happiness. Yet, what system
of religion, so called, the gospel excepted, has ever
professed to make these exalted blessings the objects
of desire ^ The slightest contemplation of the real
ends for which our existence was bestowed, would
lead us, we might conceive, to the irresistible conclu-
sion that our real dignity and happiness, as spiritual
and intellectual beings, consisted in the conscious pres-
ence and approbation of our Creator. Yet we find
that after all the speculations of philosophy, after the
highest efforts of the most exalted minds, nothing short
of a divine revelation could point out an idea at once
so rational and sublime, so worthy of the most dignified
understanding, and so grateful to the renovated heart.
He only who made man, and knew what would satisfy
him, could point out his ultimate destination, and pro-
pose a reward commensurate with the loftiest desires
of his soul.

How powerful a relief in calamity, how cheering a
consolation in sickness, how blessed a source of com-
fort and repose upon the bed of death, is a scripturally
grounded hope and evidence that the heaven described
in the sacred writings shall be our portion ! The code
of natural religion, with all its boasted excellencies,
never professed to offer so divine an alleviation of the
adversities of life. The suggestions of natural reason
may point out a (ew half-disclosed truths, and thus
serve either to torture a guilty conscience, or, by
giving a partial estimate, lull it to a deceitful repose ;
but they have no superadded power to confer a rational
and exalted felicity. But revelation has cast a ray
of heavenly light, to cheer the most dreary paths of
human existence. It penetrates with its holy beam
the dark " valley of the shadow of death." The
grave itself loses its terrors. The last enemy is de-
stroyed. The Christian quits a world of trouble and

304 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

disappointment, only that he maj' enter upon a happy
and eternal abode. *' He is not dead, but sleepeth,"
expecting in the morning of the . resurrection to be
awakened to everlasting joy, when, having fully obtain-
ed by his Redeemer the "fora;iveness of sins," he shall
become a partaker of an unfading " inheritance among
them that are sanctified.''^

Tl)is last qualifying expression points out an impor-
tant practical inference respecting our admission into
the celestial world. " Without holiness no man shall
see the Lord." The most plausible argument which
is usually urged against the gratuitous nature of the sal-
vation and blessings offered in the gospel is, that such
a system is prejudicial to the important interests of
morality. It was not therefore without reason that in
the commission of the apostle the qualification for en-
tering heaven was as explicitly pointed out as the
doctrine of free pardon and the promise of future en-
joyment. In connexion, then, with the assertion that
the promised inheritance is for " them that are sancti^
fied,'''"^ it may not be useless to prove that revelation,
while it opposes that first dictate of natural religion,
that our reward must be in consequence of human
merit, is, nevertheless, not merely the best means of
securing those important objects which moral philoso-
phy has ever vainly labored to obtain, but that it infi-

* The author is of course aware that this word, Uke many others
which every Christian writer has occasion to u^e, is, in common
language, ji;reatly diverted fri»m its proper apphcalion, and is seldom
heard hut in an ironical panej2;yric. Wl)ile, however, it is to be
lamented if any thini; in the shape of cant or affectaiion has ever
given even a pretext for ideniifyini:; any scriptural term with ideas of
hypocrisy, we must not consent to sacrifice to that consideration one
pillule phrase that may he found in the Bihie, or he serviceable ia
technical or devotional theolojry. While the apostle designates his
converts as persons " called to be saints,'' while heaven is spoken
of as the possession of tho->e oidy who are " sanctified,'''' and while
from our infancy we speak of the Holy Spiiit as " him wl.o sancti'
ficth us and all the elect people of God," there can be no excuse
for a Chiistian and a member of the established Church employing
this expression as a term of rei)roach, or omitiinu; to employ it in its
proper place as the characteristic mark of the Christian profession.

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 306

nitely surpasses in its effects the highest virtues which
unassisted reason could inculcate or even conceive.

In the first place, the motives and assistances to duty
which are presented by the religion of nature, are
wholly inadequate to the end proposed. The best
moral suasion of the heathen writers was scarcely sus-
ceptible of an application to common occurrences.
Abstract arguments and metaphysical researches, how-
ever interesting as speculations, were not likely to be
applied, in any considerable degree, to the real details
of life. Even the philosophers themselves were sel-
dom so much influenced by their own favorite sys-
tems, as to make any very considerable sacrifices
for the cause of what they themselves allowed to be
virtue ; and with regard to the majority of the people,
who of course stood most in need of moral instruction,
the disquisitions of the academic sages were wholly
beyond tlieir powers of comprehension.

The classical philosophy seems almost to view man
as a speculative eilierial intelligence, who needs only to
be informed of what is right in order to induce him to
pursue it. It proceeds upon the radical mistake of
supposing that our nature, as it now exists, is more
propense to what is right than what is wrong ; and
hence its dictates, though capable perhaps of influ-
encing a truly rational and innocent being, such as man
once was, are wholly inadequate to the present situa-
tion of human nature, and afford no sufficient check to
human depravity. The mere deductions of reason,
however correct, will not often restrain the impetuosity
of the passions, or overcome the claims of present in-
terest or pleasure. To know what is good and reason-
able is but a single advance even to moral virtue, and
will be of little practical utility without some efficacious
motive to give our knowledge effect. But here the
boasted philosophy of Greece and Home completely
failed. It neither gave the desire to pursue a self-de-
26*

306 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

nying course of duty, nor, if the desire existed, was
able to foster it by adequate assistance.

Yet, still further ; the principles of action, as incul-
cated by the heathen moralist, even were they ade-
quate in point of strength, will usually be found more
or less injurious in their tendency and operation. Cer-
tain at least it is, that they are in most cases diametri-
cally opposed to what we, as Christians, are taught in
the humbling self-denying precepts of the gospel ; so
that we may justly wonder why men professing the
holy religion of Jesus Christ, should so often inculcate
as adeqtiate and legitimate motives these inefficient,
and often positively injurious, sanctions and incite-
ments.

But Christianity abundantly supplies these defects
of natural religion. Its principles of action are strong
and influential in the highest degree ; and what adds
inestimably to their value is, that they are as pure and
rational in their origin as they are efficacious in their
tendency. They speak to the feelings of the warm-
est heart, without offending the calmest understanding.
Never, as in heathen moralists, is a shining action
recommended from a corrupt motive, or one vice
patronized in order to expel another.

Let us proceed to view the motives and assistances
held out by the gospel a little more closely, as in them
consists much of the moral beauty and excellency of
the system. The first appeal of revelation is to our
hopes. Pardon of sin and an inheritance in the king-
dom of heaven are exhibited, as we have already seen,
as the rewards of the believer ; while the pains of hell
are held forth as the portion of the unbelieving. The
extent and value of the promised blessing have been
already considered ; nor is the correlative threatening
a less powerful sanction. The one is the highest bliss,
perhaps, that Deity can bestow ; the other the greatest
suffering that man can bear. There is nothing sordid,
as deists would persuade us, in the hopes of such a

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 307

reward, or degrading in the dread of such a punish-
ment. Even self-love, when employed in so high and
rational an aim as that of avoiding eternal misery, and
endeavoring to obtain eternal happiness, cannot be
fairly estimated as a servile or degrading principle. It
becomes dignified by its associations. Tliat which
when employed upon earthly objects was ignoble and
confined, instantly assumes a new and higher charac-
ter by being connected with the unseen and eternal
world.

It should be remembered, as an argument in reason-
ing with the deist, that when he urges against revela-
tion that virtue is its own reward, and that nothing
extrinsic should be added as a motive to its perform-
ance, he, in thus attempting to wound Christianity,
destroys the sanctions also of what he allows to be
natural religion. The common assertion, that no ac-
tion can be truly laudable that is not performed with-
out hope or expectation of future reward, is an as-
sumption wholly destitute of proof. Indeed nothing
can be more rational than the supposition that God, who
knew the weakness of human reason and the strength
of human passions, should see fit to appeal to our
hopes and fears, in order to strengthen us in the per-
formance of our duly. It should be remembered also,
that the future rewards and punishments revealed in
the gospel, are not mere mercenary considerations, but
are intimately connected with our Creator's approba-
tion or displeasure ; and these at least will surely be
allowed to be legitimate and laudable excitements, on
the same principle as the wish of a parent is a motive
to a dutiful child, even irrespectively of the immediate
punishment or reward with which it may be connect-
ed.

Thus then the gospel does not influence to holy
obedience merely by an appeal to our hopes and fears,
but also by the powerful excitements of gratitude and
love. Here then, at least, the deist himself must be

308 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

constrained to acknowledge that there is nothing mer-
cenary or sordid ; but, on the contrary, all that can
elevate and refine human conduct and affections. The
most ingenuous and disinterested feelings of the soul
are stimulated to action ; and what was commanded as
a duty is rendered valuable as a privilege, and pleas-
ing as an enjoyment. The " law of love" is the
Christian's highest inducement to obedience.

From this generous source must necessarily flow
" whatsoever is lovely and of good report." We can-
not but " love God" when we really know that "he
first loved us ;" and gratitude thus produced is a prin-
ciple of action far more efficacious than the most elab-
orate deductions of human reason.

The love of the Redeemer to mankind is constantly
proposed in scripture as an incitement to the cheerful
performance of the divine commands. It is a motive
Tvliirh unassisted reason could never have discovered,
yet one that in actual experiment invariably produces
the most sublime effects ; of wliich the actions and
sufferings of apostles, and saints, and martyrs are
irrefragable proofs.

The solution of this fact is easy. The renewed
mind, when duly affected by the " agony and bloody
sweat, the cross and passion, the precious death and
burial," of the merciful Redeemer, cannot but turn
with abhorrence from those things which caused so
awfid and distressing a scene ; and while it proceeds
further to consider that " glorious resurrection and
ascension," which succeeded the Passion, it will scarce-
ly fail to deduce the inference, that if " we are risen
with Christ," we should *' seek those things which are
above," and that as the Redeemer " ascended to the
right hand of God," so should we also " in heart and
mind thither ascend."

The freedom and fulness of our pardon, far from
encouraging the true Christian to sin, necessarily
causes penitential sorrow ; and in proportion as the

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 309

offered blessing appears valuable, llie dread of being
excluded from it will be increased. The uncertainty
of the supposed rewards of natural religion, amounting
at best to nothing more than a hope or probability,
tended to discourage the cultivation of the more diffi-
cult and unostentatious virtues : in tiie same manner,
tlierefore, the unequivocal plainness and immutahility
of the Christian promises must have a powerful and
efficacious effect upon the heart ; knowing, as the
Apostle observes, that we "so run, not as uncertainly ;
so figiii we, not as one that beateth the air."

\i) a word, God's mercy gives birth to love, and
love is the parent of obedience. The scriptures rep-
resent this principle of love to God as that without
which no action can be acceptably performed. The
dread of eternal punishment, and the hopes of eternal
reward, are powerfully calculated to arouse men fronti
their spiritual slumbers, and to excite them to moral
activity ; but it is the superadded principle of love
that inclines them to universal and cheerful obedience.
Love to God is essentially connected with a desire to
promote his glory ; and though tliis desire, in its in-
cipient state, is nearly allied to a most laudable feel-
ing of self-interest on account of our own personal salva-
tion, yet in the advanced Chrisiian it begins to accpiire
a more simple character ; so that ultimately the divine
honor becomes the supreme object of regard, even
when there is no direct reference to our own personal
interest and salvation. When the principle of love to
God has thus begun to identify the Christian's personal
gratification with whatever he conceives to tend to
the glory of his Almighty Maker, or rather has made
the one predominate over the other, there exists a mo-
tive to duty infinitely surpassing all that huuian reason
could suggest. Tlius *' love is the fulfilling of the
law."

Another important guarantee for virtue which Chris-
tianity possesses above the alleged religion of nature is

310 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

that new principle which it is the instrument of infusing
into the soul. Not satisfied with suggesting the most
powerful motives, it renders the heart susceptible of
their efficacy. Sanctions the most awful and impres-
sive, rebound from the callous heart of an unrenewed
man ; there is no aptitude to receive the hallowed im-
pression : but true religion begins with rendering the
heart soft, and creating in the soul a holy disposition
to perform the commands of God.

A new nature thus implanted is the most satisfactory
pledge for " newness of life." Duty now becomes a
delightful obligation, and is in exact accordance with
the renovated feelings of the soul. What was once
viewed only as proper and expedient, is now grateful
and inviting ; what was always allowed to be good in
itself, now begins to assume the character of pleasure
in its effects. The commands of God are performed,
not merely because they are consistent with right rea-
son, or even because they are accompanied with sanc-
tions the most important, but because they are really
congenial to the dearest wishes of the renewed heart.

Natural religion applies its suasion to men as they
naturally exist. Christianity begins by changing thera
so as to produce a fitness for those things which are
required to be done, but which could never be ren-
dered truly cordial to an unrenewed heart. It does
not, as it were, command a grovelling reptile to fly to-
wards heaven ; but, by transforming its nature, and
adding to it wings, gives to it a corresponding desire to
exercise its newly-acquired functions. The Christian
being transferred " from the power of Satan unto God,"
his new perceptions and desires are regulated by the
laws of the country into which he has been naturalized.
He is not a prisoner, who, being forcibly confined in a
foreign land, still retains his native customs and predi-
lections, and desires to pursue them without restraint ;
but a voluntary subject, who, from a land of slavery,

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 311

has sou2;ht refuge under a kind and tender sovereign,
whose commands it his delight to obey.

Surely it is a considerable mark of divine tender-
ness, as well as the most satisfactory pledge for human
obedience, that the Almighty does not make u^ slaves
but subjects ; that he does not translate us from the
kingdom of an usurper to his own, without also con-
vincing us of the benefit of the exchange, and inspiring
us with a love and admiration for the new course of
life on which we are about to enter. By nature we
are at once ignorant and rebellious ; we neither pro-
perly comprehend the laws of God, nor desire to obey
them ; it is therefore an additional mercy from his
hands, that, in the case of a returning penitent, the Holy
Spirit so moulds the will, so guides the affections, and
so rectifies the waywardness of the understanding, that
*' the ways of wisdom are ways of pleasantness, and
all her paths are peace." Thus that obedience to
God, which even a deist must allow to be a " reason-
able" service, becomes, to the genuine and devout
Christian, a source of unaffected delight ; for He who
promised that he would " lead captivity captive," pro-
mised also that " his people should be willing in the
day of his power."

Here then we have naturally arrived at the most im-
portant particular in which the Christian dispensation
has provided for the interests of morality and virtue far
beyond the utmost that unenlightened reason could
perform. Even had it been possible for human reason to
have discovered and applied the most powerful motives
to duty, yet it must still have failed in ensuring a cor-
responding practice; for so greatly is our nature " har-
dened through the deceitfulness of sin," that none but
He who originally formed the human soul can re-inspire
it with its long-lost regard for true purity and heavenly-
mindedness.

On this part of the subject, namely, the absolute
necessity of divine assistance, natural religion was

312 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

quite silent. The classic moralists did not profess to
expect any thing analogous to what Christians are ac-
customed to call the ordinary influetices of the Siicred
Spirit, and vvitliout vvhicli we justly believe that
" nothing is strong, nothing is holy." They seem, in-
deed, occasionally to have felt that something more
than the unassisted energies of nature was necessary
for human direction; but not being blessed with the
light of revelation, their ideas did not attain a form
sufficiently definite to produce any ^ood effect upon
their conduct. The views of the heathen on the sub-
ject of divine agency were among the most visionary
and delusive parts of their system ; and if we may
judge of what they conceived to be the effect of su-
pernatural operation by the frantic language and be-
havior of their oracular priestesses, we shall have no
cause to lament that they did not carry their fabulous
and wicked system into the ordinary affairs of life.

But how practical, how powerful, how judicious, is
the doctrine of divine agency, as revealed in scrij)ture!
God " worketh in us both to will and to do, of his good
pleasure ;" or, as the passage is correctly paraphrased
by our Church, he " givelh the will, and worketh with
us when we have the will." Thus every good thought,
and word, and action, flows from the great Inspirer;
yet, on the other hand, no license is given to careless-
ness or enthusiasu), since we know tliat he usually
works by means, employing and consecrating the facul-
ties of the understanding and the affections of the soul
to produce the beneficial result.

i'lie apostles, in piearhing the necessity of holiness,
do not leave us uninformed respecting the Agent by
whose instrumentality it is to be effected. Saint Paul
implores for his converts, '* that the God of peace wojdd
sanctify them wholly ;" and in another place he speaks
o{ \\\e '■'■ sanctificatioa o^ \\\Q. Spirit," connected with
*^ belief o( the truth," as the giaces through which we
are " chosen unto salvation." Our Saviour had ex-

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 313

pressly promised the gift of the Holy Ghost as the
Comforter and Sanctifier of the Church ; and having
once effused his celestial influences in a plenary man-
ner on the day of Pentecost, he continues a gradual
and unfailing supply of them to the end of time. This
gift was indeed as much purchased for us by our Re-
deemer as any other benefit of his cross and passion ;
and hence, perhaps, the third person in the adorable
Trinity is denominated '* the S[)irit of Christ :" thus
our santification, as much as our justification, is ulti-
mately in virtue of the merits and mediation of our di-
vine [ntercessor. Indeed, an express object of our
Lord's mission was our sanctification ; for " he gave
himself for us, that he might redeem us from all in-
iquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zeal-
ous of good works."

Being constituted Head of the Church, our Saviour
infuses into the Christian these holy dispositions, and
assists him by his sacred Spirit in bringing them into
practice. Amongst the immediate means which he
employs I'br this end, his own example when he was
upon earth is, by itself, an infinitely stronger motive
than any which natural religion can supply. Where
shall we see virtue so visibly embodied and so effica-
ciously recommended to mankind as in the conduct
of our Lord? He was a perfect character. All the
qualities that adorn human nature were in him con-
spicuously sublime ; so that no virtue was wanting, no
one had a disproportionate pre-eminence, or diverged,
as we often see to be the case in the best of human
exainples, towards its neighboring vice. His mildness,
for instance, never degenerated into fear of man, nor
his compassion into a morbid sensibility. In perusing
the evangelists, we once or twice perceive the tear of
pity or of friendship, but never the broad mirth of fol-
ly, or the traces of any hateful or improper passion.
He is not like his harbinger, the Baptist, solitary and
austere ; much less is he, like some of the boasted
27

314 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

sages of Greece and Rome, frivolous or dissolute.*
Infinitely removed from harsh inflexibility of soul, he
was equally distant from those opposite defects which,
under the name of " amiable weaknesses," are often-
times suffered to blemish otherwise estimable charac-
ters. There was an admirable diversity of excellence,
but all his excellencies fully harmonized and combined.
He was not avaricious, neither was he profuse : he
did not rashly rush among enemies ; neither, when the
duty which he had undertaken called for his presence,
did he avoid them. He was neither blind to the faults
of his followers ; nor, on the other hand, did he cen-
sure them with unkind severity. He pardoned sin,
but he did not encourage it. In a word, he was all
that he enjoined others to become : nay more ; for to
us his command is to love our neighbor as ourselves,
while he willingly did far more by resigning his own
life for others.

Retrace his conduct from the manger to the tomb,
and judge whether any moralist or philosopher has ex-
hibited such an example for human imitation. Behold
his toils, his sufferings, his virtues ; follow him to the
Temple, to the Mount, along the streets of the Jewish
metropolis, to the grave of his beloved friend, to the
scenes of his various nn'racles, to his confidential re-
tirements with his chosen followers, to the garden of
Getlisemane, to the place of crucifixion, — and then
decide whether every word and action be not worthy of
his character as " God manifest in the flesh." Surely
it is a delightful employment thus to trace the " Sun
of Righteousness " through his glorious circuit ; to

* This last epithet may appear rather harsh as applied to the more
eminent moralists and philosophers ; hut if we intimately survey the
character even of Socrates himself, the most virtuous of the race, we
shall find such flap;r<int blemishes as are wholly inconsistent with
rijiht notions of morality. Compare, for example, our Saviour's mo-
tives for visilino; " publicans and sinners," with those parts of the
conduct of Socrates which have been impiously adduced as a jmral-
lel, and then jud<r(! if there he not an essential dilference between
human virtue and divine.

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 315

behold him emerging, as it were, from the chambers
of the East, and arriving in a silent but uniform
progress at the meridian of his glory, and at length
setting, red indeed with blood, but increasing to the
eye in magnitude, and irradiated with the cheering
beams of heavenly mildness. The brilliancy of his
career might have dazzled us too much, had it not
been for the dark cloud in which he went down ; and
we might have thought he had set forever, had not
the third day beheld him rising again with a lustre
never to be darkened.

The conduct of the Messiah, so far at least as it
stands unconnected with the peculiar nature of the
office which he undertook to perform, is at once the
best pattern and the strongest inducement to mankind.
Our Church, therefore, has beautifully described the
Christian profession, as being " to follow the example
of our Saviour Christ, and to be made like unto him ;
that as he died and rose again for us, so should we,
who are baptized, die from sin and rise again unto
holiness, continually mortifying all our evil and corrupt
affections, and daily proceeding in all virtue and god-
liness of living." Had Christianity done nothing more
than exhibit so unequalled an Exemplar for our im-
itation, it would have far outvied the religion of na-
ture ; but when, in addition to this, we find that it sug-
gests the most pow^erful motives to duty, and promises
the aid of Omnipotence itself for our assistance in the
performance of it, we cannot but be struck with admira-
tion at the multiplied incitements w^iich have been pro-
vided for accomplishing an object which unassisted phi-
losophy applauded, but could never have obtained.

Illustrious, however, as the gospel appears from
these obvious considerations, it must not be forgotten
that we have hitherto surveyed but a small part of its
character on the subject of morality. To suggest
motives, and promise divine assistance, is far from be-
ing the whole of its extensive province. The pre-

316 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

ceding remarks have proceeded more or less upon the
tacit supposition that mankind were already acquainted
with the nature of their ohligations, and wanted only-
incentives to the fulfilment of them. Now, we have
seen that, even upon this ground, and admitting the
lisjlit of nature itself to point out the right line of hu-
man conduct, still the powers of Christianity were
essentially requisite in order to incite the moralist to
))ut in practice his own acknowledged speculations.
But thus to confine the argument would rob genuine
religion of one of its most important features. The
plain fact is, that natural religion is as defective in the
object to be attained as in the motives to its attain-
ment. When Saint Paul was commanded to proclaim
" an inheritance among them that are sanctified, ^^ he
was not taught to apply that expressive epithet to any
degree of virtue or moral excellence that reason, un-
assisted by revelation, was able to inculcate. Chris-
tian holiness and natural morality are far from being
convertible terms. For the sake of argument, the
word virtue and others of a similar kind have been
occasionally employed in the preceding pages, not,
however, as if virtue, and reformation, and terms of
kindred import, were expressive of the whole duty of
man, but simply in order to show the inadequacy of
natural religion to secure even the more obvious and
universally allowed injunctions of the heathen moralists
themselves. Had the Greek and Roman philosophers
possessed all the motives and inducements which have
just been mentioned as belonging to the gospel rev-
elation, still their system would have been essentially
defective in consequence of their ignorance of the ex-
act objects which were to be gained, and the principles
on which so powerful an apparatus was intended to
bear. Human reason not only cannot duly enforce
true obedience, but cannot even define it. It is often
as blind as it is impotent. Where even it suggests
what is right, it does not suggest enough. It inculcates

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 317

the exterior virtues, but does not extend like Cliris-
tiunity to " the spirit of the mind." A restoration to
the moral image of God, that image in which man was
created, but which he has tarnished by sin, though al-
lowedly a consummation highly rational, and corres-
ponding in dignity with our most exalted conceptions
of the human soul, forms no part of the system of un-
enlightened nature.

But Christianity applies itself primarily to this Im-
portant point. Devotion to God is the sum and sub-
stance of the practical parts of tlie gospel, and from this
new principle are made to flow all the virtues and the
graces of the Christian character. Saint Paul, in the
words which have been already so often quoted, was
taught to inculcate ^^faith^ that is in Christ Jesus,"
as the instrument of our obtaining the " inheritance
among those that are sanctified." Now this faith be-
ing a heavenly and operative principle, the holy effects
of which are not accidental but invariable and essen-
tial, morality cannot fail to be amongst its constant
fruits. Faith prompts the believer not only to rely
implicitly on God's mercy, but also to yield himself
w^illingly and wholly to his service. Its never-failing
companion is love ; so that the Christian's obedience
becomes cordial and unreserved : he views sanctifica-
tion of heart as a privilege which is graciously confer-

* On the suliject o( faith, as the instrument of our being put into
possession of the blessincrs of the gospel, something may, and indeed
onght, to be said ; especially as men are constantly recurring to that
dictate of natural religion, that we are saved by human works, and
are apt to consider the scripture doctrine on this subject as hostile to
morality. The author, however, having already discussed the sub-
ject at some length in the third Essay of this volume, refers his read-
er back to that Essay for various remarks to prove, 1st, that we are
"justified t)y faith," and 2d, that the laith so mentioned is the 7ie-
cessarj^ parent of holiness and good works. In fact, this is one great
turning point between natural religion and revealed ; and the argu-
ments usually employed on the other side of the question are much
oftener derived from mere moralists and philosophers than from the
sacred pages of inspiration.

S18 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

red, and not a yoke which he is obliged unwillingly to
sustain.

The native predilections and habits of the fallen
liiind are mortified and conquered by a new and effi-
cacious principle of Christian holiness. The natural
tenants of the heart begin to give place to a more
celesiial train of visitants. Man is thus put into a
state which would greatly resemble his aboriginal per-
fection, were it not for the melancholy fact, that sin
still survives, and by its constant struggles for pre-
eminence counteracts the free expansion of that heav-
enly principle which has been implanted. This con-
test terminates only with that last sigh which wafts the
soul to the presence of its Maker ; so that upon Chris-
tian principles, perfection upon earth is obviously
unattainable. Still the tendencies and appetencies of
the renewed mind are towards that exalted point ; and,
though weak in himself, the Christian is enabled by
the divine assistance to gain such victories over sin,
even in the present world, as are a pledge of that tri-
umphant moment when he shall be made " more than
conqueror, through him that loved him.''^

The sanctiiication which the apostle was to incul-
cate was evidently a progressive principle. The
Christian's life cannot be stationary : we are going for-
ward or going back : we are attaining new acquire-
ments, or we are foigetting what we already know.
It is as true as it is awful, that " because men have no
changes, they forget God ;" so that to increase in feel-
ing our sinfulness and lamenting it, to grow deeply in
penitence, and contrition, and humility, is surely a far
more favorable indication, than constantly to maintain
that we experience no alternation of feeling, no fluctu-
ations of linpe or confidence. The man who is really
acquainted with the sanctifying influences of the Divine
Spirit, though he will earnestly deprecate the idea of
self-righteousness and self-dependence, will not remain
uninterested or inactive ; but will endeavor, with

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 3l9

prayer, and diligence, and increasing dependence upon
God, to " press forward towards the mark for the prize
of his high calling," not from a presumptuous feeling
of human merit or human strength, but from the
scriptural assurance, that " He who hath begun the
good work will perform it in him unto the day of Jesus
Christ."

To delineate fully the nature and extent of Christian
holiness is impossible. He only who created the hu-
man soul in its original perfection knows the limits of
that divine principle with which he re-animates it, and
the heavenly nature of that moral change which he
has appointed to render it again meet for its eternal
destination. Judging merely by ordinary facts, and
contemplating the Christian in his daily struggles with
the innumerable impediments that oppose his " growth
in grace," we must often form a very inadequate esti-
mate of the purity and power of the newly-implanted
principle in his heart ; — yet, even when thus viewed,
and forgetting for a moment the ideal perfection of a
principle which we have no opportunity of observing,
except under the powerfully counteracting force of a
corrupt and sinful nature, we may be often justly sur-
prised at its almost miraculous eiFects. One such a
character, for example, as that of Saint Paul, well
studied, and duly contrasted with the highest exalta-
tion of merely human virtue, will present an idea of
the practical effects of the gospel in enlightening, sanc-
tifying, and ennobling the human mind, far beyond the
greatest conceptions that uninspired reason could sug-
gest or even understand.

Such then is the outline, and but the outline, of that
holy religion which as Christians w^e profess, in dis-
tinction to the mere dictates of the unassisted under-
standing. If then our admitted system be in reality
so valuable and complete, how unwise, as well as how
wicked, must be the conduct of those, who, amidst all
their professions, are at heart depending more upon

320 COMPARATIVE VIEW OF

the generalities of natural religion than upon the es-
sential peculiarities of the divinely revealed dispensa-
tion ! The disciples of a Plato, an Aristotle, a Soc-
rates, a Confucius, or a Mahommed, are not ashamed
to avow the tenets and imitate the conduct of their
acknowledged masters ; yet what is more common
than for professed Christians virtually to deny their
own admitted system, and even while they extol the
character of Christ, to shrink from any thing that is
exclusively Christian ? Those who would perhaps
have been zealous devotees of a mere human philoso-
pher, are careless and indifferent respecting Him, the
divinity and importance of whose mission they still
profess to believe.

But if Christianity be true, it is surely unspeakably
important : if it be admitted as our creed, surely it
ought to influence and regulate our conduct. Either
the commission which was given to the apostle was
utterly superfluous, or the scheme of a large portion of
professed Christians is essentially defective. We, in-
deed, acknowledge our belief in the evangelical dis-
pensation ; but has that belief had its appropriate effect
upon our hearts ? Have our eyes been opened to per-
ceive the leading truths of revelation ; especially our
individual demerits, and our consequent guilt, as well
as our inability to save ourselves by the best deeds
which, since the fall of man, we are able to perform ?
Had the desire to ohi:i\n forgiveness of sins, and an
inheritance among them that are sanctified, become the
predominant feeling of our heart ? Has such a radical
change of character taken place in us as is intimated in
the expression of being turned from darkness unto
light, and from the poiver of Satan unto God? Is
the future reward promised by Chiislianity among
them that are sanctified rendered congenial to our feel-
ings, and become an object of our desire, by an in-
cipient course of holiness already commenced in us by
the sacred Spirit, and which we hope to see matured

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION. 321

to perfection in the future world ? Has sin, not only
under its more offensive character of vice, but in its
most specious and alluring forms, become so disgusting
to us, in consequence of the renovation of our nature,
that we earnestly desire to be freed, not only from its
consequence, but also from its dominion, and to return,
by the grace of God, as far as possible to that prime-
val but long-lost purity of soul in which man was
originally created f If effects analogous to these have
not taken place in our hearts, and been exhibited in
our lives, our religion has hitherto been merely a for-
mal and unmeaning recognition, instead of a due belief
and a practical experience. If, however, Christianity
be such as has been attempted to be described, it de-
serves, on every account, the highest attention of the
understanding, and the most devout affections of the
heart. " tlow shall we escape, if we neglect so great
salvation .'"'

ESSAY

INFLUENCE OF A MORAL LIFE ON OUR JUDG.
MENT IN MATTERS OF FAITH.

l(fany man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine ^ whether it
be of God, or whether I speak of myself. — John, vii. 17.

In tracing the origin and progress of religion in the
human soul, it is impossible to reduce it to a series
of precise and invariable operations, and to allot to
each of our faculties and powers its definite share in
the general process. It seems indeed to be the ordi-
nary course of the Holy Spirit, in his agency on the
heart and mind of man, first to illuminate and convince
— then to convert — then to sanctify ; or, in other
words, first to lead men to a perception of their natu-
ral condition, and of the character of the gospel ; to
teach them tlieir sinfulness and spiritual inability, and
to pour into their hearts the grace of contrition and
penitence ; then to guide them as conscious transgres-
sors to the great Sacrifice of Calvary, to repose by
faith in the death and merits of the Saviour alone for
pardon and acceptance vvitti God ; and then to bestow
upon them that peace which accompanies a true and
lively faith — to sanctify them by his gracious influ-
ences— and to render them fruitful in every good word
and work, as becomelh those, who, being bought with

INFLUENCE OF A MORAL LIFE. 323

a price, are not their own, but are bound in point of
duty, and are also anxious in conformity with their
renewed nature, to hve no longer unto tliemselves, but
unto Hini who loved them and gave himself for them.
But the successive stages of this spiritual process do
not always follow each other in the strict order assign-
ed to them by artificial systems of theology : sometimes
the understanding, sometimes the will, sometimes the
affections, seem to take the lead. The graces of love,
joy, h\[h, zeal, humility, vigilance, knowledge, though
co-existing in the heart of every true Christian, do
not always unite in equal proportions, or follow each
other at accurately defined intervals. They mutually
act and re-act, augmenting each other by their recipro-
cal influence ; so that what was originally an effect,
becomes in its turn a cause, and gives birth to new
causes and effects in perpetual succession.

These remarks apply in an especial manner to the
three Christian graces o^ Knowledgey Faith, and Obe-
dience. Strictly speaking, there must be some degree
of knowledije before there can be faith : " he that
Cometh to God must first know that he exists, and that
he is a rewarder of tli^m that diligently seek him."
There must also be faith before there can be genuine
obedience ; for faith is the only true source of Chris-
tian virtue. Yet, on the other hand, our Lord teaches
us that " if any man will do the luill of God,'''' — that is,
will commence a course of humble and ingenuous obe-
dience,— " he shall knoxo of the doctrine ;" his prac-
tical attention to duty shall prove tlie harbinger of^ new
accessions of spiritual information ; and not of infor-
mation only, but of faith also ; for the scriptures accu-
rately trace up the want of faith to a moral as well as
merely mental obliquity : they speak of " an evil heart
of unbelief," — an expression which, however peculiar
it may seem, will, upon investigation, be found perfectly
philoso()hical, and consistent with tlie phenomena of
daily fact and experience.

324 INFLUENCE OF A MORAL LIFE ON OUR

We shall illustrate the subject under consideration,
by a series of remarks bearing upon the two following
propositions : —

First, That unhoUness either of heart or life has a
powerful influence in depraving the judgment in Mat-
tel's of religion ; and

Secondly, That an humble and co7iscientious en"
deavor to " do the will of God,^"* is eminently condu-
cive to the progress both of faith and spiritual under-
standing.

First. The effect of unholiness of heart and life
in producing false judgment in matters of faith, will be
rnost conspicuously, though by no means exclusively,
seen in the case of professed infidels. Among those
who have rejected the evidences for the truth of the
gospel, where shall we find an individual who has con-
scientiously submitted to its allowedly excellent moral re-
straints? If we except a very few persons, whom literary
habits, or a virtuous education, or self-respect, or an
ostensible station in society, or a natural inertness of
temperament, or a secret misgiving of conscience, has
restrained from the grosser excesses of vicious indul-
gence, where shall we discover a professed ijifidel who
does not prove by his conduct that his rejection of the
gospel is so closely connected witli laxity of principle,
or immorality of life, as to furnish the strongest reason
to conclude, that the one is the chief cause of the
other ; — that he has discarded religion precisely be-
cause he disrelishes its inhibitions and conunands.
The mere circumstance of the co-existence of two
facts, does not indeed necessarily prove their connexion
as cause and effect : but where this connexion is fre-
quent and striking, it furnishes a strong prima facie
presumption ; and that presumption is increased we
may say to certainty, when, as in the case under con-
sideration, powerful a priori reasons may be assigned
why tliat elFcct ought to follow, which we find in point

JUDGMENT IN MATTERS OF FAITH. 325

of fact does actually follow, such and such causes. In
the late inundation of irreligious writings, for example,
we see infidelity joined in striking and intiiuate union
with a spirit of envy, detraction, sedition, hlasphemy,
and nmnerous other things " contrary to sound" (iliat
is, to Christian) " doctrine." And can we doubt that
these evil propensities were among the exciting causes
of that infidelity ; which, in its turn, would naturally
give birth to a new progeny of vices ^ Is it a circum-
stance peculiar to theology, that what men dislike,
they easily persuade themselves to disbelieve ? Is it
extraordinary, that immorality should nurture irreligion ?
Was it an anomaly in the human mind, that certain late
conspirators, who could deliberately steel their s(ju1s
to treason, aiid combine without remorse to w^ade to
their diabolical purpose through streams of human
blood, should profess an obdurate infidelity, and expire
even on the scaffold itself, avowing a stern and fero-
cious enmity to all that good men consider, on irrefra-
gable proofs, to be a revelation from heaven ? Was
not all this precisely in character ? Would not the
contrary have been the more surprising fact .^ Would
it not have been difficult to believe that such extreme
wickedness could exist without eventually generating
ipfidelity, even if it had not found infidelity already in
being, at hand to assist its efforts, and to blot out the
fearful prospect of a future retribution ?

But we need not resort to such extreme cases, in
proof of the powerful effects of unholiness of heart and
life in inclining men to a rejection of the gospel ; for
as there are vices of less malignant aspect than treason
and murder, so also there are various approaches
towards infidelity, of a more specious character than
the revolting blasphemies of a profligate atheism.
There is not an anti-christian or an unchristian princi-
ple which may not lead to a corresponding anti-chris-
tian or unchristian creed. The more malignant j)as-
sions will have this effect; as we find from Acts, xiii.,
28

326 INFLUENCE OF A MORAL LIFE ON OUR

where we are informed, (ver. 48,) that the Gentiles
" were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord, and
believed ;^^ but the Jews, (ver. 45,) " he'm^ filled with
envy^ spake against those things which were spoken by
Paiil, contradicting and blaspheming." The selfish
passions also may produce the same effect. Thus
" the Pharisees, ivho were covetous, heard all these
things, and derided him." (Luke, xvi. 14.) — The
proud and vain and ambitious passions also may have
the same effect. "They did not confess him, lest
they should be put out of the synagogue ; for they
loved the praise of men more than the praise of God."
" How can ye believe, that receive honor one of
another V Thus enmity, covetousness, vain-glory, to
which various other evil principles might be added,
are proved by scriptural testimony to be capable of
subverting faith, and even of conducting men to the
awful extremes of contradiction, derision, and blas-
phemy.

It would be easy to proceed to show still more spe-
cifically, both by scripture and fact, the injurious
influence of sinful dispositions and habits in alienating
the mind, not only from the love, but also from the
understanding, as well as the belief, of the truth. To
these sources may we also usually trace up those less
glaring species of infidelity which display themselves
in Antinomianism, Socinianism, and kindred heresies.
Even where there is no temptation to palliate the
enormities of a profligate life, there may be secret sins,
sins of a more decorous kind, sins of the heart or sins
of the intellect, which may greatly impede the spiritual
perceptions, as well as vitiate the spiritual taste. In
casting a glance over the names of the most celebrated
persons who have enrolled themselves among the
abettors of such dangerous principles as have just been
alluded to, we shall discover in one a stubborn perti-
nacity which renders the admission of unwelcome
truth into a mind under its influence morally impossi-

JUDGMENT IN MATTERS OF FAITH. 327

ble; in another, a hardihood which shrinks at no con-
sequences, even though the declarations of God iiim-
self should be disputed and traduced before the bar of
human presumption ; in a third, a levity ; in a fourth,
a self-conceit; in a fifth, a petulance; in a sixth, a
fearless self-confidence ; in a seventh, a proud dicta-
torial dogmatism ; — in all, a mental aversion to divine
truth, which must inevitably prevent a devout submis-
sion to scriptural authority, and the estahlishment of
just and sober conclusions from scriptural premises.

Nor are such dispositions and habits less really cul-
pable in the sight of God than those sins which men of
the world look upon with greater abhorrence. Pride,
in particular, in all its shapes, is one of the most offen-
sive and injurious of evils ; and in no form more so
than when it wears the semblance of intellectual impe-
riousness. This species of pride has from the first
ages of the gospel to the present moment been always
averse to " the truth as it is in Jesus." The Scribes
and Pharisees, confiding in their boasted attainments,
and exclaiming, "Are we blind also?" preferred re-
maining among those self-sufficient " wise and pru-
dent" to whom the gospel was hidden, to being num-
bered among those " babes" in simplicity to whom it
pleased God to reveal it. Saint Paul alludes to the
same evil disposition of mind, when, in writing to the
Corinthians, he says, " The preaching of the cross is
to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are
saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, 1 will
destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will bring to
nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is
the wise ^ Where is the scribe ^ Where is the dis-
puter of this world ? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world ^ For after that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased
God, by the foolishness of preaching, to save them
that beheve." An humble and conscientious use of the
powers of the human understanding and of the best

328 INFLUENCE OF A MORAL LIFE ON OUR

aids of litorntiiro, is indrcd ciiiinently serviceable in
the cause oi' initli ; lor Christianity lias notliini; to fear
from the most ri5:;itl scrutiny : but the ?nis(/ircctio7i or
pcri'crsion of the intellect — and no misdirection or
perversion is more baneful than tliat which springs
from self-sufiiciency — is one of the most frequent
causes of false judgment in matters of laith. How often
do we find, even in the case of persons who are not
vicious in their lives, — nay, who perhaps preserve a
respectable decorum of conduct, — that the heart is
prejudiced against a practical admission of divine truth,
at least of its more peculiar and mysterious doctrines,
on account of the scriptures not making their appeal to
mankind in such a manner as to gratify the pride of
the inti/iect. They find themselves required to be-
lieve promptly and implicitl}', upon the strength of a
divine declaration ; they are enjoined to admit, w'ith-
out hesitation or scruple, many things that they cannot
fullv understand ; and they are invited, yea, com-
manded, on pain of eternal condemnation, to embrace
exactly the same laiih which has been professed by
thousands of the most illiterate of mankind ; — in com-
mon, it is true, with men of the highest order of
thought, and the most extensive range of literature;
but still a faith which owns no submission to human
intellect, and refiises to bow its lofiy claims before the
tribunal of any created mind, however wide its grasp
or exalted its powers. A mind vain of its intellectual
superiority, and unsubdued by the grace of God, will
not easily be persuaded to submit to this : it will re-
coil from such an unreserved self-dedication : it will
demand something more conciliating to the pride of
the human heart ; and will venture peremptorily to
set down as false, whatever cannot be inferred by the
deductions of uninspired reason, or, at least, which,
ichcn rcvcalcff, cannot be fathomed and fortified by
buman philosophy.

To illustrate the subject by an example : — To what

JUDGMENT IN MATTERS OF FAITH. 329

but to tliis cause, combining indeed with some other
subortlinate ones, must we attribute the vehement op-
position whicli has always been carried on against that
fundamental article of the Christian system, and of our
Protestant Church — the doctrine o( justification solely
hij faith ? The humble practical Christian, whether
poor or rich, illiterate or learned, discovers no moral
danger attending this doctrine : so far from it, he
feels it to be in his own case, and observes it to
be in the case of others, not only " very full of com-
fort," but a powerful motive to love, to gratitude,
and to good works ; and he is perfectly convinced,
that if any person would so far abuse it as to say,
*' Let us sin, that grace may abound," they understand
not its real nature — much less are they among tiiose
who have a scriptural right to take to themselves the
blessings which it exhibits. But the mere intellectual
reasouer, experiencing nothing of the practical effects
of the gospel in his own soul, affectedly recoils at such
a doctrine. It is not enough to prove that it is reveal-
ed in the sacred scriptures ; it must also comport with
his long-cherished prejudices and prepossessions, or,
as he considers them, his reasonable deductions : he
must see that the doctrine has some other basis to rest
upon than mere authority, even though that authority
be the authority of God himself; for, till he can fully
demoiisirate the propriety of this divine arrangement,
and solve every difficulty which a presumptuous intel-
lect may consider as flowing from it, (which he is least
of all likely to do while he remains in his present alti-
tude of mind.) he will not submit to the doctrines of
the cross of Christ, or adore that " mystery of godli-
ness" which is involved in every part of the disclosures
of revelation.

]iut gross vices on the one hand, and mrntaJ sins on

the other, (to which two classes of impediments the

preceding remarks have been chiefly confined.) are

not the only forms of moral evil which may cloud our

2S*

330 INFLUENCE OF A MORAL LIFE ON OUR

judgment in matters of faith. For, in fact, even the
widely tolerated habits in which the great body of man-
kind pass their lives ; the love of worldly company,
and the fashionable gratifications of the age, slight as
such causes may seem, powerfully exert the same
influence. The votaries of the world, in all its forms,
the more decent, as well as the disreputable, plainly
perceive that the doctrines and precepts of Christianity,
if admitted and acted upon in their real spirit, would
cut up, at the very roots, their most cherished habits
and predilections ; and hence a species of practical
infidelity is gradually suffered to steal over the mind,
till the judgment itself is at length incapacitated for the
office of piercing through the thick veil of passions
and prepossessions which have accumulated to inter-
cept the rays of celestial truth.

Nay — we may go yet farther ; for even the sincere
Christian himself may too often discover within his
own bosom a decisive proof of the powerful effects of
unholiness of heart or life, in obscuring the spiritual
understanding and weakening the faith. No sooner
does he relax in his Christian vigilance, — no sooner does
he become secularized in his temper, — no sooner does
he grieve the Holy Spirit by pride, or lukewarmness,
or the neglect of prayer, or inattention to any known
duty, or indulgence in any known sin, — than he finds
that he cannot realize, as at more devout moments,
the sentiments which become his holy profession : he
perhaps feels inclined to harbor a secret wish that he
may have too strictly construed the self-denying char-
acter of the gospel. His mind begins at times to wa-
ver respecting some of its essential truths ; and while
thus under the influence of temptation, he may even
venture for a moment to question its divine authority.
No Christian stands. so firmly as not to require to
" take heed lest he fall ;" and though there may seem
to be a very wide interval between incipient sins of the
heart, and such a lapsed state of mind and affections as
amounts, for the lime at least, to little short of infidel-

JUDGMENT IN MATTERS OF FAITH. 831

ity ; yet, upon further reflection it will be evident, that
this interval is less wide than at first sight appears, and
that in fact there is a very close connexion between
such a state of the heart as makes it a man's interest
that the gospel, or any of its doctrines, should be false,
and the temptation to believe that very possibly they
are so. At all events, sinful habits or affections, of
whatever kind, have such a deadening effect upon the
soul, that even where they do not open a direct way to
nominal infidelity, they essentially impede the operations
of faith, and inevitably cause every Christian grace to
wither and decay ; so that whether the man become a
speculative unbeliever or not, he, at least for the time,
becomes a practical one.

In thus illustrating the fact, that unlioliness, either of
heart or life, has a powerful influence in depraving the
judgment in matters of faith, some of the causes of this
unhappy effect have been incidentally mentioned. It
may, however, be useful to consider these causes
somewhat more definitely.

It is obvious, then, in the first place, that where the life
is allowedly unchristian, there cannot possibly exist any
serious luish to be right on the subject of religion ; and
such a defect of loill is always a powerful cause of ob-
liquity of judgment. The scriptures constantly attribute
both doctrinal and practical error to a corrupt state of the
moral and spiritual volitions. " Ye will not come unto
me," said our blessed Lord, " that ye might have
life." Had the wish existed, the power would not
have been withheld. " If any man be anxious to do
the will of God (^i\r, roaTi/,) he shall know of the doc-
trine ;" but where such a disposition of heart does not
exist, there will be a threefold barrier to the attainment
of truth ; namely, a want of suitable application, a
want of aptitude to learn^ and a want of divine in-
struction.

A want of suitable application. — A correct know-
ledge of the Christian scheme of faith and duty is not

332 INFLUENCE OF A MORAL LIFE ON OUR

an intuitive endowment : it can be acquired only in an
attentive perusal of tlie sacred scriptures; in frequent
meditation upon tiieir contents, " comparing spiritual
things with spiritual ;" in the conscientious use of
every subordinate assistance, and in earnest prayer for
the divine illumination and guidance. But where there
exists no adequate desire to know and practise the will
of God, such an application of mind, and such a de-
votion of heart, to sacred studies, are not to be ex-
pected ; and consequently we cannot hope that a right
judgment should be attained in matters of faith, except
indeed so far as an orthodox education, or other ad-
vantageous circumstances may have operated, unsought
for by the individual, to enlighten his understanding,
even while they failed of converting his heart.

A want of aptitude to learn, was further mentioned
as an unavoidable concomitant of wilful unholiness of
heart or life ; for not only is a mind under the influ-
ence of sin rendered averse to the humble study of di-
vine subjects, but the necessary prerequisites for study-
ing them aright are wanting. We constantly perceive,
in ordinary life, and on points quite unconnected with
theology, the powerful influence of particular habits in
producing an inaptitude for the perception of truth on
subjects which, to all but the parties thus prepossessed,
appear sufficiently plain. The arguments which would
fully convince an unprejudiced person of the criminal-
ity of importing or vending illicit articles of merchan-
dize, would have no effect upon the mind of a practis-
ed smuggler. The most elaborate dissertation upon
the atrocity of a piratical life, would be lost upon the
callous perceptions of an Algerine corsair. And with-
out adverting to such extreme cases, do we not per-
ceive, in the daily occurrences of civilized society, that
a familiarity with certain practices, and the frequently
recuning, though scarcely noticed, temptations arising
from them to shut the eyes and harden the heart
against the truth, have the etTect of gradually raising

JUDGMENT IN MATTERS OF FAITH. 333

the most powerful impediments to a ri^lit judgment on
these particular points ; and this perha[)s even where
there is no distinct consciousness, in any individual in-
stance, of a wilful opposition to the force of evifience ?
We see this observation forcibly exemplified in the
conduct of warm party-men of all sects, ages, and
countries. We may also observe, in almost every pro-
fession and avocation of life, the prevalence of particu-
lar practices, which, to all but the individuals concerned,
bear an undeniable character of moral delinquency,
but the sinfulness of which the offenders themselves,
even though in other respects virtuously inclined, do
not perceive, because they have lost, in that pprticular
point, the moral discrimination which is necessary to
render the cnost powerful evidence and suasion effec-
tual to produce conviction and amendment.

And thus it is in the case under consideration ; for
how is it possible that a dispensation, of which the pro-
minent feature is " righteousness and true holiness,"
should approve itself either to the judgment or the
heart of a being whose perceptions are clouded by
moral prejudice and the love of sin ? For example,
the scriptures every where exhibit to us the excellency
of the law of God : but how can this excellency be
duly felt by one who regards that law with abhorrence,
on account of the restraints which it imposes upon his
unbridled appetites ? The scriptures again constantly
speak of the happiness of a life of devotion to God :
but how can this be admitted by one who places his
happiness exclusively in earthly gratifications ."^ The
scriptures declare that " to be carnally minded is
death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace :"
but how can this be credited by one whose whole
practice proceeds upon quite a contrary estimate .''
The scriptures speak throughout of sin, in all its modi-
fications, as an evil of enormous magnitude : but to
such a person no evil is apparent, except indeed so far
as the temporal interests of society are concerned. The

334 INFLUENCE OF A MORAL LIFE ON OUR

scriptures describe the equity of God in visiting every
breach of liis laws with the severest infliction of judg-
ment : but to a man in the state of mind we are de-
scribing, such a proceeding appears far from equitable;
and he even ventures, perhaps, to think it nothing short
of tyranny to inflict punishment for wiiat he calls the
" innocent propensities" of the human character. The
scriptures speak of whatever is holy, whatever re-
sembles God, as excellent and lovely : but the indivi-
dual in question perceives no loveliness in any thing of
the kind : on the contrary, he views a life of piety as
both morbid and misanthropical ; and would gladly
prefer the vain pleasures of a sinful, as well as a tran-
sitory existence, to what he is pleased to consider the
gloom and austerity of scriptural devotion. ]n short,
while his whole constitution remains under the dominion
of sin, there must necessarily be a corresponding inap-
titude for attaining a right judgment on religious sub-
jects ; for such subjects, it must ever be remeinbered,
are not, like the deductions of mathematical or physical
science, merely speculative; — no — they powerfully af-
fect the life and actions, they involve the operation of
the will and affections and therefore the study of them
can be entered upon with advantage only where there
is a suitable " preparation of heart ;" and such a pre-
paration, it is obvious, can never exist where a prefer-
ence for the ways of sin is deliberately cherished.

The absence of divine instruction, was also mentioned
as a most important reason why those who have no
wish to " do the will of God," are not likely " to
know of the doctrine," at least in a way conducive to
their salvation. I'he scriptures every where teach
us, that divine instruction is essentially necessary to a
right understanding in matters of faith ; and this in-
struction, we are further inibrmed, is bestowed only
upon the huudile and the contrite. " Evil men under-
stand not judgment ; but they that seek the Lord
understand all things." *' A scorner seeketh wisdom,

JUDGMENT IN MATTERS OF FAITH. 335

and findetli it not ;" but " the secret of the Lord is
with them tliat fear him." Those who persist in wil-
ful impenitence, the Almighty consigns, in equimUle
retribution, to the sug2;esfions of a misguided under-
standing and a hardened heart. Such was strikingly
the case with the idolatrous heathen. " As they did
not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave
them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things
which are not convenient." Likewise, of those who
" have ciiosen their own ways, and iheir soul delight-
etii in tlieir abominations," Jehovah says, " 1 will
choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon
them : because when I called, none did answer; when
I spoke they did not hear ; but they did evil before
mine eyes, and chose that in which 1 delighted not."
And to the same effect the Apostle St. Paul, speaking
of " the deceivableness of unrighteousness in them
that perish," adds, as the cause of this delusive influ-
ence, " because they received not the love of the
truth, that they might be saved."

Having thus seen how power Ad is the effect of un-
holiness of heart and life, in depraving the judgment
on religious subjects, we proceed,

Secondly, to show that " an humble and conscien-
tious endeavor to do the ivill of God, is eminently
conducive to the progress both of faith and s[)iritual
understanding."

In pursuing this second line of discussion, we shall
employ the converse of the arguments urged under
the first, and endeavor to prove that an ingenuous obe-
dience to the will of God is conducive to a right judg-
ment in matters of faith. First, because it supposes
conscientious application to the subject ; Secondly,
because it shows a suitable preparation for instruction ;
and. Thirdly, because God will not withhold from such
an inquirer the secret guidance of his Holy Spirit, by
whose aid alone we can " have a right judgment in
all things," or in any thing, necessary to our salvation

336 INFLUENCE OF A MORAL LIFE ON OUR

And first, it is a very important advance towards a
correct understanding in religion, when the mind is
honestly disposed for serious investigation. The Be-
reans ^' searched the scriptures daily, whether the
things which were told them by the apostles were so ;"
and it is immediately added, " therefore many of them
believed." As has been already remarked, while the
heart is enslaved by sin, there can be no taste for the
practical study of the word of God. Religion, of ail
subjects, is that which is least likely to attract suitable
attention ; and hence, the very circumstance of enter-
ing upon such inquiries as those which concern our
eternal destination, with a seriousness and zeal propor-
tioned to their importance, is always an auspicious
symptom.

Nor can w^e doubt that a cordial desire to do the
will of God, will thus lead to diligence in investigating
it. In human society, a sincere wish on the part of
an individual to oblige a friend whom he respects and
loves, or to conform to the rules of an institution to
which he has volimtarily attached himself, naturally
induces him to make diligent inquiry into the means
of so doing, in order that he may not oflend by negli-
gence or ignorance those whom he would not alienate
by wilful misconduct. A similar effect takes place in
religion ; so that a conscientious wish to do the will of
God, will not only operate in a constant endeavor to
perform his commands so far as they are hitherto im-
derstood, but it will also be found, under the guidance
of his Holy Spirit, to operate still farther, in leading to
such a devout study of the word of God, -such earnest
prayer for his blessing and direction, and such a dili-
gent use of every means of instruction, as cannot but
issue in a competency of knowledge and faitli, as well
as practical obedience.

Again — this desire to obey the known commands of
God, is of essential service to a right knowledge in
matters of faith, because it indicates a suitable ^^rf^a-

JUDGMENT IN MATTERS OF FAITH. 337

ration of mind for coming to the knowledge of the
divine will. We have already seen how fatal an influ-
ence is exerted, not only by habits of gross vice, but
by every unholy thought and temper, in blinding the
judgment as well as hardening the heart. And in like
manner, on the other hand, every incipient desire to
obey the commands of God, opens the way for new
accessions of faith and spiritual information. It was a
wise and truly religious, though but apocryphal,
apophthegm, that " He that keepeth the law of the
Lord getteth the understanding thereof; and the per-
fection of the fear of the Lord is wisdom." (Ecclus.
xxi. 1 1 .) The sacred text is equally explicit : " The
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom : a good
understanding have all they that do his command-
ments." " With the heart man belleveth unto right-
eousness." " He that doth the will of God, shall
know of the doctrine."

The fact thus scripturally asserted, is quite con-
formable to wh.at we might naturally expect from a
due consideration of the circumstances of the case.
For, in the first place, a person who advances to the
study of the sacred oracles with an hufnble determina-
tion to obey the will of God, avoids most of those
sources of error which have been mentioned in a for-
mer part of these remarks. Not having any wish to
render his religious scheme subservient to the indul-
gence of " the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life," he is not biassed by a false self-
interest to explain away to his own conscience the
awful declarations of the word of God relative to sin
and sinners. His researches not being conducted
with a view to any sinister or secondary object, he is
not tempted to " wrest the scriptures to his own con-
demnation." His paramount desire being to know the
mind, and to obey the commands of God, he will be
content, in simplicity and godly sincerity, to follow
wherever the scriptures of truth may lead. His moral
29

338 INFLUENCE OF A MORAL LIFE ON OUR

endowments, his humility, his integrity, liis fear of er-
ror, and his love of truth, will prove a constant panoply
to guard him from the insidious wiles of his spiritual
enemy, and from the suggestions of evil-minded men,
whose quarrel with the gospel is more an affair of the
heart than of the understanding.

The parable of the sower affords an interesting illus-
tration of the foregoing remarks. The seed sowed
was but of one sort ; the hand that sowed the differ-
ent portions of it was the same ; yet in* some instances
it sprang up and bore fruit abundantly, while in others
it was either devoured by the fowls of the air, or with-
ered away after a short and unserviceable show of
vegetation. Now, whence arose the difference in these
cases.'* The narrative itself informs us. In the for-
mer, it was sown in " an honest and good heart ;" a
heart prepared by the Holy Spirit, through penitence,
faitli. humility, and an earnest wish to obey the will
of God, for its reception ; while in the latter, it fell
cither upon a superficial or a rocky soil, or among
briers and thorns, " the cares of the world, and the
deceitfulness of riches," which choked it, so that it
brought forth no fruit to perfection.

The third and chief reason vvliy an humble and in-
genuous inqnii-er will attain to a right understanding in
religion, while those whose immorality of heart or life
proves their practical indifference to the subject, are
left to the natmal blindness of the human understand-
ing, is intimated in that inspijed promise ; " The meek
will He guide in judgment ; the meek will He teach
his way." It is not enough that there be diligence in
study ; it is not even enough that the heart be in a
Slate of preparation ; for, in addition to this, the divine
blessing and guidance are still requisite to prevent our
being deluded by plausible error or misconception.
Not only must the organ of vision be opened and turn-
ed towards the object, but there must be light from
above in order to discern it. And hence we are
taught, both in scripture and by our Church, to pray

JUDGMENT IN MATTERS OF FAITH. 339

for the illuminating influences of the Holy S|)irit ; not
indeed the sensible impulses claimed by the enthusiast,
but that ordinary and unseen agency by which God is
pleased to " work in us both to will and to do of his
good pleasure." This sacred guidance is promised
to all who diligently seek it : so that to every Chris-
tian we may apply, at least subordinately, the words
of the apostle ; " We have received, not the spirit of
the world, but the Spirit which is of God ; that we
might know the things that are freely given to us of
God." " Ye have an unction from the Holy One,
and know all things."

The narrative of Cornelius, the Roman centurion,
furnishes a striking corroboration of the preceding
arguments. He is described as " a devout man, one
that feared God with all his house, who gave much
alms to the people, and prayed to God alway." Con-
scientious in his character, and doubtless guided,
though unknown to himself, by the secret influences of
the Holy Spirit, he endeavored to act up to his imper-
fect knowledge of the divine will, at the same time
earnestly wishing for a clearer discovery of it than he
had hitherto enjoyed, or than his profession and oppor-
tunities of instruction seemed likely to afford. Thus
devoutly disposed, he was keeping a solemn fast, and
was occupied in prayer at the hour of the evening
sacrifice, when an angel was divinely commissioned to
appear to him, and to direct him in what manner to
obtain those instructions which issued in his plenary
information and baptism into the faith of Christ.

The case of the Ethiopian eunuch is somewhat
analogous. He evinced his sincere desire to obey the
will of God, and his preparation of lieart to receive
the doctrine of the gospel, by taking a long journey
in order to worship at Jerusalem ; by diligently peru-
sing the holy scriptures, " which were able to make
him wise to salvation," and by gladly accepting the
proffered instructions of Philiji, who had been expressly
commissioned by an angel to meet him on his way.

340 INFLUENCE OF A MORAL LIFE ON OUR

Tn both these instances, we see the promises before
cited, of divine guidance to the humble and obedient
inquirer, fulfilled, not only in a very remarkable, but
even a miraculous, manner : yet the very circumstan-
ces which exclude these cases from the rank of ordi-
nary precedents, prove most forcibly the general truth
under consideration ; for we find from these narratives,
that, sooner than a heart prepared and disposed to
receive religious instruction should be left finally des-
titute of it, an angel was commissioned from heaven,
and an apostle or other special messenger appointed
to convey the necessary intelligence.

The circumstances of these two memorable instan-
ces will farther supply a satisfactory answer to some of
the chief objections which may possibly be alleged
against the views contained in the preceding pages.

Should it be urged, for example, on the one hand,
by any systematic doctrinalists, that an endeavor, how-
ever ingenuous, to obey the commands of God, while
there still remains great doctrinal ignorance in the
mind, is not likely to lead beyond mere formalism or
pharisaism — nay, is even less favorable to an humble
reception of the gospel, than a state of allowed vice ; —
these remarkable instances, in which the Almighty was
pleased to honor such a teachable disposition of mind
with peculiar approbation, and to gratify the desires of
these penitent inquirers by miraculously sending to
them the knowledge of the truth, will prove the falla-
cy of so unscriptural an hypothesis. The case of the
Scribes and Pharisees, of whom our Lord said that
publicans and sinners should enter the kingdom of God
before them, was of a very different kind. In those
haughty self-justiciaries there was no disposition con-
scientiously to perform even the ordinary duties of
morality : they subverted the divine law by vain tra-
ditions and superstitions ; and, far from exhibiting any
tenderness of conscience, any disposition to practise
what they already knew, and to look humbly for fur-
ther instruction, they were perfectly contented with

JUDGMENT IN MATTERS OF FAITH. 341

their owd attainments, and even made use of their
knowledge in order to relax by disingenuous glosses
the obligations of the system which they professed.
It is obvious that such characters possessed nothing in
common with the devout and diffident inqnircM*, to
whom exclusively the promises of divine illumination
are made.

Or, should it be urged, on the other hand, by a far
more numerous class of objectors, that moral conduct
is all that is necessary for liuman salvation ; should it
be said, in contradiction to the declarations of scrip-
ture, and the language of our established Church, that
" every man shall be saved by the law or sect which
he professeth, so that he be diligent to frame his life
according to that law, and the light of nature ;" we
have here two remarkable cases in which God saw fit
in a most conspicuous manner to eviiice the necessity
of divine revelation in general, and particularly of faith
in the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ,* and the
other distinguishing doctrines of the gospel, by sending
chosen servants expressly to instruct Cornelius and tl>e
Ethiopian eunuch \n points of this natiu'e, notwithstand-
ing their previous devoutness and moral deportment.

In short, should it be argued that upon the hypoth-
esis which it has been the object of these pages to en-
force, any point of Christian faith or practice is render-
ed unnecessary, we may confidently appeal to the two
examples under consideration to prove the contrary.
Should it be doubted, for example, whether an ingea-

* The doctrine of the atonement, and the chief points connected
with the person and offices of the divine Surety, seem to have been
the especial subject of Philip's conversation with the eunuch ; for it
is said, " The place of the scripture which he read was this, ' He was
led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb dumb before his
shearers, so opened he not his mouth ; in his humiliation his judp;-
ment was taken away, and who shall declare his geiiei-ation ? for his
life was taken from the earth.' Then Philip opened his mouth, and
began at the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus," — doubt-
less in the capacity in which this and other prophets represented him,
Bamely, as a Sacrifice for the sins of the world.

29*

542 INFLUENCE OF A MORAL LIFE ON OUR

uous desire to obey the will of God, even before we
are fully acquainted with it, is an important and char-
acteristic mark of incipient conversion, we may adduce
the history of Cornelius and the Ethiopian eutiuch, to
show how conspicuous a place such a disposition oc-
cupied in the first stages of their religious inquiries.
Or, should it be urged, that if practical obedience be of
so much importance, there is no great necessity for
prayer or sacred study, — we may remind the objector
that it was while the Roman centurion was fasting and
praying, and the Ethiopian treasurer was diligently
reading the scriptures, that God was pleased to mark
his approval of their conduct by sending them the
means of further instruction. Or, should it be object-
ed that the preceding remarks would reduce religion
to mere ingenuousness of princij)le, thus superseding
the necessity for correctness of religious doctrine and
faith, — we may show that these very narratives teach
quite a different lesson ; for Philip expressly said, " If
thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest be bap-
tized ; and he answered and said, / believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God^ And lastly, should it be
urged that if practical obedience has such a tendency
to lead to scrij)tural knowledge, the agency of the
Holy Spirit is rendered unnecessary, it is obvious to
reply fiom the same narratives, that it was the Holy
Spirit, who, though unseen by mortal eyes, implant-
ed and f(jstered the rising graces of Cornelius and
the Ethiopian eunuch, who further provided the means
for their instruction, who opened their hearts to receive
it, and who is expressly mentioned as having been
present by his divine influences with both these devout
men at their baptism ; thus showing, throughout the
whole process of their conversion, the need of his own
all-powerful agency, even while he saw fit to employ
the ordinary means of prayer, and fasting, and pre-
paratory •dis|)osilions, and the study of the scriptures,
and the Christian ministry and sacraments, to effect his
gracious purposes.

JUDGMENT IN MATTERS OF FAITH. 343

While thus alluding to some of the principal argu-
ments which may be urged against the main propositions
on which this Essay is founded, it may be well to advert
to an objection which at first sight appears somewhat
plausible ; namely, that we often find, in the current
phrase, " a weak head joined with an honest heart ;"
so that the doctrine contended for cannot be generally
true. To this it is only necessary to reply, that we
have no sufficient proof of the alleged fact that an
ingenuous desire to know God, and to obey his will, is
not always able in due time, by means of the appointed
assistances and means of grace, to overcome any ob-
stacles which may arise from want of vigor of mider-
standing; provided, of course, the inaptitude be not of
such an extent to render the individual incapable of
exercising the ordinary mental functions of a rational
agent. Indeed, we not un frequently observe persons
of very confined intellect, and with but feeble means
of instruction, acquainted, in a surprising degree, with
religious subjects, and able both to reason and to act
in spiritual concerns, with a propriety which ought to
put to the blush many learned and intellectual, but
only nominal, Christians. Besides all wliich, we must
never forget to add the promised assistance of God's
Holy Spirit, who will not suffer those who humbly and
diligently seek instruction, to perish for want of it.
" If thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thy
heart to understanding ; if thou seekest her as silver,
and searchest for her as for hid treasures, then shalt
thou undei-stand the fear of t!)e Lord, and find the
knowledge of God ; for the Lord giveth ivisdom, and
out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understand-
ing." Such is the divine promise; and sooner than it
shall fail, a Peter shall be sent to instruct a Cornelius,
or a Philip be commissioned to seek out a remote
Ethiopian stianger. And if such miraculous interposi-
tions are not to be expected in our own day, (as of
course they are not,) it is only because they are no
longer necessary for the fulfilment of the divine prom-

344 INFLUENCE OF A MORAL LIFE ON OUR

ises. The Almighty can and will render the ordinary-
means of grace, by the blessing of his Holy Spirit,
amply sufficient for the instruction of all who are really
solicitous to learn. Their progress in divine knowl-
edge may, in many cases, be slow ; and their views,
after all their efforts, may never become very expan-
sive or elevated ; but of thus much we may rest assur-
ed, that they shall be preserved from every essential
error, and '* be kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation," in that narrow road which lead-
eth to life everlasting. "A highway shall be there,
and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness :
the unclean shall not pass over it ; but the wayfaring
men, though fools, siiall not err therein." It is not
necessary to salvation to be intimately acquainted with
every topic even in divinity ; much less is it essential
for our knowledge to be collected at the first glance by
the intuitive sagacity of a perspicacious intellect. Tiie
most humble and teachable penitent may for a con-
siderable time find his mind distressed or disturbed :
he may wander long in doubt or difficulty ; but he
shall not wander fatally or finally. Implicit self-dedi-
cation to God ; prayer for the divine direction ; avoid-
ing pride, obstinacy, and flipj)ancy ; and conscientiously-
seeking every opportunity of instruction, constitute a
far surer road to Christian knowledge, as well as to
faith, than the laborious triflings of a powerful but
self-sufficient understanding.

Another objection which may be anticipated to the
position laid down in these pages, and the last to which
we shall allude, is, that the doctrine contended for is
unfortimately too well founded ; for that in truth the
devout admission of the j)eculiarities of Christianity is
only a pious prejudice, and that such a state of mind
as has been described is therefore a very suitable
preparation for it. I'he infidel notoriously urges this
argument; and many who assiniie to themselves the
title of " rational Christians" occasionally euiploy it,
at least in a modified form. *' What," it is asked

JUDGMENT IN MATTERS OF FAITH. 345

" can moral sensations have to do with intellectual
verities ? If a man is not likely thoroughly to under-
stand and believe the gospel till he is prepared to obey
it, is it not a proof that prepossession rather than argu-
ment effected his conversion ? Ought not every doc-
trine professing to come from God to carry witli it
such irresistible evidence that a man must understand
and believe it, whatever may be his secret wishes, or
however strong his natural prejudices ?" — To this it
may he fairly i-eplied, that Christianity is demonstrable
— irrefragably demonstrable — by argument; a point
on which it is surely not necessary to enlarge after
the many invaluable treatises which have appeared on
the subject. But, however demonstrable Christianity,
or any of its peculiar doctrines, may be proved to be,
still moral, and indeed spiritual, dispositions are re-
quired for investigating its claims; for where such
dispositions do not exist, there will not even be the
taste or capacity for such an investigation ; any more
than a person destitute of musical perceptions would
be likely voluntarily, and for no purpose, to devote
himself to the study of Handel, or a man singularly
averse to mathematical reasoning to the Principia of
Newton. It is not therefore derogating from the do-
monstrable character of the gospel, to admit, that
though its divine Author might doubtless have render-
ed its evidences irresistible, even to the most careless
or hardened opponent, he has seen fit to connect the
whole of revelation with a system of moral discipline,
and to render an obedient heart the surest guide to a
perception of its character and evidences. In truth,
we may fiiirly contend, that, had the gospel been a
system appealing merely to abstract reasoning, and as
susceptible of being correctly estimated by a proud
and vicious, as by an humble and dutiful, inquirer, it
would have lost one of its strongest evidences ; name-
ly, its wonderful adaptation to the actual habits of
mankind, whose reasonings are almost in every in-
stance strongly affected by their personal character

346 INFLUENCE OF A MORAL LIFE ON OUR

and feelinsjs, and who could never have been induced,
witliout a direct miracle, generally lo embrace Chris-
tianity, even as a system, had it been presented to
them in the aspect which the advocates for abstract
reasoning unconnected with moral obedience contend
that it ought to have assumed. — But this is a large
field iirto which it is impracticable on the present oc-
casion to enter. Let it suffice to have suggested the
topic for the consideration of those who have not duly
reflected upon the eminent wisdom displayed in the
divinely appointed connexion between Christian faith,
Christian knowledge, and Christian obedience ; or
who may have thought the arguments for the gospel
weakened rather than strengthened by this union of
appeal to the heart and the understanding. It may
be consoling also to the diffident Christian, who per-
haps finds his faith sometimes endangered, when he
hears of persons of alleged powerful minds and great
attainments rejecting the gos|)el, or any of its essential
peculiarities, to reflect that they could never have
examined into its claims and character aright ; '
that, even if they applied their intellect to the investi-
gation, they were deficient in those teachable disposi-.
tions, those conscientious efforts to obey the known
will of God, and those earnest aspirations for the in-
structions of his Holy Spirit, which the all-wise Found- j
er of Christianity has rendered absolutely necessaryj
for appreciating its merits ; a circumstance quite conri
sistent with our views of the character of God, and^iiM;
full accordance with the fact of mankind being mi^a*
state of spiritual discipline and probation. ol

It would be very difficult, if not inipossible, t0jffoT;'v
a hardened infidel, or a confirmed advocate for
grossly heterodox tenet, who was qualified by iiie,.
union of prayer, devoutness, a reverential fear of Godj/r
a conscientious dread of misinleipreting any statement
of the sacred page, an humble disiiust of his own
judgment, and a determination not to be swayed by
his passions or preconceived opinions, to decide upon

JUDGMENT IN MATTERS OF FAITH. 347

the doctrinps of holy writ. But very difTerenl is the
case with sucli an inquirer as lias been described. Does
he hear of mysteries in religion ^ He feels tliat the
world is full of mysteries ; and be is too well assured
of tbe unsearcbableness of God and tbe narrow limits
of his own understanding to view the mysteries of the
gospel as a just obstacle to his belief: indeed, he
would rather be inclined to distrust a professedly
divine revelation which should contain nothing beyond
what was fathomable by the feebie powers of a short-
lived and imperfect being hke himself. It does not
therefore shock his mind to believe with the Church
of England, in her First Article,* that though there is
but " one living and true God," yet tl)at " in the
unity of this Godhead there be three persons of one
substance, power, and eternity, — the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost." Convinced again by daily ex-
perience of the powerful tendency of his own heart to
gravitate to the world and its vanities; of the manifold
feniplaiions to sin which beset him, and of the feeble-

.i^Ji^ of his best imassisted endeavors to rt-sist them;
such an inquirer is prepared to understand and to ad-
mit, that " man is very far gone from orii!;inal rij^lit-
eousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil ;"
that *' this infection of nature doth remain, yea, in

hem that are regenerated ;" that we are at our best

^slaie " miserable sinners ;" tliat " there is no health

us ;" that " we have no power of ourselves to help

selves," and that we cannot " turn and prepare

elves by our own natural strength and good works

faith and calling u()on God." Thus penitently con-

1 of his real condition by nature, and disposed

--coive the testimony of God, as it unfolds itself

-) n'is understanding and conscience, such an inquirer

ill gratefully perceive the close adaptation of Chris-

* The follovvino; references are made exclusively to the Articles
and Liturgy of the Church of England ; but the attentive reader will
be easily able to refer to corresponding passages of holy scripture, on
which they are grounded.

348 INFLUENCE OF A MORAL LIFE.

tianity to the necessities of those for whose benefit it is
revealed ; and will find a powerful incidental argu-
ment for its truth and divine origin, in that consolatory-
doctrine, that " the Son, which is the Word of the
Father, begotten from everlasting of the Father, the
very and eternal God, of one substance with the
Father, took man's nature ;" and in this nature " truly
suffered, was crucified, dead, and buried, to reconcile
his Father to us, and to be a sacrifice not only for
original guilt, but also for the actual sins of men ;"
and, further, that " we are accounted righteous be-
fore God only for the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ
by faith, and not for our own works and deserviiigs."
At the same time, anxious to obey the will of God,
and prepared, by holy dispositions of heart and moral
habits of life, to make a disinterested judgment in
those matters of faith which relate to our submission
to the divine commands, he perceives nothing to lead
him to suppose that this fundamental tenet of scripture,
this foundation-stone of our own Church, has any
licentious len('ency ; or that it is otherwise than *' a
most wholesome doctrine," as well as " very full of
comfort." Far from feeling inclined to take advan-
tage of it with a view to sin in order that grace may
abound, he is conscious from his daily experience of
its sanctifying tendency : his faith, in proportion as it
is " true and lively," he finds to be " necessarily pro-
ductive of good works ;" so that he perceives the wis-
dom of the divine arrangement in securing the interests
of morality by means of that very dispensation which
reveals free and unmerited pardon, justification, and
salvation to every true believer, in virtue of the obedi-
ence unto death of his all-sufficient Surety.