Essays on some of the peculiarities of the Christian religion

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ESSAYS,

ESSAYS

ON

SOME OF THE PECULIARITIES

OF THE

CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

BY

RICHARD WHATELY, D.D.

PRINCIPAL OF ST. ALBAN's HALL, OXFORD, AND LATB FELLOW
OF ORIEL COLLEGE.

OXFORD,

PRINTED BY W. BAXTER,

FOR *OHN MURRAY, LONDON.
1825.

TO THE

RIGHT HONOURABLE

LORD GRENVILLE,

CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD.

MY LORD,

THE following work contains the substance of
some discourses delivered by me, as Select
Preacher, before this University ; a place to which
I have been long affectionately attached, and for
my restoration to which, as a resident member, I
am indebted to your Lordship's favour.

It is also the first work I have brought before
the public, since my appointment to the situation
I now hold.

By inscribing it therefore to your Lordship, I
considered that I was adopting the most appro
priate mode within my reach, of testifying how
sensible I am of the kindness, as well as the
honour, implied in this selection.

I could not indeed but feel proud of owing my
appointment to a Nobleman, with whom I had

A 3

vi DEDICATION.

no personal or political connexion, and who had
always been regarded as the patron of academical
merit, as well as a steady promoter of the welfare
of the University.

Before I was placed where I now am, it might
have exposed me to the suspicion of interested
views, if I had offered such a publication to your
notice, or ventured to express those sentiments of
respect which are common to every member, and
to every true friend, of this University : but a de
dication to one from whom I have already received
all that I could ever hope to obtain, can only be
interpreted, I trust, by yourself, and by the world,
as a tribute, however humble, of gratitude for a
past favour, and of applause for public virtues.

I have the honour to be,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's most obliged
and most obedient humble Servant,

RICHARD WHATELY.

ST. ALBAN'S HALL,
Nov. 28, 1825.

PREFACE.

A HE greater part of the substance of the
following Essays was delivered in several
discourses before the University of Oxford,
about five years ago. They 'were not ori
ginally designed for publication; but the
author was induced to entertain the idea
at the suggestion of some friends, whose
opinions are entitled to deference, and who
thought that the views contained in them
might have the effect on some minds, not
of introducing new doctrines, but of awak
ening attention to some important points
which are very frequently overlooked ; and
that the chain of argument would appear
to more advantage, and would be likely to
be more justly estimated, when comprised

A 4

viii PREFACE.

in a volume, than when delivered, as was
necessarily the case, at long intervals from
the University pulpit.

Various avocations, which have delayed
the publication of these Essays till the pre
sent time, have also had the effect, in some
degree, of preventing their receiving that
minute examination in every part, and
careful correction, which a proper respect
both for the subject and for the reader
might seem to demand : but as these avo
cations were not likely either to cease, or
to be diminished, it was not thought de
sirable to keep back the work any longer,
in the hope of bestowing on it that undi
vided attention, which unavoidable obsta
cles might prevent it from ever receiving.

It is hardly necessary to observe, that I
have not entertained the design of noticing
all the peculiarities of the Christian reli
gion ; which would indeed amount to little
less than a complete system of theology ;
nor even all the principal ones; but those

PREFACE. ix

only which appeared to be the most fre
quently overlooked, or depreciated. That
the unbeliever should rank Christianity
along with the various systems of supersti
tion which human fraud and folly have
produced and maintained, keeping out of
sight every circumstance that forms a dis
tinction between the true coin and the
counterfeit, is not to be wondered at ; but
to oppose decided infidelity (though it is
hoped some of the arguments adduced
may be employed with effect for that pur
pose) has not been made the primary ob
ject of these Essays. I have had in view
the case of those who regard Christianity
with indifference, rather than of those who
reject it.

It is a more common, and not a less
pernicious, error, to regard Christianity as
little else than the religion of nature, pro
claimed by a special mission, for the be
nefit, chiefly, of those whose feebleness of
intellect, ignorance, or depraved disposi-

x PREFACE.

lion, unfits them for discovering its truths
by the light of Reason. The Gospel ac
cordingly, while praised as a beautiful sys
tem, and highly extolled for its utility, is
praised, in fact, for what does not belong-
to it, viz. its containing nothing of import
ance which a philosophical mind might not
discover by its own unaided powers : and
is regarded as useful only for the less
intelligent, and less cultivated ; in short,
for the vulgar.

There are others, again, whose venera
tion for the Gospel is more real, but who
erroneously think to honour and support
it by laying a foundation which, in fact,
tends to weaken and degrade the super
structure. Beginning with natural reli
gion, they attribute to that much of what
properly belongs to Christianity, and much
that belongs to neither ; and thus often
lead to the perversion of some parts of the
Gospel, and to the depreciation of others.
In fact, the study of natural religion ought

PREFACE. xi

properly to follow, or at least to accom
pany, not to precede, that of revelation.
Our own speculations ought to be con
trolled and regulated by a divine revela
tion, when it is once ascertained that a
revelation exists : they should not be left
to range unlimited and unassisted, on a
subject on which God has Himself decided
that man is not competent of himself to
judge rightly. And if Reason be for some
time enthroned as sole judge and lawgiver,
she will not afterwards readily resign her
seat, and submit her decisions, to Reve
lation ; but will often exercise an undue
interference. It is sometimes complained,
that the mind is unduly biassed in its judg
ments by continual reference to the autho
rity of the Scriptures ; and the complaint
is just, if the Scriptures are not the word
of God: if they are, there is an opposite
and corresponding danger to be guarded
against ; that of suffering the mind to be
unduly biassed in the study and intcrprc-

xii PREFACE.

tation of the revealed will of God, by the
deductions of unaided reason.

Respecting the peculiarities about to be
noticed, various misconceptions are afloat,
according to the diversity both of the seve
ral points in question, and of the habits of
mindof different individuals: acircumstance
may be either utterly overlooked and dis
regarded; — or it may be supposed not con
nected with, or not peculiar to, our religion,
while in fact it is so; — or its importance
may be under-rated. This variety in the
errors to be guarded against, must give
rise occasionally to a corresponding variety
in the topics dwelt on ; and the necessity
of thus shifting the attention successively
to different quarters, may, it is feared, give
a desultory and interrupted appearance to
some parts of the work : but the incon
venience is one which cannot be entirely
avoided, when it is necessary, within a
moderate compass, to maintain and illus
trate, with a view to different descriptions

PREFACE. xiii

of readers, several different positions, all
intimately connected with the main object.
Numerous, indeed, and various are the
misapprehensions which have prevailed
(not to advert to heresies which have been
formally stigmatized as such) respecting
the peculiarities of the Christian religion :
for as on the one hand many deny to
the Gospel much of what belongs to it,
or refer to the religion of nature, much
that belongs exclusively to Christianity,
so, on the other hand, many, and some
times even the same, persons attribute to
the Gospel revelation what forms no part
of it ; or represent that as peculiar to it,
which really does lie within the reach of
natural reason. A familiar instance of
this last is the representation given by
some of the doctrine of the corrupt nature
of man ; which they represent as a truth
resting on revelation, and claiming to be
acknowledged as an article of faith not
discoverable by reason : whereas daily ex-

xiv PREFACE.

perience sufficiently proves it; and though
there are still, and ever will be, some who
will not learn from experience, men of
sense, in all ages, seem to have fallen little,
if at all, short of the truth, in that point.
The history indeed of the fall of man is
revealed in Scripture; but the actual con
dition of man, though often adverted to,
can hardly be said to be revealed in Scrip
ture, any more than the truths, that the
sun shines by day and the moon by night.
The origin of evil, again, not a few are apt
to speak of, as explained and accounted
for, at least in great part, by the Scripture
accounts of " sin entering into the world,
and death by sin;" whereas the Scriptures
leave us, with respect to the difficulty in
question, just where they find us, and are
manifestly not designed to remove it. He
who professes to account for the existence
of evil, by merely tracing it up to Ihe Jirst
evil recorded as occurring, would have no
reason to deride the absurdity of an atheist,

PREFACE. xv

who should profess to account for the ori
gin of the human race, without having
recourse to a Creator, by simply tracing
them up to thejirst pair.

Errors of this class, however, the nature
of my design, in the following Essays, will
only allow me to notice slightly and inci
dentally: the principal object proposed
being to guard against those of the oppo
site description ; which tend to the de
preciation, and ultimately the neglect, of
Christianity, by keeping out of sight, or
under-rating, many of its great and im
portant peculiarities.

Bishop Warburton's "Divine Legation"
is a work too well known to require that a
distinct reference should be made to it in
every place in which I have availed myself
of his learning and ingenuity. I can hardly
be suspected of wishing to impose on the
public as my own, what I have borrowed
from an author who has so long been
before them. To have exhibited clearly

xvi PREFACE.

in a small space, separated from extraneous
matter, and from topics of temporary con
troversy, some of the most important parts
of an inestimably valuable, but voluminous,
digressive, and incomplete work, may
prove advantageous not only to such as
have not studied the work, but, in some
degree, to many also even of those who are
familiar with it.

ESSAY I.

ON A FUTURE STATE.

THE doctrine of man's immortality, when
once the mind can be brought to dwell intently
on the subject, is certainly the most interesting
and the most important that can be presented
to him. Other objects may, and often do,
occupy more of our attention, and take a
stronger hold of our feelings; but that in real
importance, all those objects are comparatively
trifles, no one can doubt. Other matters of
contemplation, again, may be, in themselves,
not less awful, stupendous, and wonderful ;
but none of these can so intimately concern
ourselves. Admirable as is the whole of God's
creation, no other of his works can be so in
teresting to man, as man himself; sublime as
is the idea of the eternal Creator himself, our
own eternal existence after death is an idea
calculated to strike us with still more over-

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2 Future state.

powering emotions. That man, feeble and
shortlived as he appears on earth, is destined
by his Maker to live for ever — that ages hence,
when we and our remotest posterity shall have
been long forgotten on earth — and countless
ages yet beyond, when this earth itself, and
perhaps a long succession of other worlds, shall
have come to an end — we shall still be living ;
still sensible of pleasure or pain, to a greater
degree perhaps than our present nature admits
of, and still having no shorter space of exist
ence before us than at first — these are thoughts
which overwhelm the imagination the more, the
longer it dwells upon them. The understanding
cannot adequately embrace the truths it is com
pelled to acknowledge: and when, after intently
gazing for some time on this vast prospect, we
turn aside to contemplate the various courses
of earthly events and transactions, which seem
like rivulets trickling into the boundless ocean
of eternity, we are struck with a sense of the
infinite insignificance of all the objects around
us that have a reference to our present state
alone; while every the most minute circum
stance, that may concern the future life, like a

Future state. 3

seed from which some mighty tree is to spring,
rises into immeasurable importance, as the awful
reflection occurs that perhaps something which
is taking place at this very moment may contri
bute to fix our final destiny. There is no one
truth, in short, the conviction of which tends to
produce so total a change in our estimate of
all things.

The powerful influence which such a belief
is likely to have on the conduct of those who
keep it habitually before them, is too obvious
to need being insisted on : but it may be in
teresting, and not unprofitable, to enquire, by
whom a doctrine thus sublime in contempla
tion, thus important in practice, was first
proposed to us ; by whom " life and immor
tality were brought to light :" proposed, I
mean, not as a matter of curious speculation,
and interesting conjecture, but as a point of
general, and well-grounded, and practical be
lief; brought to light, not as an ingenious and
pleasing theory, but as an established truth ;
displayed to us, not as a wandering meteor
that serves but to astonish and amuse us, but

B 2

4 Future stale.

as the great luminary which is destined to
brighten our prospect, and to direct our steps.

Now that " Jesus Christ brought life and
immortality to light through the Gospel," and
that, in the most literal sense, which implies
that the revelation of this doctrine is peculiar
to his Gospel, seems to be at least the most
obvious meaning of the Scriptures of the New
Testament. The doctrine in question, which
occupies a very prominent place in the preach
ing of the Apostles, appears in general to be
taught by them not as one already well esta
blished, resting on sufficient evidence, and
which they had only to acknowledge and con
firm, but as a part of the revelation which they
were commissioned to communicate.

That infidels who admit the doctrine should
reject this account of its establishment, is at
least consistent; but there are not a few among
Christians who seem to regard it as a truth,
not only discoverable, but actually discovered,
by unassisted human reason ; and who have
maintained, that though debased and perverted
in form by ignorant superstition, it has been

Future state. 5

in substance fully and generally admitted, in
almost all ages and countries. And there have
been others, who, though not going the length
of making this knowledge a part of natural
religion, and ascribing it to the Pagan nations
of antiquity, have yet insisted that it is a part
of the revelation given through Moses to the
Israelites.

In favour of the first of these opinions, it is
often pleaded, in addition to the direct argu
ments drawn from the Pagan writers, that to
deny the power of reason to establish this
truth, is to weaken the foundation of natural
religion, and to diminish the support it affords
to Christianity : it is even contended by one
writer of no small repute, that " the natural
revolutions and resurrections of other creatures
render the resurrection of the body highly pro
bable. The day dies into a night, and is buried
in silence and in darkness; in the next morning
it appeareth again and reviveth, opening the
grave of darkness, rising from the dead of
night; this is a diurnal resurrection. As the
day dies into night, so doth the summer into
winter;" &c. &c. &c. In favour of the latter

B 3

0 Future state.

also of the above-mentioned opinions it has been
urged, that to acknowledge no revelation of a
future state in the law of Moses is <c derogatory
to God's honour, injurious to the Mosaic dis
pensation, a very erroneous and dangerous doc
trine," &c. &c. and this in a discourse on the
very text which asserts that " Jesus Christ
brought life and immortality to light through
the Gospel!" To reconcile this passage with
such opinions, (which a Christian who enter
tains them is evidently bound to do,) has been
attempted in a manner which may fairly be
designated explaining away those words of the
Apostle; and indeed not those words only, but
the general tenor of the whole of the preaching
of the Apostles, as far as relates to the point in
question ; so as to lay them open to the censure
of giving an overcharged representation of the
Gospel scheme, when they characterize it as
" bringing life and immortality to light."

I shall not, however, at present dwell on this
inconsistency, because as long as the notion
remains unrefuted, that the doctrine of a future
immortality could be known, and was known,
independently of the Gospel, to prove that the

Future state. 1

first preachers of Christianity professed to ex
hibit the first revelation of that truth, would be
only to expose them to the imputation of
groundless pretensions, and thus to give a
colour to the cavils of the infidel, who is ready
enough to charge them with falsely laying
claim to the original announcement of a doc
trine already well established.

It will be advisable therefore to enquire first
into the notions entertained on this subject by
the ancient Pagans and by the Jews, and the
grounds on which those notions rested ; in
order that the questions may be, as far as pos
sible, decided, how far natural reason, and
how far the Mosaic revelation, are calculated,
in this respect, to supersede the Gospel, in
affording a rational and a well-established as
surance of a future state. I say, " well-esta
blished,0 because if the doctrine were made
to rest on the most decisive evidence, but on
such evidence as could not be comprehended
by any but profound philosophers, the mass of
mankind would still need a revelation to assure
them of it. On the other hand, I say " ra
tional" as well as " established," because how-

B 4

8 Future state.

ever general and confident the belief of it
might be, if that belief rested on no " rational"
grounds, it would still need to be made known
(since conjecture is not knowledge) on sufficient
authority. It is important therefore to remem
ber, that there are two points, neither of which
should be lost sight of in the present enquiry :
in what degree the belief of a future state pre
vailed among the ancients ; and how far those
who did entertain such belief were correct in
their notions of it, and warranted in maintain
ing them : since it is plain, that no opinion de
serves to be called knowledge, except so far as
it is not only agreeable to truth, but also sup
ported by adequate evidence.

The popular mythology of the Greeks and
Romans (to direct our attention in the first
place to the Pagan nations) did certainly con
tain ample descriptions of a life after this, and
of the places prepared for the reward and
punishment, respectively, of the virtuous and
the wicked. And though it might be urged,
with truth, that this mythology, resting as it
did on no other evidence than that of vague,
and incoherent, and contradictory tradition,

Future slate. 9

<:ould not afford any rational assurance of a
future state3, and also that it did not inculcate
the doctrine of a resurrection, and was in many
other points greatly at variance with what
Christians receive as the authentic and true
account; still it must be admitted, that a system
so far correct in its outline as to contain the
notion of a just judgment, and a state of retri
bution hereafter, to be influenced by our con
duct during the present life, would, in some
degree, supply the want of the Gospel reve
lation on these points ; provided it were (on
whatever evidence) fully and firmly and ge
nerally established among the mass of the corn-

a Such, of course, must be the case with the notions of Pagans
of the present day on the subject, as well as with those of the
barbarous nations of antiquity, of whose mythology we have
no distinct and authentic accounts. How far the doctrine of
a future state did or does prevail, and prevail as a matter of
serious belief, in those nations, it is by no means easy to de
termine on sufficient evidence. In those of modern times it is
also difficult, if not impossible, to decide, Vv'hether, and to what
degree, some parts of their religion may have been derived,
through a remote and corrupt tradition, from the Gospel. The
fairest mode of trying the question therefore seems to be, by
examining the opinions that prevailed before the promulgation
of the Gospel.

10 Future state.

munity. Now that this was not the case, with
respect to the accounts of a future state current
among the ancients, is the conclusion which
will present itself to any one who examines the
question fully and candidly : I say, fully and
candidly, because one whose researches are
very limited, will not be unlikely to have met with
such passages only in ancient writers as would,
of themselves, lead, to a contrary conclusion ;
and one who is strongly prepossessed in favour
of that conclusion, will confine his attention
to those passages, seeking only to explain away
all that militate against it. The truth is, there
are many passages to be found (and that,
frequently in the same authors) of each de
scription ; some that seem to imply the gene
ral belief, and others the disbelief, of the ac
counts of a future life. But it should be re
membered, that, in such a case, the latter are
entitled to the greater weight : for there can be
no doubt that the fables of Elysium and Tar
tarus were a part of the popular religion, which
it was usually thought decorous to speak of
with respect ; and the doctrine of a future
state was regarded as especially expedient to

Future state. 1 1

be inculcated on the vulgar, in order to restrain
them in cases beyond the control of human
laws ; so that a good reason can be assigned
for a philosopher's appearing to consider the
doctrine as indubitable, though he neither be
lieved it himself, nor could flatter himself that
it was so generally believed as he might think
desirable : whereas on the other hand no reason
whatever can be assigned for any one's treating
it as a fable, if he really did believe it. When
then we find Socrates and his disciples repre
sented by Plato as fully admitting in their dis
cussion of the subject, that " men in general
were highly incredulous as to the soul's future
existence," and as expecting that " it would,
at the moment of our natural death, be dis
persed (as he expresses it) like air or smoke,
and cease altogether to exist, so that it would
require no little persuasion and argument to
convince them that the soul can exist after
death, and can retain any thing of its powers
and intelligence ;" — when we find this, I say,
asserted, or rather alluded to, as notoriously
the state of popular opinion, we can surely
entertain but little doubt that the accounts of

12 Future state.

Elysium and Tartarus were regarded as mere
poetical fables, calculated to amuse the ima
gination, but unworthy of serious belief.

It may be thought, however, (though the sup
position does not seem a probable one,) that
the philosopher mistook, or misrepresented,
the opinions of his countrymen : let us turn to
the records of matters of fact, as presented to
us by an able and faithful historian, who pos
sessed the amplest opportunities for obtaining
information. The testimony of Thucydides,
not as to the professed belief, but as to the
conduct, of the Athenians, under those trying
circumstances in which the near approach of
death impresses the most forcibly the thought
of a future state on the minds of those who
expect it — his testimony, I say, as to their
conduct on such an occasion, must alone prove
almost decisive of the question. For it will
hardly be denied, that those who firmly believe
in a future state, or even regard it as a thing
highly probable, however the pursuits and oc
cupations of this world may have drawn off
their attention from it, will be likely, when
death evidently draws near — death, not in the

Future state. 13

tumultuous ardour of battle, but in the calm,
yet resistless, progress of disease — to think with
lively and anxious interest of the life of another
world. If they have any apprehensions at all
of judgment to come, they will usually wish to
" die the death of the righteous,*' even though
they may not have been willing to lead the life
of the righteous. Even those who have been
in some doubt respecting this truth, or who
have studied to keep it out of sight, are gene
rally found to believe in it the most firmly at
that awful moment, when they would be most
glad to disbelieve it; and then to think most
of it, when the thought is the most intolerable.
It is not necessary for the present purpose to
contend, that what has been just said consti
tutes a rule without exception ; let it be ad
mitted only as applying to the generality, or
even to a considerable portion merely, of man
kind ; (and thus far at least we are surely
borne out, both by reason and experience;) and
let any one with these principles before him
contemplate the picture drawn of the pesti
lence which ravaged Athens during the Pelo-
ponnesian war, by that judicious historian who

14 Future state.

was an eye-witness and a partaker of the
calamity. Whether the ancient poets, or phi
losophers, be regarded as the better instructors
in the doctrine of a future state, Athens had no
deficiency in either: and a plague so wide-
spreading, so irresistible, and which brought
with it to those whom it seized (as we are
expressly told) such an utter despair of reco
very, may be fairly expected to have had the
effect, in some minds at least, of awakening-
whatever belief, or even suspicion, they might
have entertained respecting Tartarus and Ely
sium, and of calling into action their fears and
hopes on the subject. We might expect to
find some of them at least bewailing their sins,
making reparation to those they had injured,
and in every way striving to prepare for the
judgment that seemed impending.

The very reverse took place. The historian
tells us, that " seeing death so near them, they
resolved to make the most of life while it
lasted, by setting at nought all laws divine and
human, and eagerly plunging into every species
of profligacy/' Nor was this conduct by any
means confined to the most vile and worthless

Future state. 15

of the community ; for he complains of a ge
neral and permanent depravation of morals,
which dated its origin from this calamity. Nor
again does the description apply to such only
as had been, either openly or secretly, con-
temners of the whole system of the national
religion ; for we are told, that " at first many
had recourse to the offices of their religion,
with a view to appease the gods ; but that
when they found their sacrifices and ceremo
nies availed nothing against the disease, and that
the pious and the impious alike fell victims to
it, they at once concluded that piety and
impiety were altogether indifferent, and cast
off all religious and moral obligations." Is it
not evident from this, that those who did
reverence the gods, had been accustomed to
look for none but temporal rewards and pu
nishments from them? Can we conceive that
men who expected that virtue should be re
warded, and vice punished, in the other world,
would, just at their entrance into that world,
begin to regard virtue and vice as indifferent ?

It is but too true, indeed, that men have been
found, in countries where Christianity is pro-

16 Future state.

fessed, so hardened, as to manifest, even at the
approach of death, no regard to the judgment
which is to succeed it ; who have availed
themselves of present impunity for the com
mission of crimes, or have, endeavoured to
drown thought in sensual excess : but in
stances of this kind rather go to prove that
such men do not, than that the heathens did,
believe in a future retribution ; if by belief is to
be understood, not a mere unthinking assent,
or a mere non-denial, of the doctrine, but a
deliberate, firm, and habitual conviction. Such
gross and complete ignorance is to be found
in not a few of the lower orders in professedly
Christian countries, that scarcely any idea
whatever of religion has at any time entered
their minds. If this assertion should appear,
as it probably may, to some of my readers
overcharged, or if they should suppose that
instances of this kind must be, in this country
at least, extremely rare, they may convince
themselves but too easily of the deplorable
truth, either by enquiring of those, who in the
discharge of their clerical functions have had
opportunity to ascertain it, or by themselves

Future state. 17

examining such of the least educated among
the lower orders (and many, I fear I may add,
much above the lowest) who come in their
way ; among whom they will, I am convinced,
meet with instances of persons growing up to
maturity with scarcely any more knowledge
or thought concerning the Christian religion,
than the Hindoo mythology. Those again
who have been long hardened in habits of
extreme profligacy, may ultimately become
as blind to all ideas of a future state as if
they had never heard of it: but experience
as well as reason forbids us to believe, that,
where the Gospel is assiduously preached,
such a degree of ignorance, or of depravity,
can ever be general, much less universal.
And, accordingly, it appears, that the great
plague which desolated London, produced, on
the whole, an effect exactly opposite to that
at Athens. Some abandoned wretches, no
doubt, took the same advantage as the Athe
nians did, of the calamity; but the generality
seem plainly to have shewn, that their belief of
a future state, however it might have lain dor
mant during a time of apparent security, and

c

18 Future state.

however easily it might be thrown oft' on a
return to such a state, was real and deep-
rooted. No instances are recorded there of
pious men renouncing their piety when they
saw death approaching : on the contrary, seri
ous devotion seems for the most part to have
prevailed, and, if not reformation, at least
alarm and contrition, to have been generally
produced among sinners. Many are said, when
attacked by the plague, to have even rushed
into the public streets, confessing aloud and
bewailing crimes long ago committed, and
never before imputed to them, and earnestly
seeking to make reparation. Now it may
surely be presumed, that instances of this kind,
if they occurred at all, at Athens, must have
been rare indeed ; that no one such took place
is the most probable inference; since none are
recorded. The account indeed which the his
torian gives of the general depravity that su
pervened, is certainly not to be understood
without exceptions ; for he tells us, that some
good men retained their virtue, and displayed
their humanity ; but had any instances oc
curred of the repentance of bad men — of sin-

Future state. 19

ners alarmed into remorse for their guilt, and
endeavouring to atone for it — such instances
would have presented so striking a contrast to
the general case, that we can hardly suppose a
writer so accurate and intelligent, living on
the spot, would have made no mention of
them.

In Christian countries, on the contrary, how
ever imperfectly Christian, in respect of many
of the inhabitants of them, it is well known
that instances of this kind are of daily occur
rence, even when the ordinary course of human
mortality is not accelerated by any remarkable
visitation.

Can we then, on comparing two such cases
together, come to the conclusion, that in each,
the notions respecting a future state were the
same, or at all similar? Is not the obvious
inference, that, at least the Athenians of that
age, considered the accounts of a future life as
no more than amusing fictions, of whose utter
falsity there was no reason even to doubt?

And that the prevailing belief at other times,
and in other states, Greek or Italian, was the
same as at Athens at the period just spoken of,

c 2

20 Future state.

there is at least a strong presumption, till evi
dence of the contrary is produced. The Athe
nians were noted for their religions devotion;
the popular mythology which prevailed among
the other Grecian states, and, I may add, at
Rome, was the same, or nearly the same, with
theirs ; and therefore may be presumed, in the
absence of all proof to the contrary, to have
had the same results in respect of the belief of
a future life : which therefore, though nomi
nally professed, cannot be considered as prac
tically forming any part of the creed of those
ancient nations with whom we are best ac
quainted. When at Athens St. Paul came to
speak of the resurrection of the dead, some of
his hearers mocked ; and when Festus heard
of the resurrection from the dead, he exclaimed,
" Paul, thou art beside thyself." So far in
deed were the promulgators of Christianity
from finding the belief of a future state already
well established, that they appear to have had
no small difficulty in convincing of this truth
even some of their converts. Some of those
who denied a resurrection, may indeed with
good reason be supposed to have looked for

Future state. 21

some other kind of future existence ; but when
St. Paul finds it necessary to urge, " if in this
life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all
men most miserable — let us eat and drink, for
to-morrow we die," it is plain that he must
have been opposing such as expected nothing
beyond the grave.

It may be said, however, (and this perhaps is
the most prevailing notion,) that little as the
vulgar believed in the doctrine of a future

o

state, it was received and inculcated by many
eminent philosophers. Now that a truth of
the highest importance to all mankind alike
should be discovered by a few, and confined
to them, would be, even if the fact were fully
established, no very great triumph of human
reason. But, in reality, the doctrine never was
either generally admitted among the ancient
philosophers, or satisfactorily proved by any
of them, even in the opinion of those who
argued in favour of it. On the one hand, not
only the Epicurean school openly contended
against it, but one of much greater weight than
any of them, and the founder of a far more illus
trious sect, Aristotle, without expressly com-

c 3

22 Future state.

bating the notion of a future state, does much
more; be passes it by as not wortb considering,
and takes for granted the contrary supposition,
as not needing proof. He remarks incidentally,
in his treatise on courage, that " death is for
midable beyond most other evils, on account
of its excluding hope ; since it is a complete
termination, and there does not appear to be
any thing either of good or evil beyond itb."
And in the same work, in discussing the ques
tion whether a man can justly be pronounced
happy before the end of his life, he proceeds
all along (as indeed is the case throughout) on
the supposition, that after death a man ceases
altogether to exist0. And it should be ob
served, that his incidental and oblique allusion
to this latter opinion, implies (as I have said)
much more than if he had expressly asserted
and maintained it ; in that case he would have
borne testimony only to his own belief; but as
it is, we may collect from his mode of speak
ing that such was the prevailing, and generally
uncontradicted, belief of the rest of the world.

b Arist. Eth. Nicom. b. iii. c Ibid. b. i.

Future stale. 23

Of those philosophers again, who contended
for a future state, it is to be observed, not only
that, as Dr. Paley remarks, they did not, pro
perly speaking, effect a discovery; "it was
only one guess among many ; he only dis
covers, who proves ;" but also, that (as has
been said above) their arguments did not fully
succeed in convincing even themselves. Those
which at one time they bring forward as deci
sive proof, they seem at another time to regard
as hardly possessing that degree of probability,
which, now that the doctrine is established,
most are ready to allow to them. Cicero
especially, who is frequently appealed to on
this question, we find distinctly acknowledg
ing, at least in the person of one of his dis
putants, that though, while he is reading the
Phsedo, he feels disposed to assent to the
reasons urged in favour of a future state, his
conviction vanishes as soon as he lays down
the book, and resolves the matter in his own
thoughts : which was the feeling probably
with which the author himself had written itd.

d Not that this inconsistency in their writings implies a
corresponding hesitation and vacillation in their opinions; but

c 4

24 Future state.

Many indeed of the deistical writers of modern
times have come to much more decisive con
clusions, on this, and also on many other
points, than the ancients did, and indeed than
are fairly warranted by any arguments which
unassisted reason can supply: but this only
affords a presumption of the powerful, though
unacknowledged and perhaps unperceived, in
fluence which the Gospel revelation has exer
cised even on the minds of those who reject
it : they have drunk at that stream of know
ledge, which they cannot, or will not, trace to
the real source from which it flows.

Supposing however those of the ancient phi
losophers, who maintained a future state, to have
been more fully convinced themselves of the
conclusions they respectively arrived at, than
it appears they really were, it is evidently
necessary to enquire in the next place, what
those conclusions were, and on what proofs

evidently because most of them, except the Epicureans, judged
it necessary to keep the vulgar in awe, by the terrors of
another world ; which accordingly they very gravely set forth
and insist on in their popular (exoteric) works. See note (A)
at the end of this Essay.

Fat are state. 25

they rested. The arguments commonly em
ployed by them, (and also by such deists of
the present day as admit the doctrine,) viz. the
distinct nature of the soul from the corruptible
body with which it is united — the vigour and
energy which the soul sometimes manifests
when the body is in the lowest state of ex
haustion, &c. led them naturally to the in
ference, that the soul will continue to exist
after death in a separate state, never to be
re-united with matter. They represented the
body as a kind of prison of the spiritual part,
from which it was to be released by death ;
and the soul accordingly would energize, they
supposed, more freely, and enjoy the happiness
of more exalted contemplation, when freed
from its connexion with gross material sub
stance.

To this it was replied, that the body seems
rather the necessary organ of the soul, than its
prison ; that the effects frequently produced by
external injuries, by the administration of cer
tain drugs, and by several, though not all,
bodily diseases, sufficiently shew the depend
ence of the mental functions on the body ; and

26 Future state.

that the perceptive powers of the mind, which
are the main source of our knowledge, must
apparently lie dormant, without the interven
tion of the bodily senses6: "how," said they,
" can the soul enjoy, when the eye and the
ear, for instance, are destroyed, those percep
tions which are furnished by sight and hear
ing?" The whole argument is detailed in
Lucretius with considerable ingenuity ; and
though he goes much too far, in thence con
cluding that the soul cannot possibly exist in
an active and perceptive state without the
body — much more, when he contends that it
cannot exist at all, (for how can we tell that
other means of perception, such as we have no

e Some writers are accustomed to adduce instances of great
mental energy remaining in the midst of bodily decay, unim
paired even up to the moment of dissolution, as a proof of the
mind's independence on the body ; but surely this is a very
incorrect way of reasoning, especially when the cases brought
forward are manifestly exceptions to the general rule. To
prove that the mental faculties are not dependent on every
part of the bodily organization, does not authorize us to con
clude that they are connected with no part of it : a disease
may attack a vital part of the bodily system, and yet leave
unhurt to the last those parts (supposing there are such)
which are connected with the exercise of the mental powers.

Future state. 27

notion of, may not be substituted ?) — still it must
be admitted, that he leaves the question in a
doubtful state, and reduces the opposite con
clusion to no more, at the utmost, than a faint
probability. At least, nothing more can be
fairly claimed for it, till some more satisfactory
answer (drawn from reason, independent of
revelation) can be given to the above objec
tions, than any that has hitherto appeared f.

f A well known argument by illustration, which has been
employed on this subject, will be found on examination to be
less solid than ingenious. If we suppose, it has been said,
a person to have been kept from his birth in a dark cave,
which admits a portion of light, and a partial view of external
objects, only through an aperture in the wall that closes its
entrance, would he not, thus accustomed to receive all his
perceptions through that aperture, suppose, that this loop-hole
is essential to them, and that if it were destroyed, he should
be left in total obscurity ? yet we know, that if the wall were
pulled down, and the whole cave thrown open, he would
enjoy a fuller light and a much wider prospect. Even so we,
it is urged, who are accustomed to receive all our perceptions
through the medium of the bodily senses, are apt to suppose,
though with no better reason, that the destruction of the body
would leave us without the means of perception ; whereas, in
fact, the soul might then be released, as it were, from a cave,
and enjoy a wider sphere of intelligence and of activity. There
is a speciotisness in this illustration very likely to captivate

28 Future slate.

To the Christian, indeed, all this doubt would
be instantly removed, if he found that the
immortality of the soul, as a disembodied
spirit, were revealed to him in the word of
God : he cannot question the power of the
great Creator to prolong, in any way he may

a superficial enquirer ; but in fact, if it proves any thing at
all, it militates against the conclusion drawn from it. The
fallacy consists in overlooking, (what is commonly overlooked
in many similar cases, into which much error and confusion
of thought are thus introduced,) that an aperture is a negative
idea, implying merely the absence of a certain portion of
opaque matter. The supposed person in the cave, therefore,
would not in reality be at all mistaken in his notions and
expectations ; for he supposes, not that the opaque substance
of the sides of the cave is necessary to his perceptions, but, on
the contrary, that the interruption or absence of that opaque
body is so ; in which he would be perfectly right : as he would
also in supposing that the destruction of that aperture would
put an end to his perception ; since that destruction would be
properly the closing of the aperture, not the throwing down of
the walls, which would in truth be an enlargement of it. Now
the body and the bodily senses being evidently not merely
negative ideas, the destruction of them bears no analogy
whatever to the supposed destruction of the cave ; since that
cave itself was never imagined to be, to the person enclosed,
(as the bodily senses are to us,) the means of conveying
knowledge, but, on the contrary, as far as it extends, of
excluding it.

Future state. 29

\

see fit, the life he originally gave : but this is
very different from arriving at the conclusion
by the evidence which unassisted reason can
supply. In fact, however, no such doctrine is
revealed to us ; the Christian's hope, as founded
on the promises contained in the Gospel, is,
the resurrection of the bodys; a doctrine which
seems never to have occurred (nor indeed was
likely to occur, from any contemplation of the
change from night to day, and from summer
to winter) to any of the heathen. Indeed, when
any of them are struck by, and notice, any
phenomenon in nature that has the appearance
of a revival, they are struck by it as a contrast
to the supposed fate of man. Thus we find a
Greek poet, in bewailing a departed friend,
lamenting, that while the herbs of the garden,
which appear dead, shoot up in the succeeding
spring, man, on the contrary, who appears a
being of so much greater dignity, when dead, is
doomed to live no more :

garot Qavoope;, avaxocn sv %Qovi xo/Aa

iJ ^aAa paxgov, ATEPMONA, NHFPETON

&TVOV.

s See note (B) at the end of this Essay.

30 Future state.

As, however, even the faintest conjecture of a
future existence, though it must not be con
founded with a full assurance of it, is, as far as
it goes, an approximation towards the know
ledge of truth, so, also, notions considerably
incorrect respecting that existence, if they are
but such as to involve the idea of enjoyment
or suffering, corresponding with men's conduct
in this life, have so far something of a just
foundation, and of a tendency to practical
utility. This, however, appears by no means
to have been the case with the systems of any,
as far as we can learn, of those ancient philo
sophers, who contended the most strenuously
for the immortality of the soul. For not only
do they seem to have agreed, that no suffering
could be expected by the wicked in another
life, on the ground that the gods were incapa
ble of anger, and therefore could not punish ;
but the very notion of the soul's immortality,
as explained by them, involved the complete
destruction of distinct personal existence.
Their notion was, (I mean, when they spoke
their real sentiments; for in their exoteric or
popular works they often inculcate, for the

Future state. 31

benefit of the vulgar, the doctrine of future
retribution, which they elsewhere laugh at,) that
the soul of each man is a portion of that spirit
which pervades the universe11, to which it is re
united at death, and becomes again an undis-
tinguishable part of the great whole; just as
the body is resolved into the general mass of
matter1. So that their immortality, or rather
eternity of the soul, was anterior as well as
posterior ; as it was to have no end, so it had
no beginning ; and the boasted continuance of
existence, which according to this system we
are to expect after death, consists in returning
to the state in which we were before birth ;
which, every one must perceive, is the same
thing, virtually, with annihilation.

Let it be remembered then, when the argu
ments of the heathen sages are triumphantly
brought forward in proof of the soul's immor
tality, that when they countenanced the doc-

h See note (C) at the end of this Essay.

1 " Whatever there is," says Cicero, (Fragm. de Conso-
latione,) " that perceives, that exercises judgment, that wills,
is of celestial nature, and divine ; and for that reason it must
of necessity be eternal."

32 Future state.

trine of future retribution, they taught, with a
view to political expediency, what they did not
themselves believe ; and that when they spoke
their real sentiments on the subject, the eternity
of existence which they expected, as it implied
the destruction of all distinct personality,
amounted practically to nothing at all.

It is not unlikely, that in thus depreciating
the power of unassisted reason to ascertain the
truth of a future life, I shall be suspected of
favouring some opinions against which much
clamour has been raised, viz. that the soul is
naturally mortal — incapable of an existence
continued after our dissolution, except from
the express decree of the Creator; and that it
is a material substance, or an attribute of
matter.

It were to be wished, that those who have
agitated these questions (and indeed many
others) had begun by distinctly ascertaining
what they were disputing about ; which nei
ther of the parties appear to have attended to-
For my own part, I must frankly acknowledge,
that I do not understand the questions. If by
"nature" is meant the course in which the

Future .state. 33

Author and Governor of all things proceeds in
his works, (which is the only meaning 1 am
able to attach to it,) then, to say that the souls
of men, if God has appointed that they shall
exist for ever, are naturally immortal, is not
only an undeniable but an identical proposi
tion; it is only saying that the appointments of
Omnipotence w ill surely take effect. If on the
other hand, when it is said that the soul is natu
rally mortal, nothing more is meant than that
its existence is maintained after death solely
by the agency of divine power; this also I
should not only fully admit, but should extend
to our present existence also; " for in God we
live, and move, arid have our being :" I cannot
conceive what are called physical causes to pos
sess power, in the strict sense of the word k; or

k It is a remarkable circumstance, that both in the Greek
and Latin languages, nouns of the neuter gender, i. e. con
sidered as denoting things, and not persons, (for though many
really inanimate objects were expressed by masculine and
feminine nouns, it is evident they were personified, by the very
circumstance of sex being attributed to them,) invariably had
the nominative and accusative the same ; or rather, may be
said to have had an accusative only, employed as a nominative
when the grammatical construction required it; for the nomi-

D

34 Future slate.

to be capable of maintaining, more than of first
producing, the system of the universe; whose
continued existence, no less than its origin,
seems to me to depend on the continual opera
tion of the great Creator. The laws of nature,
as they are called, presuppose (as Dr. Paley
remarks) an agent ; since they are " the modes
in which that agent operates ;" they cannot be
the cause of their own observance.

The principles here touched upon (which it
would be foreign to the present purpose to

native, so called, of neuter nouns, corresponds to the accusative
(if to any case) of masculines ; e. g. the accusative of " domi-
nus" is " dominum;" and accordingly, under the same declen
sion we have " regn-wm," both nominative and accusative.
A rule of this kind extending without exception to several de
clensions, and both numbers, in two languages, can hardly be
a mere accident. May it not have arisen from an indistinct
consciousness that a person only can really be an agent ;
a mere thing, being, in truth, only acted upon ? And may not
the same cause have led to the practice in Greek, of joining a
neuter plural with a verb in the singular ?

I throw out this suggestion with a full expectation that
by many it will be derided as fanciful ; but they cannot deny
that the phenomenon exists, and must have some cause ; and
the fairest and most decisive objection to any proposed solution
of it is, to offer a better.

Future state. 35

explain and defend) may, I am aware, be dis
puted by many who are far from having any
leaning towards atheism ; but that they are at
all of a mischievous tendency, even if erro
neous, can hardly be contended by any one of
the smallest degree of candour.

The question again respecting the materi
ality of the soul, is one which I am also at a
loss to understand clearly, till it shall have been
clearly determined what matter is. We know
nothing of it, any more than of mind, except
its attributes ; and, let it not be forgotten, the
most remarkable of these are not ascertained.
Whether Gravitation be an essential quality of
matter is still a question, and likely to remain
so, among natural philosophers; who accord
ingly are divided in opinion whether those com
monly called imponderable substances, Heat,
Light, and Electricity, are Substances at all, or
not. At any rate, let not the truths of religion
be rested on any decision respecting subtle
questions which belong to the natural philoso
pher or the metaphysician, not the theologian ;
nor let our hopes in God's promises be mixed
up with debates about extension, and gravita-

D 2

30 Future state.

tion, and form. The Scriptures in these points
leave us just where they found us ; giving* no
explanation of the nature of the soul, but giving
us instead, what is far more important, an as
surance that we are destined to live for ever.
That this is impossible, and that no revelation
is to be received, however attested, which con
tains this doctrine, we may be assured no meta
physical arguments will ever prove ; and it is
on the other hand, I think, equally out of the
power of metaphysical arguments to prove the
contrary; to establish, without the aid of di
vine revelation, the certainty of a future immor
tality1: for if otherwise, whence is it that the
wisest of men, when fairly left to themselves,
never did arrive at the conclusion, by any
arguments which were satisfactory even to
themselves.

It should not be forgotten, that none of those who contend
for the natural immortality of the soul, on the ground of its
distinct nature from the body, its incapability of decompo
sition, &c. have been able to extricate themselves from one
difficulty, viz. that all their arguments apply, with exactly the
same force, to prove an immortality not only of brutes, but
even of plants.

Future state. 37

Let it be observed, however, once more,
that the full assurance of man's immortality is
what is here spoken of; which must be care
fully distinguished from probable conjecture.
It is not denied that arguments have been
adduced in favour of this conclusion, which
may have been, more or less, convincing to
many ; some of which are justly regarded as
possessing considerable weight ; and others
have been reckoned such, though perhaps with
out sufficient grounds. It must not be for
gotten, however, that most men are very
incompetent judges of the force of any argu
ment which tends to a conclusion of which
they are already well assured ; and are prone
to consider as perfectly clear and decisive, such
a train of reasoning as would never have pre
vailed with themselves, if proposed to them while
in a state of doubt. When Columbus had dis
covered the New World, he found men (accord
ing to the well known anecdote told of him)
who thought it easy to prove beyond a doubt,
a priori, that such a country must exist; but they
forgot that they had not seen the force of these
arguments till the discovery had been made.

D3

38 Future stale.

Of the arguments just alluded to, that which
proceeds on the disorder and irregularity ap
parent in the present world, and the necessity
of a future state of retribution, to vindicate the
divinejustice, would be indeed most satisfac
tory, if it involved a solution of the great and
perplexing question (intimately connected with
it) respecting the origin of Evil : but though it
may seem to remove the difficulty one step
further off, it does not in any degree explain or
lessen itm; the expectation that at the day of
harvest the tares shall be rooted up and burnt,
does not at all explain why they were allowed
to be sown among the wheat. That there are
wicked men, experience teaches us ; and that
they shall be punished, the Scriptures teach us;
nor is there any ground for cavilling at this
doctrine, since it involves no greater difficulty

m The Scriptures, it should be observed, leave the question
concerning the origin of evil just where they find it : Reve
lation neither introduces the difficulty, as some weak opponents
contend, nor clears it up, and accounts for it, as is imagined
by some not less weak advocates.

I have entered into a fuller discussion of this point in the
Appendix, No. 2, to the last edition of Dr. King's Sermon on
Predestination.

Future state. 39

than the other, which we cannot but admit ;
but it does not explain the fact; nor are we
therefore authorized to infer, a priori, indepen
dent of revelation, a future state of retribution,
from the irregularities prevailing in the present
life ; since that future state does not account
fully for those irregularities.

There is much more weight in the argument,
that man, at least civilized and cultivated man,
not only is capable of a continued course of im
provement, which must be cut short by death,
but also has a painful apprehension of this, and
a disposition to entertain hopes and fears re
specting something after death ; and that con
sequently, on the supposition of no future state,
the brutes, who enjoy the present moment with
out any apprehensions and anxieties about fu
turity, and who arrive at once at the perfection
of their nature, must be much better off than
man, and much better fitted for their condition,
than we are for ours ; since our rational nature
thus forms an impediment to our satisfaction.
Since, therefore, such a constitution of things
would be a manifest exception to the general
course of nature, inasmuch as in all other cases

D 4

40 Future state.

each being seems admirably adapted to the
kind of existence to which it is destined, the
inference drawn is, that the present life is not
likely to be the whole of man's existence. This
argument, though it can scarcely be considered
as decisive, possesses, as has been said, a con
siderable degree of probability : but it should be
observed, that, allowing the utmost force both to
this argument and to the one above mentioned,
though they lead to the inference of a future
state of existence, yet they have little if any force
in proving a future immortality. And it is re
markable, that the northern mythology of our
Teutonic ancestors (how far it obtained sincere
acceptance, wre have no sufficient means of
judging) represented the glories enjoyed by the
brave in the hall of Odin as of long continu
ance indeed, but destined to have an end, and
to last only

Till Lok shall burst his seven-fold chain,
And Night resume her ancient reign ;

when the gods themselves, with all the heroes
who were the objects of their favour, should be
overpowered by their adversaries, and finally

Future state. 41

annihilated. And the Grecian mythology also
represented the happiness of Elysium as of
limited duration.

The case of the Jews evidently presents a
distinct question, inasmuch as they did possess
a divine revelation. The supposition that they
were acquainted, through that revelation, with
the doctrine of a future state, does not militate
with the conclusion, that unassisted reason is
inadequate to the discovery ; but it certainly
is at variance with the full and literal accepta
tion of the assertion, that " Jesus Christ brought
life and immortality to light through the Gos
pel." That the Mosaic law did contain the
revelation in question, has been maintained, as
is well known, by many learned men ; and
the illustrious author of" The Divine Legation"
has been assailed by many of them with much
acrimony, for denying that position. It has
been contended, that it is "derogatory to God's
honour-, and injurious to the Mosaic dispensation,
&c. to acknowledge no revelation of a future
state in the Law :" and expressions like these
may perhaps afford a clue to the origin of the
opinion held by those who use them. For it is

42 Future state.

probable, that it is the cavils, actual or appre
hended, of infidels, against so important an
omission in the communication made to God's
favoured people, that have contributed mainly
to suggest a reply which consists in a denial
of the fact of such omission : a defence, un
fortunately, which gives a great apparent ad
vantage to the adversary, by enabling him to
cavil, with much better reason, at the very
inadequate manner in which this purpose was
accomplished — at the few, and scanty, and
obscure intimations of the doctrine, which the
Law contains, even admitting every text, which
has ever been adduced on that side of the
question, to be interpreted in the manner most
favourable to it.

And this argument, if duly considered, will
be found of such weight, as to amount in fair
ness to a decision of the question; to prove,
that is, not, of course, that Moses was an
impostor, but that, on the supposition of his
not being such — in other words, of his being
divinely inspired — he could not have been com
missioned to inculcate the doctrine of a future
state.

Future state. 43

For let it be considered, in the first place,
that as the condition of the departed is un-
seen, and as the rewards and punishments of
a future life are not only comparatively remote,
but also must be conceived as of a nature
considerably different from any thing we can
have experienced ; from all these causes, it
is found necessary that the most repeated as
surances and admonitions should be employed,
even towards those who have received the
doctrine on the most satisfactory authority. A
Christian minister accordingly, in these days,
finds that his hearers require to be perpetually
reminded of this truth, to which they have long
since given their assent; and even that with all
the pains he takes to inculcate it, in every
different mode, he is still but very partially
successful in drawing off men's attention from
the things of this world, and fixing it on the
" unseen things that are eternal." Much more
must this have been the case with the Israel
ites whom Moses was addressing, who were
so dull and gross-minded, so childishly short
sighted and sensual, that even the immediate
miraculous presence of God among them, of

44 Future state.

whose judgments and deliverances they had
been eye-witnesses, was insufficient to keep
them steady in their allegiance to him. Even
the temporal sanctions of the law, the plenty
and famine, the victory and defeat, and all the
other points of that alternative of worldly pros
perity and adversity which was set before
them — things in their nature so much more
easily comprehended by an unthinking and
barbarous people, and so much more suited to
their tastes — it was found necessary to detail
with the utmost minuteness, and to repeat and
remind them of in the most impressive manner,
in a vast number of different passages". Is
not then the conclusion inevitable, that, if to
such a people the doctrine of future retribution
had been to be revealed, or any traditional
knowledge of it confirmed, we should have found
it still more explicitly stated, and still more
frequently repeated? And when, instead of any
thing like this, we have set before us a few
scattered texts, which, it is contended, allude
to or imply this doctrine, can it be necessary

" See note (D) at the end of this Essay.

Future state. 45

even to examine whether they are rightly so
interpreted? Surely it is a sufficient reply, to
say, that if Moses had intended to inculcate
such a doctrine, he would have clearly stated
and dwelt on it in almost every page : nor is it
easy to conceive, how any man of even ordi
nary intelligence, and not blinded by devoted
attachment to an hypothesis, can attentively
peruse the books of the Law, abounding as
they do with such copious descriptions of the
temporal rewards and punishments (in their own
nature so palpable) which sanctioned that Law,
and with such earnest admonitions grounded
on that sanction, and yet can bring himself
seriously to believe, that the doctrine of a state
of retribution after death, which it cannot be
contended is even mentioned, however slightly,
in more than a very few passages, formed a
part of the Mosaic revelation. And if any
one, from a mistaken zeal to vindicate the
honour of God's law against infidels, persists in
maintaining that this was intended, how will
he reply to the cavil they will immediately
raise against the glaringly inadequate way of
fulfilling such an intention? And thus it is,

46 Future state.

that when men rashly presume to distort the
plain meaning of Scripture, for the sake of
defending our religion against unsound objec
tions, they expose it to more powerful ones,
which they have left themselves without the
means of answering.

An unwise attempt to combat Socinian doc
trines also, has probably contributed to pro
duce the same bias in the minds of some,
whose abilities and learning would else have
led them to judge more fairly of the sense of
Scripture. When it is urged against Socinians,
that on their hypothesis, which explains away
the doctrine of the atonement into a mere
figure of speech, the Gospel revelation would
seem to be of little or no importance, they
usually reply, that it established the belief of
future retribution : the ready answer to this
appears to be, that this belief was already
taught in the Old Testament; an assertion
which some of the opponents of Socinianism
have accordingly undertaken to establish ; in
conformity with the too common practice of
eagerly catching at any argument which seems
to bear against an adversary, without stopping

Future stale. 47

to enquire first whether it is well-founded.
And this carelessness about Truth seldom fails
to be in the end injurious to its cause. In the
present case, for instance, the Socinian may
immediately reply, " you have furnished a de
cisive refutation of the doctrine that eternal
life is procured by the sacrifice of Christ, and
is offered only through faith in his atonement ;
since to the Jews, certainly, the efficacious
sufferings of the Messiah were not revealed ;
at least, not so as to be understood by the
mass of the people ; to whom therefore eternal
life must have been held out (if at all, as you
contend it was) as the direct reward of obe
dience : the conclusion therefore is inevitable,
that unless what Moses taught was false, your
account of the Gospel must be false."

Although, however, it has not been deemed
necessary here to examine all the passages in
the Books of Moses which have been inter
preted as relating to a future state, it will be
needful to say a few words respecting- that one
which is cited by our Lord himself against the
Sadducees, in proof of the doctrine: "Now
that the dead are raised," says he, " even

48 Future state.

Moses sheweth at the bush, when he saith, I
am the God of Abraham, and the God ot
Isaac, and the God of Jacob ; he is not the
God of the dead, but of the living, for all live
unto him;" and, for not having drawn this
inference, he charges them with " not knowing
the Scriptures :" whence it has very rashly
been concluded, that the Scriptures he alluded
to were intended to reveal this doctrine. But
can any man of common sense seriously believe,
that such a passage as the one before us (which
we may suppose was selected by our Lord as
at least one of those most to the purpose) could
be sufficient to make known to a rude and
unthinking people, such as the Israelites when
Moses addressed them, the strange and mo
mentous truth, that " the dead are raised?"
that one of the most important parts of the
revelation given them (which it must have
been, if it were any part of it) could have been
left to rest on an oblique and incidental impli
cation, while the far simpler and more obvious
doctrine of temporal rewards and punishments,
was so plainly and so laboriously inculcated ?
But, in fact, our Lord's declaration by no

Future state. 49

means amounts to this : the Sadducees of his
time had heard of the doctrine ; no matter
from what quarter; and their part evidently
was, to examine patiently and candidly whe
ther it were true or not ; and this, especially,
by a careful study of the sacred books which
they acknowledged, in order to judge whether
it were conformable to these, or not.

But a passage, which may be decisive of a
certain question, when consulted with a view to
that question, may be utterly insufficient for the
far different purpose of making known, in the
first instance, the truth which it thus confirms.
The error of confounding together these two
things, gives rise to numberless mistakes in
other points besides the one now before us: in
fact, it is this very fallacy which has principally
misled men throughout, with respect to the
general question we are considering, as well as
in many other doctrines of our religion0: human
reason is considered as sufficiently strong to

• Nam neque tarn est acris acies in naturis hominum et inge-
niis,utres tantas quisquam nisi monstratas, possit videre; ne
que tanta tamen in rebus obscuritas, ut eas non penitus acri vir
ingenio cernat, si modo adspexerit. Cic. de Orat. 1. iii. c. 31.

E

50 Future state.

discover the doctrine of a future state, because
when the doctrine has been proposed to our
belief by revelation, it perceives probabilities
in favour of.it; and the same, with many other
doctrines also. And thus it is, that a system
of what is called natural religion is dressed up,
as it were, with the spoils of revelation; and is
made such, as men, when fairly left to them
selves, and actually guided by the light of
nature alone, never did attain to.

It would be tedious, and, after what has
been said, 1 trust, unnecessary, to cite, as
might easily be done, a multitude of passages
from the Old Testament, in which a reference
to the expectations of a future state would have
been apposite and almost inevitable, had the
belief of such a doctrine prevailed ; or to ex
amine those few texts in the New as well as
the Old Testament which have been brought
forward to prove that a future state was re
vealed to the Jews. The sixth book of War-
burton's Divine Legation contains a copious
and learned discussion of this part of the
subject : but no one can enter into such an
examination, with any thing like a full and

Future state. 51

fair view of the question, who does not clearly
embrace, and steadily keep in mind, the argu
ment already adduced, and on which the con
clusion mainly rests; viz. that an unthinking
and uncultivated people, such as the Israelites
whom Moses addressed, must have needed, if
it had been designed to reveal to them a future
state, (or even to confirm and establish such a
doctrine already received,) that it should be
perpetually repeated15, and inculcated in the
most copious and the clearest manner; that,
consequently, since this is not done, it must be
considered as, at least, highly improbable that
such a revelation to them should have been

p All admit that Moses does hold out, and dwell upon,
temporal promises and threatenings : but the frequency and
earnestness with which he enforces this sanction (and on that
it is that the present argument turns) is often under-rated ;
few being accustomed to read the books of the law straight
through ; and those who do so, being of course inclined to
pass over slightly, any passage which plainly appears to be
merely a repetition of what had been before said; whereas it
is this very repetition that is the most important for the pre
sent purpose. I have accordingly subjoined (note (E) at the
end of this Essay) all these passages ; that the reader may be
enabled to estimate the more easily their extraordinary num
ber and copiousness.

E 2

52 Future state.

intended ; and that therefore, in the case of
any doubtful passages, which will admit of,
but do not absolutely require, an interpretation
favourable to the affirmative side, a different
interpretation must be allowed to be, antece
dently, more probable.

Why Moses was not commissioned to reveal
this momentous truth, is a question that cannot
fail to occur to one who is pursuing such an
enquiry as the present ; and it is a question
which we are not competent completely to
answer, because we cannot presume to explain
why the Gospel, which " brought life and im
mortality to light," was reserved for that pre
cise period at which it was proclaimed ; but,
that enquiry — why a different and more im
perfect dispensation was needful to prepare the
way for the Gospel, — being waived, as one sur
passing man's knowledge and powers, it is
easy to perceive, that the revelation of the doc
trine in the Mosaic law, would have been nei
ther necessary nor proper. It was not neces
sary, for the purpose of affording a sanction to
the law of Moses, because the Israelites alone,
of all the nations of the world, were under an

Future stale. 53

extraordinary providence, distributing temporal
rewards and judgments according to their con
duct. The necessary foundation therefore of
all religion, "that God is a rewarder of them
that diligently seek him," did not require, as it
must in all other nations, the belief in a future
retribution, to remedy all the irregularities of
God's ordinary providence, which, among this
peculiar people, did not exist. Nor again
would it have been proper for Moses, com
missioned as he was, to promulgate, not the
Gospel, but the Law, to proclaim that life and
Immortality which the Gospel (as had been, no
doubt, revealed to him) was destined to " bring
to light ;" much less, to represent eternal hap
piness as attainable otherwise than through the
redemption by Christ, which the Gospel holds
out as the only efficacious means of procuring
itq. On this last point, a few observations will

q See note (F) at the end of this Essay. Had eternal life
been offered as the reward of obedience to the Law, so that the
mission of Christ served only to relax the terms of the cove
nant, in favour of those who transgressed the Law, surely
St. Paul's expression would have been, (the very reverse of
what he uses,) " For what then serveth the GOSPEL ? it was
added because of transgressions."

E 3

54 Future state.

be offered presently ; but in the mean time it
may be remarked, that the slight hints of this
doctrine which the books of the prophets con
tain, — the faint dawnings, as it were, of a scheme,
which was to bring " life and immortality to
light," — and which appear more and more bright
as they approached the period of that more per
fect revelation, are in perfect consistency with
the rule I have supposed Moses to have ob
served ; since it is in proportion as they gave
more and more clear notices of the Redeemer to
come, and in almost constant conjunction with
their descriptions of his mission, that the immor
tal life, to which he was to open the road and
lead the way, is alluded to by the prophets ;
and also, in proportion as the extraordinary
and regular administration of divine govern
ment in this world, by which the Law had been
originally sanctioned, and under which the
Jews had hitherto lived, was gradually with
drawn. That it was in these writings, and not
in those of Moses, that the Jews must have
sought for indications of a future state, is
strongly confirmed by the opinion of that ex
cellent and learned divine, Joseph Mede, who

Future state. 55

declares, that he^cannot tell on what Scripture
authority the Jewish Church could found their
belief in a future state, except the well-known
passage in Daniel : (chap. xii. ver. 2.) and even
of that it may be observed, that it does not
necessarily imply a resurrection of all men.
Doubtless it did not escape that judicious in
terpreter of prophecy, that there are in the
other prophets many allusions to a future state,
which were so understood by the inspired au
thors themselves; as they are by us Christian
readers; but it does not follow, that the great
mass of the people — any besides the studious
and discerning few7 — would be able clearly to
perceive such meaning; especially when a dif
ferent interpretation of those very passages,
applicable to temporal deliverances, might,
without destroying their sense, be adopted.
Nothing appears to us more evident, than the
description in Isaiah, for instance, of a suffering
Messiah ; yet we well know, that a prosperous
and triumphant temporal prince was generally
expected by the Jews ; and that the frustration
of this hope was the grand stumbling-block of
the unbelieving among them.

E 4

56 Future state.

So also, many passages of the prophets,
which convey to Christians, who have enjoyed
the Gospel revelation, the intimation of a fu
ture state, (at least in their secondary sense,)
might very easily be otherwise understood ;
or, at least, might appear not decisive, to those
who lived before Jesus Christ had " abolished
death, and brought life and immortality to light
through the Gospel'."

r In the " Harmony of the Law and the Gospel," by Mr.
Lancaster, whose general coincidence with my own views I
am happy to observe, the author contends, that " the doctrine
of a future state was always entertained by the Israelites,
though not expressly declared in the Mosaic law ;" — that the
silence of Moses would not eradicate their belief; — and that if
they had been ignorant of it, they could not have been said
with truth to " have much advantage every way" over the
Gentiles ; but would have been their inferiors in point of reli
gious knowledge, inasmuch as the doctrine formed a part of
" the universal religion of mankind." But surely, even on
the supposition (which I do not maintain) that the whole
nation of Israel utterly disbelieved a future state, the Gentiles
could not be said to have much advantage over them in point
of religious knowledge, from believing, if they really had be
lieved, what they seem to have but very faintly suspected, the
current fables (for they were no better) respecting another
world; viz. that admission into a place of happiness after
death was to be procured by piety towards the gods ; includ-

Future state. 57

There is no doubt, however, that some con
siderable time before our Lord's advent, the

ing under that term, acts of the foulest impurity, and the
most infernal cruelty : by due obedience, for instance, to the
divine institutions of Cotytto, the Babylonish Venus, who
sentenced every female without exception to become a prosti
tute for hire ; and by human sacrifices at the tomb of the
defunct. Let no one forget, that such notions of piety were
not confined to barbarous nations : even Aristotle, in his pro
jected republic, in which he wisely prohibits the exhibition of
indecent objects to youth, is forced to limit himself to the
exclusion of young persons from the temples of those gods, of
whose worship such exhibitions formed a necessary part. And
the anecdote of Cato is well known, who withdrew from the
theatre, that his presence might not interrupt the sacred
impurities of a religious festival. Truly " every abomination
of the Lord which he hateth have those nations done unto
their gods :" and the expectation of future happiness from such
gods and such services, could hardly have been reckoned either
as religious knowledge, or as an advantage in point of faith.
On the actual belief, however, of the great mass of the
Israelites, we have no means of deciding positively; but if
any one should suppose most of them to have thought little or
nothing, one way or the other, about what should become of
them after death, nor consequently to have either believed or
disbelieved, properly speaking, the doctrine in question, his
conjecture certainly would not be at variance with the repre
sentations Moses gives of the grossness of ideas and puerile
short-sightedness of the nation; who, while fed by a daily
miracle, and promised the especial favour of the Maker of the

58 Future state.

belief in a future state did become prevalent
(though, as the case of the Sadducees proves,

universe, had their minds set on " the flesh-pots of Egypt,
and the fish, and the cucumbers, and the leeks." Christians
of these days are not surely more gross-minded and unthink
ing than those Israelites ; but every one, at least every min
ister who is sedulous in his duties, must know, that a large
proportion of them require to be incessantly reminded, that
this life is not the whole of their existence ; though the doc
trine be one which is " expressly declared" in their religion ;
and that silence on that subject is quite sufficient, if not to
eradicate from their minds all belief, at least to put an end to
all thought, about the matter.

It ought to be observed, that, in order to avoid vagueness
and ambiguity in speaking of the knowledge of a future state,
or of any thing else, we should steadily keep in mind the pre
cise signification of the word Knowledge ; which implies, when
strictly employed, three things ; viz. Truth, Proof, and Convic
tion. It is plain, that no one can, properly speaking, be said
to know any thing that is not true, however confident his
belief of it may be : but even if to this confident belief truth
be added, still there is properly no knowledge, unless there is
sufficient proof to justify such confidence : one man, e. g.
may feel fully satisfied that the moon is inhabited, and an
other may feel equally certain that it is not ; and one of them
must have truth on his side; but neither in fact possesses
knowledge, because neither can have sufficient proof to offer.
Lastly, both truth and proof are insufficient to constitute know
ledge in the mind of one to whom that proof is not completely
satisfactory : it is true, that the angles of a triangle are equal

Future state. 59

not universal) among the Jews. In the second
book of Maccabees, a work of small authority
indeed as a history, but affording sufficient
evidence of the opinions of the writer and his
contemporaries, we find not only unequivocal
mention of the doctrine, (though by the way
not as an undisputed point,) but persons repre
sented as actuated by the motives which such a
doctrine naturally suggests ; which doubtless
we should, sometimes at least, have met with
also in the historical books of the Old Testa
ment, had the same belief prevailed all along.
And our Lord himself alludes to the prevailing
opinion of the generality of those whom he
addresses : " Search the Scriptures, for in them
ye think ye have eternal life, and they are
they that testify of me :?JJ as much as to say,
the very prophets who allude to the doctrine of
eternal life, do likewise foretel the coming and
describe the character of me, the Bestower of
it ; these two parts of their inspired word hang

to two right angles; but though Euclid's demonstration of
that truth is complete, no one can be said to know that they
are so, who is not fully convinced by that demonstration, but
remains in a state of hesitation.

60 Future state.

together; he who is blind to the one, can found
no rational hope on the other ; since " I am the
way, and the truth, and the life," and " he that
hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not
the Son hath not life." This passage indeed,
as well as the others to the same purpose in the
New Testament, though they imply the preva
lence of this tenet among the Jews, and the
general sincerity and strength of their convic
tion, do not by any means imply either that this
their confident expectation was well founded
on Scriptural evidence, or that their notions
respecting a future life were correct. Had
these last two circumstances been superadded
(which is evidently impossible) to the general
sincere reception of the doctrine, it could not
have been said with any propriety that c< Christ
abolished death, and brought life and immor
tality to light through the Gospel/' The truth
probably is, that as the indications of a future
state which are to be found in the prophets are
mostly such as will admit of an interpretation
referring them to a promise of temporal deliver
ance, those persons would most naturally so
understand them, in the first instance at least,

Future state. 61

who were so " slow of heart" as to the pro
phecies respecting the Messiah, as to expect in
him a glorious temporal prince only ; while
those who were more intelligent, and took in
the spiritual sense of the prophecies relating to
him, would be led to put the spiritual interpre
tation on the other also. I say, in the first
instance, because when the belief of a future
state had been introduced, from whatever
quarter, and did prevail, all who held it, would
naturally interpret in that sense whatever pas
sages in their Scriptures seemed to confirm it.
But it does not follow that such a belief was
correct, even when supported by an appeal to
passages of Scripture which really do relate to
the doctrine in question; for if one part of a
scheme be understood literally and carnally,
and another part spiritually, the result will
be a most erroneous compound ; if eternal life
be understood to be promised, but the character
and kingdom of Christ who was to bring it to
light and procure it, be misunderstood, the
faith thus formed will be essentially incorrect.
In fact, all the temporal promises of the Mosaic
law have a spiritual signification ; the land of

62 Future state.

Canaan, and the victory and prosperity, to
which the Israelites were invited, are types of
the future glories prepared by Christ for his
followers ; but then the Law which they were to
observe as their part of the covenant, with all its
sacrifices and purifications, had a corresponding
spiritual signification also ; being types of the
redeeming sacrifice of Christ, and of the faith
and holiness of heart required of his followers.
Those who understood both parts literally,
were right as far as they went ; for the ob
servance of the Law did literally bring these
promised temporal blessings as a reward ; and
those also are right, and are further enlightened,
who perceive the spiritual signification of both
parts : but it is an error to couple the spiritual
interpretation of one part with the literal inter
pretation of the other ; as those of the Jews did,
who imagined that eternal life was the promised
reward of obedience to the Law of Moses, and
who looked for immortal happiness as the sanc
tion of a religion to be propagated and upheld
by a temporal Messiah. This incongruous mix
ture of part of the shadow with part of the
substance, appears to have been an error of the

Future state. 63

Jews of our Lord's time, which not only pre
vented most of them from believing in him, but
in great degree clung to those even who ad
mitted his pretensions. The efficacy of the
observance of the Law in procuring the bless
ings of the life to come, blessings which
were never promised as any part of the sanc
tion of that Law, was so inveterate a persua
sion among them, that they were for super-
adding these extinct legal observances to their
faith in Christ ; and even persuaded many of
the Gentile converts (among the Galatians
especially) that their profession of Christianity
required them to " be circumcised and keep
the Law" as a condition of salvation. So far
then as any of the Jews disjoined the prophetic
annunciations of immortality from those relating
to the spiritual kingdom of Christ, and looked
for eternal rewards as earned by obedience to
the Mosaic Law, so far their expectations were
groundless, their faith erroneous ; even though
resting on the authority of such parts of Scrip
ture as, in a different sense, do relate to the
doctrine in question.

It is highly probable, however, that the belief

64 Future state.

of a future state, as it prevailed among the
Jews in our Lord's time, and for a consider
able period before, was not, properly speaking,
drawn from their Scriptures in the first in
stance — was not founded on the few faint hints
to be met with in their prophets ; though these
were evidently called in to support it; but was
the gradual result of a combination of other
causes with these imperfect revelations. For
otherwise there would surely have been some
notice in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah
(written after all the most important prophecies
had been delivered) of so mighty a revolution
having taken place in the minds of the Jews of
their time, as a change from ignorance to a full
conviction on so momentous a point, by a
supposed decisive revelation.

Respecting the details of the rise and preva
lence of the doctrine of a future state among
the majority of the Jews, the scantiness of his
torical authority leaves us chiefly to our own
conjectures. Without entering at large into
a disquisition which must after all be obscured
by much uncertainty, it may be allowable to
suggest, that the Jews were likely to be much

Future state. 65

influenced by the probable arguments (for it
has been admitted that there are such) which
their own reason partly supplied, and which
they partly learned from the neighbouring
nations, with whom (and with some of the more
enlightened and intelligent of them) they had
much more, and much more extensive, inter
course after the captivity than before. Nor
does such a supposition militate, as might at
first sight be suspected, against what was for
merly advanced respecting the prevailing dis
belief among the heathen of the popular fables
of Elysium and Tartarus, and respecting the
emptiness of the pretended immortality of the
soul held by philosophers, who thought that it
was to be re-absorbed into the substance of the
Deity, from which it had been separated, and
to have no longer any distinct personal exist
ence. For whatever their belief might be, they
would be likely, in any discussion with their
Jewish neighbours, to set forth either such ar
guments as occurred to them in favour of a
future retribution, which undoubtedly was a
part of the religion they professed, or such pre
tended proofs of the natural and necessary

06 Future state.

immortality of the soul, as their schools sup
plied. And such discussions we cannot but
suppose must have been frequent ; since the
intercourse of the dispersed Jews with the
Gentiles was such as to lead to the disuse of
their own language, and the consequent neces
sity of a translation of their Scriptures into
Greek. Now the Jews who claimed to be
favoured with an authentic revelation of God's
will, and to be his peculiar people, could not
have been satisfied to rest their pretensions to
such superiority, and their boast of its advan
tages, on the extraordinary providence under
which their ancestors had lived, but which was
withdrawn from themselves ; but would be
likely to set up a rival claim to that of the
Pagan religions, and to produce from their
Scriptures every thing that might seem to
favour the hope of a future reward. And this,
not insincerely ; for the very circumstance of
the withdrawing of that miraculous providence
under which their nation had formerly lived,
would lead them to the expectation of some
thing beyond the grave to compensate the loss.
God's moral government, of their nation at

Future stale. 67

least, they were assured of, from their own
past history; and if he had formerly been
" a rewarder of them that diligently seek him,"
they would perceive an improbability of his
ceasing to be so ; though in this world the
" just recompense of reward" was evidently
no longer to be looked for. It was to be ex
pected, therefore, that they should be more
inclined to believe sincerely in a future retri
bution than the Pagans, who had not the same
experimental assurance that the Deity is indeed
the moral governor and judge of mankind.

Still, their belief, however confidently held
by many of them, must have been, as has been
said, fundamentally erroneous, as far as it con
sisted in " thinking they had eternal life in
the Scriptures," held out as the reward of obe
dience to the Mosaic Law ; which was sanc
tioned (as was remarked above) by no such
promise. For the only just ground on which
immortal happiness can be looked for, what
ever some arrogant speculators have urged on
the other side, is that of an express promise of
it as a free gift, and not as a natural and
merited recompense of virtue.

F 2

68 Future state.

This latter notion indeed, that immortal
happiness after death is the just and natural
consequence of a well-spent life, (an error
analogous to that of the Jews, lately men
tioned,) has prevailed to a degree which, con
sidering its utter want of foundation, either in
reason or revelation, is truly surprising. A
large proportion of deists, and many who ad
mit the truth of the Gospel, though miserably
ignorant of it, have either maintained, or (which
is much more common, because much easier)
have taken for granted and alluded to, as in
disputable, the natural and necessary con
nexion between a virtuous life on earth and
eternal happiness after death. And this is
more especially the case with such as lean
towards the opinion that Christianity is a mere
republication of the religion of nature; a cir
cumstance which confirms what has been just
said concerning the extreme ignorance of the
Gospel scheme under which these professors
of Christianity labour : since if nature taught
us to expect a happy eternity as the fair, natu
ral, and well-earned reward of virtue, it would
follow, that Christianity, which undoubtedly

Future state. 69

teaches no such doctrine, nor can be under
stood to favour it, by any one who has even a
moderate acquaintance with Scripture, must be,
on that very account, essentially different from
natural religion, and even at variance with it.

Not only, however, is Christianity very far
from being a republication of natural religion,
but the notion we are speaking of is, as has
been just observed, equally unfounded in rea
son and in revelation. As the Scriptures speak
of eternal life as " the gift of God through
Jesus Christ our Lord," so reason also shews,
that for man to expect to earn for himself, by
the practice of virtue, and claim as his just
right, an immortality of exalted happiness, is a
most extravagant and groundless pretension.
It would indeed be no greater folly and pre
sumption to contend, that the brutes are able
by their own efforts to exalt themselves to
rationality.

In the case indeed of some eminent person
ages of antiquity, the arrogant hope seems to
have been cherished by themselves or their fol
lowers, that their great exploits and noble
qualities would raise them after death into the

F 3

70 Future state.

number of the gods ; and this is precisely the
expectation we are now speaking of: for it
should be remembered, that by the term which
we translate " God," the ancient heathens under
stood, not, as we do, the Author and Governor
of all things, but merely a being of a nature
superior to man, perfect, happy, and immortal ;
such, in short, as the Christian hopes to become
after death. Now to pretend that man is natu
rally capable of raising himself to this state —
of thus elevating himself into a god — is surely
no less extravagant than to suppose that a brute
is qualified to exalt itself into a rational being.
Nor did this absurdity escape the more intelligent
of the ancient heathen ; their sentiments were
probably the same as the Bramin is reported to
have uttered, who on being asked by Alexander
what a man should do in order to become a god,
is said to have replied, that he must do some
thing impossible to man. And accordingly,
the most judicious writers of antiquity make
little scruple of alluding to the temples erected
to those who were canonized as heroes, as
merely a more splendid kind of monument ;
and the sacrifices offered to them, as merely a

Future state. 7 1

kind of solemn commemoration, to support their
posthumous fame.

Nor does the belief in a Deity, who is the
moral governor of the universe, in reality alter
the case so much as many seem to suppose ;
for if by the practice of virtue man were intitled
to claim such a reward from the justice of God,
he might strictly and properly be said to earn
and acquire it for himself, as a labourer his
wages. Men are apt indeed to speak of the
justice of the Deity as leading him to the re
warding of virtue, as well as the punishing of
sin, in the next world, (considering that reward
and punishment as the natural consequence of
each respectively,) as if the two cases were
parallel; whereas in truth they are even incon
sistent with each other; for a man deserves
reward only from doing something beyond his
bounden duty — something, consequently, which
he would not deserve punishment for omitting.
This obvious rule of justice every one assents
to in human affairs : no positive rewards are
proposed to men by legislators for merely ful
filling their engagements, and paying their
debts ; though if they fail to do so, punish-

F 4

72 Future state.

raents are denounced ; those, on the other
hand, who voluntarily devote their fortunes,
their services, or their persons, to the public
good, we consider as worthy to be rewarded
by riches, honours, or rank ; while no one ever
thought of denouncing punishment for the mere
absence of such munificent liberality and ge
nerous public spirit; which indeed would lose
their very name and character by the attempt
to make them compulsory. In no case, in
short, does justice dictate reward to be placed
on the one side of an alternative, and punish
ment on the other.

Now if it be admitted, (and few will go so
far as to deny it,) that all obedience to the
commands of our Maker is a debt justly due
to him, — a service his creatures are bound to
perform,— it follows, that the discharge of that
debt, by a life of perfect rectitude, would not,
in itself, entitle a man to claim any reward on
the plea of merit, except only exemption from
punishment. For as a servant (according to
the illustration used by our Lord himself) is
not thanked by his master for performing with
exactness his appointed task of daily labour,

Future stale. 73

so also must his disciples, as he proceeds to
tell them, call themselves, even when they
have done all that is required of them, " un
profitable servants, who have done but that
which it was their duty to do," and who can
have consequently no merit to boast.

It may be said, indeed, and with truth, that
the creatures of a benevolent Deity may rea
sonably expect, that he should provide for the
enjoyment or comfort at least of those he has
called into being; as a father does for his
children: and though in this world marks may
be perceived of such a provision being made
for the enjoyment not only of man, but of the
brute creation also, (to which, be it remem
bered, this reasoning equally applies,) yet,
since it is plain, that the goods of this world
are not regularly distributed, and the best men
frequently lead a life of suffering, it may be
urged, that this irregularity must be rectified
in a future life; in which such persons shall
receive a compensation for the unmerited af
flictions they have undergone in this. All this
may be admitted ; nor need we enquire, how
far life is in general a good or an evil ; or what

74 . Future state.

proportion of men's sufferings may be traced
to their own misconduct: let us rate, at the
very highest that reason will admit, the suffer
ings in any supposed case, the innocence of
the sufferer, and the compensation to be fairly
expected ; and to what, after all, will this fair
and ample compensation amount? To an eter
nity of exalted bliss? The idea is too extrava
gant to be entertained for a moment. Surely
the fair compensation would fall so incalcu
lably below this, would be such a trifle in
comparison, as hardly to be worth noticing in
the present argument. We see every day men
submitting voluntarily, during a considerable
portion of their Jives, to no small amount of
toil, privation, and danger, not for the cer
tainty, but for a probability only — a chance
dependent on many different contingencies—
of enjoying, during the latter years of their life,
such ease and comfort, wealth, prosperity, and
glory, as this world has to bestow ; and, in
most instances, he who refuses to do this, is
censured for his indolence and folly. Now it
must surely be allowed, that a certainty (instead
of a mere contingency) of a life, approaching in

Future state. 75

length to that of the antediluvians, to be spent
in the enjoyment (not of such "good things as
eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath
it entered into the heart of man to conceive,"
but) of such happiness as may be conceived in
this world, would be a much fuller compensa
tion for the greatest mass of undeserved afflic
tions that ever man suffered, than the attain
ment of such objects as men commonly aim at,
(and which, after all, they are not sure of
attaining,) can be reckoned, when weighed
against the hardships they submit to in the
pursuit. If, however, such a compensation
as I have supposed should be considered too
small, let it, for the arguments sake, be multi
plied tenfold ; and still it will be as far as ever
from bearing any proportion to that "far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory," \vhich
the Gospel, and the Gospel only, holds out to
us, as " the gift of God, through Jesus Christ our
Lord ;" but which man's presumptuous self-suffi
ciency has pretended to discover, and to claim.
An inconsiderate and hasty objector may
perhaps contend, that the longest period of
enjoyment would be no enjoyment at all, if

76 Future state.

known to be of limited duration ; that it would
be neither attractive in prospect, nor gratifying
in possession, from the disturbing reflection,
that it must have an end. If any one can seri
ously feel this as an objection, let him try to
impress on the generality of mankind, as the
Christian minister assiduously, and not very
effectually, labours to do, the reflection, that
this life must have an end, in less than a tenth
part of the space allotted to the antediluvians ;
let him endeavour to withdraw men's attention
and interest from the perishable goods and
enjoyments of this world ; adding also, the
great uncertainty of them, even during the
short period of our abode here; and dwelling
also on the never-ending life which awaits man
beyond the grave; and he will find, that, many
as are the afflictions of the present life, and
short, precarious, and responsible as it is, men
are yet so wedded to the things of this world,
that, so far from the thought of parting with
them haunting us, and destroying our delight
in them, it is not without a continual effort that
even the best Christian can wean himself from
over-attachment to the passing scene, and " set

Future state. 77

his affections on things above, not on things on
the earth." And the result must be an ad
mission, that a limited period of enjoyment, so
far from being disregarded, is often even too
satisfactory ; that the thoughts of its termination
are not apt to be even so intrusive as they
ought to be.

The origin of much of the confusion of
thought which has prevailed on this subject,
and which has led to the groundless notion of
a claim to immortal happiness, established by
a virtuous life, is probably this ; that we ob
serve some human actions to be really and
justly deserving of gratitude and reward from
other men: being beyond what they had any
right to demand ; and hence many persons are
apt to forget, that such actions cannot have a
similar claim on the Almighty. Any one, for
instance, who freely relieves a fellow-creature
in distress, or aids him in his pursuits, is justly
entitled to gratitude and reward from him;
having done more than that other man had any
right to demand of him : but since God has a
strict claim upon him for the practice of every
duty, no one can in his sight set up the plea of
merit, or boast of his services.

78 Future state.

Some, however, may urge, that immortal
happiness, though not demanded as a right
from the justice of God, may reasonably be
hoped from his goodness; and that it is agree
able to his attributes to bestow it. Doubtless
this is so far conformable to what we know of
the divine attributes, that we need not be sur
prised at his condescending in any instance to
bestow it, nor hesitate to believe, on sufficient
evidence, (as the Christian does,) in his having
done so. But this is far different, not only
from a claim9 but from a rational expectation,
supposing no proof to exist of an express pro
mise to that purpose. If a rich and liberal man
freely bestows a bountiful gift on any one, he
certainly performs an action suitable to his
nature ; but it would be strange to say, that
therefore that particular person had, and that
any one else has, a fair right to expect it of
him. As far as we know, it is nothing incon
sistent with God's nature, to confer perfection
and happiness, at once, on any of his crea
tures ; as he perhaps has on some others of
them : but yet we know, that on man he has
not. The immortal happiness therefore of
which we are speaking, not only can be no

Future state. 79

other than a free gift, but a gift which can be
reasonably expected on no other ground than
that of express promise.

Such a promise the Christian thankfully and
joyfully recognizes as held out in the Gospel ;
in which he finds eternal life uniformly alluded
to, not as merely " brought to light" by Jesus
Christ, but procured through his means : he
came not into the world merely that his fol
lowers might know of this immortal life, but
(as he himself declares) "that they might have
life." The Christian Scriptures do not profess
to republish, as part of the religion of nature,
the doctrine that eternal happiness is the just
and legitimate reward of a virtuous life ; but,
on the contrary, while they speak of death as
the " wages of sin," they represent eternal life,
not as the wages of obedience, but as " the gift
of God through Jesus Christ ;" a reward, indeed,
dependent on obedience, but earned and me
rited by the righteousness and by the sacrifice
of a Redeemer.

The perversion of this doctrine, by those who
imagine that they may " continue in sin that
grace may abound," is nothing different from

80 Future state.

the abuse to which almost every other doctrine
of Scripture (and indeed almost every truth
ever taught) is liable. That salvation is a free
gift, through Jesus Christ, yet is prepared for
those only who obey his commandments and
walk in his steps, is in itself no more mysteri
ous or difficult, than a multitude of cases which
occur daily, and the nature of which is readily
comprehended by every man of common sense ;
because common sense is usually consulted in
the ordinary affairs of life, even by those who
lay it aside in religious questions. Every one
would judge readily and rightly in such a case,
for instance, as that of a rich and bountiful
man placing a poor labourer on a piece of
ground, which he is charged to cultivate indus
triously and carefully, with the promise, that if
he does so, for a certain time, the land shall be
bestowed upon him in perpetuity ; if not, he
shall be deprived of it. If a man placed in
this situation should suffer the ground to lie
waste, and pass his time in sloth, because he
was a dependent on another's bounty, every
one perceives that that advantage would of
course be withdrawn from him : should he, on

Future state. 81

the other hand, diligently exert himself in till
ing the spot of land, and then claim it, not as
a free gift, but as fairly earned by his labour,
no one would fail to censure his absurd ingra
titude. Should a case of this kind actually
occur, it would probably be thought to present
no difficulty to any one's mind ; though our
Lord's parables of the talents, and of the
pounds, which correspond so closely with it,
have so often failed to convey, as they were
designed, the same lesson55.

9 It may be urged indeed, that to those who acknowledge
themselves to be sinners, it is of no practical consequence to
determine whether the unsinning obedience of which all men
fall short would, if practised, claim the reward of eternal life
from the justice of God. But, in fact, those who errone
ously regard human virtue as naturally and in itself establish
ing such a claim, and the redemption by Christ as needful for
man, only so far as he falls short of his duty, will generally
be found, those of them at least whose lives are the most
correct, to dislike or under-rate that Gospel, which so plainly
teaches us to plead only the merits of another ; and to consi
der Christianity as less necessary for such men as themselves,
than for the multitude. While, on the other hand, such as
are more viciously disposed, though they may admit that it is
neither allowable nor safe to " continue in sin that grace may
abound," will yet be likely to have less abhorrence of sin, if
they conceive, that it is their sins only which give them an

G

82 Future state.

It appears then, that whatever arguments
may have been adduced, and with whatever
effect, in favour of the natural and necessary
immortality of the soul ; at least the natural and
necessary tendency of virtue to earn a happy
immortality, can never have been discovered
by human reason ; because nothing can, pro
perly speaking, be discovered, which is not true.

interest in the redemption : and though they may acknow
ledge, that with the utmost care they will not be likely to
attain sinless rectitude, yet, when under the influence of
temptation, they will be less practically earnest in striving to
approach such perfection, from believing, that it would, if
attained, supersede the necessity of Christ's sacrifice, and of
itself merit salvation. Whereas, when this error is removed,
we perceive the full value and importance, and also the right
use, of the Gospel : and our Lord's declaration, " I am the
way, the truth, and the life ; no man cometh unto the Fa
ther, but by me," will be regarded neither as raising an
impediment, and limiting, by an arbitrary condition, our just
rights, nor yet as proposing a license, or an excuse, for sin,
but as holding out a most gracious offer of an unmerited gift ;
and thus enforcing virtue by the strongest motives of grati
tude and affection, as well as of interest. Those will surely
not be the most likely to consider the righteousness of Christ
as a substitute for their own, who acknowledge, that the
benefits they hope for through him are such as their own
righteousness, however perfect, could never have earned.

Future state. 83

But it has been my endeavour to shew, that
the arguments which human reason actually
did or might suggest in favour of a future
immortality, when fairly considered, as pre
sented to the minds of such as had nothing-
else to proceed upon — not of such as are al
ready believers, on other grounds — are insuffi
cient to warrant any thing beyond a probable
conjecture ; and that, in fact, they very seldom
produced even that effect. To bring the doc
trine fairly within the list of truths discoverable
by unaided reason, it should be shewn, first,
to have not only existed, but prevailed, as a
matter, not of conjecture, but of belief, in some
nation destitute of divine revelation; 2dly, to
have been believed on sufficient grounds; and
thirdly, to have been correctly believed. If
any one of these requisites be wanting, it can
not be properly reckoned among the doctrines
of natural religion ; but in truth it appears that
all three of these requisites were wanting among
those enlightened nations of antiquity, whose
supposed knowledge of a future state is com
monly appealed to : their notions were neither
correct, nor well-founded, nor generally re-

G 2

84 Future state.

ceived as a matter of certain belief. And
while the Gentiles were thus left in darkness,
the only nation who did receive a divine reve
lation, had, in that, but a faint and glimmering
twilight, as far as respected the glories of the
world beyond the grave, till " the day-spring
from on high should visit them" — till Jesus
Christ should " bring life and immortality to
light, through the Gospel."

To bring forward an elaborate argument to
prove that he did so, considering how expressly
it is asserted in the New Testament, may have
appeared to some readers a superfluous task.
Let them, however, but enquire of those around
them, and examine the works of those who
have written on the subject, — even such as not
only admit the truth of Christianity, but are far
from professing to regard it, or intending, in the
first instance, to represent it, as a mere repub-
lication of natural religion, — and they will see
that there is but too much need for asserting
and maintaining the claim of " the Author and
finisher of our faith," as having "brought to
light" the doctrine in question. It is a claim
which is often overlooked at least, even when

Future state. 85

not expressly denied ; and hence one main
point of evidence for the truth of Christianity
is conceded to the infidel ; while to the minds
of believers it is presented stripped of one of
its most striking peculiarities ; and a most in
adequate view given of its importance. The
depreciation of Christianity hence resulting is
perhaps not a less evil than heresy, or than infi
delity itself; being one more insidious, and
more incurable : for one who denies any lead
ing doctrine of Christianity, or even the whole
of it, but who yet acknowledges the importance,
if true, of what he rejects, may at least be
brought to attend to the arguments in favour of
it ; but far less corrigible is the error of him,
who, regarding Christianity as little more than
an authoritative confirmation of the religion of
nature, looks upon the whole system with in
difference, as a thing needed perhaps for the
vulgar, but which the educated and intelligent
might very well have dispensed with, and about
which they need not much concern themselves.
When it is said that the view which has been
taken of the doctrine of man's immortality
affords an evidence for the truth of Chris-

G 3

86 Future slate.

tianity, it is not of course meant to take into
the account the superior correctness of the
Gospel accounts of a future state, as compared
with the mythological fables, and philosophical
theories, with which the ancients amused them
selves ; that would of course be begging the
question ; but, waiving the consideration of
the truth of what Jesus taught on this subject,
its reception, in spite of men's reluctance to
receive it, is undeniable : and it is this that
constitutes the argument 1 allude to : for let
any one but compare the state of men's minds
in respect to this point, before, and after, the
promulgation of the Gospel ; let him estimate
the opinions of the ancients, not by the hasty
conjectures of prejudiced or superficial theo
rists, but by a careful examination of the testi
mony they bear to themselves ; and let him
then consider the decided belief of a future
state which forms a part of every modification
of Christianity — of every religious system which
has been founded on it, including Mahomet-
ism — let him consider, I say, the contrast thus
presented ; and he will see strong reason, even
from this circumstance alone, for concluding,

Future state. 87

that the Person, who could bring about this
mighty revolution in the opinions of mankind,
must have been a far different Being from
Confucius or Socrates.

My arguments, however, as will have been
seen, have been principally directed to the
believers in Christianity : being anxious to
protest against the error prevalent among
Christians, of unduly exalting natural religion
at the expense of revelation ; of attributing to
reason discoveries which were made, and could
be made, only by the Gospel ; and of thus un
der-rating the value of that Gospel, and dis
honouring Him, who, through it, " brought life
and immortality to light."

NOTE S.

Note (A) page 24.

CICERO, in his epistles to his friends, in which, if
any where, he may be supposed to speak his real
sentiments, frankly avows his utter disbelief in a future
state, in one sense of the word, i. e. a future state
of distinct personal existence percipient of pleasure or
pain: " ut mortem, quam etiam beati contemnere de-
bearaus, propterea quod nuUum sensum esset habitura,
&c." [Epist. to L. Mescinus, Fam. Ep. 1. v. ep. 21.1
And in an epistle to Toranius [1. vi. ep. 3.] he says,
" nee enim dum' ero, angar ulla re, cum omni vacem
culpa; et si non ero, sensu omnino carebo" This
passage will indeed bear another meaning, viz. that he
is speaking not of life or death on earth, but of the
state after death; in which, it may be said, he declares
his conviction, that if he continues to exist, his innocence
will secure him from suffering, and if he has no being at
all, he will have no sensation. The former of these would
have been indeed a sufficiently bold assumption; but the
latter, " that he who does not exist has no perception,"
is a truism which he would hardly have announced with
so much solemnity : " there needs no ghost to tell us

90 Notes.

that." But the passage from the other epistle just
quoted, in which the very same expression is used,
makes it sufficiently clear that he is speaking in this also
of existence and non-existence on earth; and declaring
his conviction, that he who is dead has no sensation.
He repeats the same sentiment in the same words
[1. vi. ep. 4.] in another epistle; " si jam vocer ad exi-
tum vitae, non ab ea republica avellar qua carendum
esse doleam, prsesertim cum id sine ullo sensu futurum
sit." And again, [1. vi. ep. 21.] " praesertim cum omnium
rerum mors sit extremum." And it is remarkable that he
uses the very language of the Epicureans on the subject;
the antidote proposed by Lucretius against the fear of
death being the very same both in substance and in
words :

Scilicet hand nobis quidquam, qui non crimus turn,
Accidere omnino poterit, scnsumque movere.

Nor are these sentiments of Cicero's confined to his
Epistles, though the characters of a philosopher and
of an orator occasions led him sometimes to speak other
wise: in his oration for Cluentius, he avows, without
disguise, a contempt, which it is evident he supposed
his hearers to partake, for the notion of a future
existence: "quid tandem illi mali mors attulit? nisi
forte ineptiis et fabulis ducimur, ut existimemus ilium
apud inferos impiorum supplicia perferre, &c. — quae si
falsa sunt, id quod omnes intelligunt, quid ei tandem aliud
mors eripuit, praeter sensum doloris?"

The expressions of Seneca on the subject bear a
striking resemblance to those of Cicero: " juvabat clc
asternitate animarum quserere, imo mehercule credere:

Notes. 91

credebam enim facile opinionibus magnorum virorum,
rem gratissimam promittentium magis quam proban-
tium. Dabam me spei tantae. Jam eram fastidio
mihi, jam reliquias retails infractae contemnebam, in
immensum illud tempus et in possessionem omnis aevi
transiturus: cum subito experrcctus sum, epistola tua
accepta, et turn bellum somnium perdidi." Epist. 102.

Quotations to the same effect might be multiplied
without end; but these few specimens may suffice to
shew how rashly the ancient philosophers have been re
ferred to as discoverers of a future state. He who
would fain " go back and walk no more with Jesus,"
will apply to them in vain for such a hope: " Lord, to
whom shall we go?" the sincere Christian will exclaim ;
" thou hast the words of eternal life."

Note (B) page 29.

It is to be wished, that those who inculcate this doc
trine, would be careful not to expose it, as some have
done, to the scoffs of the infidel, by insisting on the
restoration, at the resurrection, of the very same par
ticles of matter which were united with the soul in this
life. Supposing the doctrine to be true, neither reason
nor revelation afford means for ascertaining its truth,
nor for replying to the cavils brought against it. The
question has been ably and copiously handled by the
celebrated Mr. Locke; it will suffice therefore to ob
serve, that, as far as we can ascertain, all the particles
of a man's body are undergoing a perpetual and rapid
change during his life; that which constitutes it, still

92 Notes.

his body, being, not the identity of its materials, but
their union with the same soul, and performance of
similar functions. If (to use a familiar illustration) a
man's house were destroyed, and a kind benefactor pro
mised to rebuild it for him, and to make it much better
than before, (for such is the promise made to true
Christians when their " earthly tabernacle shall be
dissolved,") he would not surely say that the promise
had been violated if the same precise materials were not
employed; it would suffice, that he had, as before, a
house; and one that was suitable for all the same pur
poses.

As for the state of the soul in the interval between
death and the general resurrection, the discussion is
unnecessary, and perhaps unprofitable ; had knowledge
on this point been expedient for us, it would doubtless
have been clearly revealed; as it is, we are lost in con
jecture. For ought we know, the soul may remain com
bined with a portion of matter less than the ten
thousandth part of the minutest particle that was ever
perceived by our senses ; since "great" and "small" are
only relative. All we can be sure of is, that if the soul
be wholly disengaged from matter, and yet shall enjoy
consciousness and activity, it must be in some quite
different manner from that in which we now enjoy
them ; if, on the other hand, the soul remains inert and
unconscious (as it does with respect to the seeing-
faculty, for instance, when the eyes are closed, or
blinded) till its reunion with matter, the moment of our
sinking into this state of unconsciousness, will appear to

Notes. 93

us to be instantly succeeded by that of our awaking
from it, even though twenty centuries may have inter
vened; of which any one may convince himself by a
few moments' reflection.

Note (C)page 31.

Ilav TO svuXov evot$otvi£sToii Tap£j$"« T»J rcwv oXoov oixriqt, xai
flrav uhiov els TOV TWV oAcov Aoyov ra^/r
Marcus Antoninus, 1. vii. c. 10. 'Evun-spj?
ENAO>ANI30H3H TO TENNH^ANTI. 1. iv. c. 14.

So Seneca, in his consolation to Marcia, daughter of
Cremutius Cordus. " Mors omnium dolorum et so-
lutio est et finis; ultra quam mala nostra non exeunt:
quse nos in illam tranquillitatem in qua antequam
nasceremur jacuimus; reponit."

Notes (D, E) pages 44, 51.

Exodus xv. 26.] If thou wilt diligently hearken
to the voice of the Lord thy God, and will do that
which is right in his sight, and will give ear to his
commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put
none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought
upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth
thee.

Chap. xx. ver. 12.] Honour thy father and thy mother,
that thy days may be long, in the land which the Lord
thy God giveth thee.

Chap, xxiii. ver. 20.] Behold, I send an angel before
thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee unto
the place which I have prepared. [Ver. '21.] Beware

94 Notes.

of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not ; for he
will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is
in him. [Ver. 22.] But if thou shalt indeed obey
his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an
enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine
adversaries. [Ver. 23.] For mine angel shall go before
thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the
Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and
the Hivites, and the Jebusites : and I will cut them off.
[Ver. 24-.] Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor
serve them, nor do aftor their works : but thou shalt
utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their
images. [Ver. 25.] And ye shall serve the Lord your
God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water ; and
I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. [Ver.
26.] There shall nothing cast their young, nor be
barren, in thy land : the number of thy days I will
fulfil. [Ver. 27.] I will send my fear before thee, and
will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come,
and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto
thee. [Ver, 28.] And I will send hornets before thee,
which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and
the Hittite from before thee. [Ver. 31.] And I will
set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of
the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river : for
I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your
hand ; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.

Leviticus xxv. 17.] Ye shall not therefore oppress
one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the
Lord your God. [Ver. 18.] Wherefore ye shall do my

Notes. 95

statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them ; and ye
shall dwell in the land in safety. [Ver. 19.] And the
land shall yield her fouit, and ye shall eat your fill, and
dwell therein in safety. [Ver. 20.] And if ye shall say,
What shall we eat the seventh year ? behold, we shall
not sow, nor gather in our increase: [Ver. 21.] Then
I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth yenr,
and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.

Chap. xxvi. ver. 3.] If ye walk in my statutes, and
keep my commandments, and do them ; [Ver. 4.] Then
I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall
yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield
their fruit. [Ver. 5.] And your threshing shall reach
unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the
sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full,
and dwell in your land safely. [Ver. 6.] And I will
^ive peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none
shall make you afraid : and I will rid evil beasts out of
the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.
[Ver. 7.] And ye shall chase your enemies, and they
shall fall before you by the sword. [Ver. 8.] And five
of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you
shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall
fall before you by the sword. [Ver. 9.] For I will have
respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply
you, and establish my covenant with you. [Ver. 10.]
And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old
because of the new. [Ver. 11.] And I will set my taber
nacle among you : and my soul shall not abhor you.
[Ver. 12.] And I will walk among you, and will be your

96 Notes.

God, and ye shall be my people. [Ver. 13.] I am the
Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the
land of Egypt, that ye should nest be their bondmen ;
and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made
you go upright. [Ver. 14.] But if ye will not hearken
unto me, and will not do all my commandments; [Ver.
15.] And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your
soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my
commandments, but that ye break my covenant: [Ver.
16.] I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint
over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague,
that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart:
and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies
shall eat it. [Ver. 17.] And I will set my face against
you, nnd ye shall be slain before your enemies : they
that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee
when no man pursuethyou. [Ver. 18.] And if ye will not
yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you
seven times more for your sins. [Ver. 19.] And I will
break the pride of your power; and I will make your
heaven as iron, and your earth as brass. [Ver. 20.]
And your strength shall be spent in vain : for your land
shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the
land yield their fruits. [Ver. 21.] And if ye walk con
trary unto me, and will not hearken unto me, I will
bring seven times more plagues upon you, according to
your sins. [Ver. 22.] I will also send wild beasts
among you, which shall rob you of your children, and
destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and
your high-ways shall be desolate. [Ver. 23.] And if ye

Notes. 97

will not be reformed by me by these things, but will
walk contrary unto me ; [Ver. 24.] Then will I also
walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven
times for your sins. [Ver. 25.] And I will bring a
sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my
covenant: and, when ye are gathered together within
your cities, 1 will send the pestilence among you; and
ye shall be delivered into the hands of the enemy.
[Ver. 26.] And when I have broken the staff of your
bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven,
and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight:
and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied. [Ver. 27-] And
if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk
contrary unto me; [Ver. 28.] Then I will walk con
trary unto you also in fury ; and I, even 1, will chastise
you seven times for your sins. [Ver. 29.] And ye shall
eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daugh
ters shall ye eat. [Ver. 30.] And I will destroy your
high places, and cut down your images, and cast your
carcases upon the carcases of your idol?, and rny soul
shall abhor you. [Ver. 31.] And I will make your
cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation,
and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.
[Ver. 32.] And I will bring the land into desolation ;
and your enemies which dwell therein shall be asto
nished at it. [Ver. 33.] And I will scatter you among
the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you ; and
your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.
[Ver. 34.] Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths,
as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies'

H

98 Notes.

'\

land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sab
baths. [Ver. 35.] As long as it lieth desolate it shall
rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye
dwelt upon it. [Ver. 36.] And upon them that are left
alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in
the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken
leaf shall chase them ; and they shall flee, as fleeing
from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.
[Ver. 3?.] And they shall fall one upon another, as it
were before a sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall
have no power to stand before your enemies. [Ver. 38.]
And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of
your enemies shall eat you up. [Ver. 39.] And they
that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in
your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their
fathers shall they pine away with them. [Ver. 40.] If
they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their
fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against
me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;
[Ver. 41.] And that I also have walked contrary unto
them, and have brought them into the land of their
enemies ; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled,
and they then accept of the punishment of their ini
quity: [Ver. 42.] Then will 1 remember my covenant
with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also
my covenant with Abraham will I remember ; and I will
remember the land. [Ver. 43.] The land also shall be
left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she
lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of
the punishment of their iniquity; because, even because

Notes. 99

they despised my judgments, and because their soul
abhorred my statutes. [Ver. 44.] And yet for all that,
when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not
cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy
them utterly, and to break my covenant with them : for
I am the Lord their God. [Ver. 45.] But I will for
their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors,
whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the
sight of the heathen, that I might be their God : I am
the Lord. [Ver. 46.] These are the statutes and judg
ments and laws which the Lord made between him and
the children of Israel in mount Sinai, by the hand of
Moses.

Numbers xiv. 20.] And the Lord said, I have par
doned according to thy word : [Ver. 2 1 .] But as truly
as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of
the Lord. [Ver. 22.] Because all those men which
have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in
Egypt and in the wilderness, have tempted me now
these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice ;
[Ver. 23.] Surely they shall not see the land which I
sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that
provoked me see it : [Ver. 24.] But my servant Caleb,
because he had another spirit with him, and hath fol
lowed me fully) him will I bring into the land whereinto
he went; and his seed shall possess it. [Ver. 28.] Say
unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have
spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: [Ver. 29.]
Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that
were numbered of you, according to your whole num-

H 2

100 Notes.

ber, from twenty years old and upward, which have
murmured against me. [Ver. 30.] Doubtless ye shall not
come into the land, concerning which I sware to make
you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and
Joshua the son of Nun. [Ver. 31.] But your little
ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring
in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.
[Ver. 32.] But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall
in this wilderness. [Ver. 33.] And your children shall
wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your
whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilder
ness. [Ver. 34?.] After the number of the days in which
ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a
year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years ; and
ye shall know my breach of promise. [Ver. 35.] I the
Lord have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil con
gregation, that are gathered together against me: in
this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they
shall die.

Chap, xxxii. 10.] And the Lord's anger was kindled
the same time, and he sware, saying, [Ver. 11.] Surely
none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from
twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I
sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob : be
cause they have not wholly followed me; [Ver. 12.]
Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and
Joshua the son of Nun : for they have wholly followed
the Lord. [Ver. 13.] And the Lord's anger was kin
dled against Israel, and he made them wander in the
wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had

Notes. 101

done evil in the sight of the Lord, was consumed.
[Ver. 14.] ^nd behold ye are risen up in your father's
stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the
fierce anger of the Lord toward Israel. [Ver. 15.] For
if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave
them in the wilderness; and ye shall destroy all this
people.

Chap, xxxiii. ver. 55.] But if ye will not drive out the
inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall
come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them
shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides,
and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. [Ver.
56.] Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do
unto you, as I thought to do unto them.

Deuteronomy i. 35.] Surely there shall not one of
these men of this evil generation see that good land,
which I sware to give it unto your fathers. [Ver. 36.]
Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh ; he shall see it, and
to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon,
and to his children, because he hath wholly followed
the Lord. [Ver. 37.] Also the Lord was angry with
me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in
thither. [Ver. 38.] But Joshua the son of Nun, which
standeth before thee, he shall go in thither : encourage
him : for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.

Chap. iv. ver. 1.] Now therefore hearken, O Israel,
unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach
you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and pos
sess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth
you. [Ver. 24.] For the Lord thy God is a consuming

H 3

102 Notes.

fire, even a jealous God. [Ver. 25.] When thou shalt
beget children, and children's children, and ye shall
have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt your
selves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any
thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord thy
God, to provoke him to anger. [Ver. 26.] I call heaven
and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall
soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go
over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your
days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. [Ver. 27.]
And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and
ye shall be left few in number among the heathen,
whither the Lord shall lead you. [Ver. 28.] And there
ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and
stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
[Ver. 40.] Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and
his commandments, which I command thee this day,
that it may go well with thee, and with thy children
after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon
the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for ever.
Chap. v. ver. 29.] O that there were such an heart
in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my com
mandments always, that it might be well with them, and
with their children for ever ! [Ver. 32.] Ye shall observe
to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded
you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the
left. [Ver. 33.] Ye shall walk in all the ways which the
Lord your God hath commanded you, that ye may live,
and that it may be well with you, and that ye may pro
long your days in the land which ye shall possess.

Notes. 103

Chap. vi. ver. 2.] That thou mightest fear the Lord
thy God, to keep all his statutes and his command
ments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and
thy son's son all the days of thy life; and that thy days
may be prolonged. [Ver. 3.] Hear therefore, O Israel,
and observe to do it: that it may be well with thee, and
that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy
fathers hath promised thee in the land that floweth with
milk and honey. [Ver. 10.] And it shall be when the
Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land
which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac,
and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which
thou buildedst not, [Ver. 1 1 .] And houses full of all
good things which thou filledst not, and wells digged,
which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees,
which thou plantedst not; when thou shall have eaten
and be full; [Ver. 12.] Then beware lest thou forget
the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of
Egypt, from the house of bondage. [Ver. 13.] Thou
shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt
swear by his name. [Ver. 14.] Ye shall not go after
other gods, of the gods of the people which are round
about you; [Ver. 15.] (For the Lord thy God is a
jealous God among you) lest the anger of the Lord thy
God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off
the face of the earth. [Ver. 16.] Ye shall not tempt
the Lord your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.
[Ver. 17.] Ye shall diligently keep the commandments
of the Lord your God, and his testimonies, and his sta
tutes which he hath commanded thee. [Ver. 18.] And
H 4

104 Notes.

thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight
of the Lord : that it may be well with thee, and that
thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the
Lord sware unto thy fathers, [Ver. 19.] To cast out
all thine enemies from before thee, as the Lord hath
spoken. [Ver. 20.] And when thy son asketh thee
in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and
the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord our
God hath commanded you ? [Ver. 21.] Then thou shalt
say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in
Egypt ; and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a
mighty hand : [Ver. 22.] And the Lord shewed signs
and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pha
raoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes:
[Ver. 23.] And he brought us out from thence, that he
might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware
unto our fathers. [Ver. 24.] And the Lord com
manded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our
God, for our good always, that he might preserve us
alive, as it is at this day. [Ver. 25.] And it shall be our
righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments
before the Lord our God as he hath commanded us.

Chap. vii. ver. 12.] Wherefore it shall come to pass,
if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do
them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the
covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy
fathers: [Ver. 13.] And he will love thee, and bless
thee, and multiply thee : he will also bless the fruit of
thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy
wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the

Notes. \ 05

flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto
thy fathers to give thee. [Ver. 14.] Thou shalt be
blessed above al! people: there shall not be male or
female barren among you, or among your cattle. [Ver.
15.] And the Lord will take away from thee all sick
ness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt,
which thou knowest upon thee ; but will lay them upon
all them that hate thee. [Ver. 16.] And thou shalt
consume all the people which the Lord thy God shall
deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them:
neither shalt thou serve their gods : for that will be a
snare unto thee. [Ver. 23.] But the Lord thy God
shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them
with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed.

Chap. viii. ver. 1.] All the commandments which I
command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye
may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land
which the Lord sware unto your fathers. [Ver. 19.] And
it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God,
and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship
them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely
perish. [Ver. 20.] As the nations which the Lord
destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish ; because
ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord
your God.

Chap. xi. ver. 8.] Therefore shall ye keep all the com
mandments which I command you this day, that ye may
be strong, and go in and possess the land whither ye go
to possess it; [Ver. 9.] And that ye may prolong your
days in the land, which the Lord sware unto your

106 Notes.

fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that
floweth with milk and honey. [Ver. 10.] For the land,
whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of
Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst
thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of
herbs: [Ver. 11.] But the land, whither ye go to pos
sess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water
of the rain of heaven ; [Ver. 12.] A land which the
Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God
are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even
unto the end of the year. [Ver. 13.] And it shall come
to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my com
mandments which I command you this day, to love the
Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart,
and with all your soul, [Ver. 14*.] That I will give you
the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain
and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn,
and thy wine, and thine oil. [Ver. 15.] And I will send
grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat
and be full. [Ver. 16.] Take heed to yourselves, that
your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve
other gods, and worship them; [Ver. 17.] And then
the Lord's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut
up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land
yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off
the good land which the Lord giveth you. [Ver. 18.]
Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your
heart, &c. [Ver. 2 1 .] That your days may be multi
plied, and the days of your children, in the land which
the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the

Notes. 107

days of heaven upon the earth. [Ver. 22.] For if ye
shall diligently keep all these commandments which I
command you, to do them, to love the Lord your God,
to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him; [Ver.
23.] Then will the Lord drive out all these nations
from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations
and mightier than yourselves. [Ver. 24.] Every place
whereon the souls of your feet shall tread shall be yours :
from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the
river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea, shall your
coast be. [Ver. 25.] There shall no man be able to
stand before you: for the Lord your God shall lay the
fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that
ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you. [Ver.
26.] Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a
curse: [Ver. 27.] A blessing, if ye obey the command
ments of the Lord your God, which I command you
this day ; [Ver. 28.] And a curse, if ye will not obey
the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn
aside out of the way which I command you this day,
to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

Chap. xv. ver. 4.] For the Lord shall greatly
bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God
giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it. [Ver. 5.]
Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the
Lord thy God, to observe to do all these commandments
which I command thee this day. [Ver. 6.] For the
Lord thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and
thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shall not
borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but

108 Notes.

they shall not reign over thee. [Ver. 10.] Thou shalt
surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved
when thou givest unto him; because that for this thing
the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and
in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.

Chap. xvi. ver. 20.] That which is altogether just
shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the
land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

Chap. xvii. ver. 19.] And it (viz. the book of the Law,
for the king's use) shall be with him, and he shall read
therein all the days of his life : that he may learn to fear
the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and
these statutes, to do them : [Ver. 20.] That his heart be
not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not
aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to
the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his
kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.

Chap, xxviii. ver. 1 .] And it shall come to pass, if thou
shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy
God, to observe and to do all his commandments which
I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will
set tliee on high above all nations of the earth : [Ver.
2.] And all these blessings shall come on thee, and over
take thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the
Lord thy God. [Ver. 3.] Blessed shalt thou be in the
city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. [Ver. 4.]
Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of
thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of
thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. [Ver. 5.] Blessed
shall be thy basket and thy store. [Ver. 6.] Blessed

Notes. 109

shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt
thou be when thou goest out. [Ver. 7.] The Lord shall
cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be
smitten before thy face : they shall come out against thee
one way, and flee before thee seven ways. [Ver. 8.]
The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy
storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto;
and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy
God giveth thee. [Ver. 9.] The Lord shall establish
thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto
thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord
thy God, and walk in his ways. [Ver. 10.] And all
people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the
name of the Lord ; and they shall be afraid of thee.
[Ver. 11.] And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in
goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy
cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which
the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee. [Ver. 12.]
The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the
heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and
to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend
unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. [Ver.
13.] And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not
the tail, and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt
not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the com
mandments of the Lord thy God, which I command
thee this day, to observe and to do them : [Ver. 14.]
And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words
which I command thee this day to the right hand, or to
the left, to go after other gods to serve them. [Ver. 15.]

1 10 Notes.

But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto
the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his
commandments arid his statutes which I command thee
this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and
overtake thee. [ Ver. 1 6.] Cursed shalt thou be in the
city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. [Ver. 17.]
Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. [Ver. 18.]
Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy
land, the increase of thy kine and the flocks of thy
sheep. [Ver. J9.] Cursed shalt thou be when thou
comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest
out. [Ver. 20.] The Lord shall send upon thee curs
ing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine
hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until
thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy
doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. [Ver. 21.]
The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee,
until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither
thou goest to possess it. [Ver. 22.] The Lord shall
smite thee with a consumption and with a fever, and
with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and
with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew;
and they shall pursue thee until thou perish. [Ver.
23.] And the heaven that is over thy head shall be
brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.
[Ver. 24-.] The Lord shall make the rain of thy land
powder and dust : from heaven shall it come down upon
thee, until thou be destroyed. [Ver. 25.] The Lord
shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies :
thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven

Notes. 1 1 1

ways before them : and shalt be removed into all the
kingdoms of the earth. [Ver. 26t.] And thy carcase
shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the
beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.
[Ver. 27.] The Lord will smite thee with the botch of
Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and
with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. [Ver.
28.] The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and
blindness, and astonishment of heart: [Ver. 29,] And
thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in
darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways : and
thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and
no man shall save thee. [Ver. 30.] Thou shalt betroth
a wife, and another man shall lie with her : thou shalt
build an house, and shalt not dwell therein : thou shalt
plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes
thereof. [Ver. 31.] Thine ox shall be slain before
thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass
shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and
shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given
unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue
them. [Ver. 32.] Thy sons and thy daughters shall be
given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look,
and fail with longing for them all the day long; and
there shall be no might in thine hand. [Ver. 33.] The
fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation
which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only
oppressed and crushed alway : [Ver. 34.] So that thou
shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt
see. [Ver. 35.] The Lord shall smite thee in the knees,

112 Notes.

and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed,
from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.
[Ver. 36.] The Lord shall bring thee and thy king which
thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither
thou nor thy fathers have known ; and there shalt thou
serve other gods, wood and stone. [Ver. 37.] And
thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a
byword, among all nations whither the Lord shall lead
thee. [Ver. 38.] Thou shalt carry much seed out into
the field, and shalt gather but little in : for the locust
shall consume it. [Ver. 39.] Thou shalt plant vine
yards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the
wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat
them. [Ver. 40.] Thou shalt have olive trees through
out all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with
the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit. [Ver. 41.]
Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not
enjoy them ; for they shall go into captivity. [Ver. 42.]
All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust con
sume. [Ver. 43.] The stranger that is within thee shall
get up above thee very high ; and thou shalt come down
very low. [Ver. 44.] He shall lend to thee, and thou
shalt not lend to him : he shall be the head, and thou
shalt be the tail. [Ver. 45.] Moreover all these curses
shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and over
take thee, till thou be destroyed ; because thou hearken-
edst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep
his commandments and his statutes which he com
manded thee. [Ver. 46.] And they shall be upon thee
for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.

Notes. 113

[Ver. 4-7.] Because thou servedst not the Lord thy
God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for
the abundance of all things; [Ver. 48.] Therefore
shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall
send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in
nakedness, and in want of all things ; and he shall put a
yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed
thee. [Ver. 49.] The Lord shall bring a nation against
thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the
eagle flieth ; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not un
derstand. [Ver. 50,] A nation of fierce countenance,
which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew
favour to the young. [Ver. 51.] And he shall eat the
fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou
be destroyed : which also shall not leave thee either
corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks
of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. [Ver. 52.]
And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy
high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trust-
edst, throughout all thy land : and he shall besiege thee
in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the Lord
thy God hath given thee. [Ver. 53.] And thou shalt
eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and
of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given
thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine
enemies shall distress thee. [Ver. 54-.] So that the man
that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye
shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of
his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which
he shall leave: [Ver. 55.] So that he will not give to

I

114 Notes.

any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall
eat : because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and
in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress
thee in all thy gates. [Ver. 56.] The tender and deli
cate woman among you, which would not adventure to
set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness
and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband
of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her
daughter, [Ver. 57.] And toward her young one that
cometh out from between her feet, and toward her chil
dren which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for
want of all things secretly, in the siege and straitness*
wherewith thine enemy shall distress thec in thy gates.
[Ver. 58.] If thou wilt not observe to do all the words
of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest
fear this glorious and fearful name. The Lord thy God;
[Ver. 59.] Then the Lord will make thy plagues won
derful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues,
and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long
continuance. [Ver. 60.] Moreover he will bring upon
thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid
of; and they shall cleave unto thee. [Ver. 61.] Also
every sickness, and every plague, which is not written
in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon
thee, until thou be destroyed. [Ver. 62.] And ye shall
be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of
heaven for multitude ; because thou wouldest not obey
the voice of the Lord thy God. [Ver. 63.] And it shall
come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do
you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice

Notes. 115

over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought;
and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou
goest to possess it. [Ver. 64.] And the Lord shall
scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the
earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve
other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have
known, even wood and stone. [Ver. 65.] And among
these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the
sole of thy foot have rest: but the Lord shall give thee
there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow
of mind : [Ver. 66.] And thy life shall hang in doubt be
fore thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt
have none assurance of thy life: [Ver. G7.] In the
morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even ! and
at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning !
for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and
for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. [Ver.
68.] And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again
with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou
shalt see it no more again : and there ye shall be sold
unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and
no man shall buy you.

Chap. xxix. ver. 22.] So that the generation to come
of your children, that shall rise up after you, and the
stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when
they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which
the Lord hath laid upon it; [Ver. 23.] And that the
whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning,
that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth
therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah,

I 2

116 Notes.

Admah, and Zeboim, which the Lord overthrew in his
anger, and in his wrath : [Ver. 24?.] Even all nations
shall say, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this
land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?
[Ver. 25.] Then men shall say, Because they have for
saken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers,
which he made with them when he brought them forth
out of the land of Egypt : [Ver. 26.] For they went and
served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom
they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them :
[Ver. 27.] And the anger of the Lord was kindled
against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are
written in this book : [Ver. 28.] And the Lord rooted
them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in
great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it
is this day.

Chap. xxx. ver. 1.] And it shall come to pass, when
all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and
the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt
call them to mind among all the nations whither the
Lord thy God hath driven thee, [Ver. 2.] And shalt
return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice
according to all that I command thee this day, thou,
and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy
soul ; [Ver. 3.] That then the Lord thy God will turn thy
captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will re
turn and gather thee from all the nations, whither the
Lord thy God hath scattered thee. [Ver. 4.] If any of
thine be driven out unto the uttermost parts of heaven,
from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and

Notes. 117

from thence will he fetch thee : [Ver. 5.] And the Lord
thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers
possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee
good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. [Ver. 7.]
And the Lord thy God will put all these curses upon
thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which per
secuted thee. [Ver. 8.] And thou shalt return and obey
the voice of the Lord, and do all his commandments,
which I command thee this day. [Ver. 9.] And the
Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work
of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit
of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good : for
the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good, as he
rejoiced over thy fathers; [Ver. 10.] If thou shalt
hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep
his commandments and his statutes which are written
in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the Lord
thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
[Ver. 15.] See, 1 have set before thee this day life and
good, and death and evil; j^Ver. 16.] In that I com
mand thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk
in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his sta
tutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and mul
tiply : and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land
whither thou goest to possess it. [Ver. 17.] But if
thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but
shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and
serve them; [Ver. 18.] I denounce unto you this day,
that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not pro
long your days upon the land, whither thou passest

I 3

118 Notes.

over Jordan to go to possess it. [Ver. 19.] I call
heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I
have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing :
therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may
live : [Ver. 20.] That thou mayest love the Lord thy
God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou
mayest cleave unto him : for he is thy life, and the
length of thy days : that thou mayest dwell in the land
which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham,
to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

Chap. xxxi. ver. 16.] And the Lord said unto
Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers ; and
this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the
gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be
among them, and will forsake me, and break my cove
nant which I have made with them. [Ver. 1 7.] Then
my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and
I will forsake them, and 1 will hide my face from them,
and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles
shall befal them ; so that they will say in that day, Are not
these evils come upon us, because our God is not among
us? [Ver. 18.] And 1 will surely hide my face in that
day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in
that they are turned unto other gods. [Ver. 29.] For
I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt your
selves, and turn aside from the way which 1 have com
manded you ; and evil will befal you in the latter days,
because ye will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to pro
voke him to anger through the work of your hands.

Chap, xxxii. ver. 24-.] They shall be burnt with

Notes. 119

hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bit
ter destruction : I will also send the teeth of beasts
upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.
[Ver. 25.] The sword without, and terror within,
shall destroy both the young man and the virgin,
the suckling also with the man of gray hairs. [Ver.
46.] And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto
all the words which 1 testify among you this day, which
ye shall command your children to observe to do, all
the words of this law. [Ver. 47.] For it is not a vain
thing for you; because it is your life: and through
this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whi
ther ye go over Jordan to possess it.

Note (F)page 53.

In tola lege Mosaica nullum vitas aeternae praemium,
ac ne aeterni quidem prsemii indicium vel vestigium
extat. Opinionum, quae inter Judaeos erat, circa vitam fu-
turi saeculi discrepantia, arguit promissiones Lege factus
tales esse ut ex iis certi quid de vita futuri saeculi non
possit colligi. Quod et servator noster non obscure
innuit, cum resurrectionem mortuorum colligit [Matt,
xxii.] non ex promisso aliquo Legi additio, sed ex ge-
nerali tantum illo promisso Dei, quo se Deum Abra-
hami, Isaaci, et Jacobi futurum sposponderat : quae
tamen ilia collectio magis nititur cognitione intentionis
divinae sub generalibus istis verbis occultatae, &c. &c.
Episcopius, Inst. Theol. lib. iii. §. I.e. 2.

Grotius distinctly maintains the same tenet: tf Moses
in Religionis Judaicoe institutione, si diserta Legis re-

I 4

120 Notes.

spicimus, nihil promisit supra hujus vitae bona, ter-
ram uberem, penum copiosum, victoriam de hostibus,
longum et valentem senectutem, posteros cum bona spe
superstates. Nam si quid est ultra, in umbris obtegi-
tur, aut sapienti ac difficili ratiocinatione colligendum
est." &c.

ESSAY II.

ON THE DECLARATION OF GOD IN

HIS SON.

.I HAT the doctrines of man's immortality,
and of the eternal reward reserved for the
pious and obedient, were truly brought to light
through the Gospel, I have endeavoured to
establish in the First Essay. There are other
peculiarities in the Christian religion, closely
connected with these, which are still more fre
quently overlooked, (at least, overlooked as
peculiarities,) relating to the mode in which the
Gospel leads men towards the attainment of
its promises, and brings them into that state of
piety and of obedience, which is requisite as
a preparation for immortal happiness. That
piety and obedience are requisite to make man
acceptable in God's sight, is indeed no pecu
liarity of the Gospel : natural religion would
teach, that if there be any future state, the most
likely means of making that a happy state,

1 22 Declaration of God in his Son.

must be a profound reverence for the great
Being on whose favour all happiness must
depend, and a course of life agreeable to those
moral principles which he seems to have im
planted in our minds, for the regulation of our
conduct: and many persons accordingly con
tent themselves with the consideration, that
piety and virtue are enforced in the Christian
religion by stronger sanctions, (the hopes and
fears of another world,) than natural religion
could establish ; and they notice also, perhaps,
the peculiar purity of the Gospel morality; but
without observing the peculiarity of the mode
in which that piety and morality are incul
cated ; or rather, in which men are led to
inculcate on themselves these lessons, and to
acquire the requisite dispositions.

The object of the present and of the succeed
ing Essay will be to point out these distin
guishing features : and first, that of the mode
in which Christians are drawn towards God,
and sentiments both of piety and of emula
tion of the divine goodness, implanted and
cherished, by a certain peculiarity in the
character of the Gospel revelation.

Declaration of God in his Son. 123

It is to be observed, that I am proceeding
throughout on the supposition of the truth of
that revelation; and without therefore adducing
any direct evidence in support of it; though,
indirectly, it may serve as a confirmation to
the believer's faith, and may suggest matter of
useful meditation to the sceptic, to find Christi
anity distinguished, in this and in several other
remarkable particulars, both from natural reli
gion, and from all pretended revelations; and
distinguished by such marks as are favourable
to its claim of coming from God.

The writings of St. John, being composed,
as is generally believed, in a great measure, for
the purpose of refuting the prevailing heresies
of his times, and of asserting and explaining,
in opposition to them, as much as is proper or
possible for us to know respecting the true
nature and character of Jesus Christ, are ac
cordingly those which throw the most light on
that peculiarity in the Gospel revelation which
is now under consideration. In the beginning
of his Gospel he tells us, [ch. i. 18.] " no man
hath seen God at any time ; the only-begotten
Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He

124 Declaration of God in his Son.

hath declared him." The first clause of this
passage, viz. that " no man hath seen God at
any time," is an assertion so obvious and indis
putable, that it seems introduced principally
as a reason for the second, " the only-begotten
Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He
hath declared him ;" that is, the necessity of
such a declaration arises from the spiritual and
stupendously exalted nature of the Deity ; who
is not the object of any of our senses, and
is very imperfectly comprehensible by our
understanding.

Now it is most important to observe, that the
declaration which St. John here speaks of,
cannot be understood as merely an authorita
tive announcement of God's will, such as was
made by the prophets ; because the context
evidently shews that he is speaking of some
thing peculiar to the only-begotten Son ;
laiivoi; l%Yiyq<ruro : " He hath declared him," or
rather, with still more propriety, " it is He
that hath declared him :" this declaration
therefore does not refer to a mere message sent
from God, but to a manifestation of God him
self in Jesus Christ: which St. John has just

Declaration of God in his Son. 125

above described by saying, " the Word was
made flesh, and dwelt among us." He came,
not merely as a prophet sent from God, but as
" Emmanuel, God ivith us" This view of the
declaration or revelation which He made of God,
is strikingly confirmed by numerous other pas
sages in the sacred writings: He says of Himself,
" he that hath seen me, hath seen the Father."
St. Paul describes the incarnation, by saying,
"God was manifest in the flesh ;" and that Christ
was the brightness of his glory, a^avyacr^a r%g
do%7]$, and the express image of his person,
ftaguxryig rqg V7ro<rrct,<reug. Now that the divine
nature of Christ is implied in these passages,
though sufficiently clear, it is not my pre
sent object to point out ; but that they re
present the incarnation as a certain kind of
revelation, display, or manifestation, to men, of
the divine nature. In what manner, and for
what purpose, this manifestation was effected,
is the object of our present enquiry.

But in order to keep clear of even the suspi
cion of that most unchristian and dangerous
fault, presumption, it will be necessary to pre
mise two remarks ; first, that we are enquiring,

126 Declaration of God in his Son.

not why the incarnation took place, but why it
was made known to us: now there is a wide
difference between two things, which neverthe
less the inattentive are apt to confound toge
ther ; I mean, between enquiring into the rea
sons of the divine counsels themselves, and
enquiring into the reasons of their being made
known to us : the former is in very many cases
both a fruitless and a presumptuous enquiry,
because it relates frequently to unknown parts
of the creation, and to the attributes and ope
rations of the divine mind, which are beyond
our clear comprehension ; whereas, to enquire
why certain doctrines are revealed to us, can
hardly be a blameable, and will generally be a
profitable, often indeed a necessary, enquiry,
because this relates to our own minds — to the
practical effect intended to be produced on our
selves. For example, why the sacrifice of Christ
was necessary for our redemption, is a mystery
beyond the reach of our present faculties ; and
all attempts fully to explain it have served
only to excite a prejudice against the doctrine,
and to expose the weakness of arrogant specu
lation : but to consider why this sacrifice of

Declaration of God in his Son. 127

Christ was announced to mankind, is both
allowable and necessary ; it was doubtless for
the purpose of exciting our gratitude, confi
dence, love, and obedience, towards him ; to
gether with a deep abhorrence of sin, which
needed so mighty an expiation.

So also in the present case, we dare not pre
sume to determine why God thought fit to take
our nature upon him in Jesus Christ. But why
he thought fit to reveal this incarnation — to
announce himself as the eternal " Word made
flesh"— is what it cannot but behove us to
know.

The other caution to be observed is, that in
those cases where we can perceive something
of the purposes which God has in view, we are
not thence to conclude that we know them all:
many great objects may be comprehended in
each of God's dispensations ; though but a very
small part of these objects be as much as is
sufficient, and perhaps possible, for us, in our
present state, to understand. We are sure
that the sun gives light and heat to this world ;
and many ignorant savages perhaps conclude
from thence, that it was created for no other

128 Declaration of God in his Son.

purpose; doubtless we are as much called on
for gratitude as if the case were so ; but we are
well assured, that many other planets partake
of the same advantages; and we should be
very much to blame, were we to conclude
positively that even this is the sole, or indeed
the principal, purpose for which the sun was
created a. So in the present case also, what
ever benefits to mankind we may perceive from
the manifestation of God in the flesh, we have
no right to infer, that there may not be other,
and even greater, objects effected by it, of
which, for the present at least, we must remain
ignorant.

With these cautions carefully kept in mind,
we may proceed, with due reverence, to en
quire, for what purposes we are taught by
Scripture to believe in the incarnation of God
in Christ Jesus, and to regard that as a mani
festation of God to his creatures. We shall
find good reason for concluding, that it was
designed, in part at least, for the purpose of

* To have ascertained and to perceive a reason for any thing
that God has done, is far different from perceiving the reason ;
though the two are often confounded.

Declaration of God in his Son. 129

leading men both to piety and to morality, by
a method admirably adapted to that purpose,
and which is absolutely peculiar to Chris
tianity : viz. by first bringing down more to the
level of our capacity the moral attributes of the
Deity, and thus better engaging our affections
on the side of devotion; and secondly, by
exhibiting a perfect and exalted model of hu
man excellence. Both these objects are ef
fected by the mysterious union of the divine
and human natures; the divine "Word was
made flesh," to lead us to affectionate piety ;
and "the manhood was taken into God," to
teach us Godlike virtue.

The few remarks which I propose to offer
on each of these points, though very far from
exhausting the subject, may be sufficient to
suggest, to such as are disposed to pursue it, a
train of pleasing and profitable meditation.

First then, with respect to piety : (or what
ever other term may be employed, to denote
collectively the sentiments felt or expressed by
men towards a Supreme Being :) it is indeed
undeniable, that the works of creation clearly
indicate a Contriver of stupendous power and

K

130 Declaration of God in his Son.

wisdom, whose observation we can never hope
to elude, nor to resist his will : and we cannot
but acknowledge his goodness, in bestowing
on his creatures all the benefits they enjoy,
notwithstanding our inability to explain those
appearances of evil which present themselves.

But though it is easy to say that we ought to
love and worship, as well as reverence and
fear, the Supreme Being, yet nothing is in fact
more difficult for such a creature as man, sur
rounded too, as he is, by gross material ob
jects, and necessarily occupied in worldly pur
suits, than to lift up his thoughts and affections
to God. A Being, whose nature is so incompre
hensible that our knowledge of him is chiefly
negative ; of whom we know, not so much
what He is, as what He is not, it is difficult to
make even a steady object of thought : now we
believe that God is a spirit; but we have a
very faint notion of the nature of a spirit,
except that it is not a body: God is eternal;
but we are bewildered with the very idea of
Eternity, of which we only know that it is
without beginning, and without end : we say
that the divine attributes are infinite; i. e.

Declaration of God in his 8o?i. 131

not bounded, unlimited. And even where our
knowledge of God extends beyond mere nega
tives, we cannot but perceive, on attentive
reflection, that the attributes assigned to the
Deity must in reality be such, in him, as the
ordinary sense of those same terms, when ap
plied to men, can but very faintly shadow outb.

b «' We ought to remember, that the descriptions which we
frame to ourselves of God, or of the divine attributes, are not
taken from any direct or immediate perceptions that we have
of him or them ; but from some observations we have made of
his works, and from the consideration of those qualifications,
that we conceive would enable us to perform the like. Thus
observing great order, conveniency, and harmony in all the
several parts of the world, and perceiving that every thing is
adapted, and tends to the preservation and advantage of the
whole ; we are apt to consider, that we could not contrive and
settle things in so excellent and proper a manner without
great wisdom ; and thence conclude that God, who has thus
concerted and settled matters, must have wisdom : and having
then ascribed to him wisdom, because we see the effects and
result of it in his works, we proceed and conclude that he has
likewise foresight and understanding, because we cannot con
ceive wisdom without these, and because if we were to do
what we see he has done, we could not expect to perform
it without the exercise of these faculties.

" And it doth truly follow from hence, that God must either
have these or other faculties and powers equivalent to them,

K 2

132 Declaration of God in his Son.

But the difficulty is still greater, when we at
tempt to set our affections on this awful and

and adequate to these mighty effects which proceed from them.
And because we do not know what his faculties are in them
selves, we give them the names of those powers, that we find
would be necessary to us, in order to produce such effects, and
call them wisdom, understanding, and foreknowledge : but at
the same time we cannot but be sensible that they are of a
nature altogether different from ours, and that we have no
direct or proper notion or conception of them. Only we are
sure that they have effects like unto those that do proceed
from wisdom, understanding, and foreknowledge in us : and
when our works fail to resemble them in any particular, as to
perfection, it is by reason of some want or defect in these
qualifications.

" Thus our reason teaches us to ascribe these attributes to
God, by way of resemblance and analogy to such qualities or
powers as we find most valuable and perfect in ourselves.

" If we look into the holy Scriptures, and consider the
representations given us there of God or his attributes, we
shall find them generally of the same nature, and plainly
borrowed from some resemblance to things with which we are
acquainted by our senses. Thus when the holy Scriptures
speak of God, they ascribe hands, and eyes, and feet to him :
not that it is designed that we should believe that he has any
of these members according to the literal signification : but
the meaning is, that he has a power to execute all those
acts, to the effecting of which these parts in us are instru
mental : that is, he can converse with men as well as if he

Declaration oj God in his Son. 133

inconceivable Being; — to address as a tender
parent, Him, who has formed out of nothing,

had a tongue and mouth ; he can discern all that we do or
say as perfectly as if he had eyes and ears ; he can reach us
as well as if he had hands and feet ; he has as true and
substantial a being as if he had a body ; and he is as truly
present every where as if that body were infinitely ex
tended. And in truth, if all these things, which are thus
ascribed to him, did really and literally belong to him, he
could not do what he does near so effectually, as we con
ceive and are sure he doth them by the faculties and properties
which he really possesses, though what they are in themselves
be unknown to us." King's Sermon, §. iv. p. 6 — 10. That
I do not admit Dr. King's application of his principles, to the
explanation of the difficulty of reconciling the divine Pre
science with human Freedom, is necessary to be mentioned, for
the sake of such of my readers only as have not seen the notes
accompanying my edition of his Sermon, and may be led to
suppose the contrary, from a statement in a note to one of
Mr. Davison's Lectures on Prophecy, in which he attributes
to me the adoption of the Archbishop's views on that point.
That statement originated entirely in a mistake ; as the
author (whom I well knew to be incapable of wilful misrepre
sentation) candidly acknowledged to me.

My reasons for differing from Archbishop King on this
point are fully stated in the notes just mentioned. Of the
value and importance of his general principles I am more and
more convinced; especially, as more than four years have
elapsed since the work has been recalled to public notice, both

K 3

134 Declaration of God in his Son.

and could annihilate in a moment, countless
myriads, perhaps, of worlds besides our own ;
and to whom " the nations are but as the drop
of a bucket, and the small dust of a balance ;" —
to offer our tribute of praise and obedience to
Him, who can neither be benefited nor hurt by
us; — to implore favour and deprecate punish
ment from Him, who has no passions, nor
wants, as we have ; — to confess our sins before
Him, who is exempt not only from all sin, but
from all human infirmities and temptations; —
and, in short, to hold spiritual intercourse with
One, with whom we can have no sympathy,
and of whom we can with difficulty form any
clear conception.

And this difficulty is not diminished, but
rather increased, in proportion as man ad
vances in refinement of notions, in cultivation

by Dr. Copleston's commendation and masterly analysis of it,
(in the notes to his " Discourses on Predestination/') and by
the new edition of it, published in consequence ; in the notes
to which, as well as in the analysis just mentioned, Dr. King's
main principles have been explained and supported by reasons,
against which nothing has, in all that time, been advanced
that deserves the name of argument.

Declaration of God in his Son. 135

of intellect, and in habits of profound philoso
phical reflection ; and thus becomes less gross
in his ideas of the Supreme Being. To the
dull and puerile understandings of a semi-
barbarous nation, such as the Israelites at the
time of Moses, many of the circumstances just
mentioned would be less likely to occur, than
to those of a more enlightened people ; and an
habitual and practical piety would accordingly
have been more easy of attainment by them,
while favoured, as they were, with frequent
sensible divine interpositions of various kinds,
and continually addressed by prophets in the
name of the Lord, Jehovah, the tutelary God
of their nation, than for men of more enlarged
minds, and more thoughtful habits, not fa
voured with the Gospel revelation.

These impediments to devotion it is probable
St. John had in mind, when he said, " No man
hath seen God at any time ;" and that he con
ceived the "declaration" of God, by Jesus
Christ, was calculated, not indeed wholly to
remove these impediments, but so far to mo
derate and lower them, as to leave no insuper
able difficulty to a willing mind.

K 4

J36 Declaration of God in his Son.

To the causes which have been enumerated
it is to he attributed, that the religion of those
who are called philosophers, whose specula
tions respecting the Deity have been accounted
the most refined and exalted, has always been
cold and heartless in its devotion; or rather has
been nearly destitute of devotion altogether.

On the other hand, the great mass of man
kind, from the same cause, have in all ages
and countries shewn a disposition to address
their prayers not to the Supreme Creator im
mediately, but to some angel, demi-god, sub
ordinate deity, or saint, (as is the practice of
the Romish Church,) whom they suppose to
approach more to their own nature, to form a
sort of connecting link between God and man,
and to perform for them the office of Interces
sor. Thus while the one class are altogether
wanting in affectionate devotion, the other di
rect it to an improper object; giving that wor
ship to the creature which is due only to the
Creator. A preventive for both these faults is
provided, in that manifestation of God in Jesus
Christ, which affords us such a display of the
divine attributes, as, tKough very faint and imper-

Declaration of God in his Son. 137

feet, is yet the best calculated, considering what
human nature is, to lead our affections to God.
When Christ fed a multitude with five loaves,
He made not indeed a greater nor a more
benevolent display of power, than He does in
supporting from day to day so many millions
of men and other animals as the universe con
tains ; but it was an instance far better calcu
lated to make an impression on men's minds of
his goodness and parental care. 1 speak not
now of this miracle as an evidence of his pre
tensions ; for that purpose would have been
answered as well by a miracle of destruction ;
but of the peculiar beneficent character of it.
So also, in healing the sick, raising the dead,
and preaching to the people ; though these are
not greater acts of power and goodness than
the creation of the world and all things in it,
yet they are what the minds of most men, at
least, can more steadily dwell upon, and which,
therefore, are most likely to affect the heart.

Many, it is true, of the qualities which our
Lord displayed, such as his patience under
provocation, and fortitude against pain and
danger, are such as can belong to Him in his

138 Declaration of God in his Son.

human nature alone, and can present us but a
very faint shadow of the attributes of God,
considered as such ; but still these are attri
butes of one and the same Person, in whom we
believe the divine and human natures to have
been united ; though we cannot comprehend
that union, any more than indeed we can that
of the human soul and body : and they are
well fitted to fix our affections on that Person :
and if any one should contend, by drawing
nice metaphysical distinctions, that this is not
properly to be called the love of God, it is at
least the nearest approach to it of which our
nature is capable.

If we cannot endure steadily to gaze on the
sun, but prefer contemplating his brightness as
reflected from the objects on the earth, much
more may we expect, that the splendour of the
Divine Being should be too dazzling for mortal
gaze ; that it should be necessary for his bright
ness to be veiled in flesh, in order to enable us
to contemplate it in the best manner that, for
us, is possible ; and that we should have a
better notion of Him by viewing this radiation
of his glory, [AnATFA^MA TH2 AOEH2,] than

Declaration of God in his Son. 139

by straining our weak faculties in attempting
to comprehend Him as He is. Our views in
deed on this awful subject must after all be
indistinct, confused, and imperfect; but if they
are better than we could otherwise have at
tained, and are the utmost that we can or need
attain, the object is sufficiently accomplished.

If indeed, as is notoriously the fact, our only
notions of the divine attributes, and our terms
for expressing them, are, and always must be,
borrowed from such human qualities as have
the most analogy to them, it seems to follow
inevitably, that the more excellent man would
give us ever the more adequate notion of the
divine excellence ; and consequently, that the
life of that man who was altogether perfect, by
union with the Godhead, must afford us the
very best idea (however imperfect that best
may be) that we can attain, of the moral attri
butes of God. Moreover, our Lord was sub
ject to all the wants, infirmities, and tempta
tions, incident to his and our human nature0;

c It should be remembered, that we are not exalting the
character of Jesus, if we regard Him as naturally destitute of
such feelings as ambition, love of glory, patriotism, and other

140 Declaration of God in his Son.

and suffered on the cross for our redemption ;
this calls for our sympathy, as well as reverence
and gratitude ; and the affectionate attachment

such natural propensities, as are not in themselves sinful ; nor
could it, in that case, have been said with truth, that He
" was in all points tempted like as we are." No doubt the
offer of temporal dominion, to a descendant of the royal house
of David, together with the eager reception this would have
ensured Him with his countrymen, who were anxiously looking
for such a Messiah, and the glory and pleasure of delivering
them from a foreign yoke, constituted a real and strong
temptation ; especially when the alternative was rejection by
his brethren, insult, persecution, and ignominious death. May
not this offer have been pressingly renewed just at the time of
his betrayal ? and may not this temptation have been the
" cup" which He prayed might be removed from Him ? for we
are told, (Heb. v. 7.) that " he offered up prayers and suppli
cations with strong crying and tears, unto Him that was able
to save Him from death, and was heard, in that He feared :"
now we know that He was not saved from the death on the
cross ; it must have been something else therefore from which
He prayed for deliverance, and was heard. And the Evan
gelist tells us, that " there appeared unto Him an angel from
heaven strengthening Him."

Certainly it appears more probable, that the plot laid
by Judas Tscariot (who could not be ignorant of his Master's
supernatural powers) was for driving Him to assume a tempo
ral dominion, than that it was directed against his life. See
a dissertation on this subject in " The Night of Treason," by
the Rev. F. Thruston.

Declaration of God in his Son. 141

thus so naturally generated, will adhere (if I
may so express myself) to the divine nature of
the Saviour also. And when we worship Him,
though we worship Him not as man, but as
God, still it will give an affectionate fervor to
our devotions, to have an habitual remembrance,
that this very God was also man, deigning for
our sakes to be " made flesh, and dwell among
us," "taking upon Him the form of a servant, and
humbling Himself even unto the death of the
cross. " Undoubtedly it was in this point of
view that St. Paul intended the doctrine of the
Incarnation to be considered, when he said,
[Heb. iv. 15, 16.] " We have not an high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities, but was in all points tempted like
as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore
come boldly to the throne of grace, that we
may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in
time of need." Observe also how in the Epis
tle to the Colossians he presents to our view
the divine and the human attributes of the
Saviour almost simultaneously ; " in whom,"
says he, " we have redemption through his
blood, even the forgiveness of sins ; who is the

142 Declaration of God in his So?i.

image of the invisible God, the first-born of
every creature, (vrgaroroxog wdtfric, urlo'tug, born
before all creatures,) for by Him were all things
created, that are in heaven, and that are in
earth, visible and invisible." Col. i. 14, 15, 16.

It is not necessary, in an argument addressed
to persons who are supposed acquainted with
the Scriptures of the New Testament, to dwell
as fully as might be done on those innumerable
points in the character and conduct of our
Saviour, which may be said with literal pro
priety to display divine excellence; and that,
in the most impressive and at the same time in
the most amiable form. The contemplation
indeed of that character should be an ha
bitual study to every Christian. It will
have been sufficient merely to direct the at
tention of a believer in the Gospel to the
point in question, — the advantage with respect
to piety which was intended to accrue from
this declaration of God in Christ ; by its shew
ing us, not indeed the divine Being as he is,
but " the express image," or stamp and impres
sion of Him, (yaLguxrqg rqg vffoffrufftug) — by
exhibiting, though a very imperfect, yet a more

Declaration of God in his Son. 143

impressive and endearing picture of the moral
attributes of God than we could in any other
way attain ; and thus drawing our whole heart
and affections towards Him.

II. Another advantage which was stated to
have been probably designed in exhibiting to
man the stupendous work of the Incarnation,
is, the proposing a perfect model for our imita
tion. It is an old and well-established maxim,
that men learn better from example than from
precept ; but the difficulty is to find an example
fit for imitation. Mere human models are all,
more or less, imperfect ; and though it is unde
niable, that very great benefit may be derived
from them, if we are careful to point out, and
warn men against their faults, and by assem
bling together many different characters of
great worth, to provide that the deficiencies of
each may be supplied by others ; yet still there
must always be a certain degree of danger in
copying even the best men. The faults and
the virtues of each individual are in general so
intimately blended, and, as it were, fit together
so readily, that it is not easy to avoid the one,
while aiming at the other. The faults of one

144 Declaration of God in his Son.

whom we regard as a great and good man,
become endeared and ennobled in our eyes by a
union with so much virtue : we are apt to take
such a favourable view of them, as leads us to
excuse them in ourselves ; and perhaps ulti
mately even to admire and copy them ; " De-
cipit exemplar vitiis imitabile," is accordingly
no less trite a maxim than that which recom
mends the study of approved models.

It was probably for this reason that the Stoics
held forth as a pattern their ideal wise man.
For the Sapiens — the Wise-man, or perfectly
good and happy character, whom these philo
sophers delineated — was not one whom they
themselves pretended to have ever actually
existed. This circumstance, by the way,
(though such is undoubtedly the fact,) has
been overlooked by many ; who have thence
charged them with arrogant pretensions to
perfect virtue, which it does not appear they
ever made. Their object seems to have been,
to avoid on the one hand the comparative flat
ness and tediousness of abstract descriptions,
and, on the other hand, the errors to be
dreaded from the imperfection of human

Declaration of God in his Son. 145

models. And they certainly judged rightly
in thinking, that however inevitable it may
be that men should have defects, ihe pattern
which is proposed to them should have none ;
for, far as they will still fall short of perfection,
they will thus approach much nearer to it than
if they had copied a defective model.

This method, however, of leading men to
morality, though perhaps the best that in their
situation they could have devised, laboured
under a very important defect : I speak not of
the blemishes in the ideal Wise-man they de
scribed ; though the character which they meant
for a perfect one, was, according to the more
correct principles now established, very far
from perfect ; still it is conceivable that it
might have been so : let us then suppose it
completely unexceptionable ; still it is ideal;
it wants the power of inspiring that interest
and sympathy, that affectionate reverence,
that emulation, which a really existing person
can alone inspire; and being represented to us
only by general descriptions, it takes even less
hold of the mind than the fictitious hero of a
drama, who is represented as performing dis-

14(J Declaration of God in his Son.

tinct individual actions; though we know that
both are alike creatures of the imagination;
which have therefore but a very faint effect in
exciting us to imitation. An ideal model, in
short, is but one short step removed from ab
stract moral precept : real human examples, on
the contrary, are unsafe, from their imperfection.
Both may do some service, but both leave
much to be desired.

But if, while some of the ancient moralists
were employed in recounting the actions, and
holding forth the examples, of really existing
illustrious men, to stimulate the emulation of
their hearers, — and while others were pointing
out, in the grave and lofty descriptions of the
philosopher, or the vivid representations of the
poet, an ideal exemplar of perfect excellence;
a man exhibited such as men should be, not
such as they are, — what would these sages,
I say, have thought, had they been assured on
sufficient authority that such a man had actually
appeared on earth ; not having his virtues tar
nished with defects, like the heroes of their
histories ; not, a phantom of imagination, like
the Persons of their theatre, or the Wise-man of

Declaration of God in his Son. 147

their schools ; but a real, living, sublime,
and faultless model of god-like virtue? Surely
they would have acknowledged with one voice,
that such a character, and such a one only, was
exactly suited to their wishes, and to the wants
of their hearers: if they were at all sincere in
their professions, they would have hailed with
rapture the announcement of his existence ; but
would have wondered, at the same time, and
doubted, how human nature could ever have
attained this pitch of excellence. We might
have answered them, "human nature by itself
is indeed far too weak for the task ; but in
Christ the divine nature was united to it ; in
Him " dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead
bodily:" the Deity was ever present in an
especial manner to direct and support his hu
man soul, and thus presented to his creatures
a perfect pattern, which, through the promised
aid of the Holy Spirit, they may copy ; that by
imitating the divine excellence, as far as it is
possible for a creature to do so, we may be
come, as Christ himself expresses it, " like unto
our Father which is in heaven," and be thus
fitted for enjoying a more near approach to his

L 2

148 Declaration of God in his Son.

presence in a better state : that we also (as
St. Paul says) may be called " sons of God,
brethren, and joint-heirs of Christ," and par
takers of his glory. " Beloved," (says St.
John,) " now are we the sons of God ; and it
doth not yet appear what we shall be ; but we
know that when He shall appear, we shall be
like unto Him; for we shall see Him as He is."
Behold here then (we might exclaim) a truly
godlike man, far surpassing your historical or
fabulous heroes ! Behold here your imaginary
Wise-man exemplified in real life! what you
have described, that, and much more, He has
performed ; for He has corrected in actual
practice, the errors of your description, and
has realized a nobler and more lovely picture
of virtue than even your conceptions ever
reached.

It would be unnecessary, I trust, were it pos
sible within reasonable limits, to enter into a
detailed examination of the virtues of Christ's
character ; every Christian who deserves the
name, makes it his attentive study; and those
who have learned the most of it, are ever the
most desirous and the most capable of learning

Declaration of God in his Son. 149

yet more. Many valuable writers have treated
of the subject ; but the Gospels themselves (as
those very writers would be the first to admit)
will teach more of the imitation of Christ than all
other books together. Each man may do more
for himself in this study than the ablest theo
logian can do for him. He will find in every
page such active yet unpretending benevo
lence — such exalted generosity and self-de-
votedness — such forbearing kindness and low
liness, combined with dignity — such earnest
and steady, yet calm and considerate, zeal —
such quiet and unostentatious fortitude — such
inflexible yet gentle resolution — that he must
acknowledge with the Jewish officers, "never
man spake like this man ;" never did man, he
will add, act like this man; ''truly/' as the
Centurion exclaimed, " this was a righteous
man ; truly this was the Son of God :" it was
" Emmanuel, God with us." And if the stu
dent's own heart be not in fault, his character
will not fail to receive some tincture from the
virtue he is contemplating.

Whatever may be our station in life, or
peculiar circumstances, we shall still find, that

L 3

150 Declaration, of God in his Sou.

Jesus Christ has " left us an ensample that we
should follow his steps," because the principle
of devoted obedience to God, love towards
man, and abjuration of all selfish objects,
is one which is called for, and must be put in
practice, in every situation. Besides which, it
is very observable, that while all the illustrious
characters which are usually held up to our
imitation are persons who occupied such exalted
stations, that their lives afford but little instruc
tion to those in humbler and more private
situations, (that is, in fact, to the great mass of
mankind ;) our Saviour's life, on the contrary,
though He had so high an office to execute,
yet from the humble station in which He
appeared, contains lessons for every description
of mankind.

It appears then, that Jesus Christ has "de
clared" God to man, not as a prophet merely,
but as (what St. Paul calls him in the Epistle
to the Colossians) " the Image of the invisible
God;" — not merely by announcing the divine
will, but by manifesting, as far as our feeble
capacities will permit, the divine glory, and
shadowing forth the attributes of the invisi-

Declaration oj' God in his Son. 151

ble and unsearchable God. And this for two
purposes most important to mankind ; first, by
a softened and endearing, as well as impres
sive, manifestation of the Deity, to aid and
exalt our piety, engaging our affections in the
cause of religion ; and, secondly, by a bright
example of superhuman virtue, seconded by
the promise of spiritual aid, to instruct and en
courage us in our duty — to illuminate and direct
our Christian course — to purify and to elevate
our nature. The one purpose, in short, may be
said to have been, to bring down God to Man ;
the other, to lift up Man towards God.

Now if this view of the subject be correct, it
must be admitted that the method adopted in
the Gospel for leading men to piety and to
morality, is something altogether peculiar to
Christianity ; and it is one of those peculiarities
which, as was formerly remarked, men are too
apt to overlook or to undervalue. I speak not
now of those who distinctly deny the divinity
of our Lord ; but it is, I apprehend, not un
common for those who assent to the truth of
that doctrine, to pass by unheeded the import
ant purposes for which it was revealed; and

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152 Declaration of God in his Son.

thence to lose sight of that striking peculiarity
in the Christian religion which results from
that revelation, and which it has been the
object of this Essay to point out.

The Incarnation, as an abstract speculative
point, they are aware is taught in the Gospel,
and only in the Gospel ; but the Incarnation,
as the basis of the Christian's worship, and of the
Christian's obedience, they are too apt entirely
to disregard. They content themselves with
perceiving, generally, that all religions what
ever inculcate piety to God, and virtuous con
duct; and fail to observe, that in the very points
which are, thus far, common to all, Christianity
is strikingly distinguished from the rest : the
mode in which it leads us to that piety and
virtue, is altogether peculiar to it.

Another circumstance of peculiarity, ho wever,
in that mode, remains to be noticed. It is evi
dent, that in order to form a virtuous character it
is requisite not only that a perfect standard be
set before us, (such as the model which the
Gospel holds out for our imitation,) but also
that adequate motives be supplied. And though
the emulation which the contemplation of an

Declaration of God in his Son. 153

admirable model is calculated to inspire is, to
a certain degree, a motive, it is not alone suffi
cient. The rewards and punishments of the
next world, as declared in the Gospel, have
been already mentioned as furnishing one most
powerful motive ; but there is another besides
this — an appeal to the feelings, not merely to
the judgment — a motive of affection, not of
mere interest — the introduction of which forms a
strikingly distinguishing feature of Christianity;
and this peculiarity will form the subject of the
next Essay.

ESSAY III.

ON LOVE TOWARDS CHRIST AS A MOTIVE
TO OBEDIENCE.

T.F the Gospel had merely given us the assur
ance of a future retribution, teaching us at the
same time to look for immortal happiness through
faith in the merits and sacrifice of our Re
deemer, (not as the well-earned reward of our
own virtue,) yet requiring us to practise virtue
nevertheless, as an indispensable condition, and,
in addition to moral precepts, holding out
a model of superhuman excellence to excite
our emulation — it would have been distin
guished indeed by many important peculiarities,
and it would have contained every incentive to
holiness of life that some Christian readers
attribute to it. But in fact it does much more.
The rewards and punishments of the next world
do indeed furnish a strong incitement to the
practice of duty; the moral precepts of the

J 56 Love towards Christ.

Scriptures, and still more the example of
Christ, help us to ascertain what our duty is;
and the emulation which such a model natu
rally inspires, affords an additional incentive :
but this is not all. It is possible for men to
emulate the virtues of one who is personally an
utter stranger to them ; and to profit by his
example, though he have no connection with
them, no care or knowledge whether they
imitate him or not. But they are much more
strongly incited to do this, if they know that
the person in question does take an in
terest in their welfare — is their greatest bene
factor—and on that ground calls on them to
conform to his precepts, and to tread in his
steps. And this we shall find is the case, in
a most remarkable degree, in the religion of
Jesus Christ. One of its most striking peculi
arities is, its continual appeal to the affections ;
its introducing as a principal motive to obe
dience, love towards our heavenly Master. He
appeared as " God with us,*' and as partaking
of our nature, with a view both to display to us
an exalted and perfect model of goodness, and
also to awaken in us more effectually those

Love towards Christ. 157

feelings of pious and affectionate attachment,
which it would be less easy to entertain to
wards God, considered as the invisible Author
and Governor of the universe. In beautiful
conformity with this plan, these feelings are
required to manifest themselves in a duteous
regard to his will ; and on these we are taught
that the moral regulation of our lives is to be
founded. " If ye love me, keep my command
ments," is our Lord's injunction, as reported
by St. John in his Gospel3; tf and this is love,"
(says the same Evangelist in his general Epis
tle,) " that we walk after his commandments."
Here we have set before us at once the best
principle, and the best application of it; the
purest motive, and the most perfect practice :
here, in short, we are told both what our con
duct ought to be, and from what source that
conduct ought to spring. It is undeniable
that the very best actions are of no value,
unless they proceed from a right principle;
and again, that a right principle is utterly bar
ren and unprofitable, unless it lead us to right

* Chap. xiv. 15.

158 Love towards Christ.

practice. The Gospel supplies us both with
the motive, and the rule ; " If ye love me, keep
my commandments." This precept therefore
is to be considered in two points of view : first,
that the love of Christ is the proper ground of
our obedience — the reason why we ought to
keep his commandments : secondly, that the
proper effect, and sure test, of our love for
Christ, is, the keeping of his commandments.

On each of these points many have fallen
into dangerous mistakes ; and some indeed
have entirely lost sight of both. Persons may
be found, who profess a most fervent and
zealous love for their Redeemer, yet are so far
from giving proof of their love by keeping his
commandments, that they seem to consider
the very warmth of their feelings — their religi
ous fervor — as an excuse for the carelessness
of their practice, and as affording them a kind
of license for indulging their sinful inclinations;
forgetful of the plain warning given by Christ
himself, " Not every one that saith unto me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven; but he that doeth the will of my
Father which is in heaven." And this perver-

Love towards Christ. 159

sion of Christianity by some persons has had
the effect of inspiring others with an aversion
or contempt for all sentiments of affectionate
piety ; — of bringing into disrepute altogether
the Gospel motive of love towards the Re
deemer, as savouring of dangerous fanaticism,
and leading to the substitution of enthusiastic
feelings, for a virtuous life. But the perversity
of man is no ground either for censuring, or for
rejecting, or for seeking to alter and new-
model, the word of God ; which sufficiently
guards those who will but study it fairly,
against such abuse of the doctrine before us.
Indeed, one of the most striking peculiarities
of our religion, consists in the strong contrast
which the preaching of our Lord and his fol
lowers presents, in this respect, to most of the
systems of religion, which have been devised
by men. Rich offerings could not, with Him,
as among the pagans, make amends for a sinful
life : neither painful austerities, nor splendid
festivals, were by Him allowed to compensate
for the want of purity of heart, and subdued
passions ; no zeal in his service, nor readiness
even to shed their blood in his cause, would

160 Love toivards Christ.

excuse his followers, as it would those of
Mahomet, from the performance of their moral
duties. " Why," says He, " call ye me Lord,
Lord, and do not the things which I say?"
and He declares, that even those who had
wrought miracles in his name would be dis
avowed by Him, if " workers of iniquity."

There are others, on the contrary, driven,
probably, (as has just been observed,) by their
dread of the extreme above mentioned, into the
opposite, who, in the sentiments they utter, or in
the conduct of their lives, seem not to consider
the love of Christ as a motive (or, at least, not
as the best and principal motive) for obedience
to his commands ; but content themselves with
dwelling on the rewards and punishments of
the next world, and on the folly and danger of
sin.

Such persons are undoubtedly right as far as
they go ; but they do not go far enough : the
motives which they urge are not the only, nor
the best, motives (though certainly very right
and very powerful ones) for the practice of
Christian duty. It is true, indeed, that one of the
great purposes for which Christ came into the

Love towards Christ. 161

world, was to reveal to men the certainty of a
future state of reward and punishment ; and
we find Him urging, briefly indeed, but forci
bly, the immense importance of our eternal
salvation above all worldly goods — the incon
ceivable happiness of good men hereafter, and
the hopeless misery which awaits the disobe
dient : " What shall it profit a man, if he shall
gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Or what shall a man give in exchange for his
soul?" He encourages us to despise worldly
sufferings for righteousness' sake, by saying,
" great is your reward in heaven;" and warns
us to beware of displeasing that Being, " who
hath power to destroy both soul and body in
hell." And his followers hold the same lan
guage; they exhort their hearers to strive for
" an incorruptible crown;" they tell them, that
" the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory that
shall be revealed in us :" and, on the other
hand, they profess, that, " knowing the ter
rors of the Lord, they teach men." Yet still
it is to be observed, that this language of pro
mise and threatening — this appeal to the reason

M

Love towards Christ.

and to the interests of men — is not the prevail
ing character — not the general tone, as it were
— of the discourses of Christ and his apostles :
at least, not when they are addressing believers
in Christ. To those indeed who had any
doubts of the nature of Christ's mission, or of
the reality of the resurrection, they insisted
much (as was manifestly necessary) on the
certainty, and on the immense importance, of
that future life, which our Lord had revealed :
but when they were addressing their own dis
ciples, who were familiar with those first rudi
ments of Christianity, to them, they chiefly
insisted on love towards Christ, not certainly
as a substitute for obedience, but as the great
principle on which his followers ought to act —
the main-spring of all their conduct. The mi
sery of the bad, and the happiness of the good,
hereafter, they all along presuppose and take
for granted ; but they seem to have regarded
these doctrines as the foundation, not the com
pletion — the beginning, not the end — of their
system ; to the further-advanced and better-
instructed Christian, they held out a nobler
and purer motive. " If ye love me," says our

Love towards Christ. 163

Lord, " keep my commandments." " The love
of Christ constraineth us," saith St. Paul ; and
he adds, as a reason, " that He died for all,
that they which live, should not henceforth live
unto themselves, but unto Him which died for
them, and rose againV And St. John, both
in his Epistle and his Gospel, the latter of
which, at least, may be supposed, from the
lateness of its date, to have been more parti
cularly addressed to those who were settled in
the Christian faith, exhibits the same charac
teristics in a still more striking manner. In
short, almost all the exhortations of the sacred
writers are grounded on the infinite mercies of
our great Instructor and Redeemer towards
us, and on the gratitude, love, and reverence,
which we ought to feel towards Him in return.
To our hopes and fears, indeed, they appeal
incidentally and occasionally ; but the senti
ment which they are continually striving to
excite and keep alive in us, and which is the
main-spring of their whole moral system, is, a
strong sense of the greatness and the goodness

b 2 Cor. v. 14.
M 2

164 Love toivards Christ.

of our Saviour, and a fervent zeal in adoring
and serving Him, who did and suffered so
much for us.

To prove and illustrate what has now been
affirmed, as fully as might be done, would be
to transcribe the greater part of the apostolic
epistles : the more any one examines them,
the more he will perceive that their general
tone and character is such as have been de
scribed.

Now let any one compare such language as
this with the ideas which some Christian
writers seem to entertain, and the language
they use, and he will perceive, that, though
undeniably just and right, they are very im
perfect, and very far from resembling the model
of Scripture. Such men are contented with
the considerations that life is short, and death
certain ; — that all men must hereafter be judged
before an all-seeing God, who will not fail to
reward the good, and punish the bad ; — that
the greatest worldly goods and evils are mere
trifles in comparison of our eternal happiness
or misery ; and that therefore it is the height
of folly to be negligent in the performance of

Love towards Christ. 165

our duty, or in avoiding temptations to sin,
since these are the points which most deserve
our attention, if we have any rational regard
for our own welfare. Nothing can be more
true than all this ; and Christians are intended,
no doubt, most seriously to take it to heart,
and act constantly in conformity with such
principles ; but still these, as has been said, are
not the only nor the highest principles on
which a Christian should act: these arguments
are what every Christian teacher ought to em
ploy, but to which he should not confine him
self: at least, if he would imitate the tone of
the Gospel. These topics indeed being almost
entirely drawn from what is commonly called
" natural religion," (as far at least as that is
supposed to hold out any probability of a
future state,) it follows of course, that to dwell
exclusively on these, is to omit great part of
what is peculiar to Christianity ; and thus to
lose sight of one very striking and characteris
tic feature of it ; a feature constituting one of
those peculiarities, the neglect or depreciation
of which is so common, and so carefully to be
guarded against.

M 3

166 Love toivards Christ.

Human ethics and natural religion may be
sufficient to satisfy the understanding as to
the nature and the claims of virtue ; but to
engage the feelings on the same side, belongs
in an especial manner to the Gospel. It is
necessary indeed to convince men's reason,
and to point out to them their true interest ;
but Christ and his followers were not satisfied
with this ; they knew that it is in vain the
reason is convinced, if the heart be not warmed ;
and that man will not follow his own interests,
if all his affections lie the other way. That
this should be the case with rational beings, is
the great paradox which we in vain endeavour
to explain, though daily experience compels
us to acknowledge it ; and to find a remedy
for this weakness — to induce men to pursue
the line of conduct which their own sober
judgment admits to be the best — has been at
tempted by all moralists ; though not very
successfully, and not always judiciously. Our
Lord and his followers, who "knew what was
in man," were well aware that such a Being
could not be practically influenced by an ap
peal to his understanding alone. They did

Love towards Christ. 167

not therefore make religion a matter of mere
prudent calculation, but of affectionate zeal.
When Christ was committing to Simon Peter
the care of the beloved flock which He had
himself redeemed, He meant him indeed to
understand, no doubt, that he would be pu
nished if he neglected this charge, and that
great would be the reward of diligent obedi
ence ; but these were not the topics He chose
to insist upon : " Simon son of Jonas, lovest
thou me?" Peter replied, " Lord, thou knowest
that I love thee ;" Jesus said unto him, " Feed
my sheep/' Thrice was this injunction given,
and thrice was the appeal made, not to the
hopes and fears, but to the affections, of the
apostle.

In like manner, St. Paul, in exhorting the
Churches, alludes occasionally only to the re
wards and punishments of a future state, and
the folly of not preparing for it ; but he insists
continually on the mercies which God has
already shewn us, and the gratitude we ought
to feel for them, and strives to fill us with an
earnest desire of pleasing Him, and an abhor
rence of sin, as odious in his sight. For exam-

M 4

168 Love towards Christ.

pie, when he tells the Colossians " to forgive one
another, if any man have a quarrel against any,"
it is on this ground, "even as Christ forgave
you :" and again, " Children, obey your parents
in all things, for this is well-pleasing unto the
Lord." And again, " Be ye followers of God
as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ
also hath loved its, and hath given himself for
us."

From these and innumerable similar pas
sages it is sufficiently evident; that the Chris
tian, if he would listen to and imitate the
teaching of Christ and his apostles, must not
be contented to dwell merely on the rewards
and punishments of the next world, and the
importance of striving for the one, and guard
ing against the other, (though these should be
ever present to his mind ;) but he must also
endeavour to " set his affection on things
above;— to fill his heart with the love of Christ —
with admiration for the blended majesty and
loveliness displayed in his sojourning on earth
— with gratitude, not only for the redemption
by Him, but also for his condescending good
ness in visiting his people in the flesh, to

Love towards Christ. 169

declare to them the invisible God— and with
an active zeal to serve Him as perfectly as
possible, in proof of his reverence and affec
tion. These are the prevailing and principal
motives in the mind of a sincere Christian :
these are what our Lord and his followers were
the most anxious to instil into the hearts of
their disciples.

The views (again) which the sacred writers
give of the rewards prepared for the faithful in
the next life, (dim and imperfect as they are,)
correspond in the most natural and striking
manner with their mode of inculcating Chris
tian duty ; and those whose topics of exhorta
tion on this latter point are exclusively ad
dressed to the head, and not to the heart,
labour under a corresponding defect in their
manner of speaking of future happiness ; their
views of which, accordingly, are, as well as
their moral precepts, needlessly dry, unattrac
tive, and uninteresting to the feelings. They
keep out of sight, throughout, the personal cha
racter of our religion, and of every thing con
nected with it : i.e. its continual reference to
persons, and especially to that Great Person

170 Love towards Christ.

who is the Author of it, rather than to mere
abstract things. While they dwell, in deline
ating and enforcing duty, exclusively on the
excellence and advantage of a virtuous life —
of obeying the dictates of a well-regulated con
science — of walking in the path of moral rec
titude, and the like — they speak also in a cor
responding tone of the infinite value of an
eternity of happiness ; of being freed from the
evils and imperfections of our present state ; of
escaping the horrors of endless remorse ; and
of being exalted into a new and superior con
dition; with much of the same kind, that is
perfectly true indeed, and deserving of being
kept in mind, but which is far less interesting
(when such topics are dwelt on exclusively)
than the continual reference to persons, which
we find in the sacred writers.

As St. Paul's favourite exhortations (if I may
so speak) to personal holiness, whether he is
directing our views to future reward, or to the
other incentive just mentioned, consist in a re
ference, of some sort or other, to Jesus Christ;
so, his allusions to that reward itself are of a
corresponding character. In the inculcation of

Love tozvards Christ. 171

virtue he dwells, as has been just remarked, on
the example Jesus left us, that *' we should walk
in his steps ;" he speaks of " walking in love,
as Christ also hath loved us ;''— of " putting on
Christ;" — of being "buried with Him in bap
tism;" — of being " risen with Christ;" — of doing
"whatis well-pleasing to the Lord Jesus Christ;"
— of our being " followers of him (Paul) even as
he is of Christ ;" and the like : not speaking so
often of Christian virtue in the abstract, as he
does of it embodied, as it were, exemplified,
represented, personified, in Jesus Christ; "look
ing unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our
faith," at every step. And his language in
speaking of the Christian's hopes, corresponds
with that concerning Christian duties : he does
not speak so much of eternal happiness in the
abstract, as of the happiness of an intimate
union with our great Master ; to die is, with
him, "to depart and to be with Christ;" after
" having suffered with Him, to reign also with
Him;" of "the crown of glory, which He,
the righteous Lord, has prepared for all that
love his appearing:" and his encouragement to
the Colossians is, " so shall we ever be with

172 Love towards Christ,.

the Lord." Thus also St. John (as well befitted
the beloved disciple) places both all Christian
perfection in conformity to the pattern, and
all happiness and glory in admission to the
presence, of our great Master: " we know not
what we shall be; but we know, that, when He
shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall
see Him as He is." And our Lord's own lan
guage is of the same tone : as the motive He
seeks to implant in the disciples' breast is, as
has been said, love, gratitude, and reverence
for Himself, so the encouragement He sets
before them is the hope not merely of happi
ness in the abstract, but of intimate union and
close intercourse with Himself: " If ye love me,
keep my commandments/' " If a man love
me he will keep my saying, and my Father
will love him, and we will come unto him,
and make our abode with him." " I will not
leave you comfortless ; I will come unto you."
" That where I am, there ye may be also," &c.
All this is admirably suited both to what
man is, and to what he ought to be : as
emulation is a natural principle, and a good
example accordingly more instructive and more

Love towards Christ. 173

impressive than the best general maxims, so,
the thought, whom we are to live with — for
what sort of society we are to fit ourselves,
affects the mind much more strongly than any
general description of what that life itself shall
be. That the chief part of the happiness therefore
which is prepared for the faithful in a better
world is to consist in a more perfect know
ledge of our Redeemer, and closer intercourse
with Him, serves on the one hand to interest,
and encourage, and delight the right minded
Christian, and to admonish, and warn, and im
prove, one who is not such. This world being,
as we are taught, not merely a state of trial,
but also of preparation, no precepts can be so
advantageous to us with this view, as to be
told what sort of society it is for ivhich we are
required to prepare ourselves. No general
rules, however copious and precise, can equal
the combined effect of the example of a par
ticular person set before us, together with a
notice that for his society we are required to
endeavour to qualify ourselves. And accord
ingly St. John adds, immediately after the pas
sage just cited, " Every one that hath this

174 Love towards Christ.

hope in Him, purifieth himself even as HE is
pure."

This mode of moral training, adopted by
Christ and his Apostles, is among those pecu
liarities of the Gospel system which most de
mand our admiration. The motives which
they inculcated, were both the most effectual,
and also the most pure and elevated ; their
plan of endeavouring to win over the affections,
to gain the hearts, of their converts, was not
only the most likely to make men perform
their duty, but also made that duty itself more
acceptable.

If it be possible for any one to become what
is commonly called a good moral man, wholly
and solely from perceiving that it is his interest
to be so, because he will be rewarded if he
does right, and punished if he does wrong, still
his service will not only be very cold and
heartless, but also very deficient; he will be
wanting in alacrity of duty — in abhorrence of
sin — in love for his best friend — in gratitude
towards his highest benefactor. No one would
much prize a friend (or rather he would be
reckoned unworthy of the name) who felt no

Love towards Christ. 175

regard for him, but did him service merely
because he perceived it was for his own inte
rest, and that he should be a sufferer if he
neglected him. Neither will Christ accept this
kind of service from his followers. He requires
them to give up their hearts to Him, and to
obey Him, not merely as servants, but as
affectionate children. None of their duties,
though ever so well performed, are pleasing in
his sight, unless they proceed from a love,
reverence, and gratitude towards Him, similar
to that which we feel for a most excellent
parent. " Ye are my friends," says He, " if
ye do whatsoever I command you ; henceforth
I call you not servants, — but I have called you
friends." And again, "Whosoever shall do the
will of God, the same is my brother, and my
sister, and mother0." In reality, however, it is
hardly possible, that a man can be virtuous in
other respects who is destitute of these feel
ings. Many objects there are in this world
which will always engage our affections very

c May not this expression of our Lord's, and also another,
(Luke xi. 28.) have been intended partly a warning against
the Romish error, of deifying (as it may fairly be called) the
Virgin Mary ?

176 Love towards Christ.

strongly: if then none of our feelings are en
gaged on the side of onr religious duties — no
part of our affections fixed on onr Redeemer —
can it be expected, that calm reasoning and
cool calculation will alone be sufficient to keep
us steady and active in our duty, in opposition
to so many lively emotions, in preference to so
many tempting objects? No prudent man will
trust to such a plan in the education of youth :
men are not satisfied with pointing out to a
young person the necessity of being diligent in
his business, inasmuch as on that depends his
subsistence, and all his hopes of wealth and
distinction ; but they strive also to inspire him
with a love for his employment — a taste for his
profession, whatever it may be ; they know
that sentiments of this kind will be his best
safeguard against the many temptations to in
dolence and dissipation. Surely the path of
Christian duty is not beset with fewer tempta
tions; nor is it less necessary, in this far greater
concern, to engage the feelings on the right
side.

Christ and his apostles knew human nature
too well not to perceive this ; when therefore
they had convinced the reason of men, their

Love towards Christ. 177

next endeavour was to mend their hearts ;
those warm affections which God has implanted
in our breasts, and which were never meant to
be rooted out, they strove to fix on the most
suitable and the noblest objects ; well aware,
that when this is accomplished, men will not
merely know their duty, but practise it with
zeal, and spirit, and pleasure. They well knew,
that a cold address to the understanding — a
mere chain of arguments — serves rather to teach
men what they ought to do, than to excite
them actually to do it; it may lead them to
think rightly about religion, but not iofeel and
act rightly : it is like the moon light, clear
indeed and beautiful, but powerless and cold ;
their preaching, on the contrary, was like the
light of the sun, which warms while it illumi
nates, and not only adorns, but fertilizes the
earth. For it must never be forgotten, (as,
indeed, has been already observed,) that it is
in vain the affections are excited, if the prac
tice is not improved ; it is in vain that the
artificer heats and melts his metal, if he neglects
to mould it into the proper form. Indeed,
those who do not live a Christian life, may,

N

178 Love toivards Christ.

from that very circumstance, be assured, that
they have not true, genuine, and steady Chris
tian feelings. Sudden and short bursts of de
vout fervor will not produce a uniform, care
ful, and active course of virtue; but a rational
and deep-fixed love of God undoubtedly will.
A man may deceive both others and himself
by extravagant language and enthusiastic emo
tions, which may pass for proofs of extraordi
nary holiness ; but he cannot so deceive Christ ;
who has sufficiently taught us, that He will
expect good conduct as the fruit of good sen
timents — the keeping of his commandments as
the proof of our loving Him sincerely. No
man, indeed, would ever be deceived in any
other similar case ; he would well know how
to estimate the pretended affection of one, who
should profess the warmest regard for him, yet
pay no attention to his wishes, and use no
exertions in his service, but act rather like an
enemy than a friend. And as such a person
would be regarded by men, so will those be in
the sight of God, who profess to love Him, and
yet neglect to obey Him.

To the above considerations it should be

Love towards Christ. 179

added, that the Christian's " reasonable ser
vice," grounded on such motives, is not only
more perfect, and also more acceptable, than
any others could produce, but likewise (when
the habit is in some degree formed) incompara
bly less burdensome, and more pleasing. In
deed, even in the affairs of this world, the
affectionate parent, child, husband, wife, and
friend, know by experience how greatly Love
lightens every task : and those who will " come
unto Christ," with such feelings as He merits
and demands, will find experimentally, that
" his yoke is easy, and his burden light :" they
will " find rest unto their souls," if, in answer
to that question, which He asks alike of all his
followers, " Lovest thou me?" they can an
swer, with sincerity and truth, " Lord, thou
knowest that I love thee."

If the view which has been here taken of
this subject be correct, it follows, that Chris
tianity stands distinguished from all systems
of religion, or of philosophy, which unaided
reason can devise, no less by the motives to
which it appeals — the frame of mind from which
it requires moral conduct to spring — than by

N 2

180 Love towards Christ.

those other peculiarities formerly mentioned.
For a rational and firm assurance of a future
resurrection to immortality, we must resort to
the Gospel ; — for the hopes of eternal happi
ness, we must look to Him, who has not only
announced but purchased it : — for such a mani
festation of the Godhead as may excite us to
affectionate piety, and for such a model of
human virtue as may be securely imitated, we
shall vainly seek, except in the Gospel ; and it
is there also, and there alone, that we find
morality inculcated, not only on the ground of
those promises and threatenings which it sets
before us, but also of those affections which it
is so remarkably and peculiarly calculated to
excite. If mere external acts of duty were all
that is required, this kind of precept would
still be far superior to a mere appeal to men's
reason, and would produce a larger amount of
good conduct ; much greater then will its
superiority appear, when we consider how
much nobler and more intrinsically valuable is
that good conduct which springs from a pious,
and grateful, and affectionate heart.

Let no one then lose sight of, nor under-

Love towards Christ. 181

value, these admirable, these divine peculiari
ties of our religion, which furnish the only
effectual means of counteracting the weakness
of man's nature. Let no one, under pretence
of laying a firm foundation of Natural Religion,
render the superstructure of Christianity insig
nificant, by attributing to natural religion what
revelation alone can furnish : and, above all,
let us not — carelessly blind to those splendid
characteristics which distinguish it — confound
this religion with the various systems of philo
sophical speculation, or of popular supersti
tion, which have successively occupied man
kind ; but keep our eyes stedfastly fixed, as
it were, on the star which stands over the holy
Infant at Bethlehem, and which has no fellow
in the firmament.

But though enough is revealed to us in
Scripture to instruct us in our duty, and to
incite us to the practice of it, there is much
also that is not revealed, which many, at least,
would be eagerly desirous to know : it sup
presses much of what some vainly seek to find
in it, or complain of not finding ; which all
pretended revelations profess, and might be

N 3

182 Love toivards Christ.

expected to profess, to make known ; and
which a true revelation, and none but a true
one, might be expected to ornit. The pecu
liarity in our religion, which is here alluded to,
will form the subject of the next Essay.

ESSAY IV.

ON THE PRACTICAL CHARACTER OF
REVELATION.

WHEN Moses tells the Israelites, that " the
secret things belong unto the Lord our God ;
but those things which are revealed belong
unto us and to our children for ever, that we
may do all the words of this law," he plainly
implies, not only that of the designs and attri
butes of the Almighty there are some which
He has vouchsafed to make known to mankind
by revelation, and others which He has thought
fit to keep secret; but also, that those which
are revealed, have a reference to human con
duct, and are, in some way or other, of a prac
tical nature. Such at least is declared to be
the character of that revelation which was
made to the Israelites.

Now since it is undeniable that there have
been, arid are, many systems of false religion

N 4

184 Practical character of Revelation.

in the world, all of which profess to reveal
something as to the nature of God, and his
dealings with his creatures, this circumstance
is frequently dwelt upon by those who studi
ously endeavour to confound all religions to
gether, with a view to hold up all to equal
contempt, as so many various systems of im
posture and delusion : and others again,
though they do not absolutely reject our reli
gion, are yet so far misled by this fallacy, as
to regard it with indifference. It will be worth
while therefore to examine attentively the point
above mentioned ; I mean, the exclusively prac
tical character which Moses appears to attri
bute to his revelation ; and to enquire, whe
ther it is likely to constitute an important and
distinguishing feature in any professed revela
tion which may possess it: in other words,
whether the abstaining from points of mere
curiosity, be a probable mark of a true revela
tion.

This enquiry falls naturally under two heads ;
first, whether or not a pretended revelation is
likely to contain any matters which are in
teresting to curiosity alone, and have no re-

Practical character of Revelation. 185

ference to practice ; and secondly, whether this
is likely to be the case with a true revelation.

The former of these questions we need not
hesitate, I think, to answer in the affirmative.

That the desire of knowledge, for its own
sake, is a part of our nature, is a truth so
obvious, as hardly to need being insisted on.
For though it is common to hear men imply
the contrary, by asking contemptuously, in the
case of some pursuit for which they happen to
have no relish, "What is the use of learning
this or that? What advantage is to be derived
from such and such a branch of knowledge ?J"
yet the very same persons, if some discovery
be the next moment announced to them, of a
different kind, which may happen to fall in
with their own taste, will probably be found
to manifest the liveliest interest, and the most
eager curiosity, even where they would be at a
loss to point out what practical advantage they
are likely to derive from it. So far indeed is
utility from being the sole standard of value in
men's minds, that even such knowledge as is
useful, is in general sought more for its own
sake, than with a view to utility; nor are men

186 Practical character of Revelation.

ever more eager in the pursuit of it, than when
they have no further object to occupy them :
" accordingly," as is justly observed by an
ancient writer, who well understood human
nature, " when we are at leisure from the cares
of necessary business, then are we eager to
see, to hear, to learn, something; regarding
the knowledge of what is hidden, or of what
is admirable, as an essential ingredient of hap
piness d." He is quite right in the circum
stances fixed on as most exciting our interest ;
things hidden, and things admirable, being what
men especially covet to know. Now nothing
can be more hidden, nothing more admirable,
than the nature, and the works, of God. The
origin and constitution of the world we inha
bit — of the rest of that vast system of which it
forms a part — and of man himself — the nature
of various orders of Beings, which may exist,
superior to man, and of the Supreme Being
himself— each of these subjects suggests innu
merable matters of enquiry, whose grandeur
fills the most exalted, and whose difficulty

d Cicero de Officiis, b. 1 .

Practical character of Revelation. 1 87

baffles the most intelligent, mind. Is it not
then natural, that men should eagerly seek for
some superhuman means of information on sub
jects so interesting to their curiosity, arid so
much beyond their unaided powers ? And is it
not consequently to be expected, that both the
devices of an impostor, and the visions of an
enthusiast, should abound in food for this cu
riosity? — that the one should seek for prose
lytes by professing to communicate what men
are so desirous of knowing ; and that the other
should be altogether occupied with those ques
tions to which the imagination of men is so
naturally turned, till a diseased fancy mistakes
its day-dreams for a revelation ?

Such, I say, is what we might be prepared,
from the nature of man, to expect : and if we
consult history we shall find our conjecture
fully borne out by facts. In all those other
religions, and in all those modifications of our
own, which we attribute to the imagination or
to the artifice of man, the pretended revelations
not only abound with matters of speculative
curiosity unconnected with practice, but are
sometimes even principally made up of them,

188 Practical character of Revelation.

so as to appear to have for their chief object
the communication of knowledge concerning
heavenly things, for its own sake. To illus
trate this by a full examination of all the
various systems of false revelation, would be
manifestly both tedious and unnecessary: tedi
ous, inasmuch as even a brief sketch of them
would occupy a considerable volume; and
unnecessary, for most readers, since a few mo
ments' recollection will enable them to recall
from their previous knowledge enough to con
firm, to a great degree, at least, the remark
which has just been made: and the conclusion
will be the more strengthened, the further the
enquiry is pursued. Let any one consider, for
instance, the Greek and Roman mythology :
what is the character of that infinite number of
fables, delivered by pretenders either to imme
diate inspiration, or to traditional knowledge
of revelation, respecting the genealogies of their
deities, their transformations, their contests,
their adventures on earth? Our present business
is not with the absurdity of these fables, nor
with their immoral tendency, nor their want of
evidence, nor the degree of credit they obtained ;

Practical character of Revelation. 189

let our attention be confined to the single cir
cumstance of their general want of reference to
human conduct — their being principally calcu
lated to attract and amuse an inquisitive mind.
It is true, indeed, that direct practical precepts
and examples do form some part of the Pagan
religions ; but by no means the greatest or most
prominent part ; and it is speaking far within
compass to say, that most of what the ancients
were taught respecting their gods, could not even
be imagined to be of any practical importance,
but related merely to the gratification of curiosity.

If we examine the pretended revelations of
the Hindoos and of other modern Pagans, we
find the very same principle exhibited in other
forms : the names and the achievements of
their gods are different, but the general charac
ter is the same ; the leading object, or, at least,
one leading object, in both, is to gratify men's
curiosity about the nature and the operations
of superior agents — about the state of things
in another world.

If we turn from these apocryphal and
undigested heaps of fabulous tradition,
to the more systematic imposture of

190 Practical character of Revelation.

Mahomet, a man doubtless of no mean ability, —
who had the advantage of borrowing from
Judaism and from Christianity whatever might
suit his purpose, and who certainly under
stood, as experience has proved, the art of
alluring converts, — we shall find our expecta
tions as to the point in question still con
firmed. Not that the Koran is wanting in
moral precept and exhortation ; for it abounds
in them to the most tedious minuteness of de
tail ; but it also abounds with the most elaborate
descriptions of heaven and its inhabitants, and
of other (pretended) works of God ; with full
and circumstantial narratives of the creation of
the world, and of various other transactions,
ascribed to the Deity, all calculated to gratify
the prying — one might even say, the impertinent
— curiosity of man respecting divine mysteries ;
but so utterly unconnected with human duties,
that the mere increase of knowledge, for its
own sake, as an ultimate end, is made to
appear one principal object of this pretended
revelation.

It would be wearisome and disgusting to
introduce such specimens as would fully

Practical character of Revelation. \ 9 1

illustrate what has been asserted ; though it is
scarcely possible adequately to describe in
\vords how forcibly it will be impressed on the
mind, on actual perusal, that the prevailing
character of the book in question is such as
has been described. But those who will be at
the pains to examine this and other pretended
revelations, with an express view to the subject
of our present enquiry, will meet with abundant
instances to confirm what has been here ad
vanced ; more than they perhaps are aware of,
if they have a genera) acquaintance with those
systems, but have never considered them with
reference to the particular point now before us.
Such an enquiry, it may be safely affirmed, would
be profitable and satisfactory, if fully pursued ;
and would communicate a lively interest to the
perusal even of the most absurd reveries of
heathen mythology, and of the Koran : but it
will be sufficient in this place to have suggested
some of the principal points towards which the
enquiry should be directed.

In addition to those pretended revelations
which have been the basis of distinct religions,
we should also turn our attention to those

192 Practical character of Revelation.

which have been connected with modifications
of our own. Not to dwell on the fables of the
Jewish Talmud, which may fairly be placed
under this head, and which will be found to
correspond with the principle originally laid
down, — thus proving, among other things, that
the Jewish nation had, of themselves, in an
eminent degree, the same taste in respect of
these matters as the Gentiles, — what a multi
tude of idle legends do we meet with in the
Romish Church, that have no more reference
to practice than the heathen mythology ! I
speak not now of the extravagance and impiety
of many of them ; nor of the too great refer
ence to conduct of some others, whose ten
dency is to recommend a life of useless seclu
sion, or of superstitious self-torture, in prefer
ence to active virtue : but a large portion of
them have no conceivable reference to conduct
whatever, and are fitted merely to amuse the
roving imagination, and gratify the presump
tuous curiosity of the credulous.

Lastly, to advert to a more recent instance,
look to the visions of the pretended prophet
Swedenborg ; himself the dupe, as is generally

Practical character of Revelation. 1 93

supposed, of his own distempered fancy. It is
well known, that he professed to have been
favoured with most copious and distinct reve
lations — to have visited the celestial abodes,
and to have conversed with various orders of
Beings ; of all which he gives minute descrip
tions : yet though his followers insist much on
the importance of believing in this pretended
revelation, it would, I believe, be difficult for
them to state even any one point in which a
man is called upon to alter either his conduct,
his motives, or his moral sentiments, in conse
quence of such belief. The system furnishes
abundant matter of faith, and food for curiosity ;
but has little or no intelligible reference to
practice.

Such then being the character of false reli
gions, what may we expect from a true one?
Since both reason and experience shew, that it
is the obvious policy of an impostor, and the
most natural delusion of a visionary, to treat
much of curious and hidden matters, relative
to the divine operations, beyond what is con
ducive to practical instruction, it should next
be considered whether the case is likely to be

o

J94 Practical character of Revelation.

the same with a real revelation ; whether that
also is likely to be much occupied in minister
ing to speculative curiosity. Now this ques
tion we may on good grounds answer in the
negative : for the general rule of Providence
evidently is, that man should be left to supply
his own wants, and seek knowledge, both prac
tical and speculative, by the aid of those facul
ties which have been originally bestowed on
him ; a revelation is an extraordinary and
miraculous exception to this general rule ; and
it seems therefore reasonable to conclude, that
it should be bestowed for some very important
purpose. Now the knowledge of our duty, be
yond what is discoverable by unaided reason —
instruction how we are to serve God, and
obtain his favour — does seem a sufficiently im
portant purpose; but not so, the mere gratifi
cation of curiosity. The desire of knowledge
is indeed implanted in us by our Creator; and
the pursuit of it is an innocent, and honourable,
and highly pleasurable employment of our
faculties : but there is a sufficiently wide field
of investigation within the reach of our natural
faculties ; there seems no reason why the Al-

Practical character of Revelation. 195

mighty should work a miracle for the increase
of our mere speculative knowledge : not to
mention that our gratification consists more iu
the pursuit and acquirement, by our own efforts,
of such knowledge, than in the possession of it.
Whatever therefore it concerns us practically
to know, with a view to the regulation of the
heart and conduct — whatever God requires us
to be, and to do, in order to become accept
able in his sight — this, it seems consonant to
his justice and goodness to declare to us by
revelation, when of ourselves \ve are incom
petent to discover it ; but that He should
miraculously reveal any thing besides this, for
the gratification of an inquisitive mind, there
seems no good reason to expect.

It may be said indeed, that the trial of our
faith, humility, and candour, in assenting, on
sufficient authority, to mysterious doctrines, is
a worthy and fit purpose, for which such doc
trines may be revealed : this is undoubtedly
true ; and the purpose may even be fairly
reckoned a practical one, since so good a
moral effect results from such belief. If there
fore none of the doctrines necessary to be re-

o 2

196 Practical character of Revelation.

vealed for other practical purposes were of
such a mysterious character as to serve for
trials of faith also, we might perhaps expect
that some things should be proposed to our
belief, solely and singly for this latter purpose.
But if both objects can be fully accomplished
by the same revelation — if our faith be suffi
ciently tried by the admission of such mys
terious doctrines as are important for other
practical ends also — then the revelation of
any further mysteries, which lead to no such
practical end, is the less necessary, and conse
quently the less to be expected.

What then is in this respect the character of
our religion? It may safely be asserted that it
is precisely such as, we have seen, a true reve
lation might be expected to be : that it teaches
us what is needful for us to know, but little or
nothing besides ; that the information it im
parts is such as concerns the regulation of our
character and practice, but leaves our curiosity
unsatisfied.

Those who are sufficiently conversant with
the Scriptures, will at once recognize this as a
characteristic feature of them : to prove the

Practical character of Revelation. 1 97

point in question as fully as might be done,
would require a detailed examination of the
whole Bible : and such an examination dili
gently conducted with a view to the particular
point before us, is one which may be recom
mended not merely to professed theological
students, but (since it calls for no great inge
nuity or learning) to Christian readers in gene
ral ; as neither an unprofitable nor unpleasing
enquiry, to him who delights in contrasting the
wisdom and the dignified simplicity of God's
word, with the idle and arrogant pretensions of
human fraud and folly.

The generally practical tendency of the
Scripture revelations, and their omission of
every thing that would serve merely to pamper
vain curiosity, will not fail to strike any candid
reader in the course of such an examination.
It will be sufficient in this place to suggest a
few hints respecting the principles on which this
enquiry should be conducted.

I. In the first place we should bear in mind
what parts of the Bible are to be regarded as
strictly and properly bearing the character of
Revelation. The greater part of it is historical;

o 3

198 Practical character of Revelation.

and though we believe the sacred historians to
have been under the guidance of the Holy Spirit
to lead them into all necessary truth — to guard
them against any material error — and, in some
few cases, to inform them of what could not be
known by human means — yet the very nature
of history is such, that it would be unreasonable
to expect to find each single event that is narrated
to be a matter of high importance: the age and
name, for example, of any one Jewish king, as
it is not, so far as we can see, a point of itself
necessary to be known as essential to our reli
gion, so neither is it properly a point of mira
culous revelation; it is a part of the history;
and if that history, taken collectively > be, as it is,
highly instructive, and illustrative of those
divine dispensations in which we are con
cerned, it must be allowed to possess suffi
ciently that practical character which we are
authorized to expect.

As for those parts which necessarily imply a
supernatural communication made to the writer,
such as, for example, the account of the creation
of the world, nothing is more striking than their
uncircumstantial brevity, which leaves the cu-

Practical character of Revelation. 199

riosity of the reader altogether unsatisfied.
This circumstance has indeed been sometimes
complained of, and even, with a strange per
versity, urged as an objection against Scripture,
on the ground that an inspired writer must
have had it in his power to satisfy them as to
the detail of these interesting events; and that
consequently it was to be expected of him.
Now had Moses been an impostor, undoubtedly
he would, with such a knowledge of human
nature as he plainly manifests, have obviated
this objection (as Mahomet has done) by invent
ing abundance of circumstances; but for a true
revelation to forestall the discoveries of astro
nomy and geology, was neither necessary nor
proper: being no part of religion, they are
altogether foreign from the purposes of revela
tion. It is indeed of the highest importance
in a religious point of view, to be assured that
the earth, with its various races of inhabitants,
together with the rest of the universe, are
neither eternal, nor the work of chance, or of
any non-intelligent agent, nor of various creative
powers; but that One God is the Author of all:
thus much accordingly is clearly revealed : but

o 4

200 Practical character of Revelation.

innumerable circumstances, which it does not
concern us to know, though they strongly inte
rest our curiosity, are suppressed. NOAV this,
we contend, is a mark of a true revelation ; since
in that, and in that alone, it is to be expected.

The complaint has indeed been urged, that
not only the true account of physical pheno
mena has been suppressed, but also that wrong
notions respecting them have been conveyed.
But he who can seriously object to the want
of philosophical correctness in such passages,
for example, as those which speak of the rising
and setting of the sun, should recollect, that
when occasion called for an allusion to such
matters, unless language conformable to the
popular ideas had been employed, one of two
alternatives must have been adopted; either
men must have been fully instructed by revela
tion in the Newtonian system, or they must
have been addressed in a style which, though
in itself correct, would have been to them
utterly unintelligible : whether either of these
modes of procedure would have been better
suited to the object of a revelation than the one
adopted, we may leave the objector to deter-

Practical character of Revelation. 201

mine. But if we compare, as to this point,
the Bible with the pretended revelation of
Mahomet, we shall be struck with the con
trast : for he goes out of his way, as it were, to
assert gratuitously, and with distinct particula
rity, many points of the astronomical theory
which prevailed in his time; and thus expressly
commits himself as to the truth of an erroneous
system6.

II. Another circumstance to be kept in view
in the proposed examination is, that when we
may be at a loss to understand the ultimate
purpose of any part of our revelation, still, if
we perceive an immediate purpose that is prac
tical, we must be careful not to confound this
case with that of a supposed revelation which
has no perceptible purpose at all : if, in short,
it be plain, that something is to be done in
consequence of what is revealed, even though
we may not understand why that particular
duty should be enjoined, still the revelation is
evidently practical ; and is therefore conform-

e As, for instance, where he speaks of the east and west as
determinate points in the globe, in the same manner as the
north and south poles are.

202 Practical character of Revelation.

able to the principle above laid down. For
example, nothing can be more evidently prac
tical than the whole of what was revealed to
Moses respecting the Jewish ritual : for though
we may not understand for what reasons the
Jews were commanded to perform such and
such ceremonies, yet that there was something
to be performed, is undeniable.

III. Lastly, we should consider, that some
parts of revelation may have a practical im
portance relative to some particular times, per
sons, and circumstances, but not to all. For
example, many of the prophetic visions and
declarations pertaining to the kingdom of the
Messiah, must have been very obscure as to
their true purport, till they were cleared up by
his advent; but then they furnished both a
proof and an explanation of his religion. In
like manner also, many similar prophecies, both
in the Old and New Testament, may be de
signed to answer the same purpose hereafter,
when the appointed period shall arrive, which
is to bring with it at once their fulfilment, their
explanation, and their practical use. Others,
on the contrary, which are now among the

Practical character of Revelation. 203

most obscure, may have been both intelligible
and edifying to many of the contemporaries of
the prophets themselves, for whose use they
may have been (as in many instances we plainly
see they were) principally designed.

But it is very observable, that in most of
those cases where we are least able to perceive
the practical advantage of the revelation given,
the very obscurity and indistinctness which are
complained of serve as a confirmation of the
point maintained : for these obscure passages
excite curiosity indeed, but do not gratify it :
the very objection which some bring against
them is, not that too much is revealed, with a
view to speculative knowledge, but that too
little is revealed. Now with a false revelation
the case is exactly reversed ; for that will
always abound with copious and distinct,
though unprofitable, descriptions of whatever
is marvellous, and calculated to strike the ima
gination, and to amuse an inquisitive mind.

Keeping in mind the considerations which
have been here offered, we shall find on exa
mination of the Scriptures, that it is a charac
teristic of the revelation they contain, to with-

204 Practical character of Revelation.

hold such knowledge as is merely speculative
— to leave abstract curiosity unsatisfied — and
to inform us of little or nothing except what it
concerns us for some practical purpose to
know.

Nothing could have been more interesting
to man's curiosity, than a full account of a
future state ; and accordingly the Koran
abounds with the most copious and high-
wrought descriptions of paradise and hell, and
of the details of the day of judgment. The
writers of our Scriptures, on the contrary,
while they are perpetually enforcing with all
earnestness the reality of this future state, so
important in practice, strictly confine them
selves to the most general and brief descrip
tion of it. Again, the principles on which dif
ferent classes of mankind will be judged, and
the future fate of those who never heard of
revelation, are a highly interesting subject of
enquiry, but one from which Scripture carefully
abstains, except so far as is needful for us to
know : " Strive to enter in at the straight gate,"
is our Lord's answer to those who enquired as
to the number of the saved ; and He scarcely

Practical character of Revelation. 205

adverts at all to the case of the unenlightened,
except to inculcate the heavier responsibility of
those who sin against revealed knowledge,
above those who offended merely against the
light of natural reason: " The servant who
knew his Lord's will, and did it not, shall be
beaten with many stripes.'* All this, as might
be expected, is exactly reversed in the Koran,
which describes at large the final condemna
tion of all mankind except Mahometans ; and
of these, such as are punished for their sins, so
far from being judged more guilty, as having
sinned against better knowledge, are described
as finally to be restored, by their belief in the
prophet, and received into paradise. Such
certainly is the revelation, and such the doc
trine, which a false teacher would naturally
deliver.

There are, however, some things, I am well
aware, revealed in the Gospel, which but too
many, even of those who assent to them, are
inclined to consider as mere speculative arti
cles of faith : as, for example, the revelation
of God to us, not merely as our Creator and
Governor, but also as our incarnate Redeemer,

206 Practical character of Revelation.

and as the Holy Ghost our Sarictifier. But we
may safely affirm, that whoever does not per
ceive in these doctrines any practical tendency,
(including in that expression, as we certainly
ought, whatever has a reference to the affec
tions and motives, as well as to mere external
conduct,) has not yet gained a just and ade
quate notion of what the Christian religion is.

Fully to refute such an error, would be to
give a complete explanation of the whole sys
tem of the Gospel : let it suffice, therefore, to
make an appeal to Scripture, and to refer thi
ther both the infidel and the believer, who deny
the practical tendency of any of its doctrines,
that they may understand what the Gospel
really is; the one, before he too hastily rejects
it, and the other, before he too hastily builds
his hopes on it. A careful and candid perusal
of the Bible will sufficiently evince, that, at
least, the sacred writers themselves were very
far from conceiving that the doctrines they
delivered were mere speculative matters of
faith, unconnected with any change in the
heart and conduct. If they inform us, that
" the grace of God, which bringeth salvation,

Practical character of Revelation. 207

hath appeared unto men," it is " to teach us,
that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,
we should live soberly, righteously, and godly
in this present world ;" when they describe to
us "God manifest in the flesh," they instruct
us to look to Him with devout trust, and to
shape our lives after the model of his perfec
tion : "Let this mind be in you, which was
also in Christ Jesus :" when they " preach
Christ crucified," it is that we, while we " cru
cify the old man with the affections and lusts,"
may yet with grateful humility renounce all
arrogant confidence in our own merits, and
look for salvation to his : and that while we
trust in the Divine mercy for the pardon of
sin, we may not attribute this pardon, pur
chased by such a sacrifice, to his lightly re
garding sin, but may be sensible of its deadly
nature, and its odiousness in God's sight: when
they announce his resurrection, it is that we
may be exhorted to rise also from the death of
sin to a life of holiness, that, " being risen with
Christ, we may set our affection on things
above ;" and may be encouraged to look for
ward to a final victory over the grave : and

208 Practical character of Revelation.

when the love of God towards us is set forth,
it is given as a reason why " we ought also to
love one another," and to testify our sense of
his goodness by keeping his commandments.

In short, as the doctrine of the Trinity may
be considered as containing a summary and
compendium of the Christian Faith, so, its
application may be regarded as a summary of
Christian practice; which may be said to be
comprised in this ; that as we believe God to
stand in three relations to us, we also must
practically keep in view the three corresponding
relations in which, as is plainly implied by that
doctrine, we stand towards Him; as, first, the
creatures and " children of God ;" secondly, as
the " redeemed and purchased people" of Jesus
Christ; and, thirdly, as " the temples of the
Holy Ghost" our Sanctifier.

On such topics, and with such views, the
sacred writers dwell with the utmost copious
ness, distinctness, and earnestness; but as to
the mere increase of speculative knowledge,
they are scanty, indistinct, and apparently in
different. Take, as one instance out of many,
the allusion which St. Paul makes in the

Practical character of Revelation. 209

twelfth chapter of his second Epistle to the
Corinthians, to the celestial vision with which
he had been favoured ; nothing is said of it in
any other part of his writings ; nor does it
appear whether he had even ever mentioned it
till then, though it had occurred fourteen years
before : he mentions it then for a practical pur
pose, viz. to impress the Corinthians (who
knew that his own report of a fact was to be
credited) with a due sense of his apostolic dig
nity and authority, which they had been dis
posed to depreciate : and he speaks with the
utmost possible brevity of his being " caught
up into paradise," and " hearing unspeakable
words," without relating any particulars of the
vision. It is truly edifying to compare this
with Mahomet's long and circumstantial de
scription of his pretended visit to heaven, filled
with a multitude of needless particulars, cal
culated to gratify an appetite for the marvel
lous. That man must be a bad judge of the
characters of truth and falsehood, who can
peruse the two accounts without coming to the
conclusion, that the one bears the marks of
reality, as plainly as the other does of fiction ;

p

210 Practical character of Revelation.

and that the narrative of St. Paul, as well as
his general tone, is as suitable to a true apostle,
as that of Mahomet is, to an impostor.

There is another example, which deserves
selection, as a very striking one, of the un-
circumstantial and practical character of the
Christian revelations : St. Peter, in his second
'Epistle, adverts to the deluge, and also to the
final destruction of the earth : we may be sure
his readers would have been much interested
by a circumstantial description of both those
events ; and we may be nearly as sure, that
had he been a false pretender to inspiration, he
would have gratified their curiosity : as it is,
however, he dispatches the subject in five or
six verses, and in such terms as convey little
or nothing more than the certainty of the event ;
and then proceeds at once to a practical con
clusion : " Seeing then that all these things
shall be dissolved, what manner of persons
ought ye to be in all holy conversation and
godliness."

St. Paul also, in speaking of the same sub
ject, having told the Corinthians, that at the
last day " we shall all be changed," and that

Practical character of Revelation. 21 1

the blest shall be " clothed upon" with a body
" like unto the glorious body of Christ," pro
ceeds, instead of detailing any of the circum
stances of so interesting a change, or fully
describing the glorified body of "saints made
perfect," to exhort them to " be stedfast, and
abounding in the work of the Lord, since they
know that their labour is not in vain." Such
passages in the works of these apostles may
furnish the most unlearned Christian with " a
reason for the faith that is in him," consolatory
to his own mind, and unanswerable by infi
dels. He may ask them, how it came to pass,
that no one of our sacred writers has given a
full, minute, and engaging account of all that
is (according to him) to take place at the end
of the world ; — of all the interesting particulars
of the day of judgment; — of the new bodies
with which men will arise ; — and of " the glo
ries that shall be revealed" in heaven. Tt is
plain, that nothing could have been more gra
tifying to the curiosity of all who had an in
terest in the subject ; nothing more likely even
to allure fresh converts, than a glowing de
scription of the joys of heaven; it would have

p 2

2 1 2 Practical character of Revelation.

been easily believed too, by those who gave
credit to the writer, as it is plain St. Paul sup
posed the Corinthians did ; — it would have
been very easy for an impostor to give a loose
to his fancy, in inventing such a description;
and to an enthusiast it would have been un
avoidable; he who was passing off his day
dreams for revelations, on himself, as well as on
others, would have been sure to dream largely
on such a subject. Why then did not St.
Paul do any thing of the kind? I answer, be
cause he was not an impostor, nor an enthu
siast ; but taught only what had been actually
revealed to him, and what he was commanded
to reveal to others. Let infidels give any other
answer to the question if they can. They have
had near two thousand years to try ; and never
yet have they been able to explain the dry,
brief, uncircumstantial, unadorned, unpretend
ing accounts which our sacred writers give, of
things the most interesting to human curiosity,
on any other supposition than that of their
being honest and sober-minded men, who spoke
only what they knew to be the truth.

If there be any weight in that train of argu-

Practical character of Revelation. 2 1 3

ment which has been now sketched out, with
a view of recommending it to general consi
deration, rather than fully developed, it fol
lows, that those who confound together all
religions with indiscriminate contempt, by
speaking of them as all alike making pre
tensions to some divine revelation, are guilty
of suppressing a most remarkable and essential
distinction as to the character of those pro
fessed revelations : for if there be good ground
for maintaining, first, that a false religion may
be expected to contain in its pretended revela
tions superfluous matters, which concern only
speculative curiosity ; secondly, that all reli
gions, except our own, do actually abound in
such matters ; thirdly, that a true revelation
may be expected to abstain from every thing
of the kind, and to contain only such things as
are practically important, or, at least, nothing
to gratify men's curiosity ; and, lastly, that our
Scriptures actually do conform to this rule; it
will be difficult to avoid the conclusion, that
they, and they only, do really come from God.
Let this then not be omitted in the list of those
many distinct proofs which combine to esta-

p 3

214 Practical character of Revelation.

blish our faith ; each one of which, besides its
intrinsic force, augments (since they all tend to
one common point) the strength of all the rest.
No one, who judges correctly, and feels rightly,
on the subject, will ever regard with indif
ference any valid argument, on the ground
that he is already sufficiently convinced : for
besides that he cannot tell what occasion he
may hereafter find, on account of others, if not
on his own, for any and every various kind of
argument that can be adduced, (since different
minds are influenced by different modes of
proof,) it is, moreover, to a well-constituted
mind, both profitable and delightful, to dwell
on the contemplation of that vast mass of evi
dence which the Almighty has in this case pro
vided ; and so provided, that it shall not at
once strike with its full force the most careless
observer, but develop itself more and more,
the further and the more diligently we pursue
our enquiries in various directions.

In addition to the evidence for our religion
which the view we have here taken may afford,
there are some other not less important results
to which it leads, as to the right use and right

Practical character of Revelation. '2 1 5

interpretation of Scripture; which it will be
worth while briefly to hint at.

Let it be considered, then, first, what we ought
to expect to learn from revelation ; secondly, how
we should understand what is revealed ; and,
lastly, what application we should make of it.

With respect to the first point, it is evident,
from what has been said, that we must not
expect to learn any thing from revelation, ex
cept what is in a religious point of view prac
tically important for us to know.

Of other enquiries, there are some, (such as
those respecting the laws of nature,) which it is
safe and laudable to pursue by those other
means which are within our reach ; by the
light of reason, aided by observation and ex
periment ; only let no one seek for a system of
astronomy, or of geology, or of any other
branch of physical science, in the Scriptures,
which were designed to teach men, not natural
philosophy, but religion ; nor let them be forced
into the service of any particular theory on
those subjects ; nor, again, complained of, for
not furnishing sufficient information on such
points. Nor let any jealous fears be cherished.

p 4

216 Practical character of Revelation.

lest the pursuits of science should interfere
with revelation. We may be confident, that a
judicious and honest search after truth, con
ducted without any unfair prejudice, or insidi
ous design, can never ultimately lead to any
conclusion that is really irreconcileable with a
true revelation : but so totally distinct are the
objects respectively proposed, that innumerable
varieties of opinion as to scientific subjects
may, and in fact do, exist among men, who
are all sincerely agreed in acknowledging the
authority of Scripture.

There are other points again which are not
within the reach of our natural faculties, but
which, not being needful for us to know, and
consequently not declared in revelation, are to
be regarded as those " secret things which be
long unto the Lord our God." As to such
points, therefore, we should not only seek for
no explanation in Scripture, but should care
fully abstain from the presumption of all en
quiry whatever. Many indeed of these " secret
things" may perhaps no longer be such, in a
future and higher state of existence ; even
though the same rule should still be observed.

Practical character of Revelation. 2 1 7

of not miraculously revealing any thing for the
mere gratification of curiosity ; for not only is
it probable, that our faculties may be so far
enlarged, as to enable us to understand and dis
cover for ourselves, without direct revelation,
things which at present surpass our powers ;
but also, it may be, that, in a different state of
existence, many things may become of practical
importance to us, which are not so now ; and
may thus become fit subjects of revelation.
But in this present life we should carefully
guard against the too prevailing error of pre
sumptuous enquiries, and attempts to explain
mysteries ; an error which generally leaves
men the more bewildered and mistaken, the
greater their ingenuity and diligence.

Little as there is revealed to us of the con
dition of our first parents in Paradise, thus
much (and let Christians never forget it) is
plainly taught us, that they fell from their
happy state through the desire of forbidden
knowledge. It was by seeking from men to
become " as gods, knowing good and evil,"
that they incurred that loss, to retrieve which
God was made Man, in Christ Jesus ; who

2 1 8 Practical character of Revelation .

" took upon him the form of a servant, and
humbled himself unto death, even the death of
the cross," to redeem us, the children of
Adam, whom want of humility had ruined,
and to open to us the gates of eternal life,
which presumptuous transgression had shut.
How then can we hope to enter in, if we re
peat the very transgression of Adam, in seek
ing to know " the secret things which belong
unto the Lord our God?'' By inquisitive pride
was immortal happiness forfeited; and the path
by which we must travel back to its recovery
is that of patient and resigned humility.

2. With respect to the right understanding
of what is revealed, it is evident, if the view we
have taken be correct, that the most practical
interpretation of each doctrine that can fairly
be adopted is ever likely to be the truest. Let
it be laid down, therefore, as an important
general rule, (of which numerous applications
may be found by any one who will seek for
them,) that if the other reasons be equal, or
nearly equal, in favour of two different inter
pretations of any doctrine, one of which repre
sents it as a mere speculative point of faith,

Practical character of Revelation. 2 1 9

and the other as having some tendency to
influence the heart or the conduct, this latter is
to be adopted, as the more conformable to the
general plan of revelation.

.'3. Lastly, if our religion be indeed of this
practical character — if every thing revealed in
it be intended to have an influence on our
motives and actions — it behoves the Christian to
be careful never to " put asunder what God has
joined together;" but to make, and exhort others
to make, a practical application of its doctrines
to character and conduct. 1 mean, not merely
that a virtuous life, as well as a right faith, is
necessary; for though this is very true, it would
have been no less true, if faith and practice had
been two totally distinct things, both required
of us ; — if doctrines purely speculative had
been proposed for our belief, and precepts un
connected with them subjoined : but as the
case actually stands, it is not enough to say
that the faith must be right, and the conduct
right also; the conduct must spring from the
faith ; and not from some part of it only, but
from all ; the doctrines of our religion, not
some of them, but all, must exert their influ
ence on the moral character.

220 Practical character of Revelation.

That which was justly remarked by the
Jewish historian, Josephus, of his own nation,
may be applied with still more propriety to
Christians, who are placed in the later and
more complete form of the same general sys
tem; " while all other people, "says he, "reckon
religion a part of virtue, the Jews alone
account virtue a part of religion." I speak
not now of the errors of those who reject either
religious faith, or moral duty ; but of those who
regard them too much as distinct. There have
indeed been many in all ages, from the ancient
Peripatetic, down to the modern Deist, who
have aimed at virtue without religion; and
there have been many more, from the Pagan
with his hecatombs and purifications, down to
the Enthusiast of the present day, who have
aimed at religion without virtue. But there
are also some, it is to be feared, who though
they acknowledge the necessity of both, are
not sufficiently careful to keep in mind, and to
exhibit, their close and intimate connexion ;
but (to use the illustration of St. James) sepa
rate from each other, as it were, the soul and
the body, and yet think to preserve both.
Else, we should not find so strong a distinction

Practical character of Revelation. 221

frequently drawn, between doctrinal and prac
tical discourses; as if the two subjects were,
neither of them indeed to be neglected, but
kept apart and independent. Whereas in truth,
every doctrinal discourse should lead the
Christian hearer to its proper moral results —
every practical precept be referred in his
mind to its true foundation in the Gospel
doctrines.

Such being then the practical character of
Christianity, let it be observed in the last
place, that all to whom the doctrines of Reve
lation have been taught, and those more espe
cially whose attention has been more peculiarly
directed to them by a course of theological
studies, if they are not the better for their reli
gions knowledge, will assuredly be the worse
for it. It is not merely that, having failed to
derive due advantage from the light of the
Gospel, they will be heavily accountable for
the neglect of so great a blessing; but by long
familiarity with the doctrines of religion, while
they neglect its duties, they will acquire a
habit of insensibility to all moral impressions
from that quarter: and by thus becoming

222 Practical character of Revelation.

hardened against the influence of the strongest
of all motives, they will have shut the door
against all hopes of reformation. For as those
who have been long accustomed, for example,
to encounter dangers, or to witness sufferings,
without giving way to the corresponding emo
tions of fear or pity, are far more callous to
such emotions, than those who have not been
conversant with scenes of that kind ; so, those
who have been long familiarized to the thoughts
of religion, without applying it to their lives,
are far more incurably hardened, than if they
had never heard or thought any thing on the
subjectf.

Let the Christian then never lose sight of
that every way awful responsibility under
which the Gospel revelation places him : ab-

f " Going over the theory of virtue, in one's thoughts —
talking well — and drawing fine pictures of it — this is so far
from necessarily or certainly conducing to form a habit of it in
him who thus employs himself, that it may harden the mind
in a contrary course, and form a habit of insensibility to all
moral obligation. For from our very faculty of habits, passive
impressions by being repeated, grow weaker, and thoughts, by
often passing through the mind are felt less sensibly." Bishop
Butler's Sermons.

Practical character of Revelation. 223

staining from all unprofitable and presumptu
ous enquiries as to religious subjects, let him
earnestly seek such knowledge as " is able to
make us wise unto salvation, through faith
which is in Christ Jesus ;" and while in his
studies he keeps in mind that "the secret things
belong unto the Lord our God/' let his life
illustrate his conviction, that " the things which
are revealed belong unto us, that we may do all
the words of this Law/'

The character of the revelation bestowed on
us, in respect of the point which has just been
considered, has a reference and a close corre
spondence, to another peculiarity of our religion
—the proposal of the example of children by
our sacred writers, with a view both to the
explanation, and to the practical application, of
what they teach. This peculiarity, by no means
the least admirable in the Gospel-scheme, yet
one which is in general very slightly noticed,
will form the subject of the concluding Essay.

ESSAY V.

ON THE EXAMPLE OF CHILDREN AS
PROPOSED TO CHRISTIANS.

THE allusion to the state of childhood, as
illustrative of the condition and of the duties
of Christians, occurs repeatedly in the sacred
writings, and is dwelt on with an earnest
ness which may be regarded as one of the
characteristic marks of the Gospel system of
instruction.

Accordingly, many of our divines have occa
sionally alluded to the subject, and suggested
it from time to time to the attention of their
readers ; but the idea is not perhaps in general
sufficiently expanded and dwelt upon in detail,
to engage Christians to make it an habitual
study, and resort continually for instruction to
the example which is thus held out to them.
And yet unless this be done — unless we dwell
very fully and frequently on the case of chil-

226 Example of children.

dren with a view to the better understanding
of our own condition, and our own duties — we
lose what is in fact one principal advantage of
the example proposed to us, viz. its common
ness : instead of selecting examples of rare and
extraordinary virtue, or seeking to contemplate
human nature under any peculiar and uncom
mon circumstances, we have only to look back
to what we were ourselves when children, and
to look around us to observe what children
are. Neither learning nor genius are required
for the study; and though the ablest man may
derive from it such instruction as nothing else
can supply, the plainest Christian may do the
same, if he be but a sincere and candid and
attentive enquirer.

The analogy now under consideration may
be regarded as twofold : first, as children are
in regard to their parents, so, in some respects,
are we in relation to God : and, secondly, as
children are in comparison of what they will
be hereafter, so, in some respects, is the Chris
tian in this present life, compared with what he
hopes to be in the world to come. 1 say, in
some respects, because it is not to be expected

Example of children. 227

that whatever analogy may be presented to
us should hold good throughout ; and it
is an important rule, never to press a com
parison too far, nor to suppose that things
which correspond in some points must there
fore correspond in all. Thus, in the present
instance, there is this important point of dis
tinction between the two cases, that while
children may expect to become hereafter what
their parents are now, we, on the contrary,
though in a certain sense the children of God,
must always, even in the most exalted and
glorified state to which we can attain in the
next world, remain at an immeasurable distance
from our Creator.

Yet notwithstanding this, our case is suffi
ciently analogous to that of children to furnish
us with most valuable instruction, if we will
but duly attend to the correspondence that
does exist.

On many mysterious subjects, though man
be unable to attain complete knowledge, he
will thus at least be brought to understand the
true nature and full extent of his own igno
rance ; and many of his duties will be most

Q 2

228 Example of children.

clearly pointed out and forcibly inculcated, by
the example of children.

The subject is thus naturally divided into
two branches; first, our analogy to children in
respect of the knoivledge we possess ; and,
secondly, in respect of duties — of the rules of
conduct we may derive from contemplating the
condition of childhood. On each of these
points it is proposed not so much to offer in
struction to the reader, as to lead him to
instruct himself; not so much to enter into
copious details, explaining what should be the
Christian's judgment and what his conduct, in
each case, as to suggest matter for his own
private meditation and habitual observation.
For the very object contemplated in holding
out the example of children is, that men, by
being referred to that example, may frame for
themselves precepts more abundant and mi
nute, and more exactly adapted to each par
ticular case, than any that could be delivered
to them by another.

I. In treating of the analogy of our situation
to that of children in respect of knowledge, the
circumstances to be noticed as most worthy of

Example of children. 229

attention in the notions which they form, are
these three ; first, that their knowledge is, in
kind, relative; i.e. that they know little more
of any thing than the relation in which it stands
to themselves : secondly, that in degree, it is a
scanty and imperfect knowledge; and, thirdly, that
it is nevertheless practically sufficient for them,
if they are but careful to make a good use of it.

1. First then, with respect to the kind of
knowledge which children possess : a few
moments' consideration may convince us, that
it is, as has been said, almost exclusively rela
tive; i. e. that they know the nature of scarcely
any thing, as it is in itself, but as it is
relatively to them. A child soon becomes
acquainted in some degree with its parents
and other kindred — its nurses, teachers, and
other friends ; but as to the nature of this
knowledge, is it not manifest that it is merely
relative? he knows little or nothing of what
these persons really are, except so far as he
himself is concerned with them ; he perceives
in some measure what they are to him; but
beyond this, he is nearly in the dark : the very
words " parent," " kinsman/' " friend," &c. are,

Q 3

230 Example of children.

all of them, relative terms; and the notions
belonging to these, and such as these, are the
very earliest a child can form — these are the
very first terms he is able in any degree to
understand and apply.

Suppose the child^s father to be some
mighty sovereign, or an eminent statesman,
poet, philosopher, or warrior — one whose life
perhaps is of importance to millions, or whose
fame spreads over half the globe ; of all this
the child himself has but a very faint, if any,
conception ; this Being, so great in station, or
so remarkable in character, he regards merely
as his father ; this is but a relation; and is but
one out of the many relations in which the
same person stands to those around him; it is,
however, the circumstance which is of the most
consequence to the child himself; and it is,
therefore, for a considerable time at least, the
only one that he ever thinks about, or is at all
capable of comprehending. As he grows older,
fresh and fresh light is continually breaking
in upon him, and he is continually gaining in
creased knowledge respecting the persons and
the things that are around him; but still the main

Example of children. 231

part of that knowledge, and all the earlier part
of it, is relative, and relative to himself. Now
we account it a mark of silly presumption in a
child to pretend to understand fully, and pro
nounce upon positively, the nature of any thing
as it is in itself; or to suppose that every thing-
is of greater or less importance in proportion
as it affects himself. A child is indeed ex
tremely apt to fall into this error; but we never
fail to check it, and to endeavour to repress
such a disposition, by explaining to him, as
well as we can, how partial his knowledge is,
even respecting those things of which he is
not utterly ignorant, and how many there are
which he cannot at present understand at all ;
we teach him, and strive to impress on his mind,
that his friends have many other concerns to
attend to besides what relates to him, — that he
is not to measure the magnitude, nor judge of
the nature, of every thing, merely with refer
ence to himself, — and that even of those
things which do principally concern him, and
which are done for his sake, his knowledge
and powers are so limited, that he must not
reckon himself a competent judge of the fitness

Q 4

232 Example of children.

or unfitness of the measures that are taken.
And we expect that a docile and well-disposed
child will carefully listen to these admonitions,
and will be so far sensible of his own weakness,
as to perceive the propriety of complying with
them.

Now Christians are surely called on to
apply all this to themselves : especially when
it is considered, that children approach incom
parably nearer to an equality with their parents,
than the creature can to the Creator ; and that
their knowledge of the character and transao
tions of grown persons is infinitely fuller and
more perfect than we can have of the nature
and dealings of God. Our knowledge of Him,
like that of children, is almost entirely relative:
the sacred writings, which hold out to us the
condition of childhood as an illustration and as
a pattern, these very Scriptures, with admirable
consistency, reveal God to us, not as He is in
Himself, but, chiefly, as He is in relation to
ourselves. They tell us, that He is our Creator,
Preserver, and Governor ; that " in Him we
live, and move, and have our being;" that
u He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek

Example of children. 233

Him," and a judge that will punish those that
disobey Him; that He took our nature upon
Him in Christ Jesus to effect our salvation; and
that He dwells in, and sanctifies, the hearts of
his faithful servants. Now all this, and much
more such knowledge, which the Scriptures sup
ply to us respecting God, is evidently relative to
ourselves. The very words, "Creator," "Gover
nor," "Judge," " Redeemer," " Sanctifier," are
altogether relative terms. And understanding
imperfectly and indistinctly as we do this which
is revealed, we may well expect to be utterly
lost and bewildered when we attempt (going
beyond revelation) to comprehend, by our own
unaided powers, what God really is.

How, indeed, can our finite minds embrace
infinity? The very words Omnipresence, and
Eternity, overpower our faculties, the more, in
proportion as they are dwelt upon; and yet
we cannot conceive that God should not be
present in every part of the universe which He
created and maintains in its established order :
wherever we go, we find traces of his agency ;
yet we cannot either suppose Him to exist in
any such relation to Space, that we and every

Example of' children.

thing around us has ; nor, again, conceive what
that Being can be, who thus pervades all Space,
and occupies none. We cannot, again, under
stand what it is to exist without any relation
to Time ; yet we cannot but conclude, both
from reason and revelation, that with Him, the
Great I AM, there can be no distinction of
Past, Present, and Future, but that all things
must be eternally present; since all our no
tions of time may be clearly traced up to the
succession of ideas or impressions on our own
minds ; which succession cannot be supposed
to take place with an omniscient Being : so
that the couplet of the poet Cowley, which has
been, by some, laughed to scorn as absurd,
will be found, if we duly consider it, to be the
most appropriate expression possible of such
imperfect and indistinct notions as alone we
can entertain on such a subject :

Nothing there is to come, and nothing past,
But an eternal now does ever last.

Unfortunately, however, when men have
affixed names to these indistinct and imperfect
notions of theirs, and when, by long and fre-

Example of children. 235

quent use, they have grown familiar with these
names, they are thence apt to forget, how little
they know of the things themselves. It is
indeed a convenience to employ such names,
provided we do not suffer ourselves to fancy,
that the familiar use of them makes the things
spoken of become intelligible. It is an ad
vantage in algebraical calculations to employ
a letter of the alphabet as a symbol to denote
some unknown quantity ; only let it not be
supposed, that by this means it becomes at
once a known quantity.

Moreover, besides the imperfect and indis
tinct knowledge which we have of those divine
attributes whose existence we believe in, there
may be others also, for ought we know, of
which we have never had any suspicion, and
which we should be as incapable of under
standing with our present faculties, as a blind
man is of forming any idea of colours. Is it
not then something even worse than childish,
to reason upon and discuss boldly^ and pro
nounce upon dogmatically, the attributes and
the acts of God ? as if we had means of ascer
taining the real nature of that stupendous

236 Example of children.

Being, instead of knowing- merely, in some
degree, what He is with respect to ourselves.
It is true, that every one is ready to admit, in
general terms, that the nature of God is not
comprehensible by the human faculties ; but
how few are there that duly follow up this
maxim in practice ! how few writers, that, after
having distinctly made the admission, do not,
even within a few pages, slide imperceptibly
into such a presumptuous style of assertion
and of reasoning, as shews them to have com
pletely forgotten that our knowledge of the
Almighty is relative!

How great must be the errors arising from
men's overlooking, or not carefully attending
to, this circumstance, it is hardly necessary to
point out : the rustic, who persists in maintain
ing that the sun itself actually moves, because
he sees it rise and set, i. e. sees that it is in dif
ferent positions relatively to himself; and the
child, who, while he is sailing in a ship, fancies
that the land flies from him, or advances to
wards him ; are not more completely mistaken
in their notions, than those theologians who
reason upon the accounts which the Scriptures

Example of children. 2 ,'3 7

give us of the Deity, as if these were intended
to explain to us what He is, absolutely, in
Himself, and not, merely what He is in relation
to ourselves. And the liability to error is
greatly increased by this circumstance; that
even the relations in which God stands to his
creatures are so imperfectly comprehensible
by our understandings, that it is necessary to
explain them by analogical language, and by
the use of such types and comparisons, as may
furnish to our minds a kind of picture or
image of heavenly things, whose correspond
ence with the original cannot of course be in
all points complete ; any more than a picture
cana, in all respects, resemble the solid body
which it is designed to imitate. If therefore
we extend this analogy further than was in
tended, and conclude, that the things which
are represented as corresponding in some
points must needs correspond throughout, — or
if, again, we conclude, that the things must
be alike, because they are analogous, and bear

a See Archbishop King's Sermon on Predestination, already
referred to.

238 Example of children.

similar relations to something else, — we shall
fall into the grossest absurdities ; such as we
often see in children, when they interpret lite
rally the analogical explanations which are
given them.

If any one will be at the pains to collect in
stances for himself (both from recollection of
his own infancy, and from what he has ob
served in other children) of the mistakes which
are in this way continually committed by every
child, and will carefully reflect on these, not as
a mere source of amusement, but with a view
to his own instruction, they will serve as a
mirror to shew what sort of mistakes he him
self also has to guard against, in the notions
he forms respecting the Almighty.

To take one out of innumerable instances ;
how many there are who speak and reason
concerning the glory of God, (that being a
phrase which occurs in Scripture,) as if they
supposed, that the desire of glory did literally
influence the divine mind, and as if God could
really covet the admiration of his creatures :
not considering, that the only intention of this
expression is to signify merely, that God's

Example of children. 239

works are contrived in the same admirable
manner as if He had had this object in view ;
and ^that we are bound to pay Him the same
reverent homage, and zealous obedience, as if
He were really and literally capable of being
glorified by us. And yet it is chiefly from a
literal interpretation of this phrase of " the
glory of God," that some Calvinistic divines
have undertaken to explain the whole system
of divine Providence, and to establish some
very revolting and somewhat dangerous con
clusions.

The considerations which have just been
adduced lead naturally to a second point that
is worthy of notice in the condition of chil
dren : not only is their knowledge almost en
tirely relative, but even of things relating to
themselves they have a very limited know
ledge; and what they do know, they know
but imperfectly, partially, and indistinctly. It
has been remarked above, that of their parents
and kindred, and other friends, they know
little or nothing except the relation in which
these stand to themselves ; but it is observable
also, that this very relation they are far from

240 Example of children.

adequately comprehending, so as to understand
wherein it consists : and in this and every other
part of their knowledge, those will usually ap
pear to them the most essential circumstances,
which, in fact, are accidental, or subordinate ;
so that even where they are not mistaken, their
knowledge is still very scanty and imperfect.
For example, they will often learn accurately
to distinguish from one another persons of
different professions, by the colour of their
clothes, or by some such external mark, which
they are apt to regard as the real and essential
characteristic of each, respectively ; but as their
faculties and knowledge improve, they come
to perceive gradually, that what they had be
fore considered as the most important circum
stances, are subordinate, and comparatively
trifling ; and that their former notions, though
not altogether erroneous, were extremely de
fective, from their not being aware of, or per
haps even able to comprehend, those points
which are in reality the most essential5.

b It must strike every one who will please to review the ideas
and imaginations of his youth, of what was then his notion of
many things which he now looks at, and has long looked at,

Example of children. 241

Now let Christians but remember, that in this
respect we are still children, in comparison of
what Christ's faithful servants may hope to
become in a future state ; and that this process
of not only rectifying errors, but clearing-, and
extending, and perfecting knowledge, is by no
means yet completed, nor ever will be, in our
present state. " When I was a child," says
St. Paul, " 1 spake as a child, I thought as a
child, I understood as a child ; but when I

as so many vain and foolish baubles — how eager he was in
the pursuit of them, how impatient of being disappointed.
He is at a loss now to conceive where, or in what, the value or
pleasure of them could consist, so much to engage his affec
tions, to agitate his passions, to give him such anxiety in the
pursuit, and pain in the loss. Now something very like this
will probably take place in the judgment we shall hereafter
form of many of the articles which at present compose the
objects of our care and solicitude. When we come, in the new
state of our existence, to look upon riches, arid honours, and
fortune, and pre-eminence, and prosperity — how like the play
and pursuits of children, their little strifes, and contests, and
disturbances, will these things appear? When the curtain is
drawn aside, and the great scene of our future existence let in
upon our view, how shall we regard the most serious of our
present engagements and successes, as the toys and trifles of
our childhood, the sport and pastime of this infancy of our ex
istence ! Paley's Sermons, last vol. p. 219, 220.

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242 Example of children.

became a man, I put away childish things."
"We now," he adds, "see through a glass
darkly; but then face to face: now I know in
part ; but then shall I know, even as also I am
known." When then, on the one hand, pre
sumptuous objections are brought against the
received accounts, of the fall of man, for in
stance — of the redemption by Christ — of a fu
ture judgment — and every part of the divine
dispensations ; and when, on the other hand,
no less presumptuous explanations are offered
of the same; let him, who would derive wisdom
from the source which God has pointed out,
instead of listening either to such objections,
or to such answers, occupy himself in reflect
ing on the absurd mistakes which children
commit, when they imagine themselves to have
a full and correct notion of any thing that has
been partially explained to them, and suffer
themselves to fancy (as soon as any glimmer
ing of knowledge has been afforded them) that
they understand completely the transactions
and situations of grown persons. And if any
one would attain the best idea he is capable of
forming on that most important point of wis-

Example of children. 243

dom, the nature and extent of his own igno
rance, let him seek it by analogy, and have
recourse to a child for his instructor : let him
endeavour to convey to a very young child as
full and correct a notion as possible of civil
government, and legal institutions — of com
mercial transactions, and various arts and sci
ences — of the past history and present con
dition of various nations ; and let him care
fully observe how utterly unintelligible many
points will remain to the infant mind, after all
the explanations that can be given ; how un
interesting many subjects will prove, which
hereafter will be regarded as the most im
portant ; how imperfect and inadequate will be
the notions that are formed on others, and what
strange mistakes will be continually arising;
especially if the child, through conceit and
presumption, is not aware of his own incom-
petency to judge, and does not perceive that
he is out of his depth. And then let the in
structor apply the lesson to himself: let him
learn from the example of the child what is
likely to be the imperfection of his own know
ledge and of his own faculties ; and let him

R 2

944 Example of children.

no longer presume that he understands, or can
expect to discover, the whole, or even the
greater and more essential part, of any one of
the divine dispensations0, merely on the ground

c " We can seldom review what passed in our minds when
we were children, without being surprised with the odd and
extravagant notions which we took up and entertained — how
wildly we accounted for some things, and what strange forms
we assigned to many other things — what improbable resem
blances we supposed, what unlikely effects we expected, what
consequences we feared. I can easily believe, that many of
the opinions and notions we now erroneously entertain, espe
cially concerning the place, condition, nature, occupation, and
happiness of departed saints, may hereafter appear to us as
wild, as odd, as unlikely and ill-founded, as our childish fan
cies appear to us now. Like the child, we take our ideas
from what we see, and transfer them to what we do not
see ; like him, we look upon and judge of things above our
understanding, by comparing them with things which we do
understand; and they bear afterwards as little resemblance,
as little foundation for comparison, as the most chimerical and
fantastic visions of a childish imagination. And this I judge
to be what St. Paul had particularly in his thoughts when he
wrote the words of the text: 'Now we know in part; but
when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part
shall be done away ;' even as ' when I was a child, I under
stood as a child, I thought as a child ; but when I became a
man, I put away childish things.' Our apprehension of fu
turity may, it is true, be in many respects childish, but still

Example of children. 245

that some part of God's designs has been de
clared to him ; nor flatter himself, that because
he is assured of the truth of something, there
fore there is nothing that is concealed from
him.

A child perceives that the sun gives light
and heat to the spot which he inhabits ; so far
he judges rightly ; but he is not unlikely to
conclude, that the sun was created for that
purpose ; he is ignorant of its conferring the
same advantages on distant parts of the world;
and he supposes its real magnitude to be nearly
the same as it appears to be : by degrees his
knowledge is enlarged, and he comes to under
stand, that the same sun shines upon the whole
earth ; he now perhaps looks back with con
tempt on his former ignorance, and imagines
that he understands fully the whole use and
importance of the sun ; whereas he still knows
but a very small part of it : in time, if he is in

they may be innocent, so long as we are not over anxious, nor
over positive, to insist upon others receiving them, and too
much inclined to make difficulties, or start at those which we
meet with, from an opinion that we are able to guess and find
out the whole of such subjects." Paley's Sermons, last vol.
p. 223, 224.

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246 Example of children.

the way of scientific instruction, and is diligent
in profiting by it, he will come to learn, that the
earth is only one out of many planets — several
much larger than our own — that are warmed
and enlightened by the same sun, which is a
far larger body than all of them together; and
we should be very presumptuous were we to
conclude, that even this purpose is the sole, or
even the principal one, for which the sun was
created. Most arrogant then must he be, who
dares conclude, that when he knows something
of God's attributes and dispensations, he fully
understands either the whole, or even the most
essential part, of them. We know certain re
lations in which the Almighty stands towards
us ; but there may be other relations besides
these, of which we know nothing : we are in
structed in some degree ho\v far \ve are inte
rested in the fall of Adam, in the redemption
through Christ, and in other of God's dispens
ations ; but we know not that this is all ; nor
have we any reason for supposing, that even
the greater part has been revealed to us. The
fall of our first parents may, for ought we
know, have been of consequence to different

Example of children. 247

orders of Beings, whose very existence we are
ignorant of; the death of Christ may, in some
unknown way, be the means of salvation to
millions who never heard of Him ; his coming
to judge the world may affect other planets
besides our own. Is this vast extent of igno
rance revolting to any one? let him then recol
lect the time when he was a child, and refresh
his memory by the observation of other chil
dren ; let him remember, how strange many
things seemed to him, which are now perfectly
cleared up ; how utterly ignorant he was of
matters, which are now familiar to him ; how
far he was from being able to comprehend the
nature, and even from suspecting the existence,
of many things, which now principally occupy
his thoughts ; and, above all, how sure he
was to be mistaken, whenever he presumed to
fancy that his own notions were adequate, and
his knowledge perfect. This habitual study
of the infantine mind will prepare us to go any
lengths in the confession of our ignorance, and
the due distrust of our faculties : we shall thus
become learned in human nature, as to that
most important part of it, its imperfections ;

248 Example of children.

and where full and accurate knowledge is not
to be attained, we shall at least keep clear of
presumptuous error. Where the darkness can
not be removed, it is a great point to be aware
that it is darkness, instead of being deceived
and misled by false lights and delusive appear
ances.

It was mentioned as a third point in
which the knowledge possessed by children is
worthy of consideration, that, scanty and im
perfect as it is, it is yet fully sufficient for all
practical purposes; a child knows indeed but
little of the friends that surround him ; but he
knows enough to understand that they are
friends, and that he may profit by their in
structions, and rely on their protection. Chil
dren soon learn to distinguish in a great degree
what things are agreeable, and what, painful ;
what profitable, and what, mischievous ; and if
they are patient and docile, they rapidly im
prove in this kind of knowledge. They learn
also very early, what sort of conduct will gain
them the approbation and goodwill of their
parents and their play-fellows, and what will
subject them to displeasure, ridicule, or punish-

Example of children. 249

ment. Almost all the knowledge indeed that
is early and easily acquired by children, is of a
practical nature. For example, a child, as has
been above remarked, understands very little
of the real nature of the sun ; but he very soon
comes to understand its efficacy in enlighten
ing—in warming— in drying— in altering the
colours of several substances — in expanding
flowers— in ripening fruits. This sort of know
ledge it is, universally, that is the most essen
tial to be early acquired ; and it is of such
knowledge consequently, that, by the appoint
ment of Providence, children are the most ca
pable. That which they can best learn, as
children, is precisely such as is best calculated
to lead them on to a more advanced state, and
to qualify them for their future conduct in the
world as men.

Such likewise is our state in this present
life ; we can attain abundant knowledge for
practical purposes ; in the midst of all our
ignorance and weakness, that which we can
best understand is our duty: and if we are
diligent and patient in acquiring such know
ledge as is suitable for us, and in practically

250 Example oj' children.

applying it, instead of boldly prying into mys
teries beyond our reach, we shall be under
going the best preparation for that superior
state of existence, in which God's faithful ser
vants will, through his mercy, obtain an en
largement of their faculties, an increase of their
knowledge, and a nearer view of his adorable
perfections. On the other hand, the evils
which are brought upon the man by presump
tuous disobedience, by carelessness, and by
indocility, in the child may warn us what
those have to expect, who, in what concerns
religion, copy the example of such perverse-
ness.

II. This reference of knowledge to practice,
leads naturally to the consideration of that
which was laid down as the second branch of
the present enquiry, viz. the advantages to be de
rived from a comparison between the condition
of Christians and that of children, in respect of
conduct-, their example being often held out
for imitation by Jesus and his followers; whose
manner of teaching is in this respect hardly
less peculiar than in the others formerly men
tioned. In treating of the former branch of the

Example of children.

subject before us, the object proposed may be
described as being to shew how far men
necessarily are like children : how far they
ought to be so — what instruction they may
derive in respect of duty, from following the
example of children — is our present matter of
consideration.

The disciples, we are told in the Gospel,
came unto Jesus, saying, " Who is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven? and Jesus called
a little child unto Him, and set him in the
midst of them, and said. Verily I say unto you,
except ye be converted, and become as little
children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of
heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble
himself as this little child, the same is the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Our
Lord's most immediate object seems to have
been, to check the pride of his disciples ; we
may presume therefore that the point in which
He was more especially holding out children
to our imitation, is their lowliness of mind,
modesty, and self-distrust.

To this must be added, in the second place,
their docility ; i. e. a disposition to listen with

Example of children.

candour, and singleness of heart, and patience,
to the instruction that is imparted to them. It is
thus that St. James reasons from the Jilial rela
tion in which we stand to God : " of his own
will," says he, (chap. i. 18 — 21.) " begat He us
with the word of truth, that we should be a kind
of first fruits of his creatures. Wherefore, my
beloved brethren, let every man be swift to
hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath ; (for the
wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of
God.) Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and
superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with
meekness the engrafted word, which is able to
save your souls."

Lastly, another point, in which the ex
ample of children is most profitable for the
imitation of Christians, is that which may be
called their resignation; i. e. an undoubting
and affectionate confidence in parental care
and kindness; accompanied with a cheerful
submission and ready obedience, even where
they cannot understand the reasons of the com
mands given, and of the restrictions imposed.

1. First then, with respect to the humility of
children : though we do indeed frequently find

Example of children.

in them the seeds of arrogance, as well as of
every other evil propensity to which our frail
and corrupt nature is liable ; it will hardly be
denied, that, as a general rule, childhood is
characterised by modesty, self-distrust, con
sciousness of weakness, and readiness to
acknowledge faults : they are qualities also
peculiarly suitable to that age ; and we are
accordingly especially careful to warn children
against presumption and self-confidence, and
to impress them with a due sense of their own
ignorance, and inexperience, and feebleness.
Now if it be true, as has been above pointed
out, that the Christian's condition in this pre
sent life is closely analogous to that of children —
that we are still in the infancy of our being,
compared with what we hope to become here
after — and that we are, and ever must be,
children, and much less than children, in re
spect of our Creator — it is evidently the part of
one, who would profit by this most important
branch of knowledge, to exemplify in himself
that conduct which he most commends in
them, and to apply to himself the precepts he
inculcates. If humility is especially becoming

254 Example of children.

in a child, it must be so also in a Christian,
who is made in a peculiar manner " a child of
God;" thus placed in the relation of sonship
towards a Being infinitely more above him
than an earthly parent: if a child is exposed
to the greatest mischiefs both in his present
state, and in his future life, by arrogant pre
sumption, and conceited confidence in his own
feeble judgment, let man, weak and short
sighted as he is, remember, that the same faults
in him will endanger his eternal salvation.

Having already dwelt at greater length,
perhaps, than some may think requisite, on the
imperfection of the human faculties, and the
scantiness of man's knowledge in his present
state, it is unnecessary to insist strongly in
this place on the importance of that humble
self-distrust, consciousness of ignorance, and
lowliness of temper, which are called for in
consequence. But there is one point most im
portant to be kept in view, which many men
are apt to overlook; those, viz. who imagine
themselves to be not at all deficient in humility,
provided they abstain from over-rating their
own talents as compared with those of other

Example of children. 255

men: whereas it is evidently possible for a man
to possess this personal humility, as it may be
called — to think very modestly of himself in
comparison of those around him, and yet
greatly to over-rate the human faculties in
general ; and without giving himself credit for
acuteness and profundity beyond the rest of
the species, to be guilty of rashly prying into
the mysteries of the Most High, and of specu
lating boldly on subjects which are out of the
reach, perhaps, even of the faculties of angels.
No cautions against personal arrogance will
guard a man against this (if I may so speak)
generic arrogance — this over-estimate of the
human faculties. No man must be satisfied
with thinking modestly of himself, individually,
as compared with others, unless he also form
as sufficiently humble estimate of human na
ture itself; recollecting that the whole race of
mankind are in a state of ignorance and weak
ness analogous to that of childhood.

2. The second point which was mentioned,
as deserving the imitation of Christians, is the
docility of children ; the docility which we
always find, at least in those of them who are

256 Example of children.

the best disposed ; and which we always com
mend them for possessing, and studiously in
culcate. It is not enough for a child to acknow
ledge his imperfections, if he has no wish to
improve ; nor to be conscious of his igno
rance, unless he is willing to learn. In fact,
as there is no greater obstacle to improve
ment — no worse impediment to learning —
than arrogant self-conceit, so there is no bet
ter proof of modesty, than an eagerness to
receive instruction. If we inculcate humility,
it is as a step — the first and most important
step — towards the attainment of excellence :
those children who conceitedly over-rate them
selves, and shew no deference for the precepts
bestowed on them, are often the least ambi
tious, and always the least likely, to make
great advancements.

Now if the Christian acknowledge himself
to be at all in the condition of children, he
should learn in this point also most carefully
to take pattern from them, and to practise what
he recommends to them ; for while they have
to learn what will qualify them for the state of
manhood — for that short and precarious life

Example of children. 257

which they will have to spend on earth — the
Christian has to learn, according to the views
which the Gospel presents, what may fit him
for eternity: on the use he makes of the
short time of probation allowed him here, in
acquiring a knowledge of the will of God, and
in applying that knowledge in his practice — on
this it is, that his condition, his final and
unalterable condition, in the next world, is
represented in the Scriptures as depending.

He then who is taught such a lesson by a
master to whose authority he bows, must admit
that the example of children, and the advice
men are perpetually inculcating on them, will
rise up against him in the day of judgment
and condemn him, if bis conduct in this his
state of infancy be such as he would, in his
own children, censure as most culpable folly.
How strongly, for example, and how justly,
does every one blame a child who refuses to
learn or believe any thing that does not suit
his own inclinations; who will not take any
thing upon trust, even when he is incompetent
at present to understand the reasons of it, nor
believe implicitly what he cannot fully com-

258 Example of children.

prehend, even though assured of it on the
safest authority ; and who arrogantly denies
and rejects every thing that carries with it an
appearance of difficulty, unless that difficulty
be instantly and satisfactorily solved.

This example is well calculated to warn the
Christian to beware, lest he lie open to the
same blame in a far more important concern ;
remembering, that as Jesus Christ himself
teaches him, " if he receive not the kingdom of
heaven as a little child, he shall in no wise
enter therein."

There are, indeed, many Christians^yho,(not,
certainly, for want of having an instructive
model recommended to their imitation in
Scripture, but for want of studying that model,)
instead of this childlike simplicity, and single
ness of heart, and candour, are perpetually
striving to fashion the word of God according
to their own imaginations : perverting and ex
plaining away every passage which does not
suit their preconceived notions, and pressing, to
the utmost extreme, every one that seems to
support them ; rejecting this doctrine, because
it appears to them unreasonable — and that,

Example of children. 259

because it is, on their views, unworthy of the
Deity — and another, because it is attended with
some inexplicable difficulty; or insisting with
uncharitable vehemence on the importance of
some particular explanation, founded on the
deductions of their own reason, and forming
an essential part of their own theory; making
no allowance even for one who substantially
agrees with them, if it happen that he does
not employ precisely the same form of expres
sion ; or if he contentedly believes, without
being able to comprehend, what they profess
to have explained.

" What then," it may be said, " is all em
ployment of reason to be abandoned, and are
we to teach, with the Romanists, the virtue of
implicit and unenquiririg faith? Are we to learn
from children boundless credulity, and con
tented ignorance?" A child himself can an
swer the objection, and remove whatever diffi
culty it involves. Ask an intelligent child
whether his parents exhort him to remain
contented in ignorance- — to believe implicitly
every thing that every one tells him, whether
on good authority or not ; to abstain from all

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260 Example of children.

enquiry — to repress all curiosity — and to use
no endeavours for improving in knowledge,
and attaining truth. He will tell you, that, so
far from this, they commend him for nothing
more than for being properly inquisitive, and
eager after information ; that they exhort him
to take nothing upon trust that he is capable of
sifting thoroughly, and examining and proving
satisfactorily to himself; and that they assidu
ously warn him against being over-credulous,
and hasty in admitting on slender proofs what
he hears from persons undeserving of credit.
He will tell you, however, that they nevertheless
caution him against an indiscriminate, and pre
sumptuous, and prying curiosity ; that they
assure him there are some points of knowledge
unsuitable to his age; and many which are be
yond the reach of his present faculties, which it
would be unprofitable, and even mischievous, for
him to pry into unseasonably; that he must wait
with patience till his reason is matured; since
there is enough of what is necessary and useful
for him to learn, to occupy all his attention in the
mean time ; and that even of what he has to
learn at present, there are many parts which he

Example of children. 261

cannot as yet fully comprehend ; and which
therefore he must be content to believe impli
citly, on the authority of his instructors, in
whose veracity and judgment he has the best
reason to confide.

Is not this the system of instruction which is
adopted by the most judicious teachers? and
is there any thing inconsistent in this ? Is it
not possible at once to encourage profitable,
and to repress impertinent, curiosity ? To check
indiscriminate credulity, yet to require implicit
faith, (on sufficient authority,) on subjects be
yond the reach of the learner's faculties — and
to encourage enquiry about such as are not
beyond his reach ? Now if this be the wisest
and best way of instructing children, can we
doubt, or can we wonder, or can we complain,
that our great Master, " our Father which is
in heaven," has adopted this same method in
the instruction of us, in our present state of
childhood here on earth ?

The Christian is taught in the Scriptures he

receives, and most wisely taught, to make it

his careful and constant study to distinguish

what subjects are, and what are not, within the

s 3

262 Example of children.

reach of his faculties ; that while he avoids
presumptuous enquiries, he may at the same
time be diligently pursuing such knowledge as
is attainable and profitable.

There have been indeed sceptical philoso
phers, who have perversely inferred, from the
limited and imperfect nature of the human
faculties, that all enquiries after truth are vain;
and have thought, or pretended to think, that
since we understand so little of any subjects
on which we may speculate, we ought to sit
down contented in universal doubt, and univer
sal indifference, respecting all. But it is surely
something even beyond a childish absurdity to
conclude, that because we cannot do all we
wish, we therefore should do nothing at all ;
that because we are aware of the limits of our
faculties, therefore we should not employ them
as far as they extend. A man who is com
pelled to travel in the twilight, may wish in
deed that the sun would rise ; but in the mean
time makes the best use he can of the light that
is afforded him ; he still employs his eyes, and
still is able to see with them, to a profitable
purpose ; though he cannot see so far as in

Example of children. 263

broad day-light : only, if he is prudent, he will
take heed not to forget how faint a glimmering
it is that he now enjoys, lest he incur danger
by heedlessly running too far from the path ;
nor will he allow himself to form too hasty a
judgment concerning the prospect around him,
while viewed by this imperfect light.

The Christian then, though warned not to
attempt to be " wise above what is written," is
yet excited by the very same example, diligently
to study and strive to improve in the know
ledge of that which God has thought fit to
reveal in this life; hoping to attain a more per
fect knowledge in a better state. And if he
would resemble, in all that is worthy of imita
tion, such a child as he would wish his own
children to be, he will come to the study with
a disposition meekly and candidly to receive
the word of God, whatever he shall find it to
be: not searching the Scriptures for arguments
to confirm his preconceived opinions ; but
honestly forming his opinions from what he
reads; and cheerfully acquiescing in whatever
he may find to be revealed, however repugnant
to the prejudices and galling to the pride, of

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264 Example of children.

human nature. That faith, without which the
Scriptures tell us " it is impossible to please
God" — which they uniformly represent as of
the nature of a moral virtue, and as the first
step in the Christian's progress — does not con
sist (as the scoffing infidel pretends) in assent
ing to a proposition without sufficient evidence,
but in a disposition candidly and fairly to
weigh the evidence — in a due distrust of the
human faculties — and in a readiness to admit
whatever shall appear to be clearly taught by
our divine Instructor, even though it be such
as we should never have expected, nor can
clearly comprehend. Such is the docility which
men require of children, and which they ap
prove and commend in them ; and such also is
the docility which they must require of them
selves, if they would obtain the approbation of
their heavenly Father.

3. The last and not least important point
in which the example of children is to be imi
tated, is that which has been called their resig
nation: I mean, the entire, devoted, contented,
and affectionate submission of a well disposed
child to his parent's will ; his ready and cheer-

Example of children. 265

ful obedience, even to commands of which he
cannot understand the reason ; his full and
contented confidence in parental care and kind
ness, even in cases where his father's conduct
is unintelligible to him.

Every one knows how many things it is
necessary for children to do, and to submit to,
of which they cannot, at the time, understand
the necessity : and we should not much com
mend the dutiful obedience of that child, who
should then only submit to his parent's will,
when he comprehended the reasons of his
commands : nor should we think well of a
child's disposition, whose affections were ali
enated from a tender parent, and who dis
trusted that parent's kindness, merely on the
ground of his being obliged to practise some
irksome duties, and submit to some trouble
some restraints, whose importance could not
as yet be explained to him. Let any one but
consider, which of the two would be regarded
as the more amiable and the more sensible
child— such an one as this last, or the one
before described, as full of confidence, love,
and submission. And if the Christian feels no

Example of children.

hesitation in deciding this question, let him
next consider, which of the two it behoves him
to resemble.

Placed as man is at an immeasurable dis
tance from the stupendous Author of our being,
and in a state of infancy, compared with the
future life he looks forward to, it may well be
expected that he should be incapable of un
derstanding the reasons of all God's commands,
and the whole system of his dealings with his
creatures. But enough may surely be under
stood, to convince those who are well dis
posed, that they may safely trust to his fatherly
care and goodness — that He deserves our sin
cere affection and devoted obedience — and
that " all things work together for good to
them that love Him." It is therefore man's
duty, as well as interest, cheerfully to comply
with his will, even when he neither knows the
reason of his commands, nor understands why
that knowledge is withheld from him. Though
thus much all may clearly understand ; that if
this life be a state of probation, as every thing
around us declares that it is, we might even
antecedently expect, that, among other moral

Example oj children. 267

qualities, a trial should be made of our humi
lity also, of our patience, of our devotion to
God, and firm trust in Him; a trial which
could not take place, if men could in every
instance fully understand the wisdom of the
Almighty Ruler's designs, and perceive the
fitness of his injunctions. The Christian then
is evidently called upon in this point also, to
pursue the same conduct himself which he re
commends in children ; resigning himself with
affectionate devotion into the hands of God ;
not presuming to find fault with any thing he
does not understand, nor giving way to dis
trust, wherever he perceives a difficulty d.

d " A child meets with perpetual difficulties, which appear
to its then comprehension unconquerable, which yet, when it
becomes a man, clear up and vanish of themselves. It cannot
be made to understand the reason or the meaning of half the
things which its parents and its masters make it do or
suffer

" How is this to be reconciled, a child will naturally ask,
with that kindness, and love, and goodness, which it is told to
expect from its parents. Now as the child advances in reason
and observation, all these* difficulties solve themselves. He
remembers with gratitude what he suffered with com
plaint

11 Look to the whole of our existence, and the wisest and

268 Example of children.

Some, however, find means practically to
evade the force of that lesson, which the
example of children is intended to convey.
That a child is right in shewing filial affection,
and in submitting to parental authority, they
see and acknowledge, on the ground that they
themselves perceive that this is for his benefit ;
whereas they do not perceive how God's de-

oldest of us are yet but in our infancy We know in

part : a certain portion of our nature, existence, and destiny
we do see; but it is a portion bounded by narrow limits; — a
term out of eternity. Now all such partial knowledge must
be encumbered with many difficulties ; it is like viewing the
map of a district, or small tract of territory, by itself, and
separated from the adjacent country : we see rivers marked
out, without any source to flow from, and running where there
is nothing to receive them. Tn like manner we observe
events in the world, of which we trace not either cause or
origin, and tending to no design or purpose that we can dis
cover. If the child have patience to wait, many of these diffi
culties will in due time be explained. And this is our case.
It was not necessary to the child's happiness and well-being,
that it should have, from the first, the understanding of a
man ; nor is it to ours, that we should possess the faculties of
angels, or those which are in reversion for us in a higher and
more advanced state of existence." Paley's Sermons.

He is indebted, however, to Tucker's " Light of Nature,"
for the admirable illustration just cited.

Example oj children. 269

signs tend to their benefit : not considering,
that neither can the child himself fully under
stand this, at the time ; but implicitly takes it
for granted. Now if we are in a condition
analogous to childhood, we must put ourselves
in the place of the child himself, not of a bye-
stander, whose knowledge of the circumstances
is more complete : we must consider, not
merely whether the conduct of the child does
in fact tend eventually to his own benefit, and
is such as a person would direct, who knew
better than the child himself can know, wherein
the benefit consists ; but we must also consider,
whether the child himself, even with the imper
fect knowledge which he now possesses, does
not act wisely in submitting and trusting to
his parent; and if it be decided that he has
good reason for so doing, it is incumbent on
those who are in a corresponding condition,
and have the same imperfect knowledge, to
follow his example. For if man in his present
state could fully perceive and understand that
what is commanded him is for his good, his
case would not then be analogous to that of
children; since they cannot, while children,

270 Example of children.

understand the designs of their parents. The
question is therefore, is it a mark of folly in
children, to be dutiful, affectionate, and sub
missive? Shall we say that such children are
right indeed, but right only by accident, in
thus trusting to their parents ; and that they
have, at the time when they do so, no just
ground for reposing such confidence in them?
No one would surely maintain such an opinion.
If then we acknowledge the conduct of dutiful
children to be wise — wise, that is, under the
circumstances in which they are placed — it is
for us to make it the pattern of our own. An
amiable, and well disposed, and intelligent
child never reasons in this manner; " My fa
ther's designs are inscrutable to me, and there
fore I cannot tell whether the steps he may
next take will be for my benefit, or the con
trary : he may have very good reasons for all
he does ; but since I cannot understand his
reasons for occasionally subjecting me to pain
and privation, I cannot tell but that he may
hereafter see sufficient reasons, equally unin
telligible to me, for devoting me undeservedly
to misery and destruction ; and therefore I

Example of children, 271

have no ground for trusting to his kindness :'•'
such, I say, are not the reasonings which pass
through the mind of a well-disposed child ;
who, notwithstanding his incapacity to explain
to himself the reasons of his being sometimes
exposed to pain and inconvenience, feels,
nevertheless, an undoubting confidence (and
surely it is not an unreasonable and ill-grounded
confidence) that his father loves him, and seeks
his real benefit, and understands how to pro
mote it far better than he does himself.

The disciple of Christ then is taught to pro
fit by such an example; and, without being
dismayed by his inability to explain the evils
which appear in the creation6, to trust fully (as

c The sentiments here expressed, are more fully developed
and explained in the Appendix (No. 2.) to Dr. King's Dis
course on Predestination ; from which I take the liberty of
citing one passage, as necessary to illustrate what has been
said : " Our notions of the moral attributes of the Deity are
not derived (as Dr. Paley contends they are) from a bare con
templation of the created universe, without any notions of
what is antecedently probable, to direct and aid our observa
tions. Nor is it true (few indeed would now, I apprehend,
assent to that part of his doctrine) that man has no moral
faculty — no natural principle of preference for virtue rather

272 Example oj children.

he has good reason) in the loving-kindness of
God towards those who diligently serve Him,

than vice — benevolence rather than malice ; but that being
compelled by the view of the universe to admit that God is
benevolent, is thence led, from prudential motives alone, to
cultivate benevolence in himself, with a view to secure a
future reward. The truth I conceive is exactly the reverse of
this ; viz. that man having in himself a moral faculty, or
taste, as some prefer to call it, by which he is instinctively led
to approve virtue and disapprove vice, is thence disposed and
inclined antecedently, to attribute to the Creator of the uni
verse, the most perfect and infinitely highest of beings, all
those moral (as well as intellectual) qualities which to himself
seem the most worthy of admiration, and intrinsically beauti
ful and excellent : for to do evil rather than good, appears to
all men (except to those who have been very long hardened
and depraved by the extreme of wickedness) to imply some
thing of weakness, imperfection, corruption, and degradation.
I say, " disposed and inclined" because our admiration for
benevolence, wisdom, &c. would not alone be sufficient to
make us attribute these to the Deity, if we saw no marks of
them in the creation ; but our finding in the creation many
marks of contrivance, and of beneficent contrivance, together
with the antecedent bias in our own minds, which inclines us
to attribute goodness to the supreme Being — both these con
jointly, lead us to the conclusion that God is infinitely benevo
lent, notwithstanding the admixture of evil in his works, which
we cannot account for. But these appearances of evil would
stand in the way of such a conclusion, if man really were,
what Dr. Paley represents him, a being destitute of all moral

Example of children. '273

who conform cheerfully to his commandments,
and who rely firmly on his promises.

sentiment, all innate and original admiration for goodness : he
would in that case be more likely to come to the conclusion
(as many of the heathen seem actually to have done) that the
Deity was a being of a mixed or of a capricious nature ; an
idea which, shocking as it is to every well-constituted mind,
would not be so in the least, to such a mind as Dr. Paley
attributes to the whole human species. To illustrate this
argument a little further, let us suppose a tasteful architect
and a rude savage to be both contemplating a magnificent
building, unfinished, or partially fallen to ruin ; the one, not
being at all able to comprehend the complete design, nor hav
ing any taste for its beauties if perfectly exhibited, would not
attribute any such design to the author of it, but would sup
pose the prostrate columns and rough stones to be as much
designed as those that were erect and perfect; the other
would sketch out in his own mind something like the perfect
structure of which he beheld only a part; and thougli he
might not be able to explain how it came to be unfinished or
decayed, would conclude that some such design was in the
mind of the builder : though this same man, if he were con
templating a mere rude heap of stones which bore no marks of
design at all, would not in that case draw such a conclusion.
Or again, suppose two persons, one having an ear for music,
and the other totally destitute of it, were both listening to a
piece of music imperfectly heard at a distance, or half drowned
by other noises, so that only some notes of it were distinctly
caught, and others were totally lost or heard imperfectly ; the
one might suppose that the sounds he heard were all that were

T

274 Example of children

And let it not be forgotten, that that feature
in the Gospel-system of instruction which has
been here noticed, the proposal of such an
example for man's imitation in his present
state, is one of the circumstances peculiar to
Christianity — strikingly characteristic of it —
and strongly confirming its divine origin, its
importance, and its excellence.

As it is obviously a great advantage to teach
not merely by precept, but by example, so,
that advantage is much enhanced, if the ex-

actually produced, and think the whole that met his ear to be
exactly such as was designed ; but the other would form some
notion of a piece of real music, and would conclude that the
interruptions and imperfections of it were not parts of the
design, but were to be attributed to his imperfect hearing:
though if he heard, on another occasion, a mere confusion of
sounds without any melody at all, he would not conclude that
any thing like music was designed.

" The application is obvious : the wisdom and goodness
discernible in the structure of the universe, but imperfectly
discerned, and blended with evil, leads a man who has an
innate approbation of those attributes, to assign them to the
Author of the universe, though he be unable to explain that
admixture of evil ; but if man were destitute of moral senti
ments, the view of the universe, such as it appears to us,
would hardly lead him to that conclusion."

Example of children. 275

ample employed be one which is always at
hand: nor could a more suitable pattern, than
the one in question, have been presented to
the imitation of creatures, standing in such a
relation as we do to the Creator; and whose
present life is designed as a preparation for a
more perfect and exalted state hereafter. Yet
the best heathen moralists, even those who
taught and professed to believe a future state,
had not recourse to, or at least did not usu
ally employ, this mode of instruction. They
spoke much of the beauty of virtue — of the
dignity of human nature — of the heroism of
striving to rise above the vulgar mass of mor
tals : but they did not enough consider, that
the first step to elevation is Humility; that
though the palace of Wisdom be indeed a lofty
structure, its entrance is low, and it forbids
admission without bending: they knew not,
or at least taught not, that our nature must
be exalted by first understanding and acknow
ledging the full amount of its weakness and
imperfection. " Jesus called unto Him a little
child, and set him in the midst :" what other
teacher ever did the like? What other teacher

T 2

276' Example oj children.

indeed ever completely " knew what was in
man," and understood throughly how to re
medy the defects of his nature, arid to fit him
for a better state ?

While this admirable peculiarity of our great
Master's system of instruction is gratefully ac
knowledged by the Christian, let him be careful
also to take advantage of it, and not to lose
the benefit of the example which Christ has
proposed for our imitation. It is not enough
to acknowledge in general terms that man's
condition on earth is analogous to that of chil
dren, in the scantiness of his knowledge, and
the imperfection of his faculties ; and that we
ought to take pattern from their humble docility,
and cheerful confidence, and implicit obedience:
he who would actually profit by this pattern,
must make their character and conduct his
habitual study — a study which no one can ever
want opportunities of pursuing. We must " call
a little child, and set him in the midst of us :"•.
we must carefully and frequently examine into
all the details of the condition, the character,
and duties, of children : and if we are fully and
habitually impressed with the similarity of our

Example of children. 277

situation to theirs, in a multitude of particulars,
then, and then only, we shall be enabled to pro
fit adequately by the example they afford us.

By such a moral training will the Christian
be fitted, through God's help, for that more
perfect, that happy and exalted, state, in which
his doubts will be dispelled, his knowledge
cleared up and extended, his faith swallowed
up in certainty, and his nature purified and
elevated so as to approach more nearly to that
of his divine Master. " Brethren," says St.
John, " we know not what we shall be ; but
we know, that, when He shall appear, we shall
be like Him ; for we shall SEE HIM AS HE is."

T 3

APPENDIX.

T 4

APPENDIX.

ONE of the most remarkable and least noticed of the
peculiarities of the Christian Religion has been omitted
in the preceding Essays, as having been treated of in a
Discourse delivered at Oxford on the 5th of November,
1821, which, with four others, I subjoined to the second
edition of the Bampton Lectures. A brief notice, how
ever, of the subject and outline of the argument, con
nected as it is with the object of this volume, may not
be unsuitably subjoined to it.

The peculiarity alluded to is, that the Christian
Religion alone is without a Priest. The ambiguity
of language, and also the erroneous practice of some
Christian Churches, render it necessary to offer proofs
of an assertion, which when distinctly understood, and
applied to the religion as taught in Scripture, is at once
evident.

It is well known, that certain ministers of religion
were ordained by Christ and his apostles, and have con
tinued in an unbroken succession down to the present
day: and it is not to be wondered at, that the name
" Priest" should be applied in common to these and to
the ministers of every other religion, true or false : but

282 Appendix.

the point to be observed is, that their office is essentially
and fundamentally different. When the title is applied,
for instance, to a Jewish priest, and to a Christian, it is
applied equivocally ; not to denote two different kinds
of priests, but in two different senses; the essential cir
cumstances which constitute the priestly office in the
one, being wanting in the other. Accordingly, there
are in Greek, as is well known, two words, totally
unconnected in etymology, which are used to denote the
two offices respectively; the Jewish priest, and also that
of the Pagan religions, being invariably called lEPET^;
the Christian priest, nPE^BTTEPO^, (or sometimes
Eni^KOnO^,) from which our English word " Priest"
is manifestly formed. It is remarkable, however, that
it is never rendered " Priest" in our version of the Bible,
but always according to its etymology, " Elder ;" and
that wherever the word Priest occurs, it is always used
to correspond to 'le^euf. This last title is applied
frequently to Jesus Christ himself, but never to
any other character under the Gospel-dispensation,
This circumstance alone would render it highly probable,
that Christ and his apostles did not intend to institute
in the Christian Church any office corresponding to that
of priest in the Jewish : otherwise they would doubtless
have designated it by a name so familiarly known.
And if we look to the doctrines of their religion, we shall
plainly see that they could have had no such intention.
For it was manifestly the essence of the priest's office
(both in the true religion of Moses, and in the Pagan
imitations of the truth) to offer Sacrifice and Atonement
for the people — to address the Deity on their behalf as a

Appendix. 283

Mediator and Intercessor — and to make a Propitiation for
them. All these are described as belonging to Christ,
and to Him alone, under the Gospel-dispensation ; which
„ consequently (alone of all religions we are acquainted
with) has, on earth, no Priest at all.

The office of the Christian ministers, the Elders or
Presbyters, which the apostles by their divine commis
sion ordained, is the administration of such rites (the
Christian sacraments) as are essentially different from
sacrifice; and the instruction of the people; an office not
especially allotted to the Jewish priests, but rather to the
whole of the Levites ; and so little appropriated even to
them, that persons of any other tribe a were allowed to
teach publicly in the synagogues.

It deserves then to be kept in mind,

I. That Priest, in the two senses just noticed, does
not merely denote two different things, but is, strictly
speaking, equivocal. The word " house," for instance,
is not equivocal when applied to the houses of the an
cients and to our own, though the two are considerably
different; because both are the same in that which the
word " house" denotes, viz. in being " a building for
man's habitation :" on the other hand, the word " pub
lican " in its ordinary sense, and in that in which it
occurs in our version of the New Testament, is equivo
cal, though in each case it denotes a man in a certain
profession in life ; because the professions indicated in
each case respectively, by that term, are essentially dif-

a As, for instance, Jesus himself, who was of the tribe of Judah, and Paul,
of the tribe of Benjamin.

284 Appendix.

ferent. And the same is the case with the word priest,
in the two senses now under consideration.

II. That though there is in the Romish Church a
pretended sacrifice, offered by a pretended priest, (in the
other sense,) this creates no just objection to what has
been said ; since their practice in this point is a manifest
corruption of Christianity, totally unsupported by any
warrant of Scripture, and manifestly at variance with
the whole spirit of the Gospel ; and what we are speak
ing of is the religion as originally instituted, not, as
subsequently depraved.

III. That the peculiarity in question, as well as every
other of any consequence, affords a strong presumption of
the truth of the religion ; and this, independent of any
question as to the excellence of the peculiarity. For
either an impostor or an enthusiast would have been
almost sure, on such a point, to fall in with the prevailing
notions and expectations of men ; as experience shews,
in the case of such a multitude of different systems of
religion which confessedly have emanated from the
sources alluded to. It cannot be deemed an insignificant
circumstance that the Christian religion should differ
from all others in a point in which, amidst their infinite
varieties, they all agree.

IV. That the charge of Priestcraft, so often brought
indiscriminately against all religions, by those whose
hostility is in fact directed against Christianity, falls en
tirely to the ground, when applied, not to the corrup
tions of the Romish Church, (which certainly does lie
open to the imputation,) but to the religion of the Gos
pel, as founded on the writings of its promulgators. It

Appendix. 285

is a religion which has no Priest on earth, no mortal
Intercessor to stand between God and his worshippers ;
but which teaches its votaries to apply, for themselves,
to their great and divine High Priest, and to " come
boldly to the throne of grace, that they may find help in
time of need." Nor are the Christian ministers ap
pointed, as the infidel would insinuate, for the purpose
of keeping the people in darkness, but expressly for
the purpose of instructing them in their religion.

V. Lastly, that Christians should be warned, if they
would conform to the design of the Author of their
faith, not to think of substituting the religion of the
minister for their own; his office being, according to
Christ's institution, not to serve God instead of them,
but to teach and lead them to serve Him themselves.

THE END.

BAXTER, PRINTER, OXFORD.

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