TESTIMONIES
L&y e n K6"g ;
TO THE TRUTHS
OF NATURAL AND REVEALED
RELIGION,
EXTRACTED FROM THE
WORKS
REV. JAMES BREWSTER,
i\
MINISTER OP CRAIG, AND AUTHOR OF " LECTURES ON
CHRIST'S SERMON ON THE MOUNT."
EDINBURGH :
PRINTED FOR WAUGH AND INNES;
CHALMERS & COLLINS, GLASGOW ; AND OGLE, DUNCAN & CO.
LONDON.
1822.
TO
THE REVEREND
SIR H. MONCREIFF WELLWOOD,
BARONET,
THIS VOLUME
IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED,
WITH SENTIMENTS OF HIGH ESTEEM,
AND WITH A SENSE OF MANY OBLIGATIONS,
BY
HIS FAITHFUL HUMBLE SERVANT,
THE AUTHOR.
HE, who collects, is laudably employed ; for, though he exerts no
great talents in the work, he facilitates the progress of others ;
and, by making that easy of attainment, which is already writ,
ten, may give some mind more vigorous, or more adventurous
than his own, leisure for new thoughts and original designs.
Dr. Samuel Johnson.
Facile est autem docere, pene universam veritatem, per philosopho-
rum sectas esse divisam. Non enim philosophiara sic nos ever-
timus, ut Academic! solent, quibus ad omnia respondere propo-
situm est, quod est potius calumniari et illudere. Sed docemus.
nullam sectam fuisse tam deviam, nee philosophomm quenquam
tarn inanem, qui non viderit aliquid ex vero. Quod si extitisset
aliquis, qui veritatem sparsam per singulos, per sectasque dif.
fusam, colligeret in unum, et redigeret in corpus, is profecto non
diisentiret a nobis. Lactantii Institutionet, lib. viii. c. 7.
CONTENTS.
Page
INTHODUCTION, v
CHAPTER I.
TESTIMONIES TO THE IRRATIONAL NATURE AND
INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF ATHEISM, SCEPTICISM,
AND IRRELIGION.
SECT. 1. Atheism, ..,.,.. 1
2. Scepticism, . . . . 9
3. Irreligion, 13
CHAPTER II.
TESTIMONIES TO THE PRINCIPLES OF MORALS, AND
THE FOUNDATION OF VIRTUE.
SECT. 1. Moral Distinctions, 24
2. Connexion of Morality with Religion, . . 27
3. Morality Founded on the Will of God, . . 29
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER III.
TESTIMONIES TO THE PRINCIPLES OF NATURAL
RELIGION.
Page
SECT. 1. Existence and Agency of God, ... 36
2. Perfections of God, 43
3. Providence of God, *41
4. A Future Life, *4&
CHAPTER IV.
TESTIMONIES TO THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE OF
RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 53
CHAPTER V:
TESTIMONIES TO THE PARTICULAR USES OF RE-
LIGION.
SECT. 1. As a Bond of Society, . 75
2. As a Rule of Conduct, .... 8*
3. As a Source of Consolation, ... 87
CHAPTER VI.
TESTIMONIES TO THE CONNEXION OF RELIGIOUS
SENTIMRNTS AND VIRTUOUS CONDUCT WITH
HAPPINESS.
SECT. 1. Happiness not in things external, . . 95
2. Happiness in Virtue and .Religion, . . 100
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII.
TESTIMONIES TO THE EVIDENCES AND EXCEL-
LENCE OF CHRISTIANITY.
Page
SECT. 1. The Need of a Divine Revelation, . . 1I3T
2. Evidences of Christianity, .... 122
3. Excellencies of the Scriptures, . . . 139
4. Excellencies of Christianity, . , . 145
5. The Beneficial Tendency of Christianity, . 157
6. Personal Testimonies to the Truth and Excellence
of Christianity, 164
CHAPTER VIII.
TESTIMONIES TO THE GENERAL DOCTRINES OF
CHRISTIANITY.
SECT. 1. The Insufficiency of Reason in Religion sr .- 167
2. Faith in the Doctrines of Revelation, . 174
3. The Mysteries which Faith receives, . . 181
CHAPTER IX.
TESTIMONIES TO THE PARTICULAR DOCTRINES OF
REVELATION.
SECT. 1. The Existence of Spiritual Beings, . . 196
2. The Doctrine of the Trinity, . . . 199
3. The Doctrine of Human Depravity and Misery, 204
4. The Evil and Penalty of Sin, . . . 212-
5. Man's Incapability of Claiming Merit with God, 218
6. The Mediation and Atonement of Christ, 225
7. Salvation by the Grace of God, . . . 243
8. Repentance and Conversion,, ..... 251
IV CONTENTS.
CHAPTER X.
TESTIMONY TO THE DUTIES OF CHRISTIANITY.
Page
SECT. 1. Attention to the Concerns of the Soul .' . 265
2. General Duties towards God 276
3. Love towards God, 286
4. Submission to God, 297
5. Devotion, 30*
6. Public Worship 31 S
7. The Sabbath, 326
8. Principles of Duty, . . . . - . 329
APPENDIX.
1. Traditionary and Historical Testimonies to the
Truth of Scripture History, ... 345
2. Physiological and Geological Testimonies to the
Mosaic Account of Creation, . . . 350
3. Miscellaneous Extracts, .... 361
INTRODUCTION.
THE plan of the following compilation was first
suggested to my mind, about ten years ago, when I
had occasion to call the attention of a young friend
(with whose religious education I had been entrusted)
to the serious study of the Christian faith; and, in order
to recommend the subject more effectually to his con-
sideration, had begun to adduce the religious opinions
of various distinguished individuals in public life,
and in the annals of literature. In preparing to note
down, for his use, a few references to the recorded sen-
timents of these eminent characters, there occurred in
their writings so many impressive testimonies to the
great principles of revealed religion, that I was in-
sensibly led to conceive the design of arranging a
selection of these passages for the press. In the
course of collecting extracts for this purpose, I con-
templated, at one time, a much more extensive work
than the present ; and conceived the practicability
of tracing, through the wide range of modern lite-
rature, the decided homage which has been render-
A 3
VI INTRODUCTION.
ed to the claims of religion, by the most prominent
names in the various departments of polite learn-
ing, and scientific research. But I very soon dis-
covered, that this was an undertaking, which requir-
ed a larger portion of leisure, and a readier access to
books, as well as a greater variety of acquirements,
than what I was able to bring to the task. I was,
therefore, constrained to limit my labours to the
small number of authors more immediately within
my reach. Even in this narrow field, the materials
have been so abundant, that it has become neces-
sary to abridge very much the original plan ; and
the present volume scarcely comprises one half of
what had been transcribed for publication, or mark-
ed for extraction. I do not make this remark for
the sake of magnifying my "own diligence \ b'ut
merely for the purpose of shewing, how small a pro-
portion this compilation bears to the mass of similar
testimonies, which might be gathered and assorted
even in a very limited circle of study. I have restricted
my views, therefore, to the instruction of those, who
have but newly entered on the paths of knowledge, or
who have no means of pursuing them far ; and, ex-
cluding all the more abstruse and lengthened discus-
sions which fell in my way, I have selected only those
passages, which seemed most adapted for general
use, or most applicable to youthful readers. The
volume contains nothing, that can be new to persons
of extensive reading ; and all the service which it can
pretend to render them, is that of calling to their
recollection, and bringing within their reach, what
they may remember to have perused, and mayjiot
INTRODUCTION- VII
be unwilling to reconsider. The present publica-
tion, in short, is nothing more than a specimen of
what may be executed to better purpose, and to
greater extent, by those who are placed in situa-
tions more favourable for such researches. It is a
contribution comparatively trivial -a mite cast into
the armoury of Christian truth. But the compiler of
these pages will be well pleased to make such an ex-
hibition of his poverty, provided he may be instru-
mental in stimulating others to bring forward a
richer offering out of their abundance.
The extracts, here given, are neither restricted to
a mere statement of the opinion of every particular au-
thor from whom they are taken, which would have prov-
ed a very dry detail ; nor are they so far extended as to
present a full exposition of that author's sentiments
on the subject to which they refer, which would
have occupied too great a space in the compass of
one volume ; but such passages have been chosen,
as might at once indicate the opinion of each writer,
and furnish, at the same time, some useful argu-
ment or illustration, on the topic under discus-
sion. Neither are these passages presented to the
reader, as always conveying the most complete and
most scriptural views of the truths, to which they re-
fer ; but only as favourable, in their general tenour,
to the great principles of religion. As it was not so
much my object to establish particular points of doc-
trine, as to confirm the leading principles of the
Christian faith, hence it will be found, that quo-
tations are sometimes brought forward in support of
these principles, from the advocates of very opposite
systems in philosophy and theology. But whenever
Vlll INTRODUCTION
this occurs ; when a citation, for instance, is made
from the pages of Euler, in vindication of prayer,
on the scheme of philosophical free-will, and ano-
ther from the pages of Hartley, on the principle of
philosophical necessity, the conclusion meant to be
deduced from these concurring testimonies, is not
the truth of this or that author's mode of explana-
tion, but the testimony given by both, on their re-
spective systems, to the importance of devotional du-
ties.
The passages, here brought together, it may also
be proper to observe, are of two very different descrip-
tions ; the one class consisting of the concessions of
deistical writers, and the other containing the tes-
timonies of avowed believers in Christianity. It was
once intended to have distributed them in separate
divisions. But this plan, besides having an iinvi-
dious appearance, would have been attended with
various inconveniences ; and, particularly, would
have required a complete repetition of nearly the
same heads of chapters and sections. With regard
to the arrangement of the extracts, as they now
stand, it will be obvious, that their place in the vo-
lume was necessarily regulated by the principal sub-
ject, on which they touched; and that it would
have been impossible, without greatly mangling a
passage, and weakening its impression, or even al-
tering its import, to have excluded every sentence,
which referred to other topics. Many of these pas-
sages, therefore, might have been placed, with al-
most equal propriety, under different titles or sec-
tions ; but it is hoped, that they are in general so
distributed, as to carry on a series of illustrations,
INTRODUCTION. ix
and to form as natural a connexion, in a sort of sys-
tem, as detached portions of different works could
well be expected to preserve.
These passages, it ought also to be noticed, are
not generally taken from publications exclusively
devoted to religious subjects, except in the case of a
few authors, whose works are not commonly known,
or easily accessible ; and there are many of the
ablest and most valuable writers on the evidences,
doctrines, and duties of the Christian religion,
from whom very few, and others from whom no,
extracts have been made; partly because their
sentiments are sufficiently indicated by the mere
titles of their respective publications, and part-
ly because it would have required a number of vo-
lumes to contain the ample arguments and illustra-
tions, which these works would have afforded. In
order, in some measure, to remedy this unavoidable
omission, the reader is referred to a list of a select
number of the more valuable and accessible of these
lay- authors, who have treated almost exclusively on
some religious subject, and whose works may deserve
an entire perusal. It will be obvious, from a slight
inspection of this brief catalogue*, that a very com?
plete and correct exposition of Christian doctrines,
as well as the most powerful and persuasive exhor-
tations to Christian duties, might easily be compil-
ed from the writings of eminent laymen, and ex-
pressed entirely in their own language.
But where, it may be asked, is the peculiar good
purpose to be promoted by these extracts from lay-
authors, and from the perusal of their works on re-
* See page xxii.
X INTRODUCTION.
ligious subjects, farther than their own merits may
warrant ? Is the truth of any religion, or religious te-
net, to rest on the mere authority of great names ;
and are we to count voices to determine our belief?
To this question, which, indeed, brings to the proof
the utility of the present publication, I would brief-
ly reply, in the words of a philosopher, pre-eminently
qualified to direct the most legitimate and conclu-
sive mode of argumentation. " I am well aware,
" that authorities are not arguments ; but when a
u prejudice, to which authority alone has given cur-
" rency, is to be combated, what other refutation is
likely to be effectual *?"
The truth of Christianity, especially, does not
rest upon any human authority ; nor does it require
the aid of any names, however distinguished, to re-
commend its excellencies, provided that mankind
would come, with unbiassed minds, to the examina-
tion of its sacred claims. But let it be recollected,
that, besides the power of a depraved nature, ex-
citing, in the hearts of men, an aversion to all the
restraints of religion, an indifference to its most ear-
nest expostulations, and a readiness to embrace every
plea that might justify this aversion and neglect ;
there is a disposition sufficiently prevalent, especi-
ally among the half-learned, to exalt the energy of
human reason, as adequate for every case of their
duty ; to reject the aid of revelation, as altogether
unnecessary in the world ; to ridicule its humiliat-
ing tenets, as utterly irrational in their nature, as
* Stewart's Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind,
ii. 469.
INTRODUCTION. Xl
well as injurious in their tendency ; and to despise
the serious belief of their heavenly origin, or of their
importance to man, as nothing less than the cha-
racteristic of a timid spirit, a feeble intellect, or a
melancholy temperament. They have rashly as-
sumed the position, that reason and genius, learn-
ing and science, knowledge of life and intrepidity
of character, are all arranged on the adverse side to
genuine Christianity * ; and they have entrenched
themselves in this conviction, by the authority and
example of persons who have united, in their cha-
racter, many of the above qualities, with the disbe-
lief of revealed religion, with hostility to its influ-
* " We have so often seen, in our days, weakness united to a
large portion of virtue, that we have been accustomed to believe in
the energy of immorality." " The German philosophers," this
writer adds, (and her words may be considered as certifying the
general testimony, rendered by the learned laity in that country to
the principles of religion ;) '* the German philosophers, and let
*' them receive the glory of the deed, have been the first in the
" eighteenth century, who have ranged free-thinking on the side of
" faith, genius on the side of morality, and character on the side
< of duty." De Stud's Germany, iii. 256.
A publication at Paris in 1816, of which I have seen only the
title ; viz. ** Les Apologistes Involontaires ; ou, la Religion Chre-
tienne prouvee el defendue par les ecrits de philosophesj* seems to
intimate, that similar testimonies may be drawn from the literature
of that country.
But the idea of adducing the concessions of adversaries, and the
testimonies of unbiassed judges, in support of revealed religion, is
of a more ancient date, than to admit of any modern author laying
claim to the invention. * Sed omittamus sane testimonia proplieta-
rum, ne minus idonea probatio videatur esse ab his quibus non cre-
ditur. Veniamus ad auctores, et eos ipsos ad veri probationem cite-
mut t quibus contra nos uti tolcnt." Lactantii Institutiones, lib L
cap. 1.
Xil INTRODUCTION.
ence, or at least with a disregard of its injunctions-
Now, this is nothing less than disbelieving, or, at
l3ast, justifying disbelief, on the ground of human
authority^ and from submission to great names ;
and this is a prejudice so inveterate and irrational,
that it can be combated only on its own principles.
There is no want, indeed, of irrefragable argu-
ment, in defence of Christianity, from many profes-
sional teachers of its truths, who may be justly ranked
in the highest class of human authorities, in respect
oi' genius, learning, and intellect*. But the anti-
religious prepossession, in question, extends, in all
its antipathy, to the clerical advocates of divine truth,
however eminent in human attainments; and all
their appeals in its behalf are stigmatized and turned
aside, as the mere dictates of personal interest, or of
professional prejudice. There might be some mean-
ing (whatever there might be of truth) in this jea-
lousy of ecclesiastical authors, if they were merely
uttering dogmas ex cathedra, or offering testimo-
nies in the character of witnesses ; in which cases,
they might be conceived to speak under the strong
bias of education, or the secret bribery of self-inte-
rest ; but, in as far as they place the points at issue
upon the ground of fair argument, and challenge
an examination of the evidences which they adduce,
or the reasonings which they advance, it matters no-
thing to the decision of the question, what profes-
* " The celebrated men produced by the church" (meaning, pro-
bably, the church of Rome, but equally true of Protestant com-
munities) " form nearly two-thirds of the distinguished characters
in modern times." Chateaubriand" s Beauties of Christianity, iii.
153.
INTRODUCTION. XIII
sional office the authors may bear, or whether it be
known at all who the authors have been. The dis-
cussion stands upon its own merits. The nature
of the argument, and not the name of the author,
is to be considered. And no man, who appeals to
reason as the umpire, can, with any degree of can-
dour or consistency, allege the possible motives of
the writer or speaker, as a sufficient cause for setting
aside the force of his argumentation. It is only, in
fact, the very weakness of resting upon authorities,
more than upon reasons^ that can account for this
reluctance to allow their full weight to the state-
ments of the professional teachers of religion ; and
the only effectual mode of counteracting these latent
objections, (for they are such as many are ashamed to
acknowledge, while they are acting under their influ-
ence) is to produce that very species of authority, which
they are so much disposed to follow, the authority
of great names. We must try to remove a prejudice
resting upon authority, by shewing that authority
is still stronger on the side of truth than of error, of
virtue than of vice, of faith than of infidelity, of piety
than of profaneness; and, since great names, or
names supposed to be great, have been thrown into
the one scale, to place also in the other names equally,
or even more unquestionably great, and to which no
professional stigma or suspicion can possibly be at-
tached. " There is unfortunately in many men, (says
an eminent prelate, who united all the acuteness of
science with the belief of Christianity,) a strange pre-
possession against every thing written by churchmen,
in defence of the Christian religion. That 6( priests
of all religions are the same;" that " they defend
XIV INTRODUCTION.
altars on which their lives depend," with a hun-
dred other expressions of similar tendency, are
frequent in the mouths of unbelievers. We sincerely
forgive them this wrong ; but, as the charge of self-
ishness and hypocrisy cannot, with any shadow of
propriety, be brought against Mr. Addison, and
such other laymen as have written in support of
Christianity, we entreat them to give a sober atten-
tion to what these unprejudiced writers have ad-
vanced on the subject. Surely eternal life is too im-
portant a concern to be jested away in sarcastic wit-
ticisms, and frothy disputations *."
Distinguished laymen themselves have not only
admitted the existence of such a prejudice against
the writings of the clergy, but have pleaded its
inveterate influence on many minds, as an apology
for their own productions on the subject of religion.
(t It is, I am aware, extremely ridiculous for those,
who adopt the prescriptions of their physicians, and
act upon the advice of their lawyers, although they
are professional, to object to defences of Christianity
from the pens of clergymen, because they are profes-
sional; yet, absurd and uncandid as the objection is,
it is often advanced. It is therefore proper to meet
it ; and at times to shew, that there are those, who
cannot, on such occasions, be actuated by any love of
worldly applause, or any thirst after emolument, but
who feel sufficiently interested about religion, and
are sufficiently convinced of its powerful tenden-
cy to improve the conduct of individuals, and
Bishop Watson's Note, in the contents of his Theological
Tracts, voL v,
INTRODUCTION. XV
to augment the general stock of happiness, to step
for a little while out of their own appropriate pro-
vince to plead its cause " " There are many per-
sons, from whom the claims of Christianity receive
a more respectful attention, when they are urged
by one, who is neither a clergyman, nor a metho-
distV
" What he may presume to offer on the subject
of religion, may, perhaps, be perused with less jea-
lousy, and more candour, from the very circum-
stance of its having been written by a layman,
which must at least exclude the idea, (an idea some-
times illiberally suggested to take off the effect of
the works of ecclesiastics,) that it is prompted by
motives of self-interest, or of professional preju-
dicef"
" As to religious books, in general those which
have been written by laymen, especially by gentle-
men, have (cceteris paribus) been better received
and more effectual, than those published by clergy-
men J."
A selection, therefore, such as that which is here
offered to the reader, may serve, at least, to neutra-
lize this prejudice against the claims of religion ;
and, by shewing, that its divine authority has been
venerated and vindicated by the greatest names in
every department of literature, and in every field of
human research, may bring the inquirer to the
* Dr. Olmthus Gregory's Letters on the Evidences, Doctrines,
and Duties of Christianity. Preface.
t Wilberforce's Practical View of Christianity. Preface,
^ Honourable Robert Boyle. _ j(-1
3
XVI INTRODUCTION.
subject, with a mind more fairly balanced for exer-
cising his own judgment.
It may do more. It may furnish a very power-
ful reason, for entering upon the inquiry with the
utmost degree of attention, by suggesting the obvi-
ous reflection, that those sentiments, which have
been avowed and advocated by men of so great cele-
brity, are at least worthy of being seriously consi-
dered ; and that, whether they may be ultimately
found to be true, or be rejected as false, yet, hav-
ing been held and cherished by persons of minds
so exalted, of learning so extensive, and of charac-
ters so independent, they are not to be lightly spoken
against, as if they were the pure errors of ignorarice,
weakness, or timidity.
It may accomplish something farther still. It
may be considered as adducing ample and undenia-
ble evidence, that the scheme of a revelation, and
of the redemption which it promises, is not, as has
been often so confidently alleged, contradictory in
its general bearings to the dictates of enlightened
reason ; since so many masters of reason, (and that
not of any peculiar cast of mind, but of all descrip-
tions of intellectual vigour,) men exercised in the
most profound inquiries ; men acquainted with the
most rigid processes of demonstration ; men accus-
tomed to the most cautious forms of experiment ;
men, who, in many cases, had shewn themselves fully
emancipated from the trammels of old opinions ; and
who had, in some instances, avowedly encountered
the power of prevailing prejudices, have never-
theless distinctly declared the belief of a revelation
from heaven, and of the doctrines which it unfolds,
IKTRODUCTIOX. XV11
to be altogether congenial with the reflections of
their own comprehensive minds, with the results of
their profound investigations into the works of na-
ture, with the deductions of their enlightened ob-
servation of human life, and their enlarged experi-
ence of human feelings. This, their belief, though
not infallibly right, merely because it is theirs ; yet,
because it is theirs, is not, and cannot be said to be,
incompatible in its nature with sound reason. The
reason of such men, (the soundest that the world
has ever known,) has embraced that belief; and
henceforth, therefore, the principle of such belief is
secured effectually from the stigma of irrationality.
That I may act in full conformity with these
views, I must not leave these remarks to rest upon
my own reasonings ; and I gladly appeal once more
to the opinion of distinguished laymen themselves,
for the utility of thus adducing their authority, and
detailing their sentiments, in support of religious
truth.
" In matters of eternal concern, the authority of
the highest human opinion, has no claim to be ad-
mitted as a ground of belief; but it may, with
strictest propriety, be opposed to that of men of in-
ferior learning and penetration; and, whilst the
pious derive satisfaction from the perusal of senti-
ments according with their own, those, who doubt
or disbelieve, should be induced to weigh, with can-
dour and impartiality, arguments which have pro-
duced conviction in the minds of the best, the wis-
est, and most learned of mankind.
Among such as have professed a steady belief in
the doctrines of Christianity, where shall greater
XVlll INTRODUCTION.
names be found than those of Bacon and Newton ?
Of the former, and of Locke, it may be observed,
that they were both innovators in science ; disdain-
ing to follow the sages of antiquity, through the
beaten paths of error, they broke through preju-
dices, which had long obstructed the progress of
sound knowledge, and laid the foundation of science
on solid ground ; whilst the genius of Newton carried
him, " extra jlammant'ia moenia mundi" These
men, to their great praise, and, we may hope, to
their eternal happiness, devoted much of their time
to the study of the Scriptures. If the evidence of
revelation had been weak, who were better qualified
to expose its unsoundness ? If our national faith
were a mere fable, or political superstition, why
were minds, which boldly destroyed prejudices in
science, blind to those in religion ? They read,
examined, weighed, and believed ; and the same
vigorous intellect, that dispersed the mists which
concealed the temple of human knowledge, was it-
self illuminated with the radiant truths of divine
revelation.
Such authorities, and let me .now add to them
the name of Sir William Jones, are deservedly en-
titled to great weight : let those, who supercili-
ously reject them, compare their intellectual pow-
ers, their scientific attainments, and vigour of ap-
plication, with those of the men whom I have nam-
ed ; the comparison may perhaps lead them to sus-
pect, that their incredulity, (to adopt the idea of a
profound scholar,) may be the result of a little
smattering in learning, and great self-conceit, and
INTRODUCTION. *$ f
v * x ^
that, by hard study and a humbled mind, they may
regain the religion which they have left *." ^^$
" Newton was a Christian ; Newton, whose mind
burst forth from the fetters fastened by nature upon
our finite conceptions ; Newton, whose science was
truth, and the foundation of whose knowledge of
it was philosophy : not those visionary and arrogant
presumptions, which too often usurp its name, but
philosophy resting upon the basis of mathematics,
which, like figures, cannot lie. Newton, who carried
the line and rule to the uttermost barriers of creation ;
and explored the principles by which all created
matter exists, and is held together. But this ex-
traordinary man, in the mighty reach of his mind,
overlooked, perhaps, the errors which a minuter in-
vestigation of the created things on this earth might
have taught him. What shall then be said, of the
great Mr. Boyle, who looked into the organic struc-
ture of all matter, even to the inanimate substances,
which the foot treads upon ? Such a man, may be
supposed to have been equally qualified with Mr.
Paine, to ' look up through nature, to nature's
4 God.' Yet the result of all his contemplations,
was the most confirmed and devout belief in all,
which the author (Paine) holds in contempt, as
despicable and drivelling superstition. But this
error might, perhaps, arise from a want of due at-
tention to the foundations of human judgment, and
the structure of that understanding which God has
given us for the investigation of truth. Let that
question be answered by Mr. Locke, who, to the
* Lord Teignmouth's Life of Sir William Jones, p. 300.
XX INTRODUCTION.
highest pitch of devotion and adoration, was a
Christian. Mr. Locke, whose office was to detect
the errors of thinking, by going up to the very
fountains of thought, and to direct into the proper
tract of reasoning the devious mind of man, by
shewing him its whole process, from the first per-
ceptions of sense, to the last conclusions of ratioci-
nation ; putting a rein upon false opinion, by prac-
tical rules for the conduct of human judgment.
But these men, it may be said, were only deep
thinkers, and lived in their closets, unaccustomed to
the traffic of the world, and to the laws which prac-
tically regulate mankind. Gentlemen ! in the place,
where we now sit to administer the justice of this
great country, the never-to-be-forgotten Sir Matthew
Hale presided ; whose faith in Christianity is an
exalted commentary upon its truth and reason, and
whose life was a glorious example of its fruits ; whose
justice,' drawn from the pure fountain of the Chris-
tian dispensation, will be in all ages a subject of the
highest reverence and admiration. But it is said
by the author, that the Christian fable is but the
tale of the more ancient superstitions of the world,
and may be easily detected by a proper understand-
ing of the mythologies of the Heathens. Did Mil-
ton understand these mythologies ? Was he less ver-
sed than Mr. Paine in the superstitions of the world ?
No, they were the subject of his immortal song ;
and, though shut out from all recurrence to them,
he poured them forth from the stores of a memory,
rich with all that man ever knew, and laid them in
their order, as the illustration of real and exalted
faith, the unquestionable source of that fervid ge-
INTRODUCTION. XXI
nius, which has cast a kind of shade upon all the
other works of man. The result of his thinking
was nevertheless not quite the same as the author's
before us. The mysterious incarnation of our bles-
sed Saviour (which this work blasphemes in words
so wholly unfit for the mouth of a Christian, or
for the ear of a court of justice, that I dare not,
and will not give them utterance,) Milton made
the grand conclusion of his Paradise Lost; the
rest from his finished labours, the ultimate hope,
expectation, and glory of the world.
Thus you find all that is great, or wise, or splen-
did, or illustrious amongst created beings ; all the
minds gifted beyond ordinary nature, if not inspir-
ed by its universal Author for the advancement
and dignity of the world, though divided by distant
ages, and by clashing opinions, yet joining, as it
were, in one sublime chorus to celebrate the truth
of Christianity, and laying upon its holy altars,
the never fading offerings of their immortal wis-
dom *"
Eiskine's Speeches, ii. 196.
XXII
SELECT LIST OF LAY AUTHORS,
Who have treated directly on religious subjects, and whose
works deserve to be fully perused, especially those distin-
guished by an asterisk.
ADDIS ON'S Evidences of Christianity.
* AINSLIE'S Father's Gift, 2 parts.
* BABINGTON on the Religious Education of Youth.
BACON'S, Lord, Confession of Faith.
BARRINGTON, Lord, on the teaching of the Holy Spi-
rit.
BATES' Christian Politics.
Rural Philosophy.
* BEAT-TIE'S Evidences of Christianity.
* BOWDLER'S Theological Tracts.
* BOYLE'S, Hon. Robert, Theological Works.
BROWNE'S, Sir Thomas, Religio Medici.
* BRYANT on the Authenticity of Scripture.
BURN'S, Major General, Christian Officer.
CHATEAUBRIAND'S Beauties of Christianity.
CUMBERLAND'S Plain Reasons for being a Christian.
* CUNINGHAME on the Prophecies.
* DALRYMPLE'S Answer to Gibbon.
Remains of Christian Antiquity.
* DALRYMPLE, Earl of Stair, on the Divine Perfections.
DE MORN AY, Earl of Plessis, on the Truth of Christian-
ity.
ERASMUS'S Paraphrases.
Exposition of the Creed, Decalogue, and
Lord's Prayer.
* ERSKINE, Thomas, Esq. on the Internal Eyidence of
Christianity.
EULER'S Letters to a German Princess.
FELTHAM'S, Owen, Resolves.
* FORBES, President, on Incredulity.
' Thoughts on Religion.
SELECT LIST OF LAY AUTHORS. XXlll
* GREGORY, Olinthus, Letters on the Evidences, &c. of
Christianity.
* GROTIUS on the Truth of Christianity.
HALDANE on the Authority of Revealed Religion.
HALE, Sir Matthew, on the Origination of Mankind.
* Contemplations.
* HALLER'S, Baron, Letters to his Daughter.
* HARTLEY on the Evidences of Christianity, vol. ii. of
his Works.
JENYNS, Soame,on the Internal Evidence of Christianity.
KING, Sir Peter, on the Creed.
On the Primitive Church.
* LOCKE on the Reasonableness of Christianity.
* LYTTLETON, Lord, on the Conversion of Paul.
MEDE, Dr. on the Diseases mentioned in Scripture.
* MORE'S, Mrs. Hannah, Works.
* NAPIER, Lord, on the Apocalypse.
NELSON'S Fasts andFestivals of the Church of England.
* NEWTON, Sir Isaac, on the Prophecies.
NIEWENTYTE'S Religious Philosopher.
ROBINSON'S Christian Philosophy.
* PASCAL'S Thoughts.
PERCEVAL, Earl of Egmont, on the Importance of a
Religious Life.
* RAY'S Wisdom of God in the Creation.
SELDEN de Legibus Hebraeorum.
* SERLE'S Horse Solitariae.
* . Christian Remembrancer.
* SHARP, Granville, on the Divinity of Christ.
WEST on the Resurrection.
* WILBERFORCE'S Practical View of Christianity.
* On the Religion of the Great.
; * SINCLAIR'S, Miss, Letter on the Principles of the
Christian Faith.
NATURAL
CHAPTER I.
TESTIMONIES TO THE IRRATIONAL NATURE AND
INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF ATHEISM, SCEPTICISM,
AND IRRELIGION.
SECTION I.
ATHEISM.
ABSURDITY OF ATHEISM. Scepticism is the incredu-
lity of scientific men, or it is the credulity of absurd
principles ; and this arises from the want of proper
principles in those, who will philosophise, or draw ge-
neral conclusions beyond their science. But atheism,
so far as this is an assertion that there is no first cause,
is an expression, which has not properly a meaning ;
for they, who are to make this assertion, must either
found the negative proposition upon some principle,
or they only persuade themselves that they believe
what they cannot comprehend. But, if atheism is to
be founded upon some principle, I confess myself ig-
2 ATHEISM.
norant of what this principle may be. It is evident,
that the conclusion of evil in the constitution of things
leads not to atheism, but to daemonism ; and the al-
lowing of both good and evil leads to polytheism, or
to different principles in the first cause. But I be-
lieve no man of rational understanding can find any
principle for concluding, that there is no first cause ;
for this necessarily implies, that he understands how
things could be produced without a cause. Now, if
a man has seen this truth, that things may be produ*
ced without a cause, he has but to reveal it, that so it
may be believed by other men ; but to deny the ex-
istence of a first cause from no other reason than this,
that to him thejirst cause is unknown, would be equal-
ly absurd as to deny his own existence, because he
knows not how he had a being. Huiton's * Investiga-
tion, iii. 135.
FOLLY OF ATHEISM. I had rather believe all the fa-
bles in the Legend, and the Talmud, and the Alco-
ran, than that this universal frame is without a mind.
And therefore God never wrought a miracle to con-
vince atheism, because his ordinary works convince
it. It is true, that a little philosophy inclineth many
minds to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth
many minds about to religion ; for, while the mind
of man looketh upon second causes scattered, it may
sometimes rest in them and go no further ; but when
it beholdeth the chain of them confederate and linked
together, it must needs fly to providence and deity.
Nay, even that school which is most accused of
atheism, does most demonstrate religion ; that is, the
school of Leucippus, and Democritus, and Epicurus.
For it is a thousand times more credible, that four mu-
* The ingenious author of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth.
ATHEISM. J3
table elements, and one immutable fifth essence, duly
and eternally placed, need no God, than that an army of
infinite small portions, or seeds unplaced, should have
produced this order and beauty without a divine mar-
shal. The Scripture saith, " the fool hath said in his
heart there is no God ;" it is not said " the fool hath
thought in his heart," so as he rather saith it by rote
to himself, as that he would have, than that he can
thoroughly believe it, or be persuaded of it; for none
deny there is a God, but those for whom it maketh
that there were no God. It appeareth in nothing
more that atheism is rather in the lip than in the
heart of man, than by this, that atheists will ever be
talking of that their opinion, as if they fainted in it
within themselves, and would be glad to be strength-
ened by the consent of others. Nay more, you shall
have atheists strive to get disciples, as it fareth with
other sects. And, which is most of all, you shall have
of them that will suffer for atheism, and not recant ;
whereas, if they did truly think that there were no
such thing as God, why should they trouble them-
selves ? They that deny a God destroy man's nobility,
for certainly man is of kin to the beasts by his body,
and if he be not of kin to God by his spirit, he is a
base and ignoble creature. It destroys likewise mag-
nanimity, and the raising of human nature ; for take
an example of a dog, and mark what a generosity and
courage he will put on when he finds himself main-
tained by a man, who to him is instead of a God, or
te melior nalura ;'* which courage is manifestly such,
as that creature, without the confidence of a better na-
ture than his own, could never attain. So man, when
he resteth and assureth himself upon divine protec-
tion and favour, gathereth a force and faith, which
human nature could not attain. Therefore, as atheism
is in all respects hateful, so in this, that it depriveth
B 2
ATHEISM.
human nature of the means to exalt itself above hu-
man frailty. Bacon's Essays, p. 50. 1755.
GLOOMY VIEWS OF ATHEISM. How happens it then,
that some pretend, that atheism frees us from every
kind of terror about futurity ? I cannot perceive that
such a conclusion flows from this fatal system. A
God, such as my heart delineates, encourages and mo-
derates all my feelings ; I say to myself, he is good
and indulgent, he knows our weakness, he loves to
produce happiness, and I see the advances of death
without terror, and often with hope. But every fear
would become reasonable, if I lived under the domi-
nion of an insensible nature, whose laws and revolu-
tions are unknown ; I seek for some means to escape
from its power ; but even death cannot afford me a re-
treat, or space an asylum. I reflect, if it is possible, to find
compassion and goodness; but here is no prime intel-
ligence, no first cause; a blind nature surrounds us
and governs imperiously ; I in vain demand what is to
be done with me ? it is deaf to my voice. Devoid of
will, thought, and feeling, it is governed by an irre-
sistible force, whose motion is a mystery never to be
unfolded. What a view for a human mind, to antici-
pate the destruction of al 1 our primitive ideas of order,
justice, and goodness ! Shall I further say, when even,
in every system, the entrance of the future was un-
known, I should be less unhappy and forlorn if it
was to a father, a benefactor, that I committed the
deposit of life which I held from him ; this last com-
munication with the Master of the world would miti-
gate my pains ; my eyes when closing would perceive
his power ; that I should not lose all, I might still
hope that that God remained with those I loved, and
find some comfort in the thought, that my des-
tiny was united to his will that my existence, and
ATHEISM. O
the employments I devoted myself to, formed one
of the indelible points of his eternal remembrance;
and that the incomprehensible darkness I was going
to plunge into, is equally a part of his empire. But
when a feeling and elevated soul, which sometimes en-
joys a sentiment of its own grandeur, should certainly
know, that dragged by a blind motion, it was going to
be dissipated, to be scattered in that dreary waste,
where all that is most vile on earth is indifferently
precipitated ; such a thought would blight the no-
blest actions, and be a continual source of sadness and
clesponf 1 "ncy. Neclcers Religions Opinions, p. 379-
STRANGE ZEAL OF ATHEISM. After having treated of
these false zealots in religion, I cannot forbear men-
tioning a monstrous species of men, who one could
not think had any existence in nature, were they not
to be met with in ordinary conversation ; I mean the
zealots in atheism. One would fancy that these men,
though they fall short in every other respect of those
who make a profession of religion, would at least out-
shine them in this particular, and be exempt from that
single fault which seems to grow out of the impru-
dent fervours of religion. But so it is, that infidelity
is propagated with so much fierceness and contention,
wrath and indignation, as if the safety of mankind de-
pended upon it. There is something so ridiculous
and perverse in this kind of zealots, that one does not
know how to set them out in their proper colours.
They are a sort of gamesters, who are eternally upon
the fret, though they play for nothing. They are
perpetually teasing their friends to come over to them,
though, at the same time, they allow, that neither of
them shall get any thing by the bargain. In short,
the zeal of spreading atheism is, if possible, more ab-
surd than atheism itself.
3
6
ATHEISM.
Since I have mentioned this unaccountable zeal,
which appears in atheists and infidels, I must farther
observe, that they are likewise, in a most particular
manner, possessed with the spirit of bigotry. They
are wedded to opinions full of contradiction and im-
possibility; and, at the same time, look upon the
smallest difficulty in an article of faith, as a sufficient
reason for objecting to it. Notions, that fall in with
the common reason of mankind, that are conformable
to the sense of all ages and all nations, (not to men-
tion their tendency for promoting the happiness of
societies, or of particular persons,) are exploded as
errors and prejudices ; and schemes erected in their
stead, that are altogether monstrous and irrational,
and require the most extravagant credulity to em-
brace them. I would fain ask one of these bigoted
infidels, supposing all the great points of atheism,
as the casual or eternal formation of the world, the
materiality of a thinking substance, the mortality of
the soul, the fortuitous organization of the body, the
motions and gravitation of matter, with the like par-
ticulars, were laid together, and formed into a kind
of creed, according to the opinions of the most cele-
brated atheists ; I say, supposing such a creed as this
were formed, and imposed upon any one people in
the world, whether it would not require an infinitely
greater measure of faith, than any set of articles which
they so violently qppose. Let me, therefore, advise
this generation of wranglers, for their own and for
the public good, to act at least so consistently with
themselves, as not to burn with zeal for irreligion,
and with bigotry for nonsense. Addison, Spectator,
No. 185.
CRIMINALITY OF ATHEISM. Amongst connate obli-
gations, are such as are planted as it were in our being ;
ATHEISM. 7
the most eminent is that which lies on all men with
respect to almighty God, the supreme governor of
the world ; by virtue of which, we are bound to adore
his majesty, and to obey his commandments and his
laws. Whosoever wholly violates and breaks through
this obligation, stands guilty of the most heinous
charge of atheism ; because he must, at the same
time, deny either the existence of God, or his care of
human affairs. Which two sins, with regard to their
moral consequences and effects, are equivalent to each
other, and either of them overthrows all religion, re-
presenting it as a frightful mockery, introduced to
awe the ignorant vulgar into some decency and duty.
Therefore we ought in justice to dread and explode,
as most foul and scandalous, the notion of Hobbes, in
which he would rank atheism among the faults of im-
prudence or ignorance, as if it were not properly a
sin, but a mistake, a folly more worthy of pardon
than of punishment. Puffendorf's Law of Nature
and Nations, Book III. ch. iv. sect. 4.
My dear Marquis, there is nothing good in atheism.
This system is very bad, both in physics and in mo*
rals. An honest man may inveigh against supersti-
tion and fanaticism, and may detest persecution : he
renders a service to mankind, if he diffuses the prin-
ciples of toleration ; but what good can he do, if he
disseminates those of atheism ? Will men be more
virtuous for not acknowledging a God, who enjoins
the practice of virtue ? Assuredly not. I would have
princes and their ministers to acknowledge a God ;
nay more, a God who punishes and who pardons.
Without this restraint, I should consider them as fero-
cious animals, who, to be sure, would not eat me just
after a plentiful meal, but certainly would devour me,
were I to fall into their clutches when they are hun-
gry ; who, after they had picked my bones, would
B 4
8 ATHEISM.
not have the least idea that they had done any thing
wrong. Voltaire's Correspondence, xii. 349, quoted by
Chateaubriand.
If neglect and breaches of the social and moral du-
ties are criminal, even in the eyes of freethinkers,
what must be the guilt of neglecting the only duty,
properly speaking, to God, of denying him the only
return which he expects, because it is the only return
he has qualified us to make, reverence, love, and gra-
titude ? Ingratitude to men is marked with the black-
est stain ; what must then that vice be, when it has
for its object the source of all goodness ? And what
chance is there, that it shall pass unpunished ? It is
astonishing that men, who justly look with such hor-
ror and detestation on murder and parricide, should
think so coolly on the abnegation of the Deity ; which
denying him his tribute of reverence and gratitude is.
But the instances of punishment, which the magis-
trate, for the preservation of the society, inflicts, helps
to keep up the idea of horror that attends the first ;
and the forbearance of vengeance in the latter, is, by
weak pretenders to reason, made an argument to con-
clude that no offence is given.
It is a strange imagination, to admit that men are
formed with ideas of right and wrong, with a sense of
duty, and the contrary, and with full physical liberty
to act as they shall best like; and yet to maintain
that it is absolutely indifferent to the Deity, who gave
them that rule of conduct, whether they conform to
or transgress it, whether they do right or wrong ;
and, consequently, that it is indifferent to them, (if
they escape punishment from their fellow-creatures,)
whether they have or have not conformed themselves
to the rule of their Creator and Sovereign Lord. P/-e-
sident Forbes on Incredulity.
SCEPTICISM. 9
SECTION II.
SCEPTICISM.
IRRATIONALITY OF SCEPTICISM. This doctrine, (that
is pyrrhonism,) if it go no farther than to discounten-
ance reasoning upon words, to which wecan affix noclear
and precise ideas; than to proportion our belief in any
proposition to the degree of probability it bears; than to
ascertain, as to every species of knowledge, the bounds
of certainty we are able to acquire this scepticism is
then rational ; but, when it extends to demonstrated
truth ; when it attacks the principles of morality, it
becomes either weakness or insanity. Condorcet's
Historical View, p. 105.
Upon a comparison of the writings of modern
sceptics, it will appear, that they have adopted this
method of philosophising upon very different grounds,
and for very different purposes ; but, in whatever
form scepticism appears, or from whatever cause it
springs, it may be confidently pronounced hostile to true
philosophy ; for its obvious tendency is to invalidate
every principle of human knowledge, to destroy every
criterion of truth, and to undermine the foundation of
all science, human and divine. Brucker's History of
Philosophy, by Enfield, ii. 480.
CREDULITY OP SCEPTICISM. That implicit credulity
is a mark of a feeble mind, will not be disputed, but it
may not perhaps be as generally acknowledged, that
the case is the same with unlimited scepticism : on
the contrary, we are sometimes apt to ascribe this dis-
position to a more than ordinary vigour of intellect.
Such a prejudice was by no means unnatural at that
B 5
10
SCEPTICISM.
period in the history of modern Europe, when reason
first began to throw off the yoke of authority, and
when it unquestionably required a superiority of un-
derstanding, as well as of intrepidity, for an individual
to resist the contagion of prevailing superstition. But,
in the present age, in which the tendency of fashion-
able opinions is directly opposite to those of the vul-
gar, the philosophical creed, or the philosophical scep-
ticism, of by far the greater number of those, who
value themselves on an emancipation from popular
errors, arises from the very same weakness with the
credulity of the multitude : nor is it going too far to
say with Rousseau, that " he who, in the end of the
" eighteenth century, has brought himself to abandon
" all his early principles without discrimination, would
11 probably have been a bigot in the days of the
" league." In the midst of these contrary impulses
of fashionable and of vulgar prejudices, he alone
evinces the superiority and the strength of his mind,
who is able to disentangle truth from error, and
to oppose the clear conclusion of his own unbiassed
faculties to the united clamours of superstition and
of false philosophy. Such are the men, whom nature
marks out to be the lights of the world, to fix the
wavering opinions of the multitude, and to impress
their own character on that of their age.
There is, I think, good reason for hoping, that the
sceptical tendency of the present age will be only a
temporary evil. While it continues, however, it is an
evil of the most alarming nature ; and, as it extends in
general, not only to religion and morality, but, in
some measure, also to politics, and the conduct of life,
it is equally fatal to the comfort of the individual and
to the improvement of society. Stewart's Philosophy
of the Human Mind, vol. i. p. 33.
SCEPTICISM. 11
DOGMATISM OF SCEPTICS. I cannot comprehend
how any man can be sincerely a sceptic on principle.
Such philosophers either do not exist, or they are cer-
tainly the most miserable of men. To be in doubt about
things which it is important for us to know, is a si-
tuation too perplexing to the human mind ; it cannot
long support such incertitude ; but will, in spite of it-
self, determine one way or other, rather deceiving
itself, than content to believe nothing of the matter.
In this situation, I consulted the philosophers ; I turn-
ed over their books, and examined their several opi-
nions ; in all which, I found them vain, dictatorial,
and dogmatical, even in their pretended scepticism ;
ignorant of nothing, yet proving nothing ; ridiculing
one another, and in this last particular only, wherein
they were all agreed, they seemed to be in the right.
Affecting to triumph whenever they attacked their op-
ponents, they wanted every thing to make them ca-
pable of a vigorous defence. If you examine their
reasons, you will find them calculated only to refute ;
if you number voices, every one is reduced to his own
suffrage : they agree in nothing but in disputing.
But were the philosophers even in a situation to
discover the truth, which of them would be interest-
ed in so doing ? Each of them knows very well, that
his system is no better founded than those of others ;
he defends it, nevertheless, because it is his own. There
is not one of them, who, really knowing truth from
falsehood, would not prefer the latter, of his own in-
vention, to the former discovered by any body else.
Where is the philosopher, who would not readily de-
ceive mankind, to increase his own reputation ? Where
is he, who secretly proposes any other object, than that
of distinguishing himself from the rest of mankind ?
Provided he raises himself above the vulgar, carries
SCEPTICISM.
away the prize of fame from his competitors, what
doth he require more ? The most essential point is to
think differently from the rest of the world. Among
believers he is an atheist, and among atheists he affects
to be a believer*. Rousseau's Emilius, vol. ii. p. 124.
Edit. Ed. 1773.
MISCHIEVOUS EFFECTS OF SCEPTICISM. Avoid all
those, who, under pretence of" explaining natural causes*
plant the most destructive doctrines in the hearts
of men, and whose apparent scepticism is a hundred
times more dogmatical and affirmative, than the deci-
sive tone of their adversaries. Under the haughty
pretext of being the only persons who are truly en-
lightened, honest, and sincere, they subject us impi-
ously to their magisterial decisions ; and give us, for
the true principles of things, only unintelligible sys-
tems, which they have raised in their own imagina-
tions. Add to this, that, while they overturn, des-
troy, and trample under feet every thing that is res-
pectable among mankind, they deprive the afflicted of
the last consolation in their misery, take from the rich
and powerful the only check to the indulgence of their
passions ; they eradicate from our hearts the remorse
of guilt and the hopes of virtue, absurdly boasting
themselves, at the same time, the friends and bene-
factors of mankind. The truth, say they, can never
be hurtful. So far I am of their opinion, and this is
to me a great proof, that what they teach cannot be
true. Young man, be sincere without vanity : while
you acquiesce in your ignorance, you neither deceive
* There may be a little of the exaggeration of satire in the
above representation ; but its general applicableness to the scepti-
cal contemporaries of the author is sufficiently confirmed by the
letters of De Grimm.
IRRELIGIOX. 13
yourself nor others. If ever you cultivate your ta-
lents so far as to enable you to publish your senti-
ments to the world, speak from the dictates of your
own conscience, without troubling yourself about ap-
plause. The abuse of knowledge produces incredu-
lity. The man of science disdains the sentiments of
the vulgar, and would even be singular in his own.
The van'ty of philosophy leads to infidelity, as a
blind devotion leads to fanaticism. Avoid both ex-
tremes : remain ever firm in the way of truth, or in
that which appears so to you in the simplicity of your
heart, without ever being drawn aside by pride or
weakness. Be not afraid to acknowledge God among
philosophers, nor to stand up an advocate for huma-
nity among persecutors. You may perhaps be thought
singular ; but you will carry about with you the innate
testimony of a good conscience, which will enable you
to dispense with the approbation of men. Whether
they love or hate you, whether they admire or des-
pise your writings, it is no matter : speak what is
true; do what is right; for the object of greatest
importance is to discharge our duty. Our private
interest, my child, deceives us ; but the hope of the
just cannot be deceived. Rousseau s Emilius, vol. ii.
226.
SECTION III.
IRRELIGION *.
SENSELESSNESS OF IRRELIGION. If they have the
least reserve of common sense, it will not be difficult to
* This title is meant to express practical impiety.
IRRELIGION.
make them apprehend, how miserably they abuse
themselves, by laying so false a foundation of applause
and esteem. For this is not the way to raise a cha-
racter even with worldly men, who, as they are able
to pass a shrewd judgment on things, so they easily
discern that the only method of succeeding in our
temporal affairs, is to prove ourselves honest, faithful,
prudent, and capable of advancing the interest of
friends ; because men naturally love nothing but that,
which some way contributes to their use and benefit.
But now what benefit can we any way derive from
hearing a man confess, that he has eased himself of
the burden of religion ; that he believes no God as
the witness and inspector of his conduct ; that he
considers himself as absolute master of what he does,
and accountable for it only to his own mind ? Will he
fancy, that we shall be hence induced to repose a greater
degree of confidence in him hereafter ? or to depend on
his comfort, his advice, or assistance, in the necessities
of life ? Can he imagine us to take any great delight or
complacency, when he tells us, that he doubts whether
our very soul be any thing more than a little wind
and smoke ? Nay, when he tells it us with an air of
assurance, and a voice that testifies the contentment
of his heart ? Is this a thing to be spoken of with plea-
santry ? or ought it not rather to be lamented with
the deepest sadness, as the most melancholic reflection
that can strike our thoughts ?
If they would compose themselves to serious consi-
deration, they must perceive the method, in which
they are engaged, to be so very ill chosen, so repug-
nant to gentility, and so remote even from that good
air and grace which they pursue ; that, on the contra-
ry, nothing can more effectually expose them to the
contempt and aversion of mankind, or mark them out
for persons defective in parts and judgment. And
IRRELIGION. 15
indeed, should we demand from them an account of
their sentiments, and of the reasons which they have to
entertain this suspicion in religious matters, what they
offered would appear so miserably weak and trifling, as
rather to confirm us in our belief. This is no more
than what one of their own fraternity told them, with
great smartness, on such an occasion: ' If you con-
tinue," says he, te to dispute at this rate, you will in-
fallibly make me a Christian." And the gentleman
was in the right ; for who would not tremble to find
himself embarked in the same cause with so forlorn, so
despicable companions? Pascal's Thoughts.
MADNESS OP IRRELIGION. I am ignorant of the
being, who has placed me in the world. I know neither
what is meant by the world, nor what is meant by
myself. I am in a dreadful state of ignorance con-
cerning all things. I am ignorant of the nature of
my own body, my own senses, and my own soul.
Even that part of me which gives birth to what I
now utter, and which reflects upon itself and upon
every thing around it, is as unknown to me as all the
rest. I behold this fearful expanse of the universe
which surrounds me, and find myself restricted to a
nook in this immensity of space, without knowing
why I am fixed in one spot rather than in another,
nor why the particle, allotted for my earthly existence,
is singled out at the present rather than at any other
period of that eternity, which is to follow me. On
every side I behold an infinity, which swallows me
up like an atom, or like a passing shadow, enduring
but for a moment. All I understand is, that it will
soon be my lot to die. But I know least of all in what
this death, which I am unable to escape, consists. As
I know not whence I came, so neither do I know
5
16 IRRELIGION
whither I am going. I only know, that upon leav-
ing this world I fall for ever into a state of annihila-
tion, or into the hands of an incensed God, without
comprehending, to which of these two states I am to
look forward, as my eternal heritage.
Behold, then, my condition replete with wretched-
ness, weakness, and obscurity ! Nevertheless, upon
the review of all this, I conclude that I have nothing
to do, but to pass my days, without giving myself any
concern about my future destiny. I conclude that 1
have nothing to do, but to follow my own incli-
nations, without reflection or solicitude ; doing by this
means all I can to incur eternal misery, if what is said
concerning it should prove ultimately true. Perhaps
it would be possible for me to obtain some satisfac-
tion upon the subject of my doubts ; but I am deter-
mined not to be at this trouble, nor to take a single
step in search of it : and, in short, treating with con-
tempt all who concern themselves about this subject,
I am determined to go on without precaution or alarm.
I am determined to risk this important stake, and to
glide smoothly along the stream, till death finds me
in a state of uncertainty respecting my future ever,
lasting lot. Pascal's Thoughts.
WORTHLESS CHARACTER OF IRRELIGIOUS SCOFFERS.
Nevertheless, the bold and frivolous discourses,
which are permitted against religion in general, hare
made such a progress, that at present the persons who
most respect these opinions, without ostentation or se-
verity, find themselves obliged to conceal or moderate
their sentiments, lest they should be exposed to a kind
of contemptuous pity, or run the risk of being sus-
pected of hypocrisy. We are at liberty to speak on
every subject, except the most grand and interesting
IRIIELIGION. 17
which can occupy man. What strange authority gave
rise to this imperious legislation, which is termed fa-
shionable ! What a miserable conspiracy, that of
weakness against Omnipotence ! Men are proud of
knowing at what hour the king wakes, goes to the
chace, or returns ; they are very eager to be informed
of the vile intrigues, which successively debase or ex-
alt his courtiers ; they pass, in short, their whole lives
in panting after objects of vanity and badges of sla-
very ; they are continually brought into conversation ;
and they proscribe, under the dreadful name of vul-
garity, the most remote expression which would recal
the idea of the harmonious universe, and the Being
who has bestowed on us all the gifts of the mind ;
what is most excellent in our nature we overlook, to
dwell only on the inflations of vanity. Ungrateful
that we are ! Our intelligence, our will, all our senses,
are the seal of an unknown power ; and is it the name
of our Master and Benefactor, that we dare not pro-
nounce ? It is from your modern philosophers that
this false shame arises ; you who spread derision over
the most respectable sentiments j and, employing in
the dispute the frivolous shafts of ridicule, have given
confidence to the most frivolous of men : you have for
your followers a numerous race, which is taken pro-
miscuously from every rank and age.
We now reckon amongst those, who oppose a con-
temptuous smile to religious opinions, a multitude of
young people, often incapable of supporting the most
trivial arguments, and who, perhaps, could not con-
nect two or three abstract propositions. These pre-
tended philosophers artfully, and almost perfidiously,
take advantage of the first flight of self-love, to per-
suade beginners, that they are able to judge at a glance
of the serious questions, which have eluded the pene-
18 IRRELIGIOX.
tration of the most exercised thinkers. In short, such
is, in general, the decisive tone of the irreligious men
of our age, that in hearing them so boldly murmur
about the disorders of the universe, and the mistakes
of Providence, we are only surprised to see how much
they differ in stature from those rebellious giants, men-
tioned in the heathen mythology. Necher's Religious
Opinio?is, 392.
Respecting this new, or rather revived system of
philosophy, soi disante telle, it may perhaps be con-
fessed, that it may possibly have done some good ; but
then it has certainly done much more mischief to
mankind. On the one hand, it may perhaps be al-
lowed, that to its prevalence we owe the general sys-
tem of toleration which seems to prevail*, which is, I
fear, the only speck of white that marks the present
day. Yet even this solitary virtue, if infidelity be its
basis, is founded on a false principle. Christian cha-
rity, which includes the idea of universal philanthropy,
and which, when really Christian, is the true founda-
tion on which virtue should be erected, and not the
opinion that all religions should be tolerated, because
all are alike erroneous. But even allowing this boast-
ed benefit its full weight, to the same cause we are,
I doubt, on the other hand, indebted for that profli-
gacy of manners, or, to call it by the most gentle
name, that frivolity which every where prevails. To
this cause we owe that total disregard, that fastidious
dislike to all serious thought, for every man can be a
deist without thinking ; he is made so at his toilette,
and, whilst his hair is dressing, reads himself into an
adept ; that shameful and degrading apathy to all that
* The persecutions of Christians by the heathen philosophers
in ancient times, and by the infidel rulers of France in later times,
are not favourable to this supposition.
IRRELIGION. 19
is great and noble ; in a word, that perfect indiffer-
ence to right or wrong, which enervates and charac-
terises this unmeaning and frivolous age*. Earl of
Charlemont ; see Life, i. 237-
I mean that you should by no means seem to ap-
prove, encourage, or applaud these libertine notions
which strike at religion equally, and which are the
poor thread-bare topics of half-wits and minute philo-
sophers. Even those, who are silly enough to laugh
at their jokes, are still wise enough to distrust and
detest their character ; for, putting moral virtues at
the highest and religion at the lowest, religion must
still be allowed to be a collateral security at least to
virtue ; and every prudent man will sooner trust to
two securities than to one. Whenever, therefore, you
happen to be in company with these pretended esprils
forts, or with thoughtless libertines, who laugh at all
religion to show their wit, or disclaim it to complete
their riot, let no word or look of yours intimate the
least approbation : on the contrary, let a solemn gra-
vity express your dislike; but enter not into the sub-
ject, and decline such unprofitable and indecent con-
troversies. Depend upon this truth, that every man
is the worse looked upon, and the less trusted, for be-
ing thought to have no religion, in spite of all the
pompous, specious epithets he may assume of esprit
forty freethinker, or moral philosopher, and a wise
atheist (if such a thing there is) would, for his own
interest and character in this world, pretend to some
religion.
Your moral character must be not only pure, but,
like Caesar's wife, unsuspected. The least speck or
blemish upon it is fatal. Nothing degrades and vilifies
* It is not known when this passage was written, but the no
ble author died in the year 1799.
*V IRBELIGIOX.
more, for it excites and unites detestation and con-
tempt. There are, however, wretches in the world,
profligate enough to explode all notion of moral good
and evil, to maintain that they are merely local, and
depend entirely upon the customs and fashions of dif-
ferent countries. Nay, there are still, if possible, more
unaccountable wretches ; I mean those, who affect to
preach and propagate such absurd and infamous no-
tions, without believing them themselves. These are
the devil's hypocrites. Avoid, as much as possible,
the company of such people, who reflect a degree of
discredit and infamy upon all who converse with them.
But, as you may sometimes by accident fall into such
company, take great care that no complaisance, no
good humour, no warmth of festal mirth, ever make
you seem even to acquiesce, much less to approve or
applaud such infamoas doctrines; on the other hand,
do not debate nor enter into serious argument upon a
subject so much below it ; but content yourself with
telling these apostles, that you know they are not se-
rious ; that you have a much better opinion of them,
than they would have you to have ; and that you are
very sure they would not practise the doctrine they
preach. But put your private mark upon them, and
shun for ever afterwards. Chesterfield's Letters to his
Son, vol. ii. p. 228.
I might take this opportunity to add, that ridicule
is not always contented with ravaging and destroying
the works of man, but boldly and impiously attacks
those of God; enters even into the sanctuary, and
profanes the temple of the Most High. A late no-
ble writer has made use of it to asperse the characters,
and destroy the validity, of the writers of both the
Old and New Testament ; and to change the solemn
truths of Christianity into matter of mirth and laugh-
ter. The books of Moses are called by him fables and
IRRELIGION. 21
tales, fit only for the amusement of children : and
St. Paul is treated by him as an enthusiast, an idiot,
and an avowed enemy to that religion which he pro-
fessed. One would not surely think, that there was
any thing in Christianity so ludicrous, as to raise
laughter, or to excite contempt; but, on the contrary,
that the nature of its precepts, and its own intrinsic
excellence, would at least have secured it from such in-
dignities. Nothing gives us a higher opinion of
those ancient heathens, whom our modern bigots are
so apt to despise, than that air of piety and devotion
which runs through all their writings ; and, though the
Pagan theology was full of absurdities and inconsis-
tencies, which the more refined spirits among their
poets and philosophers must have doubtless des-
pised, rejected, and contemned ; such was their re-
spect and veneration for the established religion of
their country, such their regard to decency and seri-
ousness, such their modesty and diffidence in affairs of
so much weight and importance, that we very seldom
meet with jest or ridicule on subjects, which they held
thus sacred and respectable.
The privilege of publicly laughing at religion, and
the profession of it ; of making the laws of God, and
the great concerns of eternity, the objects of mirth and
ridicule, was reserved for more enlightened ages, and
denied the more pious heathens ; to reflect disgrace
and ignominy on the Christian aera. It hath indeed
been the fate of the best and purest religion in the
world, to become the jest of fools j and not only, with
its Divine Founder, to be scourged and persecuted,
but with him to be mocked and spit at, tramped on
and despised. But to consider the dreadful conse-
quences of ridicule on this occasion, will better be-
come the divine than essayist ; to him therefore shall
I refer it, and conclude this essay by observing, that,
35G IRRELIGIOX.
after all the undeserved encomiums, so lavishly be-
stowed on this child of wit and malice, so universally
approved and admired, I know of no service the per-
nicious talent of ridicule can be of, unless it be to
raise the blush of modesty, and put virtue out of
countenance ; to enhance the miseries of the wretch-
ed, and poison the feast of happiness ; to insult man,
affront God ; to make us, in short, hateful to our fel-
low-creatures, uneasy to ourselves, and highly dis-
pleasing to the Almighty. Smollett.
Having mentioned common-place observations, I
will particularly caution you against either using, be-
lieving, or approving them. They are the common
topics of witlings and coxcombs; those who really
have wit have the utmost contempt for them, and
scorn even to laugh at the pert things that those
would-be wits say upon such subjects.
Religion is one of their favourite topics : it is all
priestcraft ; and an invention contrived and carried
on by priests of all religions, for their own power
and profit. From this absurd and false principle flow
the common-place insipid jokes and insults upon the.
clergy. With these people, every friend of every re-
ligion is either a public or a concealed unbeliever,
drunkard, and whoremaster; whereas, I conceive
that priests are extremely like other men, and neither
the better nor the worse for wearing a gown or sur-
plice ; but, if they differ from other people, probably
it is rather on the side of religion and morality, or at
least decency, from their education and manner of
life. Chesterfield's Letters to his Son, vol. i. p. 276.
Persons of vicious dispositions are not at all adapt-
ed for any laudable employment whatever, Rous-
seau's Emilius, i. 48.
Freethinkers are almost always unsteady charac-
IRRELIGION. 23
' ters. The affectation of irreligion is, independent of
its foolish impiety, always the mark of a bad taste.
Eugene's Memoirs by himself*, p. 36. Mudford's Trans*
lation.
* This work has been ascribed to the pen of the Prince de
Ligne, field-marshal in the Austrian service, who died in De-
cember, 1795, at a very advanced age; and who is pronounced by
Madame de Stael to have been a man of the most brilliant conver-
sation in all Europe, and a great personal favourite with most of
the crowned heads of the age. It is very obvious that it equally
answers the purpose of these extracts, whether the above-cited
passage be considered as from the pen of Prince Eugene, or from
that of the Prince de Ligne.
CHAPTER II.
TESTIMONIES TO THE PRINCIPLES OF MORALS,
AND THE FOUNDATION OF VIRTUE.
SECTION I.
MORAL DISTINCTIONS.
REALITY OF MORAL DISTINCTIONS. Those, who have
refused the reality of moral distinctions, may be rank-
ed among the disirgenuous disputants. The only way
of converting an antagonist of this kind is to leave him
to himself; for, finding that nobody keeps up the con-
troversy with him, it is probable he will, at last, of
himself, from mere weariness, cotre over to the side of
common sense and reason. Humes Inquiry concerning
the Principles of Morals.
CLEARNESS OF MORAL DrsTiNCTioNS. Pray, let no
quibbles of lawyers, no refinements of casuists, break
into the plain notions of right and wrong, which every
man's right reason and plain common sense suggests
to him. To do as you would be done by, is the plain,
sure, and undisputed rule of morality and justice.
Stick to that, and be convinced that whatever breaks
into it in any degree, however speciously it may be
MORAL DISTINCTIONS.
turned, and however puzzling it may be to answer it,
is, notwithstanding, false in itself, unjust, and crimi-
nal. Chesterfield's Letters to his Son, ii. 34.
SOURCES OF MORAL DISTINCTIONS. If it be true (as
some theologians have presumed to assert) that bene-
volence is the sole principle of action in the Deity, we
must suppose that the duties of veracity and justice
were enjoined by Him, not on account of their intrin-
sic rectitude, but of their utility ; but still, with res-
pect to man, there are sacred and indispensable laws,
laws which he never transgresses without incurring
the penalty of self-condemnation and remorse. And
indeed, if, without the guidance of any internal moni-
tor, he were left to infer the duties incumbent on him
from a calculation and comparison of remote effects,
we may venture to affirm that there would not be
enough of virtue left in the world to hold society to-
gether.
To those, who have been accustomed to reflect on
the general analogy of the human constitution, and
on the admirable adaptation of its various parts to that
scene in which we are destined to act, this last consi-
deration will, independently of any examination of
the fact, suggest a very strong presumption a priori
against the doctrine to which the foregoing remarks
relate. For is it at all consonant with the other ar-
rangements so wisely calculated for human happiness,
to suppose, that the conduct of such a fallible and
short- sighted creature as man would be left to be re-
gulated by no other principle than the private opi-
nion of each individual concerning the expediency of
his own actions ? or, in other words, by the conjec-
tures which he might form on the good or evil, result-
ing, on the whole, from an endless train of future con-
tingencies. Were this the case, the opinions of man-
MORAL DISTINCTIONS.
kind, with respect to the rules of morality, would be as
various as their judgments about the probable issue of
the most doubtful or difficult determinations in poli-
tics. Numberless cases might be fancied, in which a
person would not only claim merit, but actually pos-
sess it, in consequence of actions which are generally
regarded with indignation and abhorrence ; for unless
we admit such duties as justice, veracity, and grati-
tude, to be immediately and imperatively sanctioned
by the authority of reason and of conscience, it follows
as a necessary inference, that we are bound to violate
them, whenever, by doing so, we have a prospect of
advancing any of the essential interests of society j or
(which amounts to the same thing) that a good end
is sufficient to sanctify whatever means may appear to
us to be necessary for its accomplishment. Even men
of the soundest and most penetrating understandings
might frequently be led to the perpetration of enor-
mities, if they had no other light to guide them, but
what they derived from their own uncertain anticipa-
tions of futurity. And when we consider how small
the number of such men is, in comparison of those,
whose judgments are perverted by the prejudices of
education and their own selfish passions, it is easy to
see what a scene of anarchy the world wouH become.
Of this, indeed, we have too melancholy an experi-
mental proof in the history of those individuals, who
have in practice adopted the rule of general expediency,
as their whole code of morality ; a rule, which the most
execrable scourges of the human race have, in all ages,
professed to follow, and of which they have uniform-
ly availed themselves, as an apology for their devia-
tions from the ordinary maxims of right and wrong.
Fortunately for mankind, the peace of society is not
thus entrusted to accident ; the great rules of a vir-
tuous conduct being confessedly of such a nature, as
CONNECTION OF MORALITY WITH RELIGION. 27
to be obvious to every sincere and well disposed
mind. And it is in a peculiar degree striking, that
while the theory of ethics involves some of the most
abstruse questions, which have ever employed the hu-
man faculties, the moral judgments and moral feel-
ings of the most distant ages and nations, with respec
to all the most essential duties of life, are one and the
same.- Stewart's Philosophy of the Human Mind,
vol. ii. 478.
SECTION II.
CONNECTION OF MORALITY WITH RELIGION.
BAYLE states a question, whether a people may not
be happy in society, and be qualified for good govern-
ment, upon principles of morality singly, without any
sense of religion. The question is ingenious, and may
give opportunity for subtle reasoning ; but it is use-
less, because the fact supposed cannot happen. The
principles of morality and of religion are equally root-
ed in our nature : they are indeed weak in children
and in savages ; but they grow up together, and ad-
vance toward maturity with equal steps. Where the
moral sense is entire, there must be a sense of reli-
gion ; and, if a man, who has no sense of religion,
live decently in society, he is more indebted for his
conduct to good temper, than to sound morals. Lord
Kames' Sketches of Man, vi. 344.
They that cry down moral honesty, cry down that
which is a great part of religion, my duty toward God,
and my duty toward man. What care I to see a man run
after a sermon, if he cozens and cheats as soon as he
comes home. On the other side, morality must not
28 CONNECTION OF MORALITY WITH RELIGION.
be without religion ; for, if so, it may change as I see
convenient. Religion must govern it. He that has
riot religion to govern his morality, is not a dram bet-
ter than my mastiff dog. So long as you stroke him,
and please him, and do not pinch him, he will play
with you as finely as may be ; he is a very good moral
mastiff ; but if you hurt him, he will fly in your face*
and tear out your throat. Selden's Table Talk, 1 12.
Philosophy, on its own principles,, cannot be pro-
ductive of any virtue, which does not flow from re-
ligion; and religion is productive of many virtues, to
which philosophy is a stranger. As to practice, it is
another thing, and remains to t>e examined. There is
no man who practises in every particular the doctrine
of his religion, when he has one, that is true ; the great-
er part of mankind have hardly any religion at all, and
practise nothing of what little they have : this also is
very true ; but, after all, some people have religion, and
practise it at least in part, and it is incontestible that
motives of religion prevent them often from falling in-
to vice, and excite to virtuous and commendable ac-
tions, which they had not performed but for such mo-
tives. Let a priest be guilty of a breach of trust, what
does this prove, but that a blockhead had confided in
him ? If Pascal himself had done it, this would have
proved Pascal a hypocrite; nothing more. Rous-
seau's Emilius, vol. ii. p. 227, note.
In effect, the immortality of heaven has no rela-
tion to the rewards and punishments, of which we
form an idea on this earth. The sentiment, which
makes us aspire to immortality, is as disinterested as
that which makes us find our happiness in devoting
ourselves to the happiness of others ; for the first of-
fering to religious felicity is the sacrifice of self ; and
it is thus necessarily removed from every species of
selfishness. Whatever we may attempt, we must re-
MORALITY FOUNDED ON THE WILL OF GOD. 29
turn to the acknowledgment, that religion is the true
foundation of morality ; it is that sensible and real ob-
ject within us, which can alone divert our attention
from external objects. If piety did not excite sublime
emotions, who would sacrifice even sensual pleasures,
however vulgar they might be, to the cold dignity of
reason ? We must begin the internal history of man
with religion, or with sensation ; for there is nothing
animated besides. De Stael's Germany* iii, 209.
SECTION III.
MORALITY FOUNDED ON THE WILL OF GOD.
AMONGST the opinions, then, which it highly con-
cerns all men to settle and to embrace, the chief are
those which relate to Almighty God, as the great Crea-
tor and Governor of the universe. That there is real-
ly existing a Supreme Being, from whom all other
things derive their original, and the principle of their
motion, not as from a dull and senseless power, (as
the weight, for example, in a block,) but as from a
cause endowed with understanding and with freedom
of choice. That this Eternal Being exercises a sove-
reignty, not only over the whole world, or over man.
kind in general, but over every individual human
person, whose knowledge nothing can escape ; who,
by virtue of his imperial right, hath enjoined men
such certain duties by natural law, the observance of
which will meet with his approbation, the breach or
the neglect with his displeasure; and that he will, for
this purpose, require an exact account from every
man of his proceedings, without corruption and with-
out partiality.
c3
30 MORALITY FOUNDED OX THE WILL OF GOD.
Now, as the main parts of human duty turn on this
belief, so it is the only foundation of the sweet tran-
quillity and acquiescence of mind, which men inward-
ly enjoy, and the very fence and bulwark of all that
probity, which we are to exercise towards our neigh-
bour ; without which no man can seriously and hear-
tily do a good action himself, or give sufficient cau-
tion and security of his honest intentions to others.
And, although it appears from the ordinances of the
Christian religion, that God is not so far pleased with
every kind of worship which men pay him, as to em-
brace them with peculiar favour, and to give them a
title to eternal life; which good effects do follow only
that institution and way of service, which he hath re-
vealed in a singular manner to the world. Yet a se-
rious persuasion concerning the divine existence and
providence, under whatever particular apprehension
or particular worship, hath, however, thus much of
force and efficacy, as to render men more observant of
their duty. To prove this assertion, we need only
consider, that there have been of old, and still are,
men professing religions, which we must own to be
destructive to salvation, as suppose Mahometans or
Pagans, who nevertheless, by virtue of their persua-
sion of God's providence, have shewn no inconside-
rable concern and care for honesty ^and justice, so asnot
to be outdone by many Christians, at least as to exter-
nal performances. As this persuasion, and whatever
else we are able to learn concerning the worship ot
God, either from reason or revelation, is, first of all, to
be implanted in a rightly cultivated mind ; so are the
opinions contrary to these truths most carefully to be
barred off and excluded. And here we would not only
be understood of atheistical and Epicurean principles,
but of all those numerous notions which appear to
be destructive of true religion, of good manners, and
MORALITY FOUNDED ON THE WILL OF GOD. 31
of human society, which it is in an high manner the
interest of mankind to see absolutely rooted up and
banished out of the world. Puffendorf's Law of Na-
ture and Nations, Book ii. chap. iv. sec. 3.
To judge of the rectitude of actions, the first rule is,
the divine law, whereby I mean that law which God
hath set to the actions of men. whether promulgated
to them by the light of nature, or the voice of reve-
lation. That God has given a rule, whereby men
should govern themselves, I think there is nobody so
brutish as to deny. He has a right to do it : we are
his creatures : he has goodness and wisdom to direct
our actions to that which is best ; and he has power
to enforce it by rewards and punishments, of infinite
weight and duration, in another life ; for nobody can
take us out of his hands. This is the only true touch-
stone of moral rectitude ; and, by comparing them to
this law, it is, that men judge of the most considera-
ble moral good or evil of their actions ; that is, whe-
ther as duties, or sins, they are like to procure them
happiness or misery from the hands of the Almighty.
Locke's Essay on the Human Understanding, vol. ii.
book ii. chap. 28.
The regard to those general rules of conduct, is
what is properly called a sense of duty, a principle of
the greatest consequence in human life, and the only
principle by which the bulk of mankind are capable
of directing their actions. Without this sacred regard
to general rules, there is no man whose conduct can
be much depended upon. It is this which consti-
tutes the most essential difference between a man or
principle and honour, and a worthless fellow. The
one adheres, on all occasions, steadily and resolutely
to his maxims, and preserves, the whole of his life, one
even tenor of conduct. The other acts variously and acci-
dentally, as humour, inclination, or interest, chance to
c 4
32 MORALITY FOUNDED ON THE WILL OF GOD.
to be uppermost. This reverence (for these general rules
of moral conduct) is still farther enhanced by an opi-
nion, which is first impressed by nature, and afterwards
confirmed by reasoning and philosophy, that those im-
portant rules of morality are the commands and laws
of the Deity, who will finally reward the obedient,
and punish the transgressors of their duty. These
natural hopes and fears and suspicions were propa-
gated by sympathy, and confirmed by education ; and
the gods were universally represented and believed to
be the rewarders of humanity and mercy, and the
avengers of perfidy and injustice. And thus religion,
even in its rudest form, gave a sanction to the rules
of morality, long before the age of artificial reasoning
and philosophy. That the terrors of religion should
thus enforce the natural sense of duty, was of too
much importance to the happiness of mankind, for
nature to leave it dependent upon the slowness and
uncertainty of philosophical researches*. These re-
searches, however, when they came to take place,
confirmed those original anticipations of nature. Up-
on whatever we suppose that our moral faculties are
founded, whether upon a certain modification of rea-
son, upon an original instinct, called a moral sense,
or upon some other principle of our nature, it can-
not be doubted that they were given us for the direc-
tion of our conduct in this life. Since these, therefore,
were plainly intended to be the governing principles
of human nature, the rules which they prescribe are
to be regarded as the commands and laws of the Dei-
* There is an obvious vagueness in the language of Dr. Smith,
on this subject of what nature teaches ; and either he must have
considered the idea of a Deity to be innate in the human mind, or
it must follow (on his principle of that idea having been so preva-
lent and powerful, previous to the influence of reasoning and phi-
losophy) that it had been imparted by some original revelation, and
preserved by means of human tradition.
, MORALITY FOUNDED ON THE WILL OF GOD. 33
ty, promulgated by those vicegerents which he has
set up within us. All general rules are commonly
denominated laws : thus the general rules, which bo-
dies observe in communication of motion, are called
the laws of motion. But these general rules, which
our moral faculties observe in approving or condemn-
ing whatever sentiment or action is subjected to their
examination, may much more justly be denominated
sirch. They have a much greater resemblance to what
are properly called laws, those general rules, which
the sovereign lays down to direct the conduct of his sub-
jects. Like them they are rules to direct the free ac-
tions of men ; they are prescribed, most surely, by a
lawful superior, and are attended too with the sanc-
tion of rewards and punishments. Those vicegerents
of God within never fail to punish the violation of
them by the torments of inward shame and self-con-
demnation ; and, on the contrary, always reward
obedience with tranquillity of mind, with content-
ment, and self-satisfaction. There are, besides, many
other reasons, and many other natural principles,
which all tend to confirm and inculcate the same sa-
lutary doctrine. When the general rules, which deter-
mine the merit and demerhVof actions, come thus to be
regarded as the laws of an all-powerful Being, who
watches over our conduct, and who, in a life to come,
will reward the observance, and punish the breach of
them, they necessarily acquire a new sacredness from
this consideration. That our regard to the will of the
Deity ought to be the supreme rule of our conduct,
can be doubted of by nobody who believes his exist-
ence. The very thought of disobedience appears to
involve in it the most shocking impropriety. How vain,
how absurd, would it be for man, either to oppose or
to neglect the commands, that were laid upon him by
infinite wisdom and infinite power ! How unnatural,
34 MORALITY FOUNDED ON THE WILL OF SOD.
how impiously ungrateful, not to reverence the pre-
cepts, that were prescribed to him by the infinite good-
ness of his Creator, even though no punishment was to
follow their violation ? The sense of propriety too is
here well supported by the strongest motives of self-
interest. The idea, that, however we may escape
the observation of men, or be placed above the reach
of human punishment, yet we are always acting un-
der the eye and exposed to the punishment of God,
the great avenger of injustice, is a motive capable of
restraining the most headstrong passions, with those
at least, who, by constant reflection, have rendered it
familiar to them.
It is in this manner, that religion enforces the na-
tural sense of duty ; and hence it is, that mankind are
generally disposed to place great confidence in the
probity of those, who seem deeply impressed with re-
ligious sentiments. Such persons, they imagine, act
under an additional tie, besides those which regulate
the conduct of other men. The regard to the pro-
priety of action, as well as to reputation, the regard
to the applause of his own breast, as well as to that of
others, are motives which they suppose have the same
influence over the religious man, as over the man of
the world. But the former lies under another restraint,
and never acts deliberately, but as in the presence of
that great Superior, who is finally to recompense him
according to his deeds. A greater trust is reposed, upon
this account, in the regularity and exactness of his
conduct. And wherever the natural principles of re-
ligion are not corrupted by the factions and party
zeal of some worthless cabal ; wherever the first duty
which it requires, is to fulfil all the obligations of mo-
rality ; wherever men are not taught to regard frivo-
lous observances as more immediate duties of religion,
than acts of justice and beneficence ; and to imagine
that by sacrifices and ceremonies, and vain supplica-
MORALITY FOUNDED ON THE WILL OF GOD. 35
tions, they can bargain with the Deity for fraud, and
perfidy, and violence, the world undoubtedly judges
right in this respect, and justly places a double con-
fidence in the rectitude of the religious man's beha-
viour. Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments, vol. i. p.
402, &c.
It was extremely simple to rise from the study of
nature to the inquiry after its Author. As soon as
we attained this point, we perceived that we had gain-
ed a considerable ascendant over our pupil, and found
new ways to address ourselves to his heart. Then on-
ly does he find it his interest to be virtuoo*, to do good
actions without any regard to man, and, without being
compelled by the laws, to be just between God and
himself; to discharge his duty even at the expense of
his life ; and even to bear the image of virtue imprint-
ed in his heart, not only from the love of order, to which
every man prefers that of himself; but from the love
of his Creator, which is mingled with the love of him.
self, to the end that he may enjoy that lasting felicity
in the other life, of which a good conscience, and the
contemplation of a Supreme Being, are sure pledges
in this. If I depart from this point, I see nothing left
but injustice, falsehood, and hypocrisy ; self-interest,
prevailing over every other competition, teaches every
man to disguise his vices under the cloak and mask of
virtue. Let the rest of mankind do my business at
their own expense; let every thing be referred to
me alone as its ultimate end ; let all mankind perish
in pain and misery, to save me a moment's uneasiness,
or a little hunger ; such is the language, which the
atheist and the unbeliever makes use of to himself.
Yes, I shall maintain it all my life, whoever says in
his heart there is no God, and makes use of a differ-
ent language, is either a liar or madman. Rous-
seau's Emilius, vol. ii. p. 230.
c 6
CHAPTER III.
TESTIMONIES TO THE PRINCIPLES OF NATURAL
RELIGION.
SECTION I.
EXISTENCE AND AGENCY OF GOD.
IMPORTANCE OF THE BELIEF OF A GOD. That
there is a God ! How is it possible to avoid being
penetrated with an awful respect in uttering these
words ? How reflect on them without the deepest
humility, and even an emotion of surprise, that man,
this weak creature, this atom dispersed in the immen-
sity of space, undertakes to add some weight to
a truth, of which all nature is the splendid witness ?
However, if this truth is our supreme good,' if we
are nothing without it, how can we banish it from
our minds ? Does it not constrain us to dwell conti-
nually on the subject ? Compared with it, all other
thoughts are insignificant and uninteresting : it gives
birth to, and sustains all the sentiments on which the
happiness of an intelligent creature depends. Neck~
er's Religious Opinions, p. 278.
EXISTENCE AND AGENCY OF GOD. 37
THE BELIEF OF A GOD FOUNDED IN REASON. As
every inquiry, which regards religion, is of the utmost
importance, there are two questions, in particular,
which challenge our attention, to wit, that concern-
ing its foundation in reason, and that concerning its
origin in human nature. Happily, the first question,
which is the most important, admits of the most
obvious, at least the clearest solution. The whole
frame of nature bespeaks an intelligent author ; and
no rational inquirer can, after serious reflection, sus-
pend his belief a moment with regard to the primary
principles of genuine Theism and Religion. Hume's
Essays, vol. ii. 401. Edit. 1800.
Every thing well weighed on both sides, (of the
atheistical and theistical arguments,) I must declare,
without prejudice, (as far as I can be without preju-
dice, ) that the system of the existence of a God, or
of a supreme intelligent being, architect of the
universe, and of all that it contains, sovereign legisla-
tor of nature, who has endued us with an understand-
ing above that of all the other creatures known to us,
and with a liberty of thinking and comparing what
is good and what is evil relatively to our being ; that
this system, I say, appears to me infinitely more rea-
sonable than that of our author * : I say more, it is
impossible for me to doubt of it. Sir James Stetiart's
Works ', vi. p. 64.
THE BELIEF OF A GOD CONFIRMED BY SCIENCE. I
am saying nothing here, that I am not accustomed to
urge at much greater length, in the course of my pro-
fessional dutyt. And I do not think, that I am justly
Mirabaud's " Systeme de la Nature."
f The author was professor of natural philosophy in the univer-
sity of Edinburgh.
38 EXISTENCE AND AGENCY OF GOD.
chargeable with vanity, when I suppose, that many
years of delightful study of the works of God have
given me somewhat more acquaintance with them,
than is probably attained by those who never think
of the matter, being continually engaged in the
bustle of life. Should one of this description say, that
all is fate or chance, and that the same thing happens
to all, &c. as is but too common, I should think that
a prudent man will give so much preference to my
assertion, as at least to think seriously about the
thing, before he allow himself any indulgence in
things, which I affirm to be highly dangerous to his
future peace and happiness. Robison's Proofs of a
Conspiracy, 492.
But surely to us, the scholars of Newton, the futi-
lity of this attempt is abundantly manifest. As the
worthy pupils of our accomplished teacher, we will
join with him in considering universal gravitation as
a noble proof of the existence and superintendance of
a supreme mind, and a conspicuous mark of its tran-
scendent wisdom. Robison's Elem. of Mechan. Phil.
vol. i. p. 694.
Of the various distinctions, which characterize
philosophy, there are none, which deserve so much
your attention, as those which separate what is true-
from what is false : from these you will learn, that
those men, who assume the name of philosophers to
countenance infidelity and licentiousness, are not less
enemies to philosophy, than to divinity. The mind
of that man, who conceives so falsely of the divine
oracles, as to believe that they oppose true and use-
ful learning, has been debauched by sophistical rea-
sonings, or debased by grovelling and unworthy pur
suits. Sacred writ arms us indeed against vain
philosophy, and all the empty fictions of the human,
imagination, which bring forth neither pleasure nor
EXISTENCE AND AGENCY OF GOD. 39
profit, but then it invites you, in the sublimest strains,
to consider the works of God, whose counsels and
perfections, as they are displayed in the creatures,
will ever be best understood by those, who study them
with humility and attention.
Learning and philosophy never shone more bright,
than when they met with faith and religion in the
mind of the excellent Lord Bacon ; whose opinion it
was that the wonderful works of God do minister a
singular kelp and preservation against wjidelity and
error. If there be any philosophers so void of under-
standing as to regard the science of nature only as a
tower of state for a proud mind to raise itself upon,
and to esteem themselves licentiates in infidelity,
because they make some figure in philosophy, it
may possibly do them some good to look back upon
the example of this great man, who preserved a
mind unstained with the pride of heresy and infideli-
ty ; and was not more to be admired for his extensive
learning and experience in the ways of nature, than
for his theological skill and penetration into the wis-
dom of the sacred writings. " There are/ 5 says he,
" two books, or volumes of study, laid before us, if
"we will be secured from error ; first, the scriptures,
" revealing the will of God, and then the creatures,
" expressing his power ; whereof the latter is a key
" unto the former : they are both written by the
" finger of the one eternal God."
In these we are taught, that the same God who
created the world in wisdom, upholds it in mercy j
that in him we live, and move, and have our being.
If the sun gives us light and warmth, it is his sun,
which he maketh to rise on the evil and the good.
If the clouds pour down their water upon our fields,
to nourish and bring forward the fruits of the earth,
it is he that sendeth rain on the just and unjust. To
40 EXISTENCE AND AGEXCY OF GOD.
him, therefore,, the blessings, that are dispensed to us
in the ordinary course of nature, are to be devoutly
ascribed, as to the primary source of all life and
motion. This conclusion will be equally true, whe-
ther God is supposed to distribute the benefits of
nature from his own hand immediately, or by the me-
diation of secondary causes of his own appointing ;
for, either way, the real government of the whole
can only terminate in himself. Adams' Lectures on
Natural Philosophy, i. 24-0.
AGENCY OF DEITY IN NATURE. After what has
been said, it is hardly necessay to take notice of the
absurdity of that opinion, or rather of that mode of
speaking, which seems to refer the order of the uni-
verse to general laws, operating as efficient causes.
Absurd, however, as it is, there is reason to suspect
that it has, with many, had the effect of keeping the
Deity out of view, while they were studying his
works Stewart's Philosophy of the Human Mind, if.
212.
MARKS OF DESIGN IN CREATION. A purpose, an
intention, a design, strikes every where the most
careless, the most stupid thinker ; and no man can be
so hardened in absurd systems, as at all times to
reject it. That nature does nothing i?i vain, is a max-
im established in all the schools, merely from the
c ontemplation of the works of nature, without any
religious purpose; and from a firm conviction of
its truth, an anatomist, who had observed a new
organ or canal, would never be satisfied till he had
also discovered its use and intention. One great
foundation of the Copernican system is the maxim,
That nature acts by the simplest methods, and chooses
the most proper means to any end ; and astronomers
EXISTENCE AND AGENCY OF GOD, 41
often, without thinking of it, lay this strong founda-
tion of piety and religion. The same thing is obser-
vable in other parts of philosophy : And thus all the
sciences lead us almost insensibly to acknowledge a
first intelligent author ; and their authority is often
so much the greater, as they do not directly profess
that intention. Humes Posthumous Dialogues.
These is a certain character or style, (if I may use
the expression,) in the operations of Divine Wisdom ;
something, which every where announces, amidst an
infinite variety of detail, an inimitable unity and har-
mony of design ; and, in the perception of which,
philosophical sagacity and genius seem chiefly to con-
sist. I shall only add to what has been now stated
on the head of analogy, that the numberless referen-
ce? and dependencies between the material and the
moral worlds, exhibited within the narrow sphere of
our observation on this globe, encourage and even
authorise us to conclude, that they both form parts
of one and the same plan ; a conclusion congenial to
the best and noblest principles of our nature, and
which all the discoveries of genuine science unite in
confirming. Nothing, indeed, could be more incon-
sistent with that irresistible disposition, which prompts
every philosophical inquirer to argue from the known
to the unknown, than to suppose that, while all the
different bodies, which compose the material universe,
are manifestly related to each other, as parts of a con-
nected whole, the moral events, which happen on our
planet are quite insulated; and that the rational
beings, who inhabit it, and for whom we may reason-
ably presume it was brought into existence, have no
relation whatever to other intelligent and moral na-
tures. The presumption unquestionably is, that
there is one great moral system, corresponding to the
material system ; and that the connexions, which we
42 EXISTENCE AND AGENCY OF GOD.
at present trace so distinctly among the sensible objects
composing the one, are exhibited as so many intima-
tions of some vast scheme, comprehending all the
intelligent beings, who compose the other. In this
argument, as well as in numberless others, which
analogy suggests in favour of our future prospects,
the evidence is precisely of the same sort with that
which first encouraged Newton to extend his physical
speculations beyond the limits of the earth. Stewart's
Philosophy of the Human Mind, ii. 395, 398.
GLORY OP GOD THE END OF CREATION. First,
the testimony of Scripture makes God, in all his
actions, to intend and design his own glory mainly,
Prov. xvi. 4. God made all things for himself. How !
for himself? he hath no need of them ; he hath no
use of them. No ; he made them for the manifesta-
tion of his power, wisdom, and goodness, and that he
might receive from the creatures, that were able to
take notice thereof, his tribute of praise. Ps. 1. 14.
Offer unto God thanksgiving ; and, in the next verse,
/ will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. And
again, in the last verse, Whoso offereth praise glorifieth
me ; so praise is called a sacrifice, and the calves oj
the lips. Hos. xiv. 2. Isa. xlii. 8. / am the Lord,
that is my name; and my glory will I not give to
another. Isa. xlviii. 2. And I will not give my glory
to another. The Scripture calls upon the heavens and
earth, and sun, moon, and stars, and all other crea-
tures, to praise the Lord, that is, by the mouth of
man, (as I shewed before, ) who is hereby required
to take notice of all those creatures, and to admire
and praise the power, wisdom, and goodness of God,
manifested in the creation and designation of them.
Secondly, it is most reasonable that God Almighty
should intend his own glory; for he being infinite
PERFECTIONS OF GOD. 43
in all excellencies and perfections, and independent
upon any other being, nothing can be said or thought
of him too great, and which he may not justly chal-
lenge as his due ; nay, he cannot think too highly of
himself, his other attributes being adequate to his
understanding; so that, though his understanding
be infinite, yet he understands no more than his
power can effect, because that is infinite also. And,
therefore, it is fit and reasonable, that he should own
arid accept the creature's acknowledgments and cele-
bration of those virtues and perfections, which he hath
not received of any other, but possesseth eternally and
originally of himself.- Ray's Wisdom of God in the
Creation, part i. p. 16'9.
SECTION II.
PERFECTIONS OF GOD.
GENERAL VIEW OF GOD'S PERFECTIONS. This most
beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could
only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an
intelligent powerful Being. This Being governs all
things, not as the soul of the world, but as Lord over
all ; and on account of his dominion he is wont to
be called Lord God, ffavrnt^uru^ an universal ruler,
for God is a relative word, and has a respect to ser-
vants ; and deity is the dominion of God, not over
his own body, as those imagine, who fancy God to be
the soul of the world, but over servants. The su-
preme God is a being, eternal, infinite, absolutely
perfect ; but a being, however perfect, without do-
minion, cannot be said to be Lord God ; for we say,
44r PERFECTIONS OF GOD.
my God, your God, the God of Israel, the God of
Gods, Lord of Lords ; but we do not say, my eternal,
your eternal, the eternal of Israel, the eternal of Gods
we do not say, my infinite or my perfect. These are
titles which have no respect to servants. The word
God usually signifies Lord ; but every lord is not a
god. It is the dominion of a spiritual being, which
constitutes a god ; a true, supreme, or imaginary
dominion makes a true, supreme, or imaginary god.
And from his true dominion, it follows that the true
God is a living, intelligent, and powerful being ; and
from his other perfections, that he is supreme, and
most perfect. He is eternal and infinite, omnipotent
and omniscient ; that is, his duration reaches from
eternity to eternity, his presence from infinity to in-
finity : he governs all things, and knows all things
that are or can be done. He is not eternity or infini-
ty, but eternal and infinite. He is not duration or
space, but he endures and is present. He endures
for ever, and is every where present ; and by exist-
ing always and every where, he constitutes duration
and space. Since every particle of space is always,
and every indivisible moment of duration is every
tvhere, certainly the maker and Lord of all things
cannot be never or no where. Every soul that has
perception, is, though in different times, or different
organs of sense and motion, still the same indivisible
person. There are given successive parts in duration,
co- existent parts in space ; but neither the one nor
the other in the person of a man, or his thinking
principle ; and much less can they be found in the
thinking substance of God. Every man, so far as he
is a thing that has preception, is one and the same man
during his whole life, in all and each of his organs of
sense. God is the same God always, and every where.
He is omnipresent, not virtually only, but also substan-
PERFECTIONS OF GOD. 45
iially\ for virtue cannot subsist without substance. In
him are all things contained and moved ; yet neither
affects the other : God suffers nothing from the mo-
tion of bodies j bodies find no resistance from the
omnipresence of God. It is allowed by all, that the
supreme God exists necessarily ; and by the same
necessity he exists always and every where. Whence
also he is all similar, all eye, all ear, all brain, all arm,
all power to perceive, to understand, and to act ; but
in a manner not at all human, in a manner not at all
corporeal, in a manner utterly unknown to us. As a
blind man has no idea of colours, so have we no idea
of the manner by which the all wise God perceives,
and understands all things. He is utterly void of all
body and bodily figure ; and can, therefore, neither be
seen, nor heard, nor touched ; nor ought he to be
worshipped under the representation of any corporeal
thing. We have ideas of his attributes ; but what the
real substance of any thing is we know not. In bo-
dies, we see only their figures and colours, we hear
only the sounds, we touch only their outward sur-
faces, we smell only the smells, and taste the savours ;
but their inward substances are not to be known, either
by our senses, or by any reflex act of our minds: much
less then, have we any idea of the substance of God.
We know him only by his most wise and excellent con-
trivances of things and final causes ; we admire him
for his perfections ; but we reverence and adore him
on account of his dominion ; for we adore him as his
servants ; and a God without dominion, providence,
and final causes, is nothing else but fate and nature.
Blind metaphysical necessity, which is certainly the
same always, and every where, could produce no va-
riety of things. All that diversity of things, which we
find suited to different times and places, could arise
from nothing but the ideas and will of a Being ne-
46 PERFECTIONS OF GOD.
cessarily existing. But, by way of allegory, God is
said to see, to speak, to laugh, to love, to hate, to de-
sire, to give, to receive, to rejoice, to be angry, to fight,
to form, to work, to build ; for all our notions of God
are taken from the ways of mankind, by a certain
similitude, which, though not perfect, has some like-
ness however. Newton's Principia, ii. 311.
Wisdom, as an attribute of God, may be said to be
infinite; the proper meaning of this expression being,
that the wisdom of God is perfect, that is to say,
without any mixture, alloy, or participation of either
ignorance or folly, as is always the case with human
wisdom, which is imperfect. Therefore the infinite
wisdom of God is not to be compared with the wis
dom of man, although our conception or idea of the
one is only founded on that of the other. In like
manner, the goodness or benevolence of God is an at-
tribute, which may be considered as infinite ; which
expression will then mean, that this attribute is perfect
in the Being which thus possesses this quality, with-
out any of the opposite. This will also appear to be a
thing perfectly different from that attribute or quality
in a human mind, which is occasionally more or less
subject to malevolence, or the willing of evil.
Power, which is an attribute of God, may be con-
sidered as infinite ; not that, in consequence of this
power, God can be supposed to do that which is im-
possible ; it is only meant, that God must have power
to do whatever is possible to be done. In this case,
possible and impossible mean no more than conceiva-
ble and inconceivable. But here a distinction must
be made with regard to two different expressions,
which by inattention might be confounded, impossi-
ble means that which we cannot conceive. This,
however, must be distinguished as very different from
that which we do not conceive. We can conceive
PEEFECTIONS OF GOD. 47
much more than we do; indeed, we conceive but
little of that which is possible ; but, we must neces-
sarily consider as impossible, that which we are con-
scious is inconceivable, as implying a contradiction or
absurdity. Consequently, that power which is attri-
buted to God, although this be conceived from the
power of which we are conscious, it differs from the
power of man toto ccelo, that is, perfectly ; the one is
finite, the other is infinite. Hwtfow'tf Investigation, iii.
651.
FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD. It is agreed, I believe,
upon all hands, that in the universe, there is no such
thing as actual evil. It is also agreed, that God go-
verns the universe by fixed and determinate laws ; the
absolute perfection of which he has from all eternity
foreseen. Nothing happens without a cause ; no cause
can exist without producing an effect. The perspi-
cuity with which God discerns the connexions and
relations between causes and their effects, conveys the
idea of his sublime omnipotence, and of his foreknow-
ledge. This reflection ought to abolish the childish
d'fficulties we start to ourselves, concerning the pos-
sibility of his foreseeing the actions of free agents,
What action can possibly exist, which does not enter
into the great succession of causes and effects ? In
consequence of this principle of universal dependence
between causes and their effects, it may be said, that
happiness is an effect of virtue, that unhappiness is the
effect of vice. It is not here advanced, that this hap-
piness or unhappiness are to be ranged in the class of
immediate consequence. It is sufficient they be cer-
tain ; and as certain it is, that did we see into the more
sublime operations of the divine economy, with the
same perspicuity, that we behold and feel the fami-
liar consequences of moral actions in this world, we
1
48 PERFECTIONS OF GOD.
should clearly perceive the natural connexion between
the whole suit of human actions, from the creation of
the species to the extinction of it ; and the rewards
and punishments, which God has prepared for them.
*Szr James Steuart's Works, vol. vi. p. 90.
THE UNSEARCHABLENESS OF GOD'S PERFECTIONS.
That Being, whose will is his deed, whose principle
of action is in himself; that Being, in a word, what-
ever it be, that gives motion to all the parts of the
universe, and governs all things, I call GOD. To this
term I annex the ideas of intelligence, power, and will,
which I have collected from the order of things ; and
to these I add, that of goodness, which is a necessary
consequence of their union : but I am not at all the wiser
concerning the essence of the Being, to whom I give
these attributes ; he remains at an equal distance from
my senses, and my understanding. The more I think
of him, the more I am confounded. I know, of a cer-
tainty, that he exists, and that his existence is inde-
pendent of any of his creatures. I know also, that
my existence is dependent on him, and that every
thing I know is in the same situation with myself.
I perceive the Deity in all his works, I feel him with-
in me, and behold him in every object around me ;
but I no sooner endeavour to contemplate what he is in
himself; I no sooner inquire where he is, and what is
his substance, than he eludes the strongest efforts of
my imagination ; and my bewildered understanding is
convinced of its own weakness. God is intelligent;
but in what manner ? Man is intelligent by the act of
reasoning ; but the supreme intelligence lies under no
necessity to reason. He requires neither premises
nor consequences ; not even the simple form of a pro-
position. His knowledge is purely intuitive. He be-
9
PERFECTIONS OF GOD, 4?
holds equally what is and what will be. All truths
are to him as one idea, as all places are but one point,
and all times one moment. Human power acts by the
use of means; the divine power, in and of itself.
God is powerful, because he is willing, his will con-
stituting his power. God is good ; nothing is more
manifest than this truth. Goodness in man, however,
consists in a love to his fellow- creatures ; the good-
ness of God in a love of order : for it is on such order
that the connexion and preservation of all things de-
pend. Again, God is just; this I am fully convinc-
ed of, as it is the natural consequence of his goodness.
The injustice of men is their own work, not his ; and
that moral disorder, which, in the judgment of some
philosophers, makes against the system of providence,
is in man the strongest argument for it. Justice in
man, indeed, is to render every one his due ; but the
justice of God requires, at the hands of every one, an
account of the talents, with which he has entrusted
th?m. In short, the greater efforts I make to contem-
plate his infinite essence, the less I am able to con-
ceive it ; but I am certain that he is, and that is suf-
ficient: the more he surpasses my conception, the
more I adore him. I humble myself before him, and
say, " Being of beings, I am, because thou art : to me-
ditate continually on thee, is to elevate my thoughts
to the fountain of excellence. The most meritorious
use of my reason is to be annihilated before thee :
it is the delight of my soul to feel my weak faculties
overcome by the splendour of thy greatness." Rons-
seau's Emilius, ii. 145. 164-.
That there is a God every thing indicates, and
loudly announces ; but I cannot discover either the
mysteries of his essence, or the intimate connexion of
his various perfections. I plainly see in a crowd the
monarch encircled by his guards ; I know his laws -
50 PEHFECTIONS OF GOD.
I enjoy the order he has prescribed ; but I assist not
at his counsels, and am a stranger to his deliberations.
I even perceive, that an impenetrable veil separates
me from the designs of the supreme Being ; and I do
not undertake to trace them. I commit myself with
confidence to the protection of that Being, whom I be-
lieve good and great, as I would rely on the guidance
of a friend during a dark night ; and whilst I have
my foot on the abyss, I will depend on him to snatch
me from the danger, and calm my terrors. Necker's
Religious Opinions, 35Q.
What we have said may be sufficient to shew the
high veneration our intellects owe to God, since he
may have other attributes and perfections we know
not of; and since we have but a dim and shallow
knowledge of those attributes of his, viz. his wisdom
and power, and may discern that there is an unbound-
ed extent of perfection beyond our abilities to per-
ceive ; and therefore such imperfect creatures ought
not to talk hastily and confidently of God, consider-
ing our inestimable inferiority to such a Being ; and
therefore our ignorance ought to teach us devotion,
that ignorance proceeding from the number and in-
comprehensibleness of his excellencies, so that oui
knowledge only helps us the more to admire his per-
fections. Therefore it must be the highest presump-
tion to talk of God's knowledge, as if we were able
to look through and measure it ; whereas we ought
when we mention his attributes, to be aware lest we
misrepresent them, and not to entertain a fond opi
nion of our sufficiency, the notions we have of Goc
being rather suited to our limited faculties, thai
equal to his boundless perfections. Those intellectua
beings, the angels, though their minds are illuminat
ed with extensive knowledge, are desirous to pry inti
the mysteries of the gospel ; whence it appears the;
PERFECTIONS OF GOD. 51
are far from prying (penetrating) into the depths of
God, or from comprehending his nature. And, thus,
in the majestic vision before Isaiah, they are repre-
sented as attendants about God's throne, covering
their faces with their wings, as not able to behold the
dazzling brightness of his majesty. How then should
we mortals, infinitely beneath him, degenerated by
sin, and the imperfections of our inferior nature, talk
irreverently of the divine essence and perfections, not
regarding the immense difference betwixt God and
us, being unable to search into his adorable nature.
We had much better, with the Psalmist, confess,
( ' such knowledge is too wonderful for me ; it is high,
I cannot attain unto it;'' and celebrate that God,
whose glorious name is exalted above all blessing and
praise. Hon. Robert Boyle's Theological Works.
I own freely to you the weakness of my under-
standing, that, though it be unquestionable that there
is omnipotence and omniscience in God, our maker,
and I cannot have a clearer perception of any thing
than that I am free ; yet I cannot make freedom in
man consistent with omnipotence and omniscience in
God, though I am as fully persuaded of both, as of
any truth I most firmly assent to. And, therefore,
I have long given up the consideration of that ques-
tion, resolving all into this short conclusion, that if it
be possible for God to make a free agent, then man is
free, though I see not the way of it, Locke 's Works,
viii. 305.
IMPORTANCE OP THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. The
first part of piety is, to form right notions of God, as
the greatest, wisest, and best of Beings. All men,
who are capable of reflection, must be sensible that
this is a matter of infinite importance ; for, if our opi
nions concerning him are erroneous, our sentiments of
5& PERFECTIONS OF GOD.
the duty we owe him must be so too, and our whole
moral nature must be perverted. Every considerate
person, therefore, will be careful to obtain the fullest
information possible, with respect to the divine exist-
ence and attributes. To be indifferent about this,
which is beyond comparison the most important part
of knowledge, is inexcusable ; and the ignorance is
criminal, which proceeds from such indifference. And,
if ignorance of God was without excuse in some an-
cient heathen nations, as the Scripture warrants us to
believe, it must.be highly criminal in us, who, both
from reason and from revelation, have the best means
of knowing who God is, and what he requires us to
believe concerning him. Seattle's Elements of Moral
Science, ii. 79.
The whole world may be divided into these three
ranks and orders of men ; those who, having found
God, resign themselves up to his service ; those who,
having not] yet found him, do indefatigably search
after him ; and, lastly, those who have neither found
him, nor are inclined to seek him. The first are
happy and wise : the third are unhappy and fools : the
second must be owned to be wise, as they own them-
selves to be unhappy. M. Pascal's Thoughts, page
237.
PROVIDENCE OF GOD. *4l
SECTION III.
PROVIDENCE OF GOD.
GENERAL PROVIDENCE OF GOD. The doctrine of
providence, general and particular, may be consider-
ed as a consequence from the foregoing attributes and
appellations of the divine nature. By .general provi-
dence, I mean the adjusting all events to the greatest
good of the whole ; by particular, the adjusting all to
the greatest good of each individual ; and, consequent-
ly* by both together, the adjusting the greatest good
of the whole, and of each individual to each other ; so
that both shall fall exactly upon the same point. How-
ever difficult this may seem, I take it to be the genu-
ine consequence of the foregoing proposition. Infi-
nite power, knowledge, and goodness, must make our
most kind and merciful Father both able and willing
to effect this : it does, therefore, actually take place,
though we cannot see it. However, that there are
many marks both of general and particular providence,
as thus explained, is sufficiently evident, and acknow-
leged by all : both these appear also to be asserted in
the Scriptures. Hartley's Observations on Man, ii. 44.
PARTICULAR PROVIDENCE OF GOD. I wonder at
this, but I cannot therefore part with the comforta-
ble belief of a Divine Providence ; and the more I see
the impossibility, from the number and extent of his
crimes, of giving equivalent punishment to a wicked
man in this life, the more I am convinced of a future
state, in which all, that here appears to J)e wrong,
shall be set right, all that is crooked made straight.
PROVIDENCE OF COD.
In this faith let you and I, my dear friend, comfort
ourselves. It is the only comfort in the present dark
scene of things that is allowed us. Franklin's Private
Correspondence, i. 116.
Why should I not now speak as I really think, or
why be guilty of ingratitude, which my heart dis-
claims ? I escaped by the providence and protection of
heaven ; and so little store do I set upon the advantage
of my own experience, that I am satisfied, were I
to attempt the same journey again, it would not avail
me a straw, or hinder me from perishing miserably,
as others have done, though perhaps in a different
\vay. Bruce's Travels in Abyssinia, Introduction,
i.77.
God, therefore, who is every where present, and
" who filleth the heavens and the earth, whose eyes
are upon the righteous, and his countenance against
them that do evil," was therefore, by Orpheus, call-
ed an infinite eye, beholding all things ; and cannot
therefore be esteemed as an idle looker-on, as if he
had transferred his power to any other, for it is con-
trary to his own word ; "I will not give my glory
to another." God, therefore, who could only be the
cause of all, can only provide for all, and sustain all ;
so as to absolute power, to every- where-presence, to per-
fect goodness, to pure and divine love, this attribute,
transcendent liability of providence, is only proper and
belonging. Sir Walter Raleigh's History of the World,
But, after all, on what is this important proposi-
tion, that the Almighty has absolutely abandoned all
sublunary things to the direction of chance, found-
ed ? Why, just on this, that none of our wise men
have seen any miracles wrought of late times : and
they are not disposed to think it possible, that any
could have been wrought in the more early ; and it
is a truth, not to be contested, that the unjust succeed
in this world, fully as well as the just. But, if they
PROVIDENCE OF GOD. *43
were to be asked, whether they are certain, that no
cause has interposed in the producing any event, but
what they have observed ? and whether they are sure,
that there are no secret springs in providence, unseen
and unthought of by them, to which important events
are owing ? if they would not be laughed at, they must
answer in the negative ; which is enough to destroy
the certainty of their position. President Forbes's Re*
flections on Incredulity.
EXISTENCE OP EVIL CONSISTENT WITH THE PRO-
VIDENCE OP GOD. Therefore, in philosophy, it is no
paradox to say, that evil is good, although such an ex-
pression, in common sense, would be absurd. It is
the difference betwixt the consideration of generals
and particulars, that forms this apparent inconsist-
ency. On the one hand, it is only the particular,
which is properly or truly evil ; the general of evil
is truly good. Thus, for example, it is evil for me,
when the fire happens to burn my hand, or when my
conscience punishes me in repentance ; but it is good
for me ai.d every other animal, that fire should give
pain in burning; this is the general, and it is good.
In like manner, it is good for me and all mankind,
that conscience should give misery in remorse. There-
fore, the general of evil is always good. On the other
hand, the particular of good is always good ; even
when evil happens, in being the improper conse-
quence ; and sophistry itself cannot make the gene-
ral of good appear evil. Hidton's Investigation, iii.
459.
There remains only one objection more to be consi-
dered, namely, that it would have been better not to
create such spirits, as God foresaw they must sink into
criminality. But this far surpasses human under-
standing ; for we know not whether the plan of the
world could subsist without them. We know, on the
*44 PROVIDENCE OF GOD .
contrary, by experience, that the wickedness of some
men frequently contributes to the correction and
amendment of others, and thereby conducts them to
happiness. This consideration, alone, is sufficient
to justify the existence of evil spirits. And, as God
has all power over the consequences of human wick-
edness, every one may rest assured, that, in conform-
ing to the commandments of God, all events which
come to pass, however calamitous they may appear
to him, are always under the direction of Providence,
and finally terminate in his true happiness.
This providence of God, which extends to every
individual, in particular, thus furnishes the most sa-
tisfactory solution of the question respecting the per-
mission and the origin of evil. This likewise is the
foundation of all religion, the alone object of which is
to promote the salvation of mankind. Eiders Let-
ters to a German Princess, i. 390.
Almost all the moral good, which is left among us,
is the apparent effect of physical evil. Goodness is
divided by divines into soberness, righteousness, and
godliness. Let it be examined how each of these du-
ties would be practised, if there were no physical
evil to enforce it.
Sobriety, or temperance, is nothing but the for-
bearance of pleasure ; and, if pleasure was not follow-
ed by pain, who would forbear it ? We see every
hour those, in whom the desire of present interest
overpowers all sense of past, and all foresight of fu-
ture misery. In a remission of the gout, the drunk-
ard returns to his wine, and the glutton to his feast;
and, if neither disease nor poverty were felt or dread-
ed, every one would sink down in idle sensuality,
without any care of others or of himself. To eat and
drink, and to lie down to sleep, would be the whole
business of mankind.
PROVIDENCE OF GOD. *45
Righteousness, or the system of social duty, may
be subdivided into justice and charity. Of justice, one
of the heathen sages has shewn, with great acuteness,
that it was impressed upon mankind only by the in-
conveniences which injustice had produced. " In the
' first ages/' says he, "men acted without any rule but
" the impulse of desire; they practised injustice upon
" others, and suffered it from others, in their turn ;
" but in time it was discovered, that the pain of suf-
" fering wrong, was greater than the pleasure of do-
" ing it ; and mankind, by a general compact, sub-
" mitted to the restraint of laws, and resigned the
" pleasure to escape the pain." Of charity it is su-
perfluous to observe, that it could have no place, if
there were no want ; for, of a virtue that could not be
practised, the omission could not be culpable. Evil
is not only the occasional, but the efficient cause of
charity ; we are invited to the relief of misery by the
consciousness, that we have the same nature with the
sufferer, that we are in danger of the same distresses,
and may sometimes implore the same assistance.
Godliness, or piety, is elevation of the mind to-
wards the Supreme Being, and extension of the
thoughts of another life. The other life is future, and
the Supreme Being is invisible. None would have
recourse to an invisible power, but that all other sub-
jects had eluded their hopes. None would fix their
attention upon the future, but that they are discon-
tented with the present. If the senses were feasted
with perpetual pleasure, they would always keep the
mind in subjection. Reason has no authority over
us, but by its power to warn us against evil.
In childhood, while our minds are yet unoccupied,
religion is impressed upon them, and the first years
of almost all, who have been well educated, are pass,
ed in a regular discharge of the duties of piety. But,
as we advance forward into the crowds of life, innu-
*46 A FUTURE LIFE.
merable delights solicit our inclinations, and innume-
rable cares distract our attention ; the time of youth
is passed in noisy frolics ; manhood is led on from
hope to hope, and from project to project ; the disso-
luteness of pleasure, the inebriation of success, the ar-
dour of expectation, and the vehemence of competition,
chain down the mind alike to the present scene, nor
is it remembered how soon this mist of trifles must
be scattered, and the bubbles that float upon the ri-
vulet of life be lost for ever in the gulf of eternity.
To this consideration, scarce any man is awakened,
but by some pressing and resistless evil. The death
of those, from whom he derived his pleasures, or to
whom he destined his possessions; some disease,
which shews him the vanity of all external acquisi-
tions ; or the gloom of age, which intercepts his pros-
pects of long enjoyment, forces him to fix his hopes
upon another state ; and, when he has contended
with the tempests of life till his strength fails him, he
flies at last to the shelter of religion.
That misery does not make all virtuous, experience
too certainly informs us ; but it is no less certain,
that, of what virtue there is, misery produces far the
greater part. Physical evil may be therefore endur-
ed with patience, since it is the cause of moral good ;
and patience itself is one virtue, by which we are
prepared for that state, in which evil shall be no
more. Johnson's Idler, No. 89.
SECTION IV.
A FUTURE LIFE.
THE NATURE OF THE SOUL. Our inquiries about
the nature of the soul, must be bound over at last to
A FUTURE LIFE.
religion, for otherwise they still lie open to ^
rors. For, since the substance of the soul was not de-
duced from the mass of heaven and earth, but imme-
diately from God, how can the knowledge of the rea-
sonable soul be derived from philosophy ? It must
be drawn from the same inspiration, from whence its
substance first flowed. Lore? Bacon's Advancement of
Learning) b. iv. ch. 3.
IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL. The system of
this world is doubtless great, compared with the
lesser parts of which it is made up, or which it
comprehends ; but, could such a limited system
reflect pleasure and contentment, to a Being pos-
sessed of omnipotence, and capable of nothing that is
finite or imperfect ? Even the mind of man, who is
but a step removed from the brute, is not satisfied
with this inferior order of sublunar things ; he looks
up with insatiable desire to the starry firmament, he
attempts to sound the extent of boundless space, to see
the limit of light, and to read the book, of which he
only has made out a sentence ; in the midst of ani-
mal enjoyment he will abstract himself, that he may
seek to know the author of his knowledge, the cause
of this his present existence, and the fountain of his
future hope. Endless is this book of knowledge,
which man has been made to understand ; infinite is
this field of refined enjoyment, which he has been
made to enter; and must he then be made only to
know the character, without being suffered to read
the work, only to see the means of fulfilling his de-
sire, without being suffered to quench his thirst, in
drinking at this source of intellectual delight ? Must
he just taste this fruit, delicious in itself, and made for
his enjoyment, only to regret his loss, only to know
that his desire shall not be satisfied ? Consult the
heart,' and say if this supposed conduct is reconcile.
3
*48 A FUTURE LIFE.
able with human equity ? But is there any other
equity ? No justice is equally perfect, whether sub-
ordinate or supreme : from the first equation to the
last, justice is unchangeable, like truth. The wis-
dom and power of God are infinite; because, these
attributes are immeasurable. His justice is no less
unlimited ; but the infinite of equity is surely not to
be unequal. Hutton's Investigation) iii. 199-
Had I no other proof of the immateriality of the
soul, than the oppression of the just, and the triumph
of the wicked in this world, this alone would prevent
my having the least doubt of it. So shocking a dis-
cord amidst general harmony of things, would
make me naturally look out for the cause. I should
say to myself, we do not cease to exist with this life ;
every thing reassumes its order after death. I should,
indeed, be embarrassed to tell where man was to be
found, when all his perceptible properties were des-
troyed. At present, however, there appears to me no
difficulty in this point, as I acknowledge the existence
of two different substances. It is very plain, that, du-
ring ray corporeal life, as I perceive nothing but by
means of my senses, whatever is not submitted to their
cognisance must escape me. When the union of the
body and the soul is broken, I conceive that the one
may be dissolved, and the other preserved entire.
Why should the dissolution of the one necessarily
bring on that of the other ? On the contrary, being
so different in then* natures, their state of union is a
state of violence, and when it is broken they both re-
turn to their natural situation : the active and living
substance regains all the force it had employed, in giv-
ing motion to the passive and dead substance to which
it had been united. Alas ! my failings make me but
too sensible, that man is but half alive in this life, and
that the life of the soul commences at the death of the
body. Rousseau's Emilius, ii, 158.
A FUTURE LIFE. *49
But though man is thus employed to alter that
distribution of things, which natural events would
make, if left to themselves ; though, like the gods of
the poets, he is perpetually interposing, by extraor-
dinary means, in favour of virtue, and in opposition
to vice, and, like them, endeavours to turn away the
arrow that is aimed at the head of the righteous, but
to accelerate the sword of destruction that is lifted
up against the wicked; yet he is by no means able
to render the fortune of either quite suitable to hfs
own sentiments and wishes. The natural course of
things cannot be entirely controlled by the impotent
endeavours of man : the current is rapid, and too
strong for him to stop it ; and though the rules which
direct it, appear to have been established for the
wisest and best purposes, they sometimes produce
effects, which shock all his natural sentiments. That
a great combination of men should prevail over a
small one; that those, who engage in an enterprise
with forethought and all necessary preparation, should
prevail over such as oppose them without any ; and
that every end should be acquired by those means
only, which nature has established for acquiring it,
seems to be a rule, not only necessary and unavoid-
able in itself, but even useful and proper for rousing
the industry and attention of mankind. Yet, when,
in consequence of this rule, violence and artifice pre-
vail over sincerity and justice, what indignation does
it not excite in the breast of every human spectator ?
What sorrow and compassion for the sufferings of the
innocent; and what furious resentment against the
success of the oppressor ? We are equally grieved
and enraged at the wrong that is done, but often find
it altogether out of our power to redress it. When
we thus despair of finding any force upon earth, which
can check the triumph of injustice, we naturally ap-
*50 A FUTURE LIFE,
peal to heaven, and hope, that the great Author of
our nature will himself execute hereafter what all the
principles, which he has given us for the direction of
our conduct, prompt us to attempt even here ; that
he will complete the plan, which he himself has thus
taught us to begin; and will, in a life to come, render
to every one according to the works, which he has
performed in this world. And thus we are led to the
belief of a future state, not only by the weaknesses,
by the hopes and fears of human nature, but by the
noblest and best principles, which belong to it, by
the love of virtue, and by the abhorrence of vice and
injustice. Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments, i.
421.
FUTURE REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. It is in
vain, some will say, to endeavour to prove the existence
of a God, as a real support of the laws of morality ; all
this system will fall to pieces, if we are not informed,
at the same time, in what manner this God rewards
and punishes. I shall observe, first, that such an ob-
jection cannot make a very deep impression, but
when it is connected in our minds with some doubt
of the existence of a Supreme Being ; a question that
I shall not yet treat ; for, supposing an internal con-
viction of this last truth ; supposing, in all its force,
the idea of a God present to our thoughts ; I ask,
xvhether, in order to please him, we should have need
of knowing precisely the period, when we could per-
ceive distinct signs of his approbation and benefi-
cence ? I ask again, whether, to avoid incurring his
displeasure, it would be equally necessary for us to
know how, and in what manner, he would punish
us ? Undoubtedly not ; for, in taking a comprehen-
sive view of the rewards and punishments, which may
proceed from a Supreme Being ; struck with his gran*
A FUTURE LIFE. *51
deur, and astonished by his power, the vague idea
of infinity would obtrude ; and this idea, so aw-
ful, would suffice to govern our sentiments, and fix
our principles of conduct. We should be careful
not to propose conditions to Him, who has drawn us
out of nothing ; and we should wait with respect for
the moment, when, in his profound wisdom, he may
think proper to make us better acquainted with his
attributes. Men may say to each other, secure my
wages ; I want them on such a day, I demand them
on such an hour ; they barter things of equal value,
and during a short space of time ; but, in the inter-
course of man with the Deity, what a difference ! the
creature and the Creator, the child of dust, and the
Source of life, a fleeting moment, and Eternity, an
imperceptible atom, and the infinite Being ; our un-
derstanding is struck by the contrast ! How then, should
we adapt to such disproportion the rules and notions,
which we have introduced into our trivial transac-
tions ?Necker's Religious Opinions, 24-1.
FUTURE HAPPINESS OF GOOD MEN. It is proba-
ble, that the future happiness of the good will be of
a spiritual nature ; but the future misery of the
wicked may be both corporeal and mental.
These are points, in which the Scriptures have not
been explicit. It is therefore our duty to beware of
vain curiosity, and to arm ourselves with a deep hu-
mility. We are not judges, what degree of know-
ledge is most suited to our condition. That there will
be a future state at all, has not been discovered, with
certainty, to a great part of mankind ; and we may
observe in geaeral, that God conceals from us all par-
ticular things of a distant nature, and only gives us
general notices of those that are near ; and sometimes
not even so much as this, where a peculiar duty, or
A FUTURE LIFE.
design of providence, requires otherwise. However,
as we are obliged to read and meditate upon the
Scriptures, to examine our own natures, and to com-
pare them with the Scriptures, we seem authorized
to make some inquiry into this high and interesting
point.
Now, it appears from the foregoing theory, as welJ
as from other methods of reasoning, that the love of
God, and of his creatures, is the only point, in which
man can rest ; and that the first, being generated by
means of the last, does afterwards purify, exalt, and
comprehend it. In like manner, the Scriptures place
our ultimate happiness in singing praises to God, and
the Lamb ; in becoming one with God, and members
of Christ, and of each other ; which phrases have a
remarkable agreement with the foregoing deductions
from reason ; and we seem authorized to conclude
from both together, that the future happiness of the
blessed will consist in contemplating, adoring, and
loving God ; in obeying his commands ; and, by so
doing, ministering to the happiness of others ; rejoic-
ing in it, and being partakers of it.
It seems probable, also, both from some passages
of the Scriptures, and from the analogy of our na-
tures, that our attachments to dear friends and rela-
tions, for whom we are " not to sorrow as they that
" have no hope," and our esteem and affection for
eminently pious persons in former ages, for Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, and the spirits of other "just men
" made perfect," will still subsist on our arrival at
the true mount Sion, and the heavenly Jerusalem.
Hartley's Observations on Man, ii, 397.
53
CHAPTER IV.
TESTIMONIES TO THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE OF
RELIGIOUS BELIEF.
RELIGION OUR CHIEF BUSINESS. Man is a religious
as well as a social creature, made to know and adore
his Creator, to discover and to obey his will. Greater
powers of reason t and means of improvement have
been measured out to us, than to other animals, that
we might be able to fulfil the superior purposes of our
destination, whereof religion is the chief. Boling-
brokes Works, v. 470.
From whence it is obvious to conclude, that since
our faculties are not fitted to penetrate into the inter-
nal fabric and real essences of bodies, but yet plain-
ly discover to us the being of a God, and the know-
ledge of ourselves, enough to lead us to a full and
clear discovery of our duty, and great concernment,
it will become us, as rational creatures, to employ those
faculties we have about what they are most adapted
to, and follow the direction of nature, where it seems
to point us out the way. For it is rational to con-
clude, that our proper employment lies in those in-
quiries, and in that sort of knowledge which is most
suited to our natural capacities, and carries in it our
D 3
54* THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE
greatest interest, i. e. the condition of our eternal es-
tate. Hence I think I may conclude, that morality is
the proper science and business of mankind in gene-
ral, (who are both concerned and fitted to search
out their summum bonum,} as several arts, conversant
about several parts of nature, are the lot and private
talent of particular men, for the common use of hu-
man life, and their own particular subsistence in this
world. Locke's Essay on the Human Understanding
vol. iii. book iv. chap. 12.
Religion, I said, is either true or false. This is the
alternative ; there is no medium : if it be the latter,
merely an idle system, and a cunningly devised fable,
" let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." The
world is before us, let us take all due advantage, and
choose what may seem best For we have no pros-
pect of any life to come, much less any assurances.
But, if religion be a truth, it is the most serious truth
of any with which we can be engaged ; an article of
the greatest importance. It demands our most dili-
gent inquiry to obtain a knowledge of it, and a fixed
resolution to abide by it when obtained. For religion
teaches us that this life bears no proportion to the
life to come. Bryant on the Authenticity of the Scrip-
tures.
RELIGION CONNECTED WITH OUR NOBLEST
THOUGHTS. Reflect, then, with attention, on the
different consequences which would be the fatal train
of the annihilation of religious opinions ; it is not a
single idea, a single view, that men would lose ; it
would be, besides, the interest and the charm of all
their desires and ambition. There is nothing indiffer-
ent, when our actions and designs can be in any re-
spect attached to a Deity ; there is nothing indiffer-
ent, when the exercise and the improvement of our
OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 55
faculties appear the commencement of an existence
whose termination is unknown : but, when this pe-
riod offers itself on all sides to our view, when we ap-
proach it every moment, what strong illusion would
be sufficient to defend us from a sad despondency ?
Strictly circumscribed in the space of life, its limits
should be in such a manner present to our mind,
to every sentiment and enterprise perhaps, that we
should be tempted to examine what it is which can
merit, on our part, an assiduous research ; what it is
which deserves close and painful application. We de-
ceive ourselves then, I think, when we accuse reli-
gion of necessarily rendering the business and the
pleasures of the world uninteresting ; its chief plea-
sures, on the contrary, are derived from religion, from
those ideas of eternity which it presents to our mind,
which serve to sustain the enchantments of hope,
and the sense of those duties of which our moral na-
ture is ingeniously composed.
Religious opinions are perfectly adapted to our na-
ture, to i>ur weaknesses and perfections ; they come
to our succour in our real difficulties, and in those
which the abuse of our foresight creates. But in what
is grand and elevated in our nature, it sympathizes
most : for, if men are animated by noble thoughts ;
if they respect their intelligence, their chief orna-
ment; if they are interested about the dignity of
their nature, they will fly, with transport, to bow be-
. fore religion, which ennobles their faculties, preserves
their strength of mind, and which, through its sen-
timents, unites them to Him, whose power astonishes
their understanding. It is then that, considering
themselves as an emanation of the Infinite Being, the
commencement of all things, they will not let them-
selves be drawn aside by a philosophy, whose sad les-
sons tend to persuade us, that reason, liberty, all this
D 4
56 THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE
immaterial essence of ourselves, is the mere result of
a fortuitous combination, and an harmony without in-
telligence. Neckcr's Religious Opinions, 127.
RELIGION FOUNDED IN THE NATURE OF MAN.
Judging that a knowledge of the symmetry of nature,
and the beautiful adjustment of all the operations,
would produce a firm belief of a wisdom and power,
which is the source of all this fair order, the author
and conductor of all, and therefore the natural object
of admiration and love. A good heart is open to this
impression, and feels no reluctancy, but, on the con-
trary, a pleasure in thinking man the subject of his
government, and the object of his care. This point
being once gained, I should think, that the salutary
truths of religion will be highly welcome. I should
think, that it would be easy to convince such minds,
that, in the midst of the immense variety of the works
of God, there is one great plan, to which every thing
seems to refer, the crowding this world to the utmost
degree of possibility with life, with beings that enjoy
the things around them, each in its own degree and
manner. Among these, man makes a most conspi-
cuous figure, and the maximum of his enjoyments
seems a capital article in the ways of Providence. It
will, I think, require little trouble to shew, that the
natural dictates of religion, or the immediate results
of the belief of God's moral government of the uni-
verse, coincide, in every circumstance of sentiment,
disposition, and conduct, with those that are most
productive of enjoyment (on the whole) in social life.
The same train of thought will shew, that the real
improvements in the pleasures of society, are in fact
improvements of man's rational nature, and so many
steps towards that perfection, which our own con-
sciences tell us we are capable of, and which religion
OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 5|
encourages ns to hope for in another state of being,
And thus will the " ways of wisdom appear to be
ways of pleasantness, and all her paths to be peace."
Robiso?i's Proofs of a Conspiracy, p. 490.
RELIGION A MATTER OF UNIVERSAL CONCERN. Be-
sides his particular calling for the support of this life,
every one has a concern in a future life, which he is
bound to look after. This engages his thoughts in re-
ligion ; and here it mightily lies upon him to under-
stand and reason right. Men, therefore, cannot be ex-
cused from understanding the words, and framing the
general notions, relating to religion, right. The one
day of seven, besides other days of rest, allows, in the
Christian world, time enough for this, (had they no
other idle hours,) if they would but make use of those
vacancies from their daily labour, and apply them-
selves to an improvement of knowledge, with as much
diligence as they often do to a great many other
things that are useless, and had but those, that would
enter them, according to their several capacities, in a
right way, to this knowledge. The original make of
their minds is like that of other men; and they would
be found not to want understanding fit to receive the
knowledge of religion, if they were a little encouraged
and helped in it, as they should be. For there are in-
stances of very mean people, who have raised their
minds to a great sense and understanding of re-
ligion ; though these have not been so frequent as
could be wished, yet they are enough to clear this
condition of life from a necessity of gross ignorance,
and to show that more might be brought to be ra-
tional creatures and Christians, (for they can hardly
be thought really to be so, who, wearing the name,
know not so much as the very principles of that re-
ligion,) if due. care were taken of them, But if it shall
D 5
58 THE GENEEAL IMPORTANCE
be concluded, that the meaner sort of people must
give themselves up to a brutish stupidity in the things
of their nearest concernment, which I see no reason
for, this excuses not those of a great fortune and edu-
cation, if they neglect their understandings, and take
no care to employ them as they ought, and set them
right in the knowledge of those things, for which
principally they were given them. At least, those
whose plentiful fortunes allow them the opportunities,
and helps of improvements, are not so few, but that
it might be hoped great advancements might be made
in knowledge of all kinds, especially in that of the
greatest concern and largest views, if men would make
a right use of their faculties, and study their own un-
derstandings. Locke on the Conduct of the Understand-
ing, sec. viii.
THE USES OF RELIGION. True religion is the great-
est improvement, advantage, and privilege of human
nature ; and that which gives it the noblest and high-
est pre-eminence above other visible creatures.
We may observe in many brute beasts and birds,
admirable instincts, dexterities, and sagacities ; and in
some of them some dark resemblance of reason or ra*
tiocination ; but religion is so appropriate to the hu-
man nature, that there are scarce any sort of men
but have some religion : nor do the most subtle or sa-
gacious brutes afford any signs thereof, as communi-
cated to their natures.
It is one of the chiefest mercies and blessings, that
almighty God hath afforded to the children of men, and
that which signally manifests his providential care to-
wards and over them, that, in all ages, and among all
nations, he hath given unto them some means and helps
to discover unto them, though in different degrees,
some principal sentiments of true religion. 1. By the
OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 59
secret characters, impressions and structures there-
of in their minds and consciences. 2. By his glorious
and admirable works, commonly called the works of
nature. 3. By signal providences, and providential
regiment of the world. 4-. By raising up men, in all
ages, of great wisdom, and observation, and learning,
which did instruct the more ignorant in this great con-
cernment, the rudiments of natural religion. 5. By
traditionary transmission of many important truths
and directions of life, from ancestors to their posterity
and others ; though, in process of time, evil customs
and evil men, did, in a great measure, impair and cor-
rupt the sentiments and practices of men, notwith-
standing these helps. Therefore the same mercy and
goodness of God for the preservation and propagation
of the true religion, was pleased to substitute a more
fixed and permanent means, namely, the Holy Scrip-
tures or divine revelations, committed to writing in
the books of the Old and New Testament. Though
the religion delivered in both Testaments be in sub-
stance the same, yet the true religion was more fully,
plainly, and distinctly delivered by Christ and his
Apostles in the New Testament, together also with
some additional instructions, for the better preserva-
tion and propagation thereof to mankind ; and divers
additional evidences to prove and manifest the truth
of this religion, to procure its belief and acceptation ;
as the birth, miracles, death, resurrection, and ascen-
sion of Jesus Christ, the great reformer of the Jewish,
and great institutor of the Christian religion, so called
from Christ, that taught and asserted it. The Christ-
ian religion is the most perfect rule of our duty to
God, ourselves, and others ; and was designed prin-
cipally for these great ends :
1. To restore to the glorious God the honour, duty,
and obedience of his creature man ; teaching him to
00
60 THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE
know, to glorify, and to serve his Creator, to be thank-
ful to him, to submit to his will, to obey his law and
command, to be thankful for his mercies, to acknow-
ledge him in all his ways, to call upon him, to wor-
ship him, to depend upon him, to walk sincerely in
his sight, to admire and adore his greatness and good-
ness in all his works, especially in the great work of
the redemption of mankind by his son Jesus Christ.
2. To enable man to attain everlasting happiness,
the perpetual vision of the glorious God, and to fit
and prepare him to be a partaker of the inheritance
of the saints in light and glory.
3. To compose and settle mankind in such a de-
cent and becoming rectitude, order, and deportment
in this world, as may be suitable to the existence of a
reasonable nature, and the good of mankind, which
consists principally in a double relation, (1) to a man's
self, sobriety ; (2) to others, which consists in those
two great habits or dispositions, beneficent to man-
kind, viz. righteousness or justice, charity or love, and
beneficence. Sir Matthew Hales Contemplations,
ii. 321.
THE!MPORTANCE OF CHERISHING A SENSE OF RE-
LIGION. Our time here passes apace. Would it not
be prudent, therefore, to have our follies and our
weaknesses, if possible, die before us ? But the thought
of death and eternity, it will be said, disarms plea-
sure of all its allurements. Be it so. It also disarms
pain of all its terrors. Repeat the words Death and
eternity ! Pause a while. See how all the glories of
the world shrink into nothing ! And think you, you
shall escape the afflictions of diseases ; of a debilitated
frame; and, ultimately, of the departing pangs of hu-
manity ? The day, be assured, will come, when the
further gratification of the corporeal appetites shall
OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 61
have eternally bade you adieu; and when, on the
bed of sickness, these questions shall work incessant-
ly on your mind What am I ? Whence came I ?
Who gave me my being ? How have 1 conducted my-
self since I came into the world ? I am now about to
leave it ; but to what place, into what region, am I to
be removed ? Where, O ! where, am I to make my
unalterable, my eternal abode ? Sullivan's View of
Nature, vi. 36?.
VARIETY ep RELIGIOUS OPINIONS A PROOF OP RE-
LIGION Similar observations are applicable, and, in-
deed, in a still more striking degree, to the opinions
of mankind on the important questions of religion
and morality. The variety of systems, which they
have formed to themselves concerning these subjects,
has often excited the ridicule of the sceptic and the
libertine ; but if, 011 the one hand, this variety shews
the folly of bigotry, and tke reasonableness of mutual
indulgence ; the curiosity which has led men in eve-
ry situation to such speculations, and the influence
which their conclusions, however absurd, have had
on jtheir character and their happiness, prove, no less
. clearly, on the other, that there must be some princi-
ples from which they all derive their origin, and in-
vite the philosopher to ascertain what are these origi-
nal and immutable laws of the human mind.
" Examine" (says Mr. Hume)" the religious princi-
" pies, which have prevailed in the world. You will
" scarcely be persuaded, that they are any thing but
" sick men's dreams ; or, perhaps, will regard them
" more as the playsome whimsies of monkeys in hu-
" man shape, than the serious, positive, dogmatical
'* asseverations of a being, who dignifies himself with
{t the name of rational." <f To oppose the torrent of
" scholastic religion by such feeble maxims as these.
62 THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE
" that it is impossible for the same thing to be and
" not to be ; that the whole is greater than a part;
" that two and three make five ; is pretending to stop
" the occean with a bulrush." But what is the in-
ference to which we are led by these observations ?
Is it, to use the words of this ingenious writer, " that
" the whole is a riddle, an aenigma, an inexplicable
" mystery; and that doubt, uncertainty, and suspense
" appear the only result of our most accurate scrutiny
" concerning this subject ?" Or should not rather the
melancholy histories, which he has exhibited of the
follies and caprices of superstition, direct our atten-
tion to those sacred and indelible characters on the
human mind, which all these perversions of reason
are unable to obliterate ; like that image of himself,
which Phidias wished to perpetuate, by stamping it
so deeply on the buckler of his Minerva ; " ut nemo
" delere posset aut devellere, qui totam statuam non
" imminueret*." In truth, the more striking the con-
tradictions, and the more ludicrous the ceremonies, to
which the pride of human reason has thus beenrecon
ciled, the stronger is our evidence, that religion has
a foundation in the nature of man. When the great-
est of modern philosophers declares, that " he would
rather believe all the fables in the Legend, and the
Talmud, and the Alcoran, than that this universal
frame is without mindt ;" he has expressed the same
feeling, which, in all ages and nations, has led good
men, unaccustomed to reasoning, to an implicit faith
in the creed of their infancy ; a feeling which af-
fords an evidence of the existence of the Deity, in-
comparably more striking, than if, unmixed witherr or
and undebased by superstition, this most important of
* Select Discourses, by John Smith, p. 119. Cambridge, 16 13.
f Lord Bacon, in his Etsayi.
4
OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 63
all principles had commanded the universal assent of
mankind. Where are the other truths, in the whole
circle of the sciences, which are so essential to human
happiness, as to procure an easy access, not only for
themselves, but for whatever opinions may happen
to be blended with them ? where are the truths so
venerable and commanding, as to impart their own
sublimity to every trifling memorial, which recals
them to our remembrance ; to bestow solemnity and
elevation on every mode of expression, by which they
are conveyed ; and which, in whatever scene they
have habitually occupied the thoughts, consecrate
every object which it presents to our senses, and the
very ground we have been accustomed to tread ? To
attempt to weaken the authority of such impressions,
by a detail of the endless variety of forms, which they
derive from casual associations, is surely an employ-
ment unsuitable to the dignity of philosophy. To the
vulgar, it may be amusing, in this, as in other instan-
ces, to indulge their wonder at what is new or un-
common; but to the philosopher it belongs to per-
ceive, under all these various disguises, the workings
of the same common nature ; and in the superstitions
of Egypt, no less than in the lofty visions of Plato, to
recognize the existence of those moral ties, which
unite the heart of man to the author of his being.
Stewart's Philosophy of the Human Mind, ii. 358.
THE ABUSES OF RELIGION NO OBJECTION TO ITS
TRUTHS. Do you think, that by relating the differ-
ent abuses of authority, we could prove the advantage
of anarchy ? Could we decry every species of juris-
prudence, by recounting all the ills, which have been
produced by chicane ? Should we be able to throw
an odium on the sciences, by recalling all the fatal
discoveries, which are owing to our researches ? Would
64 THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE
it be proper to stifle every kind of self-love and acti-
vity, by reciting the different crimes, which covetous-
ness, pride, and ambition have given rise to ? And
ought we, then, to desire to annihilate religion, be-
cause fanaticism has made an instrument of it to dis-
tress the human species? All these questions are si-
milar, and all should be resolved in the same manner :
thus we may say with respect to them, that, in all
our interests and passions, it is by acquired know,
ledge, and the light of reason, that right is separated
from wrong ; but we ought never to confound their
proximity with a real identity.
Fanaticism and religion have not any connexion,
though very often these ideas are found united. It
is not the worship of the common Father of men ; it
is not the morality of the gospel, whose precepts lead
to goodness and forbearance, which inspires the spi-
rit of persecution ; we should attribute it to a blind
madness, resembling all those vile errors and crimes,
which dishonour humanity. But since, at present,
the excesses td which men abandon themselves, do
not induce us to condemn, as a misfortune, all the
sentiments of which the criminal passions are only
the extreme, why do we wish to refuse religion the
gratitude which is its due, because sometimes it has
given birth to hatred and unhappy divisions? It
would be necessary rather to remark, that intolerant
zeal is, of all the errors of the human mind, that, on
which the progress of our knowledge appears to have
had most influence. In fact, whilst fanaticism, gradu-
ally weakened, seems to be now verging to its de-
cline, the disorders connected with the common pas-
sions of ambition, love of wealth, and thirst of plea-
sure, remain in all their force. However, what sen-
timent, what predominant idea, has a greater claim
to pardon for its mistakes than devotion ? By what
OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 65
an infinite number of benefits the pure spirit of reli-
gion makes amends for the abuses, which spring from
the false interpretation of its precepts !
It is to this spirit, as we have shown, that men owe
the stability of public order and the firm principles of
justice : it procures the indigent the succours of cha-
rity, and virtue its encouragement ; oppressed inno-
cence its only refuge, and sensibility its dearest hopes.
Yes, the pure spirit of religion surrounds us on every
side, it makes the charm of solitude, the band of so-
ciety, the invigorator of intimate affections ; and can
we calumniate it and wish to destroy it, on recollect-
ing the tyrannic opinions of some priests and sove-
reigns, whose principles and conduct we now de*-
test ?
I shall further remark, and ask, why men denounce
a sentence of reprobation against religion, and give
as the motive, the ancient wars of which it has been
the origin, whilst they never contest the importance of
commerce, though rivers of blood have been continu-
ally shed for the smallest advantage on this account ?
Can they be so mistaken in their judgment, as to
compare a few pecuniary advantages, which one po-
litical state never enjoys, but at the expense of ano-
ther, with those, as precious as they are universal, of
which religion is the origin and support lNecker*s
Religious Opinions, IQl.
Religion, you say, has produced thousands of crimes ;
say rather the superstition, which pervades our
wretched globe, and which is the most inveterate ene-
my of the pure adoration, that we owe to the Su-
preme Being. Let us detest this monster, which has
always preyed upon the vitals of its mother. Those
who attack it, are the benefactors of mankind : it is a
serpent, which entwines religion : we must crush its
66 THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE
head, without wounding her, whom it infects and de-
vours.
You are apprehensive, lest the adoration of God
should soon lead to superstition and fanaticism. But
is it not to be feared, that, by denying him, you will
open a door to the most baleful passions, and the
most atrocious crimes ? You affirm, that there is but
one step from adoration to superstition. There is an
infinite distance for well constituted minds ; and such
are always the most numerous : they are at the head
of nations, they influence public morals.
I will briefly reply to what you say. If rve pre-
sume a connexion between man and that incomprehensi-
ble Being, rve must erect altars to him, and make pre-
sents if rve can form no conception of that Being, rve
must have recourse to priests, fyc. Where is the great
harm of assembling in harvest to bless God for the
bread, which he has given us ? Where is the harm of
appointing a citizen to return thanks to the Deity, in
the name of the other citizens ? The priestly charac-
ter is a curb, which enforces decorum.
A weak priest inspires contempt, a vicious one ex-
cites abhorrence; but a good priest, meek, pious
without superstition, charitable, tolerant, is entitled
to our love and respect. You are afraid of the abuse,
and so am I. Let us therefore join to prevent it ; but
let us not condemn the use, when it is beneficial to
society. Voltaire's Quest. Encyclop. as quoted in Cha-
teaubriand 1 s Beauties of Christianity, iii. 277.
THE IMPORTANCE OF INSTILLING RELIGION INTO
THE MINDS or YOUTH. Young persons duly initiated
in the comforts of religion, hold their Maker to be
their firr jest friend, and their most powerful protec-
tor. They retire to private devotion with the alacri-
ty of one, who goes to visit his bosom friend ; and
OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 67
the hours, that pass in that exercise, are remembered
with entire satisfaction. In every difficulty they ap-
ply to their Maker ; they pray to him in affliction ;
and in prosperity they pour out their grateful heart
to him. Parents, attend, above all other concerns, to
the education of your children : riches and honour
are as nothing in comparison. It is in your power to
stamp on their ductile mind so deep an impression of
a benevolent Deity, as to become their ruling principle
of action. What praise do you not merit, if success-
ful ; what reproach, if negligent ? I have a firm con-
viction, that, if a due impression of the Deity be not
sufficient to stem the tide of corruption in an opu-
lent and luxurious nation, it is vain to attempt a re-
medy. Lord Kames on the Culture of the Heart.
RELIGION RECOMMENDED TO YOUTH. Preserve
your mind, my son, always in a state to wish there
should be a God, and you will never doubt of his ex-
istence. As for the rest, whatever religion you may
embrace, remember that its real duties are independ-
ent of human institutions; that an upright heart is
the temple of the Divinity ; and that, in every coun-
try, in every sect, to love God above all things, and
thy neighbour as thyself, is the summary of the law.
Remember that no religion upon earth can dispense
with the obligations of morality; that nothing is truly
essential but these, that the heart-felt adoration of the
Deity is the first of those obligations, and that with-
out faith there can be no virtue Rousseau's Emilius,
vol. ii. p. 225.
The summum bonum, which is only able to make
thee happy, as well in thy death as in thy life, I
mean the true knowledge and worship of thy Creator
and Redeemer ; without which, all other things are
68 THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE
vain and miserable Lord Burleigh's Advice to his
Son.
Neither would I have you only fixed and constant
in your religion, but also very devout in the practice
of it ; that, as heretofore, your ancestors have been
eminent for honour, you, that come short of them by
this deliquium or eclipse of it in me, may nevertheless
exceed them in the true way to it, by your zeal and
piety ; and remember this, that he, that is not truly
religious, will hardly be esteemed such, since nothing
is of less continuance than hypocrisy and dissimula-
tion ; and, if your religion be such, such will your
greatness and honour be, a feigned thing, and a mere
shadow. The observance of religion and the exercise
of good manners, do become none so much as illustri-
ous persons. Other glories have lifted them beyond
the pitch and reach of men, but this is a ray of the
Divinity, which advanceth them near to the Deity,
and, like the diamond, outshines the lustre of all other
jewels. A religious heart and a clear conscience will
make you truly conspicuous : it is as the mother of
all other virtues Marquis of Argyles Instructions to
his Son.
The first thing to be considered is religion. It
must be the chief object of your thoughts, since it
would be a vain thing to direct your behaviour in the
world, and forget that which you owe to him who
made it. In the strict sense, it is the only thing ne-
cessary. You must take it into your mind, and from
thence throw it into your heart, where you are to em-
brace it so close, as never to lose the possession of it.
Religion is exalted reason, refined and sifted from the
grosser parts of it. It dwelleth in the upper region
of the mind, where there are fewest clouds or mists to
darken or offend it. It is both the foundation and
the crown of all virtues. It is morality improved and
OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 69
raised to its height, by being carried nearer heaven,
the only place perfection resideth. It cleareth the
understanding, and brusheth off the earth that hang-
eth about our souls Savile, Marquis of Halifax's Ad-
vice to his Daughter.
It was the wisest saying of the wisest man ; " The
fear of God is the beginning of wisdom." Holiness,
then, is the introduction of all wisdom ; so it shall
be the first of my advice, Fear God ; and if holiness
give knowledge, knowledge will give thee happiness,
long life, riches, and honour. " Length of days is
in the right hand of Wisdom, and in her left hand
are riches and honour," said the wise king. How
exalted a thing, then, is religion, which is the mother
of so great blessings! And who will pity thy com*
plaints for the want of any ot these, if they be obtain-
ed by the pleasure of that, which will also crown thee
with heaven, and holy life ? Be pious, and thou art all
these : fear God, and thou shall not fear man or de-
vil, for it will set thee above the reach of fortune or
malice William Lord Russel's Advice to his Son.
I come now to the part of the advice, which I
have to offer to you, which most nearly concerns
your welfare, and upon which every good and honour-
able purpose of your life will assuredly turn ; I mean
the keeping up in your heart the true sentiments of
religion. If you are not right towards God, you can
never be so towards men. The noblest sentiment of
the human breast is here brought to the test. Is gra-
titude in the number of a man's virtues ? if it be, the
highest benefactor demands the warmest returns of
gratitude, love, and praise. Ingratum qui dixerit,
cmnia dixit. If a man wants this virtue, where
there are infinite obligations to excite, and quicken it,
he will be likely to want all others towards his fellow
creatures, whose utmost gifts are poor, compared to
70 THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE
those he daily receives at the hands of his never fail-
ing almighty Friend. " Remember thy Creator in
the days of thy youth," is big with the deepest wis-
dom. " The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom, arid an upright heart, that is understanding."
This is eternally true, whether the wits and rakes of
Cambridge allow it or not : nay, I must add of this
religious wisdom, " Her ways are ways of pleasant-
ness, and all her paths are peace," whatever your
young gentlemen of pleasure think of a whore and a
bottle, a tainted health and battered constitution.
Hold fast, therefore, by this sheet-anchor of hap-
piness, religion. You will often want it in the times
of most danger ; the storms and tempests of life.
Cherish true religion as preciously, as you will fly
with abhorrence and contempt superstition and
enthusiasm. The first is the perfection and glory of
the human nature ; the two last the depravation and
disgrace of it. Remember the essence of religion is,
a heart void of offence towards God and man ; not
subtle speculative opinions, but an active vital prin-
ciple of faith. Earl of Chatham's Letters to his Ne-
phew, p. 25.
PERSONAL TESTIMONIES TO THE WORTH OF RELI-
GION. Love my memory ; cherish my friends ; their
faith to me may assure you that they are honest; but,
above all, govern your will and affections by the will
and word of your Creator, in me beholding the end
of this world, with all its vanities Sir Philip Sydney.
I have hardly had time to sin ; but I have set bad
examples ; perhaps of scandal without knowing it, by
neglectig the practices of religion, in which, however,
I have always believed, and which I know very well.
I have been too thoughtless as a soldier, and lived
as a philosopher. I wish to die as a Christian. I
OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 71
have never been fond of boasters either in war or re-
ligion, and perhaps it was from having seen, on the
one hand, frivolous impieties, like those of the French,
which I have mentioned, and, on the other, Spanish
bigotry, that I have always kept myself distant from
both. I have often seen death near enough to be fa-
miliar with it. But now it is no longer the same
thing. I once sought it, now I wait for it; and in
waiting I live tranquilly. I love the eloquence of the
pulpit. When Bourdaloue fills me with fear, Massil-
IOP fills me with hope, Bossuet astonishes, Fenelon
touches me. Eugene's Memoirs by Himself, Mud-
ford's Translation, p. 234-.
Religion, my honoured madam, has not only been
all my life my chief dependance, but my dearest en-
joyment. I have indeed been the luckless victim of
way ward follies ; but, alas ! I have ever been " more
fool than knave." A mathematician without religion
is a probable character, an irreligious poet is a monster.
With all my follies of youth, and, I fear, a few vices
of manhood, still I congratulate myself as having had
in early days, religion strongly impressed on my
mind. I have nothing to say to any one, as to which
sect he belongs tp, or what creed he believes ; but I
look on the man, who is firmly persuaded of infinite
wisdom and goodness superintending and directing
every circumstance, that can happen in his lot I fe-
licitate such a man as having a solid foundation for
his mental enjoyment ; a firm prop, and sure stay, in
the hour of difficulty, trouble, and distress; and a ne-
ver failing anchor of hope, when he looks beyond the
grave. Letters of Robert Burns, Nos. 41 and 151.
For the benefit of all those, whom I may have drawn
into sin by my example and encouragement, I leave
to the world this my last declaration, which I deliver in
the presence of the great God, who knows the secrets
72 THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE
of all hearts, and before whom I am now appearing to
be judged: That from the bottom of my soul, I de-
test and abhor the whole course of my former wicked
life : that I think I can never sufficiently admire the
goodness of God, who has given me a true sense of
my pernicious opinions and vile practices, by which
I have hitherto lived without hope, and without God
in the world ; have been an open enemy to Jesus
Christ, doing the utmost despite to the Holy Spirit
of grace ; and that the greatest testimony of my cha-
rity to such, is, to warn them, in the name of God,
as they regard thewelfare of their immortal souls, no
more to deny his being or his providence, or despise
his goodness ; no more to make a mock of sin ; or
contemn the pure and excellent religion of my ever
blessed Redeemer, through whose merits alone, I,
one of the greatest of sinners, do yet hope for mercy
and forgiveness. Amen.
Declared and signed in the presence of Ann Ro-
chester, Robert Parsons, June 19, 1680.
J. ROCHESTER.
Bishop Burnet's Life of the Earl of Rochester.
To Dr. Barlow Dear Doctor, I always looked
upon you as a man of true virtue ; and know you to
be a person of sound judgment. For, however I
may act in opposition to the principles of religion, or
the dictates of reason, I can honestly assure you,
I had always the highest veneration for both. The
world and I may shake hands, for I dare affirm
we are heartily weary of each other. O doctor, what
a prodigal have I been of the most valuable of
all possessions time ! I have squandered it away
with a persuasion it was lasting ; and now, when a
few days would be worth a hecatomb of worlds,
I cannot flatter myself with a prospect of half
a dozen hours.
OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 73
How 'despicable is that man, who never prays to
his God, but in the time of his distress! In
what manner can he supplicate that omnipotent being
in his affliction with reverence, whom in the tide of
his prosperity, he never remembered with dread ?
Do not brand me with infidelity, when I tell you, I
am almost ashamed to offer up my petitions to the
throne of grace ; or of imploring that divine mercy in
the next world, which I have so scandalously abused
in this. Shall ingratitude to man be looked upon as
the blackest of crimes, and not ingratitude to God ?
Shall an insult offered to the king be looked on in the
most offensive light, and yet no notice taken when
the King of kings is treated with indignity and
disrespect.
The companions of my former libertinism would
scarce believe their eyes, were you to shew them this
epistle. They would laugh at me as a dreaming
enthusiast, or pity me as a timorous wretch, who was
shocked at the appearance of futurity. They are
more entitled to my pity than my resentment. A
future state may very well strike terror into any man,
who has not acted well in this life ; and he must have
an uncommon share of courage indeed, who does not
shrink at the presence of God.
You see, my dear Doctor, the apprehensions of
death will soon bring the most profligate to a proper
use of their understanding. I am haunted by
remorse, despised by my acquaintance, and, I fear,
forsaken by my God. There is nothing, my dear
Doctor, so dangerous as extraordinary abilities. I
cannot be accused of vanity now, by being sensible
that I was once possessed of uncommon qualifications,
as I sincerely regret, that I was ever blessed with any
at all. My rank in life still made these accomplish-
ments more conspicuous ; and, fascinated with the
74 TESTIMONIES TO THE GENERAL^ &C.
general applause which they procured, I never con-
sidered about the proper means, by which they should
be displayed. Hence, to purchase a smile from a
blockhead, whom I despised, I have frequently treat-
ed the virtuous with disrespect, and sported with the
holy name of heaven, to claim a laugh from a parcel
of fools, who were entitled to nothing but my con-
tempt.
Your men of wit, my dear Doctor, look upon them-
selves as discharged from the duties of religion ; and
confine the doctrines of the gospel to people of mean-
er understandings ; and look on that man to be of a
narrow genius, who studies to be good. What a pity,
that the holy writings are not made the criterion of
true judgment ! Favour me, my dear Doctor, with a
visit as soon as possible. Writing to you gives me
some ease. I am of opinion, this is the last visit I
shall ever solicit from you. My distemper is power-
ful. Come and pray for the departing spirit of the
unhappy BUCKINGHAM *.
* George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, born in 1627, was
a distinguished person in the reign of Charles II. He possessed
great talents, which had been highly improved by education ; and
had a peculiar faculty of turning serious things into ridicule. His
uncommon vivacity of wit made his company be greatly courted in
the gay world ; but he is represented as having been destitute of
every principle of friendship, virtue, or religion.
75
CHAPTER V.
TESTIMONIES TO THE PARTICULAR USES OF
RELIGION.
SECTION I.
AS A BOND OF SOCIETY.
THOSE princes and republics, who wish to maintain
themselves free from all corruption, ought, above all
things, to preserve religion in its purity, and respect
the sanctity of its ceremonies ; for there is not so
sure a sign of the ruin of a state, as the contempt of
divine worship. MachiaveVs Prince } Introd. xvii.
Byerley's Translation.
In fact, men do not reason after that manner, and
they draw many consequences from the belief of
a divine existence, and suppose that the Deity will
inflict punishments on vice, and bestow rewards on
virtue, beyond what appears in the ordinary course
of nature. Whether this reasoning of theirs be just
or not, is no matter ; its influence on their life and
conduct must still be the same. And those, who at-
tempt to disabuse them of such prejudices, may, for
aught I know, be good reasoners, but I cannot allow
t hem to be good citizens and politicians : since they
E 2
76 THE PARTICULAR USES OF RELIGION
free men from one restraint upon their passions ; and
make the infringement of the laws of equity and
society in one respect more easy and secure. Hume's
Philosophical Essays, p. 231, as quoted by Leland.
Mr. Bayle has pretended to prove, that it is better
to be an Atheist, than an idolater ; that is, in other
words, that it is less dangerous to have no religion at
all, than a bad one. 4<r I had rather," said he, " it should
" be said of me, that I had no existence, than that I
" am a villain." This is only a sophism, founded on
this, that it is of no importance to the human race
to believe, that a certain man exists ; whereas it is
extremely useful for them to believe the existence of
a God. From the idea of his non existence, immedi-
ately follows that of our independence ; or, if we
cannot conceive this idea, that of disobedience. To
say, that religion is not a restraining motive, because
it does not always restrain, is equally absurd as to
say, that the civil laws are not a restraining motive.
It is a false way of reasoning against religion, to col-
lect in a large work a long detail of the evils it has
produced ; if we do not give at the same time an enu-
meration of the advantages, which have flowed from
it. Were I to relate all the evils that have arisen in
the world from civil laws, from monarchy, and from
republican government, I might tell of frightful
things. Was it of no advantage for subjects to have
religion, it would still be of some if princes had it,
and if they whitened with foam the only rein which
can restrain those who fear not human laws. A
prince, who loves and fears religion, is a lion, who
stoops to the hand that strokes, or to the voice that
appeases him. He, who fears and hates religion, is
like the savage beast that growls and bites the chain
that prevents his flying on the passenger. He, who
has no religion at all, is that terrible animal, who per-
AS A BOND OF SOCIETY. 77
ceive his liberty only, when he tears in pieces, and
when he devours. The question is not to know,
whether it would be better that a certain man or a
certain people had no religion, than to abuse what
they have ; but to know which is the least evil, that
religion be sometimes abused, or that there be no such
restraint as religion on mankind. Montesquieu's *
Spirit of Laws, book xxiv. chap. 2.
Hence, every effort of governing wisdom, ought to
be exerted in order to preserve the morals of a peo-
ple ; for, these being lost, the very source of govern-
ment is corrupted ; and, to suppose that a corrupted
government should correct itself, or make immoral peo-
ple virtuous, would be no less erroneous than to sup-
pose, that water, when at liberty, should not flow in de-
scending to the lowest place. Hutton's Investigation,
iii. 530.
We know, and, what is better, we feel inwardly,
that religion is the basis of civil society, and the
source of all good and of all comfort. We know, and
it is our pride to know, that man is, by his constitu-
tion, a religious animal ; that Atheism is against not
only our reason, but our instincts, and that it cannot
prevail long. But if, in the moment of rest, and in
* * What his real sentiments with regard to religion were, (says
the Earl of Charlemont of Baron Montesquieu,) I cannot exactly
say. He certainly was not a papist ; but I have no reason to be-
lieve that he was not a Christian. In all our conversations, which
were perfectly free, I never heard him utter the slightest hint, the
least word, which savoured of profaneness ; but, on the contrary,
whenever it came in his way to mention Christianity, he always
spoke of its doctrines and its precepts with the utmost respect and
reverence ; so that, did I not know, that he had too much wisdom
and goodness to wish to deprecate the ruling religion, from his ge-
neral manner of expressing himself, I should make no scruple
freely to declare him a perfect Christian." Hardy's Life of the
Earl of .Charlemont, i. 71.
E 3
78 THE PARTICULAR USES OF RELIGION
a drunken delirium, from the hot spirit drawn out of
the alembick of hell, (which in France is now so furi-
ously boiling,) we should uncover our nakedness by
throwing off that Christian religion, which has hitherto
been our boast and comfort, and one great source of
civilization among us, and among many other nations ;
we are apprehensive (being well aware that the
mind will not endure a vail) that some uncouth, per-
nicious, and degrading superstition, might take place
of it. Burkes Works, v. iii. p. 128.
It is then, if I may be permitted so to express my-
self, because the laws find men in a healthy state,
prepared by religious instruction, that they can re-
strain them ; but, if a system of education, .merely
political, was ever to prevail, new precautions and
new chains would become absolutely necessary ; and,
after having freed us from the mild ties of religion,
the projectors of such a system would increase our
civil slavery, would bend our necks under the hard-
est of all yokes, that which is imposed by our fellow
creatures. Religion, whose influence they wish us to
reject, is better appropriated than they think, to the
mixture of pride and weakness, which constitutes our
nature ; and for us, such as we are, its action is far
preferable to that of the penal laws. It is not, before
his equals, armed with the rod of vengeance, that the
culprit is made to appear ; it is not to their ignorance,
or to their inexorable justice, that he is abandoned ;
it is at the tribunal of his own conscience, that reli-
gion informs against him ; before a God, sovereign of
the world, that it humbles, and in the name of a ten-
der and merciful Father that it comforts him. Alas !
while you at once take from us both our consolation
and our true dignity, you wish to refer every thing to
private interest and public punishment ; but permit
me to listen to those commands, which come from on
AS A BOND OF SOCIETY- 79
high / leave me to divert my attention from the me-
nacing sceptre, which the potentates of the earth wield
in their hand ; leave me to account with Him, before
whom they shrink into nothing ; leave me, in short,
to address myself to him, who pardons, and who, at
the moment I have offended, permits me still to love
him, and rely on his grace. Alas ! without the idea
of a God, without this connexion with a Supreme
Being, author of all nature, we should only listen to
the vile counsels of selfish prudence, we should only
have to flatter or adore the rulers of nations, and all those
who, in an absolute monarchy, are the numerous repre-
sentatives of the authority of the prince ; yes, talents,
sentiments, ought to bend before these distributors of
so much good and evil, if nothing exists beyond
worldly interest : and when once every one cringes,
there is no more dignity in the character, men be-
come incapable of any great action, and unequal to
any moral excellence Neckers Religious Opinions,
p. 65.
Piety and religion have an essential influence on
the happiness of nations. Nothing is so proper as
piety to strengthen virtue, and give it its due extent.
By the word piety, I mean a disposition of soul, that
leads us to direct all our actions towards Deity, and
to endeavour to please him in every thing we do.
To the practice of this virtue all mankind are indis-
pensably obliged : it is the purest source of their fe-
licity : and those, who unite in civil society, are under
still greater obligations to practise it. A nation ought
then to be pious. The superiors, entrusted with the
public affairs, should constantly endeavour to deserve
the approbation of their divine Master ; and whatev-
er they do, in the name of the state, ought to be re^
gulated by this grand view. The care of forming
pious dispositions in all the people should be constant-
is 4
80 THE PARTICULAR USES OF RELIGION
ly one of the principal objects of their vigilance, and
from this the state will derive very great advantages.
A serious attention to merit, in all our actions, the
approbation of an infinitely wise being, cannot fail of
producing excellent citizens. Enlightened piety in
the people is the support of a lawful authority ; and
in the sovereign's heart it is the pledge of the peo-
ple's safety, and excites their confidence. Ye lords
of the earth, who acknowledge no superior here be-
low, what security can we have for the purity of your
intentions, if we do not conceive you to be deeply
impressed with respect for the common Father and
Lord of men, and animated with a desire to please
him? Faff el's Law of Nations, b. i. ch. xii.
Were there but one man upon earth, he would not,
it is allowed, stand in need of any prescribed form of
worship. His would be an inward devotion. But,
as a social animal, the surest bond to hold the differ-
ent members of society to their respective duties, is
the sacred bond of religion. Even the heathens found
government and society could not subsist without it.
Plutarch styles it, "the cement of all community, and
the chief basis of all legislative power." Had it not
been for this, together with our natural impressions
concerning justice and probity ; instead of those well
ordered governments and cities, which are now in the
world, mankind must have lived either wild and so-
litary in caves, or else in troops of robbers, subsisting
upon the spoil and rapine of such as were weaker
than themselves. " Piet.ite sublata, fides etiam, et
societas humani generis, et una excellentissima virtus
justitia tollitur*." And hence, in addition to such
unavoidable eradication of good faith and justice, the
civil law made the abuse of religion a common inju-
ry. " Religio contaminata ad omnium pertinet inju-
riara." Sullivan's View of Nature, vol. vi. 189
* Cicero.
AS A BOND OF SOCIETY. 81
This excellent purpose may be greatly forwarded by
a national establishment * for moral instruction and
admonition ; and if the public instruction should add
all the motives to virtuous moderation, which are sug-
gested by the consideration of genuine religion, every
advice would have a tenfold influence. Religion and
moral instructions are, therefore, in their own nature,
unequivocal supports to that moderate exertion of the
authority arising from civil subordination, which th e
most refined philanthropist, or cosmopolite, acknow-
ledges to be necessary for the very existence of a
great and cultivated society. I have never seen a
scheme of Utopian happiness, that did not contain
some system of education ; and I cannot conceive any
system of education, of which moral instruction is
not a principal part. Such establishments are dictates
of nature, and obtrude themselves on the mind of eve-
ry person, who begins to form plans of civil union.
And, in all existing societies, they have indeed been
formed, and are considered as the greatest corrector
and soother of those discontents, that are unavoidable
in the minds of the unsuccessful and the unfortunate.
The magistrate, therefore, whose professional habits lead
him frequently to exert himself for the maintainance
of public peace, cannot but see the advantages of such
stated remembrancers of our duty. lie will therefore
support and cherish this public establishment, which
so evidently assists him in his beneficent and impor-
tant labours. Robison's Proofs of a Conspiracy, p.
56.
Infidelity must dispose men to shake off the yoke
of authority, to unbounded licentiousness ; and, re-
* This passage is cited as expressing this author's conviction of
the importance of religious instruction in a state, and not as an ar- .
gument for a national establishment, in any peculiar sense,
E 5
82 THE PARTICULAR USES OF RELIGION
ciprocally, is itself the natural consequence of every
degree of licentiousness. Those, who do not regard
the supreme authority, can be little expected to re-
garpl any of his vicegerents : those who do not fear
God, will not honour the king. If the infatuation of
princes was not of the deepest kind, they could not but
see, that they hold their dominions entirely by the
real Christianity, that is left amongst us ; and that, if
they do succeed in taking away this foundation, or
weakening it much farther, their governments must
fall, like houses built upon sand. Besides the great
influence which Christianity has, to make men hum-
ble and obedient, it is to be considered, that our ances-
tors have so interwoven it with the constitutions of the
kingdoms of Europe, that they must stand or fall to-
gether. Christianity is the cement of the buildings.
Hartleys Observations on Man, ii. p. 14-6.
SECTION II.
AS A RULE OF CONDUCT.
IT is no doubt a great encouragement to virtue,
that glory is its promised recompense. It is doubtless
a high consolation, and a solid support, firmly to be-
lieve that all our actions are witnessed by an incor-
ruptible and supreme Judge, infallible, and sovereign-
ly good, at whose tribunal all human acts of injustice
will be repaid, and good actions meet with a cer-
tain recompense. Theism, therefore, is the most su-
blime, the most useful, the most affecting speculation,
to which philosophy has ever raised the mind. Mi-
rabeau's Inquiry Concerning Lettres de Cachet, i. 54.
AS A RULE OF CONDUCT ^
If there be a belief or conception of a Deity, who
is considered as worthy and good, admired and rever-
enced as such, being understood to have, besides '
power and knowledge, the highest excellence of na-
ture, such as render him justly amiable to all; and
if, in the manner this sovereign and mighty being is
represented, or as he is historically described, there
appears in him a high or eminent regard to what is
good and excellent, a concern for the good of all, and
an affection of benevolence and love towards the
whole: such an example must undoubtedly serve,
(as above explained,) to raise and increase the af-
fection towards virtue, and help to submit and subdue
all the other affections to that alone. Nor is this good
effected by example merely ; for where the theistical
belief is perfect, there must be a steady opinion of
the superintendency of a Supreme Being, a witness
and spectator of human life, and conscious of whatso-
ever is felt or acted in the universe : so that, in the
perfectest recess or deepest solitude, there must be
one still presumed remaining with us, whose presence
singly must be of more moment, than that of the most
august assembly on earth. In such a presence it is evi-
dent, that, as the shame of guilty actions must be the
greatest of any ; so must the honour be of well-doing,
even under the unjust censure of a world. And in
this case, it is very apparent how conducive a perfect
theism must be to virtue, and how great deficiency
there is in atheism. Shaftesbury's Characteristics,
ii. 56.
That virtue is her own reward, is but a cold prin-
ciple, and not able to maintain our variable resolu-
tions in a constant and settled way of goodness. I
have practised that honest artifice of Seneca ; and, in
my retired and solitary imaginations, to detain me
from the foulness of vice, have fancied to myself the
E6
84 THE PARTICULAR USES OF RELIGION
presence of my dear and worthiest friends, before
whom I should lose my head rather than be vicious ;
yet, herein I found that there was nothing but mo-
ral honesty ; and this was not to be virtuous for his
sake, who must reward us all at the last. I have tri-
ed if I could reach that great resolution of his to be
honest, without a thought of heaven or hell ; and in-
deed I found, upon a natural inclination and inbred
loyalty unto virtue that I could serve her without a
livery, yet not in that resolved and venerable way,
but that the frailty of my nature, upon easy tempta-
tion, might be induced to forget her. The life, there-
fore, and spirit of all our actions is the resurrection,
and a stable apprehension that our ashes shall enjoy
the fruit of our pious endeavours. Brown's Religio
Medici.
I have read your manuscript with some attention;
By the argument it contains against a particular pro-
vidence, though you allow a general providence, you
strike at the foundations of all religion. For, without
the belief of a Providence, that takes cognizance of,
guards and guides, and may favour particular per-
sons, there is no motive to worship a Deity, to fear
its displeasure, or to pray for its protection. I will
not enter into any discussion of your principles,
though you seem to desire it. At present I shall only
give you my opinion, that, though your, reasonings
are subtle, and may prevail with some readers, you
will not succeed so as to change the general senti-
ments of mankind on that subject, and the consequence
of printing this piece will be, a great deal of odium
drawn upon yourself, mischief to you, and no benefit
to others. He that spits against the wind, spits in his
own face. But were you to succeed, do you imagine
any good would be done by it ? You yourself may
find it easy to live a virtuous life, without the assist-
AS A RULE OF CONDUCT. 85
ance afforded by religion ; you having a clear percep-
tion of the advantages of virtue, and the disadvan-
tages of vice, and possessing a strength of resolution
sufficient to enable you to resist common temptations.
But think how great a portion of mankind consists of
weak and ignorant men and women, and of inexpe-
rienced inconsiderate youth of both sexes, who have
need of the motives of religion to restrain them from
vice, to support their virtue, and retain them in the
practice of it till it becomes habitual, which is the
great point for its security. And perhaps you are in-
debted to her originally, that is to your religious edu-
cation, for the habits of virtue, upon which you now
justly value yourself. You might easily display your
excellent talents of reasoning upon a less hazardous
subject, and thereby obtain a rank with our most
distinguished authors. For among us it is not neces-
sary, as among the Hottentots, that a youth, to be
raised into the company of men, should prove his
manhood by beating his mother. I would advise, you,
therefore, not to attempt unchaining the tiger, but
tmrn this piece before it is seen by any other person,
whereby you will save yourself a great deal of mor-
tification from the enemies it may raise against you,
and perhaps a good deal of regret and repentance.
If men are so wicked with religion, what would they
be if without it? Franklins Correspondence, i. 279.
Merely because it is his duty, a good man will
sometimes do good : he will relieve distress, when
perhaps his compassion is not very strong ; he may
be regular in his religious performances, when his
devotion is not so fervent as it ought to be. Nothing
surely is more laudable, than to do what we know to
be our dirty, But, if we can, at the same time, call
up the correspondent good affection, the devotion, for
example, or the compassion ; we shall, by so doing,
86 THE PARTICULAR USES OF RELIGION
both improve our moral nature, and give double force
to the virtuous motive. Yet, let not a man be dis-
couraged, if, on some occasions, the good affection
is not so lively as he wishes it to be; let him do the
good action notwithstanding, if conscience commands
it : for whatever is thus done is virtue ; and frequent
repetitions of the action, from this principle, will
in time produce, or strengthen the good affection
which he is anxious to cultivate. In like manner,
when we act in compliance with a good affection;
when we relieve distress, because pity impels us;
requite a favour when prompted by gratitude ; do
good to another from a desire of seeing him happy ;
still let the performance be enforced by this conside-
ration, that such is our duty. But even this is not
all. To constitute true Christian virtue, good affec-
tions, disposing to good actions, and accompanied too
with a sense of duty, are not sufficient without the
aid of another principle, and that is piety. The love
of God ought continually to predominate in the mind,
and give to every act of duty grace and animation.
Christians do what is right not only because good af-
fections prompt them to it, and because their con-
science declares it to be incumbent ; but also because
they consider it as agreeable to the will of God, to
please whom is ever their supreme desire. Seattle's
Elements of Moral Science, ii. 120.
AS A SOURCE OF CONSOLATION. 87
SECTION III.
AS A SOURCE OF CONSOLATION.
WERE we totally ignorant of a Deity, this world
would appear to us a mere chaos. Under the govern-
ment of a wise and benevolent Deity, chance is
excluded ; and every event appears to be the result
of established laws : good men submit to whatever
happens, without repining ; knowing that every
event is ordered by divine providence : they submit
with entire resignation, and such resignation is a so-
vereign balsam for every misfortune. Lord Kames'
Sketches of the History of Man, iv. 203.
And now, last of all, there remains for us to consi-
der a yet further advantage to virtue, in the theistical
belief above the atheistical. The proposition may at
first sight appear over-refined, or of a sort which is
esteemed too nicely philosophical. But, after what
has been already examined, the subject perhaps may
be more easily explained. There is no creature, ac-
cording to what has been already proved, who must
not of necessity be ill in some degree, by having an
affection or aversion in a stronger degree than is suit-
able to his own private good, or that of the system to
which it is joined, For, in either case, the affection
is ill and vicious. Now, if a rational creature has
that degree of aversion, which is requisite to arm him
against any particular misfortune, and alarm him
against the approach of any calamity ; this is regular
and well. But if, after the misfortune has happened,
his aversion continues still, and his passion rather
grows upon him ; whilst he rages at the accident,
and exclaims against his private fortune or lot ; this
88 THE PARTICULAR USES OF BELIGION
will be acknowledged both vicious in present and for
the future ; as it affects the temper, and disturbs that
easy course of the affections, on which virtue and
goodness so much depend. On the other side, the
patient enduring of the calamity, and the bearing up
of the mind under it, must be acknowledged immedi-
ately virtuous and preservative of virtue. Now, accor-
ding to the hypothesis of those who exclude a ge-
neral mind, it must be confessed there can nothing
happen in the course of things to deserve either our
admiration and love, or our anger and abhorrence.
However, as there can be no satisfaction, at the best,
in thinking upon what atoms and chance produce ; so,
upon disastrous occasions, and under the circumstan-
ces of a calamitous and hard fortune, 'tis scarcely
possible to prevent a natural kind of abhorrence and
spleen, which will be entertained and kept alive by
the imagination of so perverse an order of things. But
in another hypothesis (that of perfect theism] it is
understood, " That whatever the order of t/ie world pro-
duces is in the main bo! k just and good." Therefore,
in the course of things in this world, whatever hard-
ship of events may seem to force from any rational
creature a hard censure of his private condition or
lot ; he may, by reflection, nevertheless come to have
patience, and to acquiesce in it. Nor is this all. He
may go farther still in this reconciliation ; and, from
the same principle, may make the lot itself an object
of his good affection ; whilst he strives to maintain
this generous fealty, and stands so well disposed to-
wards the laws and government of his higher country.
Such an affection must needs create the highest
constancy in any state of sufferance, and make us in
the best manner support whatever hardships are to
be endured for virtue's sake. And, as this affection
must of necessity cause a greater acquiescence and
AS A SOURCE OF CONSOLATION. 89
complacency with respect to ill accidents, ill men,
and injuries ; so, of course, it cannot fail of produc-
ing still a greater equality, gentleness, and benignity
in the temper. Consequently the affection must be a
truly good one, and a creature the more truly good
and virtuous by possessing it. For whatsoever is the
occasion or means of more affectionately uniting a ra-
tional creature to his PART in society, and causes him
to prosecute the public good, or interest of his species
with more zeal and affection than ordinary ; is un-
doubtedly the cause of more than ordinary virtue in
such a person,
Hence we may determine justly the relation which
VIRTUE has to PIETY; \hejirst being not complete
but in the latter ; since where the latter is wanting
there can neither be the same benignity, firmness, nor
constancy ; the same good composure of the affections
or uniformity of mind. And thus the perfection and
height of VIRTUE must be owing to the belief of a
GOD. Shaft esbury's Characteristics, ii. 72. 1714*.
This univeral benevolence, how noble and gener-
ous soever, can be the source of no solid happiness to
any man, who is not thoroughly convinced, that all
the inhabitants of the universe, the meanest as well as
the greatest, are under the immediate care and protec-
tion of that great, benevolent, and all-wise being,
who directs all the movements of nature, and who is
determined by his own unalterable perfections, to
maintain in it, at all times, the greatest possible
quantity of happiness. To this universal benevolence,
on the contrary, the very suspicion of a fatherless
world must be the most melancholy of all reflections ;
from the thought, that all the unknown regions of in-
finite and incomprehensible space may be filled with
nothing but endless misery and wretchedness. All
the splendour of the highest prosperity can never en
90 THE PARTICULAR USES OF RELIGION
lighten the gloom, with which so dreadful an idea
must necessarily overwhelm the imagination ; nor, in
a wise and virtuous man, can all the sorrow of the
most affecting adversity ever dry up the joy, which
necessarily springs from the habitual and thorough
conviction of the truth of the contrary system.
Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments, ii. 114.
Those, who seem to have a more pressing and con-
stant need of the assistance of religion, have been
left by the misfortunes of their parents to the wide
world, devoid of property, and deprived also of
those resources which depend on education. This
class of men, condemned to hard labour, are, as it
were, confined in a rough and uniformly barren path,
where every day resembles the last, where they have
not any confused expectations, or flattering illusion
to divert them ; they know that there is a wall of se-
paration between them and fortune; and, if they
carried their views in life forward, they would only
discover the dreadful state any infirmity would re-
duce them to ; and the deplorable situation to which
they might be exposed, by the cruel neglect which
attends old age. With what transport, in this situa-
tion, would they not catch at the comfortable hopes,
which religion presents ! With what satisfaction
would they not learn, that after this probationary
state, where so much disproportion overwhelmed
them, there would come a time of equality ! What
would be their complaints, if they were to renounce
a sentiment which still conforms itself, for their ad-
vantage, to a general idea, the only one in short, of
which they can make use in all events and circum-
stances of life. It is God's will, they say to them-
selves, and this first thought supports their resigna-
tion ; God will recompense you, God will return it
to you, say they to others, when they receive alms ;
*AS A SOURCE OF CONSOLATION. 91
and these words remind them, that the God of the
rich and powerful is also theirs ; and that, far from
being indifferent to their fate, He deigns Himself to
discharge their obligations. Necker's Religious Opi-
nions, p. 133.
To persons in such unfortunate circumstances,
(that is, innocent persons condemned by the world as
guilty,) that humble philosophy, which confines its
views to this life, can afford, perhaps, but little conso-
lation. Every thing, that could render either life or
death respectable, is taken from them. They are con-
demned to death, and to everlasting infamy. Religion
can alone afford them any effectual comfort. She
alone can tell them, that it is of little importance what
man may think of their conduct, while the all-seeing
Judge of the world approves of it. She alone can
present to them the views of another world ; a world
of more candour, humanity and justice than the pre-
sent ; where their innocence is in due time to be de-
clared, and their virtue to be personally rewarded ;
and the same great principle, which can strike ter-
ror into triumphant vice, affords the only effectual con-
solation to disgraced and insulted innocence. Smith's
Theory of Moral Sentiments, vol. i. p. 303.
These are the occasions, which force the mind to
take refuge in religion. When we have no help in
ourselves, what can remain, but that we look up
to a higher and greater power ? And to what hope
may we not raise our eyes and hearts, when we con-
sider that the greatest power is the best ? Surely there
is no man, who, thus afflicted, does not seek succour
in the gospel, which has brought life and immortality
to light. The precepts of Epicurus, who teaches us
to endure what the laws of the universe make neces-
sary, may silence but not content us. The dictates
of Zeno, who commands us to look with indifference
92 THE PARTICULAR USES OF RELIGION
on external things, may dispose us to conceal our sor-
row, but cannot assuage it. Real alleviation in the
loss of a friend, and rational tranquillity in the pros-
pect of our own dissolution, can be received only
from the promises of him, in whose hands are life and
death ; and from the assurance of another and better
state, in which all tears will be wiped away from the
eyes, and the whole soul shall be filled with joy. Phi-
losophy may infuse stubbornness, but religion only
can give patience. Johnson's Idler, No. 41.
It is this way of thinking, it is these melancholy
truths, that make religion so precious to the poor mi-
serable children of men. If it is a mere phantom,
existing only in the heated imagination of enthusiam,
" What truth on earth so precious as the lie !"
My idle reasonings sometimes make me a little
sceptical, but the necessities of my heart always give
the cold philosophizings the lie. Who looks for the
heart weaned from earth ; the soul affianced to her
God ; the correspondence fixed with heaven ; the pi-
ous supplication and devout thanksgiving, constant
as the vicissitude of even and morn ; who thinks to
meet with these in the court, the palace, in the glare
of public life ? No, to find them in their precious
importance and divine efficacy, we must search among
the obscure recesses of disappointment, affliction, po-
verty, and distress. Letters of Robert Burns, No. 54.
Whatever be our doubts, fears, or anxieties, whe-
ther selfish or social, whether for time or eternity,
our only hope and refuge must be in the infinite
power, knowledge, and goodness of God. And, if
these be really our hope and refuge ; if we have a true
practical sense and conviction of God's infinite abili-
ty and readiness to protect and bless us ; an entire,
peaceful, happy resignation will be the result, not-
AS A SOURCE OF CONSOLATION. 93
withstanding the clouds and perplexities wherewith
we may sometimes be encompassed. He, who has
brought us into this state, will conduct us through
it : he knows all our wants and distresses : his infi-
nite nature will bear down all opposition from our
impotence, ignorance, vice, or misery : he is our cre-
ator, judge, and king, our friend, and father, and God.
And though the transcendent greatness and glori
ousness of this prospect may, at first view, make our
faith stagger, and incline us to disbelieve through
joy : yet upon farther consideration, it seems rather
to confirm and establish itself on that account ; for,
the more it exceeds our gratitude and comprehension,
the more does it coincide with the idea of that abso-
lutely perfect being, whom the several orders of im-
perfect beings perpetually suggest to us, as our only
resting place, the cause of causes, and the supreme
reality.
However/ on the other hand, it must be acknow-
ledged, that the evils, which we see and feel, are
strong arguments of the possibility of still greater
evils, of any finite evils whatever, and of their con-
sistency with the divine attributes. All finites are
equally nothing in respect of infinite ; and if the in-
finite power, knowledge, and goodness of God can
permit the least evil, they may permit any finite de-
gree of it how great soever, for any thing that we
know to the contrary. And this most alarming con-
sideration cannot but compel every thinking person to
use his utmost endeavours, first for his own preser-
vation and deliverance ; and then, in proportion to his
benevolence, for the preservation and deliverance of
others.
Nor can such a person long hesitate what method
to take in the general. The duties of piety, benevo-
lence, and self government, considered in the general,
9* THE PARTICULAR USES OF RELIGION, &C.
have had such a stamp set upon them by all ages
and nations, by all orders and conditions of men; ap-
prove themselves so much to our frame and constitu-
tion ; and are so evidently conducive to both public
and private happiness here ; that one cannot doubt of
their procuring for us not only security, but our sum-
mum bonum, our greatest possible happiness, during
the whole course of our existence, whatever that be.
These are the genuine dictates of what is called
natural religion. But we, who live in Christian coun-
tries, may have recourse to far clearer light, and to a
more definite rule : the Christian revelation is attested
by such evidences, historical, prophetical, and moral,
as will give abundant comfort and satisfaction to all
who seek them earnestly. A future life, with inde-
finite, or even infinite, rewards and punishments, is
set before us in express terms, the conditions declar-
ed, examples related both to encourage our hopes and
alarm our fears, and assurances of assistance and
mercy delivered in the strongest and most pathetic
terms, Hartley's Observations on Man, ii. 7.
95
CHAPTER VI.
TESTIMONIES TO THE CONNEXION OF RELIGIOUS
SENTIMENTS AND VIRTUOUS CONDUCT WITH
HAPPINESS.
^
SECTION I.
HAPPINESS NOT IN THINGS EXTERNAL.
HAPPINESS NOT IN RICHES. I cannot call riches
better than the baggage of virtue ; the Roman word
is better, " impedimenta :" for, as the baggage is
to an army, so is riches to virtue. It cannot be
spared, nor left behind ; but it hindereth the march,
yea, and the care of it sometimes loseth or dis
turbeth the victory. Of great riches there is no
real use, except it be in the distribution; the rest
is but conceit: so saith Solomon, " Where much
is, there are many to consume it ; and what hath the
owner, but the sight of it with his eyes ?" The per-
sonal fruition in any man cannot reach to feel great
riches : there is JL custody of them, or a power of dole
and donative of them, or a fame of them, but no solid
use to the owner. Do you not see what feigned prices
are set upon little stones and rarities ? and what
works of ostentation are undertaken, because there
96 HAPPINESS NOT IN THINGS EXTERNAL.
might seem to be some use of great riches ? But then
you will say they may be of use to bring men out of
dangers or troubles ; as Solomon saith, " Riches are
as a strong hold in the imagination of the rich man."
But this is excellently expressed, that it is in imagi-
nation, and not always in fact : for certainly great
riches have sold more men, than they have bought
out. Seek not proud riches, but such as thou may-
est get justly, use soberly, distribute cheerfully, and
leave contentedly : yet have no abstract nor frierly
contempt of them ; but distinguish, as Cicero saith
well of Rabirius Posthumus ; In studio rei amplifican-
doz apparebat, non avarilice prcedam, sed ijislrumen-
tum bonitatis, qutzri. Hearken also to Solomon, and
beware of hasty gathering of riches, Quifestinat ad
divitias non erit insons.* Bacon's Essays, No. 34-.
HAPPINESS NOT IN MIRTH. We are too apt to judge
of happiness by appearances ; we suppose it to be
where it very rarely exists ; we seek it where it can-
not be found. Mirth is a very equivocal sign of hap-
piness. A merry fellow is often in reality an unhap-
py mortal, who, by laughing, endeavours to conceal
and to forget his misery. Those gentlemen, who,
in a polite circle, appear so good humoured, so open,
so serene, are generally morose and peevish at home ;
their domestics feel the want of that good nature,
which they lavish upon their companions. True con-
tentment is never extremely gay or noisy ; its posses-
sor, ever careful of so pleasing a sensation, will not
suffer it to evaporate, but enjoys the invaluable bless-
ing with deliberate taste and reflection. The man,
who is really happy, speaks little, and seldom laughs:
he, as it were, contracts the circle of felicity round
his heart. Solitude and silence are friends to true
pleasure. Tender emotions and tears are the com-
OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 97
panions of enjoyment, and even excessive joy more
frequently produces tears than laughter*. Rousseau's
Emilius, ii. 43.
HAPPINESS NOT IN WORLDLY HONOURS AND ENJOY-
M ENxs.I have run the silly rounds of business and plea,
sure, and I have done with them all. I have enjoyed all
the pleasures of the world ; and consequently know
their futility, and do not regret their loss. I appraise
them at their real value, which is, in truth, very low ;
whereas those who have not experienced, always
overrate them. They only see their gay outside, and
are dazzled with their glare. But I have been behind
the scenes ; I have seen all the coarse pullies, and
dirty ropes, which exhibit and move the gaudy ma-
chine. I have seen and smelt the tallow candles,
which illuminate the whole decoration, to the asto-
nishment and admiration of an ignorant multitude.
When I reflect back upon what I have seen, and what
I have heard, and what I have done, I can hardly per-
suade myself, that all that frivolous hurry, and bustle,
and pleasure of the world had any reality ; but I look
uponallthat has passed as one of those romantic dreams,
which opium commonly occasions ; and I do by no
means desire to repeat the nauseous dose, for the sake
of the fugitive dream. Chesterfields Letters*
HAPPINESS NOT IN Vicious PLEASURES. The cha-
racter, which most young men first aim at, is that
of a man of pleasure ; but they generally take it upon
trust ; and, instead of consulting their own taste and
inclinations, they blindly adopt whatever those, with
* These admissions may be alleged in reply to the charge of-
ten brought against seriousness in religion, as tending to impart a
gloomy habit to the mind.
T
98 THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE
whom they chiefly converse, are pleased to call by the
name of pleasure ; and a man of pleasure, in the vul-
gar acceptation of that phrase, means only a beastly
drunkard, an abandoned whoremaster, and a profli-
gate swearer and curser. As it may be of use to you,
I am not unwilling, though at the same time asham-
ed to own, that the vices of my youth proceeded much
more from my silly resolution of being what I heard
called a man of pleasure, than from my OWD inclina-
tions. I always naturally hated drinking ; and yet I
have often drunk, with disgust at the time, attended
by great sickness the next day, only because I then
considered drinking as a necessary qualification for a
fine gentleman, and a man of pleasure. The same as
to gaming. I did not want money, and consequently
had no occasion to play for it ; but I thought play
another necessary ingredient in the composition of
a man of ^easure, and accordingly I plunged into it
without desire at first ; sacrificed a thousand real plea-
sures to it ; and made myself solidly uneasy by it, for
thirty, the best years of my life. I was even absurd
enough, for a little while, to swear, by way of adorn-
ing and completingthe shining character which laffect-
ed ; but this folly I soon laid aside, upon finding both
the guilt and the indecency of it. Thus seduced by fa-
shion, and blindly adopting nominal pleasures, I lost
real ones ; and my fortune impaired, and my consti-
tution shattered, are, I must confess, the just punish-
ment of my errors. I have not mentioned the plea-
sures of the mind (which are the solid and permanent
ones) because they do not come under the head of
what people commonly call pleasures ; which they
seem to confine to the senses. The pleasure of vir-
tue, of charity, and of learning, is true and lasting
OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 99
pleasure, which I hope you will be well and long
acquainted with. Chesterfield's Letters to his Son,
vol. i. p. 203.
HAPPINESS NOT IN ANY CREATED THING. So that
these diversions of men, which are found to constitute
their happiness, are not only mean and vile, but they
are false and deceitful : that is, we are in love with
mere airy shapes and phantoms, such as must be in-
capable of possessing the heart of man, had he not
lost the taste and perception of real good, and were
he not filled with baseness, and levity, and pride, to-
gether with an infinite number of other vices, such as
can no way relieve us under our present miseries, but
by creating others, which are still more dangerous,
in being more substantial. For these are the things,
which chiefly bar us from our own thoughts, and
which teach us to give new wings to our time, and
yet to remain insensible of its flight. Without these,
we should indeed be under a continued weariness and
perplexity, yet such as might prompt us to seek out
a better method for its cure. Whereas these, which
we call our diversions, do but amuse and beguile us ;
and, in conclusion, lead us down blindfold into our
grave. Mankind, having no infallible remedy against
ignorance, misery, and death, imagine that some res-
pite, some shelter, may at last be found, by agreeing
to banish them from their meditation This is the
only comfort they have been able to invent under their
numerous calamities ; but a most miserable comfort
it proves, because it does not tend to the removal of
these evils, but only to the concealment of them for
a short season and because, in thus concealing them,
it hinders us from applying such proper means as
should remove them. Thus, by a strange revolution
in the nature of man, that grief and inward disquiet,
which he dreads as the greatest of sensible evils, is in
ff 2
100 HAPPINESS IN
one respect his greatest good, because it might contri-
bute, more than all things besides, to the putting him
in a successful method of recovery. On the other
hand, his recreation, which he seems to prize as his
sovereign good, is indeed his greatest evil, because it
is of all things the most effectual in making him negli-
gent under his distemper ; and both the one and the
other are admirable proofs, as of man's misery and cor-
ruption, so of his greatness and dignity. For the rea-
son, why he grows sick and weary of every object,
and engages in such a multitude of pursuits, is, be-
cause he still retains the idea of his lost happiness ;
which, not finding within himself, he seeks it through
the whole circle of external things ; but always seeks
without success, because it is indeed to be found not
in ourselves, nor in the creatures, but in God alone.
M . Pascal's Thoughts, p. 203.
SECTION II.
HAPPINESS IN VIRTUE AND RELIGION.
HAPPINESS IN VIRTUE. Having explained the mo-
ral approbation attending merit or virtue, there re-
mains nothing but briefly to consider our interested
obligation to it, and to inquire whether every man,
who has any regard to his own happiness and wel-
fare, will not best find his account in the practice of
every moral duty.
Treating vice with the greatest candour, and mak-
ing it all possible concessions, we must acknowledge,
that there is not in any instance the smallest pretext
VIRTUE AND RELIGION. 101'
for giving it the preference above virtue, with a view
to self interest, except perhaps in the case of justice,
where a man, taking things in a certain light, may
often seem to be a loser by his integrity. And,
though it is allowed, that, without a regard to pro-
perty, no society could subsist ; yet, according to the
imperfect way in which human affairs are conducted,
a sensible knave, in particular incidents, may think
that an act of iniquity or infidelity will make a con-
siderable addition to his fortune, without causing any
considerable breach in the social union or confeder-
acy. That honesty is the best policy may be a good
general rule ; but is liable to many exceptions ; and
he, it may perhaps be thought, conducts himself with
most wisdom, who observes the general rule, and takes
advantage of all the exceptions.
I must confess, that, if a man think that this rea-
soning much requires an answer, it will be a little
difficult to find any, which will to him appear satis-
factory and convincing. If his heart rebel not against
such pernicious maxims ; if he feel no reluctance to
the thoughts of villany or baseness, he has indeed
lost a considerable motive to virtue ; and we may ex-
pect that his practice will be answerable to his
speculation. But, in all ingenuous natures, the anti-
pathy to treachery and roguery is too strong to be
counterbalanced, by any views of profit or pecuniary
advantages. Inward peace of mind, consciousness of
integrity, a satisfactory review of our own conduct ;
these are circumstances very requisite to happiness,
and will be cherished and cultivated by every honest
man, who feels the importance of them.
Such a one has, besides, the frequent satisfaction
of seeing knaves, with all their pretended cunning
and abilities, betrayed by their own maxims ; and,
102 HAPPINESS IN
while they propose to cheat with moderation and se-
crecy,, a tempting incident occurs, nature is frail, and
they give into the snare ; whence they can never
extricate themselves without a total loss of reputation,
and the forfeiture of all future trust and confidence
with mankind. But, were they ever so secret and
successful, the honest man, if he has any tincture of
philosophy, or even common observation and reflection,
will discover, that they themselves are, in the end,
the greatest dupes, and have sacrificed the invaluable
enjoyment of a character, with themselves at least,
for the acquisition of worthless toys and gewgaws.
How little is requisite to supply the necessities of na-
ture ? And, in a view to pleasure, what comparison
between the unbought satisfaction of conversation,
society, study, even health, and the common beauties
of nature, but, above all, the peaceful reflection on one's
own conduct : what comparison, I say, between these,
and the feverish empty amusements of luxury and ex-
pense? These natural pleasures, indeed, are really
without price ; both because they are below all price
in their attainment, and above it in their enjoyment.
Hume's Essay's vol. ii. p. 330. 334-.
Virtue * alone is happiness. The happiness of a
brute, that spends the greater part of his life in list-
les sness and sleep, is but one remove from the hap-
piness of a plant, that is full of sap, vigour, and nu-
trition. The happiness of a man, who pursues licen
tious pleasure, is momentary ; and his intervals of
weariness and disgust perpetual. He speedily wears
himself out in his specious career ; and every time
* By virtue this author seems to understand a disinterested en-
deavour to promote the general good, and an indefatigable appli-
cation to discover and employ the best means for advancing that
end.
VIRTUE AND RELIGION. 103
that he employs the means of delight, which his cor-
poreal existence affords him, takes so much from his
capacity of enjoyment. But the virtuous man has a
perpetual source of enjoyment. It is impossible that
any situation can occur, in which virtue cannot find
room to expatiate. In society there is continual op-
portunity for its active employment. I cannot have
intercourse with any human being, who may not be
the better for that intercourse. If he be already just
and virtuous, these qualities are improved by com-
munication. If he be imperfect and erroneous, there
must always be some prejudice I may contribute to
destroy, some motive to delineate, some error to
remove. If I be prejudiced and imperfect myself, it
cannot however happen, that my prejudices and im-
perfections shall be exactly coincident with his. I
may, therefore, inform him of the truths that I know ;
and even by the collision of prejudices, truth is elicited.
It is impossible, that I should strenuously apply my-
self to his mind with sincere motives of benevolence,
without some good being the result. Nor am I more
at a loss in solitude. In solitude I may accumulate
the materials of social benefit. No situation can be so
desperate, as to preclude these efforts. Another ad-
vantage of virtue, in this personal view, is, that,
while sensual pleasure exhausts the frame, and
passions often excited become frigid and callous, vir-
tue has exactly the opposite propensities. Passions, in
the usual acceptation of that term, having no absolute
foundation in the nature of things, delight only by
their novelty. But the more we are acquainted with
virtue, the more estimable it will appear ; and its
field is as endless as the progress of mind. If an
enlightened love of it be once excited in the mind, it
is impossible that it should not continually increase.
104 HAPPINESS IN
By its variety, by its activity, it perpetually renovates
itself, and renders the intellect, in which it resides,
ever new and ever young. All these reasonings are
calculated to persuade us, that the most precious boon
we can bestow upon another is virtue, that the high-
est employment of virtue is to propagate itself. But,
as virtue is inseparably connected with knowledge in
my own mind, so can it only by knowledge be com-
municated to others. How can the virtue we have
just been contemplating be treated, but by infusing
comprehensive views, and communicating energetic
truths ? Now that man alone is qualified to give these
views, and communicate these truths, who is himself
pervaded with them *. Godwin's Political Justice, i.
233. 1793.
We are now to consider man, the intellectual being,
a person knowing and practising virtue, to have still
another step to make in order to arrive at the perfec-
tion of his nature. Now, this perfection he has to at-
tain by study ing himself as well as other people's senti-
ments, by acquiring a view of his proper nature, and
loving virtue for its own sake, that is to say. loving
virtue as the work of God, the end of his creation,
and the cause of human happiness. If this be a thing
merely chimerical, how comes it that the most en-
lightened men have always entertained those ideas ?
If, again, this be the real opinion of rational men, and
actually proves a motive for their conduct, it must ap-
pear that we have now described the steps, in which
human intellect had proceeded on that occasion.
Here, man, instead of being simply rational, be-
* This passage is a complete philosophical commentary and
commendation of the Christian zeal and duty (so often denoun.
ced as fanatical) to edify one another, and to extend the knowledge
of revealed truth.
VIETtJE AND RELIGION. 105
comes refined ; here, man rises in the scale of beings,
above the rank of vulgar men ; and her,e, man, who
is naturally lord of the animal creation, becomes a ru-
ler in the world of opinion, and acquires a just domi-
nion in the mind of man. Here, wisdom has attained
its end, in making man benevolent as well as power-
ful ; here, man has arrived at the proper end of his
creation, in being happy as well as being wise ; and
here, we may see the excellency of the system, in
which man, the animal, is made to transform himself
into the image of his maker. Here, man finds the
approbation of his own mind to be the will of the
Supreme Being, and the sting of a guilty conscience
to be the necessary punishment of vice and crime.
He finds that he is independent of every thing, but
the laws of his Creator ; and that he has the means of
making himself either most happy in the enjoyment
of his nature, or most miserable in departing from the
known path, in which he had been designed to pro-
ceed.
Man, arrived at this state, is as perfect as the nature
of his being will admit. Like a God, he knows him-
self ; and, as a virtuous man, he knows the will of
God. He is wise in knowing what concerns him
most ; and he is happy in having nothing to allay
the pleasure of his enjoyments. He is independent
of fortune ; he is pleased with his species ; he is sa-
tisfied in himself; and he is confident in his Creator,
Hutton's Investigation, iii. 488.
HAPPINESS IN THE HOPE OF FUTURITY. For, as
Aristotle says, " That young men may be happy, but
no otherwise than by hope ;" so must we all, being so
taught by the Christian faith, acknowledge ourselves
to be but children and minors, and think of no other
106 HAPPINESS IN
felicity, than that which is in hope of a future world.
Bacon's Essays.
. But whatever false notions, or shameful neglect of
what is in their power, may put men out of their
way to happiness, and distract them, as we see, into
so different courses of life ; this yet is certain, that
morality, established upon its true foundations, can-
not but determine the choice in any one that will but
consider ; and he that will not be so far a rational
creature, as to reflect seriously upon infinite happi-
ness and misery, must needs condemn himself, as not
making that use of his understanding he should. The
rewards and punishments of another life, which the
Almighty has established, as the enforcements of his
law, are of weight enough to determine the choice,
against whatever pleasure or pain this life can shew,
when the eternal state is considered but in its bare
possibility, which nobody can make any doubt of.
He that will allow exquisite and endless happiness to
be but the possible consequence of a good life here,
and the contrary state the possible reward of a bad
one, must own himself to judge very much amiss, if
he does not conclude, that a virtuous life, with the
certain expectation of everlasting bliss, which may
come, is to be preferred to a vicious one, with the
fear of that dreadful state of misery, which it is very
possible may overtake the guilty ; or, at best, the ter-
rible uncertain hope of annihilation. This is evi-
dently so, though the virtuous life here had nothing
but pain, and the vicious continual pleasure ; which
yet is, for the most part, quite otherwise, and wick-
ed men have not much the odds to brag of, even in
their present possession ; nay, all things rightly con-
sidered, have, I think, even the worst part here. But,
when infinite happiness is put in one scale, against
infinite misery in the other, if the worst that comes
1
VIRTUE AND RELIGION. 107
to the pious man, if he mistakes, be the best that the
wicked can attain to, if he be in the right, who can,
without madness, run the venture ? Who, in his wits,
would choose to come within a possibility of infinite
misery, which, if he miss, there is yet nothing to be
got by that hazard ? Whereas, on the other side, the
sober man ventures nothing against infinite happi-
ness to be got, if his expectation comes to pass. If
the good man be in the right, he is eternally happy ;
if he mistakes, he is not miserable, he feels nothing.
On the other side, if the wicked be in the right, he is
not happy ; if he mistakes, he is infinitely miserable.
Must it not be a most manifest wrong judgment,
that does not presently see, to which side, in this
case, the preference is to be given ? I have forborn
to mention any thing of the certainty or probability
of a future state, designing here to shew the wrong
judgment, that any one must allow he makes upon
his own principles, laid how he pleases, who prefers
the short pleasures of a vicious life upon any consi-
deration, whilst he knows, and cannot but be certain,
that a future life is at least possible. Locks s Essay
on the Human Understanding, vol. i. book ii. ch. 21.
But, upon stricter examination, I found that this
aversion to home, this roving and restless disposi-
tion, proceeded from a cause, no less powerful than
universal, from the native unhappiness of our
frail and mortal state, which is incapable of all com-
fort, if we have nothing to divert our thoughts, and
to call us out of ourselves.
I speak of those alone, who survey their own na-
ture, without the views of faith and religion. Tis
only one of the miracles of Christianity, that, by re-
conciling man to God, it restores him to his own good
opinion ; that it makes him able to bear the sight of
p 6
108 HAPPINESS IN
himself; and in some cases, renders solitude and
silence more agreeable, than all the intercourse and
action of mankind. Nor is it by fixing man in his
own person, that it produceth these wonderful effects ;
it is by carrying him to God, and by supporting him
under the sense of his miseries, with the hopes of an
assured and complete deliverance in a better life.
M. Pascal's Thoughts, p. 192.
The pleasures of life are enjoyed by this man with
as much, perhaps with more relish, than by the lib-
ertine. But then they do not pervert the heart. The
only emotion they are capable of exciting there, is,
gratitude and thankfulness to the beneficient Donor.
The acquisition of knowledge is tasted by him with
as much delight as it is by the philosopher, though
it produces in them very different effects. The one
it puffs up with pride and presumption ; the other it
fills with humility, and reverence for the Most High.
The man, who has fixed his heart upon the proper
object, does not cease to taste with pleasure the com-
mon blessings of this life ; neither does he fail to be-
stow the proper industry to acquire, and to preserve
them. But then he considers them only as so many
sugar plums given by the Creator to make his con-
finement to his prison of clay more palatable ; which
must have an end when his enlargement begins. He
laments the unhappy condition of those, who seek af-
ter them as their chief good. He would neither
acquire nor preserve them at the expense of doing
one single act, that might forfeit the favour of his
Maker and Benefactor : neither does he repine at the
privation of them ; knowing, that it could not happen
without the will and pleasure of his Lord and Master,
the Sovereign of the universe, to which his heart and
will cheerfully submit.
VIRTUE AND RELIGION. 109
Compare the happiness of this man with that of
the greatest favourite of fortune, who has set his heart
on other objects, and who has had the full gratifica-
tion of all his appetites, so far as the course of hu-
manity will permit ; but who must die, and leave
those enjoyments, uncertain what is to happen here-
after. This man enjoys, in common with the wise
and the voluptuous of his rank in the world, all the
sensual and mental pleasures in which they delight,
without the alloy that must torture their minds, when
they think of parting with them. But, then, he has
in himself a constant source of unalloyed joy, to which
they are utter strangers. The abundant goodness
of the Giver of all those blessings, fills his soul with
gratitude and thankfulness, and disposes him with
joy to do what appears to him to be his duty ; and
consciousness of that happy disposition produces the
most firm confidence and reliance on the favour and
good will of his Omnipotent Benefactor ; from which
he is to look hereafter for joys of a different nature
from those which in this life he slights, when they
stand in the way of his duty. Every act of duty
performed fills his soul with a placid, still satisfaction,
that is sensibly felt, though not easily expressed.
A mouthful of meat bestowed on a hungry beggar,
gives the heart of the donor more real satisfaction
than the relish of the food gives pleasure to the cra-
ving stomach, or the most delicious dainty gives to
the vitiated palates of the voluptuous. And the par-
ticular excellency of these enjoyments is, that no ex-
cess can surfeit or pall the appetite, no accident can
deprive him of them.
To a man possessed of such an incorruptible stock
of happiness, the pleasures of this life appear but
mere baubles ; and the privation of them a trifling
110 HAPPINESS IN
loss. Life itself he is disposed to resign with will-
ingness, because to him death has no sting. Forbes's
Re/lections on Incredulity.
Real happiness is to be found only in God himself;
all other delights are but an empty shade, and are
capable of yielding only a momentary satisfaction.
Accordingly we see, that those who enjoy them in
the greatest abundance, are quickly satiated ; and
this apparent felicity serves only to inflame their de-
sires, and to disorder their passions by estranging
them from the supreme good, instead of bringing
them nearer to him. But true felicity consists in a
perfect union with God, which cannot subsist with-
out a love and a confidence in his goodness transcend-
ing all things ; and this love requires a certain dispo-
sition of soul, for which we must be making prepara-
tion in this life Eider's Letters to a German Prin-
cess, i. 504.
Lei us learn to know our nature better, and through
the delirium of our blind passions discover its wants :
it is a God we feel the want of, a God, such as reli-
gion presents ; a God, powerful and good, the first
source of happiness, and who only can secure it to
the kuman race : let us open all our faculties to that
splendid light, that our hearts and minds may wel-
come it, and find pleasure in widely diffusing. Let
us be penetrated in our youth, by the only idea ever
necessary to our peace ; let us strengthen it when in
our full vigour, that it may support us in the decline
of life. Ravishing beauties of the universe, what
would ye be to us without this thought ? Majestic
power of the human mind, astonishing wonders of
the thinking faculty, what could it represent if we
separated it from its noble origin ? Souls affection-
ate and impassioned, what would become of you
without hope ? Pardon, O master of the world, if,
VIRTUE AND RELIGION. Ill
not sufficiently sensible of my own weakness, and
abandoning myself only to the emotions of my heart,
1 have undertaken to speak to men of thy existence,
thy grandeur, and thy goodness ! Pardon me if,
lately agitated by the tumultuous waves of passion,
I dare to raise my thoughts to the realms of eternal
peace, where Thou more particularly exhibitest Thy
glory and sovereign power. Ah ! I know more than
ever that we must love Thee, we must serve Thee.
Neckers Religious Opinions', p. 452.
I conclude, therefore, and say there is no happi-
ness under the sun, nor any crambe in that repeated
verity and burden of all the wisdom of Solomon,
" all is vanity and vexation of spirit." There is no
felicity in that the world adores. That, wherein
God himself is happy, the holy angels are happy, in
whose defect the devils are unhappy ; that dare I
call happiness. Whatsoever conduceth unto this,
may, with an easy metaphor, deserve that name.
Whatsoever else the world terms happiness is to me
a story out of Pliny, a tale of Boccace or Malispini, an
apparition or neat delusion, wherein there is no more
of happiness than the name. Bless me in this life
with but peace of my conscience, command of my
affections, the love of thyself, and my dearest friends,
and I shall be happy enough to pity Caesar. These
are, O Lord, the humble desires of my most reason-
able ambition, and all I dare call happiness on earth ;
wherein I set no rule or limit to thy hand of provi-
dence. Dispose of me according to the wisdom of
thy pleasure. Thy will be done, though in my own
undoing. Brown's Religio Medici.
Upon the whole matter, I therefore conclude that
the happiness of mankind is not to be found in this
life, but is a flower that grows in the garden of eter-
nity, and to be expected only in its full complement
HAPPINESS IN VIRTUE AND RELIGION.
and fruition in that life, which is to succeed after our
bodily dissolution : that, although peace of conscience,
tranquillity of mind, and the sense of the favour of
God, that we enjoy in this life, like the bunches of
grapes brought by the spies from Canaan, are the
prelibations and anticipations of our happiness ; yet
the complement of our happiness consists in the bea-
tific vision of the ever-blessed God to all eternity,
where there is a vita perfecla ; a perfect life, free from
pain, from sorrow, from cares ; vita perfecta, a perfect
life of glory and immortality, out of the reach or dan-
ger of death, or the loss of that - happiness which we
shall then enjoy in the presence of the ever-glorious
God, in whose presence is fulness of joy, and at
whose right hand are pleasures for evermore. Sir
Matthew Hale's Contemplations, ii. 1 2.
113
CHAPTER VII.
TESTIMONIES TO TH# EVIDENCES AND EXCEL-
LENCE OF CHRISTIANITY.
SECTION I.
THE NEED OF A DIVINE REVELATION.
THE prerogative of God comprehends the whole
man; and extends as well to the reason as to the will of
man ; to the end that man may renounce himself whol-
ly, and draw near unto God. Wherefore, as we are to
obey the divine law, though we find a reluctance in our
will , so are we to believe the word of God, though we
find a reluctance in our reason. But that " faith, which
'* was accounted to Abraham for righteousness," was of
such a point as that at which -Sara A laughed; who there-
in was an image of natural reason. For, if we consider
the thing aright, it is more worthy to believe than to
know, as we now know ; since in knowledge man's
mind suffers from sense ; but in belief it suffers from
spirit, and such an one as it holds far more authoriz-
ed than itself, and so suffers from the worthier agent.
The case is otherwise in the state of glory ; for then
" faith shall cease, and we shall know as we are
" known."
114
EXCELLENCE OP CHRISTIANITY.
Wherefore we may conclude, that sacred theology
must be drawn from the word of God, not from the
light of nature, or the dictates of reason. For it is
written, The heavens declare the glory of God :"
but we find it no where written, the heavens de-
clare the will of God. Of this it is pronounced,
Ad legem et testimonia ; si nonfecerint secundum ver-
bum illud. Nor does this hold only in those great
mysteries of the Deity, of the creation, of the redemp-
tion, but appertains also to the moral law, truly in-
terpreted. For it must be confessed, that a great
part of the moral law is of that perfection, whereunto
the light of nature cannot aspire. Though men have,
even from the light and law of nature, some notions
of virtue, vice, justice, wrong, good and evil, the
light of nature is to be understood in two senses :
first, as it springs from sense, induction, reason, argu-
ment, according to the laws of heaven and earth :
secondly, as it is imprinted and shines upon the spi-
rit of man, by an inward instinct, according to the
law of conscience, which is a kind of spark and re-
lic of his former and primitive purity : in which lat-
ter sense chiefly, the soul participates of some light
to behold and discern the perfection of the moral law ;
which light, however, is not altogether clear, but of
such sort as rather to check the vice, than fully to in-
form the duty ; so then the doctrine of religion, as
well moral as mystical, depends upon divine revela-
tion. Bacon's Essays, p. 331.
At the time of Christ's appearance, mankind, in ge-
neral, were in a state of gross ignorance and dark-
ness, with respect to the knowledge of God, and of
themselves, and of all those moral relations and obli-
gations, we stand in to the Supreme Being, and to
one another. They were under great uncertainty con-
cerning a future state, and the concern of Divine Pro-
EXCELLENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 115
vidence in the government of the world ; and, at the
same time, were filled with a proud and a vain con-
ceit of their own natural abilities and self-sufficiency.
Our Saviour's doctrines on these heads, though they
appeared to be the true and genuine principles of na-
ture and reason, when he had set them in a proper
light ; yet were such as the people had never heard or
thought of before, and never would have known, with-
out such an instructor, such means and opportunities
of knowledge. They, who would judge uprightly of
the strength of human reason in matters of morality
and religion, under the present corrupt and degene-
rate sate of mankind, ought to take their estimate from
those parts of the world, which never had the bene-
fit of revelation ; and this perhaps might make them
less conceited of themselves, and more thankful to
God for the light of the gospel. If the religion of na-
ture, under the present pravity and corruption of man-
kind, was written with sufficient strength and clear-
ness upon every man's heart, why might not a Chi-
nese or an Indian draw up as good a system of natu-
ral religion as a Christian ; and why have we never
met with any such ? Let us take Confucius, Zoroas-
ter, Plato, Socrates, or the greatest moralist that ever
lived, without the light of revelation, and it will ap-
pear, that their best systems of morality were inter-
mixed and blended with so much superstition, and so
many gross absurdities, as quite eluded and defeated
the main design of them. Morgan's Moral Philoso-
pher, i. 144, Mo.
Though the works of nature, in every part of them,
sufficiently evidence a Deity, yet the world made so
little use of their reason, that they saw him not, where,
even by the impressions of himself, he was ever to be
found. Sense and lust blinded their minds in some,
and a careless inadvertency in others, and fearful ap-
116 EXCELLENCE OF CHRISTIANITY.
prehension in most, (who either believed there were,
or could not but suspect there might be, superior, un-
known beings, ) gave them up into the hands of their
priests, to fill their heads with false notions of the
Deity, and their worship with foolish rites, as they
pleased : and what dread or craft once began, devo-
tion soon made sacred, and religion immutable. In this
state of darkness and ignorance of the true God, vice
and superstition held the world. Nor could any help
be had or hoped for from reason ; which could not
be heard, and was judged to have nothing to do in
the case; the priests, every where, to recover their
empire, having excluded reason from having any
thing to do in religion. And in the crowd of wrong
notions, and invented rites, the world had almost lost
the sight of the one only true God. The rational and
thinking part of mankind, it is true, when they sought
after him, they found the one supreme, invisible God ;
but if they acknowledged and worshipped him it was
only in their own minds. They kept this truth locked up
in their own breasts as a secret, nor ever durst venture
it amongst the people, much less amongst the priests,
those wary "guardians of their own creeds and profitable
inventions. Thence we see, that reason speaking ever so
clearly to the wise and virtuous, had never authority
enough to prevail on the multitude; and to persuade the
societies of men that there was but one God, that alone
was to be owned and worshipped. The belief and wor-
ship of one God, was thenational religion of the Israelites
alone : and, if we will consider it, it was introduced
and supported amongst the people by revelation. They
were in Goshen, and had light, whilst the rest of the
world were in almost Egyptian darkness, ft without
" God in the world." There was no part of mankind
who had quicker parts, or improved them more ; that
had a greater light of reason, or followed it farther in
EXCELLENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 117
all sorts of speculations, than the Athenians ; and yet
we find but one Socrates amongst them, that oppos-
ed and laughed at their polytheism, and wrong opi-
nions of the Deity ; and we see how they rewarded
him for it. Whatsoever Plato,, and the soberest of the
philosophers, thought of the nature and being of the
one God, they were fain, in their outward professions
and worship, to go with the herd, and keep to the
religion established by law ; which, what it was, and
how it had disposed the minds of these knowing and
quick-sighted Grecians, St. Paul tells us, Acts xvii.
2229. Locke on the Reasonableness of Christianity,
Works, vi. 135.
Deism, or the principles of natural worship, are on-
ly the faint remnants or dying flames of revealed re-
ligion in the posterity of Noah ; and our modern phi-
losophers, nay, and some of our philosophizing di-
vines, have too much exalted the faculties of our souls,
when they have maintained, that by their force, man-
kind has been able to find out that there is one su-
preme agent, or intellectual being, which we call
God; that praise and prayer are his due worship;
and the rest of those deducements, which I am
confident are the remote effects of revelation, and un-
attainable by our discourse, I mean as simply consi-
dered, and without the benefit of divine illumination.
So that we have not lifted up ourselves to God by
the weak pinions of our reason, but he has been
pleased to descend to us ; and what Socrates said of
him, what Plato writ, and the rest of the heathen phi-
losophers of several nations, is all no more than the
twilight of revelation, after the sun of it was set in
the race of Noah. That there is something above us,
some principle of motion, our reason can apprehend,
though it cannot discover what it is by its own vir-
tue. And indeed 'tis very improbable, that we, who,
118 EXCELLENCE OF CHRISTIANITY.
by the strength of our faculties, cannot enter into
the knowledge of any being, not so much as our
own, should be able to find out by them that supreme
nature, which we cannot otherwise define than by
saying, it is infinite ; as if infinite -were definable, or
infinity a subject for our narrow understanding. They,
who would prove religion by reason, do but weaken
the cause which they endeavour to support. It is to take
away the pillars from our faith, and prop it only
with a twig ; it is to design a tower like that of
Babel, which, if it were possible, as it is not, to reach
heaven, would come to nothing by the confusion of
the workmen. For every man is building a several
way ; impotently conceited of his own model, and of
his own materials. Reason is always striving, always
at a loss ; and of necessity it must so come to pass,
while it is exercised about that which is not its pro-
per object. Let us be content at last to know God by
his own methods ; at least so much of him as he is
pleased to reveal to us in the sacred Scriptures. To
apprehend them to be the word of God, is all our rea-
son has to do ; for all beyond it is the work of faith,
which is the seal of heaven impressed upon our hu-
man understanding. Dryden's Preface to his Relig.
Laid.
What a forsaken and disconsolate creature is a man
without religion ! Reader, whosoever thou art, de-
ceive not thyself; let not passion, or prosperity, or
wit, or wantonness, seduce thy reason to an attempt
against the truth. If thou hast the faculties of a
man, thou wilt never bring thyself to a fixed persua-
sion, that there is no God. Struggle how thou wilt
against the notion, there will be a moment when the
glaring conviction will burst upon thy mind. Now
mark what follows if there is a God, the govern-
ment of the world is in that God ; and this once ad
EXCELLENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 119
mitted, the necessity of a future state follows of con-
sequence. Ask thyself then what can be the pur-
poses of that future state ; what but those of justice
and retribution, to reward the good, and to punish
the evil ? Our present life then is a life of probation,
a state of trial and of discipline, preparatory to that
future state. Now see what is fallen upon thee, and
look well to thyself for the consequences. Thou hast
let the idea of a God into thy mind, because indeed
thou couldst not keep it out, and religion rushes
through the breach. It is natural religion hitherto,
and no more. But no matter ; there is enough even
in natural religion to make thee tremble. Whither
wilt thou now resort for comfort, whither fly for re-
fuge from the wrath to come ? Behold the asylum is
open ; Christianity is thy salvation and redemption.
That, which natural religion hath shadowed out to
thee in terrors, Christianity will reveal in glory. It
will clear up thy doubts, disperse thy fears, and turn
thy hopes into certainty. Thy reasonings about a
future state, which are but reasonings, it will not only
verify by divine authorities, but by positive proof,
by visible example, attested by witnesses, confirmed
by the evidence of the senses, arid uncontradicted by
the history of ages. Now thou wilt know, to thy
comfort, that there is a mediator gone before thee,
who will help out thy imperfect atonement*, when
thou art brought to judgment in a future state. Thou
wilt, indeed, be told for certain, that this life is a
state of probation, and that thou shalt be brought to
account for thine actions ; but thou wilt be taught an
easy lesson of salvation ; thou wilt be cheered with
* This expression is obviously unscriptural, but the general
strain of the passage is strongly expressive of the importance of
redemption to human beings.
120 EXCELLENCE OF CHRISTIANITY.
the mercies of thy God, and comforted with the assu-
rance of pardon, if thou wilt heartily turn to repent-
ance. Thou wilt find, that all this system of religion
is conformable to those natural notions, which reason
suggested to thee before, with this advantage, that it
makes them clearer, purifies, refines, enlarges them ;
shuts out every dismal prospect, opens all that is de-
lightful, and points a road to heaven through paths of
peace and pleasantness. -Cumberland's Observer, (iii.
309.) No. 91.
The whole world, as is well known, was at that
time drowned in impiety, profaneness, and ignorance,
fallen into the last irregularity and dregs of licentious-
ness, giving themselves over to all manner of unclean-
ness and abominations, by which sins they w r ere ne-
cessarily fallen under insupportable loads of guilt,
and bound over to the inevitable punishment and ven-
geance of the Almighty, when he should come in his
majesty and glory, to render a righteous reward unto
every man according to his works. Of which the
very heathens themselves were convinced, having
found out by their natural ratiocinations that they
were sinners, and obnoxious to the divine anger, as
appears by their sacrifices and other rites. But now
this was that which surpassed their most raised intel-
lects, how their sins should be forgiven, and their ob-
ligation to punishment by reason of them be cancell-
ed and annulled. They had, indeed, some general
hopes of God's mercy, founded on the common boun-
ty of his providence towards them, in giving them
rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling their
hearts with food and gladness, and the like, which
they endeavoured to increase by their sacrifices, and
other religious rites and ceremonies. But they had
no positive assurance of the remission of their sins,
and of the divine reconciliation of their .persons, being
EXCELLENCE OF CHRISTIANITY.
being still obscured and bewildered in their notions
and apprehensions concerning it, never arriving unto
any certain conclusion, that though the goodness of
God did now attend them, yet that his justice, anger,
and vengeance should not overtake and seize them
another day, and severely punish them for all those
innumerable and abominable sins, which they them-
selves were sensible they had most daringly corn*
mitted against him. And as the heathens knew
not how their sins could be forgiven, and their per-
sons absolved from the guilt thereof; so neither
had the Jews any perfect and certain apprehensions
thereof. The mosaical law had appointed sacrifices
for sins of ignorance, and for small and ordinary trans-
gressions, by the regular and conscientious offering
whereof those sins were remitted, and the anger of
God appeased ; but, as for greater and capital sins,
such as murder, adultery, and the like, there was a sen-
tence of death denounced against them, for the rever-
sing of which the law had made no provision. This
being then the condition of the world, at the time of
our Saviour's appearing therein ; they being all, both
Jew and Gentile, concluded under sin, and not know-
ing which way to free themselves from the guilt and
condemnation thereof, the apostles were sent forth
with full power and authority to invite them both to
come into the Christian church, which they were now
founding; assuring them, that they should therein
receive a complete and perfect remission of all their
crimes, though never so innumerable and abominable.
The entrance whereunto was by baptism, supposed
to be accompanied with faith and repentance ; when,
for the sake of Christ, all the sins of the baptized per-
son should be entirely obliterated and forgotten.
Chnncdior Sir Peter King on the Creed.
The same persons who treat the Christian religion
6
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
and its advocates with so much scorn, will probably
(some of them at least) profess a regard to natural re-
ligion, and it may seem hard to question their sin-
cerity. However, as far as has occurred to my ob-
servation, these persons either deceive themselves, or
attempt to deceive others in this : there appears in
them no love or fear of God, no confidence in him,
no delight in meditating upon him, in praying to him
or praising him, no hope or joy in a future state.
Their hearts and treasures are upon this earth, upon
sensual pleasures or vain amusements, perhaps of phi-
losophy or philology, pursued to pass the time,
upon honour or riches. And indeed there are the
same objections, in general, to natural religion as to
revealed, and no stronger evidences for it. On the
contrary, the historical and moral evidences for the
general truth of the Scriptures, which these persons
deny, are more convincing and satisfactory to philoso-
phical as well as to vulgar capacities, than the argu-
ments, that are usually brought to prove the existence
and attributes of God, his providence, or a future
state : not but that these last are abundantly sufficient
to satisfy an earnest and impartial inquirer. Hart*
ley's Observations on Man, ii. p.
SECTION II.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY".
GENERAL EVIDENCES. Their disputes with the de-
ists are almost at an end, since they can have no more
than victory, and that they are already possessed of;
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 123
as their antagonists have been driven into a confes-
sion of the necessity of revelation, or an open avowal
of atheism. Goldsmith's Essays, No. 1?> of ed. 1767.
And here I must observe to those who think the
whole of Christianity to have been a fiction, and the
founder a deceiver, that the deceit must have been
the most extraordinary that ever was imposed upon
the world. No impostor ever formed a scheme that
was riot to be discovered (made known) till after his
death. Our Saviour, at this rate, went through a life
of trouble, want, and persecution, to carry on a de-
sign, from which no emolument could ensue, and
which was to be brought to light after his decease
by persons who were not acquainted with it, and who
were knowingly to undergo the same persecutions.
Accordingly, upon the feast of Pentecost, when they
met in full assembly, the Holy Ghost came upon them,
with an ample effusion ; and they were gifted with
that salutary knowledge, to which they were before
strangers ; and with the gift of tongues, by which
they were enabled to convey it to the most distant
countries. By these means the gospel of Christ tri-
umphed over the learning of Greece and Rome, and
the ignorance of other nations. These were two
formidable obstacles, which could not, but by a mira-
cle, be surmounted. Bryant on the Authenticity of
Scripture, 209.
These and a great many more instances may be al-
leged to shew, that a man needs not quit his reason to
fulfil the conditions of the gospel, though it wanted
demonstrative arguments. For the probability of ob-
taining inestimable blessings, and more than a proba-
bility of enduring unspeakable torments for their ne-
glect, may reasonably induce a man to fulfil the con-
ditions ; and, it will justify his prudence, if it does
but appear, that it is more probable some religion
G 2
124 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
should be true, than that so many attested mira-
cles, alleged by the ancient Christians, should be
false; and that God, who hath made the world and
man, should leave him, whom he hath so fitted, and
by internal laws obliged to worship him, undirected
how to perform it. And that, if any religion be true,
the excellence of its doctrines and promises, as also
prophecies and miracles, that bear witness of it, make
the Christian most likely ; the records of it being
made by honest, plain men, who practised, as well as
taught, the strictest virtue, and knew that lying was
condemned by their religion ; and who freely joined
their doctrines and relations with their blood ; which
was so evidently true in the times it was performed,
that the evidence converted whole nations, many of
which were considerable and prudent persons, who
were both concerned and had opportunities to exa-
mine the truth of them ; and whose education so
much indisposed them to embrace Christianity, that,
to profess it sincerely they were obliged to forsake
both their former religion and vices, and expose their
lives and fortunes for it. Honourable Robert Boyle's
Theological Works.
AUTHENTICITY OF SCRIPTURE. Disquisitions con-
earning the manners and conduct of our species, in
early times, or indeed at any time, are always curious
at least, and amusing ; but they are highly interest-
ing to such as can say of themselves, with Chremes
in the play, * We are men, and take an interest in all
' that relates to mankind/ They may even be of so-
lid importance in an age, when some intelligent and
virtuous persons are inclined to doubt the authentici-
ty of accounts delivered by Moses, concerning the
primitive world ; since no modes or sources of reason-
ing can be unimportant, which have a tendency to re-
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 125
move such doubts. Either the first eleven chapters of
Genesis, (all due allowances being made for a figura-
tive eastern style,) are true, or the whole fabric of our
national religion is false ; a conclusion, which none of
us, I trust, would wish to be drawn. I, who cannot
help believing the Divinity of the Messiah, from the
undisputed antiquity, and manifest completion of
many prophecies, especially those of Isaiah, in the only
person recorded by history, to whom they are appli-
cable, am obliged of course to believe the sanctity of
the venerable books, to which that sacred person re-
fers as genuine. Lord Teignmouth's Life of Sir W*
Jones, 276.
The divine legate, educated by the daughter of a*
king, and in all respects highly accomplished, could'
not but know the mythological system of Egypt, but
he must have condemned the superstitions of that
people, and despised the speculative absurdities of
their priests, though some of their traditions concern-
ing the creation and the flood, were founded on truth.
Who was better acquainted with the mythology of
Athens, than Socrates ? who more accurately versed
in the rabbinical doctrines, than Paul ? Who pos-
sessed clearer ideas of all ancient astronomical sys-
tems, than Newton ; or of scholastic metaphysics,
than Locke? In whom could the Romish church
have had a more formidable opponent, than in Chil-
lingworth, whose deep knowledge of its tenets ren-
dered him so competent to dispute them ? In a word,
who more exactly knew the abominable rites and
shocking idolatry of Canaan, than Moses himself?
Yet the learning of those great men only incited them
to seek other sources of truth, piety, and virtue, than
those in which they had long been immersed. There
is no shadow then of a foundation for an opinion, that
Moses borrowed the first nine or ten chapters of Ge
G 3
126 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
nesis from the literature of Egypt ; still less can the
adamantine pillars of our Christian faith be moved by
the result of any debates on the comparative antiqui-
ty of the Hindus and Egyptians, or of any inquiries
into the Indian theology. Lord Teignmouth's Life of
Sir W. Jones, 280.
It is out of dispute, that we have in our hands the
gospels of Matthew and John, who give themselves
out for eye and ear witnesses of all that Christ did
and taught. Two channels were as sufficient as four
to convey those doctrines to the world, and to pre-
serve them in their original purity. The manner too
in which these evangelists recorded them was much
better adapted to this purpose, than that of Plato, or
even of Xenophon, to preserve the doctrines of So-
crates. The evangelists did not content themselves
to give a general account of the doctrines of Christ in
their own words; nor presumed, in feigned dia-
logues, to make him deliver their opinions in his own
name. They recorded his doctrines in the very
words in which he taught them ; and they were care-
ful to mention the several occasions, in which he de-
livered them to his disciples or others. If therefore
Plato and Xenophon tell us, with a good degree of
certainty, what Socrates taught ; the evangelists seem
to tell us, with much more, what the Saviour taught
and commanded them to teach. Bolingbroke's Works,
vol. iv. p. 390.
PROBABILITY OF CHRIST'S MISSION. That there
was such a person as Jesus Christ, and that he in the
main did and taught as is recorded of him, appears to
be probable, because it is improbable that Christiani-
ty should take place, in the way and to the degree
that it did, or at least that we are told it did, suppos-
ing the history of Christ's life and ministry to be a
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 127
fiction. If such power attended Jesus Christ in the
exercise of his ministry, as the history sets forth, then,
seeing his ministry and the power that attended it,
seems at least in general to have terminated in the
public good, it is more likely, that God was the pri-
mary agent in the exercise of that power, than any
other invisible being. And then it is probable, that
Jesus Christ, upon whose will the immediate exercise
of that power depended, would not use that power to
impose upon and mislead mankind to their hurt, see-
ing that power appears to have been well directed
and applied in other respects, and seeing he was ac-
countable to his principal for the abuse of it. From
these premises, and from this general view of the
case, I think this conclusion follows, viz. it is proba-
ble Christ's mission was divine ; at least it appears so
to me, from the light or information I have received
concerning it.
It may perhaps be a piece of justice due to Christ-
ianity, (could it be certainly intended what it is, and
could it be separated from every thing that hath been
blended with it,) to acknowledge, that it yields a
much clearer light, and is a more safe guide to man-
kind, than any other traditionary religion, as being
better adapted to improve and perfect human na-
ture. Chubb' s Posth. Works, vol. ii. p. 41. 4,9. 39*.
297*.
FROM MIRACLES. I may form this par-
ticular conclusion, that, according to the ordinary
course of nature, the dead do not rise ; but, I cannot
* It is to be recollected, that this author is deservedly count-
ed among the deistical writers ; and hence the importance of these
admissions from his pen. They rest the question on the point of
fact.
128 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
logically affirm, that there is not a secret dispensa-
tion of the physical order, of which the resurrection
of the dead might be the result ; and to affirm in ge-
neral the impossibility of the resurrection of the dead,
would be still more repugnant to sound logic. Were
it even demonstrated further, that miracles can only
be the result of an immediate act of omnipotence, that
act would not imply a violation of physical order ;
because the legislator of nature does not violate his
laws, whenever he suspends or modifies these laws,
He does not act by a new will. Supreme intelligence
beheld at once the whole series of things, and mira-
cles enterec) from eternity into that series, as a condi-
tion of the greatest good.
This idea is clearly set forth by the author of the
Essay on Psychology ; although his style, often too
concise, does not bring it within the comprehension
f all readers : " Whenever," he says, " the course of
" nature appears suddenly altered, or interrupted,
" that interruption is termed a miracle, and is sup-
" posed to be an effect of an immediate act of God.
" uch a judgment may be proved false, and the mi-
'* racle may be the result of second causes, or of a
ff pre-established arrangement. The essential good,
" which was to result from it, might require this ar-
tf rangement or exception to the ordinary laws ; but
" if there are miracles which imply an immediate act
" of God, this act became part of the plan, as a ne-
" cessary means for happiness ; in both cases the effect
" is the same with respect to faith." Bonnet's Enqui-
ries concerning Christianity, 43.
These means were MIRACLES ; for nothing could be
better adapted to prove to mankind, that the author of
nature had spoken, than miracles. But, had miracles
been wrought in every place and in every time, they
would have fallen into the ordinary course of nature,, and
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
would no longer have been sufficient to ascertain, that
the supreme author of nature had spoken. It became
therefore necessary, that miracles should be wrought
in certain places, and at certain times. They were;
then, to be submitted to the rules of testimony, as
are all other facts. Reason, therefore, was to apply
these rules, and by this application to judge of the
reality of the facts. And because these facts were
miraculous, and because, to obtain belief, miraculous
facts require a greater number of testimonies, and
testimonies of superior force, it was agreeable to
the nature of this species of proof, that it should
be given by witnesses who united, in the highest de-
gree, those conditions that establish in the eye of rea-
son, the credibility of any fact whatever ; I say of
any fact whatever, because it seems very evident to
me, that miracles are not less facts, although those facts
are not comprised within the sphere of the common
laws of nature. I have already observed elsewhere,
that reason will acquiesce in those proofs of facts
which the miracles afford, if, after applying to those
proofs the rules of sound criticism and exact logic,-
they appear to be established on a solid basis. Bon~
net's Enquiries concerning Christianity, 274.
Besides, amidst these proofs, are there not some
that may be easily comprehended by the most limit-
ed capacities ? How admirably calculated is the mo-
ral excellence of Christ, to make deep impressions
on virtuous and feeling minds ! How much does the
character of the institutor himself excite the admira-
tion and veneration of every sincere friend to truth
and virtue ! Much of the same sublimity of character
appears in the conduct of the first disciples. What a
life ! What morals ! What excellent models ! What
benevolence ! What charity ! Are such things be-*
yond the reach of the multitude ? And are thesa
G 5
130 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
things destitute of power to influence their minds ?
They will not believe, perhaps, on the authority of
so many proofs as a divine ; but they will believe on
those proofs, which are most within their comprehen-
sion ; nor will their belief on that account be the less
rational, the less practical, or the less comfortable.
Bonnet's Enquiries concerning Christianity, 277.
Celsus, it is well known, was a very learned man,
and wrote in the time of Adrian, or some thing later :
this was not above fifty years after the date of Christ's
miracles. Celsus did not controvert the accounts of
them, who were witnesses of the miracles, nor at-
tempt to shew any inconsistence or chicanery in the
facts themselves ; he takes up, at second hand, the old
pharisaical argument of ascribing them to the power
of the devil. In short, they were performed, he can-
not deny it ; there was no trick or artifice in the per-
formance, he cannot discover any ; the accounts of
them are no forgeries, he cannot confute them ; they
are recent histories, and their authenticity too notorious
to be called into question ; he knows not how the
miracles were performed, and therefore they were
done by the invocation of the devil j he cannot pati-
ently look on, and see that learning, so long the glory
of all civilized nations, and which he himself was to an
eminent degree possessed of, now brought into disgrace
by a new religion professing to be a divine revelation,
and originating among the meanest and most odious
of all the provincial nations, and propagated by dis-
ciples, who were as much despised and hated by
the Jews in general, as the Jews were by all other
people. Unable to disprove the account, and at a
loss how to parry it from hearsay, or from what he
finds in former writers, he has no other resource but
to bring forward again those cavilling pharisees, and
roundly to assert in general terms (which he does
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 131
more than once) that these miracles are all the tricks
of a sorcerer, and for this he expects the world should
take his authority.
I have said that Celsus adduces neither oral nor
written authority against Christ's miracles ; but I am
well aware it may be said (and modern cavillers will af-
fect to say it with triumph) that authorities are silent
on the subject ; there are none which make mention of
those miracles, at least none have come to our times.
If this silence implies a want of collateral evidence,
which in the opinion of our modern disbelievers viti-
ates the authenticity of the gospel, how much strong,
er would the argument have been in Celsus's time
than in ours ! Why does he not avail himself of it ?
And why does he take such pains to controvert
accounts, of which no man had ever spoken either
in proof or disproof? May it not be fairly presum-
ed, that he forbears to urge it from plain convic-
tion, that it would operate the contrary way to what
he wished ; and that the reason why contemporary
writers were silent, was not because they were igno-
rant of the facts, but because they could not confute
them ? Here then we will leave the case for the pre-
sent ; the heathen writers, contemporary with Christ,
make no mention of his miracles ; they are interested
to disprove them, and they do not disprove them ;
modern unbelievers think this a reason that those mi-
racles were never performed ; Celsus writes fifty
years after the time ; never urges this silence as an
argument for their non-existence ; but virtually, nay
expressly, admits Christ's miracles, by setting up
Pythagoras' s in competition with them. Cumber-
land's Observer, No. 12.
CHARACTER OF JESUS CHRIST. To insist upon the
miracles relative to Christ, would be to insist upon that,
which would have but little effect upon the minds of
G 6
EVIDENCES OF CH1USTIANITY.
anti-christians, who, if they believe not the religion,
will certainly give no credit to the relation of the
facts. But I may be permitted to insist upon the un-
deniable truth, that in the history of mankind, Christ
is the only founder of a religion, who has been
proved to have been totally regardless of interested
and selfish considerations. All others, Numa, Ma-
hommed, and even Moses himself, blended their reli-
gious institutions with their civil, and by them ob-
tained dominion over their respective people ; but
Christ never aimed at, nor would accept of any con-
sequence or power ; he rejected every object, which
all other men pursue, and made choice of all those,
which all other men fly from, and are afraid of: he
refused authority, riches, honour, and pleasure ; and
courted poverty, ignominy, torture, and death. Who
ever, before or after him, made his own sufferings
and death a necessary part of his original plan, and
fundamentally and absolutely essential to the success
of his mission ?
Christ did not, like the philosophers of the hea-
thens, content himself with scholastic speculations
and reasonings about virtue and religion, and then
leave the noble cause to fight for itself. He did not
pretend to philosophize, where he dared not under-
take. But after he had introduced and recommend-
ed his divine system to the world, and that not only
by the intrinsic sublime energy of his doctrines, upon
the hearts and consciences of men, but by his imma-
culate and exemplary life, he died a martyr in its de-
fence, and sealed its verity with his blood. Here
then, surely, I might put the authority of Christ, and
the credit of Christianity, to issue. Let any nation
upon earth, besides Christians, make it appear, that
the authors and founders of any of their several reli-
gions, did not in many instances give up the cause of
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 135
virtue, to comply with the prevailing prejudices of
the people, and to guard themselves in safety ; nay,
that they did not intermix and blend the grossest ab-
surdities in belief, with the grossest immoralities
in practice ; let them do this, and the name of Christ
shall stoop to give place to any other name under
heaven, that can plead a better title to the universal
honour, love, and veneration of our species. Sulli-
van's View of Nature, vol. vi. letter xc.
I will confess to you farther, that the majesty of the
Scriptures strikes me with admiration, as the purity of
the gospel hath its influence on my heart. Peruse the
works of our philosophers, with all their pomp of dic-
tion, how mean, how contemptible are they, com-
pared with the Scripture ! Is it possible that a book,
at once so simple and sublime, should be merely the
work of man ? Is it possible that the sacred personage,
whose history it contains, should be himself a mere
man ? Do we find that he assumed the air of an en-
thusiast or ambitious sectary ? What sweetness, what
purity in his manners ! What an affecting graceful-
ness in his delivery ! What sublimity in his maxims !
What profound wisdom in his discourses ! What pre-
sence of mind, what subtilty, what truth in his re-
plies ! How great the command over his passions !
Where is the man, where the philosopher, who could
so live, and so die, without weakness and without os-
tentation ? When Plato described his imaginary good
man, loaded with all the shame of guilt, yet meriting
the highest rewards of virtue, he describes exactly the
character of Jesus Christ : the resemblance was so
striking, that all the fathers perceived it.
What prepossession, what blindness must it be, to
compare the son of Sophroriiscus to the son of Mary !
What an infinite disproportion there is between them !
Socrates, dying without pain or ignominy, easily sup-
134 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
ported his character to the last ; and if his death,
however easy, had not crowned his life, it might have
been doubted whether Socrates, with all his wisdom,
was any thing more than a vain sophist. He invent-
ed, it is said, the theory of morals ; others, however,
had before put them in practice : he had only to say,
what they had done, and reduce their examples to
precepts. Aristides had been just, before Socrates de-
fined justice ; Leonidas gave up his life for his coun-
try, before Socrates declared patriotism to be a duty ;
the Spartans were a sober people, before Socrates re-
commended sobriety ; before he had even defined
virtue, Greece abounded with virtuous men. But
where could Jesus learn, among his compatriots, that
pure and sublime morality, of which he only hath gi-
ven us both precept and example ? The greatest wis-
dom was made known amidst the most bigoted fa-
naticism ; and the simplicity of the most heroic vir-
tues did honour to the vilest people on the earth. The
death of Socrates, peaceably philosophizing with his
friends, appears the most agreeable that could be
wished for; that of JESUS expiring in the midst of ago-
nizing pains, abused, insulted, cursed by a whole na-
tion, is the most horrible that could be feared. So-
crates, in receiving the cup of poison, blessed, indeed,
the weeping executioner who administered it; but
JESUS, in the midst of excruciating tortures, prayed
for his merciless tormentors. Yes, if the life and death
of Socrates are those of a sage, the life and death of
JESUS are those of a God. Shall we suppose the evan-
gelic history a mere fiction ? Indeed, my friend, it
bears not the marks of fiction ; on the contrary, the
history of Socrates, which nobody presumes to doubt,
is not so well attested as that of JESUS CHRIST. Such
a supposition; in fact, only shifts the difficulty,
without removing it : it is more inconceivable that a
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 135
number of persons should agree to write such a his-
tory, than that ene only should furnish the subject of
it. The Jewish authors were incapable of the dic-
tion, and strangers to the morality contained in the
gospel, the marks of whose truth are so striking and
inimitable, that the inventor would be a more asto-
nishing character than the hero. Rousseau's Emilius,
vol. ii. p. 215*.
INTERNAL EVIDENCES. Though it has pleased
the merciful wisdom of God to scatter proofs of his
revelation over all the ancient nations, and to preserve
documents of them down to our days, for the convic-
tion of obstinate infidels, and for the confirmation of
the faith of the inquisitive, who believe ; yet, happily
for the bulk of mankind, who have neither time nor
talents for such inquiries, revelation is so calculated)
as to require nothing of man, that his conscious soul
does not see to be his duty ; and to promise him no-
thing, that does not appear to his most inward sense,
to be the necessary consequence of doing it. By it he
is acquainted with his forlorn condition; which he
needs do no more to discover to be truth, than to turn
his eyes inward upon himself. And a remedy is point-
ed out adequate to the disease, which tends to mag-
nify the mercy, the wisdom, and the goodness of the
Creator ; and to tie the creature to him, by still strong-
er bonds of duty and gratitude. In this system there
is such harmony between duty and interest, and there-
fore such a propensity in every sober-thinking per-
son to wish it to be true, that, from the declared opi-
* ** Rousseau is not what you think him," said Mr. Hume to
the Earl of Charlemont ; * he has a hankering after the Bible ;
and, indeed, is little better than a Christian in a way of his own.'*
Hardy's Life of the Earl of Charkmont* i. 230.
4
136 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
nions of others, better qualified to judge of the evi-
dence, and to determine, it gains belief; and that ve-
ry belief, influencing the practice, brings real tran-
quillity and happiness in this life, springing from
confidence of the favour of the Almighty ; a sure ear-
nest of future felicity. By the debauched and the
giddy, who have delivered themselves over, soul and
body, to their lusts, and to their vanity, this aptitude,
this harmony is not discovered. Their fears make
them wish it may not be true. Objections are rife in
every corner ; and if any inquiry is made into the
proofs, it is with an intent to object, and to find them
insufficient. President Forbes's Reflections on Incre~
duliiy.
Many of the objections to Christianity are owing
to misrepresentations of it. Let the New Testament
be consulted. Does it ascribe to God a character wor-
thy of the Creator of the universe, and the Father of
men ? Does it clear and extend the view of his wis-
dom and benevolence ? Does it make the way to com-
munion with him more plain and pleasant? Is the
appointment of a Mediator analagous to the ways of
Providence, expressive of divine condescension, and
suited to human nature? Is it consoling to the heart,
under a sense of guilt, to be assured of pardon ?
Does moral excellence, made perfect by suffering^
seem to be a sacrifice which God will accept ? Is it
natural to the mind of man to feel admiration and
]ove at the view of moral excellence, and yield to its
transforming influence ? Take a view of man in his
low estate. Think if it be godlike to send glad tid-
ings to the poor, if it be godlike to console the mise-
rable, and if the sympathy of an affectionate and
powerful friend be a strong consolation? Does the
doctrine of a resurrection fall in with our predilec-
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 137
tion for these bodies, and open, as it were, to the eye
of sense, the prospect of immortality ? And does the
doctrine of judgment accord with the natural feeling,
that we are accountable ? Do the sufferings of Christ,
and the glory which followed, illustrate and ratify his
important doctrine of a state of trial, preparatory to
a state of retribution ?
Judge Christianity by its effects. Does it kindle
love to God and man, and establish the authority of
conscience, and reconcile you to your lot ? If your
child be satisfied that Christ is a teacher sent from
God, and is willing to be his disciple, it is meet to
confess him before men. The celebration of his death,
is a proper testimony of regard. Such a benefactor
deserves to be had in everlasting remembrance.
Lord Kames on the Culture of the Heart.
What opinion will be formed of this association (of
the illuminati) by the modest, the lowly minded, the
candid, who acknowledge that they too often feel the
superior force of present and sensible pleasures, by
which their minds are drawn off from the contempla-
tion of what their consciences tell them to be right,
to be their dutiful and filial sentiments and emotions-
respecting their great and good parent, to be their
dutiful and neighbourly affections and their proper
conduct to all around them, and which diminish their
veneration for that purity of thought and moderation
of appetite, which becomes their noble natures ? What
must they think of this order. Conscious of frequent
faults, which would offend themselves, if committed
by their dearest children, they look up to their Maker
with anxiety, are grieved to have so far forgotten
their duty, and fearful that they may again forget it.
Their painful experience tells them, that their reason
is often too weak, their information too scanty, or its
light is obstructed by passions and prejudices, whick
158 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
distort and discolour every thing, as it is unheeded du-
ring their attention to present objects. Happy should
they be, if it should please their kind parent to re-
mind them of their duty from time to time, or to in-
fluence their mind in any way, that would compensate
for their own ignorance, their own weakness, or even
their indolence and neglect. They dare not expect
such a favour, which their modesty tells them they
do not deserve, and which they fear may be unfit to
be granted ; but, when such a comfort is held out to
them, with eager hearts they receive it, they bless
the kindness that granted it, and the hand that brings
it. Such amiable characters have appeared in all
ages, and in all situations of mankind. They have
not in all instances been wise ; often have they been
precipitate, and have too readily caught at any thing
which pretended to give them the so much wished
for assistances ; and unfortunately there have been
enthusiasts or villains, who have taken advantage of
this universal wish of anxious men ; and the world
has been darkened by cheats, who have misrepresent-
ed God to mankind, have filled us with vain terrors,
and have then quieted our fears by fines, and sacrifi-
ces, and mortifications, and services, which they said
were more than sufficient to expiate all our faults.
Thus was our duty to our neighbours, to our own dig-
nity, and to our Maker and parent, kept out of sight,
and religion no longer came in aid to our sense of
right and wrong ; but, on the contrary, by these su-
perstitions, it opened the doors of heaven to the worth-
less and the wicked. But I wish not to speak of those
men, but of the good, the candid, the MODEST, the
HUMBLE, who know their failings, who love their du-
ties, but wish to know, to perceive, and to love them
still more. These are they, who think and believe
that " the gospel has brought life and immortality to
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 139
light," that it is within their reach. They think it
worthy of the father of mankind, and they receive it
with thankful hearts, admiring above all things the
simplicity of itsmorality, comprehended in one sentence,
" do to another what you can reasonably wish that
" another should do to you ;" and THAT PURITY OF
THOUGHT AND MANNERS, WHICH DISTINGUISHES IT
FROM ALL THE SYSTEMS OF MORAL INSTRUCTION THAT
HAVE EVER BEEN OFFERED TO MEN. Here they find
a ground of resignation under the troubles of life, and
a support in the hour of death quite suited to the
diffidence of their own character. ~Robison's Proofs
of a Conspiracy, p. 239 *
SECTION III.
EXCELLENCIES OF THE SCRIPTURES.
IT is impossible to imagine a chaster language than
that of the Bible ; and this is because every thing is
mentioned there with great simplicity. Rousseau's
Emilius, ii. p. 251.
These objections are but the conclusions and falli-
ble discourses of man upon the word of God, for such
do I believe the Holy Scriptures, yet, were it of man,
I could not choose but say, it was the singularest
and superlative piece, that hath been extant since the
creation. Were I a pagan, I should not refrain the
lecture of it. Browns Religio Medici.
* See particularly on this subject, ^Mr. Erskine's Remarks on
the Internal Evidence for the Truth of Revealed Religion."
140 EXCELLENCIES OF THE SCEIPTUEES.
This book appears to me unexampled, and abso-
lutely inimitable. The sublimity of thought, the ma-
jesty and simplicity of expression ; the beauty, the
purity, I could almost say, the homogeneity of the doc-
trine ; the importance, the universality, and the ex-
pressive brevity and paucity of the precepts; their ad-
mirable appropriation to the nature and wants of man ;
the ardent charity, which so generously enforces the
observation of them j the affecting piety, force, and gra-
vity of the composition ; the profound and truly phi-
losophical sense, which I discover in it ; these are the
characters which fix my attention to the book I exa-
mine, and which 1 do not meet with, in the same de-
gree, in any production of the human mind. I am
equally affected with the candour, the ingenuousness,
the modesty, I should have said the humility, of the
writers, and that unexampled and constant forgetful-
ness of themselves, which never admits their own re-
flections, or the smallest eulogium in reciting the ac-
tions of their master. Bonnet's Enquiries concerning
Christianity, 89.
How extraordinary, how interesting the work, that
begins with Genesis, and ends with the Revelations ;
which opens in the most perspicuous style, and con-
cludes in the most figurative ! May we not justly as-
sert, that, in the books of Moses, all is grand and sim-
ple, like that creation of the world, and that inno-
cence of primitive mortals, which he describes ; and
that all is terrible and supernatural in the last of the
prophets, like those civilized societies, and that con-
summation of ages, which he has represented ?
The productions most foreign to our manners, the
sacred books of the infidel nations, the Zendavesta of
the Parsees, the Vidam of the Bramins, the Coran of
the Turks, the Edda of the Scandinavians, the Sans-
crit poems, the maxims of Confucius, excite in us no
EXCELLENCIES OF THE SCRIPTURES. 141
surprise; we find in all these works the ordinary chain
of human ideas ; they have all some resemblance to
each other both in tone and ideas. The Bible alone
i* like none of them : it is a monument detached from
all the others. Explain it to a Tartar, to a Caffre, to
an American Savage ; put it into the hands of a bonze
or a dervise, they will be all equally astonished by
it, a fact which borders on the miraculous. Twenty
authors, living at periods very distant from one ano-
ther, composed the sacred books ; and, though they are
written in twenty different styles, yet these styles,
equally inimitable, are not to be met with in any
other performance. The New Testament, so diffe-
rent in its spirit from the Old, nevertheless partakes
with the latter of this astonishing originality.
But this is not the only extraordinary thing, which
men unanimously discover in the Scriptures : those,
who will not believe in the authenticity of the Bible, ne-
vertheless believe, in spite of themselves, that there is
something more than common in this same Bible.
Deists and atheists, small and great, all attracted by
some hidden magnet, are incessantly referring to that
work, which is admired by the one, and despised by
the others. There is not a situation in life, for which
a text, apparently dictated with an express reference
to it, may not be found in the Bible. It would be a
difficult task to persuade us, that all possible contin-
gencies, both prosperous and adverse, had been fore-
seen, with all their consequences, in a book formed
by the hand of man. Now, it is certain, that we find
in the Scriptures, the origin of the world, and the pre-
diction of its end the groundwork of all the human
sciences : all the political precepts from the patriar-
chal government to despotism ; from the pastoral ages
to the ages of corruption: all the moral precepts
applicable to all the ranks and to all the incidents of
life; finally, all sorts of known styles, styles which,
EXCELLENCIES OF THE SCRIPTURES.
forming an inimitable work of many different parts,
have nevertheless no resemblance to the styles of men.
Chateaubriand's Beauties of Christianity, ii. 1Q3.
Theological inquiries are no part of my present sub-
ject ; but I cannot refrain from adding, that the col-
lection of tracts, which we call, from their excellence,
the Scriptures, contain, independently of a divine
origin, more true sublimity, more exquisite beau-
ty, purer morality, more important history, and fin-
er strains both of poetry and eloquence, than could be
collected, within the same compass, from all other
books that ever were composed in any age, or in any
idiom. The two parts of which the Scriptures con-
sist, are connected by a chain of compositions, which
bear no resemblance in form or style to any that can
be produced from the stores of Grecian, Indian, Per-
sian, or even Arabian learning ; the antiquity of those
compositions no man doubts, and the unstrained ap-
plication of them to events long subsequent to their
publication, is a solid ground of belief, that they were
genuine compositions, and consequently inspired.
Lord Tdgwnoutlis Life of Sir W. Jones, 288.
The language of the inspired writings is, on this
as on other occasions, beautifully accommodated to
the irresistible impressions of nature ; availing itself
of such popular and familiar words, as upwards and
downwards, above and below, in condescension to the
frailty of the human mind, governed so much by
sense and imagination, and so little by the abstrac-
tions of philosophy. Hence the expression of fallen
angels, which, by recalling to us the eminence from
which they fell, communicates, in a single word, a
character of sublimity to the bottomless abyss:
' How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,
son of the morning." /SVewar/V Philosophical Es-
says, p. 376.
EXCELLENCIES OF THE SCRIPTURES. 143
My friend, Sir William Russel, was distantly re-
lated to a very accomplished man, who, though he
never believed the gospel, admired the Scriptures as
the sublimest composition in the world, and read them
often. I have been intimate myself with a man of
fine taste, who has confessed to me, that though he
could not subscribe to the truth of Christianity itself,
yet he never could read St. Luke's account of our Sa-
viour's appearance to the two disciples going to Em-
maus, without being wonderfully affected by it ; and
he thought, that, if the stamp of divinity was any
where to be found in Scripture, it was strongly mark-
ed and visibly impressed upon that passage. If these
men, whose hearts were chilled with the darkness of
infidelity, could find such charms in the mere style of
the Scriptures, what must they find there, whose eye
penetrates deeper than the letter, and who firmly be-
lieve themselves interested in all the invaluable pri-
vileges of the Gospel ? " He that believeth on me, is
passed from death unto life," though it be as plain a
sentence as words can form, has more beauties in it
for such a person, than all the labours antiquity can
boast of. If my poor man of taste, whom I have just
mentioned, had searched a little further, he might
have found other parts of the sacred history as strong-
ly marked with the character of divinity as that he
mentioned. The parable of the prodigal son, the most
beautiful fiction that ever was invented ; our Saviour's
speech to his disciples, with which he closes his earth-
ly ministration, full of the subliraest dignity and ten-
derest affection, surpass every thing that I ever read,
and, like the spirit by which they were dictated, fly
directly to the heart. If the Scripture did not disdain
all affectation of ornament, one should call these, and
such as these, the ornamental parts of it ; but the
144 EXCELLENCIES OF THE SCRIPTURES.
matter of it is that, upon which it principally stakes
its credit with us; and the style, however excellent
and peculiar to itself, is only one of those many ex-
ternal evidences, by which it recommends itself to our
belief. Camper's Letters, in his Life by Hayley, Let-
ter vii.
But, notwithstanding what we have said, in de-
fence of the coherence and method of the Scriptures,
yet I cannot deny, but that there are some things,
"which my reason cannot give a satisfactory account
of; but, when I consider how many things I once
thought incoherent, which I afterwards discerned
the connexion of; and, when I consider the ends of the
Scripture, and the author ; and, when I consider the
symmetry, which omniscience already does, and fu-
ture ages will discover in the Scriptures, I cannot but
check my inclinations, that would pretend to know all
the ends of omniscience, or to judge of the fitness of
his means for ends unknown to me; nor can I ques-
tion the wisdom of the author, nor an interest so un-
biassed, that it would choose none but the fittest me-
thod. Nor is it less a fault to consider only the sense
of particular sections, though each part of it shews its
heavenly extraction; but he that considers the whole
body of those canonical writings, and shall compare
them with one another, the contexture will appear'so
admirable, that it will manifestly appear to be the
work of the same wisdom, that composed the books of
nature, and the fabric of the world. The books in
Scripture expound one another ; Genesis and the Re-
velations being reciprocal comments, and, like the
mariner's compass, though the needle stand north,
yet it discovers both east and west ; and so do some
texts help to explain one another, though much dis.
tant in the Bible, and seem to be so in sense. It is a
very great satisfaction to see how the sacred writers
EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 145
supply one another's omissions, according to the de-
grees and seasons, that God dispenses the knowledge
of his truths and mysteries in the different ages of the
church, (at the first vouchsafing but a light shining
in a dark place, until the day dawning, 2 Pet. i. 89.)
and to find so much harmony betwixt writers, sepa-
rated by so much time and space ; their differences
serving only to shew the sincerity and uprightness of
the writers. Hon. Robert Boyle's Theological Works.
SECTION IV.
EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY.
GENERAL EXCELLENCIES. This mild usage of the
enemies of Christianity (which is however what is
but in justice due to them) will make it more indis
pensably incumbent on those of them, who are not at
the same time enemies to all virtue, to consider Christ-
ianity, not as laid down in the system of its profes-
sors, but in the Scriptures ; not in the spirit of cavil-
ling and pride, but of judgment and candour : And
then see whether it does not consist of a scheme of
doctrines every way fit for a rational creature to en-
tertain ; of precepts tending to make every man as
happy in himself, and as useful and agreeable to
others, as this state of things will admit ; as giving
proper encouragements to the practice of these pre-
146 EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY.
cepts, by condescending to assure guilty men, in a
method the most suited to remove ail their bodings
and suspicions, that their past sins shall be pardoned
on repentance ; that they shall be powerfully assisted
to practise the precepts of religion better for the fu-
ture, if they will do all that is in their own power to-
wards it ; that they shall be supported under all dif-
ficulties and trials, and eternally rewarded for their
self-denials and sufferings * with manly gratifications
and inconceivable glory in the life to come. And that
all this is evidenced by the resurrection and ascen-
sion of Christ (testified by eye and ear witnesses, who
were far from being forward to believe or attest it ;)
and likewise by his exaltation at the right hand of
God or to all power, testified together with his re-
surrection and ascension by the Holy Ghost, or these
gifts of the Holy Ghost given to these witnesses in a
superior degree, and to others in a less, in an instant,
according to our Saviour's precise prediction, and
with the peculiar circumstances which have been
mentioned : And then let them consider who act the
most rationally, they who believe such a religion on
this evidence, or they who disbelieve it, purely be-
cause the connexion, the New Testament is said to
have with some parts of the Old, cannot now be made
out so as to be free from all exceptions. This testi-
mony of the Apostles and of the Spirit is the impreg-
nable work, on which Christianity is built and whose
foundations cannot be shaken. For the truth of this
religion is founded on facts ; namely the resurrection
and ascension of Christ, attested by eye and ear wit-
nesses, and (together with his exaltation ) attested by
other facts, namely, the gifts of the spirit, which prove
* Not as thereby meriting eternal rewards ; but as thereby
made meet for a heavenly life.
EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 147
the truth of the first beyond all possibility of excep-
tion ; and the truth of these last facts is proved by
the best and only evidence they are capable of. And
as this proof is a proof of a very few plain facts, and
the evidence of these facts clear and easy, it must be
allowed to be a proof of the Christian religion level to
the meanest capacity. Lord Harrington's Essay on
the teaching and witness of the Holy Spirit, apud fi-
nem.
The knowledge of this pure religion requires no
metaphysical reasoning, either with regard to the na-
ture of God, or to the essence of our thinking princi-
ple ; it is adapted to the common understanding of
mankind ; and it is founded upon the rational princi-
ples of human nature. It is impossible to refuse our
assent, to a religion, which exacts no more than every
man, in his dispassionate moments, is heartily dis-
posed to contribute ; and it is impossible to refuse
giving adoration to a God, who asks no more of man
than that he should learn to make himself most hap-
py. Here is the second epoch in the reformation of
the original barbarous * religion of the Hebrews ;
and here we may congratulate mankind upon the
happy event, of a pure religion introduced into the
world, in a form, which to common sense is plainly
intelligible, and in a spirit, which is consonant to
perfect virtue and philosophy. The most evident
marks of divine approbation appeared upon this oc-
casion. For, this new doctrine of benevolence cor-
responding with its type, (the law of God, which is
* The divine authority of the Old Testament must be ad-
mitted by all who believe that of the New Testament ; but it may
no doubt be allowed, that the former dispensation, though by no
means deserving the epithet barbarous, was less spiritual in its
nature, and less calculated for an advanced state of society.
w 9
11 <v
148 EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY.
written in the heart of man,) made a conquest upon
opinion, in opposition to force and the most rooted
superstition ; and it was received by the nations as
the immediate gift of Heaven, sent to make those
happy who embraced it. Hutton's Investigation t iii.
665.
If my religion be false, it is, I must own, the most
artful snare that could possibly be devised : it is im-
possible to avoid falling into it, and being caught.
What majesty, what magnificence in its mysteries !
what coherency, what connexion in all its doctrines.
What sound reason ! what candour ! what innocence
of morals ! what an invincible and overwhelming
body of evidence is given successively, and for three
whole centuries, by millions of the most learned and
most moderate persons then in the world, and whom
the conviction of one and the same truth supported in
exile, in fetters, at the approach of death, and under
the most cruel torments. La Bruyere, as quoted in
Chateaubriand's Beauties of Christianity, ii. 289.
It is indeed impossible to understand the doctrines of
our religion, and not to wish at least, that they may be
true ; for they exhibit the most comfortable views of
God and his providence ; they recommend the purest
. and most perfect morality ; and they breathe nothing
throughout, but benevolence, equity, and peace. And
one may venture to affirm, that no one ever wished
the gospel to be true, who did notjind it so. Its evi-
dence is even more than sufficient to satisfy those, who
love it. And every man, who knows it, must love
it, if he be a man of candour and a good heart. Beat'
tie's Elements of Moral Science, i. 402.
Here I invite that reader, who can elevate his mind
to the contemplation of the ways of Providence, to
meditate with me on the admirable methods of divine
wisdom in the establishment of Christianity ; a reli-
gion, the universality of which was to comprehend all
EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 149
ages, all places, nations, ranks, and situations in life ;
a religion, which made no distinction between the crown-
ed head and that of the lowest subject ; formed to dis-
engage the heart from terrestial things, to ennoble, to
refine, to sublime the thoughts and affections of man ;
to render him conscious of the dignity of his nature*
the importance of his end, to carry his hopes even to
eternity, and thus associate him with superior intelli-
gences ; a religion, which gave every thing to the
spirit, and nothing to the flesh ; which called its dis-
ciples to the greatest sacrifices, because men who are
taught to fear God alone, can undergo the severest
trials; a religion, in short, (to conclude my weak con-
ceptions on so sublime a subject,) which was the per-
fection or completion of natural law, the science of
the truly wise, the refuge of the humble, the conso-
lation of the "wretched ; so majestic in its simplicity,
so sublime in its doctrine, so great in its object, so
astonishing in its effects. Bonnet's Enquiries COM-
cerning Christianity, b. v. ch. 6.
Every religion has its mysteries ; all nature is" a se-
cret. The Christian mysteries are the most sublime
that can be ; they are the archetypes of the system
of man and of the world. Faith is a force, charity a
love, hope complete happiness, or, as religion expresses
it, a complete virtue. The laws of God constitute the
most perfect code of natural justice. The fall of our
first parents is an universal tradition. A new proof
of it may be found in the constitution of the moral
man, which is contrary to the general constitution of
beings. The prohibition to touch the fruit of know-
ledge was a sublime command, and the only one
worthy of the Almighty. All the proofs of the anti-
quity of the earth alleged by profane writers may be
contested. The doctrine of the existence of a God is
demonstrated by the wonders of the universe; a
150 EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY.
design of Providence is evident in the instincts of ani-
mals. Mortality of itself proves the immortality of
the soul : man feels a desire of happiness, and is the
only creature who cannot attain it ; there is conse-
quently a felicity beyond the present life; for we
cannot wish for what does not exist. The system of
atheism is founded solely on exceptions ; it is not the
body that acts upon the soul, but the soul that acts
upon the body. Man is not subject to the general
laws of matter ; he diminishes where the animal in-
creases. Atheism cannot be beneficial to any class of
people; neither to the unfortunate, whom it bereaves
of hope, nor to the prosperous, whose joys it renders
insipid, nor to the soldier, of whom it makes a cow-
ard, nor to the wife, whose beauty it blasts and whose
sensibilities it extinguishes, nor to the mother, who has
a son to love, nor to the rulers of men, who have no
surer pledge of the fidelity of their subjects than reli-
gion. The punishments and rewards, which Christi-
anity denounces or promises in another life, are con-
sistent with reason and the nature of the soul. In
literature the character appears more interesting, and
the passions more energetic under the Christian dis-
pensation, than they were under polytheism. The
latter exhibited no dramatic part, no struggles be-
tween natural desires and virtue. Mythology con-
tracted nature, and for this reason the ancients had
no descriptive poetry ; Christianity restores to the
wilderness both its pictures and its solitudes. The
Christian marvellous may sustain a comparison with
the marvellous of fable : the ancients founded their
poetry on Homer, and the Christians on the Bible ;
and the beauties of the Bible surpass the beauties of
Homer. To Christianity the fine arts owe their revi-
val and their perfection. In philosophy, it is not hos-
tile to any natural truth. If it has sometimes oppos-
EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 151
ed the sciences, it followed the spirit of the times
and the opinions of the greatest legislators of antiqui-
ty. In history we should have been inferior to the
ancients but for the new character of images, reflec-
tions, and thoughts, to which Christianity has given
birth : modern eloquence furnishes the same observa-
tion. To Christianity mankind is indebted for the wor-
ship of God ; the more Jinn establishment of the doc-
trine of the existence of that Supreme Being, and the
more thorough conviction of the immortality of the soul,
and also of a future stale <f rewards and punishments ;
a more enlarged and active humanity ; a whole and
perfect virtue, and which alone is equivalent to all the
others Charity ; a political law and the laiv of na-
tions unknown to the ancients, and above all, the abo-
lition of slavery. Who is there but must be convinc-
ed of the beauty and the grandeur of Christianity ?
Who but must be overwhelmed with this stupendous
mass of benefits ? Chateaubriand's Beauties of Chris-
tianity, iii. p. 24,9.
As A SOURCE OF RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE. You
ask me '< what is the shortest and surest way for a
" young gentleman to attain a true knowledge of the
" Christian religion, in the full and just extent of it ?"
For so I understand your question ; if I have mistaken
it, you must set me right. And to this I have a
short and plain answer. Let him study the Holy
Scriptures, especially the New Testament. Therein
are contained the words of eternal life. It has God
for its author; salvation for its end; and truth with-
out any mixture of error, for its matter. So that it
is a wonder to me how any one professing Christianity,
that would seriously set himself to know his religion,
should be in doubt where to employ his search, and
lay out his pains for his information ; when he knows
H 4
152 EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY.
a book, where it is all contained pure and entire .
and whither at last every one must have recourse to
verify that of it, which he finds any where else.
Locke's Work!?, ix. 306.
As A CODE OF MORALITY. As to " a treatise of mo-
rals," I must own to you, that you aVe not the only
person, who have been for putting me upon it ; nei-
ther have I wholly laid by the thoughts of it. Nay,
I so far incline to comply with your desires, that I
every now and then, lay by some materials for it, as
they occasionally occur, in the rovings of my mind.
But, when I consider that a book of offices, as you
call it, ought not to be slightly done, especially by
me, after what I have said of that science in my Es-
say ; and that * nonwnque prematur in annum" is a
rule more necessary to be observed in a subject of
that consequence, than in any thing Horace speaks
of; I am in doubt whether it would be prudent in
one of my age and health, not to mention other dis-
abilities in me, to set about it. Did the world want
a rule, I confess there could be no work so necessary
or so commendable. But the gospel contains so per-
fect a body of ethics, that reason may be excused
from that inquiry, since she may find man's duty
clearer and easier in revelation than in herself. Think
not this the excuse of a lazy man, though it be per-
haps of one who, having a sufficient rule for his ac-
tions, is content therewith ; and thinks he may, per-
haps with more profit to himself, employ the little
time and strength he has in other researches, wherein
he finds himself more in the dark. Locke's Works,
viii. 377.
The most distinct characteristic of Christianity is
the spirit of charity and forbearance, which pervades
all its precepts. The ancients, undoubtedly, respect-
EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 153
ed the beneficent virtues ; but the precept, which
commends the poor and the weak to the protection
of the opulent, belongs essentially to our religion.
With what care, with what love, the Christian legis-
lator returns continually to the same sentiment and
interest ! The tenderest pity lent to his words a persua-
sive unction ; but I admire, above all, the awful lesson
he has given, in explaining the close union established
between our sentiments towards the Supreme Being,
and our duties towards men. Thus, after having termed
the love of God, the first commandment of the law, the
Evangelist adds: and the second, which is like unto it,
is to love thy neighbour as thyself. The second, which
is like unto it? what simplicity, what extent in that
expression ! Can any thing be more interesting and
sublime, than to offer continually to our mind the
idea of a God, taking on himself the gratitude of the
unfortunate ? Where find any principle of morality,
of which the influence can ever equal such a grand
thought ? The poor, the miserable, however abject
their state, appear surrounded with the symbol of
glory, when the love of humanity becomes an ex-
pression of the sentiments which elevate us to God ;
and the mind ceases to be lost in the immensity of
his perfections, when we hope to maintain an habi-
tual intercourse with the Supreme Being, by the ser r
vices which we render to men ; it is thus that a sfn- ,
gle thought spreads a new light on our duty, and
gives to metaphysical ideas a substance conformable
to our organs. Neckers Religious Opinions, p. 417.
There are no persons so well instructed in the mo-
tives for a holy life, as the professors of Christianity.
They are perfectly known even to persons of a com-
mon understanding ; and, in comparison of the cer-
tainty of their persuasion, the conjectures and reason-
ings of the ancient philosophers were alike shadows,
H5
EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY.
which were too transient and inefficacious to make
any impressions. Every Christian can consult the
oracles of revelation ; and, by the favour of this di-
vine light, can penetrate into these mysteries, which
were unknown to the worl.l before the coming of
the Mediator sent by God. Amongst the most illi-
terate, those who are constantly occupied by manual
labour in providing for their daily wants, we may
nevertheless discover some sentiments of religion, not
unmixed with zeal ; and also a contentment both in
life and in death, which is unknown to those, whose
hearts are not illuminated by the light of the doctrine
of Christ. Baron Halter's Letters to his Daughter,
let. 13.
Is it bigotry to believe the sublime truths of the
gospel with full assurance of faith ? I glory in such
bigotry : I would not part with it for a thousand
worlds ; I congratulate the man who is possessed of
it ; for, amidst all the vicissitudes and calamities of
the present state, that man enjoys an inexhaustible
fund of consolation, of which it is not in the power
of fortune to deprive him.
There is not a book on earth so favourable to all
the kind, and all the sublime affections, or so un-
friendly to hatred and persecution, to tyranny, injus-
tice, and every sort of malevolence, as the gospel.
It breathes nothing throughout but mercy, benevo-
lence, and peace.
Poetry is sublime, when it awakens in the mind
any great and good affection, as piety, or patriotism.
This is one of the noblest effects of the heart. The
Psalms are remarkable beyond all other writings, for
their power of inspiring devout emotions. But it is
not in this respect only that they are sublime ; of the
Divine nature they contain the most magnificent de-
scriptions that the soul of man can comprehend. The
EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 155
hundred and fourth psalm, in particular, displays
the power and goodness of Providence, in creating
and preserving the world, and the various tribes of
animals in it, with such majestic brevity and beauty,
as it is in vain to look for in any human composition.
Such of the doctrines of the gospel as are level to
human capacity, appear to be agreeable to the purest
truth and the soundest morality. All the genius and
learning of the heathen world ; all the penetration of
Pythagoras, Socrates, and Aristotle, had never been
able to produce such a system of moral duty, and so
rational an account of providence and of man, as is
to be found in the New Testament. Compared, in-
deed, to this, all other moral and theological wisdom
" Loses, discountenanced, and like folly shews."
Bcaltie's Elements of Moral Science.
This is the natural consequence of that purity of
heart, which is so much insisted on in the Christian
morality. In the instructions of the heathen philoso-
phers, it is either not mentioned at all, or at most it
is recommended coldly, as a thing proper and wor-
thy of a mind attentive to great things. But, in
Christianity, it is insisted on as an indispensable du-
ty, and enforced by many arguments peculiar to it-
self. Robisons Proof's of a Conspiracy, p. 26'7.
AUTHORITY OF CHRISTIAN PRECEPTS. When a
revelation hath all the authenticity of human testimo-
ny ; when it appears consistent in all its parts ; and
when it contains nothing inconsistent with any real
knowledge we have of the Supreme All-Perfect-Be-
ing, and of natural religion ; such a revelation is to
be received with the most profound reverence, with
the most entire submission, and with the most un-
ii G
156 -EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY.
feigned thanksgiving. Reason has exercised her
whole prerogative then, and delivers us over to faith.
To believe before all these trials, or to doubt after
them, is alike unreasonable. When persons have re-
ceived the Christian revelation for genuine, after suf-
ficient examination of its external and internal proofs,
and have found nothing that makes it inconsistent
with itself, nor that is repugnant to any of these di-
vine truths, which reason and the works of God
demonstrate to them ; such persons will never set
up reason in contradiction to it, on account of things
plainly taught, but incomprehensible as to their man-
ner of being. If they did, their reason would be
false and deceitful ; they would cease to be rea-
sonable men. Bolingbroke's Works, iv. 279- v. 38 4,
as quoted by Leland.
The authority of emperors, kings, and princes, is
human. The authority of councils, synods, bishops,
and presbyters is human. The authority of the pro-
phets is divine, and comprehends the sum of religion,
reckoning Moses and the apostles among the pro-
phets ; and " if an angel from heaven preach any other
*' gospel than what they have preached, let him be ac-
cursed." Their writings contain the covenant between
God and his people, with instructions for keeping
this covenant ; instances of God's judgments upon
them that break it ; and predictions of things to
come. While the people of God keep the covenant,
they continue to be his people ; when they break
it, they cease to be his people or church, and become
< the synagogue of God who say they are Jews and
are not." And no power on earth is authorized to
alter this covenant. Sir Isaac Newton on the Praphe*
cict, part i. 16.
THE BENEFICIAL TENDENCY, &C. 157
SECTION V.
THE BENEFICIAL TENDENCY OF CHRISTIANITY.
WE may add, that if, in the commencement of
the Christian dispensation, the religion had been
maintained on the principles of its founder, the states
and republics of Christendom, would be more united
and more happy than they are. Machiavel's Prince,
p. xx. Introd.
Avoid those who, under the pretence of explaining
nature, sow mischievous doctrines in the hearts of men,
and whose apparent scepticism is a hundred times as
positive and dogmatic, as the decisive tone of their
adversaries. Under the arrogant pretext, that they
alone are enlightened, true, and sincere, they imperi-
ously subject us to their peremptory decisions ; and
presume to give us, as the general principles of things,
the unintelligible systems, which they have erected in
their imaginations. Overthrowing, destroying, tramp-
ling under foot all that is respected by men, they be-
reave the afflicted of the last consolation in their mise-
ry ; they take .from the rich and the powerful, the only
curb of their passions ; they eradicate from the heart
the remorse consequent on guilt, the hopes inspired
by virtue ; and still they boast of being the benefac-
tors of the human race. Never, say they, can truth
be hurtful to man. I think so too ; and this in my
opinion is a strong proof that what they teach is not
the truth.
One of the sophisms most familiar to the philoso-
phic party, is to contrast a supposed nation of good
158 THE BENEFICIAL TENDENCY
philosophers with one of bad Christians ; as if it were
easier to form a nation of genuine philosophers, than
a nation of genuine Christians. I know not, if, among
individuals, one of these characters is more easy to
be found than the other ; but this I know, that, when
we come to talk of nations, we must suppose that
there are such as will make a bad use of philosophy
without religion, just as ours abuses religion without
philosophy ; and this seems to me to make a material
alteration in the state of the question. It is an easy
matter to make a parade with fine maxims in books ;
but the question is, whether they agree with sound
reason, and necessarily flow from it. And this has not
hitherto appeared to be the case with those of which
we are speaking. It remains also to be ascertained,
whether philosophy, at its ease, and upon the throne,
would be capable of controlling the love of glory, the
selfishness, the ambition, the little passions of men ;
and whether it would practise that engaging huma-
nity, which, with pen in hand, it so highly com-
mends.
By principles philosophy can do no good, which re-
ligion would not far surpass ; and religion performs
much, that philosophy cannot accomplish. Rous-
seau's Emilius, ii. 228.
Modern governments are undoubtedly indebted to
Christianity for their most solid authority, and the
rarity of revolutions. It has even rendered them less
sanguinary ; this is proved by comparing them with
the ancient governments. Religion better under-
stood, hath, by banishing fanaticism, given a greater
mildness to Christian manners. This alteration is not
the effect of letters, for we do not find that wherever
literature hath flourished, humanity hath been at all
the more respected. The cruelty of the Athenians,
of the Egyptians, of the Roman emperors, and the
5
OF CHRISTIANITY. 159
Chinese, are evidences of this. On the other hand,
what deeds of mercy and charity have been effected
by the gospel ! How many restitutions and repara-
tions hath the practice of confession brought about
among the catholics ! Among us, how many recon-
ciliations are effected, how many alms are distribut-
ed before an approaching communion ? Rousseau's
Emilius, ii. 228. Note.
No religion ever appeared in the world, whose na-
tural tendency was so much directed to promote the
peace and happiness of mankind, as Christianity.
No system can be more simple and plain, than that
of natural religion as it stands in the gospel. Besides
natural religion, there are two other parts, into which
Christianity may be analyzed, duties superadded to
those of the former, and articles of belief, that reason
neither could discover nor can comprehend. Both the
duties required to be practised, and the propositions
required to be believed, are concisely and plainly
enough expressed in the original gospel, properly so
called, which Christ taught, and which his four evan-
gelists recorded. No institutions can be imagined more
simple, nor void of all those pompous rites, and thea-
trical representations, that abounded in the religious
worship of the heathens and Jews, than these two
were in their origin, (that is, the Christian sacraments
of baptism and the Lord's supper.) They were not
only innocent but profitable ceremonies, because they
were extremely proper to keep up the spirit of true
religion, by keeping up that of Christianity, and to
promote the observance of moral duties, by maintain-
ing a respect for the revelation, which confirmed
them. I will not say, that the belief that Jesus was
the Messiah, is the only article of belief necessary to
make men Christians. There are other things doubt-
less contained in the revelation he made of himself,
160 THE BENEFICIAL TENDENCY
dependent on, and relative to, this article, \vithout
the belief of which, I suppose our Christianity would
be very defective. But this I say, that the system of
religion, which Christ published, and his evangelists
recorded, is a complete system to all the purposes of
religion, natural and revealed. Christianity, as it
stands in the gospel, contains not only a complete,
but a very plain system of religion. Supposing Christ-
ianity to have been a human invention, it has been
the most amiable and the most useful invention, that
was ever imposed on mankind for their good. Christ-
ianity, as it came out of the hands of God, if I may
use the expression, was a most simple and intelligi-
ble rule of belief, worship, and manners, which is
the true notion of a religion. As soon as men pre-
sumed to add any thing of their own to it, the human
alloy corrupted the divine mass, and it became an ob-
ject of vain, intricate, and contentious science. The
gospel is, in all cases, one continued lesson of the
strictest morality, of justice, of benevolence, of uni-
versal charity. The theology contained in the gos-
pel lies in a narrow compass. It is marvellous indeed,
but it is plain, and it is employed throughout to en-
force natural religion. The charge, which the ene-
mies of religion bring against Christianity on this ac-
count (that is, of persecution for opinions) is unjustly
brought. These effects have not been caused by the
gospel, but by the system raised upon it ; not by the
revelations of God, but by the inventions of men.
The Christian system of faith and practice was reveal-
ed by God himself; and it is absurd and impious to
assert that the divine Logos revealed it incompletely
or imperfectly. Its simplicity and plainness shewed,
that it was designed to be the religion of mankind,
and manifested likewise the divinity of its original.
Bolingbroke's Works, iv. 281. 290. 29*. SOI.
OF CHRISTIANITY.
161
314. 316. 394. 349. iii. 451, as quoted by Le-
land.
Jesus Christ may, therefore, with strict truth, be
denominated, in a material sense, that SAVIOUR OF
THE WORLD, which he is in a spiritual sense. His
appearance upon earth was, humanly speaking, the
most important event that ever occurred among men,
since it was by the gospel dispensation that the face
of the whole world began to be entirely changed.
The gospel has changed mankind in every point, and
enabled them to take an immense step towards per-
fection. Consider it as a grand religious cause, which
has regenerated the human race ; then all petty ob-
jections, all the cavils of impiety fall to the ground.
Christianity is the religion, that is adapted to a nation
matured by time ; it is, if we may venture to use the
expression, the religion congenial to the present age
of the world, as the reign of types and emblems was
suited to the cradle of Israel.
With respect to the morality of the gospel, its beau-
ty is universally admired. The more it is known and
practised, the more the eyes of men will be opened to
their real happiness and their true interest. The sci-
ence of politics is extremely circumscribed: the highest
degree of perfection, which it is capable of attaining>
is the representative system, the offspring, as we have
shewn, of Christianity. But a religion, which is at
the same time a moral code, is an institution, which is
incessantly furnishing new resources, which provides
for every contingency, and which, in the hands of
saints and sages, is an universal instrument of feli-
city. Chateaubriand's Beauties of Christianity, iii.
270.
In this state of darkness and error, in reference to
the " true God," our Saviour found the world. But
the clear revelation he brought with him, dissipated
162 THE BENEFICIAL TENDENCY
this darkness ; made the " one invisible true God"
known to the world : and that with such evidence
and energy, that polytheism and idolatry have no-
where been able to withstand it : but wherever the
preaching of the truth he delivered, and the light of
the gospel, hath come, those mists have been dispelled.
And, in effect, we see, that, since our Saviour's time,
the " belief of one God," has prevailed and spread it-
self over the face of the earth. For even to the light
that the Messiah brought into the world with him,
we must ascribe the owning and profession of one
God, which the Mahometan religion hath devised
and borrowed from it. So that in this sense it is cer-
tainly and manifestly true of our Saviour, what St.
John says of him, 1 John iii. 8. " For this purpose
" the Son of God was manifested, that he might des-
" troy the works of the devil." This light the world
needed, and this light is received from him : that there
is but ft one God," and he " eternal, invisible.;" not
like to any visible objects, nor to be represented by
them, Locke on ike Reasonableness of Christianity,
Works, vi. 137-
THE INEXCUSABLENESS OF REJECTINGCHRISTIANITY.
The evidence for the Christian religion seems to be
so clear and strong in all Christian countries, and
that with respect to all ranks and conditions of men,
that no person, who is previously qualified by bene-
volence, piety, and the moral sense, can refuse his as-
sent to it. This I take to be a plain matter of obser-
vation, supported by the universal testimony of those
persons that attend to it ; meaning by the Christian
religion, the belief of the divine mission of Moses and
the prophets, of Christ and his apostles, or the truth
of the scriptures. Whoever, therefore, conducts him-
self by the foregoing rule, (of benevolence, piety,
OF CHRISTIANITY. 165
and the moral sense,) must believe revealed religion,
as well as natural, if born in a Christian country.
All unbelievers, where there is so much evidence, I
had almost said, all doubters, seem to be culpable in
a very high degree.
If any unbeliever thinks this censure too severe,
let him examine his own heart. Is he previously qua-
lified, by love to God, and to all the world, by a
sincere regard for, and observance of natural religion ?
Is he chaste, temperate, meek, humble, just, and cha-
ritable? Does he delight in God, in contemplating
his providence, praying to him, and praising him ?
Does he believe a future state, and expect it with
hope and comfort ? Is he not so fond of the praise of
men, or so fearful of censure and ridicule, as to be
ashamed to own Christ ? If the Christian religion be
true, it must be of great importance, and if of great
importance, it is a duty of natural religion to inquire
into it. The obligation, therefore, to examine seri-
ously, subsists, in some degree, as long as there is any
evidence for, or doubt of the truth of revelation. For,
if true, it must be of importance, whether we see that
importance or not. He, who determines that it is of
no importance, determines at once that it is false.
But it is too evident to all impartial observers, that
those who disbelieve, or affect to disbelieve, have not
made a serious, accurate inquiry ; such a one as they
would make about a worldly concern of moment ;
but content themselves, and endeavour to perplex
others, with general objections, mixed, for the most
part, with ridicule and raillery, things that are mani-
fest hindrances in the search after truth. Hartley's
Observations on Man, ii. 34? 349.
TRUTH AND EXCELLENCE
SECTION VI.
PERSONAL TESTIMONIES TO THE TRUTH AND EXCEL-
LENCE OF CHRISTIANITY.
The more 1 learn Christianity from Scripture, the
more I grow convinced how unjust those objections
are, with which it is charged. I find for instance,
that all that Voltaire says of the intolerance of Christ-
ians, and of bloodshedding caused by Christianity,
is a very unjust charge laid upon religion. It is easy
to be seen, that those cruelties, said to be caused by
religion, if properly considered, were the production
of human passions, selfishness, and ambition, and
that religion served in such cases only for a cloak.
I am fully convinced of the truth of the Christian reli-
gion, and I feel its power in quieting my conscience,
and informing my sentiments. I have examined it
during a good state of health, and with all the reason
I am master of. I tried every argument, I felt no fear,
I have taken my own time, and I have not been in
haste. I own with joy, I find Christianity the more
amiable, the more I get acquainted with it. I never
knew it before. I believed it contradicted reason
and the nature of man, whose religion it was design-
ed to be. I thought it an artfully contrived and am-
biguous doctrine, full of incomprehensibilities. When-
ever I formerly thought on religion in some serious
moments, I had always an idea in my mind, how it
ought to be ; which was, it should be simple and ac-
commodated to the abilities of men in every condition.
I now find Christianity to be exactly so : it answers
entirely that idea, which I had formed of true reli-
OF CHRISTIANITY. 165
gion. Had I but formerly known it was such, I should
not have delayed turning Christian till this time of
my imprisonment. But I had the misfortune to be
prejudiced against religion, first through my own pas-
sions, and afterwards likewise by so many human in-
ventions, foisted into it, of which I could see plainly
that they had no foundation, though they were styl-
ed essential parts of Christianity. Count Stmensee,
quoted in Simpson s Plea for Religion.
After all my troubles and toilings in the world,
said Oxenstiern, Chancellor of Sweden, I find that
my private life in the country has afforded me more
contentment, than I ever met with in all my public
employment. I have lately applied myself to the
study of the Bible, wherein all wisdom, and the great-
est delights are to be found. I therefore counsel
you (the English Ambassadors) to make the study
and practice of the word of God your chief content-
ment and delight ; as indeed it will be to every soul,
who savours the truths of God, which infinitely excel
all worldly things. Chancellor Oxenstiern t quoted in
Simpsons Plea for Religion.
I will not say that the truth of Christianity has been
demonstrated * ; this term, though adopted and re-
peated by the best apologists, would, I conceive, be
somewhat too strong. But I have no hesitation in
saying plainly and explicitly, that the facts, which es-
tablish the truth of Christianity, carry with them, to
my apprehension, so exceedingly high a degree of pro-
bability, that were I to reject them I should do viol-
ence to the clearest principles and rules of sound lo-
gic, and even to the most obvious dictates of reason
and of common sense.
# The author states that he uses this word in its most literal
sense, as implying mathematical certainty.
166 TRUTH AND EXCELLENCE, &C.
I have endeavoured to explore the inmost recesses of
my heart, and, having discovered no secret motive
there, which should induce me to reject a reli-
gion so well calculated to supply the defects of my
reason, to comfort me under affliction, and to advance
the perfection of my nature, I receive this religion as
the greatest blessing, that Heaven in its goodness
could confer upon mankind. And I should still re-
ceive it with gratitude, were I to consider it only as the
very best and most perfect system of practical philo-
sophy. Bonnet's Enquiries concerning Christianity,
297.
For my own part, gentlemen, I have been ever
deeply devoted to the truths of Christianity : and my
firm belief in the Holy Gospel is by no means owing
to the prejudices of education (though I was religi-
ously educated by the best of parents) but has arisen
from the fullest and most continued reflections of my
riper years and understanding. It forms at this mo-
ment the great consolation of a life, which, as a sha-
dow passes away : and without it, I should consider
my long course of health and prosperity (too long
perhaps, and too uninterrupted to be good for any
man) only as the dust which the wind scatters, and
rather as a snare than as a blessing. Lord Erskim's
Speeches, ii. 188.
167
CHAPTER VIII.
TESTIMONIES TO THE GENERAL DOCTRINES
OF CHRISTIANITY.
SECTION I.
THE INSUFFICIENCY OF REASON IN DECIDING ON THE
TRUTHS OF REVELATION.
LIMITED POWER OF THE HUMAN UNDERSTANDING.
One of the most valuable effects of genuine philoso-
phy, is to remind us of the limited powers of the hu-
man understanding ; and to revive those natural feel-
ings of wonder and admiration, at the spectacle of the
universe, which are apt to languish, in consequence
of long familiarity. The most profound discoveries
which are placed within the reach of our researches,
instead of laying open to our view the efficient causes
of natural appearances, lead to a confession of human
ignorance ; for, while they flatter the pride of man,
and increase his power, by enabling him to trace the
simple and beautiful laws by which physical events
are regulated, they call his attention, at the same time,
to those general and ultimate facts, which bound the
narrow circle of his knowledge ; and which, by evin-
cing to him the operation of powers, whose nature must
for ever remain unknown, serve to remind him of the
insufficiency of his faculties to penetrate the secrets
168 INSUFFICIENCY OF REASON IN
of the universe. Wherever we direct our inquiries ;
whether to the anatomy and physiology of animals, to
the growth of vegetables, to the chemical attractions
and repulsions, or to the motions of the heavenly bo-
dies, we perpetually perceive the effects of powers,
which do not belong to matter. To a certain length
we are able to proceed ; but in every research, we
meet with a line, which no industry nor ingenuity can
pass. It is a line too, which is marked with sufficient
distinctness ; and which no man now thinks of pass-
ing, who has just views of the nature and object of
philosophy. It forms the separation between that
field, which falls under the survey of the physical in-
quirer, and that unknown region, of which, though
it was necessary that we should be assured of the ex-
istence, in order to lay a foundation for the doctrines
of natural theology, it hath not pleased the author of
the universe to reveal to us the wonders, in this in-
fant state of our being. Stewart's Elements of the
Philosophpy of the Human Mind, i. 88.
THE USE OF REASON IN REGARD TO REVELATION.
One use of reason in things, which by the testimony
of men are supposed to come from God, is to endea-
vour to find out such a sense of a supposed divine re-
velation, as is agreeable to the discoveries of our rea-
son, if the words under any kind of construction will
bear it, though at first view they may seem repugnant
to reason and to one another. This is certainly a great
piece of justice, and what is due to words, that, upon
the least evidence can be supposed to come from God ;
especially since expressions, that do not literally qua-
drate with the maxims of reason and philosophy, are
necessary to make a revelation have any effect upon
common people's minds. For, was not God to be re-
presented by expressions, which, literally understood,
DECIDING ON REVELATION. 169
attribute to him human passions and actions ; they
who, by their occupations in the world, are incapable
of those more just ideas, which men of thought know
to belong to that being, would perhaps think him in-
capable of taking cognizance of their actions. And,
therefore, to make a revelation useful and credible in
itself, it must consist of words, whose literal meaning
is false, but whose real meaning is consistent with
the justest notions of reason and philosophy. And
therefore, we ought to examine whether the words,
under any construction, will bear a reasonable sense *.
Collinses Essay concerning the use of Reason, fyc. as
quoted by Leland.
Divine philosophy, or natural theology, is that
knowledge, or rudiment of knowledge concerning
God, which may be obtained by the contemplation of
his creatures ; which knowledge may be truly termed
divine, in respect of the object ; and natural in res-
pect of the light. The bounds of this knowledge are,
that it suffices to convince atheism, but not to inform
religion; and, therefore, there was never miracle
wrought by God to convert an atheist, because the
light of nature might have led him to confess a God ;
but miracles have been wrought to convert idolaters
and the superstitious, because no light of nature ex-
tends to declare the will and true worship of God.
For as all works do shew forth the power and skill of
the workman, and not his image, so it is of the works
which show the omnipotence and wisdom of the maker,
but not his image ; and, therefore, therein the heathen
opinion differs from the sacred truth, for they sup-
posed the world to be the image of God, and man to
be an extract or compendious image of the world ; but
* This observation is applied by the author to those passages
of Scripture, where God is said to rest, repent, be angry, &c.
I
1 70 INSUFFICIENCY OF REASON IN
the Scriptures never vouchsafe to attribute to the world
that honour, as to be the image of God, but only the
work of his hands ; neither do they speak of any other
image of God, but man : wherefore, by the contem-
plation of nature, to induce and enforce the acknow-
ledgement of God, and to demonstrate his power, pro-
vidence, and goodness, is an excellent argument, and
has been well handled by many. But, on the other
side, out of the contemplation of nature, or ground
of human knowledge, to induce any verity or persua-
sion concerning the point of faith, is, in my judg-
ment, not safe : Dafdei quce jidei sunt, for, the hea-
thens themselves conclude as much, in that excellent
and divine fable of the golden chain : " That men
' ' and gods were not able to draw Jupiter down to the
" earth ; but, on the contrary, Jupiter was able to
(: draw them up to heaven." So as we ought not to
attempt to draw down or submit the mysteries of God
to our reason ; but, on the contrary, to raise and ad-
vance our reason to the divine truth ; so as in this
part of knowledge touching divine philosophy, I am
so far from noting deficiency, that I rather note an
excess ; whereunto I have digressed, because of the
extreme prejudice which both religion and philosophy
have received, and may receive, by being commixed
together ; as that undoubtedly will make an heretical
religion, and an imaginary and fabulous philosophy.
Bacon's Essays.
The use of human reason, in matters pertaining to
religion, is of two sorts : the one, in the conception
and apprehension of the mysteries of God revealed
to us ; the other, in the inferring and deriving of
doctrine and direction from them. As to the concep-
tion of the mysteries, we see God vouchsafes to des-
cend to the weakness of our capacity, so expressing
and unfolding his mysteries, as they may best be
DECIDING ON REVELATION. 171
comprehended by us ; and grafting, in a manner, his
revelations, and holy doctrine, upon the conceptions
and notions of our reason ; and so applying his in-
spirations to open our understanding, as the form of
the key is fitted to the ward of the lock. In which
respect, notwithstanding, we ought not to be wanting
to ourselves ; for since God himself makes use of the
means of our reason in his illuminations, we ought
also to exercise and turn the same every way, by
which we may become more capable to receive and
imbibe the holy mysteries ; with this caution, that
the mind be dilated, according to its model, to the am-
plitude of the mysteries ; and not the mysteries strait-
ened and contracted to the narrowness of the mind.
As for inferences, we ought to know, that there is al-
lowed us a use of reason and argumentation in mys-
teries secondary and respective, though not original
and absolute ; for after the articles and principles of
religion are once placed, and wholly exempted from the
examination of reason, it is then permitted unto us to
make deductions and inferences from them, and accord-
ing to the analogy of them, for our better direction.
In things natural, indeed, this holds not ; for both the
principles themselves are examinable by induction,
though not by syllogism : and, besides, those princi-
ples, or first positions have no repugnancy with that
reason which draws down and deduces the inferior po-
sitions. The case is otherwise in religion, where both
the first positions are their own supporters, and sub-
sist by themselves ; and again, they are not regulated
by that reason which deduces the consequent propo-
sitions. Nor does this hold in religion alone, but in
other sciences also, both of greater and smaller na-
ture ; namely, wherein there are not only positions,
but acts of authority ; for in such also there can be
no use of absolute reason : so in human laws, there
I 2
172 INSUFFICIENCY OF REASON IN
are many grounds and maxims, which are placita
Juris positive upon authority and not upon reason; and
therefore not to be disputed ; but what is most just,
not absolutely but relatively, and according to the
analogy of those maxims, which affords a large field
of disputation. Such, therefore, is that secondary
reason that has place in divinity, which is grounded
upon the placits of God.
And as there is a double use of human reason in
divine matters, so in the same use also there is a
double excess : the one, when too curious an inquiry
is made into the manner of the mystery ; the other,
when as great authority is attributed to inferences as
to principles. We have an instance of the first in
Nicodemus, who obstinately inquires, " how can a
" man be born when he is old ?" Of the second, in
those who arrogantly vouch their opinions by anathe-
mas : it would therefore be a wholesome and very
useful course, if a sober and diligent treatise was
compiled, which might give directions concerning the
true limits and use of reason in spiritual things ; and
would be a kind of opiate medicine, not only to quiet
and lay asleep the vanity of curious speculations with
which the schools labour, but likewise to calm and
mitigate the fury of controversies, wherewith the
church labours. For it cannot but open men's eyes
to see, that many controversies do merely relate to
that which is either not revealed or positive ; and that
many others do grow upon weak and obscure infer-
ences or deductions. So it is a thing of great mo-
ment and use, well to define what, and of what lati-
tude those points are, which discorporate men from
the body of the church, and exclude them from the
communion and fellowship of the faithful. Now, if
any one thinks this has been done long ago, let him
well consider with what sincerity and moderation.
t-C3,^>^
5* J^ X
.
fy)r>
r _ -
senger, Is it peace, Jehu ?" " What hast thou to
do with peace ? Turn, and follow me." Peace is not
the thing that most people love, but party. Bacon's
Essays, p. 336.
But there being many things, wherein we have
very imperfect notions, or none at all ; and other
things, of whose past, present, or future existence,
by the natural use of our faculties, we can have no
knowledge at all ; these, as being beyond the disco-
very of our natural faculties, and above reason, are,
when revealed, the proper matter of faith. Thus,
that part of the angels rebelled against God, and
thereby lost their first happy state ; and that the
dead shall rise, and live again : these, and the like,
being beyond the discovery of reason, are purely mat-
ters of faith ; with which reason has nothing to do.
Locke's Essay on the Human Understanding book
iv. chap. 18.
But, finding in myself nothing to be truer than what
the wise Solomon tells me : As Ihou Jenowesl not what
is the way of the spirit ; nor how the bones grow in the
womb of her that is with child : even so thou kncwest
not the works of God, who maJcest all things : I grate-
fully receive and rejoice in the light of revelation,
which sets me at rest in many things, the manner
whereof my poor reason can by no means make out
to me : omnipotency, I know, can do any thing that
contains in it no contradiction ; so that I readily be-
lieve whatever God has declared, though my reason
find difficulties in it, which it cannot master. Locke's
Essay on the Human Understanding, book iv. chap. 3.
174 FAITH IN THE DOCTRINES
SECTION II.
FAITH IN THE DOCTRINES OF REVELATION.
BELIEF IN TESTIMONY. Superstition *, under the
guidance of philosophy, is natural, and is good. It is
impossible for mankind, in general, to see those truths
of science, which require the investigation of many
steps ; for, mankind must not consist of theoretical
philosophers, no more than of kings and judges. But
though mankind cannot see those truths, which are
above the degree of their proper science, they may
believe them when revealed. For example, the sys-
tem of the heavenly bodies is here generally believed
by those, who read or converse with men of science,
although there are but few of those, who see the evi-
dence of that truth which they then believe : and there
is nothing so incredible but what will be believed, if
coming from an authority that is not suspected, and
if not opposed by the prejudices of the person, whose
faith is thus to be formed in superstition and not in
science. Hutlon's Investigation, iii. 626.
FAITH ATTAINED BY PRAYER. As reason is a re-
bel unto faith, so passion unto reason. As the pro-
positions of faith seem absurd unto reason, so the
theorems of reason unto passion, and both unto reason ;
yet a moderate and peaceable discretion may so state
and order the matter, that they may be all kings, and
yet make but one monarchy, every one exercising his
prerogative in a due time and place, according to the
* By superstition this author means belief on the authority of
others.
OF REVELATION. 175
restraint and limit of circumstance. There is, as in
philosophy, so in divinity, sturdy doubts and boister-
ous objections, wherewith the unhappiness of our
knowledge too easily acquainteth us. More of these no
man hath known than myself, which I confess I con-
quered, not in a martial posture, but on my knees.
Brown's Religio Medici.
NATURE OF FAITH. As touching the act itself (of
faith) it is no other than a sound, real, and firm be-
lief of those sacred truths. Therefore, it seems that
they that perplex the notion of faith with other intri-
cate and abstruse definitions or descriptions, either ren-
der it very difficult or scarce intelligible, or else take
into the definition, or but description of it, those
things that are but the consequents and effects of it.
He that hath this firm persuasion will most certainly
repent of his past sins, will most certainly endeavour
obedience to the will of God, which is thus believed
by him to be holy, just, and good ; and upon the obe-
dience or disobedience whereof depends his eternal
happiness or misery ; will most certainly depend up-
on the promises of God for this life and that to come ;
for those are as natural effects of such a firm persua-
sion, as it is for the belief of a danger to put a man
upon means to avoid it, or for the belief of a benefit
to put a man upon means to attain it. Some things
are of such a nature, that the belief or knowledge of
them goes no farther, but it rests in itself, as the be-
lief of bare speculative truths ; but some things are
of such a nature, as being once truly and firmly be-
lieved or known, carry a man out to action ; and such
are especially the knowledge and belief of such things,
as are the objects of our fears or of our hopes. The
belief of objects doth naturally, and with a kind of
moral necessity, carry a man out to action, to the avoid-
i 4
176 FAITH IN THE DOCTRINES
ing of such fears and the attaining of such hopes;
and, therefore,, faith and belief, in reference thereunto,
comes often in the Scripture under the names of hope
and fear, as being the proper effects of it, 2 Cor. v.
10, 11. 1 John, iii. 2, 3.
Faith, therefore, is a firm assent to the sacred truths,
whether the truths relate to things past, as that God
made the world, that Christ the Messiah is come in
the flesh, &c. ; or to things present, as that Almighty
God beholds all I do, and knows all I think, or that
he is a reconciled father to me in Christ Jesus ; or
things to come, which principally excite those two
great movers of the soul, hope and fear, in relation
to the future life of rewards and punishments. Sir
Matthew Bale's Contemplations, i. 262.
EXCELLENCE OF FAITH. Faith, in this sense, is
the Christian virtue, next in excellency to love ; and,
as love makes the pleasure and glory of God the last
end, so faith gives the resolution for pursuing all the
means towards that end, and towards the next subor-
dinate end, the tranquillity of the mind, trusting in
God for direction in all the means towards these ends ;
that, as the natural man trusts to, and rests on, natu-
ral means for obtaining his ends, so the spiritual trusts
to, and depends upon, the conduct of the Holy Ghost,
by supernatural means especially. Therefore the
Apostle Paul saith, and gives warrant to all, who walk
Christianly, to say, " The life that I now live is by
" the faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and
" gave himself for me." Dalrymple, Earl of Stair,
on the Divine Perfections, 321.
This faith in the promises of God, this relying and
acquiescing in his word and faithfulness, the Almighty
takes well at our hand, as a great mark of homage,
paid by us frail creatures, to his goodness and truth,
OF REVELATION. 177
as well as to his power and wisdom ; and accepts it
as an acknowledgment of his peculiar providence and
benignity to us. And, therefore, our Saviour tells
us, John xii. 4$4, " He that believes on me, believes
" not on me, but on him that sent me." The works
of nature show his wisdom and power ; but it is his
peculiar care of mankind, most eminently discovered
in his promises to them, that shows his bounty and
goodness ; and consequently engages their hearts in
love and affection to him. This oblation of an heart,
fixed with dependence on, and affection to him, is the
most acceptable tribute we can pay him, the founda-
tion of true devotion, and life of all religion. What a
value he puts on this depending on his word, and rest-
ing satisfied in his promises, we have an example in
Abraham, whose faith " was counted to him for right-
eousness," as we have before remarked out of Ro-
mans iv. And his relying firmly on the promise of
God, without any doubt of its performance, gave him
the name of the Father of the Faithful ; and gained
him so much favour with the Almighty, that he was
called the "friend of God;" the highest and most
glorious title that can be bestowed on a creature
Locke on the Reasonableness of Christianity, Works t
vi. 129*
DIFFERENT DEGREES OF FAITH.-*! believe there
is no degree of faith necessary to salvation, which is
not suitable to the evidence, if men, through laziness,
prejudices, vice, passions, interest, or some other de-
fect, are not wanting to themselves. Nor is the same
degree of faith necessary to all persons, since men's
capacities, education, and their opportunities of in-
forming themselves, may dispose them to be diffident
and apt to hesitate. And, in some cases, a degree of
iaith,*not exempt from doubts, may, through God's
I 5
178 FAITH IN THE DOCTRINES
goodness, be accepted ; and even the apostles made it
their prayer that our Saviour would " increase their
faith." And he who solicited him to help his son,
cried out, tf Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief;"
and was so mercifully accepted by that high priest,
who is sensibly touched with our infirmities, that his
request was granted, though it could not be done
without a miracle. And our Saviour's disciples, when
they were ready to perish, and were saved by their
master, he, at the same time, gave them the epithet of
' ' men of little faith." The faith, then, that is as ne-
cessary under the gospel, as the genuine fruit of it is
obedience, so it is not such a faith as excludes doubts,
but refusals. Indeed, the attainment of a higher de-
gree of faith is always a blessing, and cannot be too
much prized or aimed at ; but there are degrees in
some kind of virtues and graces, that, though it be a
happiness to reach them, yet the endeavouring after
them is an indispensable duty, How. Robert Boyle's
Theological Works.
CONNEXION OF FAITH WITH SALVATION. God was
inclined to save mankind, not from the righteousness
of man himself, or from any merit of his own, but
only through the redemption which is in Christ. It
is by faith that he is justified, not by the accomplish-
ment of the law. This is the invariable doctrine of
revelation, as preached both by St. Paul, and by our
Saviour himself. " Without me, ye can do nothing."
" This is life eternal, that they believe in him whom
God hath sent." Man, justified by the grace which
is in another, hath no cause for pride or vanity.
Baron Holler 's Letters to his Daughter, Letter 13.
The saving act of faith is not ordained to be man's
part of the covenant of grace, upon consideration of
its own worth and value, but as it relates to, and re-
OF REVELATION. 179
lieth on, the mercy and faithfulness of God, and the
merits and satisfaction of Christ. It useth to be call-
ed the eye of faith looking to these, the hand of faith
laying hold upon them, or the instrument of the soul,
whereby it obtains salvation. There are sharp dis-
putes, under which of these considerations it justifies ;
but I like it better to be conceived only as the man-
ner which God hath freely chosen, whereby to com-
municate grace and glory to the elect. I like it not
properly to be called an instrument, which is an in-
ferior cause, having some influence with the princi-
pal agent, whereas God and Christ are the only cause
of grace and glory. Neither yet to be properly a con-
dition, upon which God is to give grace and glory,
seeing a condition must be uncertain to him who
makes it a condition. The being an eye or hand are
certainly metaphorical ; without doubt, causa conditio
et modus are different. There is least to be attributed
to the saving act of faith, as it is only the manner
how God is pleased to save, which is not a necessary
manner, for God might have exerted all his dispensa-
tions with creatures, without giving them the honour
to enter into covenant with him, and, therefore, he
freely chose the way of a covenant, and so the man-
ner of it ; and, to magnify his grace, and to exclude
all glorying of man in himself, he hath chosen the
manner of the covenant of grace, wherein there could
not be less of man in a covenant. If God had pro-
ceeded only by mercy to save men, there could have
been no place for a covenant, and man had not been
so much dealt with as a rational creature, proceeding
by reason, deliberation, and choice, as by a covenant.
Dalrympk, Earl of Stair, on the Divine Perfections.
FAITH PRODUCTIVE OP GOOD WORKS. 'Twas an
unhappy division, that has been made between faith
i 6
180 FAITH IN THE DOCTRINES
and works. Though in my intellect, I may divide
them, just as in the candle I know there is both light
and heat ; but yet put out the candle, and they are
both gone ; one remains not without the other ; so
'tis betwixt faith and works. Nay, in a right concep-
tion "Jides est opus ;" if I believe a thing, because I
am commanded, that is " opus."Selden's Table
Talk, p. 61.
But here I would have it observed, that though
faith be the grand condition of God's grant of eternal
life, I would not ascribe any thing to a barren lazy
faith, in opposition to that active one called " faith
operating by love;" since, according to St. James,
faith and works are as necessary to devotion as a union
of soul and body is to life. But though true faith
(which, like Rachel) cries " give me children, or else
I die," produces good works ; yet those works are
not the cause, but the effect of God's first love to men.
" Thou art good, and doest good," says the Psalmist,
it being the greatness of his goodness that makes it
ours ; he not doing good to us, because we are, but
because he is good himself; for, as he is necessarily
kind, he is not the less obligingly so to us ; and,
though some kind of communicativeness be essential
to his goodness, yet his extension of it to us is arbi-
trary. Honourable Robert Boyle's Theological Works.
Lest the best of men, in considering the number
and greatness of their sins, and comparing them with
the purity of the Scripture precepts, and the perfec-
tion of God, should not dare to look up to him with
a filial trust and confidence in him ; lest their hearts
should fail, Christ our Saviour is sent from heaven,
God manifest in the flesh, that whosoever belie veth in
him should not perish, but have everlasting life ; that
though our sins be as scarlet, they should by him, by
means of his sufferings, and our faith, be made as
OF REVELATION. 181
white as wool ; and the great punishment which must
otherwise have been inflicted upon us, according to
what we call the course of nature, be aveited. Faith
then in Christ the righteous, will supply the place of
that righteousness, and sinless perfection, to which we
cannot attain.
And yet this faith does not make void the law, and
strict conditions above described ; but, on the con-
trary, establishes them. For no man can have this
faith in Christ, but he who complies with the condi-
tions. To have a sense of our sins, to be humble and
contrite, and in this state of mind to depend upon
Christ as the mediator between God and man, as able
and willing to save us, which is true faith, argues such
a disposition as will shew itself in works. And, if our
faith falls short of this, if it does not overcome the
world, and shew itself by works, it is of no avail ; it
is like that of the devils, who believe and tremble. Men
must labour, therefore, after this faith as much as af-
ter any other Christian grace, or rather as much as af-
ter all the others, else they cannot obtain it. For it
contains all the other Christian graces ; and we can
never know that we have it, but by our having the
Christian graces which are its fruits. Hartley's Ob*
servations on Many ii. 408.
SECTION III.
THE MYSTERIES WHICH FAITH RECEIVES.
CHRISTIAN MYSTERIES. It has been objected to
the gospel, that it contains many things which are
182 THE MYSTERIES WHICH
hard to be conceived ; and some which seem con-
trary to reason. And it is undoubtedly attend-
ed with some difficulties, otherwise there would
have been no occasion for teachers and interpre-
ters. But, though there may be some things above
reason, yet there will never be found any which are
contrary; and even the difficulties, upon a due exami-
nation of the context, often vanish, and shew that the
fault is not in the doctrine, but in our want of appre-
hension. Many articles, in what we style natural re-
ligion, are equally difficult to be explained. For in-
stance, we often see vice triumphant and virtue de-
pressed, for which we cannot account from any light of
nature, nor from the religion supposed to be founded
on it, as that system can afford neither reason nor re-
medy, both which are to be obtained from revelation.
The like occurs in natural philosophy. We find it
abound with phenomena, which we see and know,
but cannot explain ; for instance, gravity, magnetism,
and electricity. If then we meet with many things
in common life, and worldly science, which seem
difficult to comprehend, and some beyond our reason;
we must expect to find others above our reason in that
grand system of life and immortality, which Provi-
dence has laid before us. And it is our duty to ac-
quiesce, and to trust to the word of God, which can-
not deceive. Bryant on the Authenticity of Scripture.
What grounds, therefore, have I to be astonished
at the obscurities, in which certain doctrines of reli-
gion are involved ? Is not this obscurity itself greatly
increased by that darkness, which envelopes so many
of the mysteries of nature? How unphilosophical
would it be, were I to complain, that God has not be-
stowed on me the eyes and intelligence of an angel,
that I might penetrate into all the secrets of nature
and of grace ? Have I the presumption to think, that,
FAITH EECEIVES. 183
in order to satisfy an idle curiosity, God ought to
have disturbed the universal harmony of nature., and
placed me one step higher in the immense scale of
beings ? Is not my extent of knowledge sufficient to
guide me safely in the path, which is traced out for
me ? Have I not sufficient motives to pursue it stea-
dily, and sufficient hopes to animate my efforts, and
to excite me in the pursuit of my proper end ? Even
natural religion itself, that religion which I believe
to be the result, and which I consider as the glory of
my reason, that very system which seems to me so
harmonious, so connected in all its parts, so perfectly
philosophical ; with how many impenetrable myste-
ries does it abound ! The sole idea of a necessarily-
existent being, of a being existing by itself, how un-
fathomable is such a thought, even to an archangel !
Nay, even without reverting so far back as that first
great Being which absorbs all comprehension, the
soul itself, that soul which natural religion sooths with
the hopes of immortality, how many insuperable dif-
ficulties does it present to me ? Bonnet's Enquiries
concerning Christianity, 2 89.
In favour of those, who believe those abstruse arti-
cles revealed in Scripture, on the account of divine re-
velation, we shall add, that it appears from the contra-
dictory opinions of the divisibility of quantity, some
doctrine must be true, though attended with difficul-
ties, above the reach of our reason ; and since God's
perfect knowledge can distinguish which of those
opinions is true, and can declare that to men, it would
be a precarious ground to reject a revealed article, be-
cause attended with difficulties and liable to objec-
tions. And that a truth may be assented to, upon
positive evidence, as important to religion in genera^
and the Christian in particular, though witty and in-
genious men may make objections not easily answer-
1
184 THE MYSTERIES WHICH
ed, may appear from the following instance : And first,
by our walking and moving from place to place, -we
are convinced that there is local motion ; though Ze-
no and his followers urged arguments against it, which
puzzled and nonplussed the ancient philosophers, as
well as those moderns, that have pretended to give
clear solutions of them. Honourable Robert Boyle's
Theological Works.
Nor do they, who reject the Christian religion because
of the difficulties which arise in its mysteries, consider
how far that objection will go against other systems
both of religion and of philosophy, which they them-
selves profess to admit. There are in deism itself,
the most simple of all religious opinions, several dif-
ficulties, for which human reason can but ill account;
which may therefore be not improperly styled arti-
cles of faith. Such is the origin of evil, under the
government of an all- good and all-powerful God; a
question so hard that the inability of solving it in a
manner satisfactory to their apprehensions has driven
some of the greatest philosophers into the monstrous
and senseless opinions of manicheism and atheism.
Such is the reconciling the prescience of God with
the free-will of man, which, after much thought on
the subject, Mr. Locke fairly confesses he could not
do, though he acknowledged both ; and what Mr.
Locke could not do, in reasoning upon subjects of a
metaphysical nature, I am apt to think few men, if
any, can hope to perform. Such is also the creation of
the world at any supposed time, or tlie eternal pro-
duction of it from God ; it being almost equally hard,
according to mere philosophical notions, either to ad-
mit that the goodness of God could remain unexert-
ed through all eternity, before the time of such a
creation, let it be set back ever so far, or to conceive
an eternal production, which words so applied, are
FAITH RECEIVES. 185
inconsistent and contradictory terms ; the solutio
commonly given, by a comparison to the emanation
of light from the sun, not being adequate to it or just,
and naturally emanating from it ; whereas, matter is
not a quality inherent or emanating from the divine
essence, but of a different substance and nature, and
if not independent and self-existing, must have been
created by a mere act of the divine will ; and if cre-
ated, then not eternal, the idea of creation implying
a time when the substance created did not exist. But
because of these difficulties, or any other, that may oc-
cur in the system of Deism, no wise man will deny
the being of a God, or his infinite wisdom, goodness,
and power, which are proved by such evidence as
carries the clearest and strongest conviction, and can-
not be refuted without involving the mind in far
greater difficulties, even in downright absurdities and
impossibilities. The only part, therefore, that can be
taken, is to account in the best manner, that our weak
reason is able to do, for such seeming objections ; and,
where that fails, to acknowledge its weakness, and
acquiesce under the certainty, that our very imper-
fect knowledge or judgment cannot be the measure
of the divine wisdom, or the universal standard of
truth. So likewise it is with respect to the Christian
religion. Some difficulties occur, in that revelation,
which human reason can hardly clear ; but, as the
truth of it stands upon evidence so strong and con-
vincing, that it cannot be denied without much greater
difficulties, than those that attend the belief of it,
we ought not to reject it upon such objections, how-
ever mortifying they may be to our pride. That in-
deed, would have all things made plain to us : but
God has thought proper to proportion our knowledge
to our wants, not our pride. All that concerns our
duty is clear, and as to other points, either of natu-
186 THE MYSTERIES WHICH
>
ral or revealed religion, if he has left some obscurities
in them, is that any reasonable cause of complaint ?
Not to rejoice in the benefit of what he hath gracious-
ly allowed us to know, from a presumptuous disgust
at our incapacity of knowing more, is as absurd as
it would be to refuse to walk, because we cannot fly.
Indeed, not even in heaven itself, not in the highest
state of perfection to which a finite being can ever at-
tain, will all the counsels of Providence, all the height
and the depth of the infinite wisdom of God be ever
disclosed or understood. Faith, even then, will be ne-
cessary ; and there will be mysteries which cannot be
penetrated by the most exalted archangel, and truths
which cannot be known by him, otherwise than by
revelation, or believed upon any other ground of as-
sent, than a submissive confidence in the divine wisdom.
What then shall man presume that his weak and nar-
row understanding is sufficient to guide him into all
truth, without any need of revelation or faith ? Shall
he complain, that " the ways of God are not like his
ways, and past his finding out I" True philosophy, as
well as true Christianity, would teach us a wiser
and modester part. It would teach us to be con-
tent within those bounds which God has assigned to
us, casting down imaginations, and every high thing
that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and
bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience
of Christ. Lord Lyttlelon on the Conversion of Paul.
CHRISTIAN MYSTERIES IN STRICT ANALOGY WITH
THE COURSE OF NATURE. The mutual instrumentali-
ty of beings to each other's happiness and misery, un-
folded in the Scriptures, is an argument of their di-
vine authority. The Scripture account of the fall of
man, his redemption by Christ, and the influences
exerted upon him by good and evil angels, is so far
FAITH RECEIVES. 187
from affording an objection against the Christian re-
ligion, that it is a considerable evidence for it, when
viewed in a truly philosophical light. God works in
every thing by means, by those which, according to
our present language and short-sightedness, are termed
bad and impious, as well as by the good and evident-
ly fit ones ; and all these means require a definite
time, before they can accomplish their respective
ends. This occurs to daily observation in the course
and constitution of nature. And the Scripture doc-
trine concerning the fall, the redemption by Christ,
and the influences of good and evil angels, are only
such intimations concerning the principal invisible
means that lead man to his ultimate end, happiness
in being united to God, as accelerate him in his pro-
gress thither. According to the Scriptures, Adam
hurts all through frailty; Christ saves all from his
love and compassion to all ; evil angels tempt through
malice ; and good ones assist and defend, in obedi-
ence to the will of God, and his original and ultimate
design of making all happy. These things are in-
deed clothed in a considerable variety of expression,
suited to our present way of acting, conceiving, and
speaking ; (which ways are however all of divine ori-
ginal, God having taught mankind in the patriar-
chal times, the language, as one may say, in which he
spake to them then and afterwards ;) but these ex-
pressions can have no greater real import, than that
of signifying to us the means made use of by God ;
he being, according to the Scripture, as well as reason,
the only real agent, in all the transactions that relate
to man, to angels, &c. And to object to the method
of producing happiness by this or that means, be-
cause of the time required to accomplish the end, of
the mixture of evil, &c. is to require that all God's
creatures should at once be created infinitely happy,
188 THE MYSTERIES WHICH
or rather, have existed so from all eternity, z. e. should
be gods and not creatures. -Hartley's Observations on
Man, ii. ] 82.
'Tis upon this very foundation, that wicked and
profane men are wont to build their blasphemous
calumnies against the Christian religion, only be-
cause they misunderstand it. They imagine, that it
consists purely in the adoration of the Divinity, con-
sidered as great, powerful, and eternal. This is pro-
perly deism, and stands almost as far removed from
Christianity as atheism ; which is directly opposite to it.
Yet hence they would infer the falsehood of our re-
ligion ; because, ( say they, ) were it true, God would
have manifested himself under its dispensation by so
visible tokens, that it should have been impossible
for any man not to know him.
But let them conclude what they will against de-
ism, they will be able to draw no such conclusion to
the prejudice of Christianity ; which acknowledges,
that, since the fall, God does not manifest himself to
us with all the evidence that is possible ; and which
consists properly in the mystery of a Redeemer, who,
by sustaining at once the divine and human nature,
has recovered men out of the corruption of sin, that
he might reconcile them to God in his divine person.
True religion, therefore, instructs men in these two
principles, that there is a God, whom they are capa-
ble of knowing and enjoying ; and that there are
such corruptions in their nature, as render them un-
worthy of him. There is the same importance in
apprehending the one as the other of these points :
and it is alike dangerous for man to know God, with-
out the knowledge of his own misery, and to know
his own misery without the knowledge of a Redeem-
er, who may deliver him from it. To apprehend
one without the other, begets either the pride of
FAITH RECEIVES. 189
philosophers, who know God, but not their own mi-
sery ; or the despair of atheists, who know their own
misery, but not the author of their deliverance.
And as it is of equal necessity to man, that he should
obtain the knowledge of both these principles, so is it
equally agreeable to the mercy of God, that he should
afford the means of such a knowledge. To perform
this, is the office, and the very essence of Christianity.
Upon this foot let men examine the order and eco-
nomy of the world, and let them see whether all
things do not conspire in establishing these two fun-
damentals of our religion.
If any one knows not himself to be full of pride
and ambition, of concupiscence and injustice, of weak-
ness and wretchedness, he is blind beyond dispute.
And if any one who knows himself to labour under
these defects, at the same time desires not to be res-
cued from them, what can we say of a man who has
thus abandoned his reason ? What remains then but
that we preserve the highest veneration for a religion,
which so well understands the infirmities of mankind ?
and that we profess the heartiest wishes for the truth
of a religion, which en gage th to heal those infirmi-
ties by so happy, so desirable a relief? Pascal's
Thoughts, p. 25.
CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES WORTHY TO BE RECEIVED.
When we have, from the purity of its doctrines, and
the external evidence of miracles, prophecy, and hu-
man testimony, satisfied ourselves of the truth of the
Christian revelation, it becomes us to believe even
such parts of it, as could never have been found out
by human reason. And thus it is, that our natural
notions of God and his providence are wonderfully
refined and improved by what is revealed in holy
writ : so that the meanest of our people, who has
had a Christian education, knows a great deal more
190 THE MYSTERIES WHICH
on these subjects, than could ever be discovered by
the wisest of the ancient philosophers. That many
things in the divine government, and many particu-
lars relating to the divine nature, as declared in scrip-
ture, should surpass our comprehension, is not to be
wondered at; for we are daily puzzled with things
more within our sphere : we know that our own soul
and body are united, but of the manner of that union
we know nothing. A past eternity we cannot
comprehend ; and a future eternity is an object by
which our reason is astonished and confounded : yet
nothing can be more certain than that one eternity is
past, and another to come. Beaitie's Elements of Mo-
ral Science, i. 376.
CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES NOT TO BE EXPLAINED
AWAY. To several learned and ingenious writers,
some doctrines of the Christian religion have appeared
so contradictory to all the principles of reason and
equity, that they cannot assent to them, nor believe
that they can be derived from the fountain of all truth
and justice. In order therefore to satisfy themselves
and others, who may labour under the same difficul-
ties, they have undertaken the arduous task of recon-
ciling revelation and reason ; and great would have
been their merits, had they begun at the right end ;
that is, had they endeavoured to exalt the human
understanding to the comprehension of the sublime
doctrines of the gospel, rather than to reduce those
doctrines to the low standard of human reason ; but.
unfortunately for themselves and many others, they
have made choice of the latter method, and as the
shortest way to effect it, have with inconsiderate rash-
ness expunged from the New Testament- every di-
vine declaration, which agrees not exactly with their
own notions of truth and rectitude ; and this they
have attempted by no other means, than by absurd ex-
FAITH RECEIVES. 191
planations,or by bold assertions that they are not there,
in direct contradiction to the sense of language, and the
whole tenour of those writings ; as some philosophers
have ventured, in opposition to all men's senses and
even to their own, to deny the existence of matter,
for no other reason, but because they find in it pro-
perties which they are unable to account for. Thus
they have reduced Christianity to a mere system of
ethics, and retain no part of it but the moral, which, in
fact, is no characteristic part of it at all, as this, though
in a manner less perfect, makes a part of every reli-
gion which ever appeared in the world. Soame Jen-
tiyns' Works, iii. 24-5.
CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES PROVED BY THEIR ENE-
MIES. Libertines and ungodly men, who devote
themselves blindly to their own passions, without
either knowing God, or giving themselves the trou-
ble to search after him, do yet verify by this their
conduct, one of those foundations of our faith, which
they particularly oppose, that the present state of
human nature is a state of corruption. Again, the
Jews, who with so obstinate a spirit resist the evi-
dences of Christianity, confirm in like manner the
other great foundation of our faith, which they prin-
cipally endeavour to destroy, that Jesus Christ is the
true Messias, that he came to redeem mankind, and
to retrieve us from the misery and corruption, into
which we were fallen. Arid this, as well by the
estate to which we see them at present reduced, and
which was foretold in their own prophecies them-
selves, which are still in their hands, and which, with
the utmost caution they preserve inviolable, as con-
taining the proper marks and character of their Mes-
sias. Thus may the chief evidences, both of the cor-
ruption of human nature, and of the redemption by
192 THE MYSTERIES WHICH
Jesus Christ^ which are the two leading articles esta-
blished by the Christian faith, be drawn from the
libertines, who cast off the care of all religion ; and
from the Jews, who are irreconcilable enemies to the
truth. Pascal's Thoughts.
SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL CHRISTIAN DOC-
TRINES. If Christianity is to be learned out of the
New Testament, and words have any meaning affixed
to them, the fundamental principles of it are these.
That mankind came into this world in a depraved and
fallen condition ; that they are placed here for a while,
to give them an opportunity to work out their salvation,
that is, by a virtuous and pious life to purge off their
guilt and depravity, and recover their lost state of hap-
piness and innocence in a future life ; that this they
are unable to perform without the grace and assist-
ance of God ; and that, after their best endeavours,
they cannot hope for pardon from their own merits,
but only from the merits of Christ, and the atone-
ment made for their transgressions by his sufferings
and death. This is clearly the sum and substance of
the Christian dispensation ; and so adverse is it to all
the principles of human reason, that, if brought be-
fore her tribunal, it must inevitably be condemned.
If we give no credit to its divine authority, any at-
tempt to reconcile them is useless ; and, if we believe
it, presumptuous in the highest degree. To prove
the reasonableness of a revelation is in fact to destroy
it ; because a revelation implies information of some-
thing which reason cannot discover, and therefore
must be different from its deductions, or it would be
no revelation. Soame Jenyns* Works, iii. 248.
The tracts contained in the book, which in dis-
tinction, we term the Bible, unquestionably develop
the most singular history and most original system
WHICH FAITH RECEIVES. 193
of philosophy ever promulgated. With the history I
have no concern at present. The sum of its philoso-
phy, if I understand it rightly, is this : The world,
that is, men generally, without noticing degrees,
is declared to be ignorant and corrupt, corrupt in
ignorance, ignorant because corrupt, and wretched
alike in both. This wretchedness is not described as
light or transitory, but is depicted in the strongest
colours. Bondage, darkness, and death, are the gloo-
my images by which it is generally represented ; and
though a nice accuracy of expression is plainly avoid-
ed, there are numerous passages of Scripture, which
concur with the analogy of natural things, to make
it probable, that this unhappy state is likely to endure
through endless ages, and to become as it advances
darker and more desperate. In order that we may
escape from so sad a condition, the Scriptures call
upon us to come to God by faith, which in substance
I understand thus : Man trusting in his own strength
and wisdom, has gone on from age to age in misery
and sin. He neither understands what it is that con-
stitutes happiness, nor could attain to it if he did.
He sees not, that to be alienated from God is to be
wretched ; or, if a few among the wisest, perceiving
the vanity of earthly things, begin to suspect this,
they know so little what God is, or how his favour
is to be secured, that their philosophy ends at last in
rhapsody and mysticism. The Almighty, pitying his
creatures, tells them, that they are not only in a very un-
happy condition, which they a little (though but a little)
suspected ; but that they are exceedingly blind and
foolish, which for the most part they suspected not
at all ; that, if they would be happy, they must come
to him, and laying aside for ever their own silly con-
ceits of what is good, learn the way of life, and walk
in it. This coming to God, (or however else we
K
194 THE MYSTERIES
please to express it,) and taking his word for our
rule of conduct, in the full conviction that it will is-
sue greatly to our advantage ; as it is obviously the
strongest expression of faith, so it is, I apprehend,
what is, primarily and principally meant by that word
in both Testaments.
Struck with such an invitation, and touched by
the preventing grace of God, many are led to in-
quire more particularly into the nature of that which
promises so much. On examination it appears, that
what God declares to be needful for happiness, is
wholly different from all the things which a majori-
ty of mankind are pursuing. He does not give us
rules for lengthening our existence, fortifying our
health, improving our fortunes, or advancing our
stations in this life ; for quickening or multiplying
the common sources or objects of enjoyment, nor even
(at least properly, and for their own sake) does he
teach us how our affections may become more lively,
or our understandings acquire strength and elevation.
The word of God, condemning many, neglecting the
residue, of these things, calls on all who will listen,
to labour assiduously for the attainment of a certain
character, or nature of mind, which is composed of
many particular qualities, and is usually denominat-
ed by the term holiness, or some equivalent expres-
sion. This character, it is declared, will most nearly
assimilate us to God ; make us capable here of en-
joying a portion of that felicity which he possesses
without measure ; and, by securing to us his favour,
bring us, after this life is ended, to a state far more
perfect and glorious, than at present we can either
enjoy or conceive.
All this, we see, might have been known, without
our having any apprehension of the doctrine of a
Redeemer ; but the value of that doctrine cannot be
WHICH FAITH RECEIVES. 195
understood, without a just apprehension of the state of
things, for which it was provided. I speak particu-
larly of the doctrine. The value of redemption as a
fact, is quite a different matter from the value of the
knowledge of that fact. This is called " the know-
ledge of salvation ; good tidings of great joy." It is
indeed a joyful thing to hear that salvation is attain-
able ; but how much more joyful to be taught the
means, and furnished with the most pressing motives
for attaining it. For the present purpose, salvation
and holiness may be considered as the same ; and for
the promotion of holiness the doctrine of the atone-
ment is, above all rivalry, most efficient. Works of
John Bawdier, jun. * ii. 181.
* Mr. Bowdler ' was possessed of an amiable character and
uncommon talents. He gave, particularly, great promise of dis-
tinction in his professional pursuits. He had applied himself with
singular success to the noble study of eloquence ; and possessed a
style of speaking, unusually nervous, manly, and original. With
this great excellence, with knowledge foreign to the habits of most
lawyers, and with^technical acquirements which hardly any one, so
gifted as he was in other respects, ever brought to the bar at his
outset in life, his rapid attainment to the heights of his profession
was a matter of certainty, had life only been accorded," Edin.
Review, vol. xxviii. p. 336.
196
CHAPTER IX.
TESTIMONIES TO THE PARTICULAR DOCTRINES
OF REVELATION
SECTION I.
THE EXISTENCE OF SPIRITUAL BEINGS.
RELIGION is the most important of all things, the
great point of discrimination, that divides the man from
the brute. It is our special prerogative, that we can
converse with that which we cannot see, and believe
in that, the existence of which is reported to us by none
of our senses. Such is the abstract and exalted nature
of man. This it is, that constitutes us intellectual,
and truly entitles us to the denomination of reason-
able beings. All that passes before the senses of the
body is a scenic exhibition ; and he, that is busied
about these fantastic appearances, " walketh in a vain
" shew,and disquieteth himself in vain." Invisible
things are the only realities ; invisible things alone
are the things that shall remain. Godwin's Mande-
ville.
Lastly, if this notion of unmaterial spirit may have
perhaps some difficulties in it, not easy to be explain-
EXISTENCE OF SPIRITUAL BEINGS 197
ed, we have therefore no more reason to deny or
doubt the existence of such spirits, than we have to
deny or doubt the existence of body ; because the
notion of body is cumbered with some difficulties
very hard, and, perhaps, impossible to be explained,
or understood by us. For I would fain have instanc-
ed any thing in our notion of spirit more perplexed,
or nearer a contradiction, than the very notion of body
includes in it ; the divisibility in infinitum of any fi-
nite extension, involving us, whether we grant or
deny it, in consequences impossible to be explicated,
or made in our apprehensions consistent ; consequen-
ces that carry greater difficulty, and more apparent
absurdity, than any thing that can follow from the no-
tion of an immaterial knowing substance. Which we
are not at all to wonder at, since we, having but some
few superficial ideas of things, discovered to us only
by the senses from without, or by the mind, reflect-
ing on what it experiments in itself within, have no
knowledge beyond that, and much less of the inter-
nal constitution, and true nature of things, being des-
titute of faculties to attain it. And therefore experi-
menting and discovering in ourselves knowledge,
and the power of voluntary motion, as certainly as
we experiment, or discover in things without us, the
cohesion and separation of solid parts, which is the
extension and motion of bodies, we have as much
reason to be satisfied with our notion of immaterial
spirit, as with our notion of body ; and the existence
of the one, as well as the other. For it being no
more a contradiction, that thinking should exist, se-
parate and independent from solidity, than it is a con-
tradiction, that solidity should exist, separate and in-
dependent from thinking, they being both but simple
ideas, independent one from another ; and having as
lear and distinct ideas in us of thinking, as of soli-
198 EXISTENCE OF SPIRITUAL BEINGS.
dity, I know not why we may not as well allow a
thinking thing without solidity, i. e. immaterial, to
exist, as a solid thing without thinking, i. e. matter,
to exist ; especially since it is no harder to conceive
how thinking should exist without matter, than how
matter should think. For whensoever we would
proceed beyond these simple ideas we have from sen-
sation and reflection, and dive farther into the nature
of things, we fall presently into darkness and obscu-
rity, perplexedness and difficulties ; and can discover
nothing farther but our own blindness and ignorance.
Locke's- Essay on the Human Understanding , Book ii.
chap. 23.
We cannot form a competent idea of the Supreme
Being : he is superior to every image, which derives
its origin from the senses. It is however certain,
that he is omnipotent, all-wise, and infinite in eve-
ry perfection. We have every possible reason to
think, that, betwixt this Being and man, there are
other creatures, who approach nearer to God in sanc-
tity, virtue, and perfection ; and who are far superi-
or to maTi, I know, that, in strict propriety of speech,
there cannot be an uniform gradation between finite
and infinite ; but the distance between God and fee-
ble mortals is so immense, that we may suppose with
the highest probability, that, in the celestial habita-
tions, are beings of a much more excellent nature
than man, whose understanding is so much limited,
and whose heart is exceedingly depraved. Baron
Holler's Letters to his Daughter, let. 2.
All the ideas that man can form of the ways of
Providence, and of the employments of angels and
spirits, must ever fall short of the reality ; but still it
is right to think of them, and to raise his ideas as
high as he can. He glorifies the inhabitant of hea-
THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY. 199
ven, and at the same time gives a proof of human
greatness, when he raises the idea of perfection to the
highest degree, that we are capable of conceiving.
What can have a more exalting influence on the
earthly life, than, in these first days of our existence,
to make ourselves conversant with the lives of the
blessed, with the happy spirits, whose society we
shall hereafter enjoy, and with the future glories of
the virtuous. By these ideas, the mind is prepared
and formed to step forth with more confidence on the
great theatre of the world. We should accustom
ourselves to consider the spirits of heaven as always
around us, observing all our steps, and witnessing
our most secret actions. Whoever is become fami-
liar with these ideas will find the most solitary place
peopled with the best society. Klopstock's Letters,
translated by Miss Smith, p. 217. Note.
SECTION II.
THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY.
THE Deity distinguished in three persons, (although
essentially inseparable,) every person is said in the
Scriptures to help one another ; as the Father by the
Son created the world, (Col. i. 16. John i. 3.) the
Son by the Spirit redeemed the world, (Luke iv.
43. ) the Holy Spirit, sent both from the Father and
the Son, comforteth, defendeth, and regenerated! his
elect of the world. Lord Napier of Merchi&ton on
the Apocalypse.
K 4
200 THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY.
Faith contains the doctrine of the nature of God,
the attributes of God, and of the works of God. The
nature of God consists of three persons in unity of
Godhead. The attributes of God are common to the
Deity, or respective to the persons. The works of
God summary are two, that of the creation, and that
of the redemption : and both these works, as in total
they appertain to the unity of the Godhead ; so in
their parts they refer to the three persons : that of the
creation in the mass of the matter, to the Father ; in
the disposition of the form, to the Son ; and in the
continuance and conservation of the being, to the
Holy Spirit, so that of the redemption, in the elec-
tion and counsel, to the Father ; in the whole act and
consummation, to the Son; and in the application, to
the Holy Spirit, for by the Holy Ghost was Christ
conceived in flesh ; and by his operation are the elect
regenerated in spirit. Bacon's Essays, p. 347.
What the Scripture acquaints us with, is this, and
no more : That what it characterises the Father, the
avenger of wrong, and rewarder of right, is God ;
that what it characterises the Son, the Word, the Cre-
ator of the world, the Redeemer of mankind sent for
that purpose by the Father, is God; that the Holy
Spirit, the correspondent with, and Comforter of the
spirits of men, is God; and that, nevertheless, the Dei-
ty, the Self-existent Being, is but One. That these
matters are so, Scripture expressly declares ; and the
manner in which it expresses the last proposition,
Dent. vi. 4. is worth attending to. Our translators
render it, Hear, Israel, the Lord our God is one
Lord. The original says, Jehovah our God is one
Self- existent Being ; for so the word translated Lord
signifies. Now, what is there in our knowledge, in
our conceptions, or in our reason, that can qualify us
to determine the modus of the existence, or of the ac-
THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY. 201
tion of the invisible Deity ? That we have no sort of
idea of the substance of that soul which acts in us, or
of the manner of its existence or actions, is an agreed
point ; what imprudence then must it be in us, to
pretend to determine, from our conceptions, or rather
inability to conceive, the condition, or manner of ex-
istence and acting of the Supreme Being, the least of
whose works are in very deed beyond our compre-
hension ? President Forbes' s Refactions on Incredu-
lity.
Where shall we fix our eyes, dazzled with the mag-
nificent objects presented to our view ? Is it before
the incomprehensible Trinity, the mysterious incarna-
tion, or the divine sacrifice of love made by the son of
God, that we shall humble our insignificance? The
Trinity opens an immense field for philosophic stu-
dies, whether we consider it in the attributes of God,
or collect the vestiges of this dogma diffused through-
out the ancient East. For, so far from being the
invention of a modern age, it bears the stamp, which
imparts exquisite beauty to every thing upon which
it is impressed. It is a pitiful mode of reasoning to re-
ject whatever we cannot comprehend. Were we to be-
gin with the most simple things in life, it would be
easy to prove that we know absolutely nothing ; and
shall we then pretend to penetrate into the depths of
divine wisdom ? Chateaubriand's Beauties of Christ-
ianity, i. 20.
Both of which doctrines (the unity of God and the
acknowledgment of three divine persons) are ine-
vitable and indispensable while we profess to regu-
late our faith by the testimonies of the holy Scriptures
as handed down to us, without presuming to exercise
the Socinian expedient of lopping off or altering (as
a supposed corruption or interpolation ) every text of
Scripture, that opposes the system, or set of notion?,
K 5
202 THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY.
that we happen to have adopted. And therefore the
true Unitarian Christian, who acknowledges but one
God, one Jehovah, one divine nature (0e<mj$) or God"
head, and at the same time, nevertheless, is convinced,
that three Divine persons are really revealed to us un-
der the title of Jehovah in the Old Testament, and un-
der the the title of 0w? or God in the New Testament,
and that the supreme attributes of the DIVINE NATURE
are applied to each in both Testaments, will of course
be aware also, that each of these divine persons must
necessarily be the great God, and the only potentate ;
as there is but one God, one only supreme power or
Godhead. Our Lord has delivered this doctrine of
his unity with the Father in various modes of expres-
sion ; and yet the true nature and manner of that un-
ity must still remain a mystery ; because a perfect
knowledge of that eternal BEING, which in every way
is infinite, cannot possibly fall within the compre-
hension of our finite'understanding. Granville Sharpe
on the Divinity of Christ.
In the disputes concerning the Trinity, and incarna-
tion of Christ, if the words person, substance, nature,
&c. be used as in other cases, or any way defined, the
most express contradictions follow : yet the language
of the Scriptures is most difficult, sublime, and mys-
terious, in respect to the person of Christ ; so that
one cannot fall short of paying all that honour to
Christ, which the most orthodox beKeve to be require
ed. Hartley's Observations on Man, ii, 357.
This article of the Creed hath been coeval with
Christianity, and was wont to be demanded at bap-
tism, of the persons who came to be baptized, as ap-
pears from the form of the celebration of baptism,
which is in the name of the Son, as well as of the Fa-
ther and the Holy Ghost, wherein is necessarily sup-
posed a belief of Jesus Christ to be the Son of God,
THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY.
it being in itself impossible to be baptized in the name
of the Son, without acknowledging the person, in
whose name he is baptized, to be that Son : Which
appellation of the Son of God denotes his divine na-
ture, as that of the Son of man implies his human.
Chancellor Sir Peter King on the Creed.
I think, however, that the words of our Saviour
himself oblige me to believe, and with a full aquies-
cence of faith, that Jesus was not a simple man, nor
even a mere angelic being ; but that the Author and
Creator of all things, hath united himself in an in-
comprehensible manner to beings which are not
pure spirits, to the human soul of Christ ; that in this
soul were visibly manifested divine qualities and per-
fections ; and that this union of the divine with hu-
man nature was in Jesus so intimate, that he both
thought and acted as God thinks and acts ; and that
it was with justice therefore, that divine honours
were paid him, and that he was called God.
In a word, such a Redeemer must be more than
mere man ; because a man is always exposed to er-
ror and to vice. But the divinity, with which Jesus
was invested, rendered his wisdom complete ; banish-
ed every passion ; directed his miraculous powers ;
spoke through him in a manner not to be imitated
by all the eloquence of man ; conducted him con-
stantly in a right course of action, without deviating
from the great design, which was the object of his
heavenly mission. This Jesus, who from the begin-
ning had been with God, who was come from God,
was alone capable of revealing his counsels to men.
He, to whom the Father had committed all judgment,
could alone inform men what the divine justice had
prepared against the workers of iniquity. This
union of God with Christ was doubtless a mark of
goodness worthy of our admiration, without which
K 6
204 THE DOCTRINE OF HUMAN
the coming of Jesus into the world had been of no
effect. Baron Haller's Letters to his Daughter, let.
xi.
SECTION III
THE DOCTRINE OF HUMAN DEPRAVITY AND MISERY.
Who can without horror consider the whole earth
as the empire of destruction ? It abounds in wonders ;
it abounds also in victims; it is a vast field of car-
nage and contagion ! Every species is without pity ;
pursued and torn to pieces, through the earth, and air,
and water. In man, there is more wretchedness, than
in all other animals put together. He smarts conti-
nually under two scourges, which other animals ne-
ver feel, anxiety and listlessness in appetence which
make him weary of himself. He loves life, and yet
he knows that he must die. If he enjoy some tran-
sient good, for which he is thankful to heaven, he
suffers various evils, and is at last devoured by worms.
This knowledge is his fatal prerogative : other ani-
mals have it not. He feels it every moment rankling
and corroding in his breast. Yet he spends the tran-
sient moment of his existence, in diffusing the misery
that he suffers ; in cutting the throats of his fellow
creatures for pay ; in cheating and being cheated ;
in robbing and being robbed ; in serving that he may
command ; and in repenting of all that he does. The
bulk of mankind are nothing more than a crowd of
wretches, equally criminal and unfortunate ; and the
globe contains rather carcases than men. I tremble,
DEPRAVITY AND MISERY. S05
upon a review of this dreadful picture, to find that it
implies a complaint against providence ; and I wish
that I had never been born. Voltaire, as quoted in
Simpson's Plea for Religion.
But when I come afterwards to take a view of the
particular rank and relation, in which I stand as an in-
dividual among the fellow creatures of my species ;
to consider the different ranks of society, and the
persons by whom they are filled ; what a scene is
presented to me ! Where is that order and regularity
before observed ? The scenes of nature present to my
view the most perfect harmony and proportion ; those
of mankind nothing but confusion and disorder. The
physical elements of things act in concert with each
other, the moral world alone is a chaos of discord. Mere
animals are happy ; but man, their lord and sovereign,
is miserable. Where, supreme wisdom, are thy laws ?
Is it thus, O providence ! thou governest the world ?
What is become of thy power, thou Supreme Bene-
ficence, when I see evil prevailing on the earth ? In
meditating on the nature of man, I conceived that I
discovered two distinct principles ; the one raising
him to the study of eternal truths, the love of justice
and moral beauty, bearing him aloft to the regions
of the intellectual world, the contemplation of which
yields the truest delight to the philosopher ; the other
debasing him even below himself, subjecting him to the
slavery of sense, the tyranny of the passions, and ex-
citing these to counteract every noble and generous
sentiment inspired by the former. When I perceiv-
ed myself hurried away by two such contrary pow-
ers, I naturally concluded that man is not one simple
individual substance. I will, and I will not ; I per-
ceive myself at once free and a slave ; I see what is
good, I admire it, and yet I do the evil ; I am ac-
tive when I listen to my reason, and passive when
306 THE DOCTRINE OF HUMAN
hurried away by my passions ; while my greatest
uneasiness is to find, when fallen under temptations,
that I had the power of resisting them. Rousseau's
JEmilius, ii. 150.
Now whereas it is thought by some of the Fathers,
as by St. Augustine, with whom St. Ambrose joineth,
that, by sin the perfection of the image is lost, and
not the image itself; both opinions, by this distinc-
tion may be well reconciled ; to wit, that the image
of God in man may be taken two ways ; for, either
it is considered in regard to natural gifts, and consist -
eth therein, namely, to have a reasonable and under-
standing nature; and in this sense, the image of
God is more lost by sin, than the very reasonable and
understanding nature is lost, (for sin doth not abo-
lish and take away these natural gifts;) and the
image of God is considered according to supernatu-
ral gifts, namely, of divine grace and heavenly glory,
which is indeed the perfection and accomplishment
of the natural image ; and this manner of similitude
and image of God is wholly blotted out and destroy-
ed. Sir Walter Raleigh's History of the World.
But it is the corruption, that I bear within me, not
the contagion of commerce (intercourse) without
me. Tis that unruly regiment within me, that will
destroy me ; 'tis I that do infect myself, I feel that
original canker corrode and devour me, and there-
fore, " defenda me Dios de me, lf Lord deliver me
from myself," is a part of my litany, and the first
voice of my retired imaginations. Brown's Religio
Medici.
The same causes (that is, different customs, methods
of education, instruction, habits, and contrary examples)
often concur to corrupt the manners of men, though
our depravation in our present state cannot wholly be
ascribed to them. For such is the present condition
DEPRAVITY AND MISERY. 07
of mankind, that none seem to be born without some
weaknesses or diseases of the soul, of one kind or
other, though in different degrees. Every one finds
in himself the notion of a truly good man, to which no
man ever comes up in his conduct. Nay, the very
best of mankind must acknowledge, that in innume-
rable instances, they come short of their duty, and of
that standard of moral goodness they find within
them. And, although nature has given us all some
little sparks, as it were, to kindle up the several vir-
tues, and sown, as it were, some seeds of them ; yet,
by our own bad conduct and foolish notions, we sel-
dom suffer them to grow to maturity. But a full and
certain account of the original of these disorders, and
of the effectual remedies for them, in all the different
degrees in which they appear in different persons,
will never be given by any mortal without a divine
revelation. Hutcheson's Introduction to Moral Philo-
sophy, b. i. chap. i. 17.
There are some, I know, who extricate themselves
from this difficulty very concisely by asserting, that
there is in fact no such original depravity, no such
innate propensity to vice in human nature ; but, as
this assertion is directly contrary to the express de-
claration of the Scriptures, to the opinion of the phi-
losophers and moralists of all ages, and to the most
constant and invariable experience of every hour, I
think they no more deserve an answer, than they
who would affirm, that a stone has no tendency to the
centre by its natural gravity, or that flame has no
inclination to ascend. Soame Jenyns' Works, iii. 93.
It is not amongst the champions of vice alone, that
we are to look for instances of this depravity of man-
kind. Turn your eyes, my dear child, unto yourself,
and examine your own heart, that heart filled with
sweetness and beneficence, which hath never given
208 THE DOCTRINE OF HUMAN
the least disquietude to your parents, your husband,
or your friends ; that heart so compassionate and sus-
ceptible of the tenderest and most benevolent senti-
ments, which rejoices to see virtue recompensed though
in a stranger, whose affliction also it can sooth and mol-
lify. Compare your thoughts and actions with the per-
fect and invariable laws of God, and see how far you
are removed from that perfection, which alone can ren-
der you acceptable to the Supreme Being. Baron
Halter's Letters to his Daughter, let. ii.
This is the just account of human nature, and hu-
man strength, in respect of truth and happiness. We
have an idea of truth, not to be effaced by all the
wiles of the sceptic ; we have an incapacity of argu-
ment, not to be rectified by all the power of the dog-
matist. We wish for truth, and find nothing in our-
selves but uncertainty. We seek after happiness,
and are presented with nothing but misery. Our dou-
ble aim is, in effect, a double torture ; while we are
alike unable to compass either, and to relinquish ei-
ther. These desires seem to have been left in us,
partly as a punishment of our fall, and partly as an in-
dication and remembrance whence we are fallen.
If man was not made for God, why is God alone
sufficient for human happiness? If man was made
for God, why is the human will, in all things, re-
pugnant to the divine ? Man is at a loss where to
fix himself, and how to recover his rank in the world.
He is unquestionably out of his way ; he feels within
himself the small remains of his once happy state,
which he is now unable to retrieve. And yet this is
what he daily courts and follows after, always with
solicitude, and never with success ; encompassed with
darkness, which he can neither escape nor penetrate.
Pascal's Thoughts.
DEPRAVITY AND MISERY. 209
We behold, in the first place, the doctrine of ori-
ginal sin, which explains the whole nature of man,
springing from this mystery. Unless we admit this
truth, known by tradition to all nations, we shall be
involved in impenetrable darkness. Without origi-
nal sin, how shall we account for the vicious propen-
sity of our nature, continually combated by a secret
voice, which whispers that we were formed for vir-
tue ? Without a primitive fall, how shall we explain
the aptitude of man for affliction; that sweat which
fertilizes the rugged soil ; the tears, the sorrows, the
misfortunes of the righteous ; the triumphs, the un-
punished success of the wicked ? It was because they
were unacquainted with this degeneracy, that the
philosophers of antiquity fell into such strange er-
rors, and invented the notion of reminiscence. Cha-
teaubriand's Beauties of Christianity, i. 28.
Tis in vain, O men, that you seek from yourselves
the remedy of your miseries. All your lights extend to
no farther discovery than this, that you cannot, from
your own stores, be supplied with happiness or truth.
The philosophers, who promised all things, could
perform nothing in your behalf; they neither appre-
hended your true estate, nor your real good. What
possibility was there of your receiving benefit from
their prescriptions, who had not skill enough to un-
derstand your disease ? Your chief infirmities are
pride, which alienates you from God ; and concupis-
cence, which fastens you down to earth ; and their
constant employment was to caress and entertain one
or the other of these disorders. They, who presented
God to you as the sole object of your contemplation,
did but gratify your pride, by vainly insinuating,
that your nature was constituted under a parity with
the divine ; and as for those, who saw the extrava-
gance of such pretensions, what did they but set you
210 THE DOCTRINE OF HUMAN
upon the other precipice, by tempting you to believe
that your nature was of a piece with that of the beasts ;
and by inclining you to place all your good in sensual
delight, the portion of irrational creatures ? These
could never be the means of discovering to you the
injustice of your proceedings. Do not therefore ex-
pect instruction or consolation from men : It was I
that first made you to be ; and 'tis I alone, which can
teach you the knowledge of your own being. You
are not now in the estate, under which you were form-
ed by my hand : I created man holy, innocent, and
perfect : I replenished him with light and understand-
ing: I communicated to him my wonders and my
glory : Then it was that the eye of man beheld the
majesty of God. He did not then labour under that
darkness, which blinds him under this mortality, and
these miseries, which afflict and oppress him ; but he
was unable to sustain so great degrees of splendour,
without falling into presumption ; he was disposed
to make himself the centre of his own happiness, and
altogether independent from the divine succours ; and
when he had withdrawn himself from my dominion,
and affected an equality with me, by presuming to
find all his happiness in himself, I abandoned him to
his own guidance ; and, causing a general revolt
amongst the creatures that were his subjects, I made
them his enemies ; man himself is now become like
unto the beast, and removed to such a distance from
me, as scarce to retain some scattered rays and con-
fused notices of his authority ; so far have all his dis-
cerning powers been either extinguished or disturb-
ed ; his senses, being never the servants, and very of-
ten the masters of his reason, have driven him on the
pursuit of unwarrantable pleasures. All the creatures
with which he is surrounded, either grieve or torment,
or tempt and seduce him ; thus ever maintaining a
DEPRAVITY AND MISERY.
sovereignty over him, either as they subdue him by
their strength, or as they melt him with their charms,
which is the more imperious, and more fatal tyran-
ny. Pascal's Thoughts.
For 'tis beyond doubt, that nothing appears so
shocking to our reason, as that the transgression of the
first man should derive a guilt on those, who, being so
vastly distant from the fountain, seem incapable of
sharing in the impure tincture. This transfusion is
looked upon by us not only as impossible, but as un-
just, could we suppose it to be possible. Certainly
nothing strikes our judgment with more harshness and
violence, than such a doctrine. And yet, without this
incomprehensible mystery, we are ourselves incom-
prehensible to our own mind. The clue, which knits
together our whole fortune and condition, takes its
turns and plies, in this amazing abyss, in so much
that man will appear no less unconceivable without
this mystery, than this mystery appears unconceiv-
able to man. Original sin is foolishness to men. 'Tis
granted to be so : wherefore reason ought not to be
accused as defective in this knowledge; because it
pretends not to be such as reason can ever fathom.
For my own part, I cannot but declare, that so soon
as the Christian religion discovers to me this one
principle, that human nature is depraved, and fallen
from God, this clears up my light, and enables me to
distinguish throughout the characters of so divine a
mystery .Pascal's Thoughts.
212 THE EVIL AND PENALTY OF SIN.
SECTION IV.
THE EVIL AND PENALTY OF SIN.
THE EVIL OF SIN. The aggravation of all crimes
is to be estimated either from the persons injured or
offended, or from the intrinsic malice,, from whence
those injuries and offences proceed. All offences are
against either our Maker, our neighbour, or ourselves.
Offences against our Maker have this particular ag-
gravation, that they are committed against the person
to whom we have the greatest obligations, and con-
sequently do more immediately contradict the light of
our own conscience. The obligations of our original
being, and of our constant preservation during the
whole course of our lives, which takes in all the bless-
ings that we daily receive from him, are so peculiarly
due to God, that they are not communicable to any
earthly being. For, though we may and do, hourly,
receive advantages from our fellow- creatures, yet
those advantages are ultimately to be referred to God,
by whose good providence those fellow-creatures are
enabled to do us good. And, besides, the good they
do us is as much for their sakes as for ours ; since
the advantages they receive from us, and those we re-
ceive from them, are reciprocal. But though our Cre-
ator is always doing good to us, we can do none to
him ; and, upon that score, he has a title to our obe-
dience, and that implicit, when once we are satisfied
it is he that commands. This makes idolatry to be
so crying a sin, because it is a communication of that
honour to the creature (whether inanimate or ani-
THE EVIL AND PENALTY OF SIN.
mate, it matters not) to which it can have no possible
title, and is due to the Creator only. Upon this ac-
count also, irreligion and atheism are still worse, be-
cause they tear up all religion by the roots ; and all
service and worship is denied to him, to whom the
utmost service and worship is justly due. This is so
plain that it needs neither enlargement nor proof.
Sir Richard Steele's Lover, No. 32.
Of all the wonderful things, which constitute, or
are intimately connected with, the dispensation of
grace, perhaps there is none, of which we have so
inadequate a conception, as sin ; its essential deformi-
ty, and most fatal tendency, When we talk to a
careless liver of the guilt of his ordinary conversation
in the world, and describe sin in the fearful language
of the Bible, we seem to him as dreamers. Even the
most humble and advanced Christian finds it difficult
to fix in his mind such a sense of the sanctity of
God's law, and the terrible profaneness of violating
it, as corresponds, in any tolerable degree, with the
measure of those things in holy writ. Yet, certainly,
it most nearly concerns us to appreciate them justly.
Now it is impossible to conceive any truth so calculat-
ed to penetrate us with a just horror of sin in gene-
ral, and with the deepest confusion for our own of-
fences, as the doctrine of the cross. It stamps upon
evil a character of darkness and horror, which no
tongue can utter : it bears in its amazing mercy the
most awful testimony to the majesty and justice of
God ; and while it pours gladness into the bosom of
the penitent, speaks death to the presumptuous rebel.
It is worth observing in this place, that an objection
sometimes made to revelation, on account of the asto-
nishing costliness of the sacrifice, which it declares to
214 THE EVIL AND PENALTY OF SIN.
have been provided as an atonement for guilt, admits
of the same reply, which may be offered to the com-
mon argument against the moral character of God,
from the extent and intensity of suffering allowed to
prevail in the world. Both are calculated to attest
visibly, and to all ages, the dreadful consequences of
sin. Can it be said, that the apprehensions, entertain-
ed of this by mankind, are generally such, that we
can think the evidence has been more than suffici-
ent? Works of John Borvdler,jun. ii. p. 185.
THE PUNISHMENTS OF SIN. The rewards which
Christianity promises to virtue, and the punishments
with which it threatens guilt, produce at the first
glance a conviction of their truth. The heaven and
hell of Christians are not devised after the manner of
any particular people, but founded on the general
ideas, that are adapted to all nations, and to all classes
of society. What can be more simple and yet more
sublime, than the truths conveyed in these few words ;
the felicity of the righteous in a future life will con-
sist in the full possession of God : the misery of the
wicked will arise from a knowledge of the perfec-
tions of the Deity, and from being for ever deprived
of their enjoyment Chateaubriand's Beauties of
Christianity, i. 23?.
It is probable, that the future misery of the wicked
may be both corporeal and mental. The punish-
ments of the wicked in a future state may be corpo-
real, though the happiness of the blessed should not
be so. For sensuality is one great part of vice, and
a principal source of it It may be necessary there-
fore, that actual fire should feed upon the elementary
body, and whatever else is added to it after the re-
THE EVIL AND PENALTY OF SIN.
surrection, in order to burn out the stains of sin *.
The destruction of this world by fire, spoken of both
in the Scriptures and in many profane writings ; the
phenomena of comets, and of the sun, and fixed stars,
those vast bodies of fire, which burn for ages ; the
great quantity of sulphureous matter contained in the
bowels of the earth ; the destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah by fire and brimstone, alluded to in the
New Testament j the representation of future punish-
ment under the emblem of the fire of Gehenna ; and,
above all, the express passages of Scripture, in which
it is declared that the wicked shall be punished by
fire, even everlasting fire, confirm this position con-
cerning the corporeal nature of future punishment,
as well as give light to one another. But, if the pu-
nishment of another world should be corporeal in
some measure, there is still the greatest reason to be-
lieve that they will be spiritual also ; and that by sel-
fishness, ambition, malevolence, envy, revenge, cruel-
ty, profaneness, murmuring against God, infidelity,
and blasphemy, men will become tormentors to them-
selves and to each other ; deceive and be deceived ;
infatuate and be infatuated ; so as not to be able to
repent and turn to God, till the appointed time comes,
if that should ever be. Hartley's Observations on
Man, ii. 399-
ETERNITY OF FUTURE PUNISHMENTS. This lake,
burning with fire and brimstone, are torments endur-
ing for evermore, as saith St. John, Apoc. xx. 10,
and are the second death of the soul, Apoc. xx. 14 ;
* This refers to a peculiar hypothesis of this celebrated author
respecting universal restoration ; but the truth or falsity of which
does not affect his testimony to the Scripture doctrine of the nature
of future punishment.
2
2J6 THE EVIL AND PENALTY OF SIN.
and therefore is it neither a temporal punishment,
neither the fire of purgatory, but the eternal flaming
fire of Gehenna, out of the which there is no redemp-
tion. Lord Napier of Merchiston on the Apocalypse.
From the same source springs another objection, of
equal validity as to revelation, founded on the doc-
trine of the perpetuity of punishment. Here again
the incomprehensible, the infinitely perfect Being, is
measured by the span of the low, blind, grovelling
creature, that makes the objection ; who, because he
cannot comprehend why this justice is suited to the
divine nature, concludes at once, that the doctrine is
impossible, and therefore false ; and, in consequence,
rejects the revelation which is said to assert it, with-
out giving himself the trouble to examine the evi-
dence that supports that revelation, or to inquire whe-
ther the matter that thus shocks him, is really reveal-
ed. A careful inquiry might possibly satisfy him,
that the perpetuity of punishments is not absolutely
affirmed ; and that no more is necessarily to be infer-
red from revelation, than that the misery of the dam-
ned is to endure for ages. But such an inquiry
would give him competent satisfaction, that the reve-
lation he wantonly rejects, is in very deed the word
of God ; and would dispose him to believe whatever
it clearly declares concerning the Deity and his ways,
without considering how far that might or might not
tally with his conceits. President Forbes 's Reflections
on Incredulity.
Punishments, it has been said, ought not to be
eternal ; because they must tend to the reformation
of men. But will the punishments of a limited time,
as a few years for instance, or even for ages, produce
in man an eternal obedience, since, in comparison of
eternity, any duration, which we may assign to these
pains, will be but infinitely short ? would that impa-
THE EVIL AND PENALTY OF SIN. 217
tience, that murmuring, that restlessness under the
judgments, which their limited sufferings produce,
be removed by new afflictions ? and from this mode
of reasoning would there not be required a prolonga-
tion of chastisements ? The knowledge, which we have
of the human heart, will not permit us to hope, that,
through the means of punishment, vice will be chan-
ged into virtue. And God, who perfectly knows us,
knows also, that this limited punishment must in the
end terminate in that which is eternal. Baron Hal-
ter's Letters to his Daughter, let. 13.
The idea generally entertained of the goodness of
God, to which this doctrine is supposed so repugnant,
has been, an unlimited disposition to promote the
happiness of all his creatures. With this extensive at-
tribute, thus unqualified, not only the eternity of fu-
ture punishments, bat the smallest degree of existing
evil, is to our limited understandings irreconcilable ;
but then they are each equally so : infinite benevo-
lence cannot admit of" majus or minus," it is one
and immutable. The most transient headach, and the
damnation of all mankind, are in this view involved
in the same mystery. Actual evil does exist, and can-
not be inconsistent with the moral perfections of God :
it is evident, therefore, either that we are mistaken in
supposing such an attribute inherent in the Almighty,
or that, being utterly in the dark upon the subject,
we can neither affirm nor deny any thing concerning
it. To maintain then, that such must be the nature
of divine benevolence, and thence infer the impossi-
bility of infinite vengeance, is to talk ignorantly and
at random, Works of John Bawdier, jitn. ii. 123.
18 MAN'S INCAPABILITY OF
SECTION V.
MAN'S INCAPABILITY OF CLAIMING MERIT WITH GOD.
SUCH is the mercy of God, that these good works,
that we acknowledge to be done by his Holy Spirit
working in us, he imputes them to be our works.
But, certainly, let the presumptuous man assure him-
self, that, if he esteem these good works to be of
himself, God, in his judgment, shall let him find, to
his confusion, that only God is good, and that no
goodness is in man, and that all flesh is subdued to
sin. Woe, therefore, to him, who otherwise presump-
tuously judgeth. Lord Napier of Merchislon on the
Apocalypse.
Repentance and penitence is not sufficient for him
that hath fled from his sovereign's banner : he must
first do some valiant act, before, by the law of arms,
he can be restored to his former bearing. Repent-
ance helps not when sin is renewed ; not to do good is
to commit evil, at least by omission of what I ought
to do. Before I come to the constant practice of pie-
ty, I am sure, I cannot be sure of complete glory. If
I did all strictly, I were yet unprofitable; and, if
God had not appointed my faith to perfect me, mise-
rable. If he were not full of mercies, how unhappy
a creature were man ! Felt ham's Resolves, No. 80.
For God is merciful unto all, because better to the
worst, than the best deserve ; and to say, he punish-
eth none hi this world, though it be a paradox, is no
absurdity. To one that hath committed murder, if
CLAIMING MERIT WITH GOD. 219
the judge should only ordain a fine, it were madness
to call this a punishment, and to repine at the sen-
tence, rather than admire the clemency of the judge.
Thus, our offences, being mortal, and deserving not
only death, but damnation, if the goodness of God be
content to traverse and pass them over with a loss,
misfortune, or disease ; what frenzy were it to term
this a punishment, rather than an extremity of mercy,
and to groan under the rod of his judgments, rather
than admire the sceptre of his mercies. Therefore to
adore, honour, and admire him, is a debt of gratitude
due from the obligation of our nature, states, and
conditions ; and, with these thoughts, he that knows
them best, will not deny that I adore him. That I
obtain heaven and the bliss thereof is accidental, and
not the intended work of my devotion ; it being a fe-
licity I can neither think to deserve, nor scarce in
modesty expect. Brown's Religio Medici.
You will see in this my notion of good works,
that I am far from expecting to merit heaven by
them. By heaven we understand a state of happiness,
infinite in degree, and eternal in duration : I can do
nothing to deserve such rewards. He that, for giv-
ing a draught of water to a thirsty person, should ex-
pect to be paid with a good plantation, would be mo-
dest in his demands, compared with those, who think
they deserve heaven for the little good they do on
earth. Even the mixed, imperfect pleasures we en-
joy in this world, are rather from God's goodness
than our merit : how much more such happiness of
heaven ! For my part, I have not the vanity to think
I deserve it, the folly to expect it, nor the ambition to
desire it; but content myself in submitting to the
will and disposal of that God who made me, who has
hitherto preserved and blessed me, and in whose fa-
220 MAN'S INCAPABILITY OF
therly goodness I may well confide, that he will
never make me miserable ; and that even the afflic-
tions I may at any time suffer, shall tend to my be-
nefit.
The faith you mention has certainly its use in the
world : I do riot desire to see it diminished, nor would
I endeavour to lessen it in any man ; but I wish it
were more productive of good works than I have ge-
nerally seen it. Franklin's Correspondence, i. 2.
In estimating our own merit, in judging of our own
character and conduct, there are two different stand-
ards, to which we may naturally compare them. The
one is the idea of exact propriety and perfection, so
far as we are each of us capable of comprehending
that idea. The other is that degree of approxima-
tion to this idea, which is commonly attained in the
world, and w^hich the greater part of our friends
and companions, of our rivals and competitors, may
have actually arrived at. So far as our attention is
directed towards the first standard, the wisest and
best of us all, can, in his own character and con-
duct, see nothing but weakness and imperfection,
can discover no ground for arrogance and pre-
sumption, but a great deal for humility, regret, and
repentance. So far as our attention is directed to-
wards the second, we may be affected either in one
way or in the other, and feel ourselves either really
above, or really below, the standard to which we
compare ourselves.
The wise and virtuous man directs his principal at-
tention to the first standard ; the idea of exact pro-
priety and perfection. There exists in the mind of
every man an idea of this kind, gradually formed from
his observations upon the character and conduct both
of himself and of other people. It is the slow, gra-
dual and progressive work of the great demigod with-
CLAIMING MERIT WITH GOD.
in the breast, the great judge and arbiter of conduct*.
This idea is in every man, more or less accurately
drawn, its colouring is more or less just, its outlines
are more or less exactly designed according to the de-
licacy and acuteness of that sensibility, with which
those observations were made, and according to the
care and attention employed in making them. In the
wise and virtuous man they have been made with the
most acute and delicate sensibility ; and the utmost
care and attention have been employed in making
them. Every day some feature is improved ; every
day some blemish is corrected. He has studied this
idea more than other people, he comprehends it more
distinctly, he has formed a much more correct image
of it, and is much more deeply enamoured of its ex-
quisite and divine beauty. He endeavours, as well as
he can, to assimilate his own character to this arche-
type of perfection. But he imitates the work of a
divine artist, which can never be equalled. He feels
the imperfect success of all his best endeavours ; and
sees, with grief and affliction, in how many different
features the mortal copy falls short of the immortal
original. He remembers, with concern and humili-
ation, how often, from want of attention, from want
of judgment, from want of temper, he has, both in
words and actions, both in conduct and conversation,
violated the exact rules of perfect propriety ; and has
so far departed from that model, according to which
he wished to fashion his own character and conductf.
* The Christian reader cannot fail to recollect that such a stan-
dard is provided for all in the pattern and precepts of the divine
Saviour.
f How much more will all this be felt, if the standard m view-
be that divine law, which extends its requisitions to the thoughts
and desires of the heart !
L3
When he directs his attention towards the second
standard, indeed, that degree of excellence which his
friends and acquaintances have commonly arrived at,
he may be sensible of his own superiority ; but, as his
principal attention is always directed towards the first
standard, he is necessarily much more humbled by the
one comparison, than he ever can be elated by the
other. lie is never so elated, as to look down with in-
solence even upon those who are really below him.
He feels so well his own imperfection, he knows so
well the difficulty with which he attained his own
distant approximation to rectitude, that he cannot re-
gard with contempt the still greater imperfection of
other people. Far from insulting over their inferiority,
he views it with the most indulgent commiseration; and
by his advice as well as example, is at all times
willing to promote their further advancement. If, in
any particular qualification, they happen to be superi-
or to him, (for who is so perfect as not to have many
superiors in many different qualifications?) far from
envying their superiority, he, who knows how diffi-
cult it is to excel, esteems and honours their excel-
lence, and never fails to bestow upon it the full mea-
sure of applause which it deserves. His whole mind,
in short, is deeply impressed, his whole behaviour
and deportment are distinctly stamped with the cha-
racter of real modesty ; with that of a very moderate
estimation of his own merit, and, at the same time,
of a full sense of the merit of other people. Smith's
Theory of Moral Sentiments, ii. 146.
And although there is none of human race, who are
not involved in manifold weaknesses and disorders of
soul, none who, upon reflection, won't find them-
selves entangled in many errors and misapprehen-
sions about matters of the greatest importance to the
true happinessof life, and in the guilt of manifold crimes
CLAIMING MERIT WITH GOD.
committed against God, and our fellow creatures, on
account of which they may justly dread the divine
justice, and apprehend some impendent punishments ;
yet such is the divine goodness and clemency, with
such long suffering and mercy has he continued for
many ages, to exercise his gracious providence about
weak, corrupted mortals, that such as sincerely love
him, and desire, as far as human weakness can go,
to serve him with duty and gratitude, need not en-
tirely lose hopes of his favour. Nay, they have some
probable ground to expect, that God will be found
propitious and placable to such as repent of their sins,
and are exerting their utmost endeavours in the pur*
suit of virtue, and that his infinite wisdom and good-
ness will find out some method of exercising his mer-
cy toward a guilty world, so as not to impair the
authority of his laws, and the sanctity of his moral
administration, though human wisdom should never
particularly discover it. Hulcheson's Introduction to
Moral Philosophy, b. i. chap. iv. 2.
Few sentiments are more familiar to the human
mind than this, that vice deserves punishment, and
virtue reward. But, to prevent mistakes, it is neces-
sary to add, that, in strict propriety of speech, our
virtue is meritorious with respect to our fellow- crea-
tures only. Considered in his relation to the Su-
preme Being, man, when he has done his best, is an
unprofitable servant. To enter into some particulars
upon this subject : Life is, by all men, accounted a
great blessing ; for, in the general intercourse of the
world, few things are more valued than that which
supports it. Now life is a blessing, which the Deity
confers on his creatures gratuitously : we cannot say
that our virtue gives us a title to it, or is an adequate
return for it. Our reason, conscience, susceptibility
of happiness, and capacity for virtue, are all the free
L 4
MAN'S INCAPABILITY, &C.
gift of God ; and who can imagine, that there is me-
rit in having received what has been given us ! If we
abuse his benefits, we deserve punishment ; if we make
a right use of them, (which no man of sense will say
that he does,) we do nothing more than what is
incumbent on us in consequence of our having re-
ceived them, and for which our enjoyment of them is
more than an adequate recompense. It is to be ob-
served further, that all human virtue is very imper-
fect ; and that the best man on earth can scarce be
said to pass a day, without violating the divine law in
thought, word, or deed. There are hardly any hu-
man actions, how virtuous soever they may seem, and
how meritorious soever, with respect to our fellow-
creatures, they may be, of which the agent, if a man
of sense, will not readily acknowledge, that they must,
in the sight of the Creator, appear tainted with im-
perfection ; and that we have always reason to pray,
with humility and contrition, that God would pardon
what is wrong or wanting even in our best perform-
ances. We all know, that criminal habits pervert the
understanding, and debase the moral faculty ; and
that we have contracted many evil habits, which, with
proper attention, we might have avoided, and are of
course accountable for those debasements and perver-
sities, which are owing to our inattention, and for the
errors and follies thence resulting. Now, since all
human excellence is so defective ; since even the best
men are so great offenders ; and since the advantages
that virtue may enjoy even in this life, are so import-
ant, what man is there who can say, that his virtue
entitles him to receive any other reward from that
God, whom he is continually offending ; to whose good-
ness he is every moment under unspeakable obliga-
tions; and, compared with whose consummate purity,
all human attainments are in the proportion of weak-
THE MEDIATION, &C. 225
ness to omnipotence, of finite to infinite, of time to
eternity ! From the placability of our judge, who
knows our frailty, reason, unenlightened by revela-
tion, might perhaps encourage the penitent to hope
for pardon ; but to pardon a criminal, and to receive
him into favour, are different things ; and what pro-
portion is there between human virtue, debased as it
is with vice and with error, and a state of never end-
ing felicity in the life to come ? Can we merit such a
reward ! We, whose goodness, if we have any, is,
even in this world, rewarded beyond what it deserves !
These speculations might lead into a labyrinth of
perplexity, if it were not for what revelation declares
concerning the divine government. It declares, that
man may expect, on the performance of certain con-
ditions, not only pardon, but everlasting happiness ;
not on account of his own merit, which in the sight
of God is nothing, but on account of the infinite me-
rits of the Redeemer; who, descending from the
height of glory, voluntarily underwent the punish-
ment due to sin, and thus obtained those high privi-
leges, for as many as should comply with the terms
announced by him to mankind. Beattie's Elements
of Moral Science, ii. 27.
SECTION VI.
THE MEDIATION AND ATONEMENT OP CHRIST.
1 consider sacrifices as the basis of all religion ;
and the death of Abel as the first type of that sacri-
fice, which forms the ground-work of Christianity.
L 5
226 THE MEDIATION AND
Iii whatever way we decide upon this opinion, it af-
fords much room for thought. The greater part of
ancient religions instituted human sacrifices ; but in
this barbarity there was something remarkable, name-
ly, the necessity of a solemn expiation. Nothing, in
effect, can obliterate from the soul the idea, that there
is a mysterious efficacy in the blood of the innocent,
and that heaven and earth are moved by it. Men
have always believed, that the just could obtain, in
this life or the other, the pardon of the guilty. There
are some primitive ideas in the human species, which
reappear with more or less disfigurement, in all times,
and among all nations. These are the ideas, upon
which we cannot grow weary of reflecting ; for they
assuredly preserve some traces of the lost dignities of
our nature. De Stael's Germany, iii. 307.
As to the doctrine of the satisfaction of Christ, it
appears that he has done all for us, that one bein^
can do for another, and that it would be a most un-
justifiable and narrow way of expressing ourselves, to
confine the benefits received from Christ to that of
mere example. Hartley s Observations on Man, ii.
357-
That Christ suffered and died as an atonement for
the sins of mankind, is a doctrine so constantly and
so strongly enforced through every part of the New
Testament, that whoever will seriously peruse those
writings, and deny that it is there, may with as much
reason and truth, after reading the works of Thucy-
dides and Livy, assert that in them no mention is
made of any facts relative to the histories of Greece
and Rome. Soame Jenyns 1 Works, iv. 20.
We may know God, without knowing our own
miseries; or we may know our own miseries, without
knowing God ; or we may know both, without know-
ing the means of obtaining from God the relief of our
ATONEMENT OF CHRIST. 5227
miseries. But we cannot know Jesus Christ, without the
knowledge of God, of our miseries, and of their cure.
In as much as Jesus Christ is not only God, but he
is God under this character, the Healer and Repairer
of our miseries.
Thus all they, who seek God without Jesus Christ,
can never meet with such light in their inquiries as
may afford them true satisfaction, or solid use. For
either they advance not so far, as to know that there
is a God ; or, if they do, yet they arrive hereby but
at an unprofitable knowledge, because they frame to
themselves a method of communicating with God,
without a mediator ; as i^vithout a mediator they were
capable of knowing him : So that they unavoidably
fall either into atheism, or deism, things which the
Christian religion does almost equally detest and ab-
hor.
We ought therefore wholly to direct our inquiries
to the knowledge of Jesus Christ) because it is by
him alone that we can pretend to know God, in such a
manner as shall be really advantageous to us.
He alone is the true God to us men, that is, to
miserable and sinful creatures. He is our chief
Centre and Supreme Object, in respect of all that we
can wish, and all that we can understand. Whoever
knows not him, knows nothing either in the order of
the world, or in his own nature and condition. For
as we know God only by Jesus Christ, so 'tis by him
alone that we know ourselves.
Without Jesus Christ, man is, of necessity, to be
considered as lying in vice and misery. With Jesus
Christ, man appears as released from vice, and redeem-
ed from misery. In him consists all our happiness,
and all our virtue, our life, and light, our hope and
assurance : Out of him there is no prospect, but of
sins and miseries, of darkness and despair ; nothing
L 6
THE MEDIATION AND
to be beheld by us, but obscurity and confusion in the
divine nature, and in our own. Pascal's Thoughts,
p. 149.
It is enough to justify the fitness of any thing to
be done, by resolving it into the " wisdom of God,"
who has done it ; though our short views, and nar-
row understandings, may utterly incapacitate us to
see that wisdom, and to judge rightly of it. We
know little of this visible, and nothing at all of the
state of that intellectual world, wherein are infinite
numbers and degrees of spirits, out of the reach of
our ken, or guess ; and therefore know not what
transactions there were between God and our Savi-
our, in reference to his kingdom. We know not
what need there was to set up all head and chieftain,,
in opposition to " the prince of this world, the prince
" of the power of the air," &c. whereof there are
more than obscure intimations in Scripture. And we
shall take too much upon us, if we shall call God's
wisdom or providence to account, and pertly con-
demn for needless, all that our weak, and perhaps bi-
assed understanding cannot account for.
Though this general answer be reply enough to
the forementioned demand, and such as a rational
man, or fair searcher after truth, will acquiesce in ;
yet, in this particular case, the wisdom and goodness
of God has shown itself so visibly to common appre-
hensions, that it hath furnished u$ abundantly where-
withal to satisfy the curious and inquisitive ; who
will not take a blessing, unless they be instructed
what need they had of it, and why it was bestowed
upon them. The great and many advantages we re-
cieve by the coming of Jesus the Messiah, will show,
that it was not without need, that he was sent into
the world. Locke on the Reasonableness of Christia-
nity ; Works, vi. 134s.
ATONEMENT OF CHRIST. 229
To acknowledge the divine origin of the Christian
religion, and refuse to believe that Jesus died for us,
and that he hath reconciled us to God, is an inexcus-
able contradiction, as well of itself, as of the truth
which it admitted. It was not possible to express in
terms more clear, than revelation hath expressed
them, these important doctrines, that men by their
sins, had forfeited the favour of God ; but that God,
out of his infinite love, had promised them by his
prophets, that he would send his only Son into the
world ; that he accordingly came at the appointed
time, and, in conformity to the prophecies, suffered,
and was put to death ; that his sufferings have satis-
fied the divine justice ; that he hath purchased the
pardon of sins to all those, who believe in him, and
hath rendered them capable of inheriting eternal life ;
and, lastly, that there is no other way to appease
the justice of God, than by faith in his Son. Baron
Halter's Letters to his Daughter, let. 12.
God is so far removed from our conceptions ; the
perfection of his character is SD awful ; we are so
much under the dominion of sensible objects, and he
is so little subjected to the senses; that our imperfect
nature seems to require aid, in raising itself up to
him. We need a stage, on which to rest in our as-
cent. The indistinctness too, with which we con-
ceive an immaterial, eternal, and infinite Being, con-
curs with his greatness, to prevent our affections
opening towards him with all that ardour which his
excellence and our happiness equally require. Christ
is " over all, God blessed for ever ;" but God (if I
may so speak,) veiled of his effulgence. Having
taken on him the nature of men, he is not asham-
ed to call them brethren ; and, as brethren, we on
our part, can turn towards Him with complacency
and confidence. In fancy, we can even behold Him
230 THE MEDIATION AND
such as he once was in the days of his flesh; and
when we read the tale of his sufferings, we feel ail
those emotions and sympathies swelling in our bo-
soms, which attach us so closely to our own kindred,
Recollecting what he was, we can think of what he
is without terror ; and in his presence, and under his
protection, can approach with joy, even that awful
seat, where holiness and justice for ever reside.
Works of John Bowdler, ii. 1 8-i.
That the Deity loves virtue and hates vice, as a vo-
luptuous man loves riches and hates poverty, not for
their own sakes, but for the effects which they tend
to produce ; that he loves the one, only because it pro-
motes the happiness of society, which his benevolence
prompts him to desire, and that he hates the other
only because it occasions the misery of mankind,
which the same divine quality renders the object of
his aversion ; is not the doctrine of untaught nature,
but of an artificial refinement of reason and philoso-
phy. Our untaught natural sentiments all prompt
us to believe, that, as perfect virtue is supposed ne-
cessary to appear to the Deity as it does to us, for its
own sake, and without any further views, the natu-
ral and proper object of love and reward, so must vice,
of hatred and punishment. That the gods neither
resent nor hurt, was the general maxim of all the dif-
ferent sects of the ancient philosophy ; and if by re-
senting be understood, that violent and disorderly
perturbation, which often distracts and confounds the
human breast ; or if by hurting be understood, the
doing mischief wantonly, and without regard to pro-
priety or justice ; such weakness is undoubtedly un-
worthy of the divine perfection. But if it be meant,
that vice does not appear to the Deity to be, for its
own sake, the object of abhorrence and aversion, and
what, for its own sake, it is fit and right should be
ATONEMENT OF CHRIST.
punished ; the truth of this maxim seems repugnant
to some very natural feelings. If we consult our na-
tural sentiments, we are even apt to fear, lest, before
the holiness of God, vice should appear to be more
worthy of punishment, than the weakness and imper-
fection of human virtue can even seem to be of re-
ward. Man, when about to appear before a being of
infinite perfection, can feel but little confidence in his
own merit, or in the imperfect propriety of his own
conduct. In the presence of his fellow creatures, he
may even justly elevate himself, and may often have
reason to think highly of his own character and con-
duct, compared to the still greater imperfection of
theirs. But the case is quite different, when about to
appear before his infinite Creator. To such a being
he fears, that his littleness and weakness can scarcely
ever appear the proper object either of esteem or of
reward. But he can easily conceive how the num-
berless violations of duty, of which he has been guil-
ty, should render him the proper object of aversion
and punishment ; and he thinks he can see no reason
why the divine indignation should not be let loose,
without any restraint, upon so vile an insect as he im-
agines, that he himself must appear to be. If he
would still hope for happiness, he suspects that he
cannot demand it from the justice, but that he must
entreat it from the mercy of God. Repentance, sor-
row, humiliation, contrition, or the thought of his past
conduct, seem upon this account the sentiments which
become him ; and to be the only means, which he has
left for appeasing that wrath, which he knows he has
justly provoked. He even distrusts the efficacy of all
these, and naturally fears, lest the wisdom of God
should not, like the weakness of man, be prevailed
upon to spare the crime by the most importunate la-
mentations of the criminal. Some other intercession,
5
232 THE MEDIATION AND
some other sacrifice, some other atonement,, he ima-
gines, must be made for him, beyond what he himself
is capable of making, before the purity of the divine
justice can be reconciled to his manifold offences.
The doctrines of revelation coincide in every respect,
with those original anticipations of nature ; and as they
teach us how little we can depend upon the imper-
fection of our own virtue, so they show us at the same
time, that the most powerful intercession has been
made, that the most dreadful atonement has been
paid for our manifold transgressions and iniquities. *
Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments, 5th edit. Lon-
don, 1781, p. 158, &c.
The satisfaction, he requireth in conformity to his
holiness, is the vindication of his purity, and of his
infinite aversion from sin, as by his justice he pro-
portions the suffering requisite for the vindication to
the sins deserving. Therefore, upon the foresight of
Adam's fall, and thereby not only the loss of the ex-
altation of himself and posterity to celestial glory,
but falling into a sinful state which no creature could
expiate, the Son did freely interpose to restore man-
kind to what they had lost by Adam, and to vindi-
cate the purity of God by sufferings of as much value,
as if all mankind had been in eternal misery ; and by
Christ's performing what Adam was obliged to per-
form, by a full implement of the whole will and law
of God, and for that end assuming the nature of man.
Dalrymple, Earl of Stair, on the Divine Perfections.
Upon the same sort of principles, our modern reas-
oners reject the doctrine of Christ's satisfaction. They
cannot conceive how the punishment of one who is
innocent should atone for the guilt of another. This
* This passage seems to have been omitted in some later edi-
tions of the work.
ATONEMENT OF CHRIST. 233
to them appears to be contrary to the essential justice
of the Deity, which ought not to take pleasure in .the
sufferings of the innocent ; and productive of no good
effect, suited to the character which they entertain
of that exalted Being.
Here again the temerity of those presumptuous
men is notorious. That justice, according to our no-
tions, will riot condemn one for the fault of another,
is manifest. But if the innocent should consent to
suffer for the guilty, where is the violation of justice
in permitting it ? If the innocent, again, has some great
and noble end in view by submitting to that suffering,
fit to recompense a thousand-fold the grief borne,
where is the injustice of permitting him to put him-
self in the place of the guilty ? If the innocent person
is all mercy, all bowels, all compassion, and can sus-
tain the punishment, which the broken-hearted repent-
ing criminal cannot ; what is shocking in the belief,
even according to our common notions, that, to com-
ply with the benignity of his nature, he might sub-
mit to bear it ? It is true we may not see so clearly,
why the divine justice should be satisfied for the of-
fence of one, by the sufferings of another ; and that
the light of nature would not have led us to discover,
that we guilty offenders were to be delivered from
punishment by the sufferings of another : but is that
a reason why we should not take God's word for it,
if he has been pleased to assure us that it is so ? Do
we know so intimately the nature of his essential jus-
tice, as to be certain, that it will not permit him to
accept of a vicarious satisfaction ? Amongst men,
we know, that debt, owing by one, may be discharged
by payment ntade by another ; and are we certain,
that, in the court of heaven, one man's obligation to
justice may 'not be cancelled upon another's volunta-
ry fulfilling of it ? He little thinks on the unmeasur-
234 THE MEDIATION AND
able difference, that is between the narrowness of the
human understanding, and the immensity of the di-
vine, who dares rest on such conclusions. President
Forbes's Reflections on Incredulity.
WISDOM OF THE PLAN OF REDEMPTION. In the
work of man's redemption, there are some footsteps of
divine wisdom so conspicuous, that men of ordinary
parts discover them. But some parts of this work are
so sublime, which are called the depths of God, and
contain so much of the wisdom of God in a mystery,
that human understandings are not able to handle so
abstruse a subject : it requiring that a man should
know, in a great measure, the nature of spirits and of
the Father of them, God himself; likewise of the will,
intellect, &c. as also of the soul of man ; Adam's state
in paradise, as also what influence his fall had on pos-
terity ; and the nature of God's natural and vindic-
tive justice ; the ends of God's inflicting punishment ;
the unparalleled person of Christ ; the qualifications
requisite for his being our Redeemer ; the conditions
God made with man, in respect both of works and
grace ; God's decrees with respect to a future state,
the secret and powerful effects of grace, and how the
Spirit of God influences men's souls, which he con-
verts and sanctifies to glory. I say, there are so many
things to be considered, to treat of Christ's redemp-
tion, that we may say with St. Paul, " who is suffi-
cient for these things ?" So that, it being beyond
the reach of human capacity, we have the more
reason to admire the wisdom of it. Nor is it a
less stupendous token of his wisdom to reconcile his
inflexible justice, and his exuberant mercy ; all the
problems of Diophantus, Alexandrinus, &c. requiring
not so much attention to a greater number of propo-
sitions and congruities, at once to make them subser-
ATONEMENT OF CHRIST.
vient to the same ends, as the problem propounded
by the infinite goodness of God to his divine wisdom,
viz, " the redemption of lost and perverse mankind,
upon the terms laid down in the gospel," which at
once promote God's glory and man's felicity. Hon.
Jtobert Boyle's Theological Works.
The plan of redemption, adopted by God, is per-
fectly consonant to the inclinations most prevalent in
the heart of man. It operates both on his hopes and
fears : without hope, malice would carry itself to the
last extremity ; without fear, the passions would
know no bounds. Fear is excited, by the severity
with which the mediator of men hath felt the effects
of the hatred, that God hath for sin. These terrible
effects of the hatred of God to sin, must justify
the divine purity in the eyes of all intelligent beings.
They sufficiently prove the abhorrence of the just
Judge of the universe of evil, and that he could not
pardon the sinner without chastisement. This pro-
ceeding was likewise necessary to reconcile the rights
of justice with those of mercy ; that the one might be
satisfied, without prejudice to the other. The minds
of men must be seized with a rational fear, when
they perceive that the punishment of their faults was
inevitable, and that it fell with so great violence upon
him who had devoted himself a sacrifice for them,
and who, though fortified by the divinity that was
within him, felt, nevertheless, so great inquietude for
the sins of others. Must they not tremble to fall in-
to the hands of the living God, who, in respect to
sin, is ' a fire which devours and which consumes ;
and who spared not the sins of men in the person of
his beloved Son.'
But the effect of this fear is rendered still more ef-
ficacious, by the hopes which the same object creates
in our souls. God is appeased : he considers sin as
236 THE MEDIATION AND
blotted out : his grace displays in us those happy in-
fluences, which all those experience, who do not vo-
luntarily reject them. The Saviour himself, who hath
discharged our debt, and paid our ransom, promises
us his assistance. He is gone up into heaven, where
he has prepared mansions for those who follow Him.
The designs of God towards us have been revealed ; the
way, which will conduct us to happiness, is known ;
conditions have been proposed, and the means of
conforming ourselves to the ordinances of God have
been communicated. This is that conformity, which
will render us acceptable to him ; and his favour is
true happiness. Baron Holler's Letters to his Daugh-
ter, let. 13.
The wonderful wisdom of God, in contriving and
ordering the redemption of mankind by Jesus Christ,
is manifested in these particulars among others:
1. Though he made man the eminentest of all his vi-
sible creatures, for a most eminent manifestation of
his power and glory, and to be partaker of everlast-
ing blessedness, and yet in his eternal counsel resolv-
ed to leave him in the hands of his own liberty, and
did most certainly foresee that he would fall, yet he
did substitute and provide even from the same eter-
nity, a means whereby he might restore the honour
and glory of the Creator, and his creature to the bless-
edness and the vision of his creation. 2. That he so
ordered the means of man's redemption, that a great-
er glory came even by that redemption, than if man
had never fallen ; and a greater benefit to mankind; for
the latter is apparent, that if there had been no me-
diator sent, the least sin, that any of the sons of men
had committed, had been inexorably fatal to them,
without any means of pardon ; and as Adam, though
in his full liberty and power, was misled by tempta-
tion, so might he have been, or any of his posterity,
ATONEMENT OF CHRIST. 237
though he had stood that shock ; which is now admi-
rably provided against by the satisfaction of Christ
Jesus : and as thus it is better with the children of
man, so the glory of God is wonderfully advanced by
it ; for, if man had stood in his innocence, God had
had only the glory of his justice in rewarding him ; or
if he had fallen, the glory of his justice in punishing
him : but there had been no room for that glorious at-
tribute of his mercy in forgiving, without violation to
his purity, truth, and justice, that glorious attribute
by which he so often proclaimed! himself, Exodus
xxiv. 6. " The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and
" gracious, long suffering, abundant in goodness and
" truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving ini-
' J quity, transgression, and sin, and that will by no
" means clear the guilty." 3. That he so wonderful-
ly ordered the redemption of man, that all his attri-
butes were preserved inviolable ; his truth, " the day
" thou eatest thereof thou shalt die ;" his justice, yet
his mercy : his love to his creatures, yet his hatred
to sin: his Son shall die to satisfy his truth and jus-
tice, yet the sinner shall live to satisfy his mercy : the
sin shall be punished to justify his purity, yet his
creature shall be saved to manifest his love and good-
ness ; and thus his wisdom over-ruled sin, the worst
of evils, to the improvement of his glory, and the good
of his creatures. 4. His wisdom is manifested in this,
that by the redemption of man, all those ways of his
administration, before the coming of Christ, do now
appear to be excellently ordered to the redemption of
men, and the making of it the more effectual ; the giv-
ing of a severe and yet most just law, which was im-
possible for us to fulfil, shews us the wretchedness
of our condition ; our inability to fulfil what was just
in God to require, shews us the necessity of a Saviour,
drives us to him, and makes this city of refuge grate-
238 THE MEDIATION AKD
ful and acceptable, and makes us set a value upon
that mercy, which so opportunely and mercifully pro-
vided a sacrifice for us in the blood of Christ, and a
righteousness for us in the mercies of Christ, and a
mediator for us in the intercession of Christ : and "by
this means also all those sacrifices, and ceremonies, and
observations enjoined in the Levitical law, which car-
ried not in themselves a clear reason of their institu-
tion, are now, by the sending of Christ, rendered sig-
nificant. 5. The wisdom of God is magnified and ad-
vanced in this, in fulfilling the prophecies of the
sending the Messias to satisfy for the sins of mankind,
against all the oppositions, and casualties, and contin-
gencies, that without an over-ruling wisdom and guid-
ance might have disappointed it ; and this done in
that perfection, that not one circumstance of time,
place, person, concomitants, should or did fail in it,
and so bearing witness to the infinite truth, power,
and wisdom of God, in bringing about his counsels,
.in their perfection touching this great business of the
redemption of man, which was the very end why he
was created and placed upon the earth ; and, manag-
ing the villany of men, and the craft and malice of
Satan, to bring about the greatest blessing that was,
or could be, provided for mankind, besides, and above,
and against the intention of the instrument, Acts ii.
23. " Him, being delivered by the determinate coun-
sel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and
by wicked hands have crucified and slain." 6. The
unsearchable wisdom of God is manifested, in that he
provided such a Mediator, that was fit for so great a
work: had all the world consulted that God must
suffer, it had been impossible, and had all the world
contributed that any man, or all the men in the world
should have been a satisfactory sacrifice for any one
sin, it had been deficient. Here is then the wonder-
ATONEMENT OF CHRIST. 239
ful counsel of the most high God,, the sacrifice that is
appointed shall be so ordered, that God and man shall
be conjoined in one person, that so as man he might
become a sacrifice for sin, and as God that he might
gfve a value to the sacrifice. And this is the great,
mystery of godliness, God manifested in the flesh.
Sir Matthew Hales Contemplations, ii. 1 44.
An universal tradition teaches us, that man was cre-
ated in a more perfect state, than that in which he at
present exists, and that there has been a fall. This
tradition is confirmed by the opinion of the philoso-
phers of all ages and of all countries, who have never
been able to reconcile their ideas on the subject of
moral man, without supposing a primitive state of
perfection, from which human nature afterwards fell
by its own fault. If man was created, he was creat-
ed for some end or other ; consequently, being creat-
ed perfect, the end for which he was destined could
not be otherwise than perfect. But has the final
cause of man been changed by his fall ? No ; since
man has not been created anew : No ; since the hu-
man race has not been exterminated to make room
for another. Man therefore, though he has become
mortal and imperfect, through his disobedience, is
still destined for immortal and perfect ends. But how
shall he attain these ends in his present state of im-
perfection ? This he can no longer accomplish by
his own energy, for the same reason that a sick man
is incapable of raising himself to that elevation of
ideas, to which a person in health is able to soar.
There is therefore a disproportion* between the power,
and the weight to be raised by that power : here we
already perceive the necessity of succour or of a re-
demption.
<f This kind of reasoning," it may be said, <l will
'* apply to the first man ; but as for us we are capa-
240 THE MEDIATION AND
' ble of attaining the ends of our destination. What
" injustice and absurdity to imagine that we shall all
" be punished for the fault of our first parent ?'* With-
out pretending to decide in this place whether God
is right or wrong, in making us sureties for one ano-
ther, all that we know, and all that is necessary for
us to know at present is, that such a law exists. We
know, that the innocent son universally suffers the
punishment due the guilty father ; that this law is so
interwoven in the principles of things, as to hold
good even in the physical order of the universe. When
an infant comes into the world diseased from head to
foot from its father's excesses, why do you not com-
plain of the injustice of nature? for what has this lit-
tle innocent done, that it should endure the punish-
ment of another's vices ? Well then, the diseases of
the soul are perpetuated like those of the body ; and
man is punished, in his remotest posterity, for the
fault, which introduced into his nature the first leaven
of sin. The fall then being attested by general tra-
dition, and by the transmission or generation of evil
both moral and physical ; while on the other hand,
the ends for which man was designed, have remained
as perfect as before his disobedience, though man
himself has degenerated; it follows, that a redemption,
or any expedient to enable man to fulfil those ends,
is a natural consequence of the state into which hu-
man nature has fallen. The necessity of redemption
being once admitted, let us seek the order in which
it may be found. This order may be taken either in
man or above man.* 1. In man. In order to sup-
pose a redemption, the price must be at least equiva-
lent to the thing to be redeemed. Now, how is it to
be imagined, that imperfect and mortal man could set
about regaining a perfect and immortal end ? How
could man, partaking himself of the primeval sin,
ATONEMENT OF CHRIST.
make satisfaction as well for the portion of guilt
which belongs to himself, as for that which concerns
the rest of his race ? Would not such self devotion
require a kind of love and virtue superior to human
nature ? Heaven seems purposely to have suffered
four thousand years to elapse, from the fall to the re-
demption, to allow men time to judge of themselves,
how very inadequate were their degraded virtues for
such a sacrifice. We have no alternative, then, but
the second supposition ; namely, that the redemption
could have proceeded only from a Being superior to
man.. Let us examine if it could have been accom-
plished by any of the intermediate beings between
him and God. What should have inspired the an-
gels with that unbounded love to man, which the mys-
tery of the cross presupposes ? We shall observe be-
sides, that the most exalted of the created spirits
would not have possessed strength sufficient for the
stupendous task. We could not then have any other
Redeemer, than one of the three persons existing from
all eternity ; and, among these three persons of the
Godhead, it is obvious, that the Son alone, from his
very nature, must accomplish the great work of sal-
vation. Love, which binds together all the parts of
the universe, the middle which unites the extremes,
the vivifying principle of nature, He alone was ca-
pable of reconciling God with man. This second
Adam came ; man according to the flesh, yet God
by his essence. He was born of a virgin, that he
might not partake of original sin, but be a victim
" without spot and without blemish." He received
life in a stable, in the lowest of human conditions,
because we had fallen through pride. Here com-
mences the depth of the mystery ; man feels an aw-
ful emotion, and the scene closes. Thus the end, for
which we were destined, before the disobedience of
M
THE MEDIATION, &C.
our first parents, is still pointed out to us, but the way
to attain it is no longer the same. Adam in a state
of innocence would have reached it by flowery paths :
all nature has undergone a change since the fault of
our general father ; and redemption was not design-
ed to produce a new creation, but to confer final sal-
vation on the old one. Every thing, therefore, has
remained degenerate with man ; and this sovereign
of the universe, who, created immortal, was destined
to be exalted without any change of existence, to the
felicity of the celestial powers, cannot now enjoy the
presence of God, till, in the language of St. Chrysos-
tom, he has passed through the deserts of the tomb.
His soul has been rescued from final destruction by
the redemption ; but his body, combining with the
frailty natural to matter, the weakness consequent on
sin, undergoes the primitive sentence in its utmost
extent : he falls, he perishes, he sinks into corrup-
tion.
We venture to presume, that, if there be any thing
clear in metaphysics it is the chain of this reasoning.
Here is no wresting of words; here are no divisions
and subdivisions, no obscure and barbarous term?.
Christianity is not made up of these things, as the
sarcasms of infidelity would fain lead us to imagine.
To the poor in spirit the gospel has been preached,
and by the poor in spirit it has been heard : it is the
plainest book that exists. Its doctrine has not its
seat in the head, but in the heart ; it teaches not the
art of disputation, but the way to lead a virtuous
life ; nevertheless it is not without its secrete. What
is truly ineffable in Scripture, is the continual mix-
lure of the profoundest mysteries and extreme sim-
plicity, characters whence spring the divine and the
sublime. W T e ought not to be surprised,, that the
book of Jesus Christ should speak so eloquently.
SALVATION BY THE GRACE OF GOD.
Such, moreover, are the truths of our religion, not-
withstanding their freedom from scientific parade,
that the admission of a single point immediately com-
pels you to admit all the rest. Nay more, if you
hope to escape by denying the principle, as for in-
stance, original sin, you will scon, driven from con-
sequence to consequence, be obliged to precipitate
yourself into the abyss of atheism ; the moment you
acknowledge a God, our holy religion makes its -way
with all its doctrines, as Clarke and Pascal have ob-
served. This in our opinion is one of the strongest
evidences in favour of Christianity. Chateaubriand's
Beauties of Christianity, i. 31.
SECTION VII.
SALVATION BY THE GRACE OP GOD.
SALVATION is FROM GOD. I believe many are sav-
ed, who, to man, seem reprobated ; and many are
reprobated, who. in the opinion and sentence of man,
stand 'elected. There will appear, at the last day,
strange and unexpected examples both of his justice
and his mercy; and, therefore, to define either, is
folly in man, and insolency even in devils ; those
acute and subtle spirits, in all their sagacity, can hard-
ly divine who shall be saved, which if the}' could prog-
nostick, their labour was at an end, nor need they
compass the earth, seeking whom they may devour.
The number of those who pretend unto salvation, and
those infinite swarms who think to pass through the
M 2
244 SALVATION BY THE GRACE OF GOD.
eye of this needle, have much amazed me. That name
and compellation of " little flock," doth not comfort,
but deject my devotion, especially when I reflect up-
on mine own unworthiness, wherein, according to my
humble apprehensions, I am below them, below them
all. That, which was the cause of my election, I hold
to be the cause of my salvation, which was the mercy
and beneplacit of God, before I was, or the founda-
tion of the world. Brown's Religio Medici.
Could humility teach others, as it hath instructed
me, to contemplate the infinite and incomprehensi-
ble distance betwixt the Creator and the creature ; or
did we seriously perpend that one simile of St. Paul,
" shall the vessel say to the potter, why hast thou
made me thus ?" it would prevent those arrogant dis-
putes of reason, nor would we argue the definite sen-
tence of God, either to heaven or hell. Men, that
live according to the right rule and law of reason, live
but in their own kind, as beasts do in theirs ; who justly
obey the prescript of their natures, and therefore can-
not reasonably demand a reward of their actions, as
only obeying the natural dictates of their reason. It
will, therefore, and must at last appear, that all sal-
vation is through Christ ; which verity, I fear, these
great examples of virtue (the ancient worthies) must
confirm and make it good, how the perfectest actions
of earth have no title or claim unto heaven. Broivn's
Religio Medici.
Nothing can be more contrary to the covenant of
grace, and to the way of salvation inculcated in the
gospel, wherein all glorying or boasting of the crea-
ture, attributing any part of its salvation to itself, is
excluded. " Where is boasting then ? it is excluded ;
by what law ? of works ? nay but by the law of faith.
Therefore we conclude, (saith the apostle,) that a man
is justified by faith, without the deeds of the law."
SALVATION BY THE GRACE
t( But God, who is rich i n mercy, for hiV^ijyeat l ve
wherewith he loved us, even when we weVe dead in
sin, hath quickened us together with Christ ; v x>vhere
it is twice repeated, " by grace ye are saved thro
faith, not of works, lest any man should boast." Yea,
boasting is so far excluded, that man cannot boast of
faith, as it is his part of the covenant of grace, for it
is said, " by grace you are saved through faith, and
that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." What
could be more said to exclude works from man's part
of the covenant of grace, not only that there cannot
be an equivalent cause deserving glory, but not so
much as the terms upon which glory was to be free-
ly given? For it is expressly said, that i( we are God's
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works,
which God hath before ordained," or prepared,
" that we should walk in them." And God hath not
predestinated man to salvation for their works fore-
seen or performed. " For whom he did foresee, them
he did predestinate to be conformed to the image of
his Son ;" which image is holiness, which is not the
cause, but the end and effect of predestination. Good
works, indeed, are via regni, but not causa regnandi;
and they are the evidences of true and saving faith,
to be diligently followed ; not only by reason of the
indispensable law and duty, anterior in order to any
covenant, but as the means to evidence true grace,
and give solid peace ; and therefore it is said, f ' strait
is the gate, and narrow is the way, that leadeth unto
life," and that " the kingdom of God is taken by
violence, and the violent enter it by force," which
doth import no more than the way to the kingdom.
And where it is said, " blessed are they that do his
commandments, that they may have right to the tree
of life," it doth not import right by merit, (the word
being t|w* *** f v*ov ,). so that works can no
ltd
246 SALVATION BY THE GRACE OF GOD.
more properly be called right, than the evidence of
lands or inheritance are called the rights thereof, as
signifying the same ; and, therefore, the explicatory
words are subjoined, and " may enter in through the
gates of the city." Dblrymple, Earl of Stair, on the
Divine Perfections.
NATURE OF GRACE. I take grace to be the whole
complex of such real motives (as a solid account may
be given of them) that incline a man to virtue and
piety ; and are set on foot by God's particular grace
and favour, to bring that work to pass. The whole
concatenation of all the intervening accidents to work
this good effect in him ; and that were ranged and
disposed from all eternity by God's particular good-
ness and providence for his salvation, and without
which he had inevitably been damned. This chain
of causes ordered by God to produce this effect, I un-
derstand to be grace. Sir Kenelm Digby's Annotations
to Brown's Religio Medici.
We are ignorant of a great number of things ; we
know not, in particular, the operation of the grace of
God, nor how it enlightens the mind. No person
can sincerely devote himself to the Supreme Being
without perceiving the emotions of his grace. " If a
man keep my commandments/' says our Saviour,
'' he will perceive that I am come from God." It is
the influence of his grace, which excites in us good
desires; which represents to us our unworthiness, and
which animates our souls with an ardent desire of
procuring the favour of God. Baron Haller's Letters
to his Daughter, let. 14-.
MAN'S NEED OF SPIRITUAL ASSISTANCE. Those,
whom God has inspired with the grace of re-
ligion in their hearts and affections, are most en-
SALVATION BY THE GRACE OF GOD. 247
tirely convinced, and most completely blessed. But
as for those, who have not yet attained it, we have no
way of recommending it to them, but by reason and
argument ; waiting till God shall please to imprint
an inward feeling of it on their hearts ; without
which, all faith, as it is only the conviction of the un-
derstanding, is unprofitable to salvation. Pascal's
Thoughts.
Jn this manner it has been my earnest endeavour
to shew the authenticity and excellence of the Holy
Scriptures, and the truth of the Christian religion. But,
as there is such debility in the mind of man, and a pride
of heart which produces.these doubts and difficulties,
these stumbling blocks and rocks of offence, let us seek
remedy in that excellent prayer of our church, in which
we invoke the Deity, " that it may please him to give
to all his people increase of grace to hear meekly his
word, to receive it with pure affection, and to bring
forth the fruits of the Spirit." Whoever will in this
wise read, learn, and inwardly digest the Holy Scrip-
tures, cannot fail of being a Christian. Bryant on the
Authenticity of Scripture, 255.
But we ought always to keep this in our thoughts,
that we entirely depend on God ; that all the goods,
either of mind or body, and all our virtues, have been
derived from him, and must be preserved or increas-
ed by his gracious providence ; and since every good
temper must always extend its views abroad, studi-
ously pursuing the happiness of others, which also
entirely depends on the will of God, and cannot be
insured by human power, there can be no other sta-
ble foundation of tranquillity and joy, than a constant
trust in the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, by
which we commit to him ourselves, our friends, and
the whole universe, persuaded that he will order all
things well. The schoolmen, therefore, justly called,
M 4
248 SALVATION BY THE GRACE OF GOD.
God the supreme object of happiness, or the supreme
objective good, from the knowledge and love of whom,
with the hopes of being favoured by him, our supreme
happiness must arise. Hutcheson's Moral Philoso-
phy, b. i. chap. ii. 12.
To these I must add one advantage more, by Je-
sus Christ, and that is the promise of assistance. If
we do what we can, he will give us his Spirit to help
us to do what, and how we should. It will be idle
for us, who know not how our own spirits move and
act us, to ask in what manner the Spirit of God shall
work upon us. The wisdom, that accompanies that
Spirit, knows better than we, how we are made, and
how to work upon us. If a wise man knows how to
prevail on his child, to bring him to what he desires,
can we suspect that the Spirit and wisdom of God
should fail in it, though we perceive or comprehend
not the ways of his operation ? Christ has promis-
ed it, who is faithful and just ; and we cannot doubt
of the performance. It is not requisite, on this occa-
sion, for the enhancing of this benefit, to enlarge on
the frailty of our minds, and weakness of our consti-
tution, how liable to mistakes, how apt to go astray,
and how easily to be turned out of the paths of vir-
tue. If any one needs go beyond himself, and the
testimony of his own conscience, in this point; if he
feels not his own errors and passions always tempt-
ing, and often prevailing, against the strict rules of
his duty, he need but look abroad into any stage of
the world, to be convinced. To a man under the dif-
ficulties of his nature, beset with temptations, and
hedged in with prevailing customs, it is no small en-
couragement to set himself seriously on the courses
of virtue, and practice of true religion, that he is,
from a sure hand, and an almighty arm, promised as-
sistance to support and carry him through. Locke's
Reasonableness of Christianity, Works, vi. 151.
SALVATION BY THE GRACE OF GOD. 249
What excuse can they have for pretending to judge,
that the merciful and beneficent Spirit of God does
not work upon the spirits of men ? From their proper
experience they can draw no observation,, as they have
locked out all regard for the Deity from their hearts ;
and what passes in the spirits of other men they can
have 110 knowledge of, nor indeed any idea, as they
have suffered no such transactions to take place in
their own.
Philosophers have talked much of action and reac-
tion in matter, and imagine they understand what
they say ; what should hinder them to believe that
there may be such a thing as action and reaction be-
tween spirits, even between the infinitely perfect Spirit
and the spirits of finite men ? If gratitude observed.in
a dog produces some regard and kindness in the mind
of his master, why may not the gratitude, the warmth
of the heart of man, work some similar effect in the
all-seeing mind ? and who dare presume to say, that
it may not act on, and comfort the spirit of man
in return? If that beneficent and all-powerful Spirit
does not shew his kindness in bestowing wealth, and
power, and fading pleasures, it is because they are not
real goods; because they are not the object of the
heart and wishes of the party favoured; and because,
in place of doing him real good, they might call oft'
the affections from that exercise wherein his true fe-
licity consists. And this is so true, that crosses, dis-
appointments, and distresses, may justly be consider-
ed as acts of the greatest kindness, when they tend to
recal the straying mind from vanity, and to fix it on
its proper object. President Forbes's Reflections on
Incredulity.
" No man," says Christ, (referring to John vi. 4*4.)
lf can believe the doctrines, or obey the precepts-,
which I teach, except he is enabled by the assistance
M 5
250 SALVATION BY THE GRACE OF GOD.
and grace of God :" by which we are not to under-
stand any sudden, irresistible impulse, as some en-
thusiasts would persuade us ; but, except God shall
be pleased to dispose his heart, and also the circum-
stances of his situation, in such a manner as to draw
him into the right road of faith and obedience. This
is the declaration of Christ, and the doctrine univer-
sally enforced by all the writers of the New Testa-
ment, 2 Cor. iii. 5. Phil. ii. 13. This is the constant
language of the Scriptures ; in which we are every
where exhorted to seek, to depend on, to hope for,
and to pray for this divine influence on our thoughts
and actions, as necessary to our thinking any thing
right, or performing any thing good ; and yet we are
constantly considered, by the whole tenor of those
writings, as free agents, possessed of perfect liberty
to do good or evil, and as such we are instructed, ad-
monished, tempted by rewards, and threatened with
punishments. How contradictory soever these two
propositions may seem, they are both undoubtedly
true. Of the first we cannot fail being convinced by
reason, nor of the latter by experience. Reason as-
sures us, that no creature can think or act independ-
ent of his Creator, in whom he lives, and moves, and
has his .being, and from whom he receives power to
think or act at all j and it seems indeed impossible, that a
Creator, however omnipotent, should bestow on his
creatures such a degree of freedom, as to make them
independent of himself; for he must infuse into
their original frame some disposition, good or bad ;
he must give them reason superior to their passions,
or passions uncontrolled by their reason ; he must en-
dow them with a greater or less degree of wisdom or
folly ; he must place them Avithin or beyond the reach
of temptations, and within the view of virtuous or vi-
cious examples. All these circumstances must pro-
ceed from his dispensation, and from these their elec-
REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION.
tion and consequent conduct must be derived. Of the
latter, which is, that we are possessed of full liberty
to choose good or evil, to do, or forbear doing, any
action, every moment's experience assures us with
equal certainty. This is not a matter of argument,
but of feeling ; and we can no more doubt of our
being possessed of this power, than of our sight, hear-
ing, or any of our corporeal senses. How these two
contradictory propositions can be reconciled, is above
the reach of our comprehensions ; and is but another
mark, added to many, of their weakness and imper-
fection. We have no faculties which are able to solve
this difficulty, and therefore ought to leave it to that
omniscient Being who framed, and is alone acquainted
with, the composition of the human mind. Each of
these opinions has been supported by different sects
of philosophers, with equal warmth ; but it is remark-
able, that the Christian is the only religious or moral
institution, which ever ventured to assert the truth of
them both ; which, as they are both undoubtedly true,
seems no inconsiderable proof of the supernatural in-
formation and authority of that dispensation. Soame
Jenyns' Works, iv. 218.
SECTION VIII.
REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION.
NATURE AND NECESSITY op REPENTANCE. As
the two great sources of all sin, are pride and negli-
gence, so God has been pleased to disclose two of his
attributes for their cure, his mercy, and his justice.
The office and effect of his justice is, to abase and
mortify our pride ; and the office and effect of his
H 6
252 REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION.
mercy is, to prevail on our negligence, and excite us
to good works. The goodness of God leadeth to 'repent-
ance. And ; let us repent, (say the Nineviles) and
see if He will not have mercy on us. Thus the con-
sideration of the Divine mercy is so far from being
an encouragement to sloth and remissness, that it is
the greatest spur to industry and action : And in-
stead of saying ; "If our God were not a merciful
" God, we ought to bend our utmost endeavours to-
" wards the fulfilling of his commands, it is rational
" to say, because we serve a God of mercy and pity,
"therefore we ought to labour with all our strength to
" yield him an acceptable service." M. Pascal's
Thoughts, p. 229.
It is necessary, that, at the moments, too frequent,
when the chain, which unites us to the Supreme Be-
ing would escape from our grasp, the hope of again
seizing it should remain with us : it is then, to suc-
cour our weak faith, that we see in the gospel that
idea at once so excellent and new, that of repentance,
and the promises that are annexed to it. This noble
idea, absolutely belonging to Christianity, prevents
our relation with the Deity from being destroyed as
soon as it is perceived ; the culprit may still hope for
the favour of God, and, after contrition, confide in
Him. Human nature, that singular connection of
the spirit with matter, of strength wit 
