Ifi^ 
 
 
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 LIBRARY 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 
 Barapton lectures 
 
 sec 
 
A Comparison of Mahometism and Christianity 
 in their Histonj, their Evidence, 
 and their Effects, 
 
 SERMONS 
 
 PREACHED BEFORE 
 
 .'HE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, 
 
 In the Yeak 1784, 
 AT THE LECTURE 
 
 FOUNDED BY THE 
 
 REV. JOHN BAMPTON/M.A. 
 
 LATE CANON OF SALISBURY. 
 
 BY 
 
 JOSEPH WHITE, D. D. 
 
 REGIUS PROFESSOR OF HEBREW, CANON OF CHRIST CHURCH, 
 AND ARCHBISHOP LAUD's PROFESSOR OF ARABIC. 
 
 A NEW EDITION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for and sold by F. C. and J. Rivingtos^ and 
 
 J. Parker, and Robert Bliss, Oxford. 
 
 1811. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 UR. white's Bampton Lectures having 
 been long out of print, it ha^ been suggested 
 that a new Edition of thtin would be very ac- 
 ceptable. They are therefore now reprinted 
 from the first Edition, together with the Notes 
 and Authorities, which were chiefly omitted in 
 the subsequent ones, 
 
 Nov. 27, 1811. 
 
PRIHCETO.n ., 
 
 I 
 
 EXTRACT 
 
 T H ^ feoM ^1*1 
 
 .T, i 
 
 -trte ..ji 
 
 LAST Wfefe€?lND TESTAMENT 
 
 I ■" ^ 
 
 OF THE LATE 
 
 REV. JOHN BAMPTON, 
 
 CANON OF SAI.ISBURY. 
 
 " I give and bequeath my Lands and Estates 
 
 '^ to the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the Uni- 
 " versity of Oxford for ever, to have and to hold all and 
 " singular the said Lands or Estates upon trust, and to 
 " the intents and purposes hereinafter mentioned ; that 
 " is to say, I will and appoint, that the Vice-Chancellor 
 " of the University of Oxford for the time being shall 
 " take and receive all the rents, issues, and profits 
 " thereof, and (after all taxes, reparations, and necessary 
 '' deductions made) that he pay all the remainder to the 
 *' endowment of eight Divinity Lecture Sermons, to be 
 '* established for ever in the said University, and to be 
 " performed in the manner following : 
 
 *' I direct and appoint, that, upon the first Tuesday in 
 '* Easter Term, a Lecturer be yearly chosen by the Heads 
 " of Colleges only, and by no others, in the room ad- 
 ** joining to the Printing-House, between the hours of 
 " ten in the morning and two in the afternoon, to preach 
 " eight Divinity Lecture Sermons, the year following, 
 " at St. Mary's in Oxford, between the commencement 
 *' of the last month in Lent Term, and the end of the 
 " third week in Act Term. 
 
 " Also I direct and appoint, that the eight Divinity 
 *' Lecture Sermons shall be preached upon either of the 
 " following subjects — to confirm and establish the Chris- 
 ^' tian Faith, and to confute all heretics and schismatics— 
 
8 
 
 " upon the divine authority of the Holy Scriptures-, 
 " upon the authority of the writings of the primitive 
 '< Fathers, as to the faith and practice of the primitive 
 " Church— upon the Divinity of our Lord and Saviour 
 << Jesus Christ— upon the Divinity of the Holy Ghost— 
 *' upon the Articles of the Christian Faith, as compre- 
 " hended in the Apostles' andT^^icene Creeds. 
 
 *' Also I direct, that thirty copies of the eight Divi- 
 " nity Lecture Sermons shall be always printed, within 
 *' two months after they are preached, and one copy 
 *' shall be given to the Chancellor of the University, and 
 ^' one copy to the Head of every College, and one copy 
 *^ to the Mayor of the City of Oxford, and one copy to 
 <^ be put into the Bodleian Library ; and the expence of 
 *' printing them shall be paid out of the revenue of the 
 *' Lands or Estates given for establishing the Divinity 
 *' Lecture Sermons ; and the Preacher shall not be paid, 
 " nor be entitled to the revenue, before they are printed. 
 
 " Also I direct and appoint, that no person shall be 
 " qualified to preach the Divinity Lecture Sermons, 
 " unless he hath taken the Degree of Master of Arts 
 " at least, in one of the two Universities of Oxford 
 " or Cambridge ; and that the same person shall never 
 " preach the Divinity Lecture Sermons twice." 
 
gjVKA AAAA^.^ ^ 
 
 Matt. xi. IQ. 
 
 tdom is justified of her children, 
 
 J HE chapter in which these words occur 
 opens with a concise relation of the Baptist's 
 message to our Saviour ; which he sent, pro- 
 bably, not so much to confirm his own con- 
 viction, as to gratify the pious curiosity, and 
 to remove the modest scruples, of his fol- 
 lowers. Then follow the attestation which 
 our Lord bore to the character of John, and 
 the reflections he made on the treatment 
 which each of them received from a race of 
 men, w^hose jealousy made them suspect, 
 and whose perverseness disposed them to 
 counteract, the best methods that divine 
 Wisdom had adopted for their reformation. 
 A temper of mind so destitute of candour, 
 so incapable of solid improvement, so pre- 
 determined to resist the most salutary coun- 
 sels of Heaven, was, by way of exposing it 
 more effectually to contempt, compared to 
 that wayward folly which is frequently ob- 
 
 B 
 
2 SERMON I. 
 
 servable in children, whose obstinacy no 
 corrections can control, and whose compla- 
 cency no condescensions can win. If you 
 pipe to them, they are too sullen to dance ; 
 and if you mourn to them, they are too 
 gay to lament. The comparison, though 
 mortifying, was deserved; and, that it might 
 not lose its aim, our Lord made a parti- 
 cular application of it to the Jews. He. 
 informed them, without a figure, that they 
 were the perverse children whom he had 
 more immediately in view ; and that it was 
 their infatuated perverseness which the com- 
 parison was designed to illustrate and ex- 
 pose : for such contrary appearances did it 
 assume, that neither the exemplary austerity 
 of John, nor the more gracious familiarity of 
 Clirist himself, could either conquer its dis- 
 like, or conciliate its esteem. Did John lead 
 an abstemious life, and sequester himself 
 from the cares and amusements of the world, 
 as^ a course which seemed most favourable 
 to the solemnity of his office, and which, 
 as it removed him at a distance from tempt- 
 ation, promised to secure his character from 
 the petulance of ridicule, and the malignit}^ 
 of reproach? With what eyes did the Jews 
 behold his conduct, and what interpreta- 
 tion did they put on it? By supposing that 
 
SERMON I. 3 
 
 he had a devil, or was under demoniacal in- 
 fluence, they thought such unnecessary se- 
 verity could be easily accounted for. Tliey 
 gazed, perhaps, some with stupid admiration, 
 and some even with contempt, at the rigour 
 of the hermit, but turned a deaf ear to the 
 warnings of the preacher. 
 
 Did our blessed Lord adopt a mode of 
 behaviour in some respects different from the 
 very austere habits of the Baptist's life ? Did 
 he possess more of the social qualities of hu- 
 man nature ? Was he more accessible, and 
 did he mix with the world and converse 
 with mankind with less distance and re- 
 straint? What effect had his amiable and 
 condescending manners on the people, who 
 had been offended at the strict self-denial 
 which his messenger had voluntarily imposed 
 on himself? Was their good opinion conci- 
 liated ? No. Their perverse humour was al- 
 wa3^s predominant, when their reformation 
 was the object ; and, in order to evade the 
 end, they vilified the means. Thus they tra- 
 duced our blessed Lord as a glutton and a 
 wine-bibber^ the friend of publicans and sin- 
 mers. 
 
 After these reflections on the inconsist- 
 ence of their judgment, and the stubborn- 
 ness of their dispositions, particularly as dis- 
 
 B 2 
 
4 SERMON L 
 
 covered against himself, and the religion, 
 which he came to estabhsh, he adds, But 
 wisdom is justijied of her children. As if he 
 had said, " Though the generation to which 
 I am sent to disclose the first messages of 
 grace is so eager to misinterpret my doc- 
 trines, and to censure my conduct ; yet there 
 are those who are ready to bear their testi- 
 mony in my favour, from evidence too clear 
 to be contradicted, or even to be doubted. 
 Wisdom has its sincere advocates ; and they 
 who are best acquainted with its principles, 
 and most susceptible of its spirit, are best 
 qualified to defend it. The nearness of their 
 relationship puts tb.em in a situation the 
 most auspicious to conviction: and if in pro- 
 portion to their knowledge of its evidence b« 
 their zeal in its support, and their concern 
 for its interests, in spite of the cavils of the 
 unbelieving, and the persecutions of the 
 cruel, they will afford a testimony in its be- 
 half that will justify it to future generations. 
 B}^ the term wisdom in the text our blessed 
 Lord meant, as some suppose, himself ; 
 who is in the highest sense deserving of the 
 appellation, as being the word and wisdom 
 of God, in whom are hidden all the ireastiveH 
 of knowledge; and who is the true light, which 
 Ughteth every man that cometh into th^ world. 
 
SERMON I. 5 
 
 Others are of opinion, that the expression 
 was meant to convey a subhme idea of the 
 cliaracter of his gospel : which is in truth the 
 iJIiistration of divine wisdom, and the system 
 of that knowledge, which can alone make ns 
 wise vnto salvation ''. 
 
 A gospel so divine in its original, so excel- 
 lent in its design, and so beneficial in its ef- 
 fects, as it was worthy of all acceptation, so 
 did it gain many to espouse its interests, 
 whose conduct brought no discredit on the 
 cause they stood forward to defend. The 
 children of wisdom have frequently justified 
 it by arguments too strong for its enemies to 
 confute: and thousands in the pains of death, 
 and amidst the tortures of crucifixion, instead 
 of falling from it, have adhered to it with 
 firmer hopes, and fonder attachment ; and 
 breathed out their souls in attestations to its 
 truth, aud in prayers fpr its prosperity. 
 
 Nor has wisdom been denied the testi- 
 ijiony of enemies : a testimony, of which in- 
 
 • Wetstein has concisely and emphatically explained the word 
 '^iKxi&i^vi — Justa pronunciata est atque ahsoluta sapientia d'unna a 
 cultoribus suis. So when John, with the clearest precision, and 
 in a tone of the weightiest authority, had described the charac- 
 teristic proofs of his own mis^on, the people and the publicans 
 i^iKxtaa-ay rov Qiov ; acknowledged the righteous interposition of 
 God, and the propriety of the evidence which shewed him to 
 ^ave interfered j ^nd were baptized with the baptism of John, 
 
 B 3 
 
6 SERMON I. 
 
 deed, it did not stand in need ; but which, 
 beino" extorted by the irresistible force of 
 truth, may well be esteemed as a confirma- 
 tion of its general evidence : since they 
 whose wish and whose interest it was to de- 
 cry it, yet were compelled, if not to receive 
 it wholly, yet to acknowledge it in part ; and 
 thus, like Pilate, pronounced him righteous, 
 whom they condemned ; and^ like Judas, 
 confessed him innocent^ whom they betrayed. 
 Though God, according to his promise, 
 has always had a seed to serve him, and which 
 might be accounted as his peculiar geriera- 
 tion ; men who have considered the success 
 of religion as intimately connected with 
 their own wxll-being, and who have there- 
 fore promoted it with a zeal and ardour in 
 some degree proportioned to its importance; 
 yet to the primitive ages of Christianity must 
 we turn our eyes for examples of the most he- 
 roic fortitude, and the most disinterested at- 
 tachment. Other examples may illustrate, but 
 these convince. Modern piety and zeal may 
 edify and warm the heart ; may excite our 
 emulation, and rouse up the languishing spirit 
 of devotion. But the trials of ancient times 
 produced examples so illustrious, that while 
 the heart is affected, the conscience also is 
 enlightened. We are not carried away with 
 
SERMON L 7 
 
 sympatnetic impulses, which have no foun- 
 dation but in the wild dreams of fanaticism, 
 or the tumultuous emotions of enthusiasm. 
 No. The understanding takes a share in the 
 impression: we approve while we wonder; 
 and our reason is as much convinced by the 
 evidence of truth, as our passions are capti- 
 vated by the power of what is singular and 
 extraordinary. 
 
 When we review those times in which sucli 
 great examples occur, we are led to make 
 comparisons that are by no means flattering 
 to the present age. The characteristic fea- 
 ture of the times in which we live is indif- 
 ference to religion in general. The power of 
 godliness is neglected ; and shall we wonder 
 that the form of it should be slighted and 
 despised? Under the pretence of emanci- 
 pating the human mind from the bondage of 
 superstition, the common offices of devotion 
 have been decried. From the affectation of 
 candour we have sunk into listlessness ; and 
 have tamely suifered a daring spirit of infi- 
 delity to oppose, and a specious heresy to 
 undermine, the interests of Christianity ; be- 
 cause we have been apprehensive that our 
 firmness would be stigmatized with the odious 
 name of bigotry ! 
 
 It has indeed been always the unhappy 
 J54 
 
8 SERMON I. 
 
 fate of mankind to run into extremes ; and 
 in matters of religion this perverse bent of 
 human nature has principally discovered it- 
 self Lukewarmness and intemperate zeal 
 have, each in its turn, proved unspeakably 
 injurious to the Christian cause. The for- 
 mer silently and secretly saps its founda^. 
 tions ; and though its progress be slow and 
 insensible, yet its effects are too fatal not to 
 alarm the friends of religion. The latter has 
 exposed the cause it professed to patronize ; 
 and, by its wrong and preposterous methods 
 of defence, has, in instances too numerous 
 to be recounted, but too melancholy to be 
 forgotten, afforded the enemies that opposed 
 it an occasion of triumph, which the merits 
 of their own cause by no means entitled 
 them to claim. 
 
 The children of wisdom, while they feel 
 their better hopes secured by its promises, 
 cannot grow indifferent to its interests, nor 
 look on the insults which are from time to 
 time offered to its most sacred and awful 
 obligations, with the coldness of uncon- 
 cerned spectators. They cannot see its holy 
 institutions slighted, or its essential doctrines 
 blasphemed, without lamenting that degene- 
 racy of mind and manners, which is the fatal 
 origin of all. They cannot but tremble at the 
 
SERMON I. g 
 
 probable, I will not say approaching, issue 
 of such ingratitude to Heaven for its unspeak- 
 able gift. 
 
 But the wisdom which they are taught to 
 value, they know how to defend. The spirit 
 which it inspires isjirst pure, and then peacC' 
 able, gentle, full of good fruits, easy to be en^ 
 treated, without partiality, and without hypo- 
 crisy. Their candour does not make them 
 lukewarm, nor their zeal uncharitable. 
 
 The Epicureans of antiquity, and the infi- 
 dels of our own days, arrogantly boast of 
 their high achievements, in snapping asunder 
 the chains of superstition ; and in the execu- 
 tion of their desperate purpose they go for- 
 ward with unshaken fortitude, and unremit- 
 ted alacrity. Must we then grow supine 
 and inactive, when the danger is more im- 
 minent and threatening ? Must we affect 
 the petty popularity, which arises from flat- 
 tering the prejudices of men, instead of 
 aspiring to the glory of saving their souls .^ 
 Far be such complication of meanness and 
 perfidy from the children of wisdom. 
 
 We are exhorted to contend earnestly for 
 the faith once delivered to the saints : and 
 our Saviour has given us this awful warning, 
 that " if we are ashamed of him and of his 
 words in this adulterous and sinful genera- 
 
10 SERMON 1. 
 
 tion, of us also will he be ashamed when he 
 comes in the glory of his father, and with his 
 holy angels/' But if we confess him before 
 men, if we vindicate the honour of his gospel 
 by a well-conducted opposition to those who 
 would discredit its divinity, or corrupt its 
 doctrines; if we justify our zeal by our prac- 
 tice, and thus glorify that holy name by which 
 we are called^ he will most certainly acknow- 
 ledge us in that day, when his approbation 
 will be the highest reward that an immortal 
 spirit can enjoy. 
 
 The sincere and well-informed advocates 
 of the gospel, while engaged in the justifica- 
 tion of its principles, and the support of its 
 interests, are careful not to lavish their acti- 
 vity on subjects of remote effect, or barren 
 curiosity. Wisdom reserves its vigour for ex- 
 ertions vv'orthy of its own noble aims; and if 
 it be zealously affected^ it is in a good thing. 
 Actuated by such motives, and placed in 
 such circumstances, it not only defies, all the 
 arts of calumny, but challenges some tribute 
 of praise. The everlasting truths of the gos- 
 pel, with which the welfare of mankind is 
 most nearly connected, demand our serious 
 regards, and justify the warmest efforts of 
 zeal, directed by knowledge, and tempered 
 by philanthropy. 
 
SERMON I. li 
 
 There are errors that would bereave us of 
 every hope which pohits to immortahty, 
 loosen the best cement of society, and over- 
 turn the very constitution of religion both 
 natural and revealed. Opposition to such 
 errors deserves not the odious epithets of bi- 
 gotry and superstition. Infidelity, we know, 
 has its zealots ; and heresies of the most ma- 
 lignant tendency have their advocates; ad- 
 vocates, who scorn accommodation with 
 what they are pleased to call the inventions 
 of priestcraft, and the prejudices of the vul- 
 gar; who make a triumphant boast of the 
 freedom with which they oppose the pecu- 
 liar and distinguishing doctrines of Christi- 
 anity; who are neither ashamed nor afraid 
 to declare openly to the world, that as they 
 have hitherto exerted themselves, so v/ill the}?- 
 continue to exert themselves, in demolishing 
 the fortresses of orthodoxy. They disdain 
 to pay any reverence to the rust of anti- 
 quity—they are no respecters of the autho- 
 rity attached to names — they scorn to sacri- 
 fice any precarious opinion about the purity 
 of truth to the established peace of the 
 world. The collective wisdom and exem- 
 plary piet}^ of preceding generations are to 
 the philosopher a stumblingblock, and to th©- 
 innovator foolishness. 
 
H SErvMON I. 
 
 In repressing the violence, and in expos- 
 ing the absurdities, of such writers, we act a 
 part which prejudiced men may perhaps 
 impute to unworthy motives. But why 
 are we blamed for doing to others, what 
 others, if they supposed us to He under any 
 dangerous delusion, would make a merit of 
 doing to us? Is that officious in the children 
 of wisdom, which in their adversaries is bene- 
 volent? is their firmness our obstinacy? Their 
 cause surely has no presumptive proof of su- 
 periority. Their abilities are not of a greater 
 size. Their activity is not directed to nobler 
 ends. 
 
 They laugh indeed at our blindness, and 
 they rail at our ardour : but to hear the rude 
 clamours of those who assault Christianity, or 
 of those who betray it, without emotion and 
 without resistance, would imply a tameness of 
 spirit, which our enemies would be the first to 
 insult and to ridicule. By silent forbearance, 
 or languid opposition, we should indeed give 
 too much colour to an insinuation lately 
 thrown out by one who has rushed foremost 
 in the ranks, and sounded with a louder blast 
 than his fellows the horn of battle, that we 
 are at ease in Zio7i, only because we are 
 grown indifferent to her better interests. 
 
 There are indeed too many persons, from 
 
SERMON 1. 13 
 
 whom a more consistent conduct might have 
 been expected, who are active in the prosecu- 
 tion of those temporal privileges, which are 
 connected with their spiritual function, and 
 Avho eagerly pant for honours and distinctions; 
 yet are too little concerned to promote the 
 honour of the gospel, and quite indifferent 
 about the preservation of those glorious 
 truths, wliich render it at once the admira- 
 tion and delight of rational but guilty and 
 fallen creatures. 
 
 But it is unfair to argue from particulars 
 to universals, and ungenerous to censure thq 
 whole for the defects or errors of a few. 
 There are many whose conduct still tends 
 to rescue their profession from the disgrace 
 which malice is eager to throw on it. Wis- 
 dom can yet boast of children, whose min- 
 gled zeal and prudence do not disgrace the 
 cause they have the honour to support. 
 
 But while they justify her cause, it is in 
 such a manner as will not bring any dis- 
 credit on its true principles and genuine ten-^ 
 dency. Their zeal for God never contradicts 
 their charity to men. AVhile it opposes prin- 
 ciples which are injurious to the interests of 
 truth, and destructive to the souls of men, 
 yet it diminishes not the sincerest regard for 
 the persons of those by whom such princi- 
 
14 SERMON I. 
 
 pies are adopted. It loves the man, it esteems 
 the scholar, it applauds the believer, even 
 while it faithfully chastens his guilt, or freely 
 admonishes him of his error. But false zeal 
 will load with opprobrium, and then consign 
 to damnation every man whom it is vmable 
 to convince or to persuade : thus in the 
 church of Rome, if it cannot convert, it will 
 curse or exterminate ; when argument fails, 
 menaces succeed ; and, should threatening 
 be despised, it is rendered effectual by pu- 
 nishment. 
 
 But zee have not so learned Christ. His 
 gospel inspires a diflerent spirit, and the 
 establishment and propagation of its truths 
 require a very ditferent mode of conduct. 
 
 There is some difficulty indeed in fix- 
 ing by precept the boundaries of that zeal, 
 with which Christians in general, and the 
 ministers of the gospel in particular, ought to 
 be inspired : but example will at once un- 
 fold the principle of zeal as a quality, and 
 enforce the obligation of it as a dut3^ In 
 the conduct of St. Paul we see this virtue 
 well illustrated ; and we may most becom- 
 ingly, and most profitably, contemplate it as 
 a model of imitation. 
 
 The principal object this illustrious child 
 of wisdom had in view Avas the glory of 
 
SERMON I. 13 
 
 God ; and this he was convinced could onlj 
 be properly and effectually promoted by 
 steadiness and prudence in maintaining the 
 great truths of the gospel. To an object so 
 momentous he sacrificed all that the world 
 calls dear ; his ease, his interest, his repu- 
 tation, 3^ea even life itself. No fundamental 
 doctrines did he obscure by partial sup- 
 pression, or refine away by sophistical inter- 
 pretation ; he taught them as he received 
 them from above. He scorned to temporize, 
 when his commission was clear, and the ob- 
 ject of high and indubitable importance. In 
 matters of little consequence he acted with 
 discretion ; but it v/as a discretion which 
 the strictest integrity warranted, which the 
 frailties or the prepossessions of his hearers 
 required, nay, w^iich the higher interests of 
 the church itself loudly and unequivocally 
 demanded » 
 
 We have a very animated description of his 
 noble and honest zeal in the necessary oppo- 
 sition which he made to the false teachers, who 
 had insidiously endeavoured, by hypocritical 
 shews of a purer and more ancient doctrine, 
 to corrupt and pervert the Gralatian church. 
 False brethren^ says he, unawares brought in^ 
 who came privily to spy out our liberty which 
 we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring 
 
16 SERMON I. 
 
 us into hondage : to whom we gave place by sub- 
 jection no not for an hour ; that the truth of 
 the gospel inight continue with you\ Thus the 
 apostle exemphfiecl his own position, that 
 he could do nothing against the truth, either 
 negatively or positively; either by oppos- 
 ing it himself, or by tamely acquiescing in 
 the opposition of its enemies. 
 
 All truths are not of equal moment, or 
 supported by evidence equally clear ; in 
 matters of a doubtful nature, concession 
 therefore is ultimately of more advantage 
 to the interests of truth than contention. 
 We should, however, be careful ^vhat points 
 we assi™ to the class of dubious and unim- 
 portant controversy. Indifference, under the 
 mask of moderation, has made so many 
 grants by way of accommodating the gospel 
 to what has been sanctified by the plausible 
 name of reason, that very little seems left to 
 distinguish it from a system of mere theism. 
 Hence some men have violently wrested the 
 divinity and atonement of our blessed Sa- 
 viour from the Christian scheme, under the 
 pretence of reducing it to a greater degree 
 of simplicity, and of rendering it more con- 
 sistent with the prejudices of Jews, Maho- 
 metans, and infidels of every class : not con- 
 Gal, ii. 4j 5. 
 
SERMON I. 17 
 
 sidering, that in those prejudices the great 
 cause of Christianity must be lost ; and be- 
 fore them not only its pecuHar doctrines, but 
 even the more essential parts of moral and 
 religious duty, must give way. 
 
 If we must yield to preconceived opinions 
 by way of accommodation, why not to prac- 
 tices which have been rendered familiar by 
 custom, and to institutions which have on 
 them the venerable stamp of long prescrip- 
 tion ? Some have told us, that Ave shall never 
 convert the unbeliever, till we indiscriminate- 
 ly and avowedly abandon those doctrines 
 which are called mysterious : and of late one 
 daring adventurer in the field of reformation 
 has thrown aside the common restraints of mo- 
 desty, and, with an effrontery equally singu- 
 lar and insulting, has informed the Christian 
 world, that there is no prospect of converting 
 the Mahometans, unless they have a sanc- 
 tion from the church to continue in the prac- 
 tice of polygamy^! 
 
 Amidst the claimants of truth, who are to 
 be gratified? Amidst the various projectors 
 of reformation, whose plans are to be adopt- 
 ed? Many set up pretensions to exclusive 
 preference: all assert their privilege of being 
 coolly and impartially heard. Let therefore 
 
 *» Thelyphthora, vol. ii. p. 85, &c. 
 C 
 
18 SERMON L 
 
 all be heard ; though in the mass of human 
 opinions, and amidst the conflict of human 
 passions, all cannot be satisfied. 
 
 There is a spirit which seems to be always 
 discontented, till its wildest claims are al- 
 lowed ; and which, having been turbulent 
 under injudicious restraint, becomes tyranni- 
 cal when in possession of usurped authority. 
 
 But let not the freedom of enquiry be 
 shackled. For if it multiplies contentions 
 among the m ise and virtuous, it exercises the 
 charity of those who contend. If it shakes 
 for a time the belief which is rested onlj 
 upon prejudice, it finally settles it on the 
 broader and more solid basis of conviction. 
 
 Truth assuredly has nothing to fear from 
 the opposition of its enemies : and the chil- 
 dren of wisdom are not to be seduced from 
 their persuasion of its excellence, by the 
 subtlety of the sophist, or the calumnies of 
 the scoffer. They know that its origin is 
 from above ; and that an almighty arm pro* 
 tects and secures it. They do indeed deplore 
 that malignity of heart, and that blindness of 
 understanding, which too frequently appear 
 in the designs of its various adversaries^ 
 either to pervert its principles, or to obstruct 
 its genuine influence : yet they have too 
 much respect for their cause, to disgrace it 
 
SERMON t 19 
 
 by the base and unnatural aid of persecu- 
 tion; and they have too much confidence in 
 their own strength, to shrink from a contest 
 in which the triumphs of error are precarious 
 and transitory. 
 
 They are convinced, that the weapons of 
 the Ciiristian warfare are not carnaU but spi^ 
 ritual; and that our rehgion, though pro- 
 tected by human power against violence and 
 outrage, for the sake of preserving its mem- 
 bers in peace, yet is to make its way in the 
 world only by the force of evidence ; and to 
 keep its ground as well by the moderation 
 as bj^ the abilities of its advocates. 
 
 The liberal spirit of the Church of Eng- 
 land, and the general cultivation of science, 
 as they render religion among other things 
 an object of attention and investigation, 
 must be expected to expose it also to the 
 objections and doubts of those, whose enqui- 
 ries have been conducted upon wrong princi- 
 ples, or who have not fully considered the 
 arguments by which it may be most success- 
 fully defended. 
 
 Conscious of the difficulties in which the 
 moral Governor of the universe seems to 
 have left many interesting topics, reflecting 
 on the different degrees of vigour which be- 
 long to different understandings, and sensi- 
 
 c 2 
 
20 SERMON L 
 
 ble of the various lights in which the same 
 question presents itself in various circum- 
 stances, the friend of truth is more ready to 
 enquire than to dogmatize, and to inform 
 than to condemn. There is an opposition 
 which he considers as of a more enlightened 
 and liberal kind ; which is conducted with 
 temper and decency; which has not for its 
 object those licentious and immoral views 
 which have been justly charged upon the 
 more popular systems of infidelity; and 
 which, instead of proving injurious to the 
 great cause it attacks, will be eventually the 
 means of confirming its authority, and of 
 illustrating its principles. 
 
 Such opposition excites a keener atten- 
 tion not only among the adversaries, but the 
 friends of the gospel. It brings forward into 
 open day those evidences, which are dimly 
 and indistinctly perceived by both. It clears 
 them from every useless incumbrance which 
 tends to obscure their lustre. It confirms 
 and sanctifies the faith of the Christian ; 
 it humbles the arrogance, where it cannot 
 overcome the prepossessions, of the infidel : 
 the inqviisitive are instructed; and the im- 
 partial are completely and unalterably con* 
 vinced. 
 
 Among the teachers of the Christian reli- 
 
SERMON I. 21 
 
 gion, it is unquestionably a duty to study its 
 evidences with such care, and to examine its 
 principles with such integrity, as to be able 
 always to give a reason of the hope that is in 
 them. But there are other obligations also 
 attending the clerical profession, of more 
 immediate concern than the mere office of 
 repelling hostile objections, or even of remov- 
 ing the sincere but painful scruples of our 
 neighbour. 
 
 From the natural modesty of their dispo- 
 sitions, or perhaps from the want of oppor- 
 tunity to collect materials for the purposes 
 of publication, many excellent men are con- 
 tented with retaining their own faith in si- 
 lence and obscurity ; and with diffusing the 
 saving truths of the gospel only among those 
 who are committed to their charge. 
 
 There is therefore a singular propriety in 
 those institutions, the principal object of 
 which is the refutation of error ; and which 
 are intended always to provide an antidote 
 to the poison that may be instilled. 
 
 The liberal pietj^ of our nation has given 
 rise to many institutk)ns of this kind : and it 
 cannot be denied, that much has thus been 
 added to the general stock of learning, and 
 still more to the elucidation of the particu- 
 lar evidences of natural and revealed religion. 
 
 c 3 
 
22 SERMON L 
 
 Men of extensive knowledge and solid judg- 
 ment have by these means been called forth 
 to public view, at a time when raillery might 
 have discouraged the modest ; and when the 
 most sanguine might have despaired of vic- 
 tory, from the number, rather than the ta- 
 lents, of those who were leagued together in 
 the support of impiety. They have been 
 roused by the call of pious and munificent 
 patrons, to stand forth as the champions of 
 truth, virtue, and religion. Their abilities 
 have excited the general veneration of the 
 world : their candour has extorted praise 
 even from their hardiest antagonists : and by 
 their success in explaining and defending 
 the doctrines of revelation, the wisdom of 
 the founders has been amply justified, and 
 their generosity abundantlj^ recompensed by 
 that which they would have themselves 
 esteemed the noblest of all rewards, the fair 
 and final establishment of evangelical truth. 
 
 Thus the absurdity of atheism has been 
 exposed ; and the atheist driven from the 
 field he had the presumption to call his own, 
 even by the very weapons which he chose 
 for his defence. Deism in all its forms has 
 been examined and detected : all its illiberal 
 cavils have been replied to ; all its haughty 
 pretensions confounded ; and even the perti- 
 
SERMON I. 23 
 
 nent and momentous objections, to which 
 the best informed and best disposed of its 
 advocates sometimes had recourse, have 
 been weighed with impartiaUty, and refuted 
 by argument. 
 
 Heresies of an appearance less alarming, 
 though perhaps in their consequences not 
 less fatal, have been clearly refuted, and 
 successfully exposed, by the united zeal and 
 industry, learning and impartiality, of men, 
 who have been called forth to exert their ta- 
 lents in this laudable employment by such 
 institutions as the present. 
 
 Those tenets, which rash and superficial 
 enquirers had supposed to be destitute of 
 foundation, have been expressed with greater 
 precision, supported by stronger proofs, and 
 recommended by new illustrations. 
 
 Our own church, more especially, has as- 
 serted with just and growing confidence 
 her superiority over all other establishments. 
 She has been enabled to resist the unkind 
 and unfair assaults that have been made 
 against her doctrines. She has seen in her 
 friends a constant increase of that sound 
 knowledge, which ever draws onward in its 
 train an increase of good morals. 
 
 The children of Avisdom, thus going on 
 from strength to strength, are not to be 
 
 c 4 
 
24 SERMON L 
 
 deterred fjoni the prosecution of their re- 
 searches, or the avowal of their sentiments, by 
 ilhberal insinuation, or audacious invective. 
 JVhile they search all things, theij hold fast 
 that which is good. They are not dismayed 
 by groundless and vulgar imputations of in- 
 dulging a spirit of real bigotry, and of con- 
 tending for the credit of imaginary ortho- 
 doxy. Their task is arduous ; their intentions 
 are honourable; and in every contest where 
 they have hitherto been opposed, they may 
 justly boast of having been more than con- 
 querors in the day of trial. 
 
 It appears then, that by these institutions 
 the children of wisdom have rendered essen- 
 tial service to religion. 
 
 Objections, which from their minuteness 
 might otherwise have been neglected, have 
 now received the most satisfactory answers ; 
 and doubts, which from their obscurity, or 
 from the modesty of those in whose minds 
 they arose, might have remained unresolved, 
 have been openly examined, and fairly re- 
 moved. In short, every part of the great 
 fabric of religion has received some distinct 
 support or illustration, which has added to 
 the strength and beauty of the whole system. 
 
 But these institutions, salutary as they 
 may have been to the cause of Christianity, 
 
SERMON L 25 
 
 and propitious to the interests of science, 
 have not been totally exempt from objec- 
 tion. 
 
 As every subject of human speculation is 
 bounded by some limits, additional proofs, 
 and even additional illustrations, cannot al- 
 ways be expected : and institutions which 
 require the unremitted attention of the mind, 
 and the application of learning and argu- 
 ment to the same subjects, may be sus- 
 pected rather of adding to the quantity, 
 than to the real uses of speculation ; and of 
 promoting more an anxiety for novel opi- 
 nions, than a serious concern for established 
 truths. Though the earlier periods of these 
 institutions, therefore, have been distinguished 
 by a more than ordinary display of erudition, 
 and their utility is become as conspicuous as 
 the abilities which supported them ; yet ge- 
 nius itself will languish, Avhen confined to 
 one track, nor will learning be able to recruit 
 its vigour, when it finds that its stores have 
 been made common to others. In this case 
 we have much to apprehend from the indo- 
 lent, and, perhaps, still more from the vain. 
 With the former the cause will be weakened 
 by dulness and insipidity ; with the latter it 
 will be perverted by the lust of novelty. The 
 indolent, despairing of making any valuable 
 
26 SERMON I. 
 
 addition to the proofs, or general illustrations 
 of religion, will content themselves with the 
 same track that others have pursued, and be 
 satisfied with the negative merit of saying no- 
 thing amiss. The vain will have recourse to 
 fancy, to supply the want of more solid mat- 
 ter ; and will give scope to airy speculation, 
 in order to have the credit of advancing some- 
 thing singular. 
 
 It cannot therefore be expected, that on 
 the same subjects of discussion, and those 
 subjects circumscribed by very narrow limits, 
 the progress should be as splendid as the 
 commencement: and to those who are ad- 
 verse, or even indifferent to the cause of reli- 
 gion, it may afford some little matter of tri- 
 umph, or some slight ground for sceptical 
 insinuation, that on subjects of such une- 
 qualled moment, so little of what is capti- 
 vating by the mere charms of novelty, is 
 produced by the most comprehensive re- 
 search, and the most elaborate explanation. 
 
 The objection, however, is of no weight, 
 when dul}'^ considered. Religion is, like its 
 Author, unchangeable. The reasons which 
 support it are as old as itself: and though 
 its proofs may be set in a new light, yet the 
 proofs themselves cannot be new. To the 
 word of God it were presumption to add ; it 
 
SERMON L 27 
 
 IS our duty to take nothing from it; and in 
 these circumstances whatever doctrine pro- 
 fesses to be at once essential to be known, 
 and yet hitherto unknown, may, in conse- 
 quence of such profession, be suspected of 
 dangerous mistake. 
 
 It is, however, a subject of congratulation 
 to the University, that the Lecture to which 
 I have had the honour of being appointed 
 is perfectly free from the objection which a 
 want of variety is too apt to produce among 
 those, in whom the principles of religion are 
 so weak and languishing, as to need some- 
 thing more than the particular subjects to 
 which other institutions have been directed 
 to engage their attention. 
 
 The wisdom of our Founder has been as 
 conspicuous as his liberality. The plan 
 which he has adopted is extensive and va- 
 rious; it gives scope to philosophical and 
 historical enquiry; and to those who unite 
 the love of virtue with curiosity, it will be a 
 source of perpetual information. The con- 
 nection between sacred and profane learning, 
 and the consistence of true religion with true 
 philosophy, are by repeated experiments now 
 decided. 
 
 Whatever science therefore shall investi- 
 gate may here be pursued, as far as the cause 
 
28 SERMON I. 
 
 of religion can receive any illustration from 
 it. Polite literature may here open its no- 
 blest stores ; and criticism apply them to the 
 elucidation of obscure passages, and to the 
 establishment of fundamental truths. 
 
 Whatever of argument or illustration may 
 be brought forward from time to time, that 
 tends to throw additional Hght on the general 
 evidences, or the particular doctrines, of the 
 Christian religion; on the general institutions 
 of the catholic church, or the particular 
 forms that distinguish our own ; may here 
 be admitted, as in a receptacle prepared for 
 its preservation, and calculated to give it 
 proper use and salutary effect. 
 
 From the corruptions which grow out of 
 excessive civihzation, and from the mischiefs 
 which attend the improper and indiscrimi- 
 nate fondness that pervades all ranks of men 
 for philosophical subjects, Ave have little rea- 
 son to suppose that the period will soon ar- 
 rive, in which no additional objections shall 
 be brought against the evidence or the doc- 
 trines of the gospel. Here then, it is to be 
 hoped, such ansAvers Avill always be produced, 
 as will be sufficient to counteract their influ- 
 ence, and to expose their futihty. 
 
 But while this institution is directed to the 
 general object of defending and establishing 
 
SERMON L 29 
 
 the Christian faith ; and on that account 
 possesses, in common with other similar in- 
 stitutions which preceded it, the same ge- 
 neral utility ; it has also the superior advan- 
 tage of blending together whatever was pecu- 
 har and appropriate to them, and of uniting 
 all their excellencies in itself. 
 
 It is indeed principally designed to coun- 
 teract the progress of error in all its forms, 
 and of infidelity under every mode of oppo- 
 sition. As such, the object is of supreme 
 importance, and opens an extensive field for 
 speculation. The sources of error are inex- 
 haustible : and whilst either vanity or vice 
 influences mankind, it will be easy for sophis- 
 try to invent new forms of objection ; while 
 profligacy will be ever disposed to discredit 
 the faith that condemns it. We may flatter 
 ourselves, however, with this hope, that as 
 much ingenuity will be shewn in the defence 
 of ovir faith, as can be exerted in opposing it, 
 and that while the enemy is sowing tares, the 
 Christian husbandman will not be less vigi- 
 lant in cultivating the good seed. 
 
 Hitherto, indeed, infidelity has not been 
 
 able to achieve any thing which may recom- 
 
 pencethe activity, or gratify the vanity, of its 
 
 advocates. They have successfully employed 
 
 f the arts of conversion with the churlish mis- 
 
so SERMON I. 
 
 anthrope, who would assimilate the charac- 
 ter of the Deity to the dark and unamiable 
 complexion of his own ; with the raw and 
 conceited stripling, who disdains to tread in 
 the beaten track of opinion; or with the 
 obdurate libertine, who is interested in 
 weakening the sanctions, and disproving 
 the very existence, of a law by which he 
 stands condemned. But have the virtuous 
 and the wise, have men of the highest 
 rank in literature, or of the most respect- 
 able reputations in society, gone over to 
 their party? 
 
 AVe do not envy them the paltry pittance 
 of glory which they can acquire from the 
 number of converts, who love darkness rather 
 than lightf because their deeds are evil : but 
 we are most sincerely anxious for the sake of 
 other men, to rescue them from the baneful 
 and specious allurements of opinions, which 
 will either draw them aside to vice, or pre- 
 vent their return to virtue, once neglected 
 and deserted. 
 
 Our religion, however, is not itself tar- 
 nished by the corruptions of those who wan- 
 tonly abandon, or malignantly revile it. The 
 same cause, we are aware, will always pro- 
 duce the same eilect : and Avhile the gospel 
 continues to inculcate a pure doctrine, it 
 
SERMON I. 31 
 
 must expect a very unwelcome reception 
 from the corrupt passions of mankind. 
 
 But while we justify the ways of God, we 
 mean not to speak with undistinguishing 
 contempt, or with unrelenting asperity, of 
 every man by whom they have been ar- 
 raigned. In some of those who look upon 
 the gospel with an unfriendly eye, we readily 
 acknowledge, and, under any other circum- 
 stances, we should warmly admire, very shin- 
 ing abihties. They have attacked our cita- 
 del by every instrument of violence, and 
 with every stratagem of art. Our antagonists 
 have sometimes assailed it with declama- 
 tory eloquence, and sometimes undermined 
 it w ith the aid of metaphysical subtlety : but 
 the church of Christ is, we experimentally 
 know, deeply and firmly founded on a rock : 
 and the blasts of opposition, however sudden 
 and however impetuous, are insufficient to 
 overthrow it. 
 
 Yet, disposed, as we are, to do justice to 
 the talents of those who differ from us, and 
 compelled, as we are, to lament the sad per- 
 version of them, we resist with indignation 
 the disingenuous and haughty pretensions 
 which they put up to eminent superiority of 
 learning, and to peculiar hberality of senti- 
 ment. We know, in fact, that our religion 
 
Sfl SERMON I. 
 
 has been sincerely believed, and strenuously 
 defended, by men who have ascended the 
 summit of human knowledge by the vigour 
 of their genius, and the intenseness of their 
 application. 
 
 Locke and Malbranche do not yield the 
 palm of metaphysical acuteness to the sullen 
 sophistry of Hobbes, or the cold scepticism 
 of Hume. In brilliancy of imagination and 
 delicacy of taste, Berkeley is, surely, not infe- 
 rior to Shaftesbury. In solid and masculine 
 sense, and in erudition classical or philoso- 
 phical, who are the champions of infidelity 
 that deserve to be compared with a Taylor, 
 a Wilkins, a Cudworth, a Barrow, a Clark, 
 a Boyle, and a Newton ? 
 
 And what, we may boldly ask, what is 
 there in the nature of things themselves, that 
 acuteness of penetration and justness of rea- 
 soning should be exclusively possessed by 
 those who deride Christianity, or by those 
 who corrupt it? 
 
 If great and good men yet adhere to our 
 party, when they may, upon conviction, de- 
 sert it, without danger and without infamy ; 
 a strong presumption arises, that the cause 
 of religious wisdom has been ably and suc- 
 cessfully pleaded by her children. 
 
 We have indeed ever been ready to meet 
 
SERMON L 35 
 
 Our antagonists on any fair ground of dispu- 
 tation. We are not afraid of coming to the 
 test of history, and of criticism ; of ethics^ 
 where they are sound, and of metaphysics, 
 where they are inteUigible. AVe dechne the 
 use of no weapons that are honourable : at 
 the same time we wish not to be indebted 
 for our triumphs to the pointed shafts of ridi- 
 cule, or to the poisonous arts of insinuation. 
 But while we professedly ourselves disdain to 
 use such modes of defence, we are not terri- 
 fied at the eagerness with which other men 
 employ them. 
 
 There is a Providence Avhich controls all 
 human events, and brings good out of evil : 
 and it is this Providence which seems to have 
 permitted the attacks of infidelity, in order 
 to give greater evidence to the faith it op- 
 poses. 
 
 It is not necessary in the present situation 
 of things to attempt any new arrangement 
 of proofs, or system of evidence. It will be 
 time enough to invent some fresh modes of 
 demonstration, when it is found that the old 
 are incapable of affording conviction to the 
 honest and impartial enquirer after truth. 
 
 The nature of evidence, however, depends 
 in a great measure on the manner in which. 
 
 D 
 
34 SERMON I. 
 
 it is considered ; and the same arguments 
 and illustrations will appear in very different 
 lights of strength and conviction, according 
 to our various modes of study and habits of 
 reflection. 
 
 If therefore I presume not in the follow- 
 ing discourses to produce any testimonies 
 unheard of, or arguments hitherto unknown, 
 in support of our faith ; yet I hope I shall 
 be entitled to your indulgence, if I in some 
 degree deviate from the more common track 
 of speculation, and apply my attention to a 
 species of discussion, which has, perhaps 
 from the remoteness of that sort of learning 
 on which it depends, been handled with less 
 minuteness of investigation than its import- 
 ance seems to demand. 
 
 It may be presumed, that those topics are 
 best understood by us, to which we have de- 
 voted the greatest share of application. On 
 this ground I may flatter myself with the 
 hopes of your candid attention, while I am 
 more immediately treating those subjects, to 
 which the course of studies pursued from my 
 own choice, and the nature of an academical 
 employment conferred by your kindness, 
 have pointed my enquiries— -m quo tamen 
 ego quid eniti^ aut quid efficere possim^ mala 
 
SERMON I. 35 
 
 m aliorum spe relinquere^ quam in oraiione 
 ponere mea "", 
 
 The great scene of revelation has been the 
 East. There the source of genuine inspira- 
 tion was first opened ; and from thence the 
 streams of divine knowledge began to flow. 
 It was the grand theatre, on which the al- 
 mighty Governor of the world made bare his 
 arm^ and hy signs and wonders, and mighty 
 deeds, established the conviction of his righ- 
 teous providence and supreme dominion in 
 the hearts of men. There he led the people 
 of Israel like a flock, by the hand of Moses 
 and Aaron : there the Prophets uttered their 
 predictions : and there the Son of God illus- 
 trated and fulfilled them. 
 
 But there also has the impostor Mahomet 
 erected his standard — that standard to which 
 thousands have flocked, with an ardour that 
 may well raise a blush on the countenances 
 of too man}', who pretend to fight under the 
 banner of the cross. 
 
 Whosoever, therefore, has bent his atten- 
 tion to the pursuits of oriental literature, and 
 the study of eastern history, must be deeply 
 impressed with this peculiar and distinguish- 
 ing circumstance of Asiatic history : and he 
 will unavoidably form some comparisons be- 
 
 <= Cicero, Orat. in Qu. Csecilium 
 D 2 
 
36 SERMON I. 
 
 tweeii those two great sources of reli^gioM 
 opinion. From the climes which he reviews 
 have sprung those powerful systems, w^hich 
 have spread themselves over the most enlight- 
 ened portion of the globe ; and which for ages 
 have determined the belief, and influenced 
 the conduct of the greatest nations which in- 
 habit it. Beginning equally in silence and 
 obscurity, they have advanced to a dominion 
 equally unknown in any former age : but 
 widely diflferent in the causes by which their 
 success has been produced, and in the prin« 
 ciples on which their authority is founded ; 
 they call the attention of philosophy to the 
 investigation of their history, as to the sub- 
 limest object, which can interest the curious, 
 or employ the profound. 
 
 AVhether they be considered as the sources^ 
 of religious belief, and as thus agitating in 
 the most powerful manner the hopes and 
 fears of mankind ; or as the principles which 
 have influenced the revolutions of nations, 
 and thus including the causes of the most 
 memorable events in human history ; they 
 stand forth as the most brilliant subjects af 
 religious and }X)litical speculation, and claim 
 the best exertions of philosophical sagacity. 
 
 Amidst scenes so striking and so eventful,, 
 tlie student of oriental hterature cannot re* 
 
SERMON I. 37 
 
 main unmoved. Whatever knowledge he 
 may have acquired, whatever judgment he 
 may possess, must be usefully laid out in 
 comparing those two great sects which thus 
 divide mankind, and in collecting from deep 
 and impartial enquiry the marks of true and 
 false inspiration. 
 
 In pursuit of researches, stretched througli 
 so large an extent, and which embrace so 
 many important objects, he will probably be 
 fed to consider these two relicrions in their 
 History, their Evidence, and their Effects ; 
 as the three great sources of comparison, by 
 which their truth is to be determined. 
 
 He will begin, therefore, by examining the 
 situation of the world at the respective pe- 
 riods when their authors appeared : and from 
 this investigation he will with certainty infer, 
 what can be assigned to the wisdom of hea- 
 ven, and what to the policy of men. 
 
 He will then weigh in the balance of calm 
 and unprejudiced reason the evidence upon 
 which they rest their claims ; and endeavour 
 by these means to fix the criteria of real and 
 pretended revelation. 
 
 He will close his enquiries by considering 
 their effects upon mankind, whether as indivi- 
 duals, or nations : for from the tendency of 
 a religion to promote the present happiness 
 
 d3 
 
38 SERMON I. 
 
 of men, we may determine the probability 
 of its connection with their future interests. 
 In this manner it is probable that he will be 
 able to ascertain the nature and character of 
 these respective systems better than in the 
 more inartificial method of detached and 
 desultory enquiry. For, doubtless, in pro- 
 portion to the variety and magnitude of those 
 circumstances in which either system is seen 
 to be farther removed from the wily strata- 
 gems a deceiver would employ, and the base 
 ends he would pursue ; in proportion as it 
 approaches nearer to the idea of such a reli- 
 gion as the divine Being, who acts for the best 
 purposes by the best means, may be sup- 
 posed to communicate to mankind ; in that 
 exact proportion will its claims be authenti- 
 cated and its evidence confirmed. 
 
 It is to this great subject of discussion that 
 I presume to call the attention of the audi- 
 ence I now address ; and I do not know 
 that it is within the compass of my informa- 
 tion to bring any more useful or more proper 
 offering to the truth of our faith, than the 
 result of those enquiries which my situation 
 and profession have enabled me to make. 
 I purpose therefore to consider, in their most 
 important points of view, the characters of 
 Mahometism and Christianity, and the na- 
 
SERMON I. 39 
 
 ture of their respective pretensions to a di- 
 vine origin. 
 
 Nothing, surely, is so hkely to attract the 
 attention of scholars to eastern literature, as 
 the splendid scene of Asiatic history which is 
 here presented to them ; and the important 
 treasures of religious, of political, and of plri- 
 losophical information which it contains. 
 
 We rejoice in the progress of every study, 
 which connects the various materials of 
 knowledge by new ties, diversifies them by 
 new combinations, and enlarges the views of 
 the contemplative and pious believer. We 
 feel a growing confidence in our cause, from 
 the conviction, that the farther such enquiries 
 are pursued, and the more such information, 
 as may facilitate them, is collected, the more 
 firmly will the truth of our faith be established; 
 and the more magnificent views will it unfold 
 to us of the connection in which Christianity 
 stands with the temporal and eternal welfare 
 of mankind. 
 
 D 4 
 
SERMON ir. 
 
 Acts v. 38, 39- 
 
 If this counsel or this zvork he of men, it will come to 
 nought : but if it he of God, ye cannot overthrow it. 
 
 JL HE miraculous propagation and final esta- 
 blishment of Christianity, the triumphs it has 
 obtained over obstacles the most formidable, 
 and the effects it has produced by instru- 
 ments in appearance the most inadequate, 
 have frequently been urged as decisive proofs 
 of its divinity and truth. 
 
 In support of this argument the words 
 now before us, which contain the famous 
 maxim of Gamaliel, in his advice to the 
 Jewish council, are sometimes adduced. But 
 with whatever propriety the text may be 
 appUed to the particular case of Christianity, 
 the general principle is not to be admitted, 
 without many exact and interesting distinc- 
 tions. 
 
 Success alone is undoubtedly no certain 
 criterion of the truth and divinity of any 
 religious system; no absolute proof of the 
 concurrence and approbation of Heaven. 
 
42 SERMON 11. 
 
 For is it not evident, that God permits error 
 to prevail in the world, nay sometimes to a 
 greater extent than the truth itself? The 
 fact we cannot dispute, where we are utterly 
 unable to assign the final cause. The effi- 
 cient causes do indeed sometimes lie open 
 to our view; they are to be found in the 
 nature and condition of man; they do not 
 clash with the moral attributes of the Deity; 
 and they supply abundant matter as well 
 to gratify our curiosity, as to subdue our 
 pride. 
 
 God has constituted us free agents, and 
 has endued us with faculties, which though 
 sufficient, if properly exerted, to lead us into 
 the discovery of truth, are still limited and 
 circumscribed. We are therefore fallible 
 creatures, liable to be imposed upon either 
 by the delusions of our own imaginations, or 
 by the artifices of interested impostors. Un- 
 qualified for deep speculation and laborious 
 research, the great bulk of mankind is of- 
 tener directed by fancy, by prejudice, or in^ 
 terest, than by reason. Hence it happens, 
 that, misled b}^ the craft and cunning of 
 those who lie in wait to deceive, or seduced 
 by doctrines flattering and agreeable to the 
 corruption of the human heart, numbers in 
 all ages, forsaking the truth, have embraced 
 
SERMON IT. 43 
 
 with willingness, and propagated with zeal, 
 the grossest and most pernicious mistakes. 
 
 If our own experience should be insuffi- 
 cient to convince us of these facts, the his- 
 tory of past ages will teach us by melancholy 
 examples, how extensive an influence error 
 has often been permitted to obtain over the 
 minds of men. Even from the earliest a2:es 
 of the world, down to that glorious era when 
 the Sun of righteousness arose to give lip-ht 
 to them that sat in darkness and the shadow 
 of death, it pleased the divine Providence 
 to suffer the far greater part of mankind to 
 lie in the darkest ignorance, with regard to 
 the grand fundamental principles of all re- 
 ligion. 
 
 The worship, and I had almost said the 
 knowledge, of the one true God were, throusih 
 various revolutions of empires, and amidst 
 various modes of life, confined within the 
 narrow limits of Judaea. And even among 
 the peculiar people, which had been se- 
 parated from the nations by an extraordi- 
 nary act of divine Providence for the express 
 purpose of preserving this knowledge pure 
 and untainted, the baleful influence of error 
 was too often felt. The honours due only to 
 the great Creator were unworthily trans- 
 ferred to the creature ; the altars of Jehovah 
 
44 SERMON II. 
 
 became the seats of superstition and idola- 
 try. In the days of ^Ahab, there remained 
 only seve7i thousand in Israel^ who had not 
 bowed the knee to Baal : and under the im- 
 pious Jeroboam, while ten tribes followed 
 the gods of Dan and Bethel, two only con- 
 tinued to worship the Lord at Jerusalem. 
 
 Instances have never been wanting of 
 men, who from interested motives, for the 
 acquisition of power, have pretended to hold 
 immediate converse with the Deity ; and 
 whose pretences, from the sagacious artifices 
 of the teacher, or the abject credulity of the 
 people, have been crowned with success.. 
 
 Rome furnished a Numa, who gave the 
 highest sanction and authority to the dictates 
 of human prudence and policy, by deliver- 
 ing them to his subjects as the express re- 
 velations of the immortal gods : and thus 
 firmly established a .system, which, with 
 some subsequent additions, remained entire 
 through the various revolutions of the Ro- 
 man commonwealth ; till at length the relir 
 gion of Christ triumphed over Polytheism, 
 and the bannei' of the Cross Wc^s erected on 
 the ruins of the Capitol. 
 
 Nor did the introduction of Christianity 
 into the world produce any alteration, at 
 
 ^1 Kings xix.' 18. 
 
SERMON IL 45 
 
 least in this respect, in the manner of God's 
 dealings with mankind. Even when it 
 pleased him to employ extraordinary means 
 for an extraordinary end, and to propagate 
 the truth by aids to which the advocates of 
 falsehood could not have recourse, he still 
 dealt with men as with free and rational 
 creatures. They were still left at liberty 
 either to embrace or reject what he had re- 
 vealed : and by some it was actually so far 
 resisted, as to draw down the just judgment 
 of infatuation as a punishment for such re- 
 sistance. Thus was it with the Pharisees, 
 ^ whose eyes he blinded, and whose hearts he, 
 hardened, lest they should see with their eyes, 
 and understand with their hearts, and be con-- 
 txerted. 
 
 Even the final establishment of the Gos- 
 pel did not totally extirpate error and de- 
 lusion from the world. Tares were still per- 
 mitted to spring up, and sometimes even to 
 choke the good seed. The history of the 
 earlier ages of Christianity is little more than 
 a melancholy recital of successive heresies 
 and absurdities ; some of which were either 
 plucked up by the hand of reformation, or 
 left to wither of themselves ; while others, 
 taking deep root, were suffered to flourish 
 
 ^ John xii, 40. 
 
46 SERMON II. 
 
 a long time, and almost to overshadow the 
 church. 
 
 But let not the excellency of Christianity 
 be depreciated, because it failed to do what 
 could not be done, without violence to the 
 whole mtellectual and moral constitution of 
 its professors : let not the veracity of its Au- 
 thor be impeached, because his followers 
 have rushed headlong into those erroneous 
 and impious opinions, which he has himself 
 most explicitly foretold, and most pointedly 
 condemned. ""Take heed, ^ays he, that no 
 man deceive you : for many shall come in my 
 name^ saying, I am Christy and shall deceive 
 many.—^For there shall arise false Christs 
 and false ^prophets, and shall shew great signs 
 and wonders; insomuch that,if itwere possible^ 
 they shall deceive the very elect. 
 
 Thus he foretold ; and the event justified 
 the prediction. 
 
 But among all the instances of audacious 
 and successful imposture which history has 
 recorded, none has been more widely dif- 
 fused, or more firmly established, than that 
 of the pretended prophet of Arabia. Born 
 in an obscure and uncivilized country, en- 
 titled to no preeminence of power or au- 
 thority, the grand impostor, by the mere 
 
 ' Matt, xxiv, 4, 5. ^ lb. 24, 
 
SERMON II. 47 
 
 force of a bold and fertile genius, assisted by 
 a concurrence of circumstances universally 
 auspicious to his design, was enabled to ob- 
 tain the most unbounded empire over the 
 minds as well as persons of a very large por- 
 tion of mankind ; and together with a tem- 
 poral kingdom, to introduce and fix a re- 
 ligion, which has subsisted in almost undi- 
 minished vigour to the present times, through 
 the long period of more than 1100 years. 
 
 The rapid propagation of Mahometism, 
 and the brilliant victories of its Founder, 
 have frequently been urged by his followers 
 as the express testimonies of heaven to the 
 truth and holiness of their religion: to this 
 argument divines of the Romish commu- 
 nion ^ have given too much countenance, by 
 representing amplitude, duration, and tem- 
 poral prosperity among the characteristic 
 and infallible marks of the true church. But 
 surely that can be no argument in favour of 
 any system, which might equally be alleged 
 by all; and which the follower of Numa, 
 and the disciple of Mahomet, no less than 
 the Christian, have in reality pleaded as 
 proofs of a divine original in their respective 
 religions. 
 
 It appears then, as well from experience 
 
 *' See Eellarm. de Notis Ecclesiag. 
 
48 SERMON IL 
 
 that error often does, as from the nature and 
 constitution of man that it sometimes must, 
 prevail in the Avorld ; and consequently that 
 the establishment of any religious system, 
 when considered by itself, determines no- 
 thing with regard to the truth of its doc- 
 trines, or the superior authority of its sanc- 
 tions. What is uncommon must not be con-; 
 founded with what is supernatural : what 
 can be accounted for by human means must 
 not be hastily and indiscriminately ascribed 
 to divine. Success, which is not only com- 
 patible with the existence of a revelation im- 
 mediately proceeding from God, but even 
 inseparable from it in our ideas, must not be 
 insisted upon as directly and properly de- 
 monstrative of the source whence any reli- 
 gion flowed. 
 
 But when the advocate for Christianity 
 argues in its behalf, that so many thousands 
 were on a sudden converted to the faith ; 
 that the religion of Christ so widely and so 
 auspiciously spread its influence over a large 
 portion of the habitable world ; the force of 
 this argument is not derived from the mere 
 prevalence of Christianity, but from its pre- 
 valence under those pecuhar circumsrtances, 
 in which the gospel, at its first preaching, 
 appears to have been placed. 
 
SERMON II. 49 
 
 Nor does the important argument in fa- 
 vour of Christianity, thus drawn from its 
 rapid propagation, lose any thing of its 
 weight, from the estabhshment of false reli- 
 gions in the world ; unless it could be shewn, 
 that they were propagated under circum- 
 stances equally disadvantageous, and by 
 means equally miraculous. 
 
 How far this was the case with Maho- 
 metism, Avill appear from an impartial con- 
 sideration of the state of things at the time 
 when it was proposed to the world, and of 
 the causes which contributed to its success. 
 
 In reviewing the causes which seem to 
 have facilitated the progress of Mahometism, 
 the first and greatest which presents itself to 
 our consideration is the miserable and dis- 
 tracted state of the Christian church. 
 
 If in surveying the history of the sixth 
 and seventh centuries we call to our remem- 
 brance that purity of doctrine, that simpli- 
 city of manners, that spirit of meekness and 
 universal benevolence, which marked the 
 character of the Christian in the apostolic 
 age, the dreadful reverse which we here be^ 
 hold cannot but strike us with astonishment 
 and horror. Divided into numberless parties 
 on account of distinctions the most trifling 
 and absurd 5 contending with each other from 
 
 E 
 
50 SERMON 11. 
 
 perverseness, and persecuting each other 
 with rancour, corrupt in opinion, and dege- 
 nerate in practice, the Christians of this un- 
 happy period seem to have retained httle 
 more than the name and external profession 
 of their rehgion. Of a Christian church 
 scarce any vestige remained. The JBOst un- 
 christian principles and opinions Avere uni- 
 versally predominant ; ignorance amidst the 
 most favourable opportunities of knowledge; 
 vice amidst the noblest encouragements to 
 virtue; a pretended zeal for truth, mixed with 
 the wildes^t extravagancies of error; an im- 
 placable spirit of discord about opinions 
 which none could settle ; and a general and 
 striking similarity in the commission of 
 crimes, which it was the duty and interest 
 of all to avoid ! 
 
 The gospel indeed was in itself pure and 
 holy, while these hideous features of de- 
 formity characterized its infatuated profes- 
 sors : but through the prejudiced under- 
 standings and indignant tempers of men, the 
 odium incurred by persons was vehemently 
 and unjustly transferred to things : the me- 
 rits of the cause were not separated by dis- 
 passionate and nice distinction from the 
 glaring imperfections of those who patron- 
 ized it : and the partial and temporary in- 
 
SERMON II. 51 
 
 efficacy of Christianity supplied a plausible 
 train of objections to its credibility and its 
 use. 
 
 It is an obvious though just remark, that 
 true religion and learning have ever flou- 
 rished and fallen together. Both had now 
 for some centuries been hastening with equal 
 and visible steps to decay. The sciences, 
 unpatronized by the emperors and persons 
 in authority, had long ceased to be consi- 
 dered as the roads to wealth and honour, and 
 were therefore no longer cultivated. The in- 
 terests of polite literature and philosophy 
 had received irreparable injuries, by the in- 
 cursions of the Goths and other barbarous 
 nations into the western provinces of the Ro- 
 man empire. During the violence and dan- 
 ger which naturally attended these tumultu- 
 ous scenes, there remained but little leisure 
 or opportunity for those who were still de- 
 sirous of attending to the liberal arts. And 
 it is highly probable that they must have 
 totally perished in the general confusion, 
 had they not found a wretched and preca- 
 rious shelter in the cloisters of the monks. 
 Here indeed their still venerable remains 
 were preserved awhile ; though they received 
 only suqh a degree of culture, as served to 
 
 E 2 
 
52 SERMON II. 
 
 display the glorious height from which they 
 had fallen. 
 
 Historians have exhibited to ns the most 
 melancholy picture of the universal darkness 
 and ignorance, which at the beginning of 
 the seventh century had overspread all ranks 
 of men. Even the ecclesiastical orders scarce- 
 ly afforded an exception to this general de- 
 scription. Among the bishops, the grand 
 instructors and defenders of the Christian 
 church, few (we are told) could be found, 
 whose knowledge and abilities were suffi- 
 cient to compose the discourses, however 
 mean and incoherent, which their oifice 
 sometimes obliged them to deliver to the 
 people. The greater part of those among 
 the monastic orders, whom the voice of an 
 illiterate age had dignified with the character 
 of learning, lavished their time and talents 
 in studying the fabulous legends of pre- 
 tended saints and martyrs, or in composing 
 histories equally fabulous, rather than in 
 the cultivation of true science, or the diffu- 
 sion of useful knowledge. 
 
 Nor was the condition of the Eastern 
 Church more favourable to the interests of 
 literature. Distracted by the implacable ani- 
 mosity of contending parties, Nestorians,. 
 
SERMON IL 53 
 
 Monophysites, and the numberless subdivi- 
 sions of those two sects, it was a stranger to 
 that peace and tranquilUty which is abso- 
 lutely necessary to the cultivation, and even 
 the existence of learning. Intent only upon 
 the annoyance of each other, all parties had 
 equally forsaken the broad and open paths 
 of manly philosophy and liberal science, for 
 the narrow and perplexing intricacies of me- 
 taphysics. The champions of the contending 
 factions directed alike their principal atten- 
 tion to the writings of Aristotle; and, in 
 order to arm their followers with logical sub- 
 tleties, translated many of the works of that 
 profound philosopher into their respective 
 languages ^. 
 
 Of the writings which threw a feeble glim- 
 mering over the darkness of this unhappy 
 period, the far greater part were controver- 
 sial In the few which have remained to the 
 present times, it is easy to trace the n^elan- 
 choly decline of piety as well as of literature. 
 That natural and beautiful simplicity which 
 is the striking characteristic of the writings 
 of the apostolic age, and of the first de- 
 fenders of Christianity, was now succeeded 
 by the coarse and confused jargon of the 
 schools, by the loud and fierce clamours of 
 
 ^ See Abul-Pharaj. Hist. Dynast, p. 94. 
 E 3 
 
54 SERMON 11. 
 
 personal invective, and by all the disinge- 
 nuous arts of sophistry, which industriously 
 perplexed truth ; and of bigotry, which per- 
 versely opposed it. 
 
 While ignorance was thus extending her 
 dominion over the Christian world, supersti- 
 tion, her genuine offspring, followed close 
 behind. The progress of corruption is rapid 
 and unbounded. AVhen once the professors 
 of Christianity had departed from that pu- 
 rity of worship, and that simplicity of faith, 
 which Christ and his apostles had prescribed, 
 and impiously dared to erect a superstruc- 
 ture of worthless materials upon the firm 
 and solid foundations of the gospel, it was 
 impossible to fix any limits to the growing 
 corruption. One abuse was daily added to 
 another; and the introduction of one super- 
 stition served only to pave the way for a 
 thousand others, more false and more perni- 
 cious, which followed in its train. 
 
 To go back no farther than the beginning 
 of the third century ; even at that early pe- 
 riod, it is easy to observe the unseemly fa- 
 bric of superstitious ceremony gradually ris- 
 ing upon the ruins of genuine piety. The 
 far greater part of those corrupt doctrines 
 and vain superstitions, which formerly occa- 
 sioned the separation of our ancestors from 
 
SERMON IL 55 
 
 the communion of the Romish church, and 
 of which we still continue to entertain a just 
 abhorrence, were introduced and established 
 during the darkness of this and the succeed- 
 ing ages. An extravagant veneration for 
 departed saints and martyrs ; the idolatrous 
 worship of images and relics ; and, lastly, the 
 absurd and fanciful notion of a Fire destined 
 to purify the soul after death from the pollu- 
 tions it had contracted while in the body ; 
 these opinions, which are still held sacred 
 and essential by the church of Rome, were 
 the successive progeny of the ignorance anc} 
 superstition of these ag.e^p 
 
 At the time of Mahomet these corrupt 
 opinions had nearly eclipsed the lustre of 
 the gospel. The very essence of Christianity 
 was lost under a load of idle and supersti- 
 tious ceremonies, which were daily multi-^ 
 plied without bounds ; and the unmeaning 
 pomp of a gaudy and ostentatious worship 
 was substituted in the ropm of the simple yet 
 nobler oblation of the heart. 
 
 The primitive Christians with an^^ious zeal 
 confined their worship to the one most high 
 God, and his son Jesps Christ; but those 
 who now called themselves by that venerable 
 name, had multiplied almost to infinity the 
 objects of their devotion. Neglecting or 
 
 e4 
 
56 SERMON IL 
 
 forgetting the grand and only mediator be- 
 tween God and man, the trembhng votary 
 bowed at the shrine of some reputed saint, 
 d mortal frail and weak like himself, to im- 
 plore his intercession, either in obtaining 
 the favour, or in averting the vengeance, of 
 an offended God. The blessed Virgin Avas 
 raised to a dignity, and adorned with titles, 
 which neither Scripture could warrant, nor 
 reason approve : and the mother of the man 
 Christ Jesus was often honoured with a more 
 assiduous devotion, and addressed with more 
 frequent prayers, than the Son of God him- 
 self. Even the fancied remains of that cross, 
 on which the Saviour of mankind had died, 
 to expiate the sins of the world ; the images 
 of the saints who had laboured to dissemi- 
 nate, and the bones of the martyrs who had 
 died to confirm, the faith ; were now, by the 
 arts of a designing priesthood, and the igno- 
 rance of a superstitious multitude, held up 
 as proper objects of religious adoration. 
 
 Where opinions are thus depraved, it is 
 unreasonable to expect that the practice 
 should be exemplary. Accordingly we find, 
 that the decay of morality kept equal pace 
 with that of piety. 
 
 The wealth as well as the privileges and 
 authority of the clergy had increased consi- 
 
SERMON IL 57 
 
 derably during the reign of ignorance and 
 superstition. To this increase nothing had 
 more effectually contributed, than the opi- 
 nion that remission of sins, however black 
 and heinous, was to be purchased by the 
 liberality of the penitent to the churches 
 and the ministry ; and that the intercession 
 of departed saints was to be bought by suit- 
 able offerings presented on the altars which 
 Avere consecrated to their memory. 
 
 But the increasing wealth of the ecclesi- 
 astical orders gradually introduced among 
 them all that train of vices and follies, which 
 affluence and prosperity naturally bring with 
 them. Their luxury, their pride, their ambi- 
 tion, knew no bounds. Hence the turbulent 
 and shameless contentions of the bishops 
 concerning the extent and authority of their 
 sees. Hence the frequent and almost per- 
 petual struggles between the bishops of 
 Rome and Constantinople, the two grand 
 rulers of the Christian church, to the irrepa- 
 rable injury and disgrace of Christianity. 
 
 But what seems more peculiarly to have 
 characterized the age of which we are speak- 
 ing, is the furious and relentless spirit of per- 
 secution. 
 
 It was the severe remark of a Pagan his- 
 
58 SERMON II. 
 
 torians concerning the Christians of the 
 fourth century, " That their enmity towards 
 each other exceeded the fury of the beasts 
 against man/' In the succeeding ages this 
 evil gradually increased, till at length the 
 unworthy professors of Christianity had uni- 
 versally let loose the savage spirit of perse- 
 cution upon each other, without restraint, 
 and without remorse. That charity and uni- 
 versal benevolence which the great Author 
 of their religion so often enjoined, and so 
 well exemplified in his ow^n life and cha- 
 racter, were by his degenerate followers ei- 
 ther forgotten or disregarded. A^arieties of 
 opinion, which were rather nominal than 
 real, and shades of difference which are 
 scarcely perceptible to the acutest observer 
 in the present age, were deemed sufficient to 
 make void alike the spirit and awful com- 
 mands of the gospel, the sacred privileges of 
 humanity, and the tender ties of relationship. 
 The blind fury of superstitious zeal extin- 
 guished the tenderest sentiments of nature ; 
 the majesty of the laws was trampled on 
 and violated with impunity ; the cities of 
 the East were deluged with blood. 
 
 Such is the melancholy picture of comr 
 
 » Ammian. Marcell. lib. xxii. cap. 5. p. 233. 
 
SERMON II. 59 
 
 plicated misery and distraction, which hisr- 
 torians have universally drawn of the Chris- 
 tian world in general, and of the Eastern 
 church in particular, at the opening of the 
 seventh century. 
 
 It may be sufficient to have thus briefly 
 represented the distinguishing particulars of 
 the state of Christianity, at the time when 
 Mahomet assumed the prophetic character. 
 The advantages and assistance which the 
 impostor derived from these circumstances 
 of his times, in the propagation and esta- 
 blishment of his new religion, are sufficiently 
 obvious : it is necessary only to remark, that 
 these advantages were seized with irresist- 
 ible ardour, and pursued with unremitted 
 activity. 
 
 If the corruptions and distresses of Chris- 
 tianity wxre thus signally favourable to the 
 aspiring views of Mahomet, the political and 
 religious state of Arabia at that time contri- 
 buted not less remarkably to the success of 
 the impostor. 
 
 While the once formidable empires, of 
 Rome on the one hand, overwhelmed by the 
 fierce incursions of the northern barbarians, 
 and of Persia on the other, distracted by its 
 own intestine divisions, were evidently in the 
 last stage of decay, Arabia was in every re- 
 
60 SERMON II. 
 
 spect prosperous and flourishing. Naturally 
 populous in itself, it had received a very con- 
 siderable accession of inhabitants from the 
 Grecian empire; from whence the violence of 
 religious persecution had driven great num- 
 bers to seek an asylum in a country, where 
 they might enjoy their opinions without in- 
 terruption, and profess them without danger. 
 Arabia had ever been celebrated as the 
 seat of unbounded liberty : divided into 
 many independent tribes, it of course ad- 
 mitted an almost endless variety of religious 
 opinions. 
 
 The Jews had early established themselves 
 in this country, even before the time of the 
 apostles ; for the Arabians are enumerated 
 among those who came to celebrate the feast 
 of Pentecost^: and at the destruction of 
 Jerusalem by the Roman power, many of 
 them escaped hither, as to a place of refuge 
 from the dreadful calamities, which the just 
 vengeance of God inflicted on their nation. 
 Christianity had also made a very consider- 
 able progress among some of the tribes of 
 Arabia; and in particular that sect of it, 
 which was distinguished by the title of Ja- 
 cobites. 
 
 But the religion Avhich Avas most ex- 
 
 ^ Acts ii. 11. 
 
SERMON IL 61 
 
 tensively disseminated, and most highly 
 esteemed among the Arabians, before the time 
 of Mahomet, was idolatry. Of this there 
 were several distinct kinds : but the predo- 
 minant species appears to have been that of 
 the Sabians ; who held the unity of God, 
 though at the same time they worshipped 
 the fixed stars, and planets, the angels, and 
 their images, as subordinate deities ; who^e 
 mediation with the one most high and su- 
 preme God they ardently implored. 
 
 From the neighbouring situation and fre- 
 quent intercourse which subsisted between 
 the Persians and the inhabitants of Arabia, 
 the religion of the Magi had likewise found 
 its way, and obtained an establishment 
 among some of their tribes. 
 
 To this divided state of the religion and 
 government of Arabia, doubtless much of 
 the success, if not the very existence, of Ma- 
 hometism may be reasonably ascribed. Had 
 the various unconnected tribes of that exten- 
 sive country been united under one common 
 government, the daring project must quickly 
 and inevitably have been crushed by the 
 weight of superior power. Or, had one com- 
 mon system of religious worship been uni- 
 versally received throughout the whole, the 
 impostor must certainly have sunk under the 
 
62 SERMON II. 
 
 attempt to subvert the established behef and 
 opinions of his country. 
 
 Prejudices derived from early education^ 
 and confirmed by habit, become as it were 
 interwoven with our very constitution ; and 
 those opinions which seem connected with 
 the awful sanctions and the precious inter- 
 ests of rehgion, Ave are always disposed to 
 watch with unusual jealousy, and to guard 
 with unusual firmness. Hence arises the 
 necessity which every impostor is under of 
 adapting his schemes to the preconceived 
 notions of those whom he designs to mislead. 
 The most careless observer cannot but re- 
 mark, that this spirit of accommodation 
 strongly distinguishes the conduct of Ma- 
 homet, and the character of his religion. 
 With the Jew he maintained the inspiration 
 of Moses, the authority of the Pentateuch, 
 and of the prophetic writings. With the 
 Christian he admitted the divine mission of 
 Jesus Christ, and the truth of the gospel. 
 He even attempted to found his own pre- 
 tensions on the preceding revelations of 
 Moses and of Christ ; and professed, with 
 much plausibility, that he was sent to purify 
 a religion, which originally came down from 
 heaven, from the pollutions it had unhap- 
 pily contracted during its residence among a 
 
SERMON 11. 65 
 
 frail and degenerate race of beings ; to shut 
 the book ; to close the seal of prophecy ; 
 and to communicate the last onicious offers 
 of divine mercy and instruction to sinful 
 man. 
 
 To win the affections of his idolatrous 
 countrymen, he indulged their prejudices; 
 he gave a new and superior sanction to their 
 favourite ceremonies and customs, and adorn- 
 ed them with more pompous and attracting 
 embellishments* 
 
 To the original success of this crafty and 
 well-concerted scheme, nothing perhaps more 
 effectually contributed than the extreme and 
 deplorable want of all intellectual culture, 
 under which the far greater part of the Ara- 
 bians then laboured. Ignorance is ever the 
 strongest and the safest ground on which 
 imposture can be erected. Civilization at 
 that time had made but little progress in 
 Arabia. The art of writing had been known 
 and practised by their countryman Job, and 
 by the tribe of Hamyar, for many centuries 
 before the birth of Mahomet : but even at 
 that late period the rest of the Arabs were 
 totally unacquainted with this useful art. 
 Those of Mecca in particular, to whom the 
 pretended prophet first asserted his divine 
 commission, and proposed his new religion. 
 
64 SERMON II. 
 
 were peculiarly distinguished as ignorant and 
 illiterate, even to a proverb. 
 
 Accustomed continually to a roving and 
 unsettled life, the greater part of the Arabs 
 carried their literary pursuits no farther than 
 to the composition of rude, though some- 
 times beautiful verses on the subjects of love 
 or war ; or they amused themselves by fre- 
 quently reciting the favourite works of their 
 most celebrated poets. The pastoral life has 
 ever been deemed favourable to the muses. 
 Accordingly we find that in works of imagi- 
 nation, the Arabs, even in their uncivilized 
 state, were not wholly destitute of merit: but 
 to the profound researches of philosophy, 
 and the laboured deductions of reason, they 
 were of necessity entire strangers. 
 
 The ignorance, the doubts, and the uncer- 
 tainty which universally prevailed among the 
 Arabians, with regard to the immortality of 
 the soul, was also a circumstance which had 
 no inconsiderable influence in the establish- 
 ment of Mahometism. Many of them abso- 
 lutely denied the possibility of a future state 
 of existence ; and, without the smallest expec- 
 tation of a resurrection, terminated all their 
 views in the grave. There were others in- 
 deed among them, who had conceived a 
 more exalted, and in some respects a juster 
 
SERMON II. 65 
 
 idea of human nature ; who imagined that 
 death, though it might suspend, yet did not 
 put a final period to man's existence ; and 
 who raised their hopes to some happier coun- 
 try, where, after their departure from tliis 
 world, they should again be called into be- 
 ing. AVhether this doctrine had been trans- 
 mitted to them through the medium of tra- 
 dition, or whether they had received some 
 intimations of it from the Christians, or the 
 Jews, who w^erc dispersed through the East, 
 is uncertain. But though they might be 
 convinced of their future existence, yet they 
 were totally unable to ascertain the mode gf 
 that existence, or to form any rational ideas 
 of the state which was destined to receive 
 them. Their notions of another world seem 
 to have been entirely sensual, and formed 
 only on the model of the present. Thev 
 imagined that the same passions, the same 
 wants and infirmities Avhich they felt on 
 earth, would still attend them beyond the 
 grave ; and believed that even the animals 
 which had contributed to their ease and 
 convenience in the present, would be no 
 less necessary to their happiness in a future 
 life. 
 
 Such was the state of the nation, and such 
 were the people, to w^hom Mahomet first 
 
66 SERMON 11. 
 
 offered a religion ; which while it retained 
 almost every principle and opinion that ini- 
 memorial custom had taught them to revere, 
 at the same time held forth new doctrines, 
 the most pleasing and captivating to the 
 human heart. To those among them who 
 presumed not to lift their hopes beyond the 
 present life, but looked forward with sullen 
 acquiescence to the gloomy prospect of an- 
 nihilation, the promise of an eternal state of 
 existence, to be passed in consummate hap* 
 piness, could not but afford the strongest 
 and most irresistible attractions. Others who 
 already indulged a faint though pleasing de- 
 sire of immortality, would embrace witli ea- 
 gerness a clearer and more distinct prospect 
 of futurity; which at once enlarged and 
 confirmed their former hopes. 
 
 The Mahometan Paradise was adorned 
 with all the gayest colours of the imagina- 
 tion. A felicity consisting only of pure and 
 spiritual pleasure would have been too re- 
 fined for the gross and sensual conceptions 
 of the uncivihzed tribes of Arabia. Gardens 
 fairer than that of Eden, watered by a thou- 
 sand streams, and enlivened by the bloom- 
 ing beauties of Paradise, seemed better cal- 
 culated to excite their desires, and to engage 
 their attention. 
 
SERMON 11. 67 
 
 . While this happiness and these pleasures 
 were thus graciously offered to the faithful, 
 who received and embraced his new religion; 
 the most dreadful torments which imagina- 
 tion could suggest were at the same time 
 denounced against an unbelieving world. 
 
 Tempted on the one hand by promises 
 thus specious and alluring, and assailed on 
 the other by new and unheard of terrors, 
 against which his former principles could 
 afford him no certain resource ; what won- 
 der is it, that the unlettered Arabian willing- 
 ly embraced a religion, which thus forcibly 
 addressed itself to his strongest passions? 
 His hopes and fears alike conspired to rouse 
 and to strengthen his faith : and if he could 
 only once persuade himself that the religion 
 which was offered him might possibly be 
 true, the reason even of the most ignorant 
 barbarian would immediately inform him, 
 that in rejecting such a religion he might be 
 presumptuous, and in embracing it he could 
 not be imprudent. 
 
 But further, it was a circumstance wliich 
 probably had very considerable weight in 
 recommending the religion of Mahomet to 
 his countrymen, and to the world, that the 
 doctrines which he taught were in general 
 the plain^t and most simple that can be 
 
 F 2 
 
68 SERMON 11. 
 
 imagined; and that it totally disclaimed all 
 those mysteries, at which the pride of human 
 reason is so apt to revolt. The sacred and 
 mysterious doctrine of the Trinity in Unity, 
 which the religion of Christ first plainly re- 
 vealed to mankind, has ever been a stone oi' 
 stumbling and a rock of offence to the proud 
 disputers of this world. To this doctrine, be- 
 cause above the reach of human reason, infi- 
 delity has often objected ; and presumptu- 
 ously dared to deny what it could not com- 
 prehend : wdiilst the Christian, satisfied that 
 it is expressly revealed in that religion which 
 he knows to be divine, believes and adores 
 in humble and submissive silence. 
 
 But the Unity of God, which forms the 
 orand fundamental doctrine of Mahometism, 
 is also universally admitted as one of the 
 first principles of natural religion. To this 
 doctrine (as has been already observed) the 
 greater part of the Arabians before the time 
 of Mahomet were no strangers : and though 
 in practice they had miserably corrupted 
 themselves, by the worship of inferior agents, 
 yet in belief they still maintained the unity 
 of the Divine nature sacred and inviolate. 
 
 AVe have now taken a short though 
 comprehensive view of the principal causes, 
 which seem to have contributed most mate- 
 
SERMON II. 69 
 
 rially to the original success of Maliometisni. 
 The means by Avhich it was afterwards so 
 firmly established and so widely propagated 
 through the world are too plain, as well as 
 too generally known, to require either mi- 
 nute discussion, or profound remarks. 
 
 No sooner had the insinuating address of 
 the impostor (assisted by that concurrence 
 of favourable circumstances which we have 
 enumerated) enabled him to assemble a par- 
 ty sufficient to support his ambitious designs, 
 than he threw off the mask which was no 
 longer necessary; and, disclaiming the softer 
 arts of persuasion and reasoning, immedi- 
 ately adopted a quicker and more effica- 
 cious mode of conversion. It was alleged by 
 the deceiver, that since a disobedient world 
 had disdained or rejected the ineffectual 
 summons which the Divine mercy had sent 
 in former times by the prophets, who came 
 with appeals to the senses and reason of 
 mankind ; it had now pleased the Almighty 
 to send forth his last great prophet, by the 
 strength of his arm and by the power of the 
 sword, to compel men to embrace the truth. 
 
 Acting under the fancied authority of this 
 divine commission, looking forward with 
 anxious expectation to the joys of Paradise, 
 and the glorious crown of martyrdom which 
 
 f3 
 
70 SERMON 11. 
 
 jv^as laid up for those who should perish in 
 the propagation of the faith, and convinced 
 that their lot, whether of life or death, was 
 absolutely and inevitably predetermined; the 
 first followers of Mahomet were animated 
 with that enthusiastic zeal, which inspires 
 the most invincible contempt of danger and 
 of death. 
 
 The fellow-citizens of the impostor, and 
 those of his tribe, to whose immediate charge 
 the sacred temple had long been entrusted, 
 either from principle, or from pride, for a 
 while defended with unshaken zeal, though 
 with various success, the religion of their fa- 
 thers. 
 
 Exhausted, however, by a bloody and un- 
 availing opposition, they were at last com- 
 pelled to yield to the superior address or 
 more ferocious courage of their adversaries. 
 
 The submission of the holy city at once 
 secured the authority, and completed the 
 triumph, of the conqueror. 
 
 The senseless objects of Arabian devotion, 
 which ignorance and superstition had raised 
 to the rank of divinities, were now with im- 
 petuous and undistinguishing zeal disgraced 
 and demohshed. The sacred and venerable 
 character of the temple was however still 
 preserved inviolate ; its worship, its ceremo- 
 
SERMON II. 71 
 
 nies, and its ordinances were still retained : 
 with this difference only, that they were 
 transferred from inferior and dependent dei- 
 ties, to the one most high and supreme God- 
 Flattered by this attention to their preju- 
 dices and their interests, and influenced by 
 the dread of superior power, the inhabitants 
 of Mecca and its neighbourhood contem- 
 plated in silence the disgraceful overthrow^ 
 of their idols ; and with real or aftected rea- 
 diness flocked to the standard, and bowed 
 before the God of Mahomet. 
 
 Possessed of the grand object of his wishes, 
 the impostor no longer scrupled to assume 
 the ensigns of temporal as well as of spiritual 
 dominion ; and, after a solemn inauguration^ 
 exacted an oath of fidelity and allegianQe 
 from his new subjects. The troops of the im- 
 perial prophet were now sent forth through 
 every part of Arabia, prepared alike to con^^ 
 vert by instruction, or to subdue by arms, 
 the enemies of the faith. The effects of their 
 zeal and of their courage were soon appa- 
 rent : the streets of Medina were crowded 
 with ambassadors from various tribes, who 
 came to humble themselves before the con- 
 queror of Mecca, and to acknowledge both 
 the unity of God and the authority of hig 
 prophet. 
 
 F 4 
 
72 SERMON II. 
 
 Thus rapidly did the religion of Mahomet 
 triumph over all the opposition of his idola- 
 trous countrymen; and thus was his empire at 
 length firmly established throughout the se- 
 veral provinces of Arabia. But emboldened 
 only, and inflamed, rather than satiated, by 
 such extraordinary success, the aspiring ad- 
 venturer began to raise his views still higher, 
 and to aim at more extensive dominion. 
 
 The territories of the Grecian empire had 
 attracted his attention : and the rich and fer- 
 tile province of Syria, from its neighbouring 
 situation, was particularly marked out as the 
 next object of his ambitious desires. But 
 while he was thus fortunate in the accom- 
 plishment of so great and arduous an en- 
 terprise, and thus meditating still greater 
 achievements, we behold death arresting 
 the conqueror in the midst of his honours, 
 and closing at once his victories and his pro- 
 jects. 
 
 Insinuating in his manners, and profound 
 in his schemes, he had, however, gained so 
 complete an ascendancy over the minds of 
 his followers, and had settled his power on 
 so solid a foundation, that little remained to 
 be done by his successors, but to pursue the 
 path which he had traced. 
 
 The leaders whom he had chosen were 
 
SERMON II. 73 
 
 men of distinguished talents and abilities ; 
 and from them his immediate successors 
 were elected. When raised to the empire, 
 like the prophet wiiom they represented, 
 they Avere invested with supreme power 
 both in temporal and spiritual affairs : and, 
 being animated by a zeal, like his, for the 
 support and propagation of their religion, 
 they faithfully executed his commands, and 
 copied his example. 
 
 The Arabians, naturally brave and war- 
 like, had. even in their divided state, resisted 
 with success every exertion of the Roman 
 power. But when the enterprising genius 
 of Mahomet had united their discordant 
 tribes under one common head, had made 
 them unanimous in opinion, conspiring in 
 the same design, and uniting discipline and 
 military skill with religious ardour and en- 
 thusiasm ; it is easy to imagine, that they 
 must have been extremely formidable, and 
 capable of producing the most extraordi- 
 nary revolutions in the history of the world. 
 When they beheld their country raised from 
 barbarism and obscurity to power and do- 
 minion, national pride began to operate on 
 their minds ; and, united with the hopes of 
 plunder from the rich and luxurious pro- 
 vinces of Asia, added new weight to the 
 
74 SERMON II. 
 
 commands of their prophet, and contributed 
 much to stimulate their zeal, and animate 
 their exertions. 
 
 To oppose these formidable foes, acting 
 upon motives thus forcible, we behold on 
 the one hand an enfeebled empire already 
 sinking under its own weight ; and on the 
 other, a corrupt and divided church, some 
 of whose degenerate sons labour to hasten, 
 'whilst others contemplate with indolent in- 
 difference, the approaching ruin. 
 
 Under these circumstances, the intrepid 
 valour and daring exertions of the Saracens 
 soon shook the throne of the Caesars : w^iile 
 the emperors, more attentive to theological 
 controversies, than to the dangers which sur- 
 rounded their government, beheld them, al- 
 most without emotion, dismembering the em- 
 pire, and violently wresting from it the rich- 
 est and most valuable provinces of Asia and 
 Africa. Egypt, fertile in resources ; Pales- 
 tine, ever dear and sacred to the Christians, 
 as the scene on which the Son of God had 
 lived and died ; and Syria, celebrated for its 
 wealth and rich productions, were numbered 
 among the first conquests of the Caliphs. 
 
 The great and extensive empire of Persia, 
 which had always defied the poAver, and 
 often insulted with impimity the majesty, of 
 
SERMON 11. 75 
 
 ilome, after a faint and unavailing resist- 
 ance, fell an easy prey to the Saracen arms. 
 The religion of the Magi, venerable on ac- 
 count of its high antiquity, Avhich even the 
 conqueror of Darius had spared and re- 
 spected, was now utterly subverted ; while 
 the victorious Koran was triumphantly esta- 
 blished on the ruin of its altars. Such was 
 the rapidity with which the arms of the 
 Caliphs overran province after province, and 
 conquered kingdom after kingdom: and thus 
 in less than a century do we behold their 
 empire rootedly fixed over a great part of 
 the Eastern world; and even extended so 
 far as to threaten Europe with the same in- 
 tolerable bondage. 
 
 As religion was the cause and the object 
 of all their conquests, and as the battles 
 they fought were (according to their con- 
 ceptions) the battles of the Lord ; the propa- 
 gation of their faith naturally kept pace 
 with the extension of their empire. 
 
 To their Pagan subjects no other alterna- 
 tive w^as allowed than an immediate deser- 
 tion of their former errors, and conversion to 
 the faith, or an instant and cruel death by 
 the hands of a barbarous zealot. To the 
 Christian indeed the policy, rather than the 
 mercy, of his Mahometan conquerors, of- 
 
76 SERMON II. 
 
 fered a someAvhat milder choice : he was al- 
 lowed the peculiar privilege of compounding 
 for the preservation of his religion and his 
 life b}^ the payment of a constant and heavy 
 tribute. What extraordinary efficacy this 
 mode of conversion must have carried Avith 
 it, to men who had already lost almost every 
 thing but the name of their rehgion, may 
 easily be imagined. Nor can we wonder, if 
 in this situation of affairs the still small 
 voice of conscience was unheard amidst the 
 cries of interest ; or if temporal ease and se- 
 curity under the banners of a victorious pro- 
 phet, were preferred to that scandal and in- 
 convenience, to which the religion of a lowly 
 and crucified Saviour now subjected its pro- 
 fessors. ^ 
 
 From an attentive and impartial consi- 
 deration of the several particulars which have 
 now been enumerated, it will readily appear, 
 how little force is due to that specious argu- 
 ment for the truth of the Mahometan reli- 
 gion, which has often been drawn by its ad- 
 vocates from the splendid victories and unin- 
 terrupted success of its fir^ propagators. 
 
 When we behold a man, born to poverty, 
 and all the obscurity of private hfe, suddenly 
 raising himself to power the most absolute, 
 and uniting the jarring opinions and hostile 
 
SEK]\10N Jl. 77 
 
 tribes of his countrymen in one common 
 faith and government, under himself; when 
 we beliold a people, before almost wholly 
 unknown, and unheard of in the annals of 
 history, rushing with unparalleled rapidity 
 to empire and to glory, and establishing at 
 once a new religion, and a new form of go- 
 vernment, over a large portion of the habit- 
 able world ; doubtless our astonishment is 
 excited at such unexpected and interesting 
 events. 
 
 But (to repeat what has been before ob- 
 served) that wdiich is singular and uncom- 
 mon, is not therefore to be deemed mira- 
 culous. Revolutions (however stupendous) 
 which may yet lie within the compass of the 
 human mind, when assisted by external 
 events, to etfect, must not rashly, or without 
 good reason, be imputed to the particular 
 and immediate agency of God. Success 
 alone, as we have already shewn, affords no 
 absolute proof of the favour and approbation 
 of the Deity ; no evidence of the truth or di- 
 vine original of any doctrines or opinions. 
 
 It is only in particular situations, and 
 under peculiar circumstances, that the argu- 
 ment drawn from success can be allowed to 
 possess any weight ; in situations, where no 
 human strength or genius could of itself have 
 
78 SERMON II. 
 
 prevailed ; under circumstances, where im- 
 posture could never have supported itself 
 amidst the dangers that surrounded it. 
 
 Now that this description is by no means 
 applicable to the case of Mahometism, is 
 evident from the foregoing recital : from 
 whence it appears that every circumstance 
 of the times, every particular in the manners 
 and situation of mankind, plainly and forcibly 
 concurred to favour the bold and artful im- 
 posture. 
 
 The causes of the original success of Ma- 
 hometism may clearl}^ be traced in the scan- 
 dalous divisions and deplorable corruptions 
 of the Christian church ; in the political and 
 religious state of Arabia; in the indepen- 
 dence and want of union among its tribes ; 
 in the gross ignorance (particularly with re- 
 gard to religion) of its barbarous and unci- 
 vilized inhabitants ; and lastly, in the nature 
 and genius of Mahometism itself: in the fas- 
 cinating allurements of its promised rewards, 
 in their agreeableness to the propensities of 
 corrupt nature in general, and to those of 
 the inhabitants of warmer climates in par- 
 ticular ; in the artful accommodation of its 
 doctrines and its rites to the preconceived 
 opinions, the favourite passions, and the 
 deep-rooted prejudices of those to whom it 
 
SERMON II. 79 
 
 was addressed ; in the poetic elegance with 
 which its doctrines, its precepts, and its his- 
 tories were adorned ; and in the captivating 
 manner in which they were dehvered. 
 
 As the corrupt and distracted state of the 
 Christian church had originally assisted the 
 rise, so did it operate with still greater force 
 in favour of the subsequent progress of Ma- 
 hometan imposture. If indeed we allow to 
 this cause its proper influence; if we consi- 
 der the weakness of the surrounding nations, 
 and the natural strenoth of Arabia, now col- 
 lected and pointed to one object ; if we re- 
 flect on that rage of zeal and that madness 
 of enthusiasm, which were now superadded 
 to the native valour of a hardy and warlike 
 people ; we shall cease to wonder at the vic- 
 tories and triumphs they obtained over the 
 lukewarm and degenerate defenders of the 
 gospel. 
 
 Of these victories and these triumphs the 
 propagation of their new faith w^as the pro- 
 fessed object and design : thus by violence 
 and bloodshed had the prophet himself fi-< 
 nally established his religion among his coun- 
 trymen; and thus had he expressly com- 
 manded his followers to extend it over all 
 the regions of the earth. 
 
 Of the continuance of Mahometism, when 
 
80 SERMON 11. 
 
 thus established, and of its existence to the 
 present times, various causes might be as- 
 signed, whose joint operation would be suffi- 
 cient to account fully for the effect, without 
 having recourse to an}^ miraculous or parti- 
 cular interposition of Providence. Of these 
 causes one only shall be mentioned in this 
 place, and that, because it appears to be of 
 peculiar force and importance. 
 
 In all those countries which acknowledge 
 the authority of Mahomet, so intimate is 
 the connection, so absolute the dependence 
 of the civil government on religion, that any 
 change in the latter must necessarily and in- 
 evitably involve the ruin and overthrow of 
 the former. The Koran is not, like the Gos- 
 pel, to be considered merely as the standard 
 by which the religious opinions, the worship, 
 and the practice of its followers are regu- 
 lated ; but it is also a political system ; on 
 this foundation the throne itself is erected ; 
 from hence every law of the state is derived ; 
 and by this authority every question of life 
 and of property is finally decided. 
 
 It is obvious therefore, that, in every coun- 
 try where Mahometism had been once re- 
 ceived and established, the circumstance 
 which I have now mentioned must have 
 operated with uncommon weight to crush 
 
SERMON IL 81 
 
 any important innovation in religion : since 
 from this inseparable connection between the 
 sanctions of religion and those of the state, 
 every such innovation could be considered 
 in no other light, than as an attempt to 
 overturn the civil government, to loosen the 
 bands of society, and to destroy every pri- 
 vilege of law, and every security of pro- 
 perty. 
 
 Such then being the circumstances, and 
 such the means by which the religion of 
 Mahomet was so widely diffused, and so 
 firmly established in the world, its success, 
 however astonishing, is capable of being ac- 
 counted for by mere human causes ; and 
 consequently to suppose any extraordinary 
 and particular interposition of the Deity, is 
 evidently unnecessary and absurd. Ulti- 
 mately, indeed, this awful and memorable 
 change in the religion and manners of so 
 great a part of mankind, hke every other 
 human event, must be referred to the over- 
 ruling providence of that God, whose judg- 
 ments are unsearchable, and whose ways are 
 past finding out; whose wisdom uniformly 
 bringeth good out of evil ; and who maketh 
 even the violence of the wicked, and the ar- 
 tifices of the impostor, subservient to the ac- 
 
 a 
 
82 SERMON 11. 
 
 complishment of his gracious though myste- 
 rious designs. 
 
 Let not then the Christian be offended, or 
 the infidel triumph at the successful esta- 
 blishment and long continuance of so ac- 
 knowledged an imposture, as affording any 
 reasonable ground of objection against our 
 hol}^ faith. 
 
 Let these events rather be considered as 
 evidences of its truth; as accomplishments 
 of the general prediction of our Lord, that 
 false Christs and false prophets should arise^ 
 and should deceive many; and especially of 
 that particular and express prophecy in the 
 revelations' of his beloved disciple, which 
 has been determined by the ablest com- 
 mentators to relate to the impostor Maho- 
 met, and to his false and impious religion ; 
 which, arising like a smoke out of the bottom-- 
 less pit, suddenly overshadowed the Eastern 
 world, and involved its wretched inhabitants 
 in darkness and in error. 
 
 ' Rev. ix. 1, &c« 
 
SERMON III 
 
 Acts v. 38, 39- 
 
 if this counsel or this zmrk he of men, it will come to 
 nought : but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it. 
 
 JLO collect and generalize ideas, to give 
 them precision bj rules and comprehension 
 by system, is the distinguishing privilege of 
 man. Hence arise those principles, which 
 are of the most extensive and conspicuous 
 use in the calculation of moral probabilities, 
 in the conduct of common life, and in ascer- 
 taining both the evidence of facts and the 
 tendency of actions. Hence too proceed 
 ahke our virtuous and destructive preju- 
 dices ; our power of perplexing truth, and of 
 unfolding it. But the utility of general rules 
 invariably and necessarily depends upon a 
 nice and fair adjustment of them to the par- 
 ticular circumstances which they are em- 
 ployed to illustrate. A wide field here opens 
 itself for the vigorous and honest exercise of 
 our intellectual faculties; for the suspension of 
 judgment where the evidences are scanty, or 
 
 G 2 
 
84 SERMON III. 
 
 obscure, or contradictory; for decided and 
 firm assent where they are numerous, and 
 bright, and consistent. In the mixed state 
 of human affairs, we cannot indeed be too 
 diligent in collecting materials for enquiry ; 
 or too cautious in determining their compa- 
 rative force, by the standard of general rules. 
 The most ordinary and familiar events are 
 sometimes distinguished by peculiarities, 
 which check the inquisitive mind from hasty 
 and undistinguishing assent. The most ex- 
 traordinary and complicated, when atten- 
 tively surveyed, constitute some distinct and 
 general principle, to which similar pheno- 
 mena may be reduced ; or gradually unfold 
 themselves into a clear and perfect uni- 
 formity to those very rules, to which they, 
 on their first appearance, were utterly irre- 
 concileable. From the gross conception, 
 therefore, or the rash application of general 
 maxims, proceed those errors which too fatally 
 seduce, and those difficulties which so often 
 confound, the humaa understanding. On the 
 contrary, by the dispassionate and just use 
 of them we detect specious imposture, and 
 penetrate into the most improbable, but most 
 important truths. 
 
 The propriety of these observations will 
 present itself to every hearer, who opposes 
 
SERMON III. 83 
 
 the singular circumstances, under which IMa- 
 homet promulgated and estabhshed his re- 
 hgion, to the well known, but very perverted 
 maxim, that success is a decisive proof of 
 divine interposition. For this reason, I took 
 occasion in the last discourse to observe, that, 
 in order to accomplish the mysterious de- 
 signs of his providence, the Deity is often 
 pleased to permit the success of those ac- 
 tions and opinions, which it is contrary to 
 his nature and attributes to approve. This 
 position was more particularly illustrated by 
 the memorable example of the Arabian im- 
 postor, whose false and impious pretences to 
 divine revelation were, by the permission of 
 an unsearchable Providence, crowned with 
 an almost unexampled success ; and whose 
 pernicious heresy taking deep root, and bear- 
 ing fruit upwards, is even now suffered to 
 cast its deadly shade over the far greater 
 part of the Eastern world. 
 
 But to whatever extent the argument which 
 results from success may have been pushed 
 by the interested patrons of error, or the ill- 
 judging defenders of truth; there are still 
 circumstances, in which it is undoubtedly 
 conclusive. Dangerous as it may be to argue 
 from the success of events, however extraor- 
 dinary, which the acknowledged interests 
 
 G 3 
 
86 SERMON III. 
 
 and concurring efforts of men may possibly 
 have produced, there is certainly no room for 
 mistake in those which are evidently above 
 the reach of human strength and wisdom, 
 and which have been eftected in direct op- 
 position to every earthly power. 
 
 When therefore we behold an effect pro- 
 duced, between which and its apparent hu- 
 man causes no ingenuity can trace any pro- 
 bable proportion ; when we perceive a work 
 accomplished by instruments of known and 
 hmited .powers, which at the same time no- 
 toriously exceeds the utmost conceivable ex- 
 tent of those powers ; it is not only just and 
 reasonable, but it is even necessary to ac- 
 knowledge, that in the finger of God we find 
 the only adequate, and therefore the real 
 and illustrious cause. 
 
 In carrying on these reflections to the gra- 
 dual estabhshment of the gospel, it will be 
 proper to consider at large the obstacles 
 which opposed its progress in the world, and 
 the character and abilities of its first pro- 
 pagators. 
 
 It was the remark of an inspired Apostle 
 concerning the gospel and its first preachers, 
 that God^ had chosen the foolish things of the 
 world to confound the wise, and the weak 
 
 * 1 Cor. i. 27. 
 
SERMON III. 87 
 
 things of the world to confound the things 
 that were mighty. 
 
 Now to the candid enquirer, who views 
 with attention the various and stubborn dif- 
 ficulties, with which the teachers of Christi- 
 anity were unavoidably left to struggle ; and 
 who considers the insufficiency of the powers 
 which they naturally possessed, to overcome 
 those difficulties, this representation of the 
 Apostle will seem by no means the boast of 
 audacious vanity, or the jargon of wild fa- 
 naticism. When the twelve disciples received 
 the last command of their departing Lord, 
 to ^ go and teach all Jiations, baptizing them 
 in the name of the Father^ and of the So7iy 
 and of the Holy Ghost; this extraordinary 
 commission to the eye of human reason 
 might well appear the most romantic and 
 visionary. Supposing them, for the present, 
 to have been unassisted from on high ; weak 
 and illiterate as they were, could they for a 
 moment presume to hope for the success of 
 so perilous and so arduous an enterprise? 
 Deprived of that protection and support, 
 which the miracles and presence of their 
 Master had hitherto afforded them, their si- 
 tuation was now become the most forlorn and 
 desperate that can possibly be imagined. 
 
 ^ Matt, xxviii. 19. 
 G 4 
 
88 SERMON III. 
 
 Every thing around them wore an appear- 
 ance dangerous to their persons, and hostile 
 to their cause. In the execution of their ex- 
 tensive office, they had not only to contend 
 with the jealousy of power, and the perse- 
 cution of authority ; their progress was im- 
 peded by foes still more formidable ; by the 
 deep-rooted prejudices, the favourite super- 
 stitions, and the darling vices of a corrupted 
 world. 
 
 From their countrymen, in particular, as 
 they had nothing to hope, they had every 
 thing to fear. They had to oppose the in- 
 veteracy of custom ; and, Avhat was more 
 formidable, the prejudices which arose from 
 that distinction which the Jews had long en- 
 joyed as the favoured people of the most 
 high God ; a distinction which had been 
 supported by a train of events equally gra- 
 cious and wonderful; and in some particular 
 instances confirmed by miracles that carried 
 with them the very stamp and seal of omni- 
 potence. 
 
 The promise of a Redeemer of Israel, ori- 
 ginally made to Abraham the great founder 
 of their nation, repeated afterwards to Da- 
 vid, and confirmed by the concurring voice 
 of all their Prophets, had indeed awakened 
 among the Jews an earnest and universal 
 
SERMON III. 89 
 
 expectation of the appearance of the Mes- 
 siah. The same prophecies which foretold 
 the coming, had hkewise marked out with 
 pecuhar precision every particular concern- 
 ing the character, the office, and the person 
 of the Saviour. The mysterious union of 
 the divine and human natures in the per- 
 son of Christ was plainly shadowed out, and 
 might have been fairly inferred from these 
 very prophecies; which now pathetically pre- 
 dicted the meanness, the sufferings, and the 
 ignominious death of the Messiah ; and now, 
 with all the warmth and boldness of Eastern 
 poetry, painted the temporal grandeur, the 
 victories, and the eternity of his kingdom. 
 
 The future Redeemer was frequently and 
 unequivocally described as "" despised and re- 
 jected of men^ as a man of sorrows and ac^ 
 qiiainted with grief ; as wounded for the 
 transgressions, and bruised for the iniquities 
 of his people ; and lastly, as closing his un- 
 exampled distresses and unspotted life, hke 
 the sheep led forth in patient and submissive 
 silence to the slaughter. 
 
 But unable or unwilling to reconcile these 
 seemingly opposite and contradictory cha- 
 racters, the Jewish nation had long rejected 
 with disdain and abhorrence every idea of 
 
 Isaiah liii. 3, &c. 
 
90 SERMON III. 
 
 an insulted and afflicted Messiah. Seduced 
 by carnal views, and impelled by ambitious 
 hopes, which their frequent captivities and 
 distresses had served only to heighten, they 
 totally overlooked one part of their sacred 
 prophecies, and confined to their strict and 
 literal meaning the animated and figurative 
 expressions of the other. Hence in the per- 
 son of the Messiah, their promised deliverer, 
 they fondly beheld a mighty and glorious 
 King, who should appear with all the pomp 
 of temporal greatness and all the terrors of 
 earthly power, trampling upon the enemies 
 and the oppressors of Israel, and leading 
 forth his people amidst the triumphs of con- 
 quest, and the splendor of dominion. 
 
 These expectations, at once so flattering to 
 their pride, and so agreeable to their wishes, 
 had long been cherished with a blind and 
 bigotted fondness, and transmitted with in- 
 creasing strength through successive genera- 
 tions. The manifest expiration of the time 
 prescribed by the prophets, the departure of 
 the sceptre from Judah, and the subjection 
 of their country to the Roman power, were 
 circumstances which at this time added new 
 weight to the opinion, which had been thus 
 endeared by early prejudice, and sanctified 
 by authoritative tradition. Every heart was 
 
SERMON III. 91 
 
 now warmed with hope, and every eye 
 looked forward with anxious expectation to 
 the moment when the glory of Zion should 
 appear, and Judica be for ever exalted above 
 the kingdoms of the earth ; when they should 
 behold suppliant nations crowding into the 
 sanctuary, and Rome herself, the haughty 
 mistress of the world, bowing prostrate at 
 the feet of Jerusalem. 
 
 Nor were these glorious expectations con- 
 fined to the chiefs and rulers of the Jews, 
 whose superior stations seeming to entitle 
 them to the first honours and emoluments of 
 the Messiah's kingdom, might perhaps have 
 induced them more readily to embrace, and 
 more industriously to disseminate, an opinion, 
 which promised so complete a gratification 
 to their ambition. Even the disciples of our 
 Lord, who had been in general selected from 
 the lowest and the meanest of the people, 
 long retained the same delusive o|Jinion, and 
 indulged the same fallacious hopes, with the 
 rest of their countrymen. 
 
 Nay, so firmly was this belief impressed 
 upon their minds, that not all the frequent 
 and solemn declarations of their Master to 
 the contrary were ever able to efface it : nor 
 do they seem to have been effectually roused 
 from the pleasing dream of temporal gran- 
 
92 SERMON III. 
 
 dear which had captivated their imagination, 
 till his death had tried the constancy of their 
 faith, till his resurrection had revived their 
 drooping spirits, and his ascension into hea- 
 ven had rectified their errors, and invigorated 
 their resolution. 
 
 From this mistaken opinion arose the fre- 
 quent struggles for superiority among them, 
 which they have so ingenuously recorded : 
 hence the petition of the mother of Zebedee's 
 children : hence too the impatience and mis- 
 guided zeal of Peter, who, when Christ had 
 pathetically related his approaching humili- 
 ation, his sufferings, and his death, took him 
 and began to rebukl3 him, saying, ^Be it far 
 from thee^ Lord; this shall not happen unto 
 thee. 
 
 To this may be added the words of one of 
 the disciples with whom our Lord, in his 
 way to Emmaus, conversed after his resur- 
 rection, ^We trusted that it had been He 
 which should have redeemed Israel. This re- 
 flection arose from the same prejudice that 
 had long flattered the national vanity ; and 
 expresses the most painful sense of disap- 
 pointment. 
 
 When we reflect on the very extraordinary 
 manner in which the divine Being had go- 
 
 ^ Matt. xvi. 22. • Luke xxiv. 21. 
 
SERMON IIL 93 
 
 verned the Jewish nation, we cannot be sur- 
 prised that the multitude should be carried 
 away by the infatuation which always ac- 
 companies distinction. Emancipation from 
 a superior power is the natural wish of the 
 human heart: and it will be increased, when 
 that power is adverse to the original consti- 
 tution both of the state in which we are. 
 born, and of the church to which we be- 
 come attached. The fondness which arises 
 from education, and grows up with habit, 
 becomes sanctified by authority : and it of- 
 ten happens, that the very opposition which 
 aims at its depression, eventually establishes 
 its interests in our hearts. We recoil at the 
 indignity which is offered to the object we 
 have been accustomed to regard with vene- 
 ration : when a host of opponents rises up 
 to sink its credit, or lessen its influence, we 
 summon up new courage to defend the one^ 
 Q,nd new arguments to justify the other. 
 
 The contempt, which the Romans disco- 
 vered for the ecclesiastical and civil polity of 
 the Jews, aggravated the evils of oppression, 
 and made the yoke of subjection still more 
 grievous and intolerable. Their only hope 
 lay in their promised redemption by the 
 Messiah. To this they looked forward with 
 anxious and eager expectation : and they 
 
94 SERMON III. 
 
 considered their past deliverances from the 
 bondage of captivity as the auspicious ear- 
 nests of their future freedom. 
 
 To be disappointed in the attainment of 
 an object which lay so near their hearts, and 
 which had so often soothed the painful sense 
 of subjection to a foreign power, was a cir- 
 cumstance too mortifying and humiliating to 
 be supported by those who were deluded 
 by popular prepossessions, or endowed only 
 with a common share of resignation. Hence 
 we may cease to wonder at the great oppo- 
 sition that was made to the claims of Jesus 
 to the character and office of the Messiah. 
 A person so ignobly descended, so meanly 
 educated, so destitute of those attractions 
 which solicit the notice, and engage the 
 esteem of the world, appeared to human view 
 altogether unqualified for the office he pre- 
 sumed to fill, and totally unworthy of the 
 character he had thought fit to adopt. ^Is 
 not this the carpenter s son ? was a question 
 that persons, guided by external appear- 
 ances, would be ever ready to propose, with 
 a kind of indignant contempt, whenever he 
 declared his embassy as the Son of God, or 
 announced his prerogative as the King of 
 the Jews. 
 
 » MaU. xiii. 55. 
 
SERMON III. 95 
 
 The course of our Saviour's life was ill 
 adapted to conciliate the esteem and atten- 
 tion of a people, who were incapable of re- 
 conciling a mean appearance with a great 
 design ; and who imagined that the interests 
 of heaven needed succour from the splen- 
 dor of this world. What could such a peo- 
 ple, fastidious from false delicacy, and cap- 
 tious from false pride, expect from a man, 
 who had ^not where to lay his head? How 
 could they who were captivated by the daz- 
 zling distinctions of birth, and fortune, and 
 rank in the world, associate in all the habits 
 of familiar intercourse with one, whose com- 
 panions were of the lowest occupations, and 
 who were neither distinguished by the splen- 
 dor of ancestry, nor the authority of high 
 station ? Common pride revolted at the idea 
 of such degradation : and we wonder not 
 that we should find the following question in 
 the mouths of persons, who estimated the 
 goodness of a cause by the external emi- 
 nence of those v/ho were its abettors, ^Have 
 any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed on 
 him ? But this people who knoweth not the 
 law are cursed. As if they had said, " Who 
 are this man's followers and associates? 
 They are such as would of themselves bring 
 
 « Matt. viii. ^0. *» John vii. 48, 49. 
 
96 SERMON III. 
 
 9 
 
 discredit on any cause, abstractedly from 
 the consideration of its own merit. Do any 
 of the rulers of the people, any of the great 
 powers of the Sanhqdrim, any persons of 
 distinction, either by depth of learning, or 
 dignity of character, do any such persons 
 acknowledge this Jesus, who lays claim to 
 the name of the Messiah ; or attach them- 
 selves to him under that exalted and distin- 
 guishing character ? No. The people who 
 know not the law, who never studied its 
 principles, or who have been accursed and 
 excommunicated for want of a due obe- 
 dience to its institutions, are the only sup- 
 porters of this novel sect. On their voice the 
 ignoble founder of it rests his pretensions ; 
 and by their patronage only his presumption 
 is maintained.'' 
 
 An appeal conducted on such principles 
 as this carries with it more force than a 
 thousand arguments. It flatters the pride 
 of the human heart ; and is level with its 
 lowest and most familiar prejudices. It was 
 particularly well adapted to influence the 
 minds of the Jews, who had been instructed 
 to rely implicitly on the decisions of the 
 elders ; and who had been accustomed, with- 
 out controversy and without hesitation, to 
 receive the law from the mouth of the priest. 
 
SERMON III. 97 
 
 The state of religion among the Jews was, 
 we may easily conceive, inauspicious to the 
 interests of the gospel; and formed an ob- 
 stacle to its success too powerful for any ex- 
 pedient but a miracle to control. The two 
 great sects into which the Jewish church was 
 divided carried away the bulk of the peo- 
 ple : but whatever rivalship subsisted be- 
 tween them, and whatever differences of opi- 
 nion kept up the distinction of Pharisees and 
 Sadducees, yet both united in opposing the 
 gospel ; and each seemed to vie with the 
 other in discovering a most incurable ma- 
 lignity against Christ and his disciples. Here 
 they forgot their mutual jealousy, and lost 
 sight of every inveterate prejudice, and every 
 jarring interest. The gospel, they well knew, 
 looked with an eye equally unfriendly on 
 both sects : and the leaders of each were re- 
 proved with equal firmness and severity by 
 Jesus Christ. He did not flatter the preju- 
 dices of either, nor attempt to engage their 
 good will by any arts of accommodation. 
 His doctrine was in direct opposition to the 
 tenets of both; and his example involved a 
 constant reprehension of their practice. He 
 resisted with equal firmness the haughty 
 scepticism of the Sadducee, and the abject 
 superstition of the Pharisee. Against the 
 
 H 
 
98 SERMON III. 
 
 one he maintained the doctrine of a future 
 hfe ; and in the presence of the other he ex- 
 patiated on the folly of ceremonial observ- 
 ances, and the fallacy of traditional doc- 
 trines. 
 
 The religion which had been, I may ven- 
 ture to say, substituted in the room of that 
 which was originally delivered to the Jew^s 
 by God himself, was indeed a motley and 
 incongruous mixture of truth and falsehood, 
 of divine revelation and human invention. 
 Additions had been made to the Mosaic 
 ritual ; and the forms of divine w^orship were 
 incumbered with a variety of needless and 
 superstitious appendages. The true object 
 of devotion was almost forgotten, and the 
 true spirit of it nearly extinguished, amidst 
 a multiplicity of unauthorized and super- 
 fluous ceremonies : and external services had 
 superseded internal and moral purification. 
 Such impositions, however burdensome, were 
 yet readily submitted to by persons, who 
 had been taught to regard them as substi- 
 tutes for moral duties. To cleanse the body 
 by daily ablutions, Avas far more easy than 
 to preserve the purity of the heart by habi-? 
 tual virtue. To abstain from certain meats 
 and drinks, required less resolution and fewer 
 conflicts, than to curb the. impetuosity 9^ 
 
SERMON III. 99 
 
 appetite, and to resist the allurements of vo- 
 luptuousness. 
 
 The original law, given to this people, en- 
 couraged no idea of a dispensation from any 
 call of moral duty under the pretence of 
 ceremonial observances. It inculcated the 
 absolute necessity as well of internal as ex- 
 ternal holiness ; and instructed the Jews 
 always to regard sacrifice as subordinate to 
 mercy. It forbad any to flatter themselves 
 with the hope of acceptance for the sake of 
 the former, while the obhgations of the latter 
 were disregarded or violated : and whenever 
 the Jews perverted the design of divine in- 
 stitutions, or lost sight of the great objects 
 which these institutions were appointed to 
 promote, then did God by his prophets warn 
 them of their flital mistake ; and even spoke 
 of ceremonies which he had himself pre- 
 scribed, in terms, I had nearly said, of de- 
 gradation and contempt. 
 
 At the time when our blessed Lord began 
 to announce his mission as the Messiah, the 
 pernicious sentiment respecting the efficacy 
 of ceremonial obedience had an almost uni- 
 versal prevalence over the minds of the Jews. 
 It was not merely the sentiment of the igno- 
 rant vulgar ; but it had the sanction of ec- 
 clesiastical authority to give it credit and 
 
 H 2 
 
100 SERMON III. 
 
 countenance. The key of knowledge was 
 kept in the hands of men, whose interest it 
 was to conceal it from the people. Hence 
 they became ignorant of the more spiritual 
 and substantial parts of religion, and flat- 
 tered themselves with the most delusive 
 hopes, in the midst of the most flagrant 
 breaches, and even the most corrupt misre- 
 presentations, of the divine commands. The 
 more plain, which were also the more in- 
 teresting parts of the law, were veiled and 
 misconstrued, debased and mutilated, by the 
 Scribes and Elders ; whose false glosses had 
 obscured the very fundamental principles of 
 divine worship, and moral obligation: and 
 who, by calling off the attention of men from 
 weighty matters to trifling and indiflerent 
 circumstantials, had, as our Lord himself 
 informed them, hnade the zoord of God of 
 none effect through their traditions. Their 
 own whimsical speculations or arbitrary po- 
 sitions had usurped the seat of inspired doc- 
 trine : they were more assiduous to amuse 
 the imagination with the dreams of the Rab- 
 bins, than to impress the heart with those 
 principles, which have the best tendency to 
 promote a holy and upright conduct, amidst 
 the various situations and trials of life. For 
 
 » Mark vii. 13. 
 
SERMON III 101 
 
 tliese reasons our Lord upbraided them for 
 the indisciirninate regard which they paid to 
 undoubted revelation and dubious tradition : 
 and, in consequence of their intermixing the 
 most absurd and trifling ceremonies with 
 the more solemn and authorized acts of reli- 
 gious service, he said to them, ^In vain do ye 
 zoorship God, teaching for doctrines the com- 
 mandments of men. 
 
 The Jews, from the beginning, had been 
 taught to connect religion with places as 
 well as persons; and to affix that kind of 
 sanctity to the former, as well as to pay that 
 reverence to the latter, which weak minds 
 would be very apt to apply to all the pur- 
 poses of superstition ; and which policy 
 would be sure to employ as an instrument 
 of securing the most implicit submission to 
 all its prescriptions. 
 
 This people had first an ark built as the 
 symbol of the Divine presence: in a more 
 splendid period of their history the temple 
 was erected ; where they were instructed to 
 perforrn the more solemn rites of religious 
 worship. 
 
 Accustomed so much to connect the 
 Deity wijth symbols, and his w^orship with 
 times and places, there was nothing more 
 
 ^ Mark vii. 7. 
 H 3 
 
102 SERMON III. 
 
 mortifying to their pride, or more irreconcile- 
 able to their prejudices, than that doctrine 
 which inculcated such worship oi^the Father 
 in spirit arid in truths as was quite indepen- 
 dent of all the forms, which authority had 
 sanctified, and custom had famiharized : a 
 doctrine which was regarded as a kind of 
 blasphemy against the temple, by lessening 
 its importance, and even superseding its ne- 
 cessity. 
 
 As the law of Moses was of divine institu- 
 tion, it deserved and demanded the most se- 
 rious regards : and to slight any of its ser- 
 vices, was to insult the authority which en- 
 joined them. The veneration that was in- 
 spired by the sense of its original was per- 
 fectly right in its principle ; though supersti- 
 tion had engrafted on it many false and ridi- 
 culous opinions. As the law was allowed to 
 be divine, we need not wonder that it was 
 universally believed by this people to be per- 
 petual also. The same prejudices, therefore-, 
 would in different circumstances lead the 
 Jews to act differently : at one moment they 
 perverted the law by human invention, and 
 in the next they inferred its immutability 
 from its divine origin. >Vhat then could 
 they think of a teacher, who, while professing 
 
 ' John iv, 1^. 
 
SEKMON III. 103 
 
 his mission from God, introduced a religion 
 which abrogated institutions confessedly de- 
 rived from the same Cod ? 
 
 When we reflect on the general state of 
 the Jewish church, and the particular princi- 
 ples which prevailed among the different or- 
 ders of which it was composed, and the dif- 
 ferent sects into which it was divided ; whea 
 we consider what were their modes of wor- 
 ship, and what their habits of life ; how in- 
 veterate their prejudices, and how flattering 
 their expectations ; how stubborn was their 
 pride, which arose from their distinction, and 
 how tenacious of all those privileges, which 
 were the emblems of that distinction ; when 
 we revolve these considerations in our minds, 
 instead of being surprised at the opposition, 
 which the Jews of all ranks and denomina- 
 tions made to Jesus Christ ; we ni'dy rather 
 wonder that a man should arise among them, 
 who should attempt to lay the foundation of 
 a new religion on the overthrow of all that 
 had been held sacred and venerable for ages ; 
 a religion which subverted national distinc- 
 tions, instead of establishing them ; which 
 mortified national pride, instead of cherish- 
 ing it ; which corrected every inveterate er- 
 ror; which swept away all the idle incum- 
 brances of external rites ; and stripped of its 
 
 H 4 
 
104 SERMON III. 
 
 imaginary sanctity even the temple of Jeru- 
 salem. 
 
 What had a religion such as this to ex- 
 pect from the people to Avhom it was first 
 preached? AVhat, but all the contempt that 
 vanity could manifest ; and all the opposi- 
 tion which malice could effect? 
 , On the other hand, what could inspire in 
 the breast of him that preached it, a confi- 
 dence of success, but the wisdom of God? 
 And what, but the power of God, could give 
 that success ? 
 
 As the gospel had the most formidable 
 opposition to struggle with from the people 
 to whom it was first preached, so was it 
 called to a conflict equally arduous, and to 
 human appearance unavailing and despe- 
 rate, with the rest of mankind, who were 
 professedly included in the grand and ex- 
 tensive object it had in view. Its design was 
 the most liberal that humanity could have 
 wished, or benevolence could have planned. 
 But while its extent gave disgust to the 
 Jews, whose selfishness could not bear to see 
 that grace made universal, which they had 
 hitherto fondly considered as appropriated 
 and peculiar to themselves ; so, on the other 
 hand, the rewards which this grace was de- 
 signed to bestow, and the means by which 
 
SERMON III. 105 
 
 individuals might participate of its blessings, 
 were such as were neither suited to the taste 
 of the Gentiles, nor reconcileable with their 
 customs, principles, or pursuits. 
 
 At the time when Christ appeared, the 
 Roman empire had reached the very meri- 
 dian of its glory. It was the illustrious pe- 
 riod, when power and policy, receiving aid 
 from learning and science, and embellish- 
 ment from the orators and the poets, gave 
 law to the world, directed its taste, and even 
 controlled its opinions. It w^as the age when 
 enquiry was awake and active on every sub- 
 ject that was supposed to be of curious or 
 useful investigation, whether in the natural 
 or the intellectual world. It was, in short, 
 such an age as imposture must have found 
 in every respect the least auspicious to its 
 designs ; especially such an imposture as 
 Christianity, if it had deserved the name. 
 
 But to represent in the strongest light the 
 great disadvantages under which the gospel 
 laboured at its first publication, it will be 
 proper to give a short view of the state of 
 philosophy and religion among the Gentiles 
 at that period. 
 
 With respect to the former, there Avere 
 principles common to the various classes 
 and professions into which the unbounded 
 
106 SERMON III. 
 
 licence of fancy and speculation had divided 
 it, which were in the highest degree hostile 
 to the simplicity of Christian faith, and to 
 the purity of Christian practice. Viewed 
 merely in theor}^ it justly merited the cen- 
 sure passed on it by the Apostle ; and, con- 
 sidered in a practical light, it deserved still 
 severer reprehension. At best itwas"^t'am 
 deceit : for, whether it reasoned on metaphy- 
 sics or theology ; on God, or nature ; its po- 
 sitions were arbitrary, and its conclusions 
 fallacious. Far removed from the simple 
 and pure dictates of common sense, it in- 
 volved itself in intricacies that tended to 
 embarrass the understanding : and while it 
 amused the genius of speculation, it either 
 seduced the judgment into a rash and stub- 
 born dogmatism, or infused doubts which 
 Ted to an universal scepticism. Bold and 
 daring in enquiries beyond the sphere of 
 reason, it affected to explain what it could 
 not comprehend, or presumed to condemn 
 what it could not account for. Hence sprung 
 philosophers, who erected systems of what 
 was ^falsely called science^ according to their 
 particular prejudices ; and who made par- 
 tial appearances the criteria of general prin- 
 ciples. Shall we wonder that men, who in^ 
 
 " Col. ii. 8. « 1 Tim. vi. 30. 
 
SERMON III. 107 
 
 ilulged tlieir fancies in such excursions into 
 the unbounded wilds of speculation, "" became 
 vain in their imaginations; and that their 
 foolish heart ti.ms darkened ? 
 
 But their philosophy was not merely vain; 
 it Avas pernicious also. It not only deluded 
 the understanding, but corrupted the heart. 
 It unsettled the very first principles of virtue 
 and religion ; it weakened, if not totally de- 
 stroyed, their best motives; and rendered 
 their most powerful sanctions, if not abso- 
 lutely abortive, yet at least uncertain. 
 
 Carrying its presumptuous and ungoverned 
 speculations into the very essence of the Di- 
 vinity, and straining its eager sight to pene- 
 trate the pavilion of darkness which encir- 
 cles the eternal throne, it first doubted, and 
 at leno th denied the existence of a First Cause 
 independent of nature, and of a Providence 
 that superintends its laws, and governs the 
 concerns of mankind. 
 
 That great doctrine, which is the most 
 powerful guardian of virtue and religion, and 
 which of all others has the most effectual 
 tendency to influence our hopes and fears, 
 I mean the doctrine of a future state, was 
 totally rejected by the greater part of the 
 Pagan philosophers ; and rendered doubtful 
 
 • Rom. i. 21. 
 
108 SEEMON III. 
 
 and equivocal by their most distinguished mo- 
 rahsts. It was taught, and even enforced by 
 legislators from motives of pohcy ; while to 
 philosophy was reserved the privilege of con- 
 tradicting it in the schools. 
 
 Some of the philosophers, indeed, con- 
 tended for a future existence, in which no 
 moral dispensation of rewards and punish- 
 ments was to take place ; for after the expi- 
 ration of the Great Year the Stoics supposed, 
 that the same system would arise ; after the 
 general conflagration, the same train of events 
 would follow; the same number of beings 
 exist, and act in the same circumstances; 
 the same virtues be depressed, and the same 
 vices triumphant, in endless and unalterable 
 -succession. 
 
 Even those who may be justly esteemed 
 the wisest and most virtuous that the Pagan 
 world could boast of, in effect overthrew the 
 doctrine they have been supposed to pa- 
 tronize. They defended its influence on hu- 
 man conduct, by admitting it only under 
 the idea of a re-union with the nature of the 
 Deity ; the great eternal One, from whom 
 all souls proceed, and into whose all-com- 
 prehending essence they are at death re- 
 solved again ; and, like a bubble burst and 
 lost in the parent ocean, are swallowed up 
 
SERMON 111. 109 
 
 in the immensity of God ; and thus all per- 
 sonal identity and separate consciousness are 
 for ever extinguished. This is the sublime 
 of Pagan philosophy, exalted by the joint 
 power of metaphysics and theology! 
 
 The superstitions of the Heathen world 
 were as opposite to the genius of Christian 
 worship, as its philosophy w^as adverse to the 
 principles of its faith. They were such as 
 were repugnant to every rule of devotion laid 
 down by our blessed Lord. They were such as 
 could not be mixed with the Christian rites 
 by any arts of accommodation ; by any modes 
 of melioration, or refinement. On the con- 
 trary, they were altogether to be rejected ; 
 and the very foundation on which they were 
 reared and supported was to be totally de- 
 stroyed. For the worship w^hich was esta- 
 blished in the Pagan world was not merely 
 absurd ; it w^as impious in the extreme. It 
 was debauched by an idolatry, which had a 
 multiplicity of the most execrable divinities 
 for its objects. The gods of the heathen, 
 who at best were but just lifted above hu- 
 manity, were in a thousand instances sunk 
 below it, by crimes that were a disgrace to 
 nature, and by cruelties that would shock 
 even the most barbarous savage. Those rites 
 which policy had consecrated to their al- 
 
no SERMON III. 
 
 tars, and which ignorance revered with stu- 
 pid admiration, frequently degenerated into 
 scenes of madness, lasciviousness, and cruelty. 
 Their oracles, their auguries, and their sacri- 
 fices : their public spectacles, and splendid 
 games ; yea, the whole apparatus of Pagan 
 superstition were the engines of political ty- 
 ranny, and of popular delusion, and barred 
 all access to the entrance of truth and free- 
 dom, purity and simphcity. 
 
 To the opposition which arose on these 
 grounds, we may add another source of dis- 
 like, which prevailed more especiall}^ among 
 the subjects of the Roman empire, to the 
 Founder, and the first preachers, of the 
 Christian religion. 
 
 They were Jews : and of all characters, 
 that of a Jew was the most despised and ab- 
 horred among the Gentiles. The distinction 
 which this people claimed was offensive and 
 mortifying to other nations : and the contra- 
 riety of their civil customs and modes of wor- 
 ship to the practice of the whole world, ren- 
 dered them the objects of universal detestation. 
 A religion originating with a Jew, and sup- 
 ported by persons of the same character, had, 
 independently of every other circumstance,, 
 but little prospect of gaining proselytes among 
 the Gentiles; especially Gentiles of the more 
 
SERMON IIL ni 
 
 polished states. They would naturally asso- 
 ciate with it their ideas of the Jewish charac- 
 ter ; and the abhorrence excited by the one 
 would be extended, without hesitation and 
 without distinction, to the other. 
 
 I have thus attempted to set before you 
 some of the principal causes of the opposition 
 which was made to the first propagation of 
 Christianity. 
 
 The success of the gospel in the time of 
 our blessed Lord Avas truly astonishing, if we 
 consider who he was, and what he had to en- 
 counter. But its more rapid and extensive 
 propagation after his death is a circumstance 
 that excites still higher admiration. 
 
 Destitute of all human advantages, pro- 
 tected by no authority, assisted by no art; 
 not recommended by the reputation of its 
 Author, not enforced by eloquence in its ad- 
 vocates, the word of God grew mightily and 
 prevailed. Twelve men, poor, and artless, 
 and illiterate, we behold triumphing over the 
 fiercest and most determined opposition; over 
 the tyranny of the magistrate, and the subtle- 
 ties of the philosopher ; over the prejudices of 
 the Gentile, and the bigotry of the Jew. They 
 established a religion, which held forth high 
 and venerable mysteries, such as the pride of 
 man would induce him to suspect, because 
 
112 SERMON III. 
 
 he could not perfectly comprehend them ; 
 which preached doctrines pure and spiritual, 
 such as corrupt nature was prone to oppose, 
 because it shrunk from the severity of their 
 disciphne ; which required its followers to 
 renounce almost every opinion they had em- 
 braced as sacred, and every interest they had 
 pursued as important; which even exposed 
 them to every species of danger and infamy ; 
 to persecution unmerited and unpitied ; to 
 the gloom of a prison, and to the pangs of 
 death. Hopeless as this prospect might ap- 
 pear to the view of short-sighted man, the 
 gospel yet emerged from the obscurity in 
 which it was likely to be overwhelmed by 
 the complicated distresses of its friends, and 
 the unrelenting cruelty of its foes. It suc- 
 ceeded in a peculiar degree, and in a pecu- 
 liar manner : it derived that success from 
 truth ; and obtained it under circumstances, 
 where falsehood must have been detected 
 and crushed. 
 
 In vain therefore has the insidious inge- 
 nuity of the infidel and sceptic been em- 
 ployed in the preposterous endeavour of ac- 
 counting for the miraculous success of Chris- 
 tianity from causes merely human. The true 
 philosopher, who will rest satisfied with no 
 cause but what is fully adequate to the 
 
SERMON III. 113 
 
 €;ffects produced, readily acknowledges the 
 assistance of God, in the Avitness he bare to 
 the preacliing of the Apostles, by many 
 signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds. 
 
 The rational advocate for Christianity 
 scorns to shelter himself in sceptical and dis- 
 ingenuous misrepresentation. He knows the 
 force of secondary causes ; he with well- 
 founded exultation employs them as addi- 
 tional arguments for the soundness of his 
 faith ; he derives the strongest support from 
 their admirable and striking consistence with 
 the pretensions of a religion, which dis- 
 claimed the use of those. engines by which 
 imposture is usually maintained, the in- 
 trigues, I mean, of policy, and tjie violence 
 of arms. But he at the same time contends, 
 that while the interests of the gospel were 
 promoted b}^ those circumstances which must 
 have been fatal to every false religion, they 
 were chiefly and primarily promoted by 
 other and more efficacious methods ; by the 
 power of God, which enabled the Founder of 
 Christianity to perform what unaided man 
 never performed ; and by the wisdom of 
 God, which assisted him in speaking as man 
 never spake. 
 
 A living writer, the elegance of whose 
 style seems to have conferred a very alarm- 
 
 I 
 
114 SERMON III. 
 
 iiig popularity on the licentiousness of his 
 opinions, has assigned the reception of 
 Christianity to five causes ; each of which 
 he has represented as in reality unconnected 
 with any divine interposition. 
 
 First, " P the inflexible and intolerant zeal 
 " of the first Christians, derived from the 
 " Jews, but purified from the unsocial spirit, 
 " which had deterred the Gentiles from em- 
 " bracing the law of Moses/' 
 
 Now zeal which is at once intolerant, and 
 purified from any unsocial spirit, is a quahty, 
 which we leave it to the singularity of this 
 writer to conceive, and to his eloquence to 
 describe. 
 
 But we deny the fact, that any kind or 
 any degree of intolerance existed among the 
 primitive Christians : and as to their zeal, we 
 maintain that it did not bear the slightest 
 similitude to the fierceness and bigotry of the 
 Jews. It was derived from very different 
 causes, and aimed at far nobler ends. It 
 was not the narrow and temporal interests of 
 one nation, but the general reformation and 
 the spiritual happiness of the whole world, 
 which the teachers of Christianity were anxi- 
 ous to promote. That firmness, which may 
 
 V Gibbon's Hist, of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Em- 
 pire, p. 536. edit. 4to. 1777- 
 
SERMON III. 115 
 
 be misconstrued into intolerance, and that 
 activity, which we are content to call by the 
 name of zeal, had, in the usual course of hu- 
 man affairs, a tendenc}^ to retard, rather than 
 to facilitate, the propagation of the gospel. 
 The Christian, instead of falling into the 
 fashionable and popular intercommunity of 
 worship, disdained, amidst the terrors of im- 
 pending death, to throw incense on the altar 
 of Jupiter : he boldly pronounced the whole 
 system of Pagan mythology imposture ; and 
 charged the whole ritual of its external de- 
 votions with grovelling superstition, and pro- 
 fane idolatry. 
 
 A second Cause he finds " in the doctrine 
 *^ of a future life.'' Such a doctrine, doubt- 
 less, is congenial to the nature of man as an 
 accountable and moral agent; it is repeat- 
 edly insisted upon in the gospel ; and must 
 ultimately, and in a favourable state of things, 
 have increased its efficacy. But the future 
 life taught by the Apostles had few recom- 
 mendations in the sight of the Heathen 
 world. It was offensive to the Epicureans 
 by the punishments it threatened : it was not 
 attractive to the vulgar by the very rewards 
 which it proposed. The pride of the philo- 
 sopher was shocked by the doctrine of a re- 
 surrection, the mode of which he was unable 
 
 I 2 
 
115 SERMON III. 
 
 to comprehend : the imaginations of other 
 men were feebly impressed by the repre- 
 sentation of a future state, which did not 
 hold out the serene sky, the verdant garden, 
 and the luxurious enjoyments of an Elysium. 
 
 A third Cause he finds in " the miraculous 
 " powers ascribed to the primitive church ;'' 
 and then proceeds, in a style of the most con- 
 temptuous and bitter derision, to insinuate 
 that these powers were never possessed. 
 
 Now the hardiest adversaries of the gos- 
 pel, a Porphyry, a Celsus, and a Julian, do 
 not deny the existence of those miracles : 
 and Christianity has little to fear from the 
 improbable causes to which these writers 
 impute them. 
 
 It is however worthy of remark, that when 
 Christianity was published, a general preju- 
 dice in the people, and a very severe spirit 
 of suspicion in the government, prevailed 
 against the belief of Miracles. They were 
 stigmatized by the opprobrious appellation of 
 Magic : and Augustus, it is well known, had 
 published very rigorous edicts against the 
 whole race of Praestigiators. 
 
 The peculiar difficulties, which obstructed 
 the reception of Christian miracles, have been 
 explained with great acuteness of reasoning, 
 and great depth of erudition, by a modern 
 
SERMON III. 117 
 
 writer, whose remarks defeat indeed the fal- 
 lacies, but seem to have escaped the notice 
 of our ino'enious and indefatisrable historian. 
 
 The sum of his arguments I will give in 
 his own words. " '»The multitude of popular 
 ^' gods admitted amongst the Heathens did 
 " by necessary consequence occasion such 
 " a multitude of pretended miracles, that 
 *' they insensibly lost their force, and sunk 
 " in their esteem. Though the philosophers 
 " in general, and men of reading and con- 
 *' templation, could not but discover the gross- 
 " ness and absurdity of the Civil Religion ; 
 ^' yet this could have little effect on the Vul- 
 " gar, or themselves : not on the Vulgar, be- 
 " cause it was the business of the wisest and 
 " most politic heads zealously to support and 
 " encourage them in their practices ; not 
 " on themselves, because, if they despised 
 " their Gods, they must despise their Mira- 
 " cles too.'' 
 
 Now under these circumstances, miracles 
 ascribed to the first propagators of Christi- 
 anity, must have created an immediate and 
 stubborn prejudice against their cause : and 
 nothing could have subdued that prejudice, 
 but miracles really and visibly performed. 
 
 ^ Weston on the Rejection of Christian Miracles by the Hea- 
 thien, p. 348. 
 
 I 3 
 
118 SERMON III. 
 
 A fourth Cause is " the virtues of the first 
 " Christians :" which are themselves reduced 
 to a mean and timid repentance for former 
 sins, and to an impetuous zeal in supporting 
 the reputation of the sect newly embraced. 
 
 But surely in the eyes of the haughty and 
 jealous Romans, such repentance and such 
 zeal must have equally excited opposition to 
 Christianity. The first would have provoked 
 contempt among persons of their daring self- 
 sufficiency ; and the other would have awak- 
 ened the jealousy of the magistrate. True it 
 is, that the Christians had virtues of a nobler 
 kind. It is also true, that those virtues did 
 ultimately triumph over the scorn and ma- 
 lice of their foes : and it is true, that a reli- 
 gion producing such effects on its followers, 
 and deriving success from such means, car- 
 ries with it a presumptive proof, of which im- 
 posture never could boast. 
 
 The last secondary Cause mentioned by 
 this writer is " the union and discipline of 
 " the Christian church.'" 
 
 We acknowledge the force of union in se- 
 curing the order, and enlarging the interests 
 of every society ; and we heartily wish, that 
 such union could be found in the earlier 
 ages of the gospel. But the distractions 
 and internal divisions of the Christians pre* 
 
SERMON III. 119 
 
 sent a very different prospect. And if the 
 gospel succeeded, not only amidst the fu- 
 rious assaults of its enemies, but the no less 
 violent contentions of its friends, we must 
 look for its success in some other cause, than 
 those Avhich our historian has assigned. 
 
 Observations similar to these have been 
 most properly produced, and most ably en- 
 forced by various writers, who have repelled 
 the base and disingenuous assaults of this 
 most dangerous enemy. But in reviewing 
 the circumstances which attended the propa- 
 gation of the gospel, I could not, consist- 
 ently with the spirit of this Institution, avoid 
 taking some notice of his treacherous and 
 insidious endeavours to undermine this im- 
 portant argument for the truth of our faith : 
 nor could 1 neglect so favourable an op- 
 portunity as the present, of cautioning the 
 younger part of my audience against being 
 unwarily seduced into an approbation of his 
 sentiments, by the insinuating arts of his so- 
 phistry, and the captivating graces of his 
 language. 
 
 We are by no means insensible to the me- 
 rits of our historian ; but at the same time 
 we know and lament his eagerness to throw 
 a veil over tlie deformities of the Heathen 
 theology, to decorate with all the splendor of 
 
 I 4 
 
120 SERMON III. 
 
 panegyric the tolerant spirit of its votaries, to 
 degrade by disingenuous insinuation, or by 
 sarcastic satire, the importance of revelation, 
 to exhibit in the most oifensive features of 
 distortion the weakness and the follies of its 
 friends, and to varnish over the cruelties, 
 and exalt the wisdom of its merciless and 
 unrelenting enemies. 
 
 I shall now conclude this discourse by 
 briefly enumerating a few particulars, which 
 have been already offered to your consider- 
 ation in the course of these enquiries into 
 the rise and propagation of Mahometism and 
 Christianity. 
 
 It has been alread}^ shewn, from the ex- 
 press and universal testimony of history, 
 that every circumstance of the times, every 
 particular in the manners and situation of 
 mankind, plainly and undeniably concurred 
 to favour the success of Mahometan impos- 
 ture. 
 
 AVe have now seen from the same un- 
 doubted authority, that the religion of Christ, 
 at its first appearance in the world, (humanly 
 speaking,) laboured under all possible disad- 
 vantages ; and that every apparent probabi- 
 lity was strongly and decisively against its 
 success. 
 .The gospel was not, like the Mahometan 
 
SEPvMON III. 121 
 
 imposture, proposed to a people rude and 
 uncivilized, or at a time when universal igno- 
 rance and barbarism had prepared mankind 
 to receive, without hesitation, any impres- 
 sions from the artful and designing; but in 
 an age, which perhaps above all others was 
 distinguished for curious speculation, and 
 philosophical research. The Roman empire 
 Avas at that time in its full glory ; and a long 
 and profound peace, together with the pa- 
 tronage and encouragement of authority, had 
 contributed to raise the arts and sciences to 
 a height unknown before ; and which later 
 ages, with all their boasted improvements, 
 have scarce been able to exceed. At such a 
 period did the religion of Christ invite, and 
 endure, the test of the severest scrutiny : till, 
 at length, like pure gold, it came forth unsul- 
 lied, and undiminished from the flames. 
 
 We have observed that the Arabian im- 
 postor owed much of his success to the art- 
 ful accommodation of his religion to the 
 ruling passions, the favourite opinions, and 
 the inveterate prejudices of his countrymen. 
 But the gospel presented itself to mankind 
 with a severer and a chaster aspect. Far 
 from condescending to flatter the appetites 
 and passions, it strictly enjoined its followers 
 the hard and unpleasing task of plucking 
 
222 SERMON III. 
 
 out even the eye, and cutting off the hand, 
 that gave occasion of offence. Far from 
 seeking to recommend itself to popular fa- 
 vour by complying and accommodating te- 
 nets ; it directly and openly opposed almost 
 every opinion and every prejudice of those 
 to whom it Avas offered. 
 
 The great and powerful principle of na- 
 tional pride, which pleaded strongly in fa- 
 vour of the pretensions of Mahomet, formed 
 one of the most stubborn and formidable 
 obstacles that opposed the progress of the 
 gospel. 
 
 Called forth to fight the battles of the 
 Lord ao;ainst an unbelievino; world, and con- 
 fident of victory from the promise of a di- 
 vine assistance for ever, at hand, the Arabian 
 beheld in the religion of his warlike prophet 
 the grand and only instrument which could 
 raise his country from obscurity to glory, 
 from weakness and contempt to powers and 
 dominion. 
 
 But to the Jewish people Christianity pre- 
 sented no such flattering views. Its grand 
 and fundamental doctrine, faith in an hum- 
 ble, suffering Messiah, obscured the brightest 
 prospects, and overthrew the fairest opinions, 
 which a long and uninterrupted tradition, ap- 
 parently supported by prophecy, had taught 
 
SERMON III. 125 
 
 them to entertain. Tlieir first step towards 
 embracing the gospel was founded on the 
 ruin of every hope which ambition had in- 
 spired ; and previously to their conversion, 
 they Avere called upon for ever to renounce 
 their dearest expectations of brilliant con- 
 quests and unbounded dominion under the 
 auspicious guidance of a mighty and trium- 
 phant deliverer. They could not therefore 
 look but with indignation on the progress of 
 a religion, which tended to deprive them of 
 their peculiar privileges and distinctions ; to 
 confound them again with the mass of man- 
 kind ; and to reduce them from that haughty 
 preeminence which they had hitherto claim- 
 ed, to the same level with the surrounding 
 nations, whom they had been accustomed 
 to shun with pious abhorrence, or to spurn 
 with sullen contempt. 
 
 By an artful intermixture of the favourite 
 ceremonies and fantastic rites of Arabian 
 idolatry with the new modes of worship, 
 which he enjoined; and by a studied accom- 
 modation of his style and manner to the pre- 
 vailing passion for the language and orna- 
 ments of poetry, the sagacious impostor faci- 
 litated the reception of his doctrines among 
 his countrymen. 
 
 But the religion of Jesus Christ could 
 
124 SERMON III. 
 
 boast no such advantages. As it opposed 
 the pride and the prejudices of the Jews, so 
 was it equally hostile to every prepossession 
 of the Gentiles. 
 
 To the vulgar, attached as they were to 
 the licentious festivals, the solemn proces- 
 sions, and the pompous pageantries of hea- 
 thenism, the pure and spiritual worship of 
 Christianity displayed no charms ; while the 
 more enli2:htened amono; them, enamoured 
 of the subtleties of human wisdom, and be- 
 wildered iu the mazes of an absurd and unin- 
 telligible philosophy, were unwilling to believe 
 that the plainness and simplicity of the gospel 
 could ever be worthy an omniscient God. 
 
 Lastly, the gospel was not, like the impos- 
 ture of Mahomet, imposed upon the subject 
 nations by the stern command of a conquer- 
 ing tyrant ; nor was it for the space of full 
 three hundred years even indirectly counte- 
 nanced by any influence of government and 
 authority : on the contrary, we behold with 
 astonishment the pomp of adverse power, 
 no less than the pride of learning, and the 
 arrogance of philosophy, resisting its influ- 
 ence by a long and persevering persecution, 
 but bowing at length before the plain and 
 artless preaching of the poor, the weak, the 
 illiterate fishermen of Galilee. 
 
SERMON III. 125 
 
 To such stupendous effects an adequate 
 cause must be assigned. 
 
 A revolution so astonishing, accomphshed 
 by instruments so evidently weak and dis- 
 proportioncd, and under circumstances so 
 adverse and unfavourable, naturally teaches 
 us to look higher ; to elevate our views far 
 above the reach of human strength and 
 wisdom, even to that Almighty Being, /ro/w 
 wliom alone cometh every good and every per~ 
 feet gift. 
 
SERMON IV. 
 
 John vli. 12. 
 
 Some said. He is a good man : others said^ Nai/j but he 
 deceiveth the people, 
 
 J HERE is a strong and active curiosity in 
 the human mind, which ever prompts us to 
 enquire into the hves and characters of men, 
 whose names have been rendered famous for 
 the extraordinary events of which they have 
 been the instruments, and by the important 
 revolutions which they have occasioned in 
 the world. From the proper and temperate 
 indulgence of this principle, liowever its exer- 
 tions may have been sometimes condemned 
 as useless and unprofitable, many and solid 
 advantages may be derived to the cause of 
 knowledge and of truth. The connection 
 which subsists between the history of every 
 event, and the character of its author, is ob- 
 vious ; they reflect reciprocal light on each 
 other ; and it is only by an attentive investi-s 
 gation of both, that we can be enabled to 
 discover with certainty the motives which 
 
128 SERMON IV. 
 
 influenced the attempt, and the means by 
 which it was accomplished. 
 
 But in those speculations of more awful 
 importance, Avhich regard the spiritual and 
 eternal welfare of mankind; when we are 
 called upon to examine the pretensions of 
 those who have laid claim to divine inspi- 
 ration, and immediate commission from the 
 Deity ; there is not only a propriety, but 
 also a necessity for enquiring with minute- 
 ness into the character of persons, who have 
 assumed so high and venerable an office. 
 From such an enquiry into the life of the 
 founder may be deduced no mean or inde- 
 cisive evidence of the truth or falsehood of 
 his religion ; and by contemplating his con- 
 duct in the different situations and circum- 
 stances in which he was placed, we may be 
 enabled to trace plain and unequivocal 
 marks of real or pretended inspiration ; and 
 thus to form our judgment, whether it was 
 obedience to the commands of God, or com- 
 pliance with the dictates of worldly interest, 
 that influenced and directed his actions. 
 
 In surveying the life of Mahomet, we can- 
 not but observe with much surprise the op- 
 posite and contradictory characters under 
 which he has been represented by historians, 
 who from different motives, and with differ- 
 
SERMON IV. 129 
 
 rent views, have transmitted to posterity the 
 most irreconcileable aecounts of the same 
 pubHc and memorable events. In the various 
 writings of his numerous follow^ers the cha- 
 racter of the prophet is uniformly drawn in 
 the brio'litest and most amiable colours ; he 
 is held up as the unrivalled pattern of every 
 mental and corporeal perfection ; and as 
 distinguished by every quality and virtue 
 which <:an adorn and elevate human nature. 
 But far different is the portrait which has 
 been generally exhibited of tiiis remarkable 
 person by Christian historians. Struck with 
 horror at the consequences of his imposture, 
 they have thought it incumbent on them to 
 set no bounds to their hatred of the impostor. 
 Hence they have boldly questioned his intel- 
 lectual, as well as his moral faculties : they 
 have represented him as not less contempti- 
 ble on account of his abject stupidity, than 
 detestable for his vices ; and language itself 
 has seemed to labour under the difficulty of 
 expressing with sufficient strength their ideas 
 of the complicated guilt and baseness of his 
 character. Thus have Christian writers de- 
 scribed the man, whom the greater part of 
 the inhabitants of the Eastern w^orkl has 
 for more than eleven hundred years blindly 
 revered as the most accomplished of mortals, 
 
 K 
 
130 SERMON IV. 
 
 and the most sacred of prophets. But if we 
 would obtain just and true notions of this 
 extraordinary character, we must equally 
 avoid the enthusiasm of the one, and the 
 prejudices of the other; we must not admit, 
 but with great limitation, either the undistin- 
 guishing censures of his opposers, or the ex- 
 aggerated encomiums of his infatuated adhe- 
 rents. 
 
 It may be observed, that the immoderate 
 and unqualified zeal of Christian writers has 
 often led them into unjustifiable extremes, 
 which have injured the cause they stood 
 forth to defend. Their representations of the 
 impostor, by the harsh colouring and dis- 
 torted features, evidently betray the pencil 
 of an enemy. They have studiously magni- 
 fied every vice, and aggravated every circum- 
 stance, which tended in any degree to de- 
 grade or to blacken his character ; and 
 where the description seemed imperfect, the 
 aid of fiction has been sometimes called in, 
 to give a shade and colouring to the outlines 
 of reality and truth. But truth approves not, 
 nor requires such disingenuous arts for its 
 defence. Even if we admit the most favour- 
 able character of the pretended prophet, 
 which has been drawn by his enthusiastic 
 followers, objections may still be raised to 
 
SERMON IV. 131 
 
 his bold and impious pretensions ; objections 
 too strong, I am confident, for ingenuity to 
 solve, or sophistry to elude. 
 
 Besides, it was probably forgotten by these 
 warm, though mistaken defenders of the 
 Christian cause, that by thus representing 
 Mahomet as a perfect monster of ignorance 
 and vice, they have in reality rendered his 
 success little less than miraculous ; and very 
 difficult at least, if not absolutely impossible, 
 to be accounted for by any human means. 
 The man who could project, and execute 
 with success, so bold and hazardous an en- 
 terprize as that of subverting the religious 
 and civil government of his country, and 
 establishing in their place a system of his 
 own, could never have been despicable for 
 littleness of spirit or weakness of under- 
 standing. Reason compels us to suppose, 
 that such an impostor, however favoured by 
 circumstances, must doubtless have possessed 
 superior talents, to enable him to deceive his 
 countrymen, to captivate their affections, and 
 to triumph over the external obstacles that 
 opposed him. Nor is it easy to conceive, 
 that he could ever have supported the severe 
 character of the great reformer of mankind, 
 whose morals were not specious at least, ac- 
 cording to those ideas of morahty which pre- 
 
 K 2 
 
132 SERMON IV. 
 
 vailed among the people to whom his preten* 
 sions were immediately proposed. Whatever 
 his real character might have been, whatever 
 the secret propensities of his heart, some 
 small share of hypocrisy, some little regard 
 to external decorum, must have been indis- 
 pensably requisite to insure his success. 
 
 If we thus arbitrarily divest the impostor 
 of those qualities and abilities, which, on the 
 supposition of ordinary and moral causes, 
 were essentially necessary to the accomplish- 
 ment of his designs, our reasoning is at once 
 reduced to a manifest absurdity. For, if the 
 natural means of his success were w-anting, 
 it can only be ascribed to divine. And thus 
 might the impious, with some shew of reason, 
 accuse the Almighty of injustice and of ca- 
 price : of injustice, in having by his immedi- 
 ate interposition led millions of his creatures 
 into the most deplorable error : of caprice, in 
 having now in part destroyed by violence 
 that revelation, wdiich he had six hundred 
 years before controlled the course of nature 
 to establish by many signs, and wonders, and 
 mighty deeds. Let us therefore, instead of 
 studying to cast an unnecessary gloom over 
 the character of Mahomet, rather choose 
 that part to which reason and probability 
 inchne; and let us admit without reserve his 
 
SERMON IV. 133 
 
 abilities and his virtues, to the utmost extent 
 that, consistently with truth, can possibly be 
 allowed to them. Nor let it be from hence 
 imagined, that we are animated by any de- 
 sire to palhate the vices, or to aggrandize the 
 character of the prophet ; since under this 
 fan' outside, this specious disguise, we shall 
 probably be enabled to point out strong and 
 indisputable marks of the most infamous im- 
 posture. 
 
 Doubtless amidst all the characters of 
 great and extraordinary men, who in the vari- 
 ous ages and nations of the world have raised 
 themselves by superior talents above the rest 
 of mankind, and b}^ the force of genius alone 
 have eflected the most memorable chanQ:es 
 in the course of human affairs ; no one pre- 
 sents itself to the philosopher as a more cu- 
 rious or interesting subject of investigation 
 than that of the pretended prophet of Ara- 
 bia. 
 
 Animated by an ambition which dared to 
 attempt, and supported b}'^ abilities which 
 qualified him to conduct the most arduous 
 designs, we behold him suddenly starting up 
 from the shade of obscurity ; projecting with 
 consummate art, and at length accomplish- 
 ing with success, a revolution, which from its 
 very nature, no less than from its important 
 
 K 3 
 
334 SERMON IV. 
 
 and extensive consequences, may be justly 
 ranked amongst the most stupendous which 
 history has recorded. When we consider the 
 point from which he set out, and the height 
 to which he rose ; when we contemplate the 
 greatness of that empire, and the extent of 
 that religion which he founded ; our asto- 
 nishment is excited as well by the splendid 
 talents and the profound artifice of the im- 
 postor, as by the blind compliance and ab- 
 ject creduhty of the multitudes whom he de- 
 ceived. 
 
 The circumstances, which attended the 
 earlier years of Mahomet, were certainly 
 such as presented no flattering prospects of 
 grandeur, and no probable views of ambi- 
 tion to his future life. Though descended 
 from the most honourable tribe of Arabia, 
 and from the noblest family of that tribe, yet 
 distress and poverty were the only portion 
 which he inherited ; a distress and poverty 
 unsoftened by the tender cares, and kind in- 
 dulgence, of parental atfection. 
 
 The education which he received, like that 
 of the rest of his countrymen, was rough and 
 hardy ; neither tempered by the elegancies 
 of literature, nor even enlightened by the first 
 and most obvious rudiments of knowledge, 
 but calculated rather to invigorate the powers 
 
SERMON IV. 135 
 
 of the body, than to pohsh and enlarge the 
 mind. The bounty of nature, however, and 
 the exquisite endowments with which she had 
 so liberally adorned the future prophet and 
 monarch of Arabia, abundantly compensate^ 
 for the vmkindness of fortune. Graceful in 
 his person, easy and insinuating in his man- 
 ners, and endowed with a greatness of mind 
 which could brave the storms of adversity, 
 and rise superior to the disadvantages of an 
 illiterate education ; he was in possession of 
 accomplishments more valuable in thenir 
 selves, and capable of producing more illus- 
 trious eflects, than all that the influence of 
 wealth, or the authority of hereditary power, 
 could have bestowed. 
 
 But if Mahomet, deprived of the usual 
 means of cultivation and improvement, was, 
 during the earlier years of his life, left solely 
 to the guidance of untutored nature; he at a 
 more advanced age enjoyed the most favour- 
 able opportunities of acquiring a species of 
 information far more conducive to the suc- 
 cess of his subsequent designs, than the 
 maxims of science or the refinements of phi- 
 losophy ; the knowledge, I meai), of meu 
 and manners. 
 
 Surrounded by a rough and barren terri- 
 tory, which denied to its inhabitants even the 
 
 K 4 
 
136 SERMON IV. 
 
 necessaries of life, the people of Mecca, like 
 the Ishmaelites, their forefathers, depended 
 principally on commerce for support. Thus 
 urged by the call of unavoidable necessity, 
 and favoured by a situation peculiarly ad- 
 vantageous to such pursuits, they carried on 
 a constant and extensive intercourse with 
 Persia, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. In these 
 employments the impostor was early initi- 
 ated ; and during his travels into the neigh- 
 bouring nations, besides the general improve- 
 ment and cultivation of his mind, he col- 
 lected those particular observations which 
 afterwards induced him to form, and ac- 
 quired that knowledge which enabled him 
 to execute, his daring and ambitious designs. 
 Whilst yet engaged in the occupations of 
 commerce, and discharging with zeal and 
 fidelity the humble duties of servitude, his 
 strong and active genius already rose above 
 the meanness and obscurity of his station; 
 and, from a well-grounded confidence in its 
 own powers, inspired him with an opinion, 
 that he was born to move in a higher and 
 more illustrious sphere. But when a sudden 
 and unexpected change of fortune had raised 
 him from poverty and dependence to opu- 
 lence and ease, this opinion returned with 
 augmented force ; and he now began to me- 
 
SERMON IV. 137 
 
 dilate seriously on the means of realizing 
 those ideas, which had hitherto proceeded 
 rather from the warmth of imagination, than 
 from the deliberate dictates of reason, or even 
 the impulses of serious and habitual hope. 
 
 From this period to the time when he an- 
 nounced his mission as the prophet of the 
 most High, history has recorded nothing con- 
 cerning the actions and the pursuits of Ma- 
 homet. Fifteen years of his life are involved 
 in the deepest and most impenetrable ob- 
 scurity. One historian only informs us, that 
 God had inspired his prophet with a love of 
 sohtude and retirement. But in this single 
 information we see a ray of light sufficient to 
 clear up the darkness of this mysterious in- 
 terval. In a lonely cave, in the recesses of 
 Mount Hara, he shunned the society of men. 
 
 Doubtless, it was in this silence of retire- 
 ment that the artful impostor laid the foun- 
 dation of his future greatness : here he drew 
 the general outlines, and here he adjusted the 
 several particulars of that great and hazard- 
 ous project, which was hereafter to raise him 
 to glory and dominion. 
 
 At the time when Mahomet travelled into 
 the neighbouring nations, there were some 
 peculiar circumstances in their government 
 and manners, which were calculated to strike 
 
138 SERMON IV. 
 
 the deepest impression on a vigorous and 
 reflecting mind. The internal distractions of 
 Persia on the one side, and the notorious 
 weakness of the Roman provinces on the 
 other, together with the universal corruption 
 of manners that prevailed amongst the inha- 
 bitants of both, were indications too strong 
 to be overlooked of the approaching ruin of 
 these mighty and unwieldy empires. 
 
 But the state of religion was probably the 
 grand and principal object that attracted the 
 attention, and employed the reflections of 
 Mahomet. A little consideration, and espe- 
 cially an acquaintance with the Jewish and 
 Christian doctrines, must have convinced him 
 of the absurdity of that impious idolatry in 
 which he had been educated, and in all the 
 madness of which his countrymen were still 
 plunged ahuost universally. 
 
 In the mean time he beheld the Jews, de- 
 spised and detested by all men, still obsti- 
 nately refusing to mix Avith the rest of man- 
 kind, and adhering with unshaken attach- 
 ment to the law of Moses : whilst the Chris- 
 tians, divided in their faith, and degenerate 
 in their practice, had miserably perverted the 
 spirit of their religion, and, forgetting the 
 vmion and love which it prescribed, were de- 
 nouncing anatheraas on each other. Sensible 
 
SERMON IV. 139 
 
 of the advantasjes which he should derive 
 from this confused state of affairs, and ea- 
 gerly ambitious of power, the impostor de- 
 termined to cover his deep and aspiring 
 schemes under the specious veil of divine 
 revelation. Plence, with a boldness of design 
 which was exceeded only by the cunning 
 that conducted it, he meditated a religion, 
 which, by flattering the corrupt passions and 
 prejudices of each, might embrace in its am- 
 ple and comprehensive law the Christian, the 
 Idolater, and the Jew. The plan was great, 
 and the execution was arduous : but the wily 
 impostor facilitated its success by laying the 
 foundation of his whole system on one plain 
 and obvious principle, which had never been 
 disputed by either ; the belief of one only su- 
 preme God, the infinite creator of the uni- 
 verse, the just rewarder of virtue, and the 
 dreadful avenger of guilt. A doctrine thus 
 simple, which presented to reason no more 
 than it could easily conceive, was apparently 
 well calculated for the reception of all the 
 nations upon earth. But in order to stamp 
 the highest possible sanction upon the doc- 
 trines which he taught, and (what was of still 
 greater consequence) to lay the firmest foun- 
 dation on which he might build his own 
 greatness and power, the impostor superad- 
 
140 SERMON IV. 
 
 ded the obligation of believing in him as the 
 inspired prophet and messenger of the Al- 
 mighty. 
 
 Having fixed this basis, he next proceeded 
 to erect upon it a motley and misshapen su- 
 perstructure, composed of the most incohe- 
 rent and heterogeneous materials. In order 
 the more effectually to accomplish the great 
 object which he had in view, of aggrandizing 
 himself by cementing in one system the most 
 discordant opinions of those whom he la- 
 boured to seduce, he deemed it necessary to 
 accommodate his plan, as far as possible, to 
 the preconceived notions of all. 
 
 With this view he artfully selected from 
 the Jewish and Christian morality those parts 
 which seemed best adapted to the sentiments 
 and manners of the inhabitants of the warmer 
 climates in particular ; blending them at the 
 same time with the popular traditions, the 
 superstitious ceremonies, and the ruling opi- 
 nions of his idolatrous countrymen. To have 
 laid claim to a revelation totally new, and in- 
 dependent of any which had preceded it, 
 would have been too bold and hazardous a 
 step : the profound policy of Mahomet there- 
 fore suggested to him a safer and more prac- 
 ticable plan. He alleged with much plausi^- 
 bility, that God had originally given one 
 
SERMON IV. 14 J 
 
 grand and universal religion to all the sons 
 of men ; tliat when the cares and avocations 
 of hfe had obhterated, or the frailty or per- 
 verseness of human nature had corrupted this 
 faith, it had pleased the Almighty in his 
 merc}^ to send forth successive prophets, to 
 instruct and to reform mankind, ever prone 
 to wander from the plain and simple paths 
 of truth : such, amongst many others whom 
 his own creative imagination raised up and 
 dignified with the prophetic office, such was 
 Moses ; whose mission was by the particular 
 designation of providence confined within the 
 narrow limits of one people : such too was 
 Jesus ; whose more liberal and comprehen- 
 sive system, proceeding from a fuller and 
 more perfect exertion of divine goodness, was 
 destined to confer its benefits, without dis- 
 tinction, on all the widely extended race of 
 mankind. Since time, however, had unhappily 
 corrupted the doctrines of Christianity itself, 
 and left men once more to wander in dark- 
 ness and in error, it had at length pleased 
 the Almighty to elect HIM as the instrument 
 of his gracious designs ; to commission him 
 to rescue religion from the corruptions which 
 obscured its native splendour ; and to place 
 him above Jesus himself, by making him the 
 
142 SERMON IV. 
 
 last great restorer of truth and virtue to the 
 world. 
 
 This scheme in itself appeared fair and 
 plausible ; and the circumstances of the 
 times were such, as tended in a peculiar de- 
 gree to countenance and support it. For 
 we cannot but acknowledge, that the almost 
 universal corruption of the opinions and the 
 practice of Christians, the insuperable obsti- 
 nacy of the Jews, and the impious idolatry 
 of the Arabs, might, to the hasty and super- 
 ficial observer, seem to render such an inter- 
 position of the Deity worthy his benevolence 
 and his justice. 
 
 As the Arabians were the more immediate 
 objects of Mahomet's imposture, he deemed 
 it expedient to flatter them in particular 
 with this notion of an early faith once com- 
 mitted to their ancestors; he bade them re- 
 collect the sacred names of Abraham and of 
 Ishmael, the venerable founders of their na- 
 tion ; and taught them to regard the doc- 
 trines which he proposed to their belief, as 
 nothing more than a restoration of that pure 
 and holy religion which those favourite patri- 
 archs had professed. 
 
 Having thus far matured his great and 
 ambitious project; having thus determined 
 
SERMON IV. 143 
 
 on the most probable means of executing it 
 with sLiccesSj he thought that he might now 
 venture to announce his pretended revelation 
 to the world. 
 
 The character of Mahomet, according to 
 Eastern historians, had been hitherto pre- 
 served unblemished : his moral qualities, no 
 less than his other accomplishments, had 
 contributed to raise him in the esteem of his 
 fellow-citizens ; and his integrity in particu- 
 lar had been honoured with the most flat- 
 tering and distinguished testimony of their 
 approbation. That he might not, however, 
 by too rapid a transition become a reformer 
 of those very errors in which he himself had 
 been involved ; that he might not too sud- 
 denly commence a preacher against that ido- 
 latry which he had practised in common with 
 the rest of his countrymen ; and that he 
 might acquire a reputation for sanctity in 
 some measure correspondent with the high 
 and venerable office which he was about to 
 ussume ; he affected to pass a great part of 
 his time in religious retirement, and holy 
 meditation ; he became more grave in his 
 deportment, more profuse in his charities, 
 and more assiduous in his devotions. 
 
 When the time which he had chosen to 
 announce his mission approached ; when the- 
 
144 SErxMON IV. 
 
 night which was to cover him with gloiy, ac* 
 cording to the expression of Abulfeda, was 
 at length arrived ; he withdrew in silence to 
 the solitary cave, which had been the usual 
 place of his retirement. Here, he pretended, 
 the divine commands were first communi- 
 cated to him with the most awful solemnit}' ; 
 and here he received his great commission as 
 the prophet and apostle of God, by the 
 hands of Gabriel, the glorious messenger of 
 the most High. 
 
 The first efforts of the impostor were con- 
 fined to the conversion of his own household. 
 Having succeeded thus far, he pretended to 
 receive more frequent communications of the 
 divine will ; and proceeded by every species 
 of artifice, and by the force of superior ta- 
 lents, to gain over to his party some of the 
 most powerful inhabitants of Mecca. 
 
 After three years thus spent in secret 
 amidst various machinations and intrigues, 
 when he could now repose full confidence in 
 the blind obedience of his new converts, he 
 at length feigned an express command from 
 heaven to proclaim to the world at large the 
 important oflSce with which he was invested, 
 and to exhort his countrymen in particular 
 to forsake the error of their w^ays, to em- 
 brace with ardour the holy religion which he 
 
SERMON IV. 145 
 
 was commissioned to reveal to them ; and 
 thus to save themselves from that vengeance, 
 which an offended God would most assuredly 
 execute upon a disobedient world. 
 
 He now began to declaim boldly and 
 openly against the reigning idolatry ; and, 
 that his preaching might produce the great- 
 est possible effect, he omitted no opportunity 
 of awakening the passions of his hearers : he 
 roused their hopes by his glowing and ani- 
 mated descriptions of the eternal pleasures 
 that adorn the habitation of the faithful : 
 he alarmed their fears by the horrid pictures 
 which he drew of the dreadful torments that 
 were destined to be the portion of unbe- 
 lievers. 
 
 The Christians, indeed, unmasked the de- 
 signs and exposed the fallacies of the impos- 
 tor. The Jews, not perceiving in Mahomet 
 any of those characteristic marks which were 
 to distino;uish the 2:lorious Messiah whom 
 they still expected, rejected his pretensions 
 with disdain. The rulers of Mecca, sensible 
 of the danger which threatened a worship, 
 on which all their credit and authority were 
 founded, endeavoured to impede his pro- 
 gress, first by severe and repeated menaces, 
 and at length by actual violence. Even the 
 multitude, on his first public appearance in 
 
 L 
 
146 SERMON IV. 
 
 the character of prophet, ridiculed his pre- 
 tences, and insuked him with the odious ap- 
 pellations of a magician and an impostor. 
 
 Under circumstances thus discouraging, 
 amidst the clamours of the unthinking, the 
 suspicions of the unprejudiced, and the 
 abhorrence even of the virtuous, the bold 
 and determined impostor remained unmoved. 
 Unshaken in his purposes, and regardless of 
 the dano-ers and difficulties that surrounded 
 him, opposition, instead of damping his cou- 
 rage, or repressing his ambition, served only 
 to confirm his resolution, and to increase his 
 activity. Apparently insensible to every in- 
 sultt hat was offered, he applied himself with 
 unwearied assiduity to all ranks and distinc- 
 tions of men. By the charms of his conversa- 
 tion, and by the elegance of his manners, he 
 obtained the favour of the great : he sought 
 to gain the affections of the poor, by conde- 
 scending to mix with them in all the habits 
 of familiar intercourse, and by relieving their 
 distresses with a liberal and unsparing hand : 
 by unremitted endeavours to please, and by 
 a constant exertion of those arts of insinua- 
 tion which he so eminently possessed, he gra- 
 dually concihated the affections of all. 
 
 Thus, in defiance of all opposition, the ex- 
 alted genius, the manly and persuasive elo- 
 
SERMON IV. 147 
 
 (juence, the consummate policjs and the al- 
 luring doctrines of the new prophet, daily 
 augmented the number of his disciples. 
 
 Compelled, however, at length to escape, 
 by a precipitate flight, the last desperate ef- 
 fort of his exasperated foes, he found a se- 
 cure and adA^antageous retreat in a place* 
 whither his reputation had already reached. 
 Here, by an exertion of the same diligence, 
 and by the practice of the same artifice, 
 he soon found himself enabled to collect a 
 considerable number of followers, whose be- 
 lief in his mission was firmly established, and 
 whose zeal for the propagation of his rehgion, 
 and the support of his character as a prophet, 
 was too strong to be shaken by any threats 
 of danger or of death. 
 
 With increasing power the impatience and 
 the ambition of the impostor also increased. 
 The view of empire seems now to have 
 opened more fully and clearly upon him ; 
 and, unable to wait for the tedious operation 
 and uncertain effect of argument and of rea- 
 son, he now pretended to have received the 
 divine command to unsheath the sword of 
 the Almighty, and to subdue by the violence 
 of arms those who had been obstinately deaf 
 to the voice of persuasion. 
 
 * Medina. 
 L 2 
 
148 SERMON IV. 
 
 Mahomet had hitherto acted the darker 
 and more disguised part of the crafty de- 
 ceiver, and the profound politician ; but 
 without neglecting these arts, he now began 
 to assume also another character, and to dis- 
 play the more splendid talents of a com-^ 
 mander and a hero. The first actions, how- 
 ever, with which he commenced his military 
 career, resemble the irregular exploits of the 
 robber, more than the systematical opera- 
 tions of the warrior ; and seem to have been 
 influenced rather by a rapacious desire of 
 plunder, than by a pious zeal for the con- 
 version of unbelievers. But, enriched by the 
 spoils, and aggrandized by the fame of his 
 successes, he was soon enabled to engage 
 in attempts of greater and more extensive 
 importance. 
 
 The rapidity of his attacks, the sagacity 
 of his stratagems, and the boldness of his 
 designs, aided by the enthusiastic valour 
 with which he had inspired his troops, soon 
 rendered him superior to his numerous ad- 
 versaries. Whilst the flame of fanaticism, 
 which he himself had kindled, burnt furiously 
 in every breast around him, he alone cool 
 and deliberate in the midst of slaughter and 
 confusion, marked every movement of the 
 enemy, took advantage of every error, and 
 
SERMON IV. 149 
 
 left no artifice unemployed to obtain and to 
 secure the victory. The conduct of Maho- 
 met towards those whom his arms had con- 
 quered was different under different circum- 
 stances : according as interest required, or 
 policy directed, we behold it now distin- 
 guished by an ostentation of the most heroic 
 clemency, and ~now stained with all the ex- 
 cesses of ferocious cruelty. When mild and 
 gentle measures seemed best calculated to 
 conciliate the affections of those whom de- 
 spair might render formidable, we behold 
 him with an air of affected generosity dis- 
 missing thousands of his captives. When 
 acts of severity appeared expedient to inti- 
 midate the obstinate, we behold him basely 
 taking vengeance on the fallen, and, with 
 every circumstance of deliberate and savage 
 barbarity, imbruing his hands in the blood 
 of the conquered. 
 
 His numerous and splendid victories were 
 not only the efficacious means of extending 
 his power, and of realizing the hopes which 
 ambition had inspired ; but they were also 
 eventually subservient to the gratification of 
 a passion less generous indeed, though not 
 less violent in its effects, or less forcible in 
 its influence on the human heart. Whilst 
 the wretched victims of his power were sa- 
 
 l3 
 
150 SERMON IV. 
 
 crificed i6 his cruelty or his policy, a still se- 
 verer fate awaited tlie female captive ; who 
 was compelled to submit to the base and in- 
 ordinate desires of a barbarian conqueror, 
 and was forced into those arms which were 
 stained with the recent slaughter of a friend, 
 a brother, or a parent. 
 
 From every view of the life of Mahomet, 
 and even from the partial representations of 
 his zealous and infatuated followers, it is evi- 
 dent that ambition and lust were the pas- 
 sions which divided the empire of his breast. 
 From the separate or united influeace of 
 these powerful principles, it would not be 
 difficult to trace almost every great design, 
 and every important action of his life. Hence 
 originated the grand and stupendous scheme 
 of his imposture; and hence we observe each 
 subordinate part throughout its whole con- 
 texture, pointing immediately or ultimately 
 to the gratification of one or both of these 
 predominant passions. 
 
 During his earlier years, indeed, every 
 measure seems to have been dictated, and 
 every inferior consideration utterly absorbed, 
 by an unvaried attention to the pursuits and 
 the interests of ambition. The nature of his 
 undertaking, particularl}^ in its first stages, 
 required no common degree of prudence 
 
SERMON IV. 151 
 
 and caution. That policy, which formed so 
 distinguishing a part of his character, doubt- 
 less compelled him for a while to conceal, if 
 not to restrain, the indulgence of irregular 
 passions : lest the licentiousness of his man- 
 ners should give offence to those whose good 
 opinion it was his object to conciliate ; and 
 the immorality of his practice, by betraying 
 the secret motives and propensities of his 
 heart, should unravel the web which his hy- 
 pocrisy w^as w^eaving^ before it had acquired 
 sufficient strength and consistence. Hence, 
 both before, and during the first years of his 
 pretended mission, whilst his daring schemes 
 were yet immature, and their success uncer- 
 tain, the artful impostor, as we have reason 
 to believe, regulated every part of his con- 
 duct by the strict rules of external decorum. 
 But no sooner was his reputation as a pro- 
 phet established ; no sooner was his autho- 
 rity rooted too firmly to be shaken by any 
 common or ordinary eventj and his ambition 
 in some measure satiated bj' the possession 
 of power, than another passion arose ; and, 
 shakino; off the restraint which had hitherto 
 suppressed it, with a violence equally arbi- 
 trary, now hurried him away into the wildest 
 extravagancies. 
 
 At lenojth his attention to the cold and 
 1,4 
 
152 SERMON IV. 
 
 jealous cautions of prudence ceased witli its 
 necessity; and from an affectation of exem- 
 plary purity of manners, he now rushed into 
 the most public and criminal excesses of 
 sensual indulgence. That address to the 
 carnal appetites, which permitted them so 
 liberal an indulgence in the present hfe, 
 and promised their complete and eternal 
 gratification in another, was one of the 
 most alluring snares which he so success- 
 fully spread to captivate his countrymen. 
 The laws which he prescribed for the re- 
 gulation of these passions were too loose 
 for the most compliant moralist to justify, 
 and too favourable to afford the most aban- 
 doned sensuahst any probable ground of 
 complaint. 
 
 But the boundless lust of Mahomet dis- 
 dained to be confined even within the exten- 
 sive limits which he had drawn for his fol- 
 lowers. It was reasonable that the prophet 
 should be distinguished above the rest of 
 mankind by exclusive privileges ; and that 
 his appetites and passions should be indulged 
 with an appropriate and peculiar licence. 
 Sole master of the oracles of heaven, he ever 
 compelled them to speak that language, 
 which was best adapted to his designs. 
 Hence he was possessed of an unfailing re- 
 
SERMON IV. 153 
 
 source under every exigency, and thus a 
 satisfactory answer was alwa3^s prepared to 
 solve every objection, and to remove every 
 scruple, Avhich the malice of his enemies, or 
 the pious doubts of his friends, might raise 
 against him. Hence we behold the God of 
 purity himself introduced to sanctify and 
 approve the sensual immoralities of his pro- 
 phet, and to silence the murmurs of his pro- 
 fane or short-sighted followers ; who had 
 been weak enough to imagine, that the same 
 laws, which were obligatory on the vulgar, 
 hkewise extended their sanction to the sacred 
 and venerable character of the apostle. 
 
 I will not presume to shock the feelings 
 of this audience by a nearer prospect of the 
 chamber of the prophet : indeed the most 
 abandoned libertine would blush at the par- 
 ticular representation of the horrid and dis- 
 gusting scenes which there unfold themselves 
 to our astonished view. It is therefore suffi- 
 cient to observe in general, that the retire- 
 ments of Mahomet, from his first acquisition 
 of power to his last decline of life, were con- 
 tinually disgraced by every excessive indul- 
 gence of that passion, which has a more par- 
 ticular tendency to degrade the dignity of 
 the human character even below the brute 
 creation. 
 
154 SERMON IV. 
 
 That God heareth not sinners^ is a dictate 
 of common nature : and doubtless to a peo- 
 ple who enjoyed a higher degree of civihza- 
 tion, or whose ideas of morahty were purer 
 and more refined than those of the Arabians 
 at that period, these striking blemishes in 
 the character of their prophet would have 
 been sufficient at least to have excited the 
 strongest suspicions against his sincerity, if 
 not absolutely to have overthrown his pre- 
 tensions to a divine communication. 
 
 But if the decision of the Arabs had been 
 in any degree influenced by uncorrupt rea- 
 son, they would have discovered objections 
 equally unanswerable in other prominent 
 and distinguishing features of their great le- 
 gislator. 
 
 There is no stronger or more infallible 
 criterion of truth and falsehood, than con- 
 sistency. To support an assumed character 
 with perfect uniformity, and to preserve a 
 regular consistency of conduct under every 
 circumstance, and in every situation of an 
 active and varied life, is a task perhaps too 
 hard for the sagacity of the most skilful im- 
 postor to accomplish. There are moments, 
 in which the propensities of nature will shew 
 themselves, and with irresistible violence 
 break through every artificial restraint which 
 
SERMON IV. 253 
 
 policy may impose. Besides, he who con- 
 ducts a plan of imposture, and consequently 
 whose success depends solely on the machi- 
 nations of human prudence, is under a ne- 
 cessity of accommodating every design to 
 external circumstances; so that his conduct 
 will of course be ever found to vary with his 
 situation. 
 
 Hence the fierce passions of Mahomet, 
 which even in the earlier periods of life, 
 when their influence is most powerful, had 
 been compelled to bend to the views of am- 
 bition and the dictates of policy, no sooner 
 felt the immediate danger of indulgence re- 
 moved, than they impetuously transgressed 
 every restraint of decorum, and even boldly 
 bade defiance to the laws of justice and the 
 obligations of morality. 
 
 Hence, as interest required, he now flat- 
 tered the pride of the Jews, and now ap- 
 pealed to the prejudices of the Arabs : now 
 selecting the temple of Jerusalem, and now 
 that of Mecca, as the hallowed spot toward? 
 which the worship and the prayers of his fol- 
 lowers should be directed. Hence too, at 
 the commencement of his imposture, we find 
 him humble and yielding, labouring only by 
 the powers of eloquence, and by the softer 
 arts of insinuation, to captivate the affections 
 
156 SERMON IV. 
 
 of his countrymen : but in its more advanced 
 state, we behold on a sudden the preacher, 
 by divine command transformed into the 
 warrior: we see his steps every where marked 
 with blood and desolation ; and we hear him, 
 with the stern and ferocious aspect of a con- 
 queror, proposing death or conversion as the 
 only alternative to his subject foes. Thus, 
 in order the more effectually to accomplish 
 his own base and interested designs, the bold 
 impostor scrupled not to subject even the 
 eternal and immutable counsels of the Al- 
 mighty to the imputation of weakness and 
 inconstancy. 
 
 But of the various disguises under which 
 Mahomet attempted to veil the mysterious 
 plan of his imposture, none was more artful 
 in its design, or more successful in its event, 
 than that profound ignorance, and total w^ant 
 of everj'^ kind of literature, to which he con- 
 stantly pretended. On this was founded his 
 most popular and prevailing argument for 
 the truth of that revelation which he pro- 
 fessed to communicate to the world. The 
 elegant style of that revelation, the harmony 
 of its sentences, and the sublimity of its 
 conceptions, were universally acknowledged. 
 Was it not then absurd to imagine, (as the 
 impostor speciously argued,) that a work of 
 
SERMON IV. 157 
 
 such extraordinary beauty and excellence 
 could ever have been composed by a man 
 who was destitute of every species of ac- 
 quired knowledge, and who by his ignorance 
 even of the common rudiments of early edu- 
 cation had been precluded from the perusal 
 of books and the use of writing ? 
 
 To an Arab the argument was irresistible; 
 and even Christian writers, in order to evade 
 its force, have attempted to point out parti- 
 cularly the associates of the impostor, whom 
 they imagine to have composed that Koran, 
 which he only delivered to the world. That 
 the ignorance of Mahomet was not real, but 
 assumed, (considering the commerce in which 
 he had been engaged, and the intercourse 
 which he had held with the inhabitants of 
 more polished states,) might have been rea- 
 sonably suspected. But it might also have 
 been inferred from proofs of a more direct 
 and positive nature. Notwithstanding all 
 his care and circumspection, the mask some- 
 times dropped off, and discovered at once 
 his real character, and the falsehood of his 
 pretences. 
 
 By the confession of his own historians, 
 there were moments in which his pretended 
 ignorance was forgotten, and he not only 
 expressed a desire to exercise, but actually 
 
158 SERMON IV. 
 
 practised that very art, of which he solemnly 
 and repeatedly professed himself to be to- 
 tally ignorant. 
 
 Thus difficult is it, and I might even say 
 impossible, for the most finished and saga- 
 cious hypocrite to preserve an assumed cha- 
 racter with perfect and unvaried uniformity. 
 For nothing is permanent but truth, and no- 
 thing consistent but sincerity. 
 
 If the boundless ambition of Mahomet 
 had been satisfied with that preeminence to 
 which it might have aspired without a crime; 
 if he had been content to have assumed only 
 the character of a legislator, and, by the 
 splendid and astonishing talents he pos- 
 sessed, to have civilized his barbarous coun- 
 trymen, and reclaimed them from idolatry, 
 without the aid of imposture and the im- 
 pious pretence of divine revelation ; if thus 
 glorious had been the object he pursued, 
 and thus innocent the means by which he 
 attained it ; his vices, enormous as they were, 
 might have been overlooked or forgotten 
 amidst the splendor of his virtues ; and we 
 might justly have ranked him amongst the 
 most distinguished friends and benefactors 
 of mankind. 
 
 But in the prophet of God, the great re- 
 former of the world, it is natural to expect a 
 
SERMON IV. 159 
 
 more exemplary purity of manners, and a 
 stricter adherence to the laws of morality : 
 every claim to an office thus sacred and ve- 
 nerable excites the severest attention, and 
 justifies the most rigid examination : but 
 from such a test the character of Mahomet 
 shrinks with guilty apprehension ; and how- 
 ever we may at first view admire the spe- 
 cious virtues and splendid abilities that 
 adorned it, yet this admiration is quickly 
 lost in abhorrence of the base and impious 
 purposes to which they became subservient. 
 
 That the impostor, by the opinions which 
 he introduced, really improved the manners 
 of the Arabs, cannot perhaps be denied : the 
 religion which he established, amidst all its 
 errors and absurdities, possesses many prin- 
 ciples in common with the true, and is 
 doubtless in evei;y respect far preferable to 
 that absurd and monstrous idolatry which 
 w^as then the prevailing creed of Arabia. 
 But when we consider its more extensive 
 diffusion and ultimate consequences ; when 
 we reflect on the excellence of that perfect 
 and lovely system of doctrine and morals 
 which it threatened to destroy, and whose 
 benign influence it still continues fatally to 
 obstruct ; when we call to mind the im- 
 mense multitudes of our fellow-creatures, 
 
160 SERMON IV. 
 
 who are yet involved by its delusions in the 
 most profound darkness and error, our opi- 
 nion concerning him and his imposture is at 
 once determined, and we behold both in 
 their native features of horrid and almost 
 unmixed deformitv. 
 
SERMON V. 
 
 2 Cor. iv. 10. 
 That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest. 
 
 Having before viewed the life and cha- 
 racter of Mahomet, let us now turn our eyes 
 to a brighter picture ; where every grace that 
 can recommend religion, and every virtue 
 that can adorn humanity, are so blended as 
 to excite our admiration, and engage our love. 
 Independently, indeed, of all comparison, 
 the character of Jesus Christ stands forward 
 as the most striking and illustrious represen- 
 tation of whatever things are true, or just, or 
 of good report ; and claims our praise by its 
 own intrinsic excellence. 
 
 In the life of our blessed Lord we discover 
 nothing that can either create suspicion, or ex- 
 cite aversion; we see a thousand excellencies 
 which the hardiest enemies of the gospel are 
 compelled involuntarily to approve. All that 
 negative virtue can secure, and all that posi- 
 tive merit can attain, appear to have been 
 united with equal lustre in this lovely and 
 venerable pattern of Christian imitation. 
 
 M 
 
162 SERMON V. 
 
 But before I descend to the particulars 
 \vhich it may be tiecessary to bring forward 
 in contrastino' the hfe of Christ with that of 
 Mahomet, I beg your permission to introduce 
 some interesting, and, I hope, not imperti- 
 nent reflections on the nature of that histo- 
 rical form in which the Christian revelation 
 has been transmitted to us. 
 
 This form involves the correctness of sys- 
 tem without its abstruseness, and the energy 
 of eloquence without its ostentation. It hap- 
 pily unites the brightness of example with 
 the precision and perspicuity of precept. 
 To the minuteness of detail which belongs to 
 biography, it adds much of that regular ar- 
 rangement, and of that vivid colouring, by 
 which the more eminent writers of poetry 
 hare endeavoured to mark the distinguishing 
 and appropriate qualities of their favourite 
 heroes. Instead of sometimes amusing, and 
 sometimes astonishing us, with those brilliant, 
 but indistinct and fleeting impressions which 
 are excited by general descriptions, or elabo- 
 rate panegyric, it leads us through a series of 
 uniform and characteristic actions, into a 
 clear and full knowledge of the agent. It 
 enables, and gently impels the mind to com- 
 bine by its own operation all the detached in- 
 stance?? of virtue into one bright assemblage. 
 
SERMON V. 163 
 
 It transports the imagination, as it were, into 
 the presence of the person whose excellencies 
 are recorded^ and gives all the finer sensibili- 
 ties of the soul an immediate and warm in- 
 terest in every word and every action. Hence, 
 the manner in which the sacred writers have 
 described the actions of Christ, not only in- 
 creases the efficacy of his instructions, but 
 constitutes a new, a striking, and peculiar 
 species of evidence for the truth of his re- 
 ligion. 
 
 This position it may be of use for us to il- 
 lustrate yet further. 
 
 To compare the character of Socrates 
 with that of Christ is foreign to our pre- 
 sent purpose : but of the manner in which 
 their lives have been respectively written, we 
 may properly take some notice. On the his- 
 tory of Socrates then, have been emploj^ed 
 the exquisite taste of Xenophon, and the 
 sublime genius of Plato. The virtues of this 
 extraordinary man are selected by them as 
 the noblest subjects for the fullest display and 
 most active exertion of their talents; and 
 they have brought to the task not merely 
 the sagacity of philosophers, but the affec- 
 tion of friends, and the zeal of enthusiasts. 
 
 Now the different style of their writings, 
 and the different tempers as well as capaci- 
 
 M 2 
 
164 ^ SERMON V. 
 
 ties of the writers themselves, have produced 
 some variety both in the scenes in which 
 they have exhibited their master, and in the 
 opinions which they have ascribed to him. 
 But in the composition of each, Socrates is 
 distinguished by a noble contempt of popu- 
 lar prejudice, and perverted science ; by an 
 ardent admiration and steady pursuit of vir- 
 tue ; by an anxious concern for the moral 
 improvement of his hearers ; and by an he- 
 roic superiority to the pleasures of life, and 
 to the terrors of impending death. What 
 his illustrious biographers have performed in 
 such a manner as to engage the attention 
 and excite the admiration of successive ages, 
 has been accomplished with yet greater suc- 
 cess by the sacred writers. They have at- 
 tained the same end under heavier difficul- 
 ties, and by the aid of means, which, if they 
 are considered as merely human, must surely 
 be deemed inadequate to the task which they 
 undertook. They were by no means distin- 
 guished by Uterary attainments, or by intel- 
 lectual powers. Their education could not 
 bestow on them very exalted or correct ideas 
 of morality ; and their writings were destitute 
 of every recommendation from the artificial 
 ornaments of style. Yet have these four un- 
 learned men effected by their artless simpli- 
 
SERMON V. 165 
 
 city a work, to which the talents of the two 
 greatest writers of antiquit}^ were not more 
 than equal. 
 
 They have exhibited a character far more 
 lovely in itself, and far more venerable, than 
 fiction has ever painted; and in their mode 
 of exhibiting it, they surpass the fidelity, the 
 distinctness, arid precision, which two of the 
 most celebrated writers have been able to 
 preserve, when exerting the whole powers of 
 their genius, and actuated by the fondest at- 
 tachment, they were endeavouring to do jus- 
 tice to the noblest pattern of real virtue of 
 which antiquity can boast. In Jesus have 
 the Evangelists described brighter and more 
 numerous virtues, than Socrates is said even 
 by his professed admirers to have possessed. 
 In their descriptions they have without effort, 
 and under the influence, it must be allowed, 
 of sincere conviction only, maintained a 
 greater uniformity than the most prejudiced 
 reader can discover in the beautiful compo- 
 sitions of Plato and Xenophon. 
 
 If the desire of communicating their own 
 favourite opinions, or the mutual jealousy of 
 literary fame, be assigned as a reason for the 
 diversity of representation in the two Greek 
 writers, we allow the probability of both sup- 
 positions : but we contend, that each of these 
 
 M 3 
 
166 SERMON V. 
 
 motives is inconsistent with that love of truth, 
 which is necessary to estabhsh the credibiUty 
 of a biographer. We also contend, that the 
 Evangelists were really possessed of this excel- 
 lent quality ; that they never deviated from it, 
 in order to indulge their enmity or envy ; and 
 that with apparent marks of difference in 
 their language, their dispositions, and per- 
 haps in their abilities, they have yet exhi- 
 bited the character of Christ the most strik- 
 ing, if their narratives be separately consi- 
 dered ; and the most consistent, if they be 
 compared with each other. Be it observed 
 too, that the difficulty of preserving that con- 
 sistence increases both with the peculiarity 
 and magnitude of the excellencies described, 
 and with the number of the persons who 
 undertake the office of describing them. 
 
 If it be said, that the superior pretensions 
 of Christ, as a divine teacher, required more 
 splendid virtues than what are expected from 
 Socrates, who taught morality upon principles 
 of human reason only; whence is it that the 
 unpolished, uncultivated minds of the Evan- 
 gelists should even conceive a more magnifi- 
 cent character than the imaginations of a 
 Plato, or a Xenophon ? What aids did they 
 apparently possess for representing it more 
 advantageously? That those four unlettered 
 
SERMON V. 167 
 
 men should have drawn such a, character, 
 with more uniformity in the whole, and with 
 more sublimity in the parts, is therefore a 
 fact which can be accounted for only, by ad- 
 mitting the constant and irninediate guidance 
 of the Holy Spirit, the real existence of Christ's 
 perfections, and tlie strong and lasting im- 
 pression they made upon those ^yho con- 
 versed with him. Those perfections them- 
 selves Avere, indeed, extiaordinary both in 
 kind and in degree. In their kind they are 
 admirable patterns for the conduct of Christ's 
 followers: and in their degree, they are en^i- 
 nently and indisputably proportioned to the 
 transcendent and unrivaljed dignity of hjs 
 own mission. 
 
 Ever}" reader of discernment is disgusted 
 at the fictitious representation of " those 
 " faultless monsters which the world ne er 
 " saw :" every Avriter of taste finds it neces- 
 sary to procure credit to his representations, 
 by throwing some shades of error and in- 
 firmity over the wisest and best of men : 
 every impartial and profound enquirer into 
 the constitution of the human mind is aware 
 that the ruling passion, by which the most 
 amiable and venerable of men are distin- 
 guished, sometimes degenerates into excess ; 
 that the indiscriminate and eager pursuit of 
 
 M 4 
 
168 SERMON V. 
 
 virtue itself imperceptibly leads into vice ; 
 that the most illustrious characters are dis- 
 tinguished by some predominant excellence ; 
 that he who surpasses his fellow-creatures in 
 some instances, falls below them in others ; 
 and that, among the sons of men, no one has 
 yet existed, in whom every great and good 
 quality, every religious and social perfection, 
 have been at once united. 
 
 To these incontrovertible and peneral rules, 
 the life of Christ affords one glorious excep- 
 tion. There is a variety in his virtues, which 
 never shocks probability ; and at the same 
 time there is an uniformity, which never 
 creates satiety. Upon the most common 
 actions he bestows a novelty in his manner 
 of performing them : the uncommon he re- 
 commends by a simplicity, which adds to 
 their charms, without degrading their dignity. 
 
 Here, indeed, it becomes me to observe, 
 that in all his actions he, without any ap- 
 pearance of design, preserves that decorum 
 which the ancient philosophers have ex- 
 plained with so much ingenuity, and which 
 is utterly beyond the reach of affectation or 
 imposture. In abstaining from licentious 
 pleasures he was equally free from ostenta- 
 tious singularity, and churlish sullenness. In 
 partaking, as he sometimes did, the innocent 
 
SERMON V. 169 
 
 enjoyments of life, he never fell into the 
 gaiety of the Epicurean ; in relinquishing 
 them, when the great ends of his mission re- 
 quired it, he was equally free from the as- 
 sumed and unnatural insensibility of the 
 Stoic. When he complied with the established 
 ceremonies of his countrymen, that compli- 
 ance was not accompanied by any marks 
 of bigotry or superstition : when he opposed 
 their rooted prepossessions, his opposition 
 was perfectly exempt from the captious pe- 
 tulance of a controversialist, and the undis- 
 tinguishing zeal of an innovator. 
 
 It is well known, that some virtues owe 
 much of their lustre to local and temporary 
 circumstances ; and that the same actions 
 which may be highly, nay even justly, ex- 
 tolled in one age or country, are in others sur- 
 veyed with listless indifference. " In anti- 
 " quity, ''says an acute observer % " the heroes 
 " of philosophy, as well as those of war and 
 " patriotism, have a grandeur and force of 
 " sentiment which astonishes our narrow 
 " souls, and is rashly considered as extra- 
 " vagant and supernatural. They, in their 
 " turn, I allow, would have equal reason to 
 " consider as romantic and incredible the 
 ^' degree of humanity, clemency, order, tran- 
 
 ' Hume's Essavs. 
 
170 SERMON V. 
 
 " quillity, and other social virtues, to which 
 *' in the administration of government we 
 " have attained in modern times, had any 
 " one been then alive to have made a fair re- 
 " presentation of them/' 
 
 The life of Christ blends these opposite 
 and seemingly irreconcileable excellencies. 
 It avoids their extravagance, and supplies 
 their defects. The courage of our Lord was 
 active in encountering the dangers to which 
 he was exposed, and passive under the ag- 
 gravated calamities which the malice of 
 his foes heaped upon him. Yet his forti- 
 tude was remote from every appearance of 
 rashness ; and his patience was equally ex- 
 empt from abject pusillanimity and stupid 
 apathy. He was firm without obstinacy, and 
 humble without meanness. In the general 
 tenor of his life he was mild and gentle ; the 
 promoter of peace amongst other men, and 
 the strictest observer of it in his own beha- 
 viour. But when great and real occasions 
 called for different deportment, he displayed 
 a nobleness of mind, a contempt of danger 
 and death, such as the importance of his mis- 
 sion required from him, and such as the con- 
 sciousness of rectitude could alone inspire. 
 
 To the virtues of Christ, whether we con- 
 sider them as too sublime to excite any sen- 
 
SERMON V, 171 
 
 tnnents of presumptuous emulation, or too 
 rational not to justify our endeavours to imi- 
 tate them ; whether we examine his private 
 or his public conduct ; may in a nobler sense 
 be applied the beautiful and animated lan- 
 guage, in which a celebrated orator of anti- 
 quity has extolled those arts, by which he 
 was himself distinguished. " Adolescentiam 
 " alunt, senectutem oblectant, secundas res 
 " ornant, adversis perfugium ac solatium 
 " praebent, delectant domi, non impediunt 
 " foris, pernoctant nobiscum, peregrinantur, 
 " rusticantur/' 
 
 Those virtues, indeed, will in no age and 
 no country lose either their usefulness, their 
 beauty, or their merit. They are in various 
 degrees practicable ; under every form of go- 
 vernment, whether free or despotic, whether 
 barbarous or refined ; and in every state of 
 knowledge, whether it be imperfect or im- 
 proved. In the lowest condition of thcAvorld, 
 they tend to lessen the miseries and dis- 
 orders to which the unsearchable provi- 
 dence of God has subjected our species : 
 they will increase the stock of our happiness, 
 and exalt our nature to the highest perfec- 
 tion, when accompanied by every assistance 
 which reason, which philosophy and civiliza- 
 
172 SERMON V. 
 
 tion, can bestow in forming the moral or the 
 religious character of man. 
 
 These observations will, I trust, both eluci- 
 date and justify the biographical form in 
 which Revelation is conveyed to us, God, 
 it is true, might have made known to us his 
 will, by a series of laws, by abstract reason- 
 ings, by short instructive sentences, by co- 
 pious and regular systems, or by any of the 
 various modes of human composition. But 
 Christianity aims at a nobler end, and pur- 
 sues it by the most proper and efficacious 
 methods. We read, indeed, the opinions and 
 the belief of Socrates, and the commands and 
 promises of Mahomet. But by Jesus Christ, 
 virtue, of every kind and in every degree, is 
 exemplified as well as taught. He is the 
 pattern as well as the teacher of the duties 
 we are to perform. His precepts shew us 
 what we ought to practise ; his conduct con- 
 vinces us that it is practicable ; and the re- 
 wards which he has offered are powerful in- 
 centives to us to practise it from the best 
 motives, and in the best manner. His resur- 
 rection from the grave confirms our faith ; 
 his ascension to glory animates our hopes ; 
 the actions of his life, and the circumstances 
 of his death, enlarge and invigorate our cha- 
 
SERMON V. 173 
 
 rity. By these means all the parts of Chris- 
 tianity form one great and consistent whole : 
 every moral rule is realized, and becomes a 
 proof of religious truth ; whilst every reli- 
 gious truth, in its turn, illustrates and en- 
 forces every moral rule. The actions of God 
 himself are, indeed, invisible ; those of men 
 are imperfect ; but the actions of Christ (con- 
 sidered in his human character) are both vi- 
 sible and perfect : they are level to our ap- 
 prehensions, and most worthy of our imita- 
 tion. 
 
 Religion is thus made intelligible to all, 
 because all are bound to obey it. It is ac- 
 companied by a species of demonstration, 
 which the meanest cannot misunderstand ; 
 it is recommended by such an instance of its 
 beauty and its usefulness, as is calculated to 
 remove every scruple, and to silence every 
 objection. 
 
 To evince the justness of these general ob- 
 servations, I shall now enter more particular- 
 ly upon that comparison between the cha- 
 racter of Christ and that of Mahomet, to 
 which I am led by the subject of these Lec- 
 tures. 
 
 The situation and manners of the Jews at 
 the time when our Lord entered upon his 
 public ministry, and the opposition to the 
 
174 SERMON V. 
 
 gospel, to which they gave birth, have ah'eadf 
 been the subject of our consideration. We 
 have seen, that of the many false and mis- 
 taken notions which then prevailed among 
 that blind and deluded people, the expecta- 
 tion of a temporal Messiah was the most ex- 
 tensive and most important. Impatient under 
 the galling yoke of servitude, and blindly at- 
 tached to an opinion, which was at once sup- 
 ported by national pride, and in appearance 
 founded on the literal and express authorit}" 
 of divine revelation; the people in general, 
 and the vulgar in particular, were eager to 
 admit, and zealous to defend, the claims of 
 every pretender to this splendid character. 
 The peculiar nature and wide-spread in- 
 fluence of this prejudice offered the most 
 favourable opportunity, and presented the 
 fairest prospect of temporal authority and 
 dominion, which could have been desired by 
 the most sanguine and ambitious impostor. 
 But of this opportunity no advantage was 
 taken by Jesus Christ. The plan which he 
 pursued Avas in every respect the reverse of 
 what an interested deceiver would have con- 
 certed, whose hopes of success were founded 
 only in the machinations of human policy. 
 
 His first public appearance was in the 
 highest degree unpopular, and opposed to 
 
SERMON V. 175 
 
 all the prejudices and all the pride of his 
 countrymen. Instead of alluring them by 
 the prospect of temporal dominion, to which 
 their hopes and expectations universally 
 pointed, he proclaimed the commencement 
 of a spiritual and invisible kingdom, httle 
 calculated to attract the attention of a peo- 
 ple, who had never been accustomed to raise 
 their views beyond the objects of sense ; and 
 totally inconsistent with every opinion which 
 had been transmitted to them by tradition, 
 and sanctified among them by authority. In- 
 stead of erecting his victorious standard as the 
 glorious redeemer of Israel, their mighty de- 
 liverer from the disgraceful bondage of Ro- 
 man oppression, and from the power of every 
 earthly foe ; he offered them a redemption, 
 more beneficial indeed, though less attractive 
 to the sensual mind ; a redemption from the 
 dreadful tyranny of death. He invited them 
 to a deliverance greater in itself, though less 
 consonant to their wishes, than exemption 
 from servitude to the Roman power ; a deli- 
 verance from the yet severer and more igno- 
 minious slavery of sin. 
 
 Had interest, or ambition, been the guide 
 of his actions, he would certainly have as- 
 sumed that character, to which the warmest 
 hopes and the most rooted prepossessions of 
 
176 SERMON V. 
 
 the Jews universally inclined. He would not 
 have opposed alike the pride of princes, and 
 the superstition of the people ; he would have 
 either courted popularity, or grasped at do- 
 minion ; he, at least, would not have taken 
 every measure, that had a natural tendency 
 to alarm the jealous}^ of the magistrate, 
 and to provoke the displeasure of the mul- 
 titude. 
 
 As ambition had no share in his claims, as 
 his kingdom v/as neither formed on the po- 
 licy, nor supported by the power of the world, 
 he sought not its favour, nor shrunk from its 
 displeasure. Instead of labouring to increase 
 the number of his followers, by an insinuat- 
 ing flexibility in his own manners, or by a 
 corrupt compliance with their prejudices, he 
 gave offence by the unaffected plainness of 
 the one, and by an undisguised opposition 
 to the other. He disdained to conciliate the 
 affections of any class of men, however dig- 
 nified by their station, or formidable for their 
 power, by any base or dishonourable conces- 
 sions : he did not endeavour to win even their 
 assent by a servile or a treacherous accommo- 
 dation of his doctrines to their follies, or their 
 vices. At the same time he opposed those 
 vices, not with the indiscriminate rage of a 
 bhnd enthusiast, but with the steady resolu- 
 
SERMON V. 177 
 
 tion of a wise and upright mind, that mixed 
 zeal with knowledge, and added conviction 
 to authority. Even by the confession of his 
 enemies, ^he was true, and taught the way of 
 God in truth, neither cared he for any man : 
 for he regarded not the persons of men. 
 
 A conduct like this was utterly inconsistr- 
 ent with the intricate wiles of policy, or the 
 aspiring views of ambition. Far from engage 
 ing in the pursuit of secular power and au- 
 thority, the blessed Jesus repeatedly and per- 
 emptorily rejected them when offered to his 
 hands. He disclaimed the office of a ruler or a 
 judge ; he even fled from the infatuated mul- 
 titude, who acknowledged him for their king, 
 and would have exalted him to a throne. 
 
 The impostor of Arabia seized the sceptre, 
 before it was offered to him ; the dictator of 
 Rome rejected a crown, which it was both un- 
 safe and dishonourable for him to wear ; and 
 was conscious, that he had ah'eady obtained 
 the solid power of monarchy, while he re- 
 luctantly, though ostentatiously, refused its 
 gaudy appendages. But far different was 
 the conduct of Jesus Christ. He declined 
 as well the reality of dominion which Caesar 
 possessed, as the appearance of it which 
 Mahomet assumed. He dechned them, at a 
 
 ^ Matt xxii. 16. 
 
 N 
 
178 SERMON V. 
 
 time when by accepting them he might have 
 gratified the pride of his countrymen, sub- 
 dued all the prejudices which obstructed the 
 behef of his mission, and averted many of 
 the dangers Avhich threatened his life. 
 
 Those mistaken views of temporal gran- 
 deur, which the disciples had indulged, their 
 Master industriouslj^ corrected ; he sought on 
 every occasion to humble their pride, to 
 draw off their attention from the things of 
 this world, and to fix them on those above. 
 
 Men, Avlio set no value on any interests 
 but those which were connected with ho- 
 nour, wealth, and pleasure, contemned the 
 humility of his appearance, and derided the 
 plainness of his preaching. Their pride dis- 
 dained all association with a person ignobly 
 born, who pursued no measures to exalt him- 
 self above the common rank of life. Hence, 
 with an immediate view to that humble ap- 
 pearance which he condescended to assume 
 on earth, the prophet Isaiah thus beautifully 
 delineates his character. ^ He shall grow up 
 as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry 
 ground: he hath no form, nor comeliness; and 
 when we shall see him, there is no beauty that 
 we should desire him. He is despised and re- 
 jected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted 
 
 * Isaiah liii. 2, 3. 
 
SERMON V. 179 
 
 with grief; and we hid as it were our faces 
 from him. He was despised^ and we esteemed 
 him not. 
 
 Even his numerous and stupendous mira- 
 cles were not wrought through ostentation, 
 or with any view to serve the purposes of 
 human glory. On the contrary,, they were 
 acts of the purest and most disinterested 
 benevolence. They have a kind of ethical 
 excellence, a close and striking confornjity 
 to the peculiar temper, as well as the distin- 
 guishing and important mission of him, by 
 whom they were performed. 
 
 He often enjoined the strictest secrecy to 
 those who were spectators of these mighty 
 works ; lest he should appear to affect more 
 than to deserve the high character he sus- 
 tained. ^Go thy wayy tell no inan^ was his 
 frequent command to those whom he had 
 rescued from the sharp anguish of disease, 
 the gloomy horrors of blindness, or the ago? 
 nizing distractions of demoniac phrenzy. 
 
 From a similar principle arose his con^ 
 descension in admitting little children to his 
 arms, in blessing them, and recommending 
 them to the protection of his heavenly Fa- 
 ther, and to the tender affection of his disci- 
 ples. From the same principle, he vouch- 
 
 * Matt. viii. 4. Mark viii. 26, Luke viii. 5^^ 
 N 2 
 
180 SERMON V. 
 
 safed to wash his disciples* feet ; and by so 
 amiable an instance of humiUty inculcated 
 this gracious lesson, that no office of benevo- 
 lent assistance should be thought contempti- 
 ble, or unworthy even the dignity of the 
 most exalted character, if thereby a fiiend 
 may be relieved in pain, or a fellow-creature 
 extricated from distress. 
 
 Now if his humility had beer^ only af- 
 fected, in order to cover designs of which 
 ambition was the hidden motive, there would 
 have been some unguarded moment when 
 the mask would have dropped off. But the 
 whole life of our blessed Lord, in all its vicis- 
 situdes, is marked by the same calm indif- 
 ference to worldly honours, the same manly 
 disregard of popular applause, the same 
 exemption from the impatience of desire 
 when preeminence was offered to him, and 
 from the anguish of disappointment when it 
 was refused. 
 
 As the conduct of Christ was not actuated 
 by ambition, so neither was it influenced by 
 any other base and inordinate passion. He 
 did not make his doctrine subservient to the 
 gratification of any darling lusts and corrupt 
 affections in himself, or his disciples : on the 
 contrary, he constantly enjoined the practice 
 of the purest, the strictest, and the most re- 
 
SERMON V. 181 
 
 fined chastity; not only in outward actions, 
 but even in the inward imaginations of the 
 heart. He boasted of no exclusive privileges, 
 nor claimed any invidious exceptions from 
 the laws Avhich he had prescribed to others. 
 He allowed no licentiousness under the pre- 
 tence of religion ; and transgressed no rules 
 of decency or of rectitude, under the arro- 
 gated sanction of the Divinity. 
 
 Though possessed of the most unbounded 
 power, we behold him living continually in 
 a state of voluntary humiliation and poverty; 
 we see him daily exposed to almost every 
 species of want and distress ; afflicted w^ith- 
 out a comforter, persecuted without a pro- 
 tector, and wandering about, according to 
 his own pathetic complaint, because he had 
 not where to lay Ids head. 
 
 Though regardless of the pleasures, and 
 sometimes destitute of the comforts, of hfe, 
 he never provokes our disgust, by the sour- 
 ness of the misanthrope ; or our contempt, 
 by the inactivity of the recluse. He never 
 affected gloomy austerity ; nor sought to be 
 sequestered from the world, in order to pre- 
 serve the spirituality of his mind. But his 
 ministry was professedly, and really, des- 
 tined to active employment; and engaged in 
 promoting the noblest interests of mankind. 
 
 1^3 
 
182 SERMON V. 
 
 He therefore freely mixed with them in all 
 the habits of social intercourse : and in those 
 moments, when all the avenues of the heart 
 are open to gaiety and affection, he silently 
 instructed his companions in the rare, but 
 exquisite art of being cheerful without levity, 
 and of uniting solid improvement with harm- 
 less entertainment. Socrates conversed fami- 
 liarly with the impious and the licentious, 
 for the sake of correcting more effectually 
 their errors, and restraining their vices ; but 
 his reasonings are sometimes unnecessarily 
 abstruse, sometimes paradoxical, and very 
 often indecisive : and in his behaviour in- 
 stances may be found where his gaiety de- 
 generates into buffoonery, and his irony into 
 bitter and indecent sarcasm. Jesus deigned 
 to associate with publicans and sinners : but 
 he always preserved an exact decorum in 
 word and deed ; and even in his most fami- 
 liar conversations he steadily kept in view 
 the momentous end for which he came into 
 the world. 
 
 His attention to their welfare was evi- 
 denced not only by his salutary injunctions, 
 which breathed the full and genuine spirit of 
 compassion and love; but by his readiness 
 to embrace every opportunity of relieving 
 their distresses, and administering to their 
 
SERMON V. 183 
 
 wants. He Avas, therefore, in a literal as 
 well as a metaphorical sense, ^eyes to the 
 hlind ; feet was he to the lame ; and the bless- 
 ifigs of them that were ready to perish caine 
 upon him. In everj'^ period and circumstance 
 of his life we thus behold dignity and eleva- 
 tion blended with love and pity: something, 
 which, though it awakens our admiration, 
 yet attracts our confidence. We see power; 
 but it is a power which is rather our security 
 than our dread ; a power softened by tender- 
 ness, and soothing, while it awes. 
 
 And yet, with all the gentleness of a meek 
 and lowly mind, we behold an heroic firm- 
 ness, which no terrors could shake, and no 
 opposition could restrain. This union of op- 
 posite qualities constitutes, indeed, the dis- 
 tinguishing beauty of his character. It pre- 
 sents us, as it were, with the lights and 
 shades, which, mixed in due proportion, con- 
 tribute to the finishing of the picture. Had 
 his actions been governed only by the soft 
 and yielding influences of gentleness and 
 compassion, he never could have completed 
 a work, which called for the most determined 
 efforts of active zeal and fortitude. Beside^ 
 this deficiency in point of positive exertion, 
 his conduct, if wholly guided by the gentler 
 
 ' Jobxxix. l^, 13. 
 
 N 4 
 
184 SERMON V. 
 
 prii^ciples of the human heart, would have 
 subjected him to the suspicion of a bhnd and 
 irrational impulse : it would have been im- 
 puted to a complexional felicity of temper, 
 a mere instinctive benevolence ; which, hav- 
 ing no moral motive, could be entitled to no 
 praise ; and which, being destitute of a steady 
 priuciple, Avould prove of little benefit to 
 mankind. The conduct of our blessed Lord 
 was, therefore, guided by reason as well as 
 by affection ; and was distinguished as much 
 by an heroic zeal for the truth, and an unre- 
 lenting opposition to the errors and wicked- 
 ness of the times, as by the gentler qualities 
 of meekness, compassion, and forbearance. 
 
 That the character sustained by our Lord 
 was not assumed, that he was in reality and 
 truth what he appeared to be, is evident from 
 the perfect consistency of his conduct. 
 
 In the exemplary uniformity of Cato's be- 
 haviour, we see the cause of that splendid 
 panegyric which the historian has bestowed 
 on him : " ^ Esse, quam videri, bonus male- | 
 " bat.'' Now on this very principle we assert 
 the sincerity of Christ; because, in every j 
 period of his history we find that he never * 
 swerves from moral rectitude, nor sinks be-* 
 low the dignity of his religious character. In 
 
 ' Sallust. Bell. Catil, 
 
SERMON V. 185 
 
 the private scenes of life, and in the pubUc 
 occupations of his ministry ; whether the ob* 
 ject of admiration or of ridicule, of love or of 
 persecution ; whether welcomed with hosan- 
 nas, or insulted with anathemas ; we still see 
 him pursuing with unwearied constancy the 
 same end, and preserving the same integrity 
 of life and manners. 
 
 To exemplify these extraordinary qualities 
 and virtues in the actions of that life which 
 they adorned, is a task from which I retire 
 with awful diffidence. 
 
 Some of the brightest characters which 
 poetry has feigned, or history has recorded, 
 become more pleasing and more interesting 
 to us from the contrast of their weaknesses 
 and excellencies in different situations, or 
 from the mixture of both in the same action. 
 But the life of Christ has none of those in- 
 equalities, which it is the delight of the orator 
 to paint, and of the philosopher to analyze. 
 The natural and unaffected deportment which 
 he invariably preserved, without painful ex- 
 ertion, and without insidious design ; the 
 consistence between each particular action 
 and each particular situation ; the conformity 
 of all his actions to one common rule, the 
 word of God ; and their tendency to one 
 common end, the salvation of mankind ; may 
 
186 SERMON V.. 
 
 be explored by the profound moralist, must 
 be admired by the pious believer, but can- 
 not be described, surely, without a portion 
 of that matchless simplicity, with which they 
 are recorded by the inspired evangehsts. 
 Too plain for ornament, and too grand for 
 illustration, the character of Jesus leaves at 
 a distance the powers of language. Sur- 
 rounded with the meanest circumstances, 
 and at the same time distinguished by the 
 most important and astonishing events, it 
 seems to baffle equally by its humility, and 
 its majesty, all the feeble eftbrts of human 
 eloquence. 
 
 The birth of our Saviour, placed in the 
 lowliest scene of povert}^ was first announced 
 to the shepherds, watching their flocks : but 
 the message was brought by an angel, and a 
 multitude of the heavenly host. Though he 
 was laid in a manger in despised Bethlehem, 
 the Magi of the East were conducted by a 
 star to visit the humble spot. Sprung, as he 
 was, from the meanest origin, and educated 
 in the meanest occupation ; yet to him was 
 committed the care of immortal souls, and 
 the salvation of a corrupt and deluded world. 
 His associates he had called from the poorest 
 and most ignorant of the people: them, 
 however, did he commission to publish the 
 
SERMON V. 187 
 
 doctrines of faith ; and on them the Holy 
 Ghost descended. Though a friendless wan- 
 derer, in his own country an exile and an 
 outcast, he was distinguished whithersoever 
 he went by signs and miracles. Even in 
 his last hour, when he was numbered with 
 malefactors on the cross ; the darkness which 
 overspread the land, the rending of rocks, 
 the opening of graves, and all the convul- 
 sions, as it were, of sympathizing nature, 
 gave tokens of the Son of God. 
 
 Considered then in all its circumstances, 
 the history of Christ shrinks not from com- 
 parison with the most partial and lofty re- 
 presentation of the prophet of Arabia. 
 
 Of both we find, that the earlier part of 
 life, before the pubhcation of their respective 
 missions, passed away in silence, private and 
 undistinguished. The first years of Maho- 
 met were busied in the cares of merchan- 
 dize ; till returning to his native city, he de- 
 voted to solitude and retirement the leisure 
 which his opulence had procured. The youth 
 of Jesus was spent in domestic privacy, and 
 was remarkable only for affectionate and 
 dutiful submission to his parents ; unless, 
 indeed, when in the temple he by his ready 
 answers to the questions of the Rabbins, 
 and his skilful exposition of the scriptures, 
 
188 SERMON V. 
 
 astonished those that heard him, and gave 
 an omen of his future greatness. 
 
 The designs of Mahomet were gradually 
 and cautiously unfolded ; and in order to 
 prepare the minds of his countrymen for the 
 reception of his faith, he first artfully per- 
 suaded his own relations and domestics, and 
 drew to his side the most powerful of his 
 neighbours. 
 
 Jesus walked forth by the sea of Galilee, 
 and saw fishers casting their nets. These 
 were his first converts and disciples. Though 
 they were destitute of riches and of power, 
 he found in them what his ministry required, 
 an honest and a willing spirit. He won 
 them neither by subtle arguments, nor crafty 
 persuasions; but bade them forsake their 
 nets and follow him, to see his humble dwell- 
 ing, to hear his heavenly discourses to the 
 people, and witness the wonders he was go- 
 ing to perform. 
 
 Jesus called his hearers to repentance, but 
 Mahomet to conquest. 
 
 At their first appearance they were both 
 compelled to avoid the rage of the multitude, 
 who would have destroyed them: but Ma- 
 homet escaped by a secret, ignominious flight, 
 and Jesus by a pubhc miracle. 
 
 The revelation o( the Arabian prophet w as 
 
SERMON V, 189 
 
 inconsistent ; a S3^stem of contradiction, 
 continually shifting with the views of his 
 policy, and the necessities of his imposture; 
 now looking towards Mecca, and now to 
 Jerusalem. AVidely different was the con- 
 duct of Christ. He did not seek to ac- 
 commodate his doctrine to fortuitous changes 
 in his external circumstances; he did not at 
 one time revoke what he had asserted, or 
 contradict w^hat he had enjoined, at another. 
 Every part of his teaching was regular and 
 consistent in the objects to which it was di- 
 rected, and the language in which it was con- 
 veyed. 
 
 Mahomet allured his followers with the 
 glories of a visible monarchy, and the splen- 
 dor of temporal dominion. In him we be- 
 hold the lord of war, and the destroyer of 
 mankind, riding in triumph over the spoils of 
 thousands who fell by his desolating sword ; 
 laying cities in flames ; carrying misery and 
 bloodshed through the earth; and pursued 
 in his victorious career by the lamentations 
 and curses of its inhabitants. In Jesus we 
 see the adorable prince of peace, the friend 
 and saviour of the world, riding meekly to 
 the holy City, hailed with the acclamations 
 and blessings of much people, whom he had 
 rescued from sin and death, wiping the tears 
 
J90 SERMON V. 
 
 from all eyes, and healing every sickness and 
 every disease. 
 
 And here the comparison must cease. The 
 events that followed in our Saviour's life are 
 too august to be placed in competition with 
 any mortal power, and can be compre- 
 hended only by minds habituated to the con- 
 templation of heavenly objects. Let us con- 
 sider the passion of our Lord, and the mag- 
 nificent scenes of his resurrection and ascen- 
 sion ; and then ask, in what part of all the 
 history of Mahometism any parallel or re- 
 semblance can be found? Let us consider 
 the last days of Christ's continuance upon 
 earth, and how does the prophet of Mecca 
 sink in the comparison! Let us in imagina- 
 tion hear and see the blessed Jesus, when he 
 gives his Apostles authority to go forth and 
 baptize all nations, and preach in his name 
 repentance and remission of sins ; when he 
 empowers them to cast out evil spirits, to 
 speak with new tongues, and to work won- 
 ders ; when he holds up to them the promise 
 of the Comforter, and power from on high ; 
 and when, having blessed them, he ascends 
 into heaven, where he is for ever seated in 
 glory on the right hand of God. 
 
 But chiefly, what raises Christ and his re- 
 ligion far above all ;bhe fictions of Mahomet, 
 
SERMON V, 191 
 
 is that awful alternative of hopes and fears, 
 that looking for of judgment, which our Chris- 
 tian faith sets before us. 
 
 At that day, when time, the great arbiter 
 of truth and falsehood, shall bring to pass 
 the accomplishment of the ages, and the Son 
 of God shall make his enemies his footstool ; 
 then shall the deluded followers of the great 
 impostor, disappointed of the expected in- 
 tercession of their prophet, stand trembling 
 and dismayed at the approach of the glori- 
 fied Messiah. 
 
 Then shall they say, Yonder cometh in 
 the clouds that Jesus, whose religion we la- 
 boured to destroy, whose temples we pro- 
 faned, whose servants and followers we cru- 
 elly oppressed ! Behold he cometh : but no 
 longer the humble son of Mary, no longer a 
 mere mortal prophet, the equal of Abraham 
 and of Moses, as that deceiver taught us ; 
 but the everlasting Son of the everlasting 
 Father! The Judge of mankind ! The Sove- 
 reign of Angels ! The Lord of all things both 
 in earth and heaven ! 
 
SERMON VI 
 
 J Kings xiii. 18. 
 
 He said — / am a prophet also — and an angel spake to me 
 by the word of the Lord, But he lied — 
 
 J-N the days of man's innocence, while he 
 was yet but httle lower than the angels, he 
 conversed with God, without shame or ter- 
 ror, face to face. But when, by his fatal 
 transgression, he had fallen from that hap- 
 piness in which he was created, he was ex- 
 cluded from this exalted intercourse; and the 
 Deity appointed beings of an intermediate 
 rank between himself and mankind, to dis- 
 pense his favours and to reveal his will to 
 his deoraded creature. After the transores- 
 sion of Adam, he no longer conversed fa- 
 miliarly with the sons of men. Moses only 
 was permitted to approach his presence, to 
 converse immediately with the most High^ 
 and to behold from the cleft of the rock a 
 small portion of the divine glory passing by. 
 Various were the methods by which the 
 Almighty condescended to make known his 
 will to his people. Usually indeed he spake 
 
 o 
 
194 SERMON VL 
 
 in dreams and visions : but the more solemn 
 manner, in which he chose to instruct man- 
 kind, was by employing the ministration of 
 angels ; who were occasionally sent to deli- 
 ver the divine commands, and to disclose the 
 hidden events of futurity to the patriarchs 
 and prophets. 
 
 Of these divine messengers Gabriel alone 
 is expressly named in the canonical scrip- 
 tures. He was the favoured minister, who 
 was commissioned to shew to Daniel the re- 
 storation of Jerusalem, the fate of monarchies, 
 and those mighty events that were destined 
 to make reconciliation for iniquity^ to bring in 
 everlasting righteousness, and to seal tip the 
 vision and prophecy. By him the birth of the 
 Baptist was foretold to Zecharias ; and by 
 him the incarnation of the Messiah was an- 
 nounced to the Holy Virgin. 
 
 A name so distinguished, the impostor Ma- 
 homet justly conceived, would be propitious 
 to his designs : accordingly he pretended 
 that his own revelations were transmitted 
 to him from heaven by the ministration of 
 the same angel. 
 
 To enter into a philosophical enquiry con- 
 cerning. the interposition of spirits in the af- 
 fairs of men, is on the present occasion total- 
 ly unnecessary. The fact involves no impos- 
 
SERMON VL 195 
 
 sibility ; and till the relation in which this 
 world may stand to the great system of the 
 universe be fully and distinctly known, who 
 shall dare to affirm that the actions of men 
 are unknown or indifferent to moral and ra- 
 tional agents, who are endowed with nobler 
 capacities, and employed in a more extensive 
 sphere ? 
 
 To metaphysical subtleties, which rest on 
 gratuitous and arbitrary assumption, it is suf- 
 ficient then to oppose the general and uni- 
 form belief of all ages, whether dark or 
 enlightened, and of all countries, whether 
 barbarous or civilized : but in the present 
 enquiry we shall consider the interposition of 
 angels only in an historical point of view, 
 and shall dispute the pretensions of Maho- 
 met on a principle which is equally admitted 
 by the believers both of the Koran and of 
 the Gospel. 
 
 As the pretended intercourse of Mahomet 
 with the angel Gabriel rests solely on the 
 suspicious authority of his own assertion, his 
 pretensions will not admit of any serious at- 
 tack or any plausible defence. But when he 
 affirms that this divine messenger conmiu- 
 nicated to him revelations so inimitably sub- 
 lime and beautiful, that they could not have 
 
 o 2 
 
196 SERMON VI. 
 
 proceeded from any created being ; when he 
 defies both men and genii to produce any 
 composition that should bear the least re- 
 semblance to his boasted Koran ; when he 
 boldly proposes it to the test of the severest 
 examination, and holds it out to the admi- 
 ration of the whole world as a tablet in- 
 scribed in legible characters by the finger of 
 the Deity, then we have some opportunity for 
 enquiryj and some foundation for argument. 
 
 Admitting, what can never be proved, this 
 new hypothesis, that any composition may 
 be so perfect as to transcend the powers of 
 man, and rise to our ideas of a miracle; yet 
 we peremptorily deny the conclusion, thus 
 applied from it to the Koran. His infatu- 
 ated followers regarded it as something too 
 wonderful to be the work of one Avho pro- 
 fessed himself to be both unlearned and igno- 
 rant : and the impostor himself declared it 
 superior to the utmost reach of the most en- 
 lightened and cultivated mind. 
 
 If to confident assertions imphcit behef 
 v/ere due, we might assent to each of these 
 opinions : but if we turn our eyes, first upon 
 the life of Mahomet, (which we have already 
 reviewed,) and then on his Koran, which re- 
 mains to be considered, we shall see no rea- 
 
SERMON VI. 197 
 
 son either to glow with the raptures of the 
 Mussulman, or to re-echo the boasts of the 
 prophet. 
 
 By the advocates of Mahometisra, the Ko- 
 ran has always been held forth as the great- 
 est of miracles, and equally stupendous with 
 the act of raisino- the dead. The miracles of 
 Moses and Jesus, they say, were transient 
 and temporary ; but that of the Koran is 
 permanent and perpetual; and therefore far 
 surpasses all the miraculous events of preced- 
 ing ages. We will not detract from the real 
 merit of the Koran : we allow it to be oene- 
 rally elegant, and often sublime ; but at the 
 same time we reject with disdain its arrogant 
 pretence to any thing supernatural. As we 
 before discovered the supposed ignorance of 
 the author to be no other than an artful dis- 
 guise which he assumed, to carry on more 
 eifectually his fraudulent designs ; we shall 
 now as readily be convinced, that all the real 
 excellence of the work is to be referred to na- 
 tural and visible causes. 
 
 AVhen the Arabs adopted the religion of 
 Mahomet, all suspicions of his sincerity were 
 lost in exultation at his success, and admira- 
 tion of his character. 
 
 They did not pause to examine an}^ ab- 
 stract question on the consistence of his pre- 
 
 o3 
 
198 SERMON VI. 
 
 tended revelations. A bright and prominent 
 example stood before them, which over- 
 whelmed them with tumultuous amazement, 
 and fascinated them into the most implicit 
 confidence. His triumphs over enemies were 
 considered as the most brilliant acquisitions 
 to their national glory : and ia ihe dexterity 
 of his contrivance and the vigour of his exe- 
 cution they saw the sublime features of the 
 hero of their country. His claims to a divine 
 commission, attended with an exterior sanc- 
 tity of demeanor, and supported by a long 
 and splendid series of victories, confirmed 
 them in their veneration for an instructor so 
 eminently favoured, it should seem, by the 
 interposition of heaven itself. 
 
 A confidence thus seemingly deserved, and 
 thus liberally bestowed, would naturally lead 
 the followers of Mahomet to overlook every 
 imperfection, to enhance every excellence, to 
 confound the seeming with the real, and to 
 3aeld to the pretensions of the prophet the 
 implicit submission they had already paid 
 to the superiority of the warrior. 
 
 Under such impressions of admiration and 
 astonishment, what could the uninformed 
 Arabian oppose to the claim of divine inspira- 
 tion ? Or, while sharing in the glory of his arms, 
 how pause to investigate the truth of those 
 
SERMON VI. 19^ 
 
 pretensions, which, while they exalted his 
 leader to communion with God, seemed to 
 shed a portion of the same sanctity on his 
 followers and friends ? 
 
 In the language of Arabia a^lso, a language 
 extremely loved, and diligentl^^ cultivated by 
 the people to whom it was vernacular, Ma- 
 homet found advantages which were never 
 enjoyed by any former or succeeding impos* 
 tor. It requires not the eye of a philosopher 
 to discover in every soil and country a prin- 
 ciple of national pride : and if we look back 
 for many ages on the history of the Ara- 
 bians, we shall easily perceive that pride 
 among them invariably to have consisted in 
 the knowledge and improvement of their na- 
 tive language. The Arabic, which has been 
 justly esteemed the most copious of the East- 
 ern tongues ; which had existed from the re- 
 motest antiquity; which had been embellished 
 by numberless poets, and refined by the con^ 
 stant exercise of the natives ; was the most 
 successful instrument which Mahomet em^ 
 ployed in planting his new religion among 
 them. Admirably adapted by its unrivalled 
 harmony, and by its endless variety, to add 
 painting to expression, and to pursue the ima- 
 gination in its unbounded flight ; it became in 
 the hands of Mahomet an irresistible charm 
 
 o 4 
 
?00 SERMON VI. 
 
 to blind the judgment, and to captivate the 
 fancy of his follosvers. 
 
 Of that description of men, who first com- 
 posed the adherents of Mahomet, and to 
 whom the Koran was addressed, few, proba- 
 bly, were able to pass a very accurate judg- 
 ment on the propriety of the sentiments, or 
 on the beauties of the diction : but all could 
 judge of the military abilities of their leader; 
 and in the midst of their admiration it is not 
 difficult to conceive, that they would ascribe 
 to his compositions every imaginary beauty 
 of inspired language. 
 
 The shepherd and the soldier, though 
 awake to the charms of those wild but beau- 
 tiful compositions, in which vrere celebrated 
 their favourite occupations of love or war, 
 were yet little able to criticise any other 
 works, than those which were addressed to 
 the imagination, or the heart. To abstract 
 reasonings on the attributes and the dispen- 
 sations of the Deity, to the comparative ex- 
 cellencies of rival religions, to the consistency 
 of any one I'eligious system in all its parts, 
 and to the force of its various proofs, they 
 were quite inattentive. In such a situation 
 the appearance of a work, wliich possessed 
 something like wisdom and consistence; 
 which prescribed the rules, and illustrated 
 
SERMON VI. 201 
 
 the duties of life ; and which contained the 
 principles of a new, and comparatively sub- 
 lime theology ; independently of its real and 
 permanent merit, was likely to excite their 
 astonishment, and to become the standard of 
 future composition. 
 
 In the first periods of the literature of 
 every covintry, something of this kind has 
 happened. The father of Grecian poetry 
 very obviously influenced the taste and imi- 
 tation of his countrymen. The modern na- 
 tions of Europe all possess some original 
 author, who, rising from the darkness of 
 former ages, has begun the career of com- 
 position, and tinctured with the character of 
 his own imagination the stream which has 
 flowed through his posterity. 
 
 But the prophet of Arabia had in this re- 
 spect advantages peculiar to himself. His 
 compositions were not to his followers the 
 Avorks of man, but the genuine language of 
 Heaven which had sent him. They were not 
 confined therefore to that admiration, which 
 is so liberally bestowed on the earliest pro- 
 ductions of genius ; or to that fond attach- 
 ment with w^hich men every where regard the 
 original compositions of their country: but 
 with their admiration they blended their 
 piety. To know and to feel the beauties of 
 
202 SERMON VL 
 
 the Koran, was in some respect to share in 
 the temper of heaven ; and he who was most 
 affected with admiration in the perusal of its 
 beauties, seemed most fitly the object of that 
 mercy, which had given it to ignorant man. 
 The Koran, therefore, became naturally and 
 necessarily the standard of taste. With a 
 language thus hallov/ed in their imaginations, 
 they were too well satisfied, either to dispute 
 its elegance, or improve its structure. In 
 succeeding ages the additional sanction of 
 antiquity, or prescription, was given to those 
 compositions which their fathers had admired : 
 and while the belief of its divine original con- 
 tinues, that admiration, which has thus be- 
 come the test and the duty of the faithful, 
 can neither be altered nor diminished. 
 
 When therefore we consider these peculiar 
 advantages of the Koran, we have no reason 
 to be surprised at the admiration in which it 
 is held. But, if, descending to a more minute 
 investigation of it, we consider its perpetual 
 inconsistence and absurdity, we shall indeed 
 have cause for astonishment at that weak- 
 ness of humanity, which could ever have re* 
 ceived such compositions as the work of the 
 Deity. 
 
 The first praise of all the productions of 
 genius is invention; that quality of the 
 
SERMON VI, «0S 
 
 mind, which, by the extent and quickness of 
 its views, is capable of the largest concep- 
 tions, and of forming new combinations of 
 objects the most distant and unusual. But 
 the Koran bears little impression of this 
 transcendent character. Its materials are 
 wholly borrowed from the Jewish and Chris- 
 tian scriptures, from the Talmudical legends 
 and apocryphal gospels then current in the 
 East, and from the traditions and fables 
 which abounded in Arabia. The materials 
 collected from these several sources are here 
 heaped together, Avith perpetual and needless 
 repetitions, without any settled principle or 
 visible connection. 
 
 When a great part of the life of Maho- 
 met had been spent in preparatory medita- 
 tion on the system he was about to establish, 
 its chapters were dealt out slowly and sepa- 
 rately during the long period of three and 
 twenty years. Yet thus defective in its struc- 
 ture, and not less exceptionable in its doc- 
 trines, was the work which Mahomet deli- 
 vered to his followers as the oracles of God. 
 
 The most prominent feature of the Koran, 
 that point of excellence in which the par- 
 tiality of its admirers has ever delighted to 
 view it, is the sublime notion it generally im- 
 presses of the nature and attributes of God, 
 
204 SERMON VL 
 
 If its author had really derived these just 
 conceptions from the inspiration of that 
 Being whom they attempt to describe, they 
 would not have been surrounded, as they 
 now are on every side, with error and abr 
 surdit\^ But it might easily be proved, that 
 whatever it justly defines of the divine attri- 
 butes, was borrowed from our holy scripture; 
 which even from its first promulgation, but 
 especially from the completion of the New 
 Testament, has extended the views, and en- 
 lightened the understandings of mankind ; 
 and thus furnished them with arms, which 
 have too often been ineffectually turned 
 against itself by its ungenerous enemies. 
 
 In this instance particularly, the copy is 
 far below the great original, both in the pro- 
 priety of its images, and the force of its de- 
 scriptions. Our holy scriptures are the only 
 compositions that can enable the dim sight 
 of mortality to penetrate into the invisible 
 world, and to behold a glimpse of the divine 
 perfections. Accordingly, when they would 
 represent to us the happiness of heaven, they 
 describe it, not by any thing minute and 
 particular, but by something general and 
 great; something, that without descending 
 to any determinate object, maj^ at once, by 
 its beauty and immensity, excite our wishes 
 
SERMON VI. 205 
 
 and elevate our affections. Though in the 
 prophetical and evangelical writings the jojs 
 that shall attend us in a future state are 
 often mentioned with ardent admiration, they 
 are expressed rather by allusion than simi- 
 litude, rather by indefinite and figurative 
 terms, than by any thing fixed and determi- 
 nate. ^Eye hath not seen., nor ear heard, nei- 
 ther have entered into the heart of man, the 
 things which God hath prepared for them that 
 love him. What a reverence and astonish- 
 rrient does this passage excite in every hearer 
 of taste and piety ! What energy, and at the 
 same time what simplicity in the expression! 
 How sublime, and at the same time how 
 obscure is the imagery ! 
 
 Different was the conduct of Mahomet in 
 his descriptions of heaven and of paradise. 
 Unassisted by the necessary influence of vir- 
 tuous intentions and divine inspiration, he 
 was neither desirous, nor indeed able, to 
 exalt the minds of men to sublime concep- 
 tions, or to rational expectations. By attempt- 
 ing to explain what is inconceivable, to de- 
 scribe Avhat is ineffable, and to materialize 
 what in itself is spiritual, he absurdly and 
 impiously aimed to sensualize the purity of 
 the divine essence. Thus he fabricated a 
 
 » 1 Cor. ii, 9, 
 
306 SERMON VI. 
 
 system of incoherence, a religion of depra- 
 vity, totally repugnant indeed to the nature 
 of that Being, who, as he pretended, was its 
 object ; but therefore more likely to accord 
 with the appetites and conceptions of a cor- 
 rupt and sensual age. 
 
 That I may not appear to exalt our Scrip- 
 tures thus far above the Koran by an unrea- 
 sonable preference, I shall produce a part of 
 the second chapter of the latter, which is de- 
 servedly admired by the Mahometans, who 
 wear it engraved on their ornaments, and re- 
 cite it in their prayers. 
 
 "^God! there is no God but he; the liv- 
 " ing, the self-subsisting : neither slumber nor 
 ^' sleep seizeth him : to him belongeth what- 
 " soever is in heaven, and on earth. Who is 
 " he that can intercede with him but through 
 " his good pleasure ? He knoweth that which 
 " is past, and that which is to come. His 
 " throne is extended over heaven and earth, 
 " and the preservation of both is to him no 
 " burden. He is the high, the mighty ."" 
 
 To this description who can refuse the 
 praise of magnificence? Part of that magnifi- 
 cence however is to be referred to that verse 
 of the Psalmist, whence it was borrowed, "" He 
 
 ^ Sale's Kor. ii, p. SO. 4to edit. " Psal. cxxi. 4. 
 
SERMON VI. 207 
 
 that keepeth Israel, shall neither slumber^ nor 
 sleep. 
 
 But if we compare it with that other pas- 
 sage of the same inspired Psahiiist, all its 
 boasted grandeur is at once obscured, and 
 lost in the blaze of a greater light. 
 
 ^ O my Gocly take me not away in the midst 
 of my days ; thy years are throughout all ge- 
 nerations. Of old hast thou laid the founda^ 
 tions of the earth ; and the heavens are the 
 work of thy hands. They shall perish, but 
 thou shalt endure : yea, all of them shall wax 
 old^as doth a garment; as a vesture shalt thou 
 change them, and they shall be changed ; but 
 thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. 
 
 The Koran, therefore, upon a retrospective 
 view of these several circumstances, far from 
 supporting its arrogant claim to a supernatu- 
 ral work, sinks below the level of many com- 
 positions confessedly of human original ; and 
 still lower does it fall in our estimation, when 
 compared with that pure and perfect pattern 
 which we justly admire in the scriptures of 
 truth. 
 
 It being then abundantly apparent, that 
 no miracle either was externally performed 
 for the support, or is internally involved in 
 the composition, of the Mahometan revela- 
 
 •» Psal. cii. 24, ^5, 2^, 27. 
 
208 SERMON VI. - 
 
 tion, we pioceed to enquire, whether it be 
 better attested by prophecy, that other grand 
 evidence of a mission from heaven. 
 
 The knowledge of futurity is one of the 
 most unequivocal and incommunicable cha- 
 racters of the most High. By this he stamps 
 a seal on the genuine illapses of his spirit, 
 and distinguishes them from the visions of 
 enthusiasm and the fables of imposture. - Of 
 this Mahomet was conscious, and endea- 
 voured to avail himself. Sensible of the cre- 
 dibility that arises from the evidence of pro- 
 phecy, he appealed to prophecy for the au- 
 thenticity of his mission. 
 . There were no popular prophetic traditions 
 among the Arabians, that might be wrested 
 to favotir his pretensions. The Jewish and 
 Christian scriptures, therefore, which he ac- 
 knowledged as divine, were the only sources 
 whence he could attempt to derive any pre* 
 dictions of his commg. 
 
 Though the later advocates of tlie Maho- 
 metan cause have laboured to discover such 
 predictions in our Bible in its present form, 
 we know that it contains nothinsf to counte- 
 nance their attempt. So weak a claim the 
 great pretender himself forbore to allege ; 
 and more artfully rested his pretensions on a 
 falsehood, which, though still more absurd 
 
SERMON VL 209 
 
 and improbable, is, by its very absurdity, 
 more difficult to be disproved. He frequent- 
 ly and boldly affirmed, that his mission had 
 been foretold by the prophets in the Hebrew 
 testament, and more particularly by Christ 
 in the Gospel: and that both Jews and 
 Christians, expecting his coming, and dread- 
 ing his success, had concurred in the atro- 
 cious crime of mutilating their scriptures; 
 and, to deprive him of the testimony those 
 prophecies afforded, had expunged them 
 from the sacred pages. 
 
 But the idea of this pretended corruption 
 of the sacred writings draws after it a train 
 of the most improbable conclusions. That 
 the most discordant sects had united in de- 
 stroying an article of their own faith, for the 
 unaccountable purpose of discrediting a per- 
 son to be born in a future age; and that 
 their attempt succeeded in thus mutilating a 
 book dispersed through every country in every 
 language, is among the consequences of this 
 extraordinary hypothesis. But we have the 
 strongest reasons to beheve, that our holy 
 scriptures, by the care of a good Providence, 
 have descended to us pure and perfect, from 
 their original times. 
 
 There is indeed no evidence of the authen- 
 ticity of any compositions, but what equally 
 
21G SERMON VI. 
 
 attends the books of the Old and New Testa- 
 ment. Nay, there are no ancient writings, 
 which bear such peculiar and discriminating 
 characteristics of authenticity. Their import- 
 ance made them subjects of deep attention 
 and consideration ; and their authority occa- 
 sioned them to be appealed to by Christians 
 of every persuasion. Different sects watched 
 over them with a jealous eye^ lest they should 
 be corrupted ; and as each made them a 
 standard, each contributed to preserve their 
 identity. 
 
 To confirm us still further in this opinion, 
 we have the concurring testimony of many 
 ancient writers, of the primitive fathers of 
 the church, and of heretics who maintained 
 the most clashing and opposite tenets ; 
 whose scriptural quotations, though made 
 with different views from different copies, all 
 uniformly refer to one and the same Bible. 
 The very exceptions to this general position 
 are few, and contribute additional proofs in 
 favour of the sacred text : for every mutila- 
 tion, however inconsiderable, every deprava- 
 tion, however artful, to which the rage of 
 controversy had given birth, were instantly 
 detected by the activity, and exposed by the 
 indignation, of the opposite party. 
 
 There are extant at this day various ma- 
 
' SERMON VI. 211 
 
 niiscripts of both testaments, mucli older 
 than the Hejra. Such are the Vatican and 
 Alexandrian manuscripts ; the dates of which 
 are generally ascribed by the critics to the 
 fourth or fifth century. In these we no 
 Avhere find any mention of Mahomet, or any 
 other allusion to his coming, than the general 
 prediction, that false Christs and false prophets 
 should arise. 
 
 But to enter at large into this subject is 
 neither consistent with my plan, nor indeed 
 necessary to my argument; since a slight 
 consideration of these obvious proofs wnll af- 
 ford the clearest conviction, that those ima- 
 ginary prophecies which Mahomet alleged, 
 if they had ever existed in the sacred volume, 
 w^ould have existed still; and in truth, that 
 no such corruption as he pretended has ever 
 happened to our scriptures. 
 
 Thus was a man of no common talents 
 reduced by the very nature of his enterprise 
 to bear record of himself, to support his own 
 cause by his own unsupported testimony, 
 and to maintain a weak and defenceless 
 claim by a futile and absurd appeal to pro- 
 phecies which had no existence. 
 
 It appears then, that the pretensions of 
 Mahomet are not accompanied by any of 
 those marks of external evidence, which may 
 
 p 2 
 
212 SERMON VI. ^ 
 
 always be expected to confirm and to distin- 
 guish a divine revelation. The proofs which 
 he adduced in support of his claims are, in 
 every point of view, weak and unsatisfactory. 
 To miraculous power, that most infallible and 
 decisive test of divine interposition, he open- 
 ly disclaimed every pretence; and even bold- 
 ly denied its necessity to confirm the mission 
 of a prophet. He deemed it sufficient to ap- 
 peal to a secret and unattested intercourse 
 with an angel ; and above all, to the inimi- 
 table excellence and sublimity of the Koran. 
 To the former of these pretences no serious 
 attention is due ; for, instead of affording any 
 evidence in support of the claims of Maho- 
 met, it notoriously wants proofs to establish 
 its own authenticity. With regard to the 
 boasted excellence of the Koran, which, as 
 the impostor alleged, bore strong and visi- 
 ble characters of an almighty hand, and was 
 designed by God to compensate the want of 
 miraculous power, and to supply every de- 
 fect of external evidence, we have already* 
 seen how ill-founded are its haughty and 
 arrogant pretensions to a divine original. 
 
 From a view of the real merits of that ce- 
 lebrated work, and from a consideration of 
 the peculiar circumstances under which it 
 was written ^nd delivered to the world ; from 
 
SERMON VL 218 
 
 its want of inventioiij of order, of consistency ; 
 from the real character and abihties of its 
 author; and from the signal advantages 
 which he enjoyed in a language copious and 
 expressive, harmonious and refined ; in the 
 years which were spent in previous medita* 
 tion, and the still longer space which was 
 afterwards employed in its composition ; and 
 above all, in the opinions, the habits, and the 
 prejudices of his countrymen ; I say, from a 
 due consideration of these important par- 
 ticulars, we are fully justified in resolving all 
 its merit and all its success into the agency 
 of ordinary and human causes. 
 
 But the evidence, which Mahomet alleged 
 in support of the character he had assumed, 
 was not only in itself fallacious and equi- 
 vocal ; we may also trace plain marks of im- 
 posture in the manner in which that evidence 
 was proposed and enforced. Sensible of the 
 weakness of his credentials, and of the suspi- 
 cion to which the proofs he had adduced 
 were justly liable, he anxiously laboured to 
 mislead the unwary, and to confound the 
 ignorant by the arrogance of his claims, and 
 the confidence of his assertions. 
 
 Thus, instead of delivering his pretended 
 revelation to his followers, and leaving it to 
 stand or fall by the determination of their 
 
 p3 
 
214 SERMON VI. 
 
 own cool and dispassionate judgment, he en- 
 deavoured to anticipate their opinions, em- 
 ployed every artifice to enhance its merit, 
 and embraced every opportunity to exagge- 
 rate its excellence by the most pompous and 
 elaborate encomiums on its perfection. 
 
 Hence arose his bold and haughty defiance 
 of the united powers of every order of created 
 beings, to produce a work of equal beauty 
 and sublimity with the miraculous Koran ; 
 hence too proceeded his groundless, yet 
 ostentatious appeal to the testimony of the 
 ancient prophets; from whose writings he 
 was confessedly unable to produce a single 
 prediction, which could, with any probabiht}' 
 of construction, be wrested to favour his pre- 
 tensions. 
 
 Compelled by the nature of his situation 
 and design to support one impious falsehood 
 by another still more atrocious, the artifice 
 and the audacity of the impostor carried him 
 yet farther; and, in order to afford some 
 countenance to his extravagant appeal to 
 the evidence of prophecy, induced him to 
 charge both Jews and Christians with the 
 odious but impossible crime of corrupting 
 their scriptures. 
 
 Such were the vain pretences, and such 
 the unsubstantial proofs, by which the pro- 
 
SERMON VL 215 
 
 phet of Arabia laboured to confirm and to 
 authenticate his mission. But far different 
 was the conduct, and different the evidence, 
 which was adduced by Jesus Christ, in sup- 
 port of his claim to the character and office 
 of the Messiah. 
 
 Into this contrast, however, the time will 
 not at present permit me to enter. The 
 consideration of that long and astonishing- 
 train of Miracles, and of that equally stu- 
 pendous chain of Prophecies, on Avhose col- 
 lective evidence, as on a firm and immove- 
 able basis, our holy religion ultimately rests, 
 would unavoidably lead me into too wide a 
 field of investigation. 
 
 The infinite importance of the subjects 
 naturally demands our most serious and 
 earnest attention, and is, I trust, sufficient 
 fully to justify me in reserving them as ob- 
 jects of future and more particular discus- 
 siour 
 
 p4 
 
SERMON VII. 
 
 John x. 25. 
 
 Jesits answered — The works that I do in my Father* s namt^ 
 they hear witness of me. 
 
 Having in my last discourse endea- 
 voured to expose that empty shew of exter- 
 nal evidence, by which the Arabian impos- 
 tor laboured to support his impious preten- 
 sions, I now proceed, in pursuance of my 
 general plan, to examine and state the proofs 
 on which Jesus Christ rested his claim to the 
 character of a divine teacher. In the words 
 which I have now read to you, our Lord re- 
 plies to the captious questions of the Jews 
 concerning his dignity and office ; and refers 
 them to the Miracles which he wrought, as 
 affording plain and undeniable evidence of 
 his mission. 
 
 Every one knows what is meant by a 
 Miracle; though divines have differed about 
 the precise terms of definition. Some have 
 defined it in language too loose and equi- 
 vocal, and have thus confounded that which 
 is unaccountable with that which is miracu- 
 
218 SERMON VIL 
 
 lous : others, to avoid this extreme, have so 
 narrowed the definition as to make it inap- 
 pHcable even to events which are truly en- 
 titled to that denomination. I will not at- 
 tempt to give such a definition as shall be 
 exact, without being defective ; and compre- 
 hensive, without being redundant. It is suf- 
 ficient to say, that by a Miracle I mean 
 "An event out of the ordinary and settled 
 " course of nature, and such as could not 
 " have been produced either by the operation 
 " of its general laws, or the combination of 
 " contingent circumstances :'^ Or — " Anope- 
 " ration performed by any particular agent, 
 " which transcends his skill and power, and 
 " which required the assistance of a super- 
 " natural being."' 
 
 ^A celebrated champion of infidelity has 
 insidiously or erroneously maintained a Mira- 
 cle to be contrary to experience ; whereas it 
 is in reality only different from it. Expe- 
 rience informs us, that one event has hap- 
 pened often — testimony informs us that 071- 
 other event has happened once, or more. 
 That diseases should be gej^rally cured by 
 the apphcation of external causes, and sovie- 
 times at the mere word of a prophet, and 
 without the visible application of causes, are 
 
 =» Mr. Hume. 
 
SERMON VII. 219 
 
 facts not inconsistent with each other in the 
 nature of things themselves, or irreconcile- 
 able according to our ideas. Each fact may 
 arise from its own proper cause ; each may 
 exist independently of the other; and each 
 is known by its own proper proof, be it of 
 sense or testimon3^ As secret causes often 
 produce events contrary to those we do ex- 
 pect from experience, it is equally conceiv- 
 able that events should sometimes be pro- 
 duced wiiich we do not expect. 
 
 To pronounce therefore a Miracle to be 
 false, because it is different from experience, 
 is only to conclude against its general exist- 
 ence from the very circumstance which con- 
 stitutes its particular nature: for if it were 
 not different from experience, where would 
 be its singularity? Or what particular proof 
 could be drawn from it, if it happened ac- 
 cording to the ordinary train of human events, 
 or was included in the operation of the gene- 
 ral laws of nature? We grant that it does 
 differ from experience: but we do not pre- 
 sume to make our experience the standard 
 of the divine conduct. He that acknow- 
 ledges a God, must at least admit the possi- 
 bility of a Miracle. The Atheist that makes 
 liim inseparable from w^iat is called nature, 
 and binds him to its laws by an insurmount- 
 
220 SERMON VII. 
 
 able necessity ; that deprives him of will, and 
 wisdom, and power, as a distinct and inde- 
 pendent Being; may deny even the verypos- 
 sibihty of a miraculous interposition, which 
 can in any instance suspend or counteract 
 those general laws by which the world is go- 
 verned. But he who allows of a first cause 
 in itself perfect and intelligent, abstractedly 
 from those effects which his wisdom and 
 power have produced, must at the same time 
 allow, that this cause can be under no such 
 restraints as to be debarred the liberty of 
 controlling its laws as often as it sees fit. 
 Surely the Being that made the world can 
 govern it, or any part of it, in such a manner 
 as he pleases ; and he that constituted the 
 very laws by which it is in general con- 
 ducted, may suspend the operation of those 
 laws in any given instance ; or impress new 
 powers on matter, in order to produce new 
 and extraordinary effects. 
 
 Here indeed it is proper for me to observe, 
 that the force exerted in every Miracle is 
 finite, and may, in many cases, be in itself 
 far less than what we see employed in the 
 ordinary course of the world. The sudden 
 suspension of the force, which preserves any 
 one planet in its orbit, is less than the con- 
 stant exercise of that force, which preserves 
 
SERMON VIL 221 
 
 all the planets in their respective orbits ; and 
 yet it may be properly miraculous. It is 
 not therefore necessary to say, that Miracles 
 cannot be performed by a power less than 
 infinite. That no beings can change, or 
 counteract, or supersede the order of things, 
 as established by the Deity, without his ap- 
 pointment, is indeed the clear and necessary 
 consequence of his omnipotence : but that 
 he may appoint them to change it, involves 
 no contradiction : that purposes of the high- 
 est moment may be answered by such ap- 
 pointment, implies no absurdity; and, there- 
 fore, in the case of Miracles, whether the 
 Deity performs them immediately by him- 
 self, or mediately by other agents, the great 
 ends of religion are equally secured, and the 
 proofs of his interposition may be equally 
 luminous. 
 
 Miracles may be classed under two heads : 
 those which consist in a train or combination 
 of events, which could not have resulted from 
 the ordinary arrangements of Providence; 
 and those particular operations which are 
 performed by instruments and agents incom- 
 petent to effect them without a preternatural 
 power. 
 
 In the conduct of Providence respecting 
 the Jewish people, from the earliest periods 
 
222 SERMON VII. 
 
 of their existence, as a distinct class of 
 society, to the present time, we behold a 
 singularity of circumstance and procedure, 
 which we cannot account for on common 
 principles. Comparing their condition and 
 situation with that of other nations, we can 
 meet with nothing similar to it in the history 
 of mankind. So remarkable a difference, 
 conspicuous in every revolution of their his- 
 tory, could not have subsisted through mere 
 accident. There must have been a cause 
 adequate to so extraordinary an effect. 
 JS^ow, what should this cause be, but an 
 interposition of Providence in a manner dif- 
 ferent from the couise of its genera! govern- 
 ment?— for the phenomenon cannot be ex- 
 plained by an application of those general 
 causes and effects that operate in other 
 cases. 
 
 The original propagation of Christianity 
 was likewise an event, which clearly disco- 
 vered a miraculous interposition. The cir- 
 cumstances which attended it were such, as 
 cannot rationally be accounted for on any 
 other postulatum. I have already considered 
 this subject at large. I would now observe, 
 that the institutions of the Law and the 
 Gospel may not only appeal for their con- 
 firmation to a trai7i of events^ which, taken in 
 
SERMON VII. 223 
 
 a general and combined view, point out an 
 extraordinary designation, and vindicate their 
 claim to a divine authority ; but also to a 
 number of particular operations^ which, con- 
 sidered distinctly, or in a separate and de- 
 tached light, evidently display a supernatural 
 power, immediately exerted on the occasion. 
 Since Christ himself constantly appealed 
 to these works as the evidences of his divine 
 mission and character, we will briefly exa- 
 mine how far they justified and confirmed 
 his pretensions. 
 
 That our Lord laid the greatest stress on 
 the evidence they afforded ; nay, that he 
 considered that evidence as sufficient to 
 authenticate his claims to the oflSce of the 
 Messiah with all reasonable and well-dis- 
 posed enquirers, is manifest, not only from 
 the words of my text, but also from a great 
 variety of other passages in the Evangelists. 
 
 Thus, when the disciples of John were 
 sent to Christ, to receive from his own lips 
 the most satisfactory proofs of his divine 
 mission, he referred them to his Miracles. 
 ^ Goy said he, and shew to John again those 
 things which ye hear and see : the blind re- 
 ceive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are 
 cleansed) the deaf hear, and the dead are 
 
 k Matt. xi. 4. 
 
224 SERMON VIL 
 
 raised up. Again, ^ If I do not the works of 
 imj Father^ believe me not : but if I doy though 
 ye believe not me^ believe the works. 
 
 This appeal to Miracles was founded on 
 the following just and obvious grounds. 
 
 First, that they are visible proofs of di- 
 vine approbation, as well as of divine power : 
 for it would have been inconchisive to have 
 rested an appeal on the testimony of the lat- 
 ter, if it had not at the same time included 
 an evidence of the former : and it was indeed 
 a natural inference, that working of Miracles 
 in defence of a particular cause, was the seal 
 of Heaven to the truth of that cause. To 
 suppose the contrar}^ would be to suppose, 
 that God not only permitted his creatures to 
 be deceived ; but that he deviated from the 
 ordinary course of his providence, purposely 
 with a view to deceive them. The conclusion 
 which the man, whom our Saviour restored 
 to sight, drew from this Miracle, was exceed- 
 ingly just, and founded on the common sen- 
 timents and impressions of the human heart- 
 ^ We know,, says he, that God heareth not sin- 
 ners : but if any man be a worshipper of God» 
 and doeth his will, him he heareth. Since the 
 xiDorld began was it not heard, that any man 
 opened the eyes of one that was born blind 
 
 ' John X. 25. ^ John ix. 31, 32. 
 
SERMON Vll. 225 
 
 If this 7nan were not of God, he could do no- 
 thing. If the cause which our Lord was en- 
 gaged in had not been approved of by God, 
 it would not have been honoured with the 
 seal of Miracles : for the divine power can 
 never be supposed to counteract the divine 
 will. This would be to set his nature at va- 
 riance with itself; and, by destroying his sim- 
 plicity, would destroy his happiness, and ter- 
 minate in confusion and misery. 
 
 Hence we may justly reject as incredible 
 those Miracles, which have been ascribed 
 to the interposition of wicked spirits. The 
 possibility of their interference is a mere hy- 
 pothesis, depending upon gratuitous assump- 
 tion, and leading to very dangerous conse- 
 quences : and the particular instances, in 
 which credulous superstition, or perverted 
 philosophy, has supposed them to interfere, 
 are, as Facts, destitute of any clear and solid 
 evidence, or as Effects, often resolvible into 
 natural causes. 
 
 Secondly, when our Lord appealed to 
 his Miracles as proofs of his divine mission, 
 it presupposed that those Miracles were of 
 such a nature as would bear the strictest ex- 
 amination ; that they had all those criteria, 
 which could possibly distinguish them from 
 
 Q 
 
226 SERMON VIL 
 
 the dciusions of enthusiasm, and the artifices 
 of imposture ; else the appeal Avould have 
 been fallacious and equivocal. 
 
 He appealed to them with all the confi- 
 dence of an upright mind, totally possessed 
 with a consciousness of their truth and re- 
 ality. This appeal was not drawn out into any 
 laboured argument, nor adorned by any of 
 the embellishments of language. It was short, 
 simple, and decisive. He neither reasoned 
 nor declaimed on their nature, or their de- 
 sign. He barely pointed to them as plain 
 and indubitable facts, such as spoke their 
 own meaning, and carried with them their 
 own authority. 
 
 The Miracles which our Lord performed 
 were too public to be suspected of impos- 
 ture; and, being objects of sense, they were. 
 secured against the charge of enthusiasm. An 
 impostor would not have acted so absurdly, 
 as to have risked his credit on the perform- 
 ance of what he must have known it was 
 not in his power to effect. And though an 
 enthusiast, from the warmth of imagination, 
 might have flattered himself w.ith a full per- 
 suasion of his being able to perform some 
 miraculous work ; yet when the trial was re- 
 ferred to an object of sense, the event must 
 
SERMON Vlf. 227 
 
 soon have exposed the delusion. The im- 
 postor would not have dared to say to the 
 blind, Receive thy sight, to the deaf, Hear^ to 
 the dumb, Speaks to the dead, Arise, to the 
 raging of the sea, Be stilt; lest he should in- 
 jure the credit of his cause, by undertaking 
 more than he could perform. And though 
 the enthusiast, under the delusion of his pas- 
 sions, might have confidently commanded 
 disease to fly, and the powers of nature to 
 be subject to his control ; yet their obe- 
 dience would not have followed his com- 
 mand. 
 
 The Miracles of Christ then were such as 
 an impostor would not have attempted ; and 
 such as an enthusiast could not have effected. 
 They had no disguise ; and were in a variety 
 of instances of such a nature, as to pre- 
 clude the very possibility of collusion. They 
 were performed in the midst of his bitterest 
 enemies ; and were so palpable and certain, 
 as to extort the following acknowledgment 
 even from persons who were most eager to 
 oppose his doctrines, and to discredit his pre- 
 tensions : ^ This man doeth many Miracles. If 
 we let him thus alone, all men will believe on 
 him. 
 
 The Miracles Christ performed were in- 
 
 • John xi. 47, 48. 
 
 q2 
 
228 SERMON VII. 
 
 deed sufficient to alarm the fears of tho&e 
 whose downfall was involved in his success. 
 And it was impossible for them to deny the 
 factSj which so many thousands were ready 
 to attest on evidence too certain to admit 
 even the possibility of mistake, delusion, or 
 imposture. But his enemies, who admitted 
 their reality and yet resisted their design, by 
 not acknowledging the person who wrought 
 them to be the Messiah, had recourse to the 
 most impious and most absurd suppositions, 
 in order to evade their evidence. The hea- 
 then imputed them to some occult power of 
 magic ; and thus apphed what has no exist- 
 ence in nature, in order to account for a phe- 
 nomenon that existed out of its common 
 course. The stories of the Jews, who con- 
 fessed the Miracles, but denied what they 
 were intended to estabhsh, are too ridiculous 
 to be mentioned. I must not however omit to 
 take notice of the wicked and blasphemous 
 cavil of the Pharisees, and the noble reply 
 which our Lord made to it. The}^ could not 
 den}^ the fact, but they imputed it to the 
 agency of an infernal spirit. ^This fellow, 
 said thei/^ doth not cast out devih, but by Beel- 
 zebuh the pi' nice of the devils. And Jesus 
 knezc^ their thoughts^ mid said unto them, Every 
 
 *' Matt. xii. 24. 
 
SERMON VIL 229 
 
 Icingdom divided against itself is brought to 
 desolation ; and every city or house divided 
 against itself shall not stand : and if Satan 
 cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; 
 how shall then his kingdom stand ? 
 
 The purity of the doctrine which was 
 taught by our blessed Lord was totally ad- 
 verse to the kingdom of darkness. It tended 
 to overthrow it, by the introduction of prin- 
 ciples far different from those which Satan 
 would inspire, and by prosecuting objects 
 totally opposite to those which that wicked 
 and malignant spirit would us tempt to pur- 
 sue: so that in proportion to the prevalence 
 of the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of 
 Satan would of course be diminished. Now, 
 supposing Miracles to be in the power of an 
 infernal spirit, can it be imagined that he 
 would communicate an ability of performing 
 them to persons, who were counteracting his 
 designs ? Would he by them give credit to a 
 cause, that tended to bring his own into dis- 
 grace ? 
 
 ThuSi, as our Saviour appealed to Miracles 
 as proofs of his power ; so he appealed to 
 the inherent worth and purity of the doc- 
 trines they were intended to bear witness to, 
 as a proof that the power was of God. la 
 this manner do the external and internal evi- 
 
 q3 
 
230 SliRMON VII. 
 
 dences give and receive mutual confirmation, 
 and mutual lustre. 
 
 The truth of the Christian religion does 
 not, however, wholly depend on the Miracles 
 wrought by its divine Founder, though suffi- 
 cient in themselves to establish his claims : 
 but, in order to give the evidence of Miracles 
 the strongest force they could possibly ac- 
 quire, that evidence, w^as extended still far- 
 ther ; and the same power that our Lord 
 possessed was communicated to his disciples, 
 and their more immediate successors. Whilst 
 yet on earth, he imparted to them this extra- 
 ordinary gift, as the seal of their commission, 
 when he sent them to preach the gospel : 
 and after his glorious resurrection and ascen- 
 sion into heaven, they were endowed with 
 powers yet more stupendous. Sensible of 
 the validity of this kind of evidence, the 
 apostles of our Lord, with the same artless 
 simplicity, and the same boldness of con- 
 scious integrity, which distinguished their 
 great Master, constantly insisted upon the 
 Miracles they wrought, as strong and unde- 
 niable proofs of the truth of their doctrines. 
 Thus the Miracles of our blessed Lord may 
 be justly considered as the evidence of his 
 divine mission and character. 
 
 If we consider their nature, their greatness. 
 
SERMON VII. 231 
 
 and their number ; and if to this considera- 
 tion we add that which respects their end 
 and design, we must acknowledge, that no 
 one could have performed them, unless God 
 was with him. They were too public to be 
 the artifices of imposture ; too substantial 
 and too numerous, to afford the slightest sus- 
 picion of undesigned and fortuitous coinci- 
 dence. In a word, supposing that the divine 
 Being should in any instance so far counter- 
 act the conunon laws of nature, as to pro- 
 duce a Miracle ; and should design that Mi- 
 racle as a monument to future times of the 
 truth of any particular doctrine, w^e cannot 
 conceive any mode of communicating it 
 more effectual than that w^hich he has chosen. 
 Stronger proofs could not be afforded, con- 
 sistently with the design of the gospel, which 
 is not to overpower our understandings by 
 an irresistible and compulsory light, but to 
 afford us such rational evidence as is sufficient 
 to satisfy moral enquirers, who are endowed 
 with faculties to perceive the truth ; but at 
 the same time who also have power totally to 
 resist it, and finally to forfeit all its blessings. 
 It would lead me too far to pursue the 
 subject of Miracles in detail. What I have 
 to urge may be, however, comprised under 
 the following heads. 
 
 q4 
 
232 SERMON VII. 
 
 These Miracles were of a nature too pal* 
 pable to be mistaken. They were the ob- 
 jects of sense ; and not the precarious specu- 
 lations of reason concerninp; what God mioht 
 do; or the chimerical suggestions of fancy 
 concerning what he did. The facts were re- 
 corded by those who must know whether 
 they were true or false. The persons who 
 recorded them were under no possible tempt- 
 ations to deceive the world. We can only 
 account for their conduct on the supposition 
 of their most perfect conviction, and disin- 
 terested zeal. That they should assert what 
 they knew to be false; that they should 
 publish it with so much ardour; that they 
 should risk every thing dear to humanity, 
 in order to maintain it; and at last submit 
 to death, in order to attest their persuasion 
 of its truth in those moments when imposture 
 usually drops its mask, and enthusiasm loses 
 its confidence ; that they should act thus in 
 opposition to every dictate of common sense, 
 and every principle of common honesty, 
 every restraint of shame, and every impulse 
 of selfishness ; is a phenomenon not less irre- 
 concileable to the moral state of things than 
 Miracles are to the natural constitution of 
 the world. Falsehood naturally entangles 
 JHen in contradiction, and confounds them 
 
SERMON VII. 233 
 
 M'ith dismay: but the love of truth invi- 
 gorates the mind ; the consciousness of in- 
 tegrity anticipates the approbation of God ; 
 and conscience creates a fortitude, to which 
 mere unsupported nature is often a stran- 
 ger. & 
 
 The divine mission of our blessed Lord 
 was not only supported by a variety of Mi- 
 racles Avhich carried with them every mark 
 of a supernatural power, and were immediate 
 and visible evidences of the concurrence of 
 the great Ruler of nature in that cause which 
 they were brought to defend ; but it was 
 illustrated and confirmed by a train of Pro- 
 phecies, which, beginning with the fall, open- 
 ed with greater lustre and with a wider pro- 
 spect, as the fulness of time drew near, in 
 which they Avere to receive their accomplish- 
 ment. 
 
 To Prophecies then, as well as Miracles, 
 both Christ and his Apostles frequently ap- 
 pealed, as proofs of his mission. But he did 
 not, like Mahomet, build his pretensions on 
 some predictions that had no existence; or 
 on others of which the conveyance was 
 traditionary, and the meaning was equivocal. 
 On the contrary, he appealed to those that 
 were actually contained in public and solemn 
 
 * For some further observations on Miracles, see the Notes, 
 
234 SERMON VII. 
 
 records, and which had been preserved for 
 ages, with the care and reverence which was 
 due to their high authority and momentous 
 import. These records were preserved in 
 the hands of his enemies, who admitted their 
 divinity, and were well informed of their 
 contents, so that he could not be accused of 
 supporting his claims by doubtful and dis- 
 graceful evidence ; by writings which long 
 neglect had obscured, or insidious artifice 
 had mutilated ; by inferences from preceding 
 records, which could not be contradicted, or 
 by assumptions, which lay out of the reach 
 of serious and direct confutation. Nor less 
 in nature and quality, than in origin and 
 credit, were the Prophecies which our Lord 
 appealed to; unlike those which Mahomet 
 pretended to adduce in his favour: or those 
 which his infatuated followers in later ages 
 affected to discover in the scriptures, and 
 which they have wrested with more absurdity 
 than plausibility in support of their prophet. 
 The Prophecies which respect the Messiah 
 are neither few in number, nor vague and 
 equivocal in their reference; but numerous, 
 pointed, and particular. They bear on them 
 those discriminating marks by which divine 
 inspiration may be distinguished from the 
 conjectures of human sagacity ; and a neces- 
 
SERMON VII. 235 
 
 sary or probable event, from a casual and 
 uncertain contingency. They are such as 
 cannot be referred to the dictates of mere 
 natural penetration, because they are not 
 confined to general occurrences ; but point 
 out with singular exactness a variety of mi- 
 nute circumstances relating to times, places,^ 
 and persons, which were neither objects of 
 foresight nor conjecture, because they were 
 not necessarily connected with the principal 
 event, or even probable either in themselves 
 or in their relation. They were such as could 
 only have occurred to a mind that was under 
 the immediate influence of the divinity, by 
 which distant periods were revealed, and the 
 secrets of unborn ages disclosed. 
 
 The scheme of Prophecy, considered in its 
 first opening, its gradual advance, and its 
 final and full completioii in the advent, the 
 ministry, the death, and resurrection of the 
 Messiah, and the extensive progress of his 
 gospel among the Gentiles, together with its 
 blessed influence on individuals, societies, 
 countries, and the whole race of mankind ; 
 is an object the greatest and most sublime 
 that imagination can conceive ; and the most 
 pleasing and important that the human mind 
 can contemplate. 
 
 We behold the promise of a Redeemer 
 
J236 SERMON VIL 
 
 given to our first parents immediately after 
 the fall, in obscure and general terms. It 
 foretold a victory that would be gained over 
 the enem}^ that had deceived and conquered 
 them; a victory the most illustrious in its 
 effects and consequences; and which should 
 amply revenge on the serpenfs head the evils 
 and miseries which he had introduced into 
 the world. 
 
 We behold the promise renewed in some- 
 what clearer language to the Patriarchs ; 
 particularly to Abraham, the great father of 
 the faithful. 
 
 Here the great })urposes of Providence 
 begin to disclose themselves with a fuller 
 and brighter lustre at every step. With this 
 venerable patriarch the Almighty conde- 
 scended to enter into a peculiar covenant ; 
 and, to excite his obedience, he promised to 
 raise up from him a great nation; to take 
 him and his family under his immediate pa- 
 tronage ; and to make all the nations of the 
 earth blessed through him^. 
 
 The latter part of this promise is peculiarly 
 memorable, as containing in it the proper 
 end for which God had chosen and sepa- 
 rated him and his posterity. It is very fitly 
 made by the sacred writers the foundation 
 
 * Gen. xxii. 17, 18. xxvi. 4. 
 
SERMON VII. 237 
 
 of God's dispensations to him ; and may be 
 regarded as a mark to direct the reader to 
 the great object, to which they ultimately 
 referred. 
 
 The scene opens with one man ; and ex- 
 tends itself wider and wider, till we see the 
 light of divine truth diffusing its influence 
 over the earth by Jesus Christ, who accord- 
 ing to the flesh sprang from his loins ; and 
 fulfilled the promise made unto the Father, 
 that in Isaac should his seed be called. 
 
 We first see the promise of God to this 
 ancient Patriarch fulfilled by giving him a 
 son, contrary to all human expectations. 
 The next grand step of its accomplishment 
 was in the twelve Patriarchs. We see them, 
 through 'the amazing, and, to human view, 
 incomprehensible direction of divine Provi- 
 dence, settled in Egypt; and, through the 
 influence of Joseph, who miraculously be- 
 came a person of distinguished credit and 
 consequence in the court of Pharaoh, treated 
 with peculiar respect ; and indulged with 
 allotments, which made their situation not 
 merely commodious, but even splendid. 
 
 At length the scene changes, but the great 
 drama is still carried on. Its intricacies are 
 unravelhng, and its design unfolds itself more 
 and more. For what can baffle eternal wis- 
 
238 SERMON VIL 
 
 dom ? Or what can counteract the might of 
 omnipotence? The posterity of Israel are 
 subjected to the tyraimy of a king, that knew 
 not Joseph, They are oppressed, and ha- 
 rassed, and reduced to the most abject state 
 of penury and servitude. Their cries, how- 
 ever, enter into the ears of the Lord God of 
 Sabaoth ; and a dehverer is sent. 
 
 He first attempts to deUver them by the 
 voluntary consent of Pharaoh. He endeavours 
 to convince their oppressor, by the most 
 awful and stupendous Miracles, that God 
 was with his people of a truth; that he would 
 avenge their wrongs ; and that he who op- 
 posed them fought against heaven. But the 
 haughty spirit of Pharaoh disdained submis- 
 sion ; though conscience sometimes was ap- 
 palled, and made him anticipate what he had 
 neither the courage to defy, nor the virtue to 
 prevent. When arguments which he Avas 
 unable to confute, aided by miracles he was 
 unable to deny, could not shake him from 
 his purpose ; when every concession was re- 
 tracted, as soon as it was made ; when stub- 
 bornness and irresolution actuated him alter- 
 nateljs and craft was called in to the aid of 
 violence; Moses by the command of the 
 most High endeavoured to rescue this op- 
 pressed people by force. 
 
SERMON VII. 239 
 
 In spite of opposition, and contrary to 
 all hnman prospect of success in the arduous 
 and hazardous enterprise, he left Egypt ; re- 
 solved to resist if pursued, and to die rather 
 than to return to the house of bondage. 
 Under the greatest disadvantages, and amidst 
 appearances the most unpromising, this great 
 man, supported by the arm of omnipotence, 
 conducted his followers out of the land of 
 Egypt : and, that God might shew his power, 
 and give them the most undeniable proof of 
 his divine patronage, he led them designedly 
 out of the direct and common path, and 
 brought them to the Red sea. There the 
 Lord made bare his arm, opened a passage 
 in the deep, and guided them through, as 
 on dry land. Miracles were displayed to 
 animate their hopes, as well as to dispel their 
 fears. Their escape had the ak of a triumph: 
 where they had passed through safely, the 
 Egyptian hosts were overwhelmed with de-* 
 btruction. 
 
 The difficulties which this people struggled 
 with in a barren and dangerous wilderness 
 were peculiarly great : difficulties which were 
 heightened still by their own ingratitude, 
 discontent, and unbelief. They laboured un* 
 der all the calamities of pestilence, of famine, 
 and of w ar ; they had all the rage of the ele- 
 
240 SERMON VIL 
 
 ments, and all the desolations of the earth, to 
 contend with. Yet still amidst these intricate 
 and perilous paths, through which they were 
 called to wander, the unerring purpose of 
 God was neither frustrated, nor impeded. 
 The plot, view^ed only in broken and de- 
 tached scenes, w^as embarrassed and in- 
 volved ; but there was an Almighty presider 
 over every successive event, who, by a gra- 
 dual evolution of his desions, conferred order 
 and consistency on the whole.. 
 
 When they were parched with thirst, then 
 did omnipotence cause even the flinty rock 
 to flow for their refreshment; when hungry 
 and faint with the toils of the day, then did 
 heaven supply them with its own manna, 
 and sent quails into their camp to satisfy 
 their extreme necessities. By the same 
 power the walls of a fortified city fell to the 
 ground : ^^and the sun and moon stood still in 
 their hahitatioji at the voice of the leader of 
 Israel. 
 
 Armies renowned for battle, and com- 
 manded by skilful and powerful leaders, zoere 
 driven asunder (to use the expressive lan- 
 guage of scripture) like the foam upon the wa- 
 ter's, and cut off as the tops of the ears of 
 cornK Surely we may say, God was with 
 
 ^ Hab. lii. 11 . ^ llos. \-. 7- Job xxiv. 24 
 
SERMON VII. 241 
 
 this people. He led on their victorious bands ; 
 conducted them over Jordan, and at last set- 
 tled them in the land promised to their fore- 
 fathers. Here he established his throne, and 
 erected his temple. Here he delivered the 
 great statutes of his kingdom, the laws of 
 righteousness, and the ordinances of dis- 
 tinction. Here too, by the mouth of all his 
 holy prophets, he gradually disclosed the se- 
 veral particulars of the grand and mysterious 
 scheme of man's redemption ; and here he 
 at length accomplished them in that great 
 event, which included the result of all. 
 
 The important purpose, for which the Jews 
 in general had been thus miraculously sepa- 
 rated from the rest of mankind, was evident- 
 ly to prepare the way for the coming of the 
 Messiah, by preserving and transmitting the 
 worship, the promises, and the predictions 
 of the Almight}^ to future generations. The 
 particular separation of one tribe from the 
 great body of the Jewish nation w^as plainly 
 an act of the same divine power, and became, 
 in a manner equally striking, subservient to 
 the accomplishment of the same great de- 
 sign. 
 
 As he who was to bless all the families of 
 the earth was to spring from the seed of Abra- 
 ham, so it was foretold that he should arise 
 
 E 
 
242 SERMON Vll. 
 
 out of the tribe of Judah, which was a parti- 
 cular branch of that general stock. For the 
 sake of preserving a recorded lineage in unin- 
 terrupted succession, this tribe was kept dis- 
 tinct amidst every revolution of the Jewish na- 
 tion: and amidst the depressions and changes 
 of its various states, as it had been foretold 
 by Jacob, Judah maintained within itself a 
 peculiar prerogative and dignity, till the great 
 end, which was to be eifected by its separa- 
 tion from the other tribes of Israel, as well as 
 from the world in general, was accomplished. 
 The prophecy hmited the period when this 
 end would be fully answered; even Avhen 
 Shiloh, or the Messiah, should come: and 
 then its authority should cease, and the very 
 ensigns and badges of its former dignity and 
 preeminence should be no more : the scep- 
 tre should depart from Judah; and its law- 
 giver should lose all authority to enact laws, 
 and all power to enforce them ^. 
 
 The scene of Prophecy opened with a 
 clearer and more majestic view to David and 
 the Prophets. David foretold the change of 
 the order of the priesthood by the Messiah ; 
 the office he should himself sustain ; the suf- 
 ferings he should undergo; and the glorious 
 triumphs he should enjoy from his resurrec- 
 
 ^ Gen. xlix. 10. 
 
SERMON VII. 243 
 
 tion, his ascension, and the extensive propa- 
 gation of his gospel K 
 
 In process of time it disclosed secrets still 
 more inscrutable to humpai penetration ; and 
 unfolded, to the astonished eye, events an4 
 circumstances that were beyond the power of 
 imagination to conceive, or of expectation to 
 anticipate : events of which present appear- 
 ances gave no intimation ; and circumstances 
 so totally independent of the general occur- 
 rences of the world, that supposing the latter 
 to have been foreseen, yet the former would 
 not have been conjectured. 
 
 The Prophets have not only foretold in 
 general terms a great revolution that v/ould 
 take place in the world by the coming of the 
 Messiah, but they have delineated some par- 
 ticular circumstances attending it, which only 
 the eye of omniscience could have foreseen. 
 They have marked out the precise "* time 
 and " place of our Saviour's birth ; they have 
 described with wonderful exactness the dis- 
 tinguishing features of his office and cha- 
 racter: they have displayed with equal 
 beauty and truth the effects and conse- 
 quences of his advent: and thiough all 
 their predictions something pointing to the 
 Messiah either by direct application, or bj^ 
 
 ' Psal. ii. 6, &c. ex. 1, &c. "" Dan. ix. 24, &c. ' Mic. v. 2. 
 R 2 
 
244 SERMON VII. 
 
 secondary and distant reference, is so inter- 
 woven with the general contexture, the uni- 
 versal scheme of Prophecy, that, by keeping 
 it in our eye, we shall be furnished with a 
 clue to trace out their ultimate design, and 
 contemplate their mutual connection with, 
 and dependence on, each other ; for the Tes- 
 timony of Jesus is the spirit of Frophecy. 
 This is its ruling and its vital principle. Di- 
 vested of this, it loses its spirit and its power. 
 We behold no consistency. The impression 
 of its dignity is weakened ; its object is de- 
 based ; its end is darkened. But, viewed in 
 this light, we behold in it a harmony which 
 delights ; a grandeur which astonishes : and 
 from the result of the whole arises such evi- 
 dence as carries conviction to the under- 
 standing. 
 
 The prophet Isaiah has particularly fore- 
 told, that the Messiah should be born of ° a 
 virgin, and that he should descend from the 
 family of p David, which was a particular 
 branch of the tribe of Judah. While he 
 points out his miraculous birth, and de- 
 scribes his descent, he pourtrays his character 
 in colours so striking and distinguishing, as 
 to render its appropriation to Christ obvious 
 to every one who compares the picture with 
 
 • Isaiah vii. 14. p Ibid. ix. 6, 7. xi. 1, 2. 
 
SERMON VII. 245 
 
 the original. It was this holy Prophet that 
 foretold, that the Messiah should be ^ desti- 
 tute of outward power or influence to attract 
 the esteem, and ensure the attachment, of the 
 world ; that though in the eye of God he 
 should be '' the chief corner-stone^ elect, pre- 
 cious; yet that he should be ^ a stone of stum- 
 Ming and a rock of offence to men who were 
 guided by the springs which in general ac- 
 tuate the human breast, such as interest, am- 
 bition, and the love of sensual enjoyments : 
 and particularly it was foretold, that the 
 * Jews should fall on this rock ; should refuse 
 to build on him as the only foundation of 
 their hopes ; but should, in their attempt to 
 shake and overthrow it, be themselves scat- 
 tered and broken to pieces. The same Pro- 
 phet declared, that he should " veil the eyes 
 of the wise and learned, and preach the gos- 
 pel to the poor and illiterate; that he should 
 ''restore sight to the blind, health to the dis- 
 eased, and light to those who had been op- 
 pressed Avith darkness ; that he should teach 
 the true and perfect way, and should be the 
 great instructor of the Gentiles ; that ^ kings 
 should fall down before him, and all nations 
 pay him homage and obedience ; that his 
 
 •* Isaiah liii. 1, 2, 3. ' xxviii. 16. " viii. 14, 13. * Ibid. 
 ^ vi. 9, 10, 11, * xlii. 1, ^'cc. " Ix. 10. 
 
 R 3 
 
U6 SERMON VII. 
 
 reign should be gentle and benevolent ; and 
 that the influence of his gospel should har- 
 monize the jarring^ passions of mankind, and, 
 * together with the knowledge and worship of 
 the true God, establish peace and purity on 
 the earth. 
 
 In the fifty-third chapter, the Prophet gives 
 a most striking and affecting picture of the 
 temper and behaviour of the Messiah amidst 
 the most distressing and humiliating scenes 
 through which he passed. His death, consi- 
 dered as the great propitiation for the sins of 
 the whole world, was an object of such vast 
 importance, that it pleased the divine Being 
 strongly to mark the more distinguishing cir- 
 cumstances of it in prophetic language ; to 
 the end that our faith in him might have 
 every evidence to confirm it that was neces- 
 sary to give satisfaction to modest and im- 
 partial enquirers. The fact in every respect 
 corresponded with the prediction ; and so 
 far was the Prophet introduced into the se- 
 cret counsels of the divine mind, that when 
 he spoke of future events, he appears to be 
 relating their past history : for to that omni- 
 scient God, whose light directed the Prophet's 
 eye through the darkest recesses of distant 
 ages, prescience and accomplishment are the 
 
 ' Isaiab Iv. 13. • Ivi. G, 7, 8, 
 
SERMON VII. 247 
 
 same ; and the future and the past form but 
 one object. Hence the most striking scenes 
 of our Lord's passion are deUneated by the 
 prophetic pencil with the same truth and ex- 
 actness, as if they had been drawn on the 
 spot when the secret volume of the divine de- 
 crees was unrolled, and when that which had 
 been foreseen in vision was exhibited in re- 
 ality ^ 
 
 The ancient Prophecies concerning "" the 
 rude insults and the ungracious taunts of the 
 people ; their casting lots for his vesture, and 
 parting his garments amongst them ; ^ the 
 soldiers' attack on his dead body ; and his 
 being lodged after deatli in ^ the sepulchre 
 of the rich ; literally describe those circum- 
 stances which did in fact attend the passion 
 of our blessed Lord. 
 
 Prophecy became more clear and illustri- 
 ous, as the day-spriiig from on high advanced. 
 Its last period succeeded the return of the 
 Jews from the captivity of Babylon : and the 
 three prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Ma- 
 lachi, give a striking account of the charac- 
 ter and office of the Messiah ; and of the glo- 
 rious effects of his advent. 
 
 I have not time to enlarge on the particu- 
 
 •* Compare Mark xv. 27, 28. " Psal. xxii. 7, 18. 
 
 * Zech. xii. 10. * Isai. lili. 9. 
 
 R 4 
 
248 SERMON VIL 
 
 lar nature and distinct objects of those 
 later Prophecies ; nor to point out their 
 immediate correspondence with the facts to 
 which they related, and by which they 
 were illustrated and fulfilled. It will be 
 sufficient to speak of them with a general 
 reference; and their application to our 
 blessed Lord will be obvious to every one 
 that has the slightest knowledge of the great 
 end of his mission, and of the means which 
 he made use of to accomplish that end ^ 
 
 Thus the completion of distant and uncon- 
 nected Prophecies in the life and character, 
 the sufferings and the triumphs, of our blessed 
 Saviour, point him out as the Messiah which 
 rcas to come ; and, in concurrence with the 
 Miracles he wrought, form a system of ex- 
 ternal evidence, illustrious, harmonious, and 
 convincing. 
 
 The time wdll not permit me to enlarge on 
 the striking Prophecies of our blessed Lord : 
 but they w^ere such as gave additional evi- 
 dence to his divine character, and clearly 
 proved him to be filled with a spirit more 
 than human. He uttered numerous Predic- 
 tions of events altogether improbable on the 
 ground of present appearances, and such as 
 the most penetrating mind could neither have 
 
 »" See Hag= ii. 4, &c. Zech. vr. 11, &c. Mai. Hi. 1, 2, 3. iv. 1, 2. 
 
SERMON VII.. 249 
 
 foreseen, nor conjecliired, much less have 
 described with all their peculiarities, and 
 marked out the several incidents that at- 
 tended them. 
 
 Our blessed Lord foretold his own death, 
 with all its distinguishing circumstances. He 
 foretold the treachery of one disciple, and 
 the cowardice of another. He predicted 
 the persecutions to which his followers 
 would be exposed ; the opposition which 
 should be made against the gospel, and 
 its extraordinary and glorious triumph over 
 the power and policy of the world. He 
 foretold the astonishing (and to all human 
 views improbable) fate of the temple of Je- 
 rusalem, and the signal destruction of the 
 city. He even foretold the period Avhen 
 this awful event should take place, and de- 
 scribed the very ensigns of those arms that 
 were to ejffect the direful catastrophe. He 
 foretold the various calamities that should 
 befall the Jewish nation, and the total ruin in 
 which their church and state should be in- 
 volved. All that was predicted was fully, 
 clearly, and literally accomplished. The tem- 
 ple was levelled to the ground ; nor could 
 imperial munificence, when exercised with a 
 malignant view to confront the Prophecy of 
 our Lord, renew the structure, or even re- 
 
250 SERMON VII. 
 
 move the ruins of it, for the erection of an- 
 other edifice. The Jews were overtaken bj 
 the severest inflictions of heaven, and the 
 blood of him whom they had crucified was 
 revenged on their children, and their coun-t 
 try; while to this day they remain the signal 
 monuments of the truth of Prophecy; and, 
 having totally lost the sceptre^ and having no 
 lawgiver independently of a foreign tribunal, 
 they afford a visible and standing proof, that 
 the Sliiloh is come, to whom the gathering of 
 the people should be. 
 
 From a revelation thus authenticated by a 
 long and stupendous train of Miracles, which 
 bear the very stamp and seal of omnipo- 
 tence ; and by a striking and connected se- 
 ries of Prophecies, literally and exactly ac- 
 complished in the person of its author; Pro- 
 phecies of events, Avhich the eternal wisdom 
 could alone have foreseen, and the eternal 
 power alone have brought to pass ; from a re- 
 velation, 1 say, authenticated by such over- 
 powering evidence, what rational enquirer 
 can w ithhold his assent ? Or where, we may 
 boldly ask, amidst the numerous varieties of 
 religious opinion, wdiich in all ages of the 
 world have influenced the belief and directed 
 the practice of mankind, where shall we find 
 a system that can boast of attestations in any 
 
SERMON VII. 251 
 
 degree equal or similar to those of the gos- 
 pel? Let the adversaries of our holy faith 
 point out a religion that bears such visible 
 impressions of an Almighty hand; let them 
 do this, and we are content to renounce our 
 cause, to forego for ever, what we now can- 
 not but assert, the exclusive title of Christi- 
 anity to the venerable character of truth. 
 
 Surely in vain will they seek for such a 
 parallel in all the fictions of Mahometism. 
 
 We have already examined the lofty pre- 
 tensions of the prophet of Arabia : but in- 
 stead of evidence we have found extravag-ant 
 and confident assertions ; instead of argu- 
 ment we have heard bold and confused de- 
 clamation. When called upon by his unbe- 
 lieving countrymen to produce proofs of his 
 mission, and to work some Miracle in attesta- 
 tion of his title to the Prophetic oflSce, in the 
 evasive language of imposture he shrunk 
 from the just and pertinent requisition ; and, 
 with a tone of affected dignity, referred them 
 to the supernatural elegance and sublimity 
 of the Koran. 
 
 The Redeemer of mankind, in answer to 
 the pious scruples of his friends, or the cap- 
 tious questions of his enemies, with the same 
 majestic simplicity of an upright and ele- 
 vated mind, appealed to the Works which he 
 
252 SERMON VII. 
 
 wrought in his Fathers name; to the sick 
 whom he had healed, the blind who had re- 
 ceived their sight, the lepers whom he had 
 cleansed, and the dead whom he had raised 
 to life. 
 
 If for a moment we admit, even in its ut- 
 most extent, that wildest claim of the impos- 
 tor to the boasted miracle of the Koran ; yet 
 weak and equivocal is the evidence it affords, 
 when compared with those mighty works 
 which dignify and confirm the ministry of 
 Jesus Christ. The reality of this pretended 
 Miracle, and the proof which arises from it, 
 can only be determined at the falhble tribu- 
 nal of taste and criticism: but the works of 
 Jesus, instead of resting on the precarious 
 ground of imagination, derive their credit 
 from the testimony of the senses, of all de- 
 positions the most faithful and unquestion- 
 able. 
 
 Nor is the inferiority of the religion of 
 Mahomet to that of Christ less striking and 
 obvious with respect to the attestation of 
 Prophecy, than it is with regard to Miracles. 
 But to enter into a regular and formal con- 
 trast of the two religions, would in either case 
 be unnecessary, and even impossible. For, 
 amidst all the unsubstantial visions of Maho- 
 metism, amidst all the arrogant pretences of 
 
SERMON VIL 253 
 
 its founder, we are unable to discover any 
 proofs, Avlnch can with the least shadow of 
 reason be opposed to the solid and convinc- 
 ing evidence of the gospel. 
 
 Allowing, however, e.v hypothesis (what 
 never can be granted in reality,) the justice 
 of that extravagant claim of the audacious 
 impostor to certain predictions which once 
 existed in our scriptures ; admitting yet fur-, 
 ther the propriety of the interpretation, by 
 which his infatuated followers still labour to 
 wrest a variety of passages in support of his 
 pretensions ; yet even on these suppositions, 
 who can without presumption compare these 
 vague and equivocal testimonies to the 
 pointed and decisive evidence which arises 
 from the vast, the splendid scheme of Chris- 
 tian Prophecy? A scheme, which by its 
 magnificence overpowers the imagination, 
 and of whose grandeur the most exalted de- 
 scription can convey but faint and inade- 
 quate ideas. 
 
 We behold, with astonishment, a spirit of 
 Prophecy pervading all time ; commencing 
 so early as the fall of man, and extending to 
 the final consummation of all things : we see 
 it uniformly characterising one person ; first 
 by dark and obscure intmiations, then gra- 
 dually unfolding itself with brighter and 
 
254 SERMON VII. 
 
 brighter lustre at every step, till the appear-* 
 ance of Him who was its ultimate end and 
 object. In Him and his Apostles, but par- 
 ticularly in his beloved Disciple, we behold 
 it once more renewed, and predicting with 
 peculiar exactness every important event 
 which should befall his church, even from its 
 earliest establishment down to that period of 
 awful expectation, when the great plan of 
 divine grace shall be brought to a glorious 
 and consistent conclusion, and the mj^ste- 
 rious counsels of the Almighty, respecting 
 the Christian dispensation, shall be for ever 
 closed in judgment. 
 
SERMON VIII. 
 
 Luke xix. 22. 
 Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee. 
 
 When the Koran, bj the revelation of its 
 several chapters, during the long period of 
 more than twenty years, was at last com- 
 pleted, the Arabian prophet may be con- 
 ceived standing forth to public view, and 
 summoning the contemporary world and all 
 posterity, to hear his unvarying testimony to 
 its certainty and truth. With his volume in 
 his hand he comes forward, and in such terms 
 as these he calls on the living and the un- 
 born to be his judges. " This is the Book of 
 " God: it contains his last and most inviola- 
 " ble commands; it proceeded immediately 
 " from heaven ; and was delivered by the 
 " mouth of an angel : blessed are the faithful 
 " that shall receive its doctrines, and cursed 
 *' are those that oppose its authority.'' 
 
 But before we yield up our assent to these 
 unqualified and peremptory demands, we 
 are naturally led to enquire upon what rea- 
 sons they are founded. The feeble attempt, 
 
266 SERMON VIII. 
 
 that was made to support them by an empty 
 shew of external evidence, has ah'eady been 
 sufficiently exposed. AVe will now proceed 
 to examine, whether this pretended revela- 
 tion be with greater success attested inter- 
 nally, by the sanctions of natural religion, 
 and the estabhshed opinions of mankind. 
 
 That we may advance by infalHble deduc- 
 tions to the conclusion we shall form con- 
 cerning the credibility of the Koran, let us 
 take care to build nothing on the perishable 
 ground of present prejudices ; nothing on 
 the questionable authority of any prevailing 
 system.; nothing on any local and temporary 
 maxims, that may be peculiar to age or 
 country. ,Let us even exceed the measure of 
 common justice and common candour ; and 
 try the Koran by a test contrived by one of 
 its most zealous and successful champions 
 in that age when it was published, and 
 among the people to whom it was first pro- 
 posed. 
 
 When the Caliph Omar, the contemporary 
 and companion of Mahomet, was solicited to 
 spare the celebrated Library of Alexandria, 
 he replied to this effect : " Either the con- 
 " tents of those books agree with what is 
 " written in the holy Koran, or do not agree. 
 " If they do agree, then the Koran is suf- 
 
SERMON VIII. 257 
 
 ^' ficient, and those books are useless : if they 
 " do not agree, they are pernicious, and must 
 " be destroyed/' 
 
 Now, since the reUgion of Mahomet con- 
 stantly admits the authority, and appeals to 
 the testimony, of former revelations, the Law 
 and the Gospel; we may, with some limit- 
 ation, justly avail ourselves of these princi- 
 ples in our enquiry into its truth. 
 
 First, if the Koran agrees in historical 
 information and doctrines with prior reve- 
 lations, without any addition or improve- 
 ment, it is evidently unnecessary ; and, 
 therefore, it seems highly improbable that 
 it should have been revealed. 
 
 Secondly, if the Koran contains facts or 
 doctrines contrary to those which have been 
 already revealed, it stands self-condemned as 
 an imposture. 
 
 If, in examining the Koran by the first of 
 those principles which I have assumed, we 
 exclude so much of it as its author appears 
 to have borrowed from the Jewish and Chris- 
 tian scriptures, it can never be allowed that 
 the little which remains after this deduction 
 is of sufficient consequence or necessity to 
 justify the supposition of an immediate inter- 
 ference of the Deity, by a new and solemn 
 revelation. For when the Almighty Governor 
 
 s 
 
f58 SERMON VIII. 
 
 of the universe, whose distinguishing charac- 
 teristic it is to do nothing in vain, deviates 
 from the ordinary course of his providence, 
 and, in compassion to the weakness and the 
 ignorance of his creatures, graciously conde- 
 scends to instruct them by a particular reve- 
 lation of his will ; it is natural to expect, that 
 the information contained in such revelation 
 should be, hke the manner in which it is 
 conveyed, interesting and extraordinary. To 
 suppose, therefore, that God has thus revealed 
 to mankind what is in itself trifling and un- 
 important ; or what was before equally known 
 to them either by former manifestations of 
 himself, or b}^ the use of their own faculties, 
 is to ascribe to him a conduct in every re- 
 spect unworthy his wisdom; to suppose him 
 to do what is evidently unnecessary to be 
 done ; and thus to act in direct contradic- 
 tion to every idea which reason and experi- 
 ence teach us to form of his moral govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Amidst the numerous merits, whether fan- 
 cied or real, which the enthusiasm of its ad- 
 vocates has ascribed to the Koran, to that 
 of Novelty it has, perhaps, of all others, the 
 least claim. Were it consistent with the de- 
 corum of this time and place to enter into so 
 minute a species of investigation, it would 
 
SERMON VIII. 259 
 
 be no difficult task to point out the several 
 sources from whence the impostor derived 
 ahuost every doctrine, precept, and cere- 
 mony, which it prescribes. But, on the pre- 
 sent occasion, it will be sufficient to our pur- 
 pose, to instance in some few of the most im- 
 portant and interesting particulars. 
 
 Of the various and incongruous materials 
 which compose the misshapen structure of 
 Mahometan superstition, the far greater and 
 more valuable part may be traced immedi- 
 ately, or ultimately, to the scriptures of truth. 
 To them in particular must we have recourse 
 for the origin of whatever we discover of sub- 
 limity in the descriptions, of purity in the 
 doctrines, or of sound morahty in the pre- 
 cepts, of the Koran. 
 
 If it sometimes surprises us with unusual 
 grandeur, and, quitting the ordinary style, 
 magnificently paints the Almighty sitting on 
 the eternal throne, encompassed with clouds 
 and darkness, and giving laws to the uni- 
 verse; we instantly recognize the hallowed 
 manner, the ideas, and even the language of 
 the Hebrew prophets. When it describes 
 the various attributes of the Deity, whether 
 physical or moral ; when it represents hini 
 as omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent ; as 
 true, and merciful, and just ; it conveys no 
 
 s 2 ' 
 
260 SERMON VIIL 
 
 new, no clearer notions of his incomprehen-' 
 sible essence than we before possessed : it 
 only re-echoes the doctrines, and feebly imi- 
 tates the expressions, of the inspired penmen 
 of the Old and New Testament. Even that 
 grand and fundamental doctrine of the 
 Unity of the supreme Being, the establish- 
 ment of which was constantly alleged by 
 the impostor as the primary cause of his pre- 
 tended mission, contains no novel or un- 
 known truth. It is the leading principle of 
 the religion of nature ; and it constituted one 
 of the most important and distinguishing ob- 
 jects of a former revelation. The manifesta- 
 tion and preservation of this momentous truth 
 was one great end, to which the Mosaic in- 
 stitution was ordained to be subservient : 
 and even the Gospel, though it unfolds new 
 scenes to our astonished view, and presents 
 us with a clearer and fuller discovery of the 
 divine nature, by revealing to us the mysteri- 
 ous doctrine of the existence of three distinct 
 Persons in the Godhead ; yet it still main- 
 tains, and preserves inviolate, the Unity of 
 the supreme Being. 
 
 But, possessed only of a rude and imi>er- 
 fect knowledge of the doctrines of the Gos- 
 pel, and probably deriving that knowledge 
 from its most corrupt and heretical followers, 
 
SERMON VIII. 261 
 
 Mahomet seems to have entertained very 
 gross and mistaken ideas of the Christian 
 Trinity, and to have been totally ignorant 
 of the perfect consistence of that opinion 
 with the Unity of the Deity. 
 
 Hence we hear him continually reasonins: 
 after this manner — " ^ Verily Christ Jesus 
 " the son of Mary is the apostle of God, and 
 " his word, and a spirit proceeding from him, 
 " Believe therefore in God, and his apostles, 
 " and say not, there are three Gods. Forbear 
 " this ; it will be better for you : God is but 
 " one God. Far be it from him that he 
 " should have a son ! Unto him belongeth 
 " whatsoever is in heaven and on earth : and 
 " God is a sufficient protector. Christ doth 
 " not proudly disdain to be the servant of 
 " God, neither the Angels who approach 
 " near to his presence : and whoso disdaineth 
 ^* his service, and is puffed up with pride, 
 " God will gather them all to himself at the 
 " last day." 
 
 Hence too we behold almost every page 
 of his pretended revelation marked with the 
 fiercest invectives, and denouncing the se- 
 verest woes on all who impiously presume to 
 rob the Almighty of the honour due unto his 
 name, by associating other beings with hin^ 
 
 a Sale's Koraij, edit. 4to, p. 80. 
 
 s3 
 
262 SERMON VIII. 
 
 as his equals, and partakers of his majesty 
 and glory. 
 
 Thus the Koran, instead of contributing 
 any thing to the removal of that veil of dark- 
 ness which conceals the inefflible perfections 
 of the Almighty from the view of short-sighted 
 man; instead of enlarging our ideas, and ex- 
 tending our knowledge of the divine nature 
 and attributes, tends to obscure and weaken 
 our perceptions of them, and to make void 
 that revelation of himself which God had be- 
 fore vouchsafed to the world. 
 
 But if it be thus exceptionable as con- 
 taining no improvement of former revelations, 
 by conveying clearer or more distinct notions 
 of the Deity ; it is also equally liable to ob- 
 jection with respect to the worship which it 
 prescribes. 
 
 It was frequently the triumphant boast of 
 the great Apostle of the Gentiles, that the 
 Gospel of Jesus Christ had for ever freed 
 mankind from the intolerable burden of ce- 
 remonial observances. But the religion of Ma- 
 homet renews and perpetuates the slavery, by 
 prescribing to its votaries a ritual still more 
 oppressive, and entangling them again in a 
 yoke of bondage yet more severe than that 
 of the Law. The Mosaic ceremonies, in- 
 deed, (however destitute of merit in them- 
 
SERMON VIII. 263 
 
 selves,) were yet, when considered with a re- 
 ference to the events with which they were 
 connected, strikingly useful and significant. 
 
 But arbitrary and unmeaning are the insti- 
 tutions of the prophet of iVrabia; institutions, 
 whose highest, and indeed only use, even in 
 the estimation of their most zealous advo- 
 cates, is that of proving the piety, and exer- 
 cising the obedience of the faithful. And 
 even those ceremonies which he evidently 
 borrowed from the Jewish Legislator, no 
 longer possessing any relative merit, and 
 being no longer commemorative of past, or 
 typical of future events, cease to be rational 
 and expressive acts of devotion. 
 
 But whatever may be the propriety, and 
 whatever the utility of those numerous and 
 irksome observances with which the Maho- 
 metan ritual is burthened, scarcely one can 
 be pointed out which is either new, or pecu- 
 liar to that institution. Besides those which 
 its author prescribed in imitation of the Law 
 of Moses, there are others, which he derived 
 from less pure and venerable sources ; from 
 the senseless and unauthorized traditions of 
 the Rabbins, and from the superstitious cus- 
 toms of the barbarous and pagan Arabs. 
 
 Of those carnal ordinances, ablutions, and 
 prostrations, with which the follower of Ma- 
 
 s4 
 
264 SERMON VIII. 
 
 hornet is commanded to approach the great 
 Father of spirits ; and of the rigorous fasts, 
 by which he is directed to mortify his corrupt 
 aifections ; the far greater part had been be- 
 fore introduced amongst the essentials of re- 
 hgion, and observed with a scrupulous exact- 
 ness by the later Jews : and many of them 
 are said to have prevailed even amongst the 
 idolaters of Arabia. 
 
 It was a command repeatedly and forcibly 
 impressed on the Israelites by God himself, 
 that they should not, on pain of the most ex- 
 emplary vengeance, presume to transfer the 
 impious ceremonies of idol-worship into the 
 service of the living God ; or approach the 
 altar of Jehovah with the same sacrifices and 
 rites, wherewith the nations around them 
 served their Gods. But the daring policy 
 of Mahomet adopted, without hesitation, the 
 fanciful and superstitious ceremonies with 
 which his countrymen adored their imaginary 
 deities ; and scrupled not to sanctify them 
 with the authority, and engraft them on the 
 worship of the one true, eternal, and self-sub- 
 sisting God. Of this kind, amidst a variety 
 of instances too numerous to be recounted in 
 this place, is that great and meritorious act 
 of Mahometan devotion, the pilgrimage to 
 the holy city ; an act which the prophet has 
 
SERMON VIII. 26^ 
 
 enjoined, and the pious Mussulman impli- 
 citly performs, as necessary to the obtaining 
 pardon of his sins, and the qualifying him to 
 be a partaker of the alluring pleasures and 
 exquisite enjoyments of paradise. 
 
 Even those parts of the Koran, which are 
 at first view most captivating by the appear- 
 ance of Novelty, and in which its author 
 seems to have given the reins to a luxuriant 
 imagination, and to have expatiated at large 
 in the boundless regions of fancy, will, upon 
 a closer examination, be found to contain as 
 little of novel, as they do of important inform- 
 ation. With respect to the great and mo- 
 mentous doctrine of a future state, and the 
 condition of the soul after its departure from 
 the body, it must indeed be acknowledged, 
 that the prophet of Arabia has presented us 
 with a nearer prospect of the invisible world, 
 and disclosed to us a thousand particulars 
 concerning it, which the holy scriptures had 
 wrapped in the most profound and mysterious 
 silence. But in his various representations 
 of another life, he generally descends to an 
 unnecessary minuteness and particularity, 
 which excites disgust and ridicule, instead of 
 reverence: and even his most animated de- 
 scriptions of the joys of paradise, or the tor- 
 ments of hell, however strong and glowing the 
 
266 SERMON VIII. 
 
 colours in which they are painted, are yet far 
 inferior in point of true subhmity, and far 
 less calculated to promote the interests of 
 piety by raising the hopes and alarming the 
 fears of rational beings, than that degree of 
 obscurity in which the future life of the gos- 
 pel is still involved, and those more general 
 terms in which its promises and threatenings 
 are proposed to mankind. Our holy religion, 
 by the resurrection of its great Author, affords 
 an evidence of another life peculiar to itself; 
 an evidence far more conclusive and satis- 
 factory than any which the Koran with all 
 its arrogance can furnish, in support of this 
 interesting and awful truth. It also at the 
 same time reveals to us every thing concern- 
 ing the mode of our existence in that life, 
 which appears to be in any degree conducive 
 to our comfort and happiness in the presentii 
 Admitting, however, that a more particular 
 and circumstantial knowledge of a future 
 state than the Gospel contains was necessary 
 to the well-being of mankind ; admitting also, 
 that the Koran has supplied this defect, and 
 communicated this valuable information to 
 the world ; yet still we may with propriety 
 deny the necessity of the Mahometan reve- 
 lation. We know that the impostor con- 
 stantly pretended to have received these stu- 
 
SERMON VIIL 267 
 
 pendous secrets, by the ministry of an angel, 
 frona that eternal book in which the divine 
 decrees have been written by the finger of 
 the Almighty from the foundation of the 
 world : but the learned enquirer will discover 
 a more accessible, and a far more probable 
 source from whence they might be derived, 
 partly in the wild and fanciful opinions of 
 the ancient Arabs, and chiefly in those ex- 
 haustless stores of marvellous and improba- 
 ble fiction, the works of the Rabbins. Hence 
 that romantic fable of the Angel of Death, 
 whose peculiar oflfice it is at the destined 
 hour to dissolve the union betwixt soul and 
 body, and to free the departing spirit from 
 its prison of flesh. Hence that imaginary, 
 yet dreaded Tribunal, before which, when 
 his body is deposited in the grave, the trem- 
 bhng Mussulman, on the authority of his 
 prophet, believes he must appear, to render 
 an exact account of his faith and actions. 
 Hence too the various descriptions of the ge- 
 neral Resurrection and final Judgment, with 
 Avhich the Koran every where abounds ; and 
 hence the vast, but ideal Balance, in which 
 the actions of all mankind shall then be im- 
 partially weighed, and their eternal doom be 
 assigned them either in the regions of bliss 
 or misery, according as their good or evil 
 
268 SERMON VIII. 
 
 deeds shall be found to preponderate. Here 
 too may be traced the grand and original 
 outlines of that sensual Paradise, and those 
 luxurious enjoyments which were so success- 
 fully employed in the Koran to gratify the 
 ardent genius of the Arabs, and allure them 
 to the standard of the prophet. By proceed- 
 ing in this manner, it might easily be shewn 
 how little there is of novelty or originality in 
 the pretended revelation of Mahomet ; but I 
 forbear to trespass on your patience by mul- 
 tiplying unnecessary examples. It is suffi- 
 cient to repeat what I have before observed, 
 that the Koran does not contain one single 
 doctrine which may not fairly be derived ei- 
 ther from the Jewish and Christian scriptures, 
 from the spurious and Apocryphal gospels 
 current in the East, from the Talmudical le- 
 gends, or from the traditions, customs, and 
 opinions of the Arabians. The same obser- 
 vation which I have applied to the doc- 
 trines, may with some few limitations be 
 likewise extended to the precepts, which the 
 Arabian legislator has enjoined. That the 
 Koran, amidst a various and confused heap 
 of ridiculous and even immoral precepts, 
 contains many interesting and instructive 
 lessons of morality, cannot with truth be de- 
 nied. Of these, however, the merit is to be 
 
SERMON Aail. 269 
 
 ascribed, not to the feeble imitation, but to 
 the great and perfect original from which 
 they were manifestly drawn. Instead of im- 
 proving on the Christian precepts by a supe- 
 rior degree of refinement ; instead of exhibit- 
 ing a purer and more perfect system of mo- 
 rals than that of the gospel, the prophet of 
 Arabia has miserably debased and weakened 
 even what he has borrowed from that system. 
 Every duty which he enjoins, every precept 
 which he enforces, in imitation of Christ and 
 his Apostles, though it ma}' still command 
 some regard, has yet lost much of its native 
 beauty and majesty, and bears strong and 
 evident marks of the impure and corrupt 
 channel through which it has passed. Thus, 
 if he sometimes, in a tone of authority, sum- 
 mons his followers to the practice of the va- 
 rious duties of charity ; if he commands them 
 to give alms, to relieve the distressed, to for- 
 give injuries; yet base and narrow is the 
 principle on which he enforces these amiable 
 virtues, when compared with the more libe- 
 ral and beneficent spirit of the gospel of Je- 
 sus. Instead of exercising a vague and uni- 
 versal charity, the disciple of Mahomet is ex- 
 pressly taught to confine his benevolence to 
 the followers of the prophet ; instead of con- 
 ferring his good oflSces on those whose faith 
 
i270 SERMON VIIL 
 
 shall happen to differ from his o\vt!, he is 
 warned against indulging the tender weak- 
 ness of humanity, he is commanded to wage 
 perpetual war with the guilty race, and to 
 deem it a meritorious act to extirpate these 
 enemies of his God from off' the face of the 
 earth. 
 
 But if such be the inferiority of the Koran 
 to preceding revelations, (for the same infe- 
 riority is observable in every other duty 
 which it enjoins,) it also labours under a dis- 
 advantage equally striking with respect to 
 the motives by which those duties are en- 
 forced. 
 
 Though different be the representation of 
 the joys and miseries of another life, which 
 the Gospel and the Koran propose to their 
 respective followers, yet the commands of 
 both rest ultimately on the same general 
 sanction of future rewards and punish- 
 ments. But the religion of Christ justly 
 asserts its superiority over every other sys- 
 tem, whether true or false, by the peculiar 
 and animating encouragements to obedience 
 which it offers; encouragements alike un- 
 known to the dispensation of Moses, and to 
 the pretended revelation of Mahomet. 
 
 Under all the distresses of life, and amidst 
 all the difficulties of his Christian warfare. 
 
SERMON VIII. 271 
 
 the faithful disciple of Christ possesses a 
 resource, of which the Mahometan can form 
 no conception, in the comfortable promise 
 of divine grace to correct his errors, assist his 
 frailties, and invigorate his resolutions. 
 
 The pious Mussulman is induced to com- 
 ply with the various ordinances of his religion, 
 from a respect to the authority, the promises, 
 and the threatenings of his prophet: but, 
 though possessed also of the same incite- 
 ments even in a much higher degree, the 
 obedience of the Christian is still further se- 
 cured by those more engaging and endearing 
 motives of love and gratitude to a Redeemer, 
 who died to rescue a guilty world from the 
 double slavery of sin and death. 
 
 On the whole, then, the Koran, instead of 
 supporting its arrogant pretence of being the 
 grand close and consummation of the divine 
 revelations; instead of presenting us with 
 any improvement of the Law and the Gos- 
 pel, appears in fact to be the grossest cor- 
 ruption and perversion of both. 
 
 Under these circumstances, to suppose 
 that it proceeded from the wise and benevo- 
 lent God, would be to suppose a manifest 
 absurdity ; to invert the known order and 
 conduct of his providence ; and to make the 
 fuller, and more clear, and perfect of the 
 
272 SERMON VIIL 
 
 divine dispensations prior to, and prepara* 
 torj of, the partial, and obscure, and imper- 
 fect. 
 
 But in our application of the secono 
 Principle, which I have assumed, to the Ko- 
 ran, we shall find charges of a more direct 
 and positive nature to object against it ; we 
 shall here remark the plainest, and the bold- 
 est contradictions to that law and that gos- 
 pel, %vhich at the same time it every where 
 proclaims to be divine; and on whose au- 
 thority it vainly attempts to found its own 
 claim to divinity. With respect to doctrines, 
 various and irreconcileable are the differences 
 which might be pointed out ; yet on these, 
 though sufficient at once to confute the pre- 
 tensions of Mahomet, I at present forbear to 
 insist. They were perhaps intentional, and 
 adopted in order to promote more effectually 
 the plans of interest and ambition which he 
 had concerted. 
 
 But the Koran not only speaks a language 
 contrary to the scriptures in the speculative 
 truths and doctrines which it professes to re- 
 veal, it also differs materially with regard to 
 facts. A stronger, or more prominent ex- 
 ample of what I now assert, cannot be sub- 
 mitted to your consideration, than its auda- 
 cious denial of that plainest and most im- 
 
SERMON VIIL 273 
 
 portant event in all the history of the gospel, 
 the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Hear 
 the words of the great impostor himself on 
 this subject, where speaking of the Jews he 
 says, "Tliey have spoken against Mary a 
 " grievous calumny ; and have said, Verily 
 " we have slain Christ Jesus the son of 
 " Mary, the Apostle of God ; yet they slew 
 " him not, neither crucified him, but he was 
 " represented by one in his likeness : and 
 " verily they who disagreed concerning him 
 ^' were in a doubt as to this matter, and had 
 " no sure knowledge thereof, but followed 
 " only an uncertain opinion. They did not 
 " really kill him ; but God took him up unto 
 " himself: and God is mighty and wise^.'' 
 
 Mahomet indeed was not the first to pro- 
 pagate this bold and extravagant falsehood. 
 Even in the earliest age of the church, whilst 
 the blood of Christ had been yet recently 
 shed at Jerusalem, there arose a sect, who 
 with singular effrontery maintained, that he 
 had suffered in appearance onl}^ and not in 
 reality; and that the Jews and officers of 
 Pilate had wasted their ineffectual rage on 
 an airy phantom, who seemed to endure the 
 tortures which they inflicted, and at last to 
 expire on the cross. JBut the apocryphal 
 
 '' Koran, p. 79. 
 T 
 
274 SERMON VIII. 
 
 gospel of Barnabas, a work which seems to 
 have been originally forged by heretical 
 Christians, and since interpolated to favour 
 the views of Mahomet and his followers, cor- 
 responds more exactly with the representa- 
 tion of the Koran. We are there told, that 
 in the night in which Jesus was betrayed, at 
 the instant when the Jews were about to ap- 
 prehend him in the garden, he was miracu- 
 lously carried up into heaven by the minis- 
 try of Angels, whilst the traitor Judas, taken 
 suddenly in the snare which himself had laid^ 
 was crucified in his likeness and his stead. 
 
 But whatever may be the corrupt source 
 from whence the impostor derived so palpable 
 and notorious a falsehood ; whatever be the 
 cause which procured its admittance, whether 
 ignorance or design, the argument is still 
 equally conclusive against the veracity of the 
 Koran. 
 
 If additional proofs were necessary to re- 
 fute the impious claim of the Mahometan 
 imposture to a divine original, I might still 
 further observe, that it is not only incon- 
 sistent with preceding revelations, but also 
 with itself 
 
 The advocates for the Mahometan cause 
 labour indeed to obviate any objection which 
 may be drawn from these glaring contradic- 
 
SERMON VIIL 275 
 
 lions, by the doctrine of abrogation. God, 
 say they, in pursuance of the great plan of 
 his providence, was pleased to command 
 many things in the holy Koran, which for 
 wise and ocod reasons he afterwards revoked. 
 But, not to mention the doubts and uncer- 
 tainty, which must thus have been unavoida- 
 bly introduced into a revelation, which ought 
 to be perfectly clear and explicit in all that 
 it commands, it is evident, that such a con- 
 duct, though well accommodated to the shift- 
 ing policy of a capricious mortal, is totally 
 incompatible with the eternal wisdom of the 
 immutable God. 
 
 Every revelation which professes to come 
 from God should doubtless be suited to our 
 apprehensions of his perfections ; but num- 
 berless are the instances in which the Koran 
 either commands or permits what is plainly 
 contradictory both to the nature of the Deity, 
 and to that original law of right and wrong 
 which he has universally impressed on man- 
 kind. Indeed the general character of its 
 precepts is too strongly marked, for the most 
 inattentive observer to doubt of the oni>;in 
 from whence they flowed. The impure de- 
 signs which gave birth to the whole S3^stem 
 may be traced in almost every subordinate 
 part ; even its sublimest descriptions of the 
 
 T 2 
 
276 SERMON VIIL 
 
 Deity, even its most exalted moral precepts, 
 not infrequently, either terminate in, or are 
 interwoven with, some provision to gratify the 
 inordinate cravings of ambition, or some li- 
 cence for the indulgence of the corruptest 
 passions of the human heart. It has given a 
 sanction to fornication, and, if any weight be 
 due to the example of its author, it has justi- 
 fied adultery. It has made war and rapine 
 and bloodshed, provided they be exercised 
 against unbelievers, not only meritorious acts, 
 but even essential duties to the good Mussul- 
 man; duties, by the performance of which 
 he may secure the constant favour and pro- 
 tection of God and his prophet in this life, 
 and in the next, entitle himself to the bound- 
 less joys of paradise. 
 
 Thus has the pretended revelation of Ma- 
 homet accomplished the great end for which 
 it was designed, by reforming the corruptions 
 which time and the perverseness of human 
 nature had unhappily conspired to introduce 
 into preceding revelations ! And thus sig- 
 nally has it improved on the pure and spiri- 
 tual morality of the gospel ! 
 
 From the whole then of what has been 
 said, we are justified in concluding, that the 
 Koran, when considered by itself, indepen- 
 dently of other revelations, is in every respect 
 
SERMON VIII. 277 
 
 unworthy the God of purity; and that when 
 taken on its own principle, as grounded on 
 the law and the gospel, it is notoriously and 
 indisputably false. 
 
 If now we apply the same reasoning to 
 Christianity, as subsequent to the law of 
 Moses, which we have already applied to the 
 Koran, the contrast will be found highly fa- 
 vourable to our religion. 
 
 From a view of the nature and qualities of 
 the Mosaic law, we shall be convinced that 
 it was both partial and temporary. The 
 Jews were a distinct class of people, sepa^- 
 rated from all nations of the world, and pre- 
 served from mixing with them by means of 
 certain rites and ceremonies, which were evi- 
 dently designed to keep this distinction sa- 
 cred and inviolable. 
 
 They stood single amongst mankind, and 
 bore on them the visible marks of a divine 
 and appropriate designation. The general 
 government of Providence was (if I may so 
 express myself) epitomized in the particular 
 superintendance of the Deity over this dis-.. 
 tinguished people : it was reduced to a scale 
 more contracted indeed, but more striking. 
 The Jews stood forward to the world as a 
 proof that there is a God that judges the 
 earth ; and that he, whose naipe alone is Jcr 
 
 T 3 
 
^78 SERMON VIII. 
 
 hovah, is the most high over all. They were 
 selected to be the depositaries of those holy 
 records in which the truths of God are re- 
 vealed, and his precepts are enforced : and 
 they were ordained to be the means of trans- 
 mitting his name, his worship, his promises, 
 and his predictions to future generations. 
 
 But as the Mosaic institution was of a 
 partial nature, so was it of a limited dura- 
 tion. When its design was accomplished, it 
 was of course to cease. It was admirably 
 adapted to answer the ends for which it was 
 appointed : to impress the mind with a 
 strong sense of the divine unity and govern- 
 ment ; to preserve some of those funda- 
 mental truths of natural religion, w^hich were 
 either wholly denied, or grossly corrupted by 
 other nations ; to unfold the great designs of 
 providence and grace; and thus gradually 
 to prepare the w^ay for the coming of the 
 Messiah, and to dispose the human mind for 
 the reception of those doctrines, which it was 
 his peculiar offiee to reveal to the world. 
 
 The great and characteristical difference 
 between the law of Moses and that of Christ 
 seems to be this. The former chiefly re- 
 spected the prosperity and interests of the 
 present life, and the good order of a particu- 
 lar community, governed by laws peculiar to 
 
SERMON VIIL 279 
 
 itself. The latter principally has in view our 
 spiritual welfare, and the interest of a future 
 and eternal state ; founded on the relation in 
 which we all stand to God as his creatures, 
 and governed by precepts and motives suited 
 to our condition as guilty and imperfect, but 
 as rational and accountable beings. The one 
 was narrow and confined in its view ; the 
 other large and extensive as the human race: 
 and as the former was instituted for one par- 
 ticular people, so was it limited to a certain 
 duration : but the latter, as it respects all 
 nations, and kindreds, and people, and 
 tongues ; so does it respect all time. It re- 
 ceived its origin in some degree from the fall ; 
 and it will endure to the final restitution of 
 all things. The law of Moses was composed 
 of ordinances that only suited one purpose: 
 and when that purpose was answered, its 
 obligation was at an end. But the law of 
 Christ comprehends principles which suit 
 every purpose of every rational creature 
 upon earth; and, being adapted to the ge- 
 neral interests of mankind, will continue to 
 be obligatory upon those to whom it is re- 
 vealed, as long as the world endures. 
 
 The law of Moses, considered by itself 
 only, was imperfect and defective. Ab- 
 stracted from the reference which it bore to a 
 
 T 4 
 
280 SERMON VIII. 
 
 fuller and more spiritual dispensation, it 
 seems to have been unworthy of the wisdom 
 and purity of God. Its institutions were su- 
 perfluous and trifling. Some of them tended 
 rather to shackle and debase, than to exalt 
 the mind, and to make religion the burthen 
 of necessity, rather than the tribute of the 
 will. Persons of gross and low ideas, who 
 were unwillmg or unable to look beyond the 
 letter of the law, contented themselves with 
 an outward performance of outward cere- 
 monies; having washed their bodies, they 
 thought themselves pure from their sins 5 
 ^nd having presented their offerings to the 
 priest, flattered themselves with the presump- 
 tion of having discharged their duty towards 
 God. But though the law was imperfect, 
 when considered by itself; yet if we view it 
 in the connection in which it stands with a 
 fuller and more liberal dispensation, we shall 
 see its relative importance ; and shall adore 
 that wisdom, which has so disposed the vari- 
 ous parts of the one great plan of providence 
 and grace, as to make them illustrative of 
 the truth, and subservient to the uses of each 
 other. 
 
 It is evident that the law of Moses in its 
 various institutions had a reference to some 
 future dispensation ; and that from the ob- 
 
SERMON Vm. 281 
 
 ject to which they pointed, they derived all 
 their consequence and utility. Ablutions 
 of the body were a significant and religious 
 exercise, when they were performed with an 
 eye to the sanctification of the heart, and the 
 purifying the affections from natural or ac- 
 quired pollutions. Sacrifices and offerings 
 were useful and instructive rites, when consi- 
 dered as evidences of the divine displeasure 
 against sin ; and as bearing a reference to 
 the sacrifice of the Messiah, who, as the pro- 
 phet Isaiah declares, was to he cut off^ but not 
 for himself. In him, and the great Atone- 
 ment made by the offering up of his own 
 body on the cross, all the sacrifices of the 
 law received their completion. It was his 
 death that most clearly illustrated their de- 
 sign ; and as it explained their nature, it at 
 the same time abolished their use. 
 
 The repetition of sacrifices was a strong 
 and decisive proof of their imperfection. 
 The apostle reasons on this subject with 
 great force and accuracy in the tenth chap- 
 ter of the Epistle to the Hebrews. The law, 
 he observes, being only typical of a future 
 dispensation, could have no eflScacy by it- 
 self. It had no absolute virtue ; no inde- 
 pendent merit. It could never with those 
 sacrifices^ which they offered year by year 
 
282 SERMON VIIL 
 
 continuallij^ make the comers thereunto per- 
 fect. 
 
 But the comparative imperfection of the 
 law of Moses will appear more fully from the 
 weakness of its motives, svhen opposed to 
 those of the gospel. The promise of mercy 
 to pardon, and grace to assist, was not so 
 full and explicit, as it was under the more 
 benign dispensation of the Lord Jesus : for 
 the lazi) came by Moses, bat grace and truth by 
 Jesus Christ, Religion is generally charac- 
 terized in the Old Testament under the de- 
 nomination of the fear of God; and I appre- 
 hend the reason to be this : The Jews were 
 accustomed to very awful representations of 
 the Deity; and, living under the discipline 
 of a school-master, (as the apostle calls the 
 law,) fear prevailed beyond every other prin- 
 ciple in their religious services. Objects were 
 darkened in coming to them through the veil 
 of types and figures, the meaning of which 
 was but very gradually disclosed even to the- 
 prophets themselves : and that too, only in 
 proportion to their nearer approach to the 
 fullness of time, when their ultimate purpose 
 was to be more illustriously displayed in their 
 fulfilment by Christ. Obscurity always cre- 
 ates dread: and when the divine Being was 
 seen only through the terrible majesty of the 
 
SERMON VIII. 283 
 
 law, his attributes rather excited awful vene- 
 ration than filial confidence. But when God 
 was manifested in the flesh, we beheld the 
 glory of his person in the face of his only be- 
 gotten Son ; and we beheld it full of grace 
 and truth. 
 
 The motives which enforced obedience on 
 the Jews were always adapted to their know- 
 ledge. As the discoveries of truth opened 
 on their minds, so were the privileges which 
 were connected with them proportionably 
 unfolded. Nevertheless, in the most enlight- 
 ened periods of the Jewish church, we find 
 but very few and very feeble traces of 
 those subhme and endearing motives, by 
 which Christianity is adorned and recom- 
 mended. 
 
 The law of Moses was wholly enforced by 
 temporal sanctions ; not that a future state 
 was unknown to the Jews ; they had some 
 faint idea, some obscure conceptions of it : 
 but Moses, depending on a particular provi- 
 dence to accomplish either what he had 
 promised, or what he had threatened, omit- 
 ted to place the doctrine of a future state 
 among the direct and positive sanctions of 
 his law. The gospel, on the contrary, has 
 brought life and immortality to light. It has 
 dispersed all those shades, which so hung 
 
284 SERMON VIII. 
 
 over it as to render it to the e3^e of unassisted 
 reason a subject of doubtful speculation, ra- 
 ther than of cheerful hope ; and has placed 
 it in a point of view, unknown even to the 
 favoured people of God under the law. It 
 has reduced to a certainty what nature, at 
 the farthest stretch of its powers, could bare- 
 ]y regard as a conjecture ; and demonstrated 
 as a fact, what the Jews were only permitted 
 to behold, through the obscure medium of 
 types and figures, as a distant probability. 
 The clear discovery of a future state, and the 
 application of it as one of the great sanc- 
 tions of religion, were reserved for the gospeh 
 Hence we are taught to regard man in a 
 higher and nobler light, than nature, with all 
 her boasted attributes and most splendid ac- 
 complishments, can represent him. We are 
 taught to consider him as the heir of im- 
 mortality ; as made for two worlds ; and as 
 quahfied to act in both, with increasing ca- 
 pacities both of moral improvement, and of 
 physical happiness. 
 
 From these particulars it seems clearly to 
 follow, that the gospel, so far from being su- 
 perfluous, was in every view highly expe- 
 dient. The world stood in need of it, as a 
 system calculated to give general informa- 
 tion, and ditfuse general happiness : and to 
 
SERMON VIII. 285 
 
 the Jews in particular it was necessary, as 
 the consummation of their law in all the 
 great purposes of its institution; and as sup- 
 pl3^ing its defects by the doctrines it revealed, 
 by the assurances it afforded of present 
 grace, and by the encouragements it held 
 forth to the attainment of future and eternal 
 glory. 
 
 If we apply the second Rule, we shall 
 easily perceive, that the gospel is in no re- 
 spect contrar^^ to the law ; but that the New 
 Testament is truly, what it professes to be, the 
 end and accomphshment of the Old. 
 
 The word law is, in the holy scriptures, 
 used in a variety of senses. In the Old Tes- 
 tament, and also in the writings of St. Paul, 
 it frequently denotes the ceremonies of the 
 law of Moses, which distinguished the Jew- 
 ish religion and the Jewish people from all 
 others. Sometimes it means the moral law ; 
 and expresses particularly that system of pre- 
 cepts relating to our religious and moral con- 
 duct, which mark the bounds of our duty to 
 God and man. 
 
 The former was abolished, when Jesus 
 came to unite both Jew and Gentile under 
 one comprehensive and gracious dispensa- 
 tion ; the latter still continues in its original 
 
286 SERMON VIII. 
 
 force ; for it had not its foundation in any 
 partial or occasional reasons, which only ap- 
 ply to a particular community, and are only 
 ordained to ansAver a particular and tempo- 
 rary design : on the contrary, it is closely 
 connected with the primitive laws of nature, ' 
 and the unalterable constitution of thing's : 
 it has its foundation in causes which can 
 never cease to operate on rational beings, 
 and which are universal and perpetual. Beit, 
 however, observed, that Christ came not to 
 destroy the law, hut to fulfil it. He did not 
 destroy even the ceremonial law, till he had 
 so fulfilled the design of its institution, as 
 to render it totally unnecessary. When its 
 end was answered, it of course vanished 
 away. The substance being come, the sha- 
 dow was useless. But the abrogation of the 
 ceremonial law did not imply any contra- 
 diction to its design, nor did it throw the 
 slio;htest reflection on the wisdom of that 
 God who instituted it. It was only a de- 
 claration that the law had answered every 
 purpose, for which it was appointed ; and 
 that its obligation ceased, when the reason 
 of its establishment was at an end. Our 
 blessed Lord most strictly conformed to it, 
 in order to shew his perfect approbation of it. 
 
SERMON VIII. 287 
 
 In him it was complete; and with him it 
 ceased for ever. 
 
 But with respect to the moral law, it was 
 the great business of our Saviour's ministry 
 to illustrate and confirm it. He added no 
 precept that opposed it. He only cleared it 
 from false glosses, and enforced it by stronger 
 motives. Hence the apostle argues, Do we 
 make void the law by faith? God forbid— Yea^ 
 we establish the law. Every moral precept 
 is as obligatory now as it ever was : and 
 Christians have in this respect the same rule 
 to walk by as the Jews had. Thus the law 
 of the Lord is perfect, and his com?nandments 
 endure throughout all generations. It is the 
 original law written on the heart. It was 
 rendered explicit by the law of the Deca- 
 logue : and the law of the gospel brings it 
 forward with additional evidence and force. 
 The grand truths of the gospel were revealed, 
 though obscurely, in the earliest periods of 
 the world : for the same God was the author 
 of every dispensation of true religion ; and 
 he made the one so preparatory to the other, 
 that the whole migiit be one uniform and 
 consistent plan, worthy of his unerring wis- 
 dom, and entitled at once to our grateful ac- 
 ceptance and rational approbation. 
 
 God promised our. first parents, that the 
 
288 SERMON VIII. 
 
 seed of the woman should bruise the sei^penfs 
 head. He promised the patriarch Abraham, 
 that in his seed all the families of the earth 
 should he blessed. The manner of this divine 
 dispensation has been different in different 
 periods : but the same spirit breathes in all ; 
 and in all the same object is pursued, re- 
 covery from the guilt and misery of sin, 
 through the mercy of God displayed in a 
 Mediator. 
 
 This is the basis of the evangelical cove- 
 nant : and this glorious doctrine is coaeval 
 Avith revelation. Before the publication of 
 the law, the knowledge of this doctrine was, 
 indeed, very confined and obscure ; but still 
 there are traces of it in the earliest revela- 
 tions : and the patriarchs had undoubtedly 
 such impressions of it on their minds, as laid 
 a foundation for that faith, in consequence 
 of which their names are recorded with such 
 honour in the eleventh chapter of the Epistle 
 to the Hebrews. Under the law the great 
 truths of the gospel, which were amply to be 
 revealed in future times, were shadowed forth 
 in sacrific rites, and other expressive ceremo- 
 nies, well adapted to answer the purposes of 
 a preparatory institution. 
 
 Yet the law of Moses, considered in a se- 
 para^te view, made no provision for the future 
 
SERMON VIIL 289 
 
 pardon of moral guilt ; and afforded no pro- 
 mise or hope of future happiness. But though 
 the covenant made with Moses for one parti- 
 cular people, and for a determined period of 
 time, contained no gracious promises of for- 
 giveness in another life, yet the patriarchs 
 and holy men of old were not destitute of 
 such hopes. From whence could those 
 hopes arise ? From whence, but from that 
 more general covenant of grace, published 
 to Adam immediately after his fall, renewed 
 with Noah, with Abraham, with David : the 
 covenant which from them was delivered 
 down to future generations by uninterrupted 
 tradition ; attested by the concurrent evi- 
 dence of the prophets; typified by all the 
 sacrifices throughout the world ; and particu- 
 larly amongst the Jews: and, in the fulness 
 of time, completely and finally established by 
 the coming of Jesus Christ, who is the great 
 Mediator of this covenant ; who fulfilled on 
 our account all its conditions ; died to seal 
 its promises with his blood ; rose again to 
 demonstrate the eflScacy of his sacrifice ; and 
 ever liveth to make intercession for us? 
 
 If I were to pursue this subject farther, I 
 might shew you the perfect coincidence of 
 the Old Testament with the New : but 1 
 have no time for a discussion so comprehen- 
 
 u 
 
wo SERMON VIII. 
 
 sive. It is sufficient to observe, that the 
 gospel does not run counter to the law, so 
 far as to render the one inconsistent with the 
 other. Each was brought forward in its na- 
 tural order, and each is linked with the other 
 in the most perfect agreement. The ceremo- 
 nial law, though vacated by the gospel, yet 
 was not abolished till its own purposes were 
 fully answered. The moral duties of the law 
 are enforced with additional sanctions, and 
 illustrated with additional evidence. Its doc- 
 trines are confirmed, and explained in their 
 full latitude : what was obscure, is made 
 clear ; and what was foretold, has been ac- 
 complished. From the whole then we infer, 
 that there is no inconsistency between the 
 two dispensations. The}^ coalesce with each 
 other, as parts of the same system ; and, 
 with an exact conformity to all the designs 
 of Providence in the natural and the moral 
 world, the more obscure and partial are 
 preparatory to the more perfect and illus- 
 trious. 
 
 If we contemplate the gospel by itself, and 
 view it in its own light, we shall have abun- 
 dant reason to admire it, both for the purity 
 of its nature, and the tendency which it has 
 to promote the interests and happiness of 
 mankind. It bears on it the stamp of aMi- 
 
SERMON VIII. 291 
 
 vine original ; and there is a spirit which ani- 
 mates and beautifies it, that must strongly 
 prepossess the pious mind in its favour. 
 
 The purity of the gospel is indeed a 
 decisive evidence of the origin whence it 
 proceeded: it is an evidence ever present; 
 ever legible; and which no distance, whe- 
 ther of time or place, can efface. That pu- 
 rity is such, as we should naturally expect 
 from the sentiments wdiich uncorrupted na- 
 ture leads us to form of the divine Being. If 
 he had not already vouchsafed to grant us a 
 revelation of his will, with respect to our 
 duty both to him and to one another ; yet, 
 if we had reason to expect that he would 
 grant it, the clearest dictates of our judg- 
 ment, and the noblest sentiments of our 
 heart, would lead us to anticipate the same 
 display of benevolence on the part of God, 
 and the same encouragements to virtue 
 amono; men, which w^e now find in the 
 gospel of Jesus Christ. 
 
 As it is pure, so it is perfect. Whatever is 
 necessary for us to know, is discovered by it; 
 and discovered too in such a manner, as to 
 answer all the purposes of a revelation de- 
 signed for general information. Speculations 
 to exercise the ingenuity and w^it of men are 
 by no means essentially connected with the 
 
 u 2 
 
292 SERMON VIIL 
 
 great business of immortality. A man may 
 be acquainted with them, and not be the 
 better ; or ignorant of them, and not be the 
 worse. But in the gospel we have nothing 
 superfluous, and nothing perplexing. Every 
 declaration of sin and duty ; every promise 
 to engage us to pursue the one, and every 
 threatening to deter us from the other, are 
 brought forward with a precision and simpli- 
 city, which leave no room either for the per- 
 verse to cavil, or the impartial to mistake. 
 There is no vice, which it does not detect, 
 even within the darkest retreats of the mind. 
 There is no duty, connected with the glory 
 of God, the welfare of our neighbour, or the 
 triie happiness of ourselves, but what it un- 
 folds and illustrates. 
 
 Its precepts are not only clear in their 
 mode of delivery, and beneficial in their ten- 
 dency; but they are enforced by every mo- 
 tive that is calculated to affect the heart, and 
 to exalt and purify its affections. The pro- 
 mise of divine forgiveness and compassion 
 through Jesus, and of help and succour 
 through the divine spirit, are of the most 
 soothing and engaging nature to beings en- 
 compassed with difficulties of various kinds ; 
 and exposed to moral weaknesses and trans- 
 gressions, which are degrading to our nature, 
 
SERMON VIII. 293 
 
 and destructive of our happiness. But, to in- 
 spire us with the full soul of virtue and reli- 
 gion, it carries our aspiring minds beyond the 
 contracted views of this mortal scene, to that 
 exalted world of spirits, where we shall be 
 for ever advancing in knowledge and perfec- 
 tion, where every offence sincerely repented 
 of shall be pardoned, and every virtuous en- 
 deavour accepted and rewarded, by him who 
 is our most compassionate Father, as well as 
 our most righteous Judge* 
 
 y S 
 
SERMON IX. 
 
 Matt. vii. 16. 
 Ye shall know them by their fruits, 
 
 jL he characters of the rehgions which Christ 
 and Mahomet have respectively founded are 
 not more different than those of the nations 
 which have embraced them. From the pe- 
 riod of their primary estabhshment to the 
 present hour, a different aspect seems to have 
 belonged to them. Wherever they have 
 spread themselves, they have communicated 
 their distinguishing properties to the under- 
 standings and affections of the people whom 
 they have converted ; and, in opposition to 
 former experience, the influences of climate, 
 of government, and of manners, have yielded 
 to the effects of religious persuasion. The 
 appearances they now give to those great 
 divisions of mankind among which they are 
 planted, form a most striking part of the mo- 
 dern history of the world : and the investiga- 
 tion of the causes which produce those ap- 
 pearances, would constitute one of the most 
 
 u 4 
 
296 SERMON IX. 
 
 splendid subjects of political speculation, 
 even though it were not at the same time 
 one of the most important to the interests of 
 Christianity. 
 
 The view of mankind, as arranged under 
 this distinction of religious opinion, presents 
 to us very singular and permanent opposi- 
 tions of national character. 
 
 The faith of Mahomet, wherever it is esta- 
 blished, is united with despotic power. On 
 the banks of the Ganges, and on the shores 
 of the Caspian, under the influence of ch- 
 mates the most unlike, and manners the 
 most opposite, it is still found accompanied 
 with servitude and subjection : every free 
 and every gallant people, whom it has in- 
 volved in the progress of its power, have 
 abandoned their rights when they enlisted 
 themselves under the banner of the prophet, 
 and have forgotten in the title of the faithful 
 the pride of independence, and the security 
 of freedom. 
 
 The religion of Christ, on the contrary, is 
 found to exist and to flourish under every 
 variety of political power. In the different 
 periods of its history it has been united with 
 every form of government: and of the na- 
 tions among whom it is now professed, the 
 most general, and perhaps the most discrimi- 
 
SERMON IX. 297 
 
 nating feature is that equal and courteous 
 system of manners, which has operated in so 
 striking a manner to hmit the progress of 
 tyranny ; and which, even in the few coun- 
 tries Avhere despotism is established, has 
 served to soften the austerity of its adminis- 
 tration. 
 
 The nations who have embraced Maho- 
 nietism are distinguished by a spirit of hos- 
 tiUty and hatred to the rest of mankind. 
 Wherever it has estabhshed itself, the rela- 
 tions of situation, of language, and of na- 
 tional policy, have been controlled by the 
 influence of religious enmity. The regula- 
 tions which it prescribes for the conduct of 
 private life have a tendency to separate the 
 Mussulman from all communion with other 
 men, and all participation of the offices of 
 humanity : and in every period of its history 
 the pride, or the jealousy, which it has in- 
 spired, seems to have represented the rest of 
 mankind as enemies, with whom, while they 
 opposed the prophet's power, it were impious 
 to converse, and whom it was even merito- 
 rious to destroy. 
 
 The character of Christian nations is, on 
 the contrary, marked by a spirit of benevo- 
 lence and humanity, as new in the history of 
 mankind, as it is conducive to their welfare. 
 
WS SERMON IX. 
 
 The violence of national animosity, of old so 
 fruitful a source of dissension, has given way 
 in a great measure to the dictates of more 
 enlarged humanity. Where the religion of 
 Christ has not always directed the conduct 
 of men, it has at least secretly influenced 
 their opinions; and the union of European 
 nations in the faith of the Gospel has pro- 
 duced a general disposition to courtesy and 
 humanity, which, in opposition to every dis- 
 tinction of language, of manners, and of na- 
 tional interests, has united the various peo- 
 ple, of whom it is composed, in one firm 
 and sacred bond of brotherhood and affec- 
 tion. 
 
 Of the nations who have embraced Maho- 
 metism, another feature equally conspicuous 
 is a degree of ignorance strangely incon- 
 sistent with that instinctive emulation, which 
 the improvement of neighbouring states usu- 
 ally excites in the vanity of individuals or the 
 policy of governors. Their progress in science, 
 their capacity to invent, and even their wil- 
 lingness to adopt any useful or elegant arts, 
 bear no proportion to their zeal and activity 
 in the support of their religious tenets. 
 Throughout every country where Mahomet- 
 ism is professed, the same deep pause is 
 made in philosophy; and the same wide 
 
SERMON IX. 299 
 
 chasm is to be seen between the opportuni- 
 ties of men to improve, and their actual im- 
 provement. 
 
 Every hearer whose mind has ever glow^ed 
 with the love of learning, or melted with the 
 feelings of humanity, must recoil with horror 
 from the savage and brutal barbarity of those 
 Caliphs, who, not content with discouraging 
 a spirit of enquiry among their subjects, 
 effaced every vestige of the knowledge at- 
 tained by former ages, and waged unnatural 
 war against the mind, as well as the arms of 
 their species. The success of their efforts is 
 as much to be deplored, as the motives of 
 them are to be detested. For, as prejudice 
 took deep root, and ignorance had spread 
 through a wider extent, we have seen those 
 maladies verified in Mahometan countries, 
 which Tacitus so forcibly describes, while 
 impending over his own. " —^ Ut corpora 
 " lente augescunt, cito extinguuntur ; sic in- 
 ^' genia studiaque oppresseris facilius quam 
 *' revocaveris. Subit quippe etiam ipsius 
 " inertiae dulcedo : et invisa primo desidia, 
 ^' postremo amatur.'' 
 
 Such is precisely the state of the intellec- 
 tual world among the followers of Mahomet: 
 knowledge is not only neglected, but de- 
 
 ' Prsefat. in Vit. Agric. 
 
300' SERMON IX. 
 
 spised ; not only the materials of it are ba- 
 nished, but the very desire of recovering and 
 applying them is totally extinguished. Hence 
 the bold sallies of invention are checked, the 
 patient ejfforts of industry are unknown ; and 
 they who contribute not by their own disco- 
 veries to the common stock, are at the same 
 time too perverse to adopt, and too proud to 
 revere, what has been discovered by other 
 men. The evil is, indeed, hopeless, when 
 the remedy itself is rejected with loathing 
 and contempt : for how can the Maho- 
 metans emerge from that ignorance, which 
 they are accustomed to consider as merito- 
 rious ? What power of reason will be suffi- 
 cient to break the magic spell which now 
 holds them in bondage to the tyranny of the 
 despot, the policy of the priest, and the bi- 
 gotry of the vulgar? 
 
 If the character of Christian nations, on 
 the contrary, were to be portrayed, the fea- 
 ture perhaps the most distinguishing in it 
 would be that intelligence which seems in 
 general to pervade them. The spirit of sci- 
 ence, indeed, appears to rest solely with 
 them. Though buried for a time in the ig- 
 norance with which Europe was overspread 
 by the irruptions of the barbarous nations; 
 though long oppressed by the violence of 
 
SERMON IX. 301 
 
 ecclesiastical power, and the grossness of 
 early superstition, its flame was not altoge- 
 ther destroyed. It burnt in secret at least, 
 even in the recesses of monastic retirement ; 
 and though too feeble of itself to dispel the 
 gloom that surrounded it, yet was it pre- 
 served from total extinction, amidst the 
 ehimerical conceits of the fanatic, and the 
 frivolous contentions of the recluse. Re- 
 kindling at last in an age, in which the 
 human mind seemed to emerge from the 
 darkness in which it was involved, in which 
 the spirit of hberty gave dignity and vigour 
 to its exertions, and which the bountv of 
 Providence distinguished by discoveries the 
 most salutary to the human race, it soon at- 
 tained its former lustre : and no longer con- 
 fined, as in earlier ages, to the opulent or 
 the powerful, it now began to spread its 
 equal light over the mass of human kind, 
 and to illuminate those venerable forms of 
 truth, of religion, and of freedom, which be- 
 fore were hidden from every vulgar eye. 
 
 Of the reformation, indeed, it may be said, 
 without the extravagance of partiality, or the 
 declamation of panegyric, that no event, 
 which either history has recorded, or philo- 
 sophy investigated, has been attended with 
 so extensive and auspicious a change in pri- 
 
30^ SERMON IX. 
 
 vate and public life, in the government of 
 nations and in the manners of individuals, 'in 
 the sentiments of the higher ranks and the 
 habits of the lower, in the cultivation of 
 every polite attainment which adorns the 
 mind, and the yet greater improvement of 
 every profound science which invigorates and 
 enlarges it. The progression of knowledge 
 has been constant in every country where it 
 began ; the spirit of enquiry has, in every 
 age, communicated itself to surrounding na- 
 tions ; and while our proficiency is such as 
 to justify us in boasting of discoveries, to 
 some of which former generations never 
 reached, and to others of which they never 
 aspired, we have the consolation to re- 
 flect, that a wide and unexplored field still 
 lies open for the most unwearied endea- 
 vours and the brightest talents : that our 
 own success has indeed been so rapid as to 
 animate their emulation, and yet that our 
 progress is hitherto so imperfect, as to facili- 
 tate, not to preclude, their most vigorous ex- 
 ertions. In a word, from this eventful period 
 the spirit of science has been hastening to- 
 wards perfection. In every country distin- 
 guished by the Christian name, its influence 
 has been felt, and its emulation has been 
 known. And when we review mankind as 
 
SERMON IX. 303 
 
 i 
 
 inhabitants of the same globe, and mark the 
 revokitions by which as men, or as nations, 
 they are distinguished, the character of 
 Christian may be determined by the superior 
 degree of intelhgence which accompanies 
 and adorns it. 
 
 Such is the extreme diversity of character 
 to be found among the nations who have 
 embraced Mahometism and Christianity; and 
 such the appearance which these great divi- 
 sions of mankind assume under this distinc- 
 tion of religious opinions. In the East, un- 
 der the influence of Mahometan belief, the 
 human mind appears to have lost sornevvhat 
 of its capacity and power; the natural pro- 
 gress of mankind, whether in government, in 
 manners, or in science, has been retarded by 
 some secret principle of private indolence or 
 external control ; and over the various na- 
 tions w^ho have either assented to the faith, or 
 submitted to the arms, of the impostor, some 
 universal but baleful influence seems to 
 have operated, so as to counteract every 
 diversity of national character, and restrain 
 every principle of national exertion. In the 
 West, under the happy auspices of Christi- 
 anity, men appear to have attained a vigour 
 in their intellectual exertions, an extent in 
 their intellectual pursuits, and a success in 
 
304 SERMON IX. 
 
 their intellectual cultivation, utterly unknown 
 in any former period of their history. Their 
 pursuits, whether in science, or in art, have 
 been guided by a bolder spirit, and re- 
 warded with more illustrious success, than 
 in any former age of speculation. The boun- 
 daries which before seem to have been im- 
 posed to the exertions of the human mind, 
 and to have limited not only the progress of 
 genius, but even the prospects of literary 
 ambition, have been extended or removed. 
 
 The regular motions and comparative mag- 
 nitudes of the celestial bodies, the simple but 
 wonderful laws by which the material world 
 is regulated ; the inconsiderable proportion 
 which the earthly and solar systems bear to 
 the vast and glorious works of omnipotence, 
 hold a distinguished rank in the superiority 
 of modern over ancient philosophy. The 
 origin and combination of our ideas, the dis- 
 tinct offices and mutual connections of our 
 mental faculties, the primary and unalterable 
 foundations of morality, and the dependence 
 of its various modes on collateral and adven- 
 titious circumstances, have been investigat- 
 ed with unw^earied diligence, and explained 
 with the nicest precision. To these abstruse 
 and yet sublime speculations, we may add 
 the discovery of printing ; an event more in- 
 
SERMON IX. 305 
 
 teresting, perhaps, than any other inventions, 
 however profound be their principles, and 
 however extensive their apphcation : for by 
 this discovery knowledge is spread through a 
 wide extent, every useful or ingenious efibrt 
 of the understanding is preserved as a model 
 for imitation, or an incentive to improve- 
 ment. Above all, an impregnable barrier 
 seems to be fixed asiainst the return of 2:e- 
 neral ignorance and barbarism, and those 
 dreadful revolutions which have sometimes 
 swept away the labours of former ages, and 
 plunged even enlightened nations into sud- 
 den and hopeless darkness. 
 
 But the researches of Christian nations have 
 not been confined only to those topics which 
 merely exercise curiosity, or excite admira- 
 tion ; on the contrary, utility has been united 
 with truth, as Avell in the studies of the 
 few, as in the experience of the many. To 
 the affairs of men, as well as to the abstrac- 
 tions of philosophy, the spirit of science has 
 among ourselves been applied ; the princi- 
 ples of government and the rights of .men 
 have been ascertained ; the limits of power 
 and obedience have been defined ; and the 
 rights of nations, no longer reposed upon the 
 insecure foundation of habit or opinion, have 
 under the influence of philosophy acquired 
 
306 SERMON IX. 
 
 the clearness of demonstration, and the firm- 
 ness of principle. Since the sera of their im- 
 provement, the nations of Christianity have 
 emulated each other in their progress to- 
 wards refinement. The most honourable 
 triumphs, and the most favourite subjects of 
 congratulation, have been those of learning 
 and science; and the glory most ardently 
 coveted and most readily bestowed, has been 
 that of disseminating truth and knowledge 
 amongst mankind. Every succeeding age 
 has marked the increase of their acquisitions 
 and the extension of their views. The flame 
 of science, when once kindled, has pervaded 
 every description of men, among whom 
 Christianity has been known ; and nations, 
 who were once severed from the knowledge 
 of the world by the ignorance and barbarity 
 in which they were involved, have now risen 
 into distinction, and assumed their place 
 among the enlightened divisions of man- 
 kind. 
 
 Through the whole scheme of his moral 
 government the Deity has connected by se- 
 cret ties the future and present interests of 
 men ; and consequently has made the efforts 
 of human wisdom the instruments of a wider 
 and more vigorous efficacy to his own extra- 
 ordinary interpositions. 
 
SERMON IX. 307 
 
 In various degrees, indeed, and under va- 
 rious circumstances, the vices and the virtues, 
 the ignorance and the knowledge of men are 
 subservient to his unsearchable purposes. 
 They form a part of one great and solid 
 chain, which our reason cannot measure ; and 
 long after their efficacy seems to be exhaust- 
 ed, we are led to trace their necessary con- 
 nection with events very remote in time, and 
 very dissimilar in kind. When the gospel 
 was introduced into the world, the dispensa- 
 tions of heaven were most of them superna- 
 tural ; and, consistently with the mode of 
 procedure at this juncture, the foolish things 
 of the world were appointed to confound the 
 wise. But the propriety of this appoint- 
 ment is evinced, and its very success con- 
 firmed, by a subsequent state of things, in 
 which extraordinary measures are no longer 
 requisite : and thus with a consistence which 
 marks every successive stage of God's de^^ 
 signs, as they gradually unfold themselves to 
 our view, the gospel was left to be establish- 
 ed and disseminated by those moral causes, 
 by which the visible course of things is regu- 
 lated. We therefore not only admit that the 
 Deity does, but we infer, from every known 
 principle of moral fitness, that he would sup- 
 port the gospel ; and draw out the full ef- 
 
 X 2 
 
308 SERMON IX. 
 
 fects which it is capable of producing^ by the 
 aid of secondary and human means, by learn- 
 ing, by civilization, and government, to the 
 improvement of which the gospel itself has 
 indirectly contributed. 
 
 From these observations we may see the 
 consummate propriety of those different 
 means, which God employs in different situa- 
 tions of things to carry on the same general 
 design, sometimes using preternatural and 
 sometimes natural means, sometimes work- 
 ing by the weakness of man, and sometimes 
 by his strength ; and always acting for the 
 noblest ends, by means the most proper. 
 
 Every new religion must be supposed to 
 counteract the reigning prejudices and vices 
 of the times ; and consequently no objection 
 arises against its credibility, from the evils to 
 which it for a time exposes those persons 
 who have the honesty to profess, and the 
 courage to diffuse it. But when the same 
 religion is once established, a species of proof 
 is required, the very reverse of that which 
 was before necessary. 
 
 On the first appearance of the gospel, we 
 find the evidence of it in the patience of 
 those who encountered every temporal evil 
 for its sake. During the continuance of that 
 gospel in the world at large, we obtain other 
 
SERMON IX. 309. 
 
 evidences of its divine original, by the share 
 it has in promoting the temporal good of 
 those who profess it. 
 
 When therefore any religion is, as it were, 
 incorporated with the ordinary providence 
 of God in his moral government, the credi- 
 bility of it may in a great measure be deter- 
 mined by its actual and visible influence on 
 the welfare of mankind. Though ultimately 
 directed to higher ends, it is still relative to 
 the constitution and circumstances of man ; 
 and as its best evidence must arise from the 
 conformity it has to the attributes of the 
 Deity, it is difticult to conceive how any 
 religion can be supposed to derive its origin 
 from him, which is hostile to the temporal 
 happiness of those to whom it is given. The 
 being whom it is the object of his gracious 
 will to bless in a future existence, it seems 
 not consistent with his wisdom to oppress 
 or deceive in the present. Much therefore 
 would those doctrines want of their best evi- 
 dence, which, while they pretended to mi- 
 nister to the future welfare of mankind, were 
 instrumental, now, only in tlieir degradation 
 or their ruin. 
 
 Whether in the nature of the Mahometan 
 and Christian religions there be any perma- 
 nent causes of this diversity^n their effects, 
 
 x3 
 
310 SERMON IX. 
 
 affords a subject of very important and seri- 
 ous investigation : and if it can be shewn, 
 that the one is naturally destructive of the 
 great principles of human welfare, and the 
 other as naturally conducive to them, it is to 
 be presumed that no mean confirmation will 
 thus arise of their respective falsehood and 
 truth. 
 
 The immediate end of religion is to pre- 
 pare mankind for a future state ; but in the 
 prosecution of this end, there is a collateral 
 effect, which it unavoidably has upon the 
 temporal character of man. The doctrines 
 which it teaches, and the precepts which it 
 prescribes, while they are relative to the di- 
 vision of his Intellectual and Moral 
 Powers, affect also their nature and extent : 
 hence that rehgion will most effectually con- 
 duce to the welfare of man, which most invi- 
 gorates and enlarges these capacities of his 
 mind. 
 
 First. The influence of religious persua- 
 sion must always be great either in improv- 
 ing, or contracting, the Faculties of the Un- 
 derstanding. Opinions w^iich are the first 
 received and the last parted with, which are 
 united with all the hopes and all the fears of 
 humanity ; which among the gi'eat mass of 
 mankind are seldom doubted of, and seldom 
 
SERMON IX. 311 
 
 are corrected ; cannot be supposed to be in- 
 different in their effects upon the mind. The 
 understanding is equally subject to habits 
 with our other powers ; and according to the 
 manner in which it has been exercised, or to 
 the reach and extent which it has acquired 
 in its common exercises, will be its exertion 
 and character in every other employment. 
 The votary of a weak or narrow supersti- 
 tion, which exhibits its Gods in the shape, 
 and endows them with the passions, of man- 
 kind ; lie whose mind has been accustomed 
 to no higher forms of excellence, and to no 
 brighter objects of contemplation, than the 
 doctrines which such a religion affords, can- 
 not easily be imagined to possess an under- 
 standing much elevated or improved ; and 
 will not carry to other employments that 
 liberal and enlightened spirit which rational 
 speculations excite and confirm. So far as 
 the influence of its truths upon his under- 
 standing extends, his religion will tend to 
 contract it ; the difficulties which oppose its 
 progress will be so far increased, as its for- 
 mer habits have blinded or weakened it; 
 and, amidst this general depression, it can 
 only resume its powers, when some unusual 
 and important concern calls them forth, and 
 leads them beyond the limits which had 
 
 X 4 
 
312 SERMON IX. 
 
 been formerly imposed to them. A relk 
 gion, on the eontrar}', which exhibits sub- 
 lime objects of contemplation ; which arra3^s 
 its Deity in every possible excellence ; and 
 which mingles none of the infirmities of man 
 with the perfections of heaven; may natu- 
 rally be supposed to improve and to exalt 
 the human understanding. By giving it in 
 its common and permanent employments an 
 object of transcendental excellence and mag- 
 nitude, by accustoming it to high ideas of 
 wisdom and perfection, it must even insen- 
 sibly have an influence in stamping a simi- 
 lar character on all its exertions ; and while 
 to the mind and views of the philosopher it 
 affords a portion of the same sublimity and 
 spirit, to the common habits of opinion also 
 it communicates somewhat of the same ex- 
 tent, and marks with bolder features the 
 general character. 
 
 But the great influence of religious opi- 
 nion upon the powers of the human under- 
 standing arises from the information which 
 it gives to man of his nature and end. All 
 excellence is relative to the situation in which 
 it is shewn ; and, before any kind of ambition 
 can be excited, it is first necessary to know 
 "what it is that ambition can attain. 
 
 Jn the ordinary business of life the exer- 
 
SERMON IX. 313 
 
 tions of mankind are proportioned to the 
 probability of success. No greater industry 
 is exerted, and no greater variety of intelli- 
 gence acquired, than what seems necessary 
 for the station in which it is probably to be 
 brought into use. The differences of fortune 
 and condition thus in a very obvious manner 
 affect the capacities or acquisitions of the 
 mind. The possessor of rank and opulence, 
 who is raised by fortune to the higher condi- 
 tions and the greater duties of life, feels him- 
 self called upon for wider views and more 
 liberal accomplishments than the generality 
 of mankind : and if he possesses the common 
 ambition of his station, he will proportion 
 his efforts to the opportunities which are 
 offered to him, and to the expectations 
 which are formed of him. The poor man, 
 on the contrary, concerning whom no such 
 expectations are entertained, and whose life 
 is probably to be passed in domestic duties 
 and corporeal labour, as naturally accommo- 
 dates his mind to the situation in which he is 
 to act ; and seldom is solicitous about any 
 acquisitions either of knowledge or of vir- 
 tue, which are not demanded by his condi- 
 tion : and thus the inequalities of rank and 
 of fortune, which are produced by the im- 
 provements of society, have a natural and 
 
314 SERMON IX. 
 
 obvious tendency either to exalt or to de- 
 press the capacities of their possessors, and 
 to adapt all their exertions to the situation 
 in which they are to be employed. It is in 
 the same manner that religion operates on 
 the mind of man. From religion only he 
 learns what are the final views and expecta- 
 tions of his being ; for what purpose his men- 
 tal powers were given ; to what ends they 
 lead ; and what higher degrees of excellence 
 they may yet receive. He will, therefore, be 
 led to acco Timodate his ambition and his 
 desires to the sense he possesses of his na- 
 ture. The consciousness of greater capacity 
 for virtue ^rill be attended with a stronger 
 sense of obligation to become virtuous. 
 
 To the poor native of unenhghtened coun- 
 tries, what motives can his religion afford to 
 excite the ardour or the activity of his mind? 
 The service of Deities little elevated above 
 the rank of man cannot much improve his 
 opinion of the consequence of his being, or 
 animate his desire of their favour; and a 
 long Futurity to be passed in the same occu- 
 pations which now engage him, or in the nar- 
 row circle of animal enjoyment, cannot pro- 
 duce in him any higher conceptions of the 
 dignity of his nature, or animate him to the 
 exertion of any other powers, than those 
 
SERMON IX. 315 
 
 that are to be employed in the life for which 
 he thinks himself destined. Little raised in 
 his pursuits above animal life, he will have 
 something contracted and abject in all his 
 hopes. He sees before him an indistinct 
 prospect of happiness in corporeal indul- 
 gence, or indolent repose : he therefore is 
 prompted by instinct, and directed even by 
 reason, to accommodate himself to this des- 
 tiny of his nature ; and he thinks it folly and 
 delusion to disquiet himself about any higher 
 pursuits than those in which Eternity seems 
 to be engaged. No views of mental improve- 
 ment have ever dawned upon his mind ; and 
 he leaves the world, as he entered it, ignorant 
 of all the nobler capacities of his nature, and 
 uninstructed in the dignity of his being by 
 those religious encouragements and assist- 
 ances, which alone could instruct him. 
 
 How different is the influence of enlight- 
 ened religion ! Taught by this, man be- 
 comes acquainted with the character of his 
 being. Regarding himself no longer as the 
 grovelling inhabitant of earth, he extends his 
 hopes beyond the reach of animal enjoyment. 
 He finds himself destined to immortal life; 
 he feels himself endued with the capacity of 
 eternal happiness. To this sublime end his 
 mind almost involuntarily endeavours to fit 
 
316 SERMON IX. 
 
 itself. His imagination, bis understandings 
 his heart, assume new energy and extent, as 
 they are employed on so boundless a scene. 
 And while he looks forward to those bright 
 prospects which religion unfolds to his view, 
 sentiments of conscious dignity insinuate 
 themselves into his mind, so as to purify his 
 taste, and exalt his desires above the gross 
 and fleeting pleasures of this terrestrial state. 
 It requires no uncommon effort of saga- 
 city to discover the wide difference that sub- 
 sists between the religions of Mahomet and 
 Christ in their influence on the conceptions 
 of the imagination, and the direction of the 
 appetites. The doctrines, which the prophet 
 of Arabia has taught concerning the divine 
 perfections, too frequently accord with the 
 lowest ideas of the human mind ; and though 
 they are at times illuminated by sublime or 
 magnificent images, yet many of the sup- 
 posed beauties of the Koran consist rather in 
 the brilliancy of the language than in the 
 majesty of the thought. How much Maho- 
 met was indebted to the writings of the Pro- 
 phets and of the Evangelists, for the greater 
 part of what is sublime or beautiful in his 
 theology, his compositions declare : but 
 with this sacred and hallowed imagery he 
 blended the impure superstitions and gross 
 
SERMON IX. 317 
 
 conceptions of his countrymen. For the wild 
 profusion and incongruous mixture of ab- 
 surdity and sense which pervade his writings, 
 it is scarcely possible to account on any other 
 supposition than the natural incapacity even 
 of the wisest man to form upon every sub- 
 ject, and to preserve upon every occasion, 
 just and consistent notions of the divine per- 
 fections. 
 
 In what plowino; colours is the 2i;reatness 
 of the Deity displayed almost in the com- 
 mencement of the Koran ! And with what 
 zeal does the imagination go along with 
 descriptions, which seem so suited to the 
 supreme dignity of his nature, and the glo- 
 rious excellence of his works ! Yet hardly 
 is this enthusiasm excited, before all the 
 ardours of the mind are repressed, when we 
 find this sublime Beins; descend to the mean- 
 est and most contemptible employments; 
 prescribing laws which minister more to the 
 appetites than to the interests of men ; and 
 regulating with the same care at one mo- 
 ment the order of secret and impure enjoy- 
 ment, and in the next the discipline in which 
 men are to be trained for eternit}^ 
 
 In the composition of the fanatical impos- 
 tor credulity is often intermixed with craft. 
 The fervours, which are at first assumed vo- 
 
318 SERMON IX. 
 
 luntarily and insidiously, return by a kind 
 of mechanical force : in process of time the 
 glow of his fancy and the tumult of his pas- 
 sions are no longer artificial, but real : and in 
 this last stage of depravity combined with 
 folly, the enthusiast is inseparably blended 
 with the hypocrite in the whole mass of cha- 
 racter ; and in the same action we may dis- 
 cover the w illness of the one, and the weak- 
 ness of the other. Hence the inconsistencies 
 of Mahomet are to be ascribed, partly to 
 cunning, in accommodating his doctrines to 
 the prejudices of other men, and partly to 
 fanaticism, Avhich prevented him from con- 
 trolling the impetuous but uncertain sallies 
 of his own mind. 
 
 Hence the God of Abraham and of Moses, 
 the incomprehensible Being, who, in the lan- 
 guage of Isaiah, liveth from eternity to eter- 
 nity, is associated with the gross and limited 
 attributes of Eastern idolatry ; and the altar 
 which is erected to the Father of universal 
 nature, is commanded to be approached with 
 the slavish rites of a timorous and abject su- 
 perstition. 
 
 Of that Eternity, the representation of 
 which forms so great a part of every religion, 
 the ideas which Mahomet has given are not 
 more pure or more consistent. Of such a 
 
SERMON IX/ ' 319 
 
 system of opinions, so perplexed by incon- 
 sistency, and so debased by impurity, the 
 effect upon the mind is obvious. Though 
 all men probably can feel the sublimity of 
 those descriptions which sometimes occur, 
 yet the impression is momentary : but the 
 apprehensions which are entertained of the 
 Deity from his agency, and the concep- 
 tions which are formed of Futurity from its 
 employments, are permanent. The beauties 
 of the Koran may captivate the fancy ; but 
 its errors at once delude the judgment, de- 
 grade the spirit, and pollute the affections. 
 How can the follower of Mahomet, therefore, 
 feel any enlargement given to his under- 
 standing from representations of a Deity, 
 who, though sometimes eloquently or mag- 
 nificently described, is yet familiarized to his 
 apprehension in the character of an impure 
 or capricious being ? How can he be excited 
 to the exercise or improvement of the higher 
 powers of his nature, by the views which his 
 religion affords him of a Futurity in which 
 these powers seem to be unemployed ; in 
 which the enjoyments of animal pleasure 
 form a great part of the reward assigned to 
 virtue ; and to the relish of which no other 
 preparation seems necessary, than to assimi- 
 
S20 SERMON IX. 
 
 late the mind to an ambition as limited, and 
 to desires as impure? 
 
 Though the existence of a Deity has been 
 admitted as well in the darkest as the most 
 enlightened ages; and though it is equally 
 supported by the testimony of tradition and 
 the authority of reason ; yet the ideas enter- 
 tained of his attributes have been much di- 
 versified by various causes in the constitution 
 of men's minds, or in the circumstances of 
 their situation. The Northern nations, fierce 
 and unpolished in their manners, assailed by 
 the severities of an inclement sky, and habi- 
 tuated to the contemplation of dreary wastes 
 or rugged mountains, have arrayed their dei- 
 ties in every terrible quality. Among the 
 inhabitants of the East, whose tempers seem 
 to be cast in a softer mould, and whose 
 senses are accustomed to more delicate and 
 more beautiful prospects of nature, the cha- 
 racters of their Gods wear a lovelier aspect. 
 The same propensity in the worshipper to 
 assimilate the object of his worship to his 
 own ruling passions, or his own favourite te- 
 nets, may be traced through individuals and 
 sects. The God of the benevolent man is, in 
 his contemplation, surrounded with the mild 
 lustre of benevolence : the God of the malig- 
 
SERMON IX. 321 
 
 nant is seen only with frowns of displeasure, 
 and armed with tlie thunderbolt of venge- 
 ance. In the Deity of Zeno we perceive 
 much of the sullen dignity and harsh in- 
 flexibility, in which the philosopher himself 
 placed the supreme good ; and upon the 
 same principles Epicurus ascribed to his 
 Gods that exemption from the solicitude of 
 care, and the bustle of activity, which he re- 
 presented as essential to happiness, both hu- 
 man and divine. But in the God whom Chris- 
 tians are commanded to adore, none of those 
 imperfections can be discerned, which are 
 usually and justly imputed to the peculiar 
 sentiments of individuals, or the general ha- 
 bits of nations. Without the jargon of sci- 
 ence, and without the rant of enthusiasm, 
 he is presented to us with all the perfections 
 which were ever assigned to the divinity, by 
 the reason of the contemplative philosopher, 
 or the fancy of the enraptured poet. 
 
 And here it well deserves our notice, that 
 while the human vmderstanding has been 
 chiefly employed in investigating the absolute 
 existence of God's attributes, divine revela- 
 tion usually exhibits them in a relative^ and 
 therefore a more intelligible and more in- 
 teresting point of view.- He is our Father, by 
 whom we are protected ; he is our Counsel- 
 
 Y 
 
522 SERMON IX. 
 
 lor, by whom we are instructed in the duties 
 of our station ; he is our Judge, by whom we 
 shall be hereafter exalted to the noblest enjoy- 
 ments, or condemned to the most dreadful 
 torments. Do not these representations of 
 the Deity pass more easily into the under- 
 standing, and work more forcibly on the af- 
 fections, than the profoundest researches of 
 philosophers into the nature of infinity, or 
 the most solid chain of arguments on the 
 connection of cause and etfect? Indeed the 
 sacred writers are always more intent on 
 sanctifying our hearts, than on amusing our 
 imagination. Hence they abound w^ith such 
 representations of our Creator, as are likely 
 to produce not transient and wild admira- 
 tion, but calm and permanent confidence. 
 Hence too the attributes of God are so fre- 
 quently and so pertinently united wdth the 
 duties of man. Instead of bewilderinsf us 
 in intricate and abstract speculations upon 
 unity, they tell us that we are to worship the 
 Lord our God, and him only we are to serve. 
 Instead of multiplying curious and disputa- 
 ble distinctions about the abstract essence^ 
 and the negative or positive properties of 
 spiritual and corporeal beings, they empha- 
 tically pronounce God to be a spirit ; and to 
 this speculative dogma they instantly affix a 
 
SERMON IX. 323 
 
 practical precept; for we are therefore to 
 worship him in spirit and in truth. 
 
 Before this audience it would be unneces- 
 sary for me to enlarge on the doctrine of tu- 
 telary deities, which seems to have prevailed 
 in every country, and of which numberless 
 instances are recorded in sacred and profane 
 writings. But the uncontrolled, the unri- 
 valled, and the undivided power; the univer- 
 sal presence and unceasing agency of the 
 true God, are again and again asserted in 
 the scriptures. He is Alpha and Omega; the 
 heginning and the end. He is the Father of 
 lights with whom there is no variableness, nei- 
 ther shadozo of turning. He is the Creator 
 and Ruler of all things, in zohom are hidden 
 all the treasures of wisdom ; the patient Mas- 
 ter, who is willing that all should eome to re- 
 pentance ; the just God, who will rezi'ard 
 every man according to his works ; the gracious 
 and niea'ciful God, w'ho gave his only begotten 
 Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not 
 perishy but have everlasting life. What, 1 
 beseech you, can be more convincing to our 
 judgment, or more improving to our hearts, 
 than these representations of the Deity ? Do 
 they not invite us to confidence, as well as 
 liumble us into fear.'^ Meditation on such a 
 Being, so constantly and so wonderfully em-^ 
 Y 2 
 
324 SERMON IX. 
 
 ployed in promoting the good of his crea- 
 tures, tends surely to crush every selfish, and 
 to enlarge every generous affection of the 
 souL It exalts the dignity of our nature, 
 when we conceive ourselves capable of ob- 
 taining his approbation ; it softens the heart 
 into compassion, and expands it into benevo- 
 lence, when we consider mankind as framed 
 and supported by the same Almighty power, 
 redeemed by the same goodness, and in- 
 tended together with ourselves for the same 
 glorious and incorruptible inheritance in hea- 
 ven. The pride of knowledge, the splendor 
 of conquest, and the pageantry of power, 
 shrink into obscurity and insignificance, 
 when we reflect on him whom the heaven^ 
 and heaven of heavens^ cannot contain. All 
 the lurking impurities of our souls are seen 
 with loathing, and all the secret crimes of our 
 lives remembered with horror, while we con- 
 sider that he trieth the very heart and reins, 
 and that his eye seeth afar off. All the dark 
 and tempestuous scenes of the world cease 
 to alarm and depress us, adversity loses her 
 sting, and prosperity assumes new and more 
 delightful charms, when we consider that no 
 event takes place without the appointment 
 of our Maker, that not a sparrow falleth to 
 the ground without his notice, and that in his 
 
SERMON IX. 323 
 
 sight x^e are of more value than many spar- 
 rows. 
 
 In respect to a Future Life, the belief of 
 it has, we know, prevailed almost universally, 
 and yet, as to the particular kinds and de- 
 grees of enjoyment reserved for us, nations 
 and individuals have differed widely from 
 each other. The Indian, enfeebled by age, 
 or tortured by sickness, gladly resigns his 
 breath, in hopes of receiving again the bow 
 b}^ which he had gained his sustenance, and 
 destroyed his enemies ; and meeting again the 
 dog, who had been the faithful companion 
 of his dangers and his toils. The hardy war- 
 rior of the North welcomed the hour of death, 
 which was to carry him into the hall of Odin, 
 where, in his imagination, the ghosts of de- 
 parted heroes were permitted to remember 
 and to celebrate the exploits performed on 
 earth, and to quaff the most delicious liquor 
 from the skulls of the foes, whom they had 
 slain in battle. Virgil describes his heroes 
 as engaged in the same pursuits, and at- 
 t9.ched to the same pleasures, which had 
 been long familiarized and endeared to them 
 in their former existence^. Mahomet too, as 
 
 ** Pars in gramineis excrcent membra paleestris, 
 Contendunt ludo, et fulva luctantur arena. 
 Fars pedibus plaudunt choreas, et carmina dicunt, 
 
 y 3 
 
S26 SERMON IX. 
 
 we have seen, in the sensual paradise which 
 he announced, prepared for his followers 
 scenes of the most alluring voluptuousness. 
 
 Now, whatever allowance the man of deep 
 reflection may make for the ignorance and 
 superstition of barbarous countries, and what- 
 ever entertainment the man of refined taste 
 may derive from the compositions of more 
 enlightened writers, both surely will agree in 
 approving the silence of the scriptures as 
 to the particular state of things in a future 
 life. 
 
 Reason informs us, that the present is a 
 probationary state of discipline ; and in con- 
 formity to such a state, religion adapts all her 
 doctrines to faith, all her encouras^ements to 
 hope, and all her regulations to practice. Chris- 
 tianity, holding up to us the prospect of our 
 future existence, bids us now prepare for it 
 by virtuous habits of thought and action; 
 and philosophy will inform us, that those 
 habits in a great scheme of moral govern- 
 ment are neither recommended by the Crea- 
 tor, nor acquired by the creature in vain. We 
 are therefore to believe, that a real, an inti- 
 
 Quae gratia ctrrrum 
 
 Armorumque fuit vivis, quae cura nitentes 
 Pascere equos j eadem sequitur tellure repostos. 
 
 ^NEiD. vi. 
 
SERMON IX. ^327 
 
 mate, and most important connection sub- 
 sists between the present lite and that -which 
 is to follow it; thpugh it surpass our abilities 
 to explain, and perhaps to comprehend, the 
 particular powers with which we shall be in- 
 vested, and the particular agency in which 
 we are to be employed. Christianity may 
 then be excused for not gratifying our curio* 
 sity on subjects, to which our apprehensions 
 are now utterly inadequate ; and even were 
 they more adequate, it would deserve our 
 praise for informing us of what is true, that 
 we are destined for immortality ; and for 
 instructing us in what is most important, the 
 duties by which w^e are to gain it. From 
 some passages in the scriptures it may be in* 
 ferred, that our moral pursuits and our intel- 
 lectual endowments will bear some resem- 
 blance to the present: and on this supposi- 
 tion is founded the necessity of regulathig 
 the one by the strictest virtue, and of im» 
 proving the other by the sublimest knowledge. 
 In favour of this inference from the sacred 
 writings, analogy certainly pleads. Children 
 are possessed of powers and affections, which 
 are in process of time to be drawn out into 
 action ; upon the right use of which depends 
 their happiness or their misery, and in the 
 cultivation of which, therefore, they are as^ 
 
 y4 
 
328 SERMON IX. 
 
 sisted at a time when they cannot look for- 
 Avard either to the end for which they are to 
 act, or to the connection ^f that end with 
 the means that are now taking to enable 
 them to act well. In the same manner we 
 are training up to habits, and exercising 
 powers, which are to acquire new vigour, 
 and to operate through a wider sphere, zoheii 
 this corruptible shall have put on incorrupt 
 tion. Certainly we are not justified in ex- 
 pecting that indolent repose, in which an 
 Epicurean would place his felicity, or those 
 rapturous and fervent devotions, in which 
 alone the Enthusiast supposes the joys of the 
 blessed to consist : much less are we au- 
 thorized to look for sensual gratifications, or 
 the gaudy trappings of wealth and power. 
 
 The policy or the pride of the Greeks and 
 Romans often induced them to confine the 
 rewards of Eternity to the few who acted 
 with splendor on the public theatre of life ; 
 to wise legislators, to valiant heroes, and 
 mighty conquerors. But the gospel an» 
 nounces resurrection and judgment, toge- 
 ther with the happiness or misery that are 
 to follow them, to men of all ages, and all 
 countries, of all capacities and all stations. 
 It offers the bright recompence of a croz^m 
 that fadeth not away^ as well to the silent 
 
SERMON IX. 32 
 
 and solid virtues of meekness and charity, as 
 to the more shining and exalted excellencies 
 of valour in a just cause, and the disinter- 
 ested love of our country. It does not con- 
 found and weary the understanding, by re- 
 presenting the various stages of our being as 
 resulting from a long train of physical causes, 
 which God has appointed, and which affect 
 each other by secret but uninterrupted ties ; 
 but it exhibits the doctrine of Futurity conti- 
 nually and professedly in a moral, and there- 
 fore a more useful point of view. It tells us, 
 that the things which are seen, and «re tempos 
 ral, have a reference to those things which 
 are not seen, and are eternal : and that in 
 both the same glorious design is uniformh^ 
 carried on. It connects what we are to 
 practise with what we are to believe ; and 
 thus extends the influence of Futurity over 
 our social and religious relations, over our 
 conduct in private and public life, and even 
 over our words and thoughts. Such is the 
 effect of Christianity with regard to its 
 doctrine of a judgment to come. And as to 
 the happiness which is to succeed that judg- 
 ment, it still holds the same firm but un- 
 adorned language; and still directs all its 
 declarations to the same great and good pur- 
 pose, of making us zme unto salvation. Thus 
 
330 SERMON IX. 
 
 we are told, that this mortal shall put on 
 immortality ; we are encouraged to hope for 
 admission into the presence of the spirits of 
 Just men made perfect ; we are to see the 
 everlasting God, face to face^ and know him, 
 even as we are known. 
 
 In these representations there are no im- 
 pure or fantastic ideas : all is simple, yet 
 majestic ; all is wonderful, yet credible ; all 
 is captivating, and at the same time instruc- 
 tive. 
 
 AVhen the actions of every day and every 
 hour have this intimate connection with our 
 eternal doom, is it not to be expected, that 
 religion will have a forcible and constant in- 
 fluence over our lives? That influence, it 
 must be confessed, is often counteracted by 
 our infirmities, our prepossessions, and our 
 headstrong appetites. Yet Christianity far 
 surpasses every other religion in its visible 
 tendency to make us better men, and in its 
 real effects upon the sentiments and the 
 manners of mankind. Every instance of 
 improvement, Avhich this discourse is in- 
 tended to point out, as resulting from 
 Christianity, in government, laws, and sci- 
 ences, may be considered as a presumptive 
 argument of its efficacy in matters purely of 
 a religious nature : ihe same commands and 
 
SERMON IX. 331 
 
 the same sanctions, which have qoiickened 
 the eftbrts of men in securing their spiritual 
 well-being, have been indirecth'^ tlie instru- 
 ments of increasing their temporal. I'he 
 same expectation of a righteous judgment 
 which makes us good men, tends at the 
 same time to make us useful and ornamental 
 members of society. The same elevation 
 of mind which actuates the bosom of a being, 
 who reveres himself as the heir of immortal 
 life, inspires every noble sentiment, and ani- 
 mates to every arduous undertaking, which 
 can adorn and dignify human nature in this 
 state of mortality. 
 
 S£Co:NrDLY. The influence of religion upon 
 the Moral powers of man seems to be even 
 more important than that which it has upon 
 the powers of his Understanding. Upon 
 the latter it operates only by distant and in- 
 sensible degrees ; and produces its effect ra- 
 ther by establishing its habits, than by alter- 
 ing its constitution. But upon the former 
 its influence is immediate. Assuming an. 
 authority which supersedes every other law 
 of his nature, and speaking to him with a 
 voice which conmiands his obedience and 
 assent, it is able to mould the opinions and 
 purposes of his being; and to suit every sen- 
 timent of his heart to the rules it prescribes. 
 
332 SERMON IX. 
 
 What is right or wrong, what is fit for him to 
 pursue or proper to avoid, it can establish 
 with higher sanctions, than the deductions of 
 reason, or the consciousness of feehng, can 
 claim : and the voice of nature, when op- 
 posed to its commands, is either awed into 
 silence, or sinks into neolect. 
 
 On the nature, therefore, of religion de- 
 pends in a great measure the Moral charac- 
 ter of man. The doctrines which it teaches, 
 and the precepts which it enjoins, in every 
 case of their tendency, must determine his 
 opinions and his conduct : and as, when 
 united with the interests of mankind, they 
 may be supposed to give a more powerful 
 motive to his exertions and his humanity ; 
 so, when opposed to them, they are able to 
 vanquish every instinct of his nature, and to 
 stamp with the semblance of virtue whatever 
 is hurtful to his kind. 
 
 The moral influence of any system of opi- 
 nions depends upon their relation to the Avel- 
 fare of mankind ; and in judging of them, we 
 determine their utility by the nature of the 
 general Spirit they inculcate, and the parti- 
 cular Duties they enjoin. Upon whatever 
 principle the Nature of virtue is rested, its 
 End seems uniformly to be supposed in the 
 production of general good: and whatever 
 
SERMON IX. 335 
 
 may be the character of any particular 
 Duty, the principle upon which it is ap- 
 proved is its relation to this End. Every 
 system of religious opinion, therefore, will 
 improve the moral powers of man, in pro- 
 portion as the Spirit which it inculcates is 
 that of general humanity ; and as the Duties 
 which it enjoins are in themselves beneficial. 
 
 In reviewing the general history of reli- 
 gion, we observe a corruption and weakness 
 in the nature of man, which has too often 
 rendered both the Spirit which it establishes, 
 and the Duties which it prescribes, prejudi- 
 cial to the welfare of humanity. 
 
 The possession of divine favour, and of 
 peculiar inspiration, with which so many 
 nations so often and so falsely have tiattered 
 themselves, instead of inspiring sentiments 
 of compassion or humanity for those whom 
 heaven had so much less distinguished ; or 
 of exciting that pious gratitude which natu- 
 rally unites itself with benevolence and pity 
 towards the ignorant and the deceived ; has 
 in general been productive only of arrogance 
 and inhumanity ; of a spirit at the same 
 time presumptuous in its estimate of its own 
 claims to favour, and uncharitable in its in- 
 terpretation of those of other men. To be 
 the favoured of heaven, is the distinction 
 
334 SERMON IX 
 
 most orateFul to the imaoinations of men : 
 and while it insensibly unites with private 
 and national pride, it seems to justify that 
 sense of superiority, which men are at all 
 times disposed to entertain of themselves and 
 of their nation. The rest of mankind, in- 
 volved in ignorance, or deluded by error, 
 appear the objects of a pity which borders 
 upon contempt ; and their unwillingness to 
 desert superstitions which seem so absurd, or 
 to receive truths which seem so plain, ap- 
 pears to imply a barbarity which it is proper 
 to despise, or an obstinacy which it is just to 
 correct. The gloom in which heaven leaves 
 them to wander is sometimes thought to in- 
 dicate some original inferiority in their na- 
 ture, or some acquired depravity which the 
 Deity designs to punish : and in either case 
 lie seems to establish a boundary, by wdiich 
 his chosen and favoured people are sepa- 
 rated from those impure and corrupted na- 
 tions, who are the enemies of divine truth, or 
 the objects of divine wrath. 
 
 Wherever men have acted, these preju- 
 dices have in some degree influenced their 
 conduct. The spirit of religious zeal has in- 
 creased the strength, and sharpened the as- 
 perity of national animosity : and the princi- 
 ples of peace and humanity, upon which the 
 
SERMON IX. 335 
 
 public welfare of mankind is reposed, have 
 been seen to perish under the influence of 
 opinions, which in the mercies of heaven 
 have found a warrant for cruelt}^ and wliich 
 make us perceive in man only the enemy of 
 man. 
 
 Whatever has been the character of reli- 
 gion, the same Spirit of party and hostility 
 seems to have animated its professors. Un- 
 der every different climate, and amidst every 
 dissimilarity of manners; in the mild and 
 peaceful doctrines of Brama, as well as in 
 the ruder systems of more Northern super- 
 stitions ; the temporal influence of religion, 
 by the regulations of private intercourse, as 
 well as by the injunction of open hostility, 
 has operated so as to divide mankind from 
 each other, and to establish permanent bar- 
 riers to their commerce and their improve- 
 ment. And if in any periods of the history 
 of human affairs more liberal principles seem 
 to have counteracted this fatal infirmity, they 
 are to be found only in the ages of ancient 
 polytheism, under the influence of religions 
 too gross to interest the vanity, or to awaken 
 the passions of mankind ; and too much di- 
 versified in their objects, to excite either zeal 
 or resolution in their support. 
 
 The same weakness, which has thus cor- 
 
336 SERMON IX. 
 
 rupted the geneiml Spirit of religion, seems 
 also to have affected the peculiar Duties it 
 prescribes ; and, by the unaccountable per- 
 verseness of human nature, even the particu- 
 lar Virtues it has enjoined have too often be- 
 come not less adverse to the welfare of men, 
 than the general character which it has esta- 
 blished. 
 
 That purity of life is the best tribute that 
 can be offered to the Deity, is the doctrine 
 indeed of reason ; but seems not in general 
 to have influenced the conduct of reasonable 
 beings. The pleasures, which the constitu- 
 tion of humanity has annexed to the per- 
 formance of moral duty, appear to connect 
 it too intimately with our interest to ren- 
 der it a voluntary or acceptable offering: 
 and the pious mind, oppressed with the sense 
 of divine favour, and animated with the am- 
 bition of displaying ils gratitude, seeks na- 
 turally for surer and severer proofs of its 
 thankfulness and its devotion. Amidst aus- 
 terities and mortifications, its piety seems 
 best to be evinced : to the sensual and im- 
 pure gratifications of the present life, it ap- 
 pears unseemly for the imagination, which 
 is conversant in divine meditation to de- 
 scend ; and the sacrifice of all that minis- 
 ters to the comfort or enjoyment of a tern- 
 
SERMON IX. 337 
 
 poral being, is considered as the fit pur- 
 chase of the joys of immortaUty, and as the 
 sole disciphne in which the mind can be 
 trained for its pure employments. 
 
 The mass of mankind, indeed, seldom share 
 in this sublime infirmity. But other pas- 
 sions, more suited to their character and 
 habits, unhappily cooperate with this pious 
 prejudice, and assist it in the separation of 
 moral duty from religious obedience. What 
 to the pure and upright mind seems too easy 
 a service, is to the corrupted and sensual a 
 bondage too severe to be borne. The re- 
 straints of passion, the denial of appetite, the 
 calm perseverance of virtuous conduct, are 
 severities which the generalit}^ of mankind 
 have neither tempers resolute enough to prac- 
 tise, nor imaginations pure enough to com- 
 prehend. But the observance of the forms, 
 and the infliction of the austerities of super- 
 stition all men can practise: They require 
 not a permanent, but a temporary mortifica- 
 tion : they exhaust not the imagination by 
 demanding its constant employment on those 
 high and mysterious subjects to which the. 
 mind approaches with dread ; but adapt 
 themselves to those occasional seasons of de- 
 spondence or apprehension, when men seek 
 
338 SERMON IX. 
 
 to make their peace with God : and while 
 they persuade the sinner, that by this volun- 
 tary punishment he has expiated his errors 
 and his crimes, they seem to bid him return 
 again into the world, and relapse into the in- 
 dulgence of all his desires. 
 
 Wherever religion has been established 
 among mankind, somewhat of this weakness 
 has attended it. The pious and the corrupt 
 mind, from different, but equally fatal causes, 
 have separated its duties from those of mora- 
 hty : and the interests of mankind have suf- 
 fered, as well from the pure and upright vo- 
 tary, Avho considered those interests as below 
 his cares, as from the unhallowed worshipper,^ 
 who imagined that the performance of its ri- 
 tual duties afforded a licence for his violation 
 of its moral injunctions. 
 
 While mankind are thus disposed, by some 
 secret kind of infirmity, to the corruption of 
 religion, a system of religious opinions which 
 falls in with these prejudices, and avails it- 
 self of them, cannot but be hurtful to the 
 moral character and capacities of man. With 
 this fatal influence, it is easy to perceive that 
 Mahometism is attended : and while it as- 
 sumes to itself the high pretension of divine 
 original, both the Spirit which it inculcates^ 
 
SERMON IX. 339 
 
 and the Duties which it prescribes, are nearly 
 as inimical to the welfare of humanity, as 
 the rudest forms of barbarous superstition. 
 
 To that religious pride which all men are 
 disposed to entertain, and which so often 
 has covered the scene of their transactions 
 with blood, the doctrines of Mahomet have 
 afforded an encouragement and permanency, 
 which is unprecedented even in the history 
 of religious error. To the pious Mussulman 
 the rest of mankind are proscribed as the 
 objects of his aversion or contempt: the 
 hand of his prophet has even marked re- 
 peatedly, and authoritatively, the limits with- 
 in which his humanity ought to be employed; 
 and to his eye the various multitudes who 
 stand without this barrier are blended under 
 one common colouring of ignorance and 
 opposition to the truth, and of hopeless ex- 
 clusion from the knowledge of the divine 
 will here, and the privileges of the divine 
 favour hereafter. The sword, by which the 
 conquests of the prophet were attained, and 
 which far more effectually than the boldness 
 of his pretensions, or the wisdom of his Ko- 
 *ran, subdued the obstinate prepossessions of 
 his countrymen, is left as the most precious 
 inheritance to the successors of his power : 
 and while their piety is united with their 
 
 z 2 
 
340 SERMON IX. 
 
 ambition and their pride, to the private 
 Mussuhiian the prospect of eternal enjoy- 
 ment is held out as the reward of his labours 
 in the desolation of humanity. The honour 
 of his country, the success of his faith, and 
 the sense of the importance and superiority 
 of his own character, are connected with this 
 spirit of undistinguishing and uncontrolled 
 hostility to the rest of his species : and the 
 same fatal delusions which occasionally de- 
 luged the East for ages in blood, have si- 
 lently, but uniformly, operated upon the pri- 
 vate sentiments of men, so as to narrow their 
 social affections within the bounds of their 
 own persuasion, and to create enemies in all 
 that are not numbered under the banners of 
 the prophet. While the religion of Maho- 
 met thus naturally tends to divide mankindj 
 whether as individuals or nations, from each 
 other ; and while it checks the diffusion of 
 humanity by retarding the improvement and 
 happiness of human kind, its effects are not 
 less malignant upon the moral character of 
 man, by the rules and precepts it prescribes ^ 
 Of that liberal piety which is founded as well 
 in the understanding as in the heart ; which 
 examines where it approves, and which dis* 
 plays the sincerity of its approbation by rec* 
 titude of intention and purity of conduct, 
 
SERMON IX. 341 
 
 the generality of mankind, from their con- 
 tracted habits of thought, as well as their la- 
 borious stations in life, are in a great mea- 
 sure incapable. They indeed believe in a 
 moral governor and judge of the universe : 
 they reverence his attributes, and would con- 
 cihate his favour: but it accords better with 
 their wishes and their prejudices, to confine 
 the practice of religion to those austerities and 
 forms, which require little mental purity, or 
 intellectual exertion to perform. A religion, 
 therefore, which avails itself of this infirmity, 
 must necessarily be supposed to give a sanc- 
 tion to these natural though destructive er- 
 rors, and to be productive of all the evils 
 that result from them. 
 
 If it be true, as the enemies of revelation 
 contend, that mankind are often not actuated 
 by their principles, it is equally true, may 
 the Christian say, that they in few instances 
 totally and deliberately renounce them. Er- 
 ror gains assent by the resemblance it bears 
 to truth ; and superstition sanctifies its usur- 
 pations by urging some of those claims, 
 which true religion has ever employed with 
 success upon the common sense of mankind. 
 Hence no religion, be its promises ever so 
 alluring, its ceremonies ever so frequent, and 
 its injunctions ever so peremptory, can keep 
 
 z3 
 
342 SERMON IX. 
 
 any firm hold on the reason or the imagina- 
 tion of men, unless it calls in the aid of the 
 moral sense, and recommends some duties 
 which that sense approves. Even the coarsest 
 and most despicable systems of superstition 
 pretend to give a greater or less sanction to 
 those offices which the experience of men 
 found necessary for the happiness of that 
 society in which they arose: and therefore 
 the distinction which lies between true and 
 false religion is this : That religion is false, 
 which, professing to be intended for the use 
 of all nations, is distorted in its doctrines, and 
 narrowed in its precepts, by the prejudices 
 and manners of any one particular age and 
 any one particular country. That religion 
 is probably true, which, challenging the en- 
 quiries, and demanding the obedience of 
 every age and every country, is calculated 
 to promote their temporal as well as eternal 
 interest ; to cooperate with every useful qua- 
 lity in their government, laws, and manners ; 
 and gradually to correct whatever is defec- 
 tive or injurious in them. But the general 
 and vague recommendation of virtue forms 
 no part of the peculiar character of any re- 
 ligion, since it is equally common to all. 
 The influence of a religion upon morality is, 
 therefore, to be determined by the relation 
 
SERMON IX. 343 
 
 which the pecuUar duties it prescribes have 
 to the general welfare of men ; and the mo- 
 tives which of itself it affords to the discharge 
 of those grand and universal duties, which 
 time and place may indeed modify in their 
 degree, but without suspending their obliga- 
 tion. Considered in this Hght, the religion 
 of Mahomet presents itself to us, as contain* 
 ing precepts more adverse, perhaps, to the 
 well-being of mankind than are to be found 
 in any other instance of religious delusion. 
 The Mussulman is commanded, indeed, to 
 be just and charitable ; and this command 
 every other religion, however false, would not 
 fail to impose. But justice and charity form 
 only a small and subordinate part of his 
 obedience. He must abstain from the in- 
 nocent enjoyment of the bounties of nature, 
 with a rigour which lessens the comforts of 
 social intercourse, and represses very much 
 the noble emotions of friendship and affec- 
 tion. He must approach the Deity, not at 
 the seasons of his own gratitude ; but at pre- 
 scribed hours, which often arrive without the 
 preparation of his heart; and which return 
 with such frequency, and must be practised 
 with such exactness, as tend surely to create 
 ostentatious hypocrisy, or abject pusillani- 
 mity; to slacken punctuahty into iodiffer- 
 
 z 4 
 
344 SERMON IX. 
 
 ence; or inflame zeal into fanaticism. In 
 whatever situation he is placed, he must 
 perform ablutions, which often interfere with 
 the practical duties of life ; and of which the 
 forms and circumstances would be ridicu- 
 lous in the recital, if indeed they deserved 
 not a severer appellation, when considered as 
 the evidences of virtue and piety. To fill up 
 the measure of his devotion, the Mahometan 
 must leave his friends, his family, and his 
 country, and expose himself to the dangers 
 of a tedious journey, through barren sands 
 and beneath a burning sky, to visit the 
 Temple of Mecca, with ceremonies which 
 alike corrupt the understanding, and de- 
 grade the dignity of a rational and immortal 
 being. 
 
 Such are the duties to which the followers 
 of Mahomet are bound ; and little must the 
 prophet have known of the human heart, if 
 he imagined that the prescription of such a 
 ritual was serviceable to the cause of real 
 piety ; if he believed that by the introduc- 
 tion of burthensome ceremonies he insured 
 the sincerity of religion ; or if he ventured to 
 hope, that any other consequence could arise 
 from such precepts, than the observance of 
 the forms of devotion without its spirit ; and 
 the confinement of the emotions of virtue to 
 
SERMON IX. 345 
 
 that precise limit within whicli they were 
 circumscribed. 
 
 But let us turn our eyes awhile from a 
 prospect so disgusting. 
 
 To the narrow and selfish views of the 
 Arabian impostor, and to the lifeless and 
 unprofitable ceremonies which he appointed, 
 let us oppose the sublime and disinterested 
 philanthropy of our holy religion, the simpli- 
 city of its precepts, and the connection even 
 of its ceremonial ordinances with the prac- 
 tice of moral virtue. Unlike the confined 
 and narrow institutions of the Koran, the 
 gospel of Christ breathes a spirit of benevo- 
 lence as universal as it is pure. Uncon- 
 nected with the machinations of human po- 
 licy, or the schemes of human ambition, it 
 proposes to establish no other kingdom, but 
 that of righteousness and peace. No re- 
 strictions of national prejudices, no differ- 
 ences of religious opinion or modes of wor- 
 ship, are suffered to restrain its operation. 
 The believer and the infidel, the friend and 
 the enemy, are, by a peculiarity which dis- 
 tinguishes Christianity from every other reli- 
 gion, equally entitled to our good offices, 
 and our prayers. In vain, therefore, will 
 the faithful Mussulman, the Roman patriot, 
 pr the Grecian moralist, contrast their fa- 
 
346 SERMON IX. 
 
 vourite virtues with that enlarged and com- 
 prehensive charity, which embraces the whole 
 race of men, and knows no bounds but those 
 which God has prescribed to his creation. In 
 the delightful exercise of these transcendent 
 virtues, extended and exalted as they are 
 by the religion of Jesus, the pious Christian 
 finds no obstruction from the observance of 
 ceremonies devoid of use, and even of mean- 
 ing. He is indeed directed to keep two ordi- 
 nances, one of which is the mark of his ad- 
 mission into the faith, the other of his conti- 
 nuance in it : yet to neither of them, when 
 unconnected with moral conduct, does the 
 gospel ascribe either dignity or use. Both, 
 on the contrary, involve a solemn promise of 
 obedience to that law, which, as it was origi- 
 nally impressed by the Almighty on the heart 
 of man, so has it been since finally ratified 
 and illustrated by the revelation of Christ. 
 
 If such is the faith which we profess ; if it 
 promotes every social virtue in an extent 
 unknown not only to the Mahometan, but 
 even to every other religious system ; if its 
 ceremonies are few and easy, and those 
 equally productive of the fear of God and 
 the love of our fellow-creatures ; if it binds 
 together in the most powerful manner the 
 interests of mankind with the duties of reli- 
 
SERMON IX. 347 
 
 gion, shall we hesitate a moment to confess 
 it a system every way worthy of the infinite 
 wisdom which formed it ; a system, which, if 
 adhered to with zeal and sincerity, would re- 
 concile the views, and calm the animosities 
 which subsist in the world ; would unite all 
 mankind as partners in one common interest, 
 and teach them to rest their hopes of eternal 
 happiness in the next life on the practice of 
 piety and moral rectitude in the present. 
 
 Such are the influences, which Maho- 
 metism and Christianity severally have upon 
 the human character; and such the differ- 
 ence, which they would of themselves natu- 
 rally produce in the appearance of our tem- 
 poral affairs, and the exertions of our moral 
 powers. But though this diversity of opera- 
 tion be obvious, it is necessary to remark, 
 that this operation may not always be 
 equally prominent, or equally intense ; that 
 other concurrent and collateral causes may 
 as well limit the tendency of the religion of 
 Christ, as diminish the influence of Maho- 
 metan superstition. Religion, it is apparent, 
 is not the only employment of the mind of 
 man : a variety of other causes, in govern- 
 ment, in climate, and manners, are con- 
 stantly acting upon his powers, and fashion- 
 ing his character : and though a pure and 
 
348 SERMON IX. 
 
 sublime religion has an evident and real ten- 
 dency to exalt the capacities of his mind ; 
 yet a religion the most pure and subhme 
 may exist with a form of government so cor- 
 rupt, or with a system of manners so de- 
 praved, as to lose a- great part of its influ- 
 ence on the human mind. There are pro- 
 bably circumstances in the constitution of 
 European and Asiatic governments, and still 
 more, it has been said, in the different influ- 
 ences of their climate and situation, which 
 prevent the religions by which they are dis- 
 tinguished from producing their full and na- 
 tural effects upon the actions of those who 
 have embraced them : and if speculations of 
 this kind were the proper subjects of this 
 place, it might not perhaps be difficult to 
 shew, Avhat are the causes which in one 
 situation have prevented the rational and 
 exalted theology of Christ from attaining its 
 proper effect upon the character of those 
 who have adopted it as a rule of faith and 
 conduct ; and which on the other hand have 
 rescued, in part, the disciples of Mahomet 
 from the fatal influences of his doctrines. 
 But it is sufficient for me to have shewn the 
 different tendency which these religions have, 
 from their intrinsic and distinguishing pro- 
 perties, to affect our moral agency : and 
 
SERMON IX. 349 
 
 since every cause must be judged of by its 
 proper effects, enough, I trust, has been ad- 
 vanced to prove, that the one is naturally 
 beneficial, and the other as naturally hurtful, 
 to the intellectual, the social, and the reli- 
 gious character of man. 
 
 From a short review of the subjects that 
 have been discussed, and of the arguments 
 that have been adduced in the course of 
 these Lectures, the superiority of the religion 
 taught by Christ over that of Mahomet will 
 be sufficiently apparent to justify our appro- 
 bation of the one, and our rejection of the 
 other. We first endeavoured to shew, that, 
 as the Mahometan imposture was indebted 
 tor its success to causes visibly and merely 
 human, so the rapid propagation of Chris- 
 tianity is to be referred chiefly to the imme- 
 diate interposition of God ; that the extent 
 of a religion is not simply and independently 
 of circumstances a proof of its truth, and 
 that, upon the exclusion of this most ne- 
 cessary distinction, idolatry and heathen- 
 ism may boast of higher triumphs over 
 Mahometism, than Mahometism itself can, 
 **from the number of its adherents and the 
 
 ^ It has been said, that, if we divide the known regions of the 
 world into thirty equal parts, the Christians will be found to be 
 in possession of five, the Mahometans of six, and the Idolaters 
 of nineteen. See Brerewood, p. 79. 
 
350 SERMON IX, 
 
 wide diflfusion of its doctrines, claim over 
 Christianity. 
 
 When the character of Mahomet was com- 
 pared with the character of Christ, the contrast 
 was most striking. In the pretended prophet 
 of Arabia we discovered under the mask of re- 
 ligious zeal the combined vices of lust, cruel- 
 ty, and worldly ambition in his motives, and 
 of worldly craft in his measures. But in the 
 blessed Redeemer of mankind we contem- 
 plated, with reverential love and gratitude, 
 the most enlarged philanthropy united with 
 the most sublime devotion ; a dignity tem- 
 pered by meekness, and an humility quite 
 remote from meanness ; a consistency, which 
 no variety of situation could shake ; a disin- 
 terestedness, which no temptations of secular 
 glory could seduce ; a fortitude, calm with- 
 out insensibility, exemplary without ostenta- 
 tion, and equally superior to the afflictions of 
 life, and to the tortures of death. 
 
 Mahometism, we have seen, is totally un- 
 supported by external evidence; while the 
 credibility of the gospel is attested by mira- 
 cles, which omnipotence alone could have 
 performed ; and by the prediction of events^ 
 which omniscience alone could have fore- 
 seen. 
 
 We have found that the Koran even re- 
 
SERMON IX. 351 
 
 futes its own claim to a divine autliorit}^ as 
 well by what it denies as by what it concedes : 
 that, considered in the light of a revelation 
 to regulate our conduct, and to confirm our 
 hopes, it was altogether unnecessary ; that it 
 is true so far only as it adopted the doctrines 
 of a preceding religion, and that where it 
 differs from them, it is grossly improbable, 
 or evidently false ; in short, that in many in- 
 stances it is unworthy of the wisdom, and in 
 some even irreconcileable to the goodness of 
 God. To errors which our reason may detect, 
 and to deformities at which our common 
 sense recoils, we opposed the purity and sim- 
 phcity of the gospel ; its consistence with the 
 best discoveries of philosophj^ and the im- 
 mutable laws of nature; its conformity to 
 the moral precepts and peculiar economy of 
 the Mosaic system ; and finally the invariable 
 agreement, in which its commands, its sanc^ 
 tions, and its evidences stand with each other 
 and with themselves. 
 
 In the present Lecture the comparison has 
 been closed by an impartial consideration of 
 the effects which each religion either is cal- 
 culated to produce, or actually has pro- 
 duced ; effects, which, on the one side, are 
 as destructive to the pretensions of Maho- 
 metism, as on the other they are honourable 
 
352 SERMON IX. 
 
 to the cause of Christianity. Indeed the 
 ijiore attentively we consider the imposture 
 of Mahomet, the more firmly shall we dis- 
 believe, and the more sincerely must we de- 
 spise it. But in proportion as the proofs which 
 support the gospel, and the doctrines which 
 it conveys, are brought to* the test of his- 
 torical or philosophical criticism, the greater 
 reason shall we have to felicitate ourselves 
 on our profession of a religion, so adapted at 
 once to the frailties and to the noblest capa- 
 cities of our nature, and so friendly both to 
 our temporal and eternal interests : a religion, 
 which hitherto has resisted the sullen obsti- 
 nacy of the Jew, the fierce hostility of the 
 Mahometan, and the sceptical subtlety of 
 the infidel; a religion, which is more ap- 
 proved as it is more understood, and against 
 which the God who founded it has expressly 
 promised that he will not suffer the gates of 
 helljinally to prevail. 
 
 To discover the credibility of the Christian 
 revelation, the diligent and honest use of our 
 own understanding alone is requisite. May 
 the grace of God so sanctify our hearts, that 
 we may feel its importance in every period of 
 our lives ; that in the hour of death we may be 
 sustained by its comforts; and admitted to all 
 its glorious privileges in the day of judgment. 
 
SERMON IX. 353 
 
 While, however, we cleave to the truth, 
 with steadiness of judgment and in sincerity 
 of spirit, let us be disposed to lament, rather 
 than to rail at, the opposition of those who 
 have not been hitherto brought by the provi- 
 dence of God within the pale of the Chris- 
 tian Church. Though justified in our own 
 faith by the solemn testimony of our own 
 consciences, we are very incompetent judges 
 of the known, as well as of many unknown 
 difficulties, which, arising from early prepos- 
 session, from habitual persuasion, from an 
 honest dread of change in the awful con- 
 cerns of religion, or from a reverential and 
 fond attachment to the supposed virtues 
 and sanctity of their admired prophet, may 
 have prevented the followers of Mahomet 
 from yielding to arguments, which they are 
 unable to confute. Though bound to accept 
 with thankfulness the gracious offers of sal- 
 vation which have been made to ourselves, 
 we cannot discern all the wise and excellent 
 purposes, which the moral Governor of the 
 universe may ultimately accomplish, by the 
 ignorance or errors, in which many of liis 
 creatures are yet involved. In respect there- 
 fore to the revelation which is calculated to 
 enlighten that ignorance, and to reform those 
 errors, we act up to the full measure of our 
 
 A a 
 
354 SERMON IX. 
 
 duty, if we embrace it without hypocrisy, 
 if we defend it without bitterness, and if, 
 w^hilst we labour to disseminate its glorious 
 truths, we seriously endeavour to make it the 
 rule of our own conduct, no less than of our 
 belief. By these means we shall most effec- 
 tually and most honourabl}^ adorn the reli- 
 gion we profess ; we shall recommend it to 
 the approbation of the wise and good ; we 
 shall protect it from the assaults of the per- 
 verse and profligate ; and shall gradually 
 become the instruments of giving complete 
 effect to the benevolent designs of that Being, 
 who, in his own good time, Vill assuredly 
 bring all the various nations of the world 
 into one fold, under one shepherd, Jesus 
 Christ the righteous. 
 
NOTES 
 
SERMON X. 
 
 Mark xvi. 15. 
 
 Go 1/e into all the world, and preach the gospel to every 
 creature. 
 
 \\ HEN our Saviour, after the completion 
 of his earthly ministry, was preparing to 
 ascend into heaven, this was his great and 
 last command to the apostles : Go ye into 
 all the world, and preach the gospel to every 
 creature. Whilst he pointed out the end, 
 he also prepared the means : he sent his 
 Spirit from above, to fortify his apostles 
 against danger, to console them under afflic- 
 tion, to dispel their scruples, and to correct 
 their mistakes. 
 
 To these operations of the Holy Ghost on 
 the minds of Christ's disciples was added the 
 power of working miracles ; so that extraor- 
 dinary and ordinary causes at once conspired 
 in supporting the efforts of those who were 
 friends to the gospel, and in vanquishing the 
 opposition of its fiercest and most formida- 
 ble enemies. 
 
 Bb 
 
356 SERMON X. 
 
 But the work of salvation, so auspiciously 
 begun by the apostles, was not continued with 
 the same spirit of charity and truth by the 
 succeeding ministers of Christ. More labour 
 was exerted to allure those who were already 
 followers of his religion with some distinction 
 of sect or pecuharity of doctrine, than to re- 
 form the lives of the unconverted by its pure 
 and simple precepts ; or to convince their 
 understandings by the display of the ge- 
 nuine and characteristic doctrines which he 
 had taught. 
 
 Christianity, whether we consider the pro- 
 mises of its Founder, or the spirit of its laws, 
 is calculated for universal use, and claims 
 universal belief Its influence, however, must, 
 from the very constitution of the moral world, 
 necessarily be progressive ; and in different 
 circumstances the knowledge of it will be 
 in different degrees accelerated or retarded. 
 The rude and uncivihzed inhabitants of 
 northern Europe more readily admitted the 
 doctrines of the gospel than the polished 
 and fastidious citizens of Athens and Rome./ 
 
 To the impediments which operated in 
 particular countries, may be added other 
 causes, arising from the general state of the 
 world. The want of a large and liberal in- 
 tercourse among the inhabitants of the earth 
 
SERMON X. 357 
 
 prevented for a time the diftusiou of Chris- 
 tian knowledge. When nations became 
 known to each other, the objects, to which 
 their attention was generally turned, had 
 but little connection with the concerns of 
 religion. Some were intent upon amassing 
 wealth, and some upon grasping dominion. 
 The traveller was content with gratifying a 
 vacant curiosity; and the philosopher was 
 chiefly employed in exploring the works of 
 nature, without transferring his observations 
 to any subject of utility ; or in remarking the 
 dissimilarities of opinion and manners "that 
 exist among mankind, without the opportu- 
 nity, or even the wish, to reform them. 
 
 In such times and under such circum- 
 stances it would have been vain to expect 
 any plans for religious improvement, or any 
 rational efforts for the dissemination of reli- 
 gious knowledge. Yet we have reason, per- 
 haps, upon the whole, to congratulate our- 
 selves, that the propagation of the gospel has 
 rarely been the professed aim of any nation 
 in the ages which are past. The wild and 
 romantic object of the crusades, and the 
 outrageous excesses committed during their 
 continuance, are a proof that the Christian 
 religion, even from its own inherent qualities, 
 is incapable of being propagated by the 
 
 B b 2 
 
358 SERMON X, 
 
 sword : and from the characters of the cru^ 
 saders we may conclude, that the spirit which 
 begins in a mistaken and rehgious zeal, passes 
 by easy and imperceptible transition into po- 
 litical cunning, or insatiable ambition. Here 
 then we find some of the causes, in conse- 
 quence of which the light has not hitherto 
 shone with effect among those nations, which 
 still remain overshadowed by ignorance, or 
 hardened in unbelief. 
 
 In succeeding times the labours of Chris- 
 tian countries have been vigorously and suc- 
 cessfully employed rather in the improve- 
 ment of religion, than in the propagation of 
 it- Its evidences have been collected; its 
 doctrines have been elucidated ; the attacks 
 of its enemies have been repelled ; and the 
 morals of its professors, upon the whole, have 
 been purified. The powers and views of the 
 human understanding are hmited : and pro- 
 bably to the compression of that strength, 
 which has been exerted upon the proofs and 
 illustrations of Christianity, where it is be- 
 lieved, may be ascribed the just and en- 
 larged notions which now prevail in the na- 
 tions of Europe. If more had been attempted, 
 less probably would have been performed : if 
 our zeal had b^en chiefl^y directed to the 
 diffusion of the gospel, our ideas of its use 
 
SERMON X. « 359 
 
 might have been less correct and less com* 
 prehensive. 
 
 From the inattention of the Europeans to 
 the propagation of the gospel in these later 
 ages of civilization, and from the contracted 
 views or the odious barbarities of those who 
 professed to propagate it in less enlightened 
 times, the inhabitants of many countries as 
 yet continue rooted in the ancient absurdi- 
 ties of Pagan superstition, or deluded by the 
 arrogant and impious pretensions of that 
 false prophet, who presumed to go forth, like 
 another Messiah, in the East, and erected a 
 larger kingdom on earth than the Son of the 
 living God. 
 
 But to those, perhaps, who have a more 
 just and extensive view of the subject, the 
 very delay will ultimately be found accom- 
 panied with advantages, which, while they 
 redound to the honour of the moral govern- 
 ment of God, ought to give new animation 
 to our own endeavours. Would, for instance, 
 Christianity have been established in its ori- 
 ginal purity, or to any good practical pur- 
 pose, by the rapacious conqueror, by the 
 roving adventurer, or by the visionary phi- 
 losopher? Where should we have seen any 
 traces of Christian charity, or of rational 
 piety, in that system of opinions and that 
 
 Bb3 
 
360 SERMON X. 
 
 plan of ceremonial worship, which the fran- 
 tic and sanguinary zeal of the crusader would 
 probably have established ? Would not the 
 gloom of papal superstition, and the severi- 
 ties of papal domination, have been spread 
 and exercised more Avidely ? Might not the 
 spirit of superstition have gained an lacces- 
 sion of strength with the ch«:mge of its ob- 
 ject, if the gospel had been first introduced 
 by those who could not so far understand 
 it, as to distinguish between its genuine and 
 pretended doctrines ? We therefore, v/ho 
 live in these enlightened times, have pecu- 
 liar opportunities of doing what has been left 
 undone by our forefathers ; and for planning 
 w4th wisdom, and executing with success, 
 what they have either neglected, or at- 
 tempted to do in vain. We have no mis- 
 conceptions of Christianity to set right, no 
 corruptions of it to purify. As Protestants, 
 we have only to bear the Bible in our hands ; 
 to expatiate upon its importance and its 
 truth ; to teach what it reveals with sincerity ; 
 and to enforce what it commands with ear- 
 nestness. 
 
 Christianity was at first established by ex- 
 traordinary means ; but though we presume 
 not to look for the renovation of miracles, or 
 to desire the instantaneous gift and utterance 
 
SERMON X, 361 
 
 of diters tongues, we are still enabled to ac- 
 complish the same conviction in the unbe- 
 lieving nations, by an industrious acquisi- 
 tion of their various languages, and an ac- 
 quaintance with their local prejudices, their 
 manners, and their laws. These are the great 
 duties of our mission ; and that the task has 
 been zealously, and in some degree success- 
 fully performed, cannot be denied, without 
 ingratitude to the piety and sufferings of 
 many individuals, who may justly be ac- 
 counted happy ornaments of our own Chris- 
 tian country and truly Christian church. 
 
 But it deserves particularly to be re- 
 marked, that, while our endeavours have 
 been directed to the instruction of ignorant 
 and savage tribes, the task of converting the 
 more enlightened nations, who are led away 
 by the false pretensions of the Arabian im- 
 postor, has been constantly declined as im- 
 practicable, or even opposed as inexpedient 
 and dangerous. 
 
 To establish both the expediency and 
 practicability of propagating it, is the pur- 
 pose of this discoiu'se. I mean not, how- 
 ever, to enter into an elaborate discussion 
 of the general question relating to the duty 
 of baptizing all nations. That this duty is 
 incumbent on Christians of every age ; that 
 
 B b4 
 
36^ SERMON X. 
 
 the command delivered in the words of my 
 text, with a more immediate reference to the 
 Apostles, is equally binding upon ourselves ; 
 that, under a change of external circum- 
 stances, we can effect by ordinary measures 
 what they were invested with extraordinary 
 powers to perform ; are positions which it is 
 unnecessary for me to establish. They have 
 already been enforced with great strength of 
 argument, and great splendor of eloquence, 
 by several eminent writers, whose learnilig 
 and whose liberal piety have done equal ho- 
 nour to their country, and to that respecta- 
 ble societ}^ to which they belong : sufficient 
 therefore it is for me to declare, that I ad- 
 mit the justice of their reasoning, and can- 
 not add much to its wei2:ht. But the ao;e in 
 which we live is, we know, distinguished by 
 metaphysical refinement. The clearness of 
 general deductions is, in the minds of many 
 persons, obscured by the ingenuity with which 
 particular objections are employed to gratify 
 a fondness for novelty, and to weaken the 
 authority of prescription. Detached and hy- 
 pothetical arguments are suffered to destroy 
 the collective force of proofs already me- 
 thodized, and of facts already admitted. It 
 becomes, us, therefore, to discuss the subject 
 with some kind of accommodation to the 
 
SERMON X. 363 
 
 tempers and prepossessions of those whom 
 we would convince : and with this view I 
 shall in the following discourse pirst en- 
 deavour to refute two objections which have 
 been alleged against the propriety of any 
 attempt to propagate the gospel; and se- 
 condly I shall consider at large the pe- 
 culiar expediency of propagating it among 
 Eastern nations. 
 
 It has been objected with some plausibi- 
 lity, that the Deity delights in the variety of 
 religions which have appeared upon the face 
 of the earth. The proposition is specious, 
 but not new : for whatever pretension philo- 
 sophers may put up to originality, the same 
 thing has been said by one of those writers % 
 whom it is the custom of those same philo- 
 sophers to ridicule for narrow conceptions 
 and grovelling superstition. But as the ge- 
 neral proposition carries in it something spe- 
 cious and imposing, it is worth our while to 
 analyze it. And here we shall have reason 
 to apprehend, that men have not argued 
 upon solid grounds from themselves to the 
 Creator. Variety in man pleases from sen- 
 timent ; from a sentiment sui generis : and 
 
 * " Forsitan et varietas hujusmodi, ordinante Deo, decorem 
 " quendam parit in universe mirabilem." Marcllius Facinus, ip 
 his Tresitise on the Christian Religion^ chap. iv. 
 
364 SERMON X. 
 
 perhaps the physical source of it is to be 
 found in the weakness of our understanding, 
 which incapacitates us for the contemplation 
 of good, beyond a certain aggregate ; or from 
 the fickleness of our passions, which roam 
 from one object to another, without any set- 
 tled principle of choice. But neither the 
 sentiment itself, nor the causes from which 
 it probably proceeds, can, without impiety, 
 be ascribed to the Deity. Here then there 
 is no room for analogy : but there is a 
 point of view in which another kind of ana- 
 logy does exist, sufficient, it should seem, to 
 vindicate the ways of the Creator, and to 
 point out the duty of moral agents. 
 
 In the power of man over the animal and 
 vegetable world, in the arts of civilization, in 
 the means of drawing out the peculiar ad- 
 vantages, or counteracting the peculiar dis- 
 advantages of climate ; in the various expe- 
 dients by which existence is preserved and 
 made happy ; one nation and one age differs 
 from another. Yet we are directed by our 
 reason, and impelled by our better instincts, 
 to reform abuses and extend improvements 
 both in the physical and moral world. We 
 teach the savage the art of healing; we 
 assist him in fencing off the inclemency of 
 the weather ; we shew him the advantages of 
 
SERMON X. 365 
 
 government and laws. In all these exertions 
 the moral principle is instantly accompanied 
 with a strong sentiment of approbation. The 
 gov^ernment of God was, doubtless, wise and 
 righteous before the communication of this 
 knowledge: but in our apprehensions, it in- 
 evitably and justly becomes more defensible 
 and illustrious, when the evils of life are 
 lessened, or its blessings multiplied. The 
 social principle seems implanted in us for 
 this very purpose. The moral agency of man 
 is the instrument by Avhich the goodness of 
 God acts upon man. And in this enlarged 
 view it is that philanthropy puts forth its 
 whole force, and excites the highest approba- 
 tion. Now, the religious government of God 
 seems perfectly correspondent to the natural 
 and moral government of the world. And 
 wheresoever there is a capacity in mankind 
 to comprehend religious truths more largely, 
 and to practise religious duties more exactly, 
 that moment there arises a clear and strong 
 obligation upon us to communicate those 
 truths, and to encourage those duties, among 
 our fellow-creatures. We look with admira- 
 tion and gratitude upon the extraordinary in- 
 terpositions, and upon the ordinary blessings 
 which are conveyed to us in the course of his 
 
S66 SERMON X. 
 
 providence, independently of our own coun- 
 sels and our own exertions : but surely his 
 benevolence is not less important, and his 
 wisdom is even more conspicuous, in that 
 constitution of the world which enables us, 
 and in that frame of mind which impels us, to 
 do good one to another. In doing this good, 
 we are effectually carrying on the gracious 
 designs of our Maker; we obtain a more dis- 
 tinct and comfortable view of his govern- 
 ment; and, while we fill up the measure of 
 our own duty as individuals, we complete 
 the aggregate of that felicity, which the 
 species itself is capable of attaining, and 
 which therefore we justly conclude to be in- 
 tended for those to whom it is in our power 
 to communicate it. By these means the 
 sphere of our rational and religious powers 
 is enlarged ; the operation of physical and 
 moral causes conspires to the same end ; the 
 general stock both of virtue and of happiness 
 connected with it is augmented ; and in the 
 successful endeavours of those who diffuse 
 the knowledge of the truth, and of those who 
 embrace it, we see the highest consistence 
 and perfection in that scheme of the divine 
 government, where the interests of futurity 
 are blended with those of the present life ; 
 
SERMON X. 367 
 
 and where the immediate reward of each 
 man's merit is inseparably united with the 
 increasing welfare of all. 
 
 I now proceed to detect the fallacy of 
 another sophism, which owes its popularity 
 rather to the confidence with which it is 
 maintained, than to the ability with which 
 it is supported. It is of little importance, 
 w^e are told, what rehgion men profess, 
 whether they admit one God, or more than 
 one ; Avhether they bow the knee at the 
 altar of an imaginary or a real Deity, while 
 they practise good morality. If then re- 
 ligion be a matter really indifferent and un- 
 important, let us intreat those who bring the 
 objection to be consistent with themselves, 
 and to suppress all the complaints which 
 they have so often alleged against the super- 
 stitious bigot, and to check the raillery in 
 which they have indulged themselves against 
 the deluded fanatic. On the contrary, if 
 religion have an immediate and extensive 
 influence upon the peace of mankind ; if, by 
 regulating opinion, it even remotely affect 
 practice, let us not hastily assume that it is 
 always productive of evil consequences ; and 
 let us diligently endeavour to examine the 
 circumstances in which it may be accompa- 
 nied by such as are proper and efficacious. 
 
368 SERMON X. 
 
 Some of its doctrines are unquestionably 
 congenial to the natural sentiments, which, 
 however diversified by local or temporary 
 causes, have prevailed in all ages and in all 
 countries ; to those sentiments, which have 
 their hold upon the wild barbarian, and the 
 pohshed citizen ; to those sentiments, which 
 agitate even the savage with w^ild admira- 
 tion, and impress the philosopher with serious 
 awe. It would be irrational to suppose, that 
 these sentiments have nothing sound in their 
 principles ; it would be false to assert, that 
 they are barren of effect; it would be das- 
 tardly to imagine, that the truths belonging 
 to them will for ever elude enquiry ; and 
 it would be unjust to presume, that when 
 known they will not confer some advantage. 
 But the question itself is, I am inclined to 
 think, usually stated in a manner that is both 
 incorrect and invidious. As Tully was led, 
 by his enlarged and exact habits of thinking, 
 to lament the separation between philoso- 
 phy and eloquence, so will every impartial 
 and diligent enquirer find reason to be dis- 
 satisfied, that religion should, even in idea, 
 be divided from morality. The fact is, that, 
 under proper directions, they act upon each 
 other with an intense and incessant force ; 
 that they correct the misconceptions, supply 
 
SERMON X. 369 
 
 the defects, and invigorate the proper energy 
 of eacli other. Both are made for man, and 
 for both man himself is made; if we may argue 
 from the state where he is now placed, and 
 from the faculties with w^hich he is now en- 
 dowed. There are many situations in which, 
 impelled as he is by various desires, and as- 
 sailed by various temptations, he finds some- 
 times salutary restraint, and sometimes useful 
 direction, in \vhat are called their distinct and 
 appropriate powers. There are many occa- 
 sions, on w^hicli he stands in need of their 
 united aid, either when present considera- 
 tions are too feeble to determine him in the 
 choice of his ultimate interests ; or when 
 the prospect of futurity is for a moment too 
 clouded and too remote, to keep him steady 
 in the path which can alone preserve his in- 
 nocence. These observations are strictly true, 
 and deserve our most recollected attention, 
 even when we are reasoning upon the suppo- 
 sition that Morality and Religion can with 
 propriety be considered as distinct in mere 
 speculation. But the terms are surely, upon 
 every principle of profound and impartial 
 examination, contracted, and distorted from 
 their right meaning. Morality, in its full 
 and just signification, includes all the duties 
 of which a moral agent is capable, and all 
 
370 SERMON X. 
 
 the foundations of those duties which can be 
 discovered by a rational being. Such it ap- 
 pears not only in the maxims of the wisest 
 sages, but in the laws of the best regulated 
 states, where, as in the institutions of a Solon 
 or a Numa, religious as well as civil regula- 
 tions have been permitted to hold a distin- 
 guished rank. Such it was in the Mosaic 
 code ; such it is in those rules by which the 
 Chinese, the Hindoos, and the Mahometans 
 are instructed in the worship of their Creator,^ 
 as well as in their conduct to their fellow- 
 creatures; such it seems to be in the opinions 
 and customs which have been established in 
 the darkest and most uncivilized nations ; 
 and such it continued, as they gradually 
 emerged from ignorance and from barba- 
 rism. 
 
 Religion, therefore, if we appeal to the 
 common apprehensions of mankind, forms a 
 part of morality : and surely it is not the less 
 valuable, or the less probable, because it con- 
 tains directions and sanctions that relate to 
 the whole. 
 
 Now, if the objector maintains that many 
 relio;ions which have oained credit in the 
 world are false, we consider the question as 
 then shifted from the point of Importance to 
 the point of Truth. We deny any inferences 
 
SERMON X. 371 
 
 from the fact alleged, which insinuate that 
 none therefore can be true : we maintain, 
 that if any one rehgion be true, it cannot be 
 wholly unimportant ; and in estimating that 
 importance, we have a right to insist that the 
 comparison be made, not only between the 
 hypothetical consequences of any religion or 
 none, but between the actual consequences 
 of that, which we allow with the objector to 
 be false, and that, which, in opposition to 
 him, we are prepared to defend as the true. 
 
 As scholars, we admire the composition, 
 and, under many useful restrictions, we may, 
 as philosophers, admit the doctrine of the 
 Universal Prayer, in which a writer of our 
 own nation has united the most beautiful 
 poetry with the most subhme devotion. He 
 there means to affirm, that Jews, and Hea- 
 thens, and Christians, equally acknowledged 
 the existence of a supreme and intelli- 
 gent cause, however they might distinguish 
 him by different names, adore him in differ- 
 ent forms, and even ascribe to him different 
 attributes. But from this fact, which we 
 readily admit, he does not draw the hazard- 
 ous and unfair conclusion, which alone I am 
 concerned to refute. He does not say, that 
 the notions entertained of the Deity were 
 equally just; that the worship they paid 
 
 c c 
 
372 SERMON X. 
 
 him was equally acceptable ; and that either 
 in a speculative or a practical, in a philoso- 
 phical or a religious light, it was totally in- 
 different whether our faith was directed to 
 the Olympian Jove, or to the invisible Lord 
 of Heaven and Earth. 
 
 In every country, it is true, God has given 
 some witness of himself; has implanted some 
 notions of his being and perfections ; has re- 
 ceived some instances of adoration and obe- 
 dience, from those whom he has made. In 
 every country also he has given proofs of his 
 creative power and providential care; has 
 bestowed some advantaoes which deserve the 
 gratitude of mankind ; and exposed them to 
 some evils, for protection from which they 
 must have recourse to his gracious assistance, 
 conveyed to them (as indeed most of his 
 blessings are) by intermediate causes, by 
 human activity, and human prudence. But 
 in his religious as well as in his temporal dis- 
 pensations, there is a great and an incon- 
 testable inequality : and to correct that ine- 
 quality is often within our power ; and when 
 in our power, it as&uredly becomes our indis- 
 pensable duty. We relieve, as was before 
 observed, the distressed ; we are conscious, 
 in relieving them, of employing the means 
 which God has given us, to the ends for 
 
SERMON X. S7S 
 
 which he designed them : and, in the hour of 
 solemn and deep meditation, we are led to 
 admire that constitution of the universe, by 
 which man is qualified and impelled to pro- 
 mote the happiness of man ; and by which 
 also physical evil becomes subservient to the 
 production of moral good. What then, I 
 would ask, are the reasons which prevent 
 our apphcation of the same principles in the 
 instruction of the ionorant and the mistaken? 
 We communicate the improvements of law, 
 and the discoveries of science : why then are 
 we to be indifferent about imparting juster 
 notions of religion ? Is truth less congenial 
 to the mind upon these subjects than error? 
 Is it so difficult to be communicated, as 
 always to baffle our endeavours, or so insig- 
 nificant when communicated, as in no degree 
 to reward them? The capacity of mankind 
 to receive and to profit by religious instruc- 
 tion is, I confess, different in different cir- 
 cumstances. Great candour, doubtless, and 
 great caution are necessary in conducting 
 the work. The progress of it will be re- 
 tarded by sluggish apprehension, by languid 
 attention, or by perverse opposition. The 
 effects of it may, for a time, be counteracted 
 by preconceived opinions, by inveterate ha- 
 bits, by the passions and propensities of indi- 
 
 c c2 
 
374 SERMON X. 
 
 viduals ; or by peculiarities in the manners, 
 and it may be the climates, of a whole 
 people. But these causes operate surely in 
 all our attempts to enlighten men by know- 
 ledge, and to meliorate them by laws : and if 
 the experiment be made successfully in the 
 one case, why should we despair of success 
 in the other? 
 
 Ever}^ change that we attempt in the laws 
 and the emploj^ments of a people, must be 
 made, if it be made wisely, with some re- 
 ference to their religious tenets and modes 
 of worship. The degree and the order in 
 which we endeavour to improve them re- 
 spectively will depend upon a variety of 
 causes, which it will require our utmost saga- 
 city to ascertain, and our utmost caution to 
 manage. But all are capable of improve- 
 ment: and that scheme has the fairest 
 chance for speedy and complete execution, 
 is most noble in itself, and will be most be- 
 neficial in its effects, which, by a well-pro- 
 portioned attention to the parts, bestows 
 harmony and stability upon the whole. 
 
 We have seen in a former Discourse, that 
 European nations are indebted for their su- 
 periority to their religious creed, as well as to 
 their civil institutions, or their philosophical 
 attainments ; that each of these moral causes 
 
SERMON X. 375 
 
 has a wide and visible influence ; that there is 
 a sphere for their united as well as for their 
 distinct agency ; that they assist in the im- 
 provement of each other; that they have their 
 principles in the common nature of man; and 
 that in their well-directed and well-exerted 
 energies they conspire to one common end, 
 in enlarging our intellectual powers, in meli- 
 orating our social affections, and in promot- 
 ing our true and proper happiness, as Citi- 
 zens, as Christians, and as Men. 
 
 I assume therefore confidently the eflicacy 
 of religion ; and I am warranted by experi- 
 ence in contending for the beneficial eflicacy 
 of the Christian. In nations already bap- 
 tized, we condemn the bigot and the fanatic 
 upon principles both of revelation and rea- 
 son ; I mean upon their fundamental and 
 consistent principles ; upon the express pre- 
 cepts of the one, and upon the clearest dic- 
 tates of the other. We know that the illi- 
 beral spirit of the bigot, and the absurd no- 
 tions of the fanatic, have a direct and un- 
 friendly influence upon their moral conduct, 
 and render them unfit for the present as well 
 as the future world. Bigots and fanatics are 
 to be found in those nations whom we wish 
 to baptize : the source of their imperfections 
 lies in the wrong apprehensions they enter- 
 
 c c 3 
 
376 SERMON X. 
 
 tain of the Deity himself, of the laws which 
 he prescribes, and of the means by which his 
 favour is to be conciliated. If then Chris- 
 tianity, honestly and rationally taught, be 
 likely to correct their errors, to assuage their 
 groundless fears, to soften their unsocial tem- 
 pers, and eventually to open a wider field for 
 their talents and their virtues, we are bound, 
 from a mere regard to its usefulness, to open 
 every avenue by wdiich the knowledge of it 
 may be conveyed to distant nations. If we 
 are persuaded of its truth, we may safel}'^ 
 trust the consequences of its propagation to 
 that omniscient Being, who has implanted in 
 us an instinctive love of what is true, and 
 has prepared our minds for the reception of 
 it from adequate instruments, and upon fa- 
 vourable opportunities. If we are impressed 
 with a sincere and grateful sense of its divine 
 original, we shall manifest that sincerity and 
 that gratitude, by our ardent wishes, and our 
 unwearied endeavours to make other men 
 partakers of those blessings which w^e our- 
 selves enjoy. Truth, we allow, when meta- 
 physically analyzed, derives its moral im- 
 portance from its utihty. But we contend, 
 in our turn, that utility is, in an abstract 
 point of view, naturally connected with 
 truth ; and therpfore, with a reference to 
 
SERMON X. 377 
 
 both, we insist upon the expediency of pro- 
 pagating the gospel. 
 
 As to the obstinacy with which nations 
 adhere to those rehgious tenets, which they 
 have imbibed from education and contem- 
 plated with reverence, it furnishes no solid 
 argument against our project: it is indeed 
 a just and weighty reason for an increase of 
 caution, and on the very same ground of dif- 
 ficulty, it becomes an additional incentive to 
 an increase of diligence. You diffuse the 
 light of philosophical knowledge, though it 
 must lay open the fallacy and absurdity of 
 many opinions, which tradition has preserved 
 concerning the origin and structure of the 
 world. You introduce such laws and cus- 
 toms, as in a course of time will brine; on a 
 material revolution in the manners of the 
 nations with whom you are connected, and 
 militate against many ritual observances, and, 
 perhaps, some moral precepts, which are now 
 protected by the supposed commands of the 
 Almighty. Do you wish then, that they 
 should deliberately and habitually disobey 
 the religion they believe to be true ; or, when 
 you have gradually worn away the force of 
 prejudice, and taught them by more compre- 
 hensive and precise modes of reasoning to 
 reject it as false, do you mean to provide no 
 
 c c4 
 
378 SERMON X. 
 
 substitute ? When your social habits and 
 civil institutions are estabhshed on a firm 
 foundation, and supported by general appro- 
 bation and general concurrence, you may 
 surely endeavour to avail yourselves of the 
 prepossession which, in the minds of consi- 
 derate and impartial men, they cannot fail 
 to excite in favour of your religious code. 
 
 Doubts of a different kind from those I 
 have examined under a former head have 
 arisen with sensible men, how far the propa- 
 gation of the gospel in some countries be 
 upon the whole practicable or desirable : 
 whether the doctrines of it would not be 
 imperfectly understood, or grossly miscon- 
 ceived, or professed to no good purpose; 
 whether as Gentilism and Judaism infected 
 Christianity, so the favourite and inveterate 
 superstitions of the American idolaters would 
 not soon debase its purity, and counteract 
 its efficacy. But this objection does not 
 reach with its full force to the Mahometans 
 of the East, who are lifted far above the 
 ignorance of barbarians and the ferocity of 
 savages ; and a wider scope surely would be 
 here given for instructing them successfully 
 in the sublimer doctrines of Christianity. 
 The savage, whose gloomy and confined 
 theology was perhaps the growth of turbu- 
 
SERMON X. 379 
 
 lent passion and wild fancy, might easily be 
 persuaded to admit the existence of mira- 
 cles; from the similitude they bear to the 
 supposed interpositions of his deities ; from 
 his incapacity to ascertain the force of na- 
 tural causes ; and from a kind of instinctive 
 propensity to believe in those which are 
 extraordinary. But the Mahometans, while 
 they admit the principle of miracles, might 
 be made more distinctly to conceive, and 
 more readilv to embrace the aro-ument from 
 prophecy, in all its nice dependencies and 
 gradual evolutions. Among them we are 
 not to contend with the boisterous tempers 
 and stubborn habits which characterize the 
 human species in a state of barbarism : we 
 should find them already a race of men and 
 citizens, who, by an easy transition, might 
 pass to a full belief of the doctrines of Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 For the propagation of the gospel in the 
 East many inducements and advantages are 
 held out to us, which the savage condition 
 of the Indians of America does not afford. 
 The Mahometans are an immense body of 
 men, natives of populous and mighty em- 
 pires, greatly exceeding in population the 
 kingdoms of Christendom, and almost en- 
 tirely occupying one quarter of the habit- 
 
380 SERMON X. 
 
 able globe. They are the subjects of regu- 
 lated states ; they are the observers of esta- 
 blished laws ; civilized by the intercourse of 
 agriculture and commerce, and polished by 
 the use of letters and of arts. They are neither 
 involved in the impiety of atheism, nor the 
 darkness of idolatry ; and their religion, false 
 as it is, has many articles of belief in com- 
 mon with our own : which will facilitate 
 our labours in diffusing the true faith, and 
 dispose them to receive it. The}^ believe in 
 one God, Creator and Lord of all ; to whom 
 they attribute infinite power, justice, and 
 mercy. They hold the immortality of the 
 soul; and expect a future judgment, a hea- 
 ven and a hell ; they acknowledge an uni- 
 versal deluge ; they honour the patriarch 
 Abraham as the first author of their religion ; 
 they acknowledge Moses and Christ to have 
 been great prophets, and allow the Penta- 
 J;euch and the Gospel to be sacred books. 
 
 Since, therefore, by our holy scriptures, 
 the duty of attempting the universal con- 
 version of mankind is amply ascertained ; 
 and since we find among the followers of 
 Mahomet such favourable prepossessions and 
 established doctrines, as will render easy the 
 approach to their conversion, neither force 
 of obligation, nor prospect of success, is 
 
SERMON X. 381 
 
 wanting, to encourage our progress and ani- 
 mate our zeal. By the ministers of the gos- 
 pel the examples of those memorable times 
 should never be forgotten, when the rigid 
 and cruel edicts of Decius and Dioclesian 
 Avere ineffectual to subdue the sacred enthu- 
 siasm of those faithful disciples of Christ, 
 who, for the sake of gaining one proselyte to 
 heaven, made a voluntary sacrifice of every 
 temporal enjoyment, and nobly forfeited 
 their liberties and lives. Compared with 
 what they suffered and performed, how lit- 
 tle is our labour, and how mild our obli- 
 gation ! To contend with the blindness 
 and obstinacy of an idolatrous and wicked 
 age, and to groan under the oppressions of 
 an overspreading tyranny, was their severe, 
 but glorious fate. It is ours to propagate 
 the same religion in countries to which our 
 commerce has extended, when its truths have 
 been confirmed by the revolution of succeed- 
 ing centuries, and when its excellence has 
 been illustrated by the wisdom and experi- 
 ence of more enlightened times. 
 
 If any further inducement be wanting to 
 excite our endeavours and animate our hopes 
 in this work of charity, it is the consideration, 
 that in remote and extensive provinces, sub- 
 ject to our own empire^ and obedient to our 
 
S82 SERMON X. 
 
 own laws, millions of the inhabitants still 
 wander in darkness and error ; some deluded 
 by the Mahometan imposture, and others bi- 
 gotted to the more ancient and more absurd 
 superstition of Brama. 
 
 The relation of a connected government, 
 like that of a common country, is a tie that 
 nature has made, and that never should be vio- 
 lated, or forgotten. Actuated, I would hope, 
 by this exalted principle, we have aheady 
 extended to our fellow-subjects in Indostan 
 many of those natural and civil rights, which 
 we have so long regarded with an honest 
 pride, and vindicated with a noble ardour. 
 
 It behoves us, therefore, as Men, as Eng- 
 lishmen, and as Christians, to go farther. Let 
 it not be said, that even at this boasted pe- 
 riod of humanity and science, when we are 
 diffusing the blessings of civil freedom over 
 the remotest branches of the empire, no at- 
 tempt is made to emancipate them from the 
 chains of superstition. 
 
 Our settlements in India occupy a far 
 greater extent than the British empire in 
 Europe ; yet in no part of these wide pro- 
 vinces has one single effort been exerted to 
 introduce the glorious light of the gospel, 
 and to dispel the gloom which has for ages 
 enveloped the wretched inhabitants. All the 
 
SERMON X. 383 
 
 differences in religion, which the native has 
 ever known, are in reality but different mo- 
 difications of error and impiety; and though 
 he refuse to subscribe to one imposture, he 
 derives from that refusal no other advantage 
 than the unhappy alternative of paying an 
 implicit and servile reverence to another. 
 
 The grand distinction, how^ever, is that 
 which separates the IMahometans from the 
 Gentoos. The latter were the original inha- 
 bitants ; and their superstition was of high 
 antiquity and distinguished reputation in the 
 country. The religion of Mahomet found 
 its way into the distant regions of India by 
 means similar to those by which it had 
 been diffused over the intervening kingdoms. 
 Within a century after the death of the im- 
 postor, the enterprising caliphs, amidst the 
 rage of conquest by which they were animat- 
 ed, carried their arms into this country: and 
 though unable to subject any considerable 
 part to their empire and religion, yet they 
 continued to harass it with repeated incur- 
 sions through the succeeding ages. At length, 
 however, in the fourteenth century of the 
 Christian aera, directed by the same spirit of 
 enthusiasm, the bolder genius of Tamerlane 
 prompted him to engage in the conquest of 
 these vast and populous regions, for the sole 
 
384 SERMON X. 
 
 and avowed purpose of rescuing the inhabit- 
 ants from the absurdities of Paganism, and 
 disseminating among them the saving truths 
 of the holy rehgion of Islam ! 
 
 In the prosecution of this romantic and 
 visionary project he deluged the plains of 
 Indostan with the blood of thousands of 
 idolaters, and continued his impetuous ca- 
 reer till at length opposition ceased before 
 him, and the sanguinary doctrines of his 
 pretended prophet were finally establisheii 
 on the ruins of the milder superstition of 
 Brama. 
 
 Since the age of Tamerlane, Mahometisnl 
 has been uniformly the religion of the govern- 
 ment of India : the Gentoos, however, are 
 still said to exceed in number the Mahomet- 
 ans in the proportion often to one*, and to 
 retain at this day an originality of charac- 
 ter, which neither the sudden violence of 
 conquest, nor the slow operations of time, 
 have in any considerable degree effaced. 
 
 The religious creed of the Gentoos is a 
 system of the most barbarous idolatry. They 
 acknowledge, indeed, one supreme God: yet 
 innumerable are the subordinate deities whom 
 they worship ; and innumerable also are the 
 vices and follies which they ascribe to them. 
 
 * See Orme's History of Indostan. 
 
SERMON X. 385 
 
 With a blindness which has ever been found 
 inseparable from Polytheism, they adore as the 
 attributes of their gods the weaknesses and 
 passions which deform and disgrace human 
 nature ; and their worship is in many re- 
 spects not unworthy of the deities who are 
 the objects of it. The favour of beings, 
 which have no existence but in the imagina- 
 tion of the superstitious enthusiast, is con- 
 ciliated by senseless ceremonies and unrea- 
 sonable mortifications; by ceremonies which 
 consume the time which should be dedicated 
 to the active and social duties ; and by mor- 
 tifications which strike at the root of every 
 lawful and innocent enjoyment. What in- 
 deed shall we think of a religion, which sup- 
 poses the expiation of sins to consist in pe- 
 nances, than which fancy cannot suggest any 
 thing more rigorous and absurd; in sitting 
 or standing whole years in one unvaried 
 posture; in carrying the heaviest loads, or 
 dragging the most Aveighty chains; in ex- 
 posing the naked body to the scorching 
 sun ; and in hanging with the head down- 
 ward before the fiercest and most intolerable 
 fire? 
 
 But it w^ere endless to dwell on all their 
 superstitious rites. The following, which has 
 been frequently confirmed to us without pre- 
 
386 SERMON X. 
 
 judice and without design, is alone sufficient 
 to awaken every tender feeling of our hearts, 
 and to incite us to the exertion of every ef- 
 fort which may tend to wean the minds of 
 this unenlightened people from practices so 
 impious and inhuman. It will easily be ima- 
 gined that I allude to that most cruel cus- 
 tom, by which the wife of the Gentoo is in- 
 duced to burn herself on the pile which con- 
 sumes the ashes of her husband ; a custom, 
 if not absolutely enjoined by her religion, 
 yet at least so far recommended by it, as to 
 render the breach of it, in some cases, sub- 
 ject to the utmost ignominy and detestation. 
 The facts which I have recited, as well 
 as many others of equal importance, are too 
 ^ve]l known to be denied. From these alone 
 every humane heart will at once infer the 
 necessity of endeavouring to substitute the 
 pure and rational religion of Jesus in the 
 place of a creed so shocking to our reason, 
 and to our finer sensibilities. 
 
 Happily, however, there are circumstances 
 which seem favourable to such an attempt. 
 For, that natural sagacity which is the na- 
 tional characteristic of the Gentoos, the au- 
 stere and abstemious life which they lead, 
 the gentleness and serenity of their temper, 
 their belief of a future state, and the idea of 
 
SERMON X. 387 
 
 one supreme God, which mixes even with 
 the worship of their subordinate deities ; all 
 seem to afford a rational ground for us to 
 expect their conversion. 
 
 But in what manner must we proceed in 
 this interesting and most arduous project ? 
 Have not schemes of rehgious reformation 
 been planned with plausible appearances in 
 all ages ; and in all have they not been 
 foiled by real and stubborn difficulties ? Are 
 not the most approved reasonings, and the 
 most glowing eloquence, defeated by igno- 
 rance or obstinacy in those who are to be 
 taught? Has not the indiscretion or rash- 
 ness of the teacher, in too many instances, 
 entirely counteracted his benevolence, how- 
 ever sincere, and his activity, however un- 
 wearied? Let us not be discouraged by 
 these general complaints, from taking a large 
 and exact view of the particular question we 
 are now called upon to examine. 
 
 The awful subjects of rehgion are to be 
 treated differently in different circumstances. 
 Some there are, whose minds are enliffht^ 
 ened by science, enlarged by long and ex^ 
 tensive intercourse with the world, and in- 
 vigorated by habits of profound and intense 
 meditation : the faith of such men will be 
 unshaken, and their devotion will be ardent, 
 
 Dd 
 
388 SERMON X, 
 
 not from the aid of external forms, but by 
 silent and secret adoration of the Deity, and 
 by deep reflection upon the most extensive 
 and abstracted truths of religion, both na^ 
 tural and revealed. But it would be vision- 
 ary and dangerous to expect the same bene- 
 ficial effects among persons of talents less 
 cultivated, and of views less extensive. Ex- 
 perience tells us, that with the bulk of man- 
 kind some caution is necessary in the se- 
 lection of topics adapted to their apprehen- 
 sion, and that much saoacitv must be em- 
 ployed in the use of all those collateral and 
 external expedients, v/hich are to awaken 
 their attention, and to direct it, when awak- 
 ened, to proper objects. When therefore 
 Christianity is attempted to be propagated 
 among the inhabitants of the East, the at- 
 tention of those to whom we preach it must 
 be confined to doctrines systematically in- 
 culcated, and to a ritual punctually ob- 
 served. We must not leave the great truths 
 of salvation fluctuatino; with wild uncer- 
 tainty in the minds of those who embrace 
 them. To understandings which have re- 
 cently emerged from the grossest supersti- 
 tion, we must not commit the task of ap- 
 pointing for themselves the modes of conci- 
 liating the divine favour by humble suppli- 
 
SERMON X. 389 
 
 cation and fervent thanksgiving. There is 
 something attractive, we know, in the re- 
 gularity and decency of prescribed forms ; 
 there is something highly instructive and 
 persuasive in the plainness and precision of 
 doctrines methodically proposed to the un- 
 derstanding. But in the manner of prepar- 
 ing these doctrines and these forms lies the 
 chief difficulty we have to contend with : 
 and it must be confessed, that Christian 
 churches have often brought disgrace upon 
 the general cause of Christianity, by an ex- 
 travagant and undistinguishing attachment 
 to their own peculiar tenets, and favourite 
 ceremonies. They have supposed the fol- 
 lowers of other systems equally able to conv 
 prehend what habit has familiarized, and 
 equally disposed to adopt what conviction 
 has endeared to themselves. 
 
 The efforts of missionaries, whom the po- 
 licy or the zeal of the Romish church may 
 have hitherto employed, have sometimes in- 
 curred the contempt of the Infidel, and some- 
 times provoked the indignation of the Phi- 
 losopher. They have been marked rather by 
 eagerness to multiply converts, than by abi- 
 lity to promote the real happiness of those 
 that were converted. They appear to h^ye 
 substituted one species of superstition for 
 
 Dd!2 
 
390 SERMON X. 
 
 another ; to have darkened the understand- 
 ing with error; and to have poisoned the 
 heart with bigotry. 
 
 But the advocates of sound and rational 
 Christianity will not be exposed to these 
 formidable imputations. Whatever specious 
 and refined speculations may suggest, upon 
 the natural pliancy of the human mind in 
 receiving, and on its natural firmness in re- 
 taining, religious impressions, experience is 
 our safest guide in dealing with the mass of 
 mankind, who are prone to run into the 
 most opposite extremes ; to be sometimes 
 fickle, and sometimes obstinate ; sluggish in 
 one moment, and, in the next, precipitate. 
 Our regulations must therefore be adapted 
 to the real weaknesses as well as capacities of 
 those whom we would instruct. Some spe- 
 cific doctrines, as I before observed, must be 
 taught, and some particular, ceremonies must 
 be recommended : we must interest the ima- 
 gination, whilst we convince the judgment. 
 But the task, arduous as it is, may be pro- 
 perly and effectually performed by a strict 
 adherence to the genuine and characteristic 
 principles of Protestantism. The leading, 
 the essential, the most indubitable, and the 
 most important doctrines of Christianity, 
 must be proposed to the Eastern nations ex- 
 
SERMON X. 391 
 
 pressed in the clearest language, and sup- 
 ported by the most luminous arguments. 
 When the errors and prejudices of those 
 whom we instruct are, in some measure, 
 subdued ; and when their minds have been 
 gradually prepared for a fuller delineation of 
 evangelical truth, we may theiiy and then 
 only, venture to propose those doctrines 
 which are of a more mysterious and recon- 
 dite nature. We must disclose them gra- 
 dually, and with a spirit of the most en- 
 larged toleration, to those persons, whose 
 scruples cannot be entirely vanquished, and 
 whose errors cannot be at once removed. 
 
 In overcoming the rooted and favourite 
 prepossessions of the Gentoos and Maho- 
 metans, there, doubtless, will be room for 
 the most accurate discrimination, and for 
 the nicest delicacy. Their ignorance must 
 be treated with tenderness, and their well- 
 meant though mistaken piety will demand 
 some portion even of reverence. Every truth 
 we communicate must be assisted and re- 
 commended by the method in which it is to 
 be communicated. It must carry along with 
 it the brightest and most unequivocal evi- 
 dence, not only of the firm conviction it has 
 impressed upon the judgment of the teacher, 
 but of the amiable effects which it has 
 
 D d 3 
 
592 SERMON X. 
 
 iviought upon his temper, bis actions, and 
 his words. 
 
 I would have it understood, that no arti- 
 fice, however plausible, no force, however 
 indirect, should be employed by Protestant 
 missionaries; and that my wish is rather to 
 have Christianity taught as a true revelation, 
 than to see it established suddenly upon the 
 ruins of an}^ false religion, which may have 
 formerly prevailed. By these means we shall 
 obtain all the advantages which the Romans 
 enjoyed, by tolerating the customary wor- 
 ship and ancient theology of the nations 
 whom they governed; and surely, from the 
 superior excellence of the doctrines which 
 we endeavour to disseminate, and by which 
 we profess to be ourselves directed, we shall 
 stand a fairer chance of making converts 
 than a heathen missionary ; and shall derive 
 greater benefits from those who are con- 
 verted, than paganism could confer on its 
 siiicerest and v/armest votaries. 
 
 Similarity in religious persuasions certainly 
 enlarges the sphere of social intercourse ; fa- 
 cihtates the progress of civihzation ; and in- 
 vigorates the operations of lawful govern- 
 ment. This similarity it will be in our power 
 to effect in some degree by judicious and 
 temperate measures, in supporting the claims 
 
SERMON X. 39S 
 
 of Christianity over the popular systems of 
 belief that are now approved in the East. 
 Let it, however, not be said, that tenets so 
 opposite to each other cannot be taught with 
 propriety, or even with safety^ in the same 
 country. Experience informs us, that a Ma- 
 hometan can obey the same laws, and pur- 
 sue the same civil employments, with the 
 Gentoo : and doubtless, what is actually 
 practised by the professors of opinions so 
 romantic and discordant, maj^ be yet more 
 practicable under the mild and auspicious 
 influence of the gospel. The energies of a 
 firm and watchful government will repress 
 the furious sallies of zeal; will protect all 
 parties indiscriminately in their adherence to 
 what they conceive to be truth ; and at the 
 same time will graduall}^ prepare their minds 
 for an impartial and serious discussion of 
 such evidence, as may be brought to sup- 
 port the religion which really and solely is 
 the true. 
 
 To the scheme here proposed, there, 
 doubtless, is an objection, which a grovel- 
 ling and sordid spirit of covetousness is too 
 apt to cherish. " At present, it may be 
 " said, the credulous Mahometan, and su- 
 '' perstitious Gentoo, are unaspiring in their 
 " views, and tractable in their dispositions, 
 
 D d 4 
 
394 SERMON X. 
 
 " Their opinions do not disturb our tranquil- 
 " lity, and their ceremonies only provoke 
 " our contempt. But if they should here- 
 " after see the fallacy of the one, and the 
 '' absurdity of the other ; if they should 
 " catch the manly and active spirit which 
 " distinguishes the inhabitants of Christian 
 " countries ; if the bolder exercise of their 
 " intellectual faculties should beget a juster 
 " sense of their civil and political rights, 
 «' what may be the effects of such a revolu- 
 " tion upon us! Actuated by nobler feel- 
 " ings than they have hitherto experienced, 
 " they will quickly exchange confidence for 
 " distrust, and submission for resistance. 
 '^ They will compel us, in our turn, to drag 
 " the yoke of servitude; or they will drive 
 " us from their shores as a race of merciless 
 " ruffians, and insatiable plunderers." 
 
 Now on the broad and solid principles of 
 philanthropy and revelation, I see nothing 
 in this popular objection which ought to 
 shake our conviction, or to slacken our acti- 
 vity. A religion which enlivens the industry, 
 and animates the courage of those who pro- 
 fess it ; which awakens jn them a more cor- 
 rect and more exquisite sense of their duties 
 as men, and their importance as citizens ; 
 such a religion, I say, carries with it many 
 
SERMON X. 395 
 
 bright proofs of its utility and its truth. 
 May we not then expect that the Philoso- 
 pher will view the scheme I am proposing 
 with fixed approbation, and that the Chris- 
 tian will embrace it with ardent fondness ? 
 
 However we may attempt to varnish over 
 the fact, the spirit of commerce will often 
 seize, and often create opportunities of rapa- 
 city ; and in regions very distant from the 
 seat of empire, where the directions of law 
 are frequently indistinct, and the restraints 
 of shame are always feeble, the iron scourge 
 of oppression will sometimes be lifted up 
 against unprotected innocence, and conspi- 
 cuous merit ; against ignorance which can- 
 not ascertain its privileges, and weakness 
 which cannot assert them. But surely no 
 plan of commerce can be lasting, and upon 
 the whole advantageous; no form of govern- 
 ment can be venerable or defensible ; which 
 excludes mutual trust, and does not provide 
 for the mutual benefit of both parties, who 
 are concerned with the one, or subject to the 
 other. On the contrary, if we communicate 
 the arts, the laws, and the religion of Europe 
 to Eastern nations ; if we shew them by our 
 works, as well as by our words, that we are 
 the disciples of Jesus ; if v/e labour both for 
 their spiritual and their temporal welfare ; 
 
396 SERMON X. 
 
 there can be no reason to doubt of an ulti- 
 mate and an adequate reward. They to 
 whom we have given so sure an earnest of 
 our sincerity and of our benevolence, will no 
 longer view us with coldness as strangers, or 
 with suspicion as foes. They will treat us, 
 because they are themselves treated, ns fellow- 
 citizens and fellow-Christians ; they ^vill share 
 with us in the common danger, and toil with 
 us for the common interest; because they 
 will consider themselves as partakers of the 
 same blessings here, and heirs of the same 
 promises hereafter. 
 
 Such measures, it is true, may prevent in- 
 dividuals from amassing exorbitant wealth, 
 from revelling in luxurious voluptuousness, 
 and from grasping at enormous dominion. 
 But such measures, even if the\' tend to the 
 removal of these outrageous evils ah/ie, are 
 not unworthy of our regard; and they de- 
 serve a yet larger stiare of our attention, if, 
 in consequence of our honest and strenuous 
 endeavours to execute them, the general 
 harmony of the Europeans and Orientals 
 would be more effectually secured, and the 
 general happiness of both promoted more 
 successfully. 
 
 Zealous in the recommendation of this 
 purpose, I regard not the cold and mistaken 
 
SERMON X. 397 
 
 policy of some, who would separate our re- 
 ligious from our civil interests. This coun- 
 try has ever boasted with equal pride and 
 justice the purity of its worship, and the 
 excellence of its government. The same 
 happy a^ra gave birth to each : out of the 
 ashes of despotism and superstition they 
 both arose ; and if they fall, they will fail 
 together. Narrow therefore and false is that 
 philanthropy, which pretends to be solicitous 
 for the rights and liberties of mankind, while 
 for their eternal welfare it employs no mea- 
 sures, and even professedly feels no con- 
 cern. 
 
 In what better purpose can a wise and 
 virtuous nation be employed, than in propa- 
 gating its religion, wheresoever its laws are 
 obeyed ? If it seeks to protect, and not to 
 impoverish ; if it desires to govern, and not 
 to enslave; it will be equally intent to diffuse 
 among its subjects the rights of freedom, and 
 the privileges of Christianity. 
 
 And at what period in the history of our 
 empire could this attempt be made, with a 
 more favourable prospect of success, than at 
 present? The extreme importance of Indian 
 wealth to our commerce, and the growing 
 connection betv/een the principles of that 
 commerce, and of the government which is 
 
398 SERMON X. 
 
 to protect it, have awakened the attention 
 of the legislature to subjects equally exten- 
 sive and interesting. The code which di- 
 rects the belief and influences the actions of 
 the Hindoos, has been lately translated into 
 the vernacular language, and submitted to 
 the inspection of public curiosity. Hence 
 we are enabled to trace the long and close 
 connection that subsists between the religious 
 and civil laws of the Hindoos. We can discern 
 what errors are almost impregnable to argu- 
 ment, and what may be overcome by cautious 
 and well-directed opposition. We see in their 
 full magnitude the futility of their traditions, 
 and the absurdity of their ceremonies. We 
 can mark the slow and imperfect progress of 
 civilization and science ; and should there- 
 fore be careful to make their future progress 
 in religious knowledge keep a due propor- 
 tion to those improvements, in the attain- 
 ment of which we are preparing to assist 
 them in social life. We cannot indeed so 
 far adopt the policy of the Romans as to 
 naturalize* any part of their mythology, be- 
 cause all the parts of it are in all respects 
 incompatible with our own religion. But 
 we may gradually lessen their reverence for 
 their sacred records, by exercising their faith 
 
 * See Halhed's Preface to the Code of Gentoo Laws. 
 
SERMON X. 399 
 
 on other more undoubted interpositions of 
 the Deity. When European customs have 
 been in some degree introduced among the 
 Hindoos, we shall find them less solicitous 
 for the observance of Eastern ceremonies. 
 When European science has dawned upon 
 their minds, we may see them less tenacious 
 of their old opinions. The auspicious effects 
 of our laws will create some kind of pre- 
 judice in favour of our religion ; and when 
 they find it so perfectly exempt from the 
 sanguinary and intolerant spirit of Maho- 
 metism, they may by degrees be brought to 
 listen to the evidences by which it is sup- 
 ported, and the sanctions by which it is en- 
 forced. For incorporating their laws with 
 our own, we have formed a plan, the com- 
 pletion of which is likely to do honour to 
 our national policy and national magnani- 
 mity. Yet if we mean only to exempt the 
 inhabitants of the East from temporary in- 
 convenience and oppression ; if we do not 
 intend to exalt them gradually in the scale 
 of social creatures ; if we exert no endea- 
 vours for enlarging the sphere of their future 
 speculation and moral improvement^ we shall 
 leave the work shamefully imperfect ; and 
 substitute, I fear, selfish cunning for genuine 
 and enlarged wisdom. It would, indeed, be 
 
400 SERMON X. 
 
 a refined species of mockery to hold out the 
 blessings of a free and equitable government, 
 to those who are too ignorant to understand, 
 and too languid to enjoy them. 
 
 Such is the favourable posture of affairs 
 in the East, and such the assistance which 
 our political systems may there give to the 
 propagation of religious truth. If we turn 
 our eyes towards ourselves, we shall perceive 
 many striking discriminations of the present 
 age, which, under judicious direction, may 
 not be disadvantageous to the cause of Chris- 
 tianity. A spirit of adventure is gone forth 
 among us ; a spirit of experiment : it has in- 
 fected our philosophy, our religion, and our 
 politics. It has perplexed vulgar minds in 
 the mazes of error and absurdity, and hur^ 
 ried away men of the brightest faculties into 
 the dangerous extremes of subtlety and re- 
 finement. 
 
 Let us apply this restless principle to a la- 
 bour of more general importance, and more 
 obvious utility : let us present a nobler scheme 
 for its contemplation, and a worthier object 
 for its exertions. No longer busied in fruits 
 less projects, and groundless theories, let us 
 apply it, where it will be attended with prac- 
 tical advantage, in converting and enhghten- 
 ing our colonies in the East. 
 
SERMON X. 401 
 
 Gratitude, compassion, patriotism, and 
 above all, the yet nobler principle of Chris- 
 tian charity, call loudly on us to communi- 
 cate to others the blessings which we our- 
 selves enjoy ; to publish the glad tidings of 
 salvation amono; those nations that now sit 
 in darkness, aliens from Christ, and strangers 
 to the covenant of grace : and while we de- 
 clare to the savage of America the joys and 
 glories of everlasting life, let us lead also the 
 disciple of Brama, and the follower of Ma- 
 homet, from the error of their ways, into the 
 glorious light of the Gospel of peace. 
 
 To Omniscience only are known the times 
 and the seasons. We cannot thwart the real 
 purposes of Heaven by deliberate perverse- 
 ness or preposterous diligence. But the wish 
 to forward them is always meritorious; the 
 attempt, if conducted with prudence and 
 with firmness, Avill procure us some reward ; 
 and surely, if in the moral government of 
 the world the Deity conveys temporal hap- 
 piness by the agency of his creatures, that 
 agency becomes more splendid and more 
 important, when it is wisely and generousl}^ 
 employed in promoting their eternal welfare. 
 Though our powers and our efforts, in carry- 
 ing on the scheme I am now recommending 
 to you into execution, should be for a time 
 
402 SERMON X. 
 
 ineffectual, the day will assuredly come, when 
 others shall accomplish what we may attempt 
 in vain ; when all the religions of the earth 
 shall be changed into the worship of the one 
 true God; when not only the Mahometan 
 and Hindoo, but every nation and every 
 kindred shall bow the knee at the name of 
 Jesus ; and when Christian charity, hke its 
 almighty Author, shall finally subdue all 
 things unto itself. 
 
NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 
 
 N. B. It having been suggested by the Author's fi lends, 
 that the Lectures ^ as read from the pulpit, were too dif^ 
 fuse, and might with great propriety be abridged in the 
 puhlication ; he has availed himself of this judicious opi- 
 7nony partly by retrenching many superfluities, and partly 
 by printing amongst the Notes the substance of soine di- 
 o-ressions. 
 
 P. 42. 1*3. The fact we cannot dispute, where we are 
 utterly unable to assign the final caused] There is nothin<'* 
 more mysterious in this fact, than in many other occur- 
 rences and dispensations of divine Providence : and it 
 reflects no more dishonour on the moral attributes of 
 the Deity than other evils that infinite Wisdom daily 
 permits to take place in the world. Ignorant minds are 
 apt to be biassed by outward events, and often decide on 
 the merits of a cause by the success which attends it 
 abstractedly from those considerations which a wise man 
 will always take into the account, in order to determine 
 on the nature of that success, its means, and its end. In 
 the case of particular persons this false mode of reason- 
 ing is very common. We find it in the mouth of Bildad 
 when he would infer the displeasure of God against the 
 patriarch of Uz from the calamities which had befallen 
 him. If thou wert pure and upright, surely ?iow he would 
 awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteous - 
 /less prosperous, Caecilius, in his celebrated dispute with 
 
 A 
 
2 NOTES AND AUTHORITIES, 
 
 Octavius, could not conceive that the God, " the sohtary 
 " God,'* of the Jews, as he denominates him, could be 
 Almighty, and yet suffer his people to remain so long in 
 captivity. This is the fallacious conclusion of men, who 
 judge of the divine conduct by the partial rules of hu- 
 man judgment and experience; and think God to be 
 such a one as themselves^ governed by the same mo- 
 tives, and possessed of the same affections ; limited in 
 his views, and partial in his attachments. The provi- 
 dence of God respecting this people had an object in 
 view of a larger extent and consequence than their par- 
 ticular fortunes : and the prosperity and adversity of 
 their church and state were but means employed by in- 
 finite Wisdom to produce events of a more universal 
 importance. 
 
 P. 44. 1. 4. Baal'] Baal, the Syrian idol, for a time 
 seems to have engrossed the devotions and sacrifices of 
 the apostate Israelites, after Ahab had married Jeze- 
 bel, the daughter of Ethbaal the king of the Zidonians, 
 [l Kings xvi. 30.] The influence of this pernicious ex- 
 ample was so extensive and apparent, that the prophet 
 Elijah considered himself as single in resisting it, and a 
 solitary worshipper of the true God. He was indeed 
 mistaken: but the degeneracy must have been almost 
 universal, to have occasioned the exclamation which he 
 made; and those whom God had preserved from the 
 idolatrous contagion of the times, certainly bore but a 
 very small proportion to the bulk of the people, who 
 were infected with the most inveterate species of it» 
 1 Kings xix. 14, 18. 
 
 Ibid. 1. 27. Nor did the introduction of Christianitif 
 into the world. Sec] The influence of the gospel is of a 
 moral nature. It does not break in on the constitution 
 of the human mind by any necessitating and irresistible 
 power. Men are left to judge of its nature and qualities 
 by the common lights of the understanding; and it is 
 in the power of the will tx) resist its evidence* If the 
 
NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 3 
 
 faculties were controlled by its force, there could be no 
 merit in yielding to its influence. It would cease to be 
 a moral means of conversion, if it left no exercise for the 
 judgment, and no choice for the will. As so much de- 
 pends on a man's own conduct, in order to constitute 
 him a moral agent, a subject of rewards and punishments, 
 we cannot conceive any scheme that would necessarily 
 prevent the admission, and in some situations the pre- 
 valence of error, without a total alteration in the plan of 
 moral government. The faculties that may be employed 
 to a good purpose, are liable to be perverted to a bad 
 one. Divine wisdom from time to time corrects and 
 restrains the abuses that arise from their mismanage- 
 ment: but to prevent them altogether, would require 
 such a perpetual intervention of a miraculous power, and 
 such a constant bias irresistibly preponderating over the 
 mind, as would destroy the very design of the gospel, 
 which is intended to produce a voluntary service by mo- 
 ral motives; and not a necessary effect by a constraining 
 and irresistible impulse. 
 
 P. 46. I. ig. Thus he foretold', and the event justified 
 the prediction,^ That the church was even in the earliest 
 periods infested with heresies of the most pernicious 
 kind, cannot be denied. The apostles themselves com- 
 plain of sectaries who attempted to seduce the ignorant 
 and unwary by various artifices and impositions, suited 
 to the various humours aud prejudices of those whom 
 it was their aim to pervert. The primitive fathers found 
 the subjects of coniplaint and remonstrance still more 
 numerous and alarming: and they increased with the 
 increasing fortunes of the church. The heretics were so 
 numerous, and tlie tenets they laboured to disseminate 
 were so very prejudicial to the interests of the gospel 
 in the time of Justin Martyr, that he composed a set 
 treatise in answer to them, which unfortunately has 
 shared the fate of many other excellent treatises, the 
 names of which have only escaped the wreck of time. 
 
4 NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 
 
 iMosheini, vol, u. p. 152, 153.] The elaborate work o(^ 
 Irenaeus experienced a better fate. It is a melancholy 
 monument of the perverseness of the human understand- 
 ing, when it suffers itself to be deluded by novelties, and, 
 instead of following the form of sound words delivered in 
 the holy scriptures, proudly pursues its own inventions 
 with only fancy for its guide. But the early prevalence 
 of error, so far from diminishing the credit of the gospel, 
 tends rather to establish its authority; as it confirms the 
 predictions of that divine oracle by whom it was deli- 
 vered to the world. 
 
 P. 47. 1.28. It appears thejt,as zoellfrom experience that 
 error often does, Sec] Errors must arise as long as men 
 are free. Nor do they only arise from the moral consti- 
 tution of free agents ; but from the particular designa- 
 tion of divine Providence. God makes use of evil in- 
 struments to effect a good purpose. He puts such re- 
 straints on wicked and erroneous men ; so overrules their 
 conduct, so counteracts and checks their proceedings, 
 that they may not infringe on the standing laws of his 
 kingdom, and derange the general plan of his provi- 
 dence. As individuals they are criminal ; but considered 
 in a more extensive light, their conduct is ultimately 
 beneficial. We find that errors were permitted under 
 the Mosaic institution for the same reason that the Apo- 
 stle alleges for their permission under the Christian. 
 Compare Deut. xiii. 1, &c. with 1 Cor. ii. IQ. 
 
 P. 52. 1. 9. Among the bishops, &c.] The want even of 
 a knowledge of the common rudiments of literature was 
 so general among the higher ecclesiastics of those times, 
 that it was scarcely deemed disgraceful to acknowledge 
 it. In the acts of the councils of Ephesus and Chalce- 
 don, many examples occur, where subscriptions are to 
 be found in this form : /, snch an one, have subscribed b^ 
 the hand of such an one, because I cannot write. And such 
 a bishop having' said that he could not write, I zvhose name 
 is undenvritten have subscribed for him. 
 
NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 5 
 
 P. 55, 1. 17. The very essence of €hristianiti/ Zi:}as lost, 
 &c.] No representation can convey stronger ideas ot' 
 the melancholy state of religion in the Tth century, than 
 the description of the character of a good Christian as 
 drawn at that period by St. EHgius, or Eloi, bishop of 
 Noyon. 
 
 " Bonus Christianus est qui ad ecclesiatij frequenter 
 *' venit, et oblationem, qiiai in altari Deo offexatur, ex- 
 *' hibet ; qui de fructibus suis non gustat, nisi prius 
 " Deo ahquid offerat ; qui quoties sarlctfe soleiipitateii 
 ^' adveniunt, ante dies plures castitatem etiam cum pro- 
 " pria lixore custodit, ut secura conscientia Domini al- 
 *' tare accedere possit ; qui postremo symbolum, vel o.ra- 
 '* tionem dominicam memoriter tenet. Redimite aniinas 
 " vestras de poena duni habetis in potestate remedia; 
 *' oblationes et decimas ecclesiis alFerte ; luminaria sane- 
 " tis locis, juxta quod habetis, exhibete ; ad ecclesiani 
 *' quoque frequentius convenite; sanctorum patrocinia 
 ** humiHter expetite: quod si observaveritis, securi ia 
 " die judicii ante tribunal ajterni judicis venientes, 
 " dicetis, Da, Domine, quia dedimus." Mosh. vol. ii. 
 p. 0.2. 
 
 P. 56. 1. 14. Even the fancied remains of that cross} 
 A veneration for the cross very early possessed the minds 
 of the primitive Christians; and was afterwards carried 
 into all the extremes of absurd and puerile superstition. 
 Its allegorical reference was magnified into a' real virtue : 
 and what the apostles spoke of under the form of a me- 
 taphorical symbol, became in time an object of devotion, 
 and was made use of as an actual charm. 
 
 Ibid. 1. 16. The images of the saints who had lahonred to 
 disseminate'] The earlier Christians reprobated every spe- 
 cies of image-worship in the strongest language; and 
 some of them employed the force of ridicule to great 
 advantage in order to expose its absurdity. When the 
 Empress Constantia desired Eusebius to send her the 
 image of Jesus Christ, he expostulated with her on the 
 
 A 3 
 
6 NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 
 
 impropriety and absurdity of her requisition in the fol- 
 lowing very striking words: *' What kind of image of 
 " Christ does your imperial Majesty w^ish to have con- 
 " vej^ed to you ? Js it the image of his real and immu- 
 " table nature? or is it that which he assumed for our 
 " sakes, when he was veiled in the form of a servant? 
 *' With respect to the form of God, I presume you are 
 '^ not tp learn, that no man hath known the Son, but the 
 " Father ; neither hath any man known the Father, hut the 
 *' Son ; and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. But 
 " you ask for the image of Christ when he appeared in 
 '* human form, clothed in a body similar to our own, 
 " Let me inform you, that that body is now blended 
 " with the glory of Deity; and all that was mortal in it 
 ** is absorbed in life." 
 
 P. 60, 1. 11, It of course adfnitted an almost ejidless va^ 
 riety of religious opinions.] Vid. Sharestani apud Poc, 
 Specim, Hist. Arabum, p. 136, 
 
 Ibid. 1.19. Many of them escaped hither, as to a place 
 of refuge from the dreadful calamities, which the just 
 vengeance of God inflicted on their nation.'] Vid. Millii 
 Dissert, de Mohammedismo ante Mohammedem, p. 
 43. 
 
 Ibid. 1, 23. Christianity had also made a very considerable 
 progress among some of the tribes of Arabia, particularly 
 that sect which was distinguished by the title of J^aco bites} 
 ' Cui Cliristianorum sect8& potissimum addicti erant 
 ' Arabes in Christum credentes, ex hoc ipso authore 
 ^ nostro* discimus, qui causam quod Mondarus, Arabum 
 ' rex, Graecis helium intulerit, banc assignat, quod Im-^ 
 
 * perator Justinianus eos male tractaret qui unam in 
 ' Christo naturanii assererent, cum eo tempore qui inter 
 ' Arabes erant Christiani, Xa?1ju1^ :i>\jJi£\ (^^jJux^ ly^^j 
 
 * Jacobitarum confessionem amplecterentur -f.'^ The Jacob- 
 ites took their denomination from one Jacob, a Sy^ 
 
 * Abu'l Pharajio. f Specim. Hist. Arab. p. 137, 
 
NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 7 
 
 rian J, who began to disseminate his doctrines in the East 
 about the close of the sixth century. His sect are some- 
 times distinguished by the name of Monophysites, the 
 progeny of the Eutychians, who asserted the sirigle nature 
 of Christ in opposition to the orthodox, who maintained 
 that his nature was twofold, human and divine. The 
 Nestorians, in avoiding this error, ran into the contrary 
 extreme. In order to support his twofold nature, they 
 also divided the person of Christ into two. The Atha^- 
 nasians guard their creed against both these errors, by 
 maintaining that Christ is in nature two, but in person 
 one; and illustrate the union by that of the soul and 
 body in the human constitution. The plea of difficulty, 
 and even incomprehensibility, may be urged in one case 
 as well as in another. The difficulty in the former is 
 greater, because the subject is of a higher degree. But 
 if man is a mystery to man, can we. hy searching find out 
 God? 
 
 P. 61. 1. 3. Idolatry] For a full and particular accounjt 
 of the various objects which shared the devotions of th^ 
 idolatrous Arabs, see Poc. Spec. p. 89, &c. Sale's Pre- 
 lim. Disc. edit. 4to. p. 17. Hottinger, Hist. Orient. 
 p. 228, &c. 
 
 Ibid. 1. 4. The predominant species appears to have been 
 that of the Sabians] See Poc. Specim. p. 138 — 143. 
 Sale's Prelim. Disc. p. 14. Those who ar^ desirous of 
 obtaining a more exact knowledge of the Sabian princi- 
 pies and worship, may consult Hyde, Ijlel, vet. P/ers. 
 p. 128. D'Herbelot, Bibl. p. 726. Hottinger, Hist. 
 Oriental, lib. i. ,c. viii. Frideaux, Connect, part i. 
 b. 3. 
 
 Ibid. 1. 15. The religion of the Magi had likezvise found 
 its way, and obtained an establishment among some of their 
 
 i^iufi^s ^^W* cs*^^ is^'jy^^ vy^. *V *^'^^^ 'l 
 
 ^y^S^ SJoJj Xju^ :Xae^^\ %y^ ^^U^ »Asi ^^\ ^ 
 
 Mn^ed Ebnl^dri$. ^ \0c^^<^ 
 A4 
 
8 NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 
 
 tribes,} See Poc. Spec. p. 146. Every important particu* 
 lar concerning this religion has been elaborately investi* 
 gated, and clearly explained by the learned Hyde in his 
 Rel. vet. Pers. and also by Prideaux, Connect, part i. 
 b.4. 
 
 P. 62. I. 18. With the Jew he maintamed the inspiration 
 of Moses] Sale's Koran, p. 407. edit. 4to. 
 
 Ibid. 1. 20. With the Christian he admitted the divine 
 mission of Jesus Christ, and the truth of the gospel] Koran, 
 p. 30, 35, 41. Reland. de Relig. Moham. hb. i. c. 4. 
 Elmacin, Hist. Sarac. p. 3. 
 
 Ibid. 1. 23. He even attempted to found his own preten- 
 sions on the preceding revelations of Moses and Christ'} 
 Koran, p. 174, 133, 449- 
 
 Ibid. 1. 26. That he was sent to purify a religion, which 
 originally/ came down from heaven] Vid. Millii Dissert, de 
 Mohammedismo, &-C. p. 5, 6. 
 
 P. 63. 1. 2. To close the seal of ptophecif] Vid. Hottin- 
 ger, Hist. Oriental, p. 418. 
 
 Ibid. 1. 21. The art of w^riting had been known and 
 practised hy their countryman Job, and by the tribe of 
 Hamydr, Sijc] The Hamyari tic, character was. probably 
 of very high antiquity. It was intricate and, perplexed, 
 making no regular distinction betwixt the different let- 
 ters, from whence perhaps it had the name of oJUJLt 
 Al Mosnad, Moramer Ebn Morra is said to have been 
 the inventor of the Arabic character, not many years be-* 
 fore the birth of Mahomet. ■ The letters invented by 
 Moramer were, however, rude and- imperfect, similar to^ 
 Or perhaps the same with those which are called CuficJ 
 and which are often found on ancient monuments in the 
 East. The" elegant and beautiful character how in Use 
 amongst the Arabs was formed from the invention of 
 Moramer, by Ebn Moklah, almost 300 years after Ma- 
 homet, and finally brought to. p^rfebti on by Ali Ebn 
 Bowab in the' following century.'- Vid. ''Ebn Chalican 
 apud Poc.^pec. p. 165— 159. 
 
NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 9 
 
 . P. 63. 1. 25. The rest of the Arabs were totally unac'^ 
 quainted zvith this useful art'] Ebn Chalican asserts, that 
 at the first pubhcation of the Koran, there could not be 
 found in the whole country of Yemen one single person 
 who could read or write Arabic. Vid. Poc. Specini. 
 p. 156. 
 
 Ibid. 1. 27. Those of Mecca in particular, were peculiarlif 
 flistinguished as ignorant and illiterate y even to a proverb'] 
 The inhabitants of Mecca were called /^^^a^nJI, the illi- 
 terate, in opposition to those of Medina, wtio from their 
 acquaintance witlji the arts of reading and writing, not 
 less than from their being in possession of a written sys- 
 tem of religion, were distinguished by the title of 
 'i-_'^ v^^^U j^^, the people of the book*. 
 
 Medina was principally inhabited by Jews and Chris- 
 tians: and hence Mahomet in his Koran frequently ap- 
 plies this title of i^^VJi^aHS Jj^l, to Jews and Christians 
 in general. See Koran, p. 71, 158, &c. 
 . P. 64. 1. 14. But to the profound researches of philosophy, 
 and the laboured deductions of reason, they were of necessity 
 entire strangers'] ^0^ Lii aXJI ^i^srU^ J^i XiuJli!^ As. U1^ 
 
 ^ XjUjJJ *.^Ul5 \ x6 ^^ * Verum quod ad philosophise 
 
 * scientiain, nihil ejus admodum concesserat illis Deus, 
 ' nee eos ad haec studia idoneos fecerat.' Abu'l Phar, 
 Hist. Dyn. 161. 
 
 Ibid. 1. 23. Many of them alsolutely denied the possi- 
 bility of a future state of existence] There were some 
 amongst the Arabs who denied both the creation of the 
 world, and a future resurrection; ascribing the origin of 
 the universe to what they call nature, and referring its 
 final dissolution to the effect of time. Others, thougk 
 they admitted a creation, yet totally rejected every idea 
 
 Sharestani, 'i^s^j cj>^^^^ XJo^L iSjlfoJi)^ ^>^^^ 
 
10 NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 
 
 of a resurrection of the dead. Vid. Sharestan. apud. Poc, 
 Spec. p. 134. 
 
 P. 65. I. 6. Should again be called into existence] Vid. 
 Poc. Specim. ubi supra. Millii Dissert, i. de Moham. 
 p. 14. 
 
 Ibid. 1. 23. Jnd believed that even the animals, &c.] 
 Pocock, on the authority of AI Jauhari, Ebnol Athir, 
 Sharestani, and other Arabic authors, relates a singular 
 custom which prevailed among some of the Arabians, 
 of tying a camel over the grave of the deceased, where 
 it was left to perish without food; lest its master 
 should suffer the disgrace of walking on foot in another 
 world *, 
 
 P. 66. 1. 24. Gardens fairer, &c.] See Koran, p. 204, 
 410,433. 
 
 P. 69. 1. 27. Looking forward with atmous expectation 
 to the joys of Paradise, Sec] Vid. Abu*l Fed. Vit. Moham. 
 p. 43. 
 
 P. 70. 1. 9. The fellow-citizens of the impostor, &c.] 
 Vid. Elmacin. Hist. Saracen, p. 3. 
 
 Ibid. 1. 20. The submission of the holy city] Mecca 
 opened her gates to Mahomet in the eighth year of the 
 Hejra. See Abu'l Feda, p. 102. 106. Elmacin. p. 8. 
 
 Ibid. 1. 23. The senseless objects of Arabian devotion] 
 Mahomet found no less than S60 idols round the Caaba, 
 all of which he destroyed f . 
 
 P. 71. 1. 14. 'No longer scrupled to assume the ensigns of 
 temporal as well as spiritual dominiori] Eimacinr p. 7« 
 
 ^JILkxj^I i^^ f^ ^^. A^a-o ajJj^ ^yAjJ^ ^'^'^ t 
 Al-BocharU in Sonna. &c. 3^\^.a!) t., . Ytf>^i c^jiacvjl ^V.n^- 
 
NOTES AND AUTHORITIES, n 
 
 P. 71. 1. 18. The troops of the impeiial prophet] Vid; 
 Abu'l Fed. p. 111. 
 
 Ibid. 1. 24. The streets of Medina were crowded with 
 ambassadors] From the number of these embassies, this 
 year was called iiy^S iX^ annus legationum *. 
 
 P. 72. 1. 3. And thus zoas his empire at length firmlvf 
 established throughout the several provinces of Jrabia^ 
 
 ^ ^A4>^ t^XyQ^ c:r*t^^ J^^ f^l> 
 ' Deinde coepit annus Hegirae decimus. 
 
 * Cum esset Apostolus Dei Medinae, venerunt ad eum 
 ' legationes ex universa Arabia ; et homines undique in 
 
 * religionem intraverunt turmatim. Et Islamismum am- 
 ' plexi sunt incolie Arabiae felicis, et reges Hamyar.' 
 Abu'l Feda. 
 
 Ibid. 1. 26. Little remained to he done, but to pursue the 
 path which he had traced^ At this critical period the as- 
 sassination of one, and the decisive overthrow of another, 
 of the competitors of Mahomet, who had with equal 
 ambition, though with inferior abilities, aspired to the 
 ^ame preeminence, gave new strength and authority to 
 the infant government. 
 
 Al-Aswad f in the space of four months had rendered 
 hrmself extremely formidable, and subdued the greater 
 part of Yemen, besides other provinces, when he was 
 assassinated by the contrivance of Mahomet, on the very 
 day before the death of that impostor. 
 
 Mosailama J, called by the Mahometans * the lying 
 
 t^ilxAji fj^^^s}^ 8^14^.»tt j^s^ A!oi *X!I ^^\ 0^X00 
 
 Abu'l Rabi. ^ ^y^^ *^ is^**^' ^-^^^^ tJxJiXJ^ ^u^ »J>m 
 t Abu'l Fed. Cap. Ixxiii, J Idem in Vita Abu-Becri, 
 
12 NOTES AND AUTHORITIES, 
 
 ' Mosailaraa/ had once professed the religion of Maho* 
 met ; but afterwards apostatising, assumed the character of 
 prophet himself, and collected a very numerous body of 
 followers, when his party was totally routed by the Ma- 
 hometan army under the command of Chaled Ebnol 
 Walid, and himself with 10000 of his troops put to the 
 sword. This signal victory was obtained in the first year 
 of the reign of Abu Beer, the successor of Mahomet. 
 
 Taliha*, another competitor of Mahomet, having 
 raised a considerable party, was routed and put to flight 
 by the same commander ; but afterwards returned to his 
 allegiance in the reign of Omar, the second Caliph. 
 
 These facts are of singular importance, as they tend 
 much to lessen our wonder at the success of Mahomet, 
 among his own countrymen at least, by proving how 
 easily the Arabians admitted, and how zealously they 
 defended, the groundless claims of every daring im- 
 postor. 
 
 P. 80. 1. 23. By this authority every question of life 
 and of property is finally decided'] During the first century 
 of Mahometism, the followers of the prophet, possessed 
 of little fixed property, and engaged solely in the occu- 
 pations of war, found in the words and letter of the 
 Koran a law fully adequate to the purpose of regulating 
 all their civil affairs. But when their numbers were con- 
 siderably increased, when their dominion was established 
 over opulent and extensive kingdoms, and when the 
 arts of peace and the employments of commerce had 
 succeeded to the tumult of war, the institutions con- 
 tained in the mere letter of their law were probably too 
 vague and too general, to preserve the order and well- 
 being of civil society. It was then that commentators 
 arose, whose object it was to supply tlie defects, without 
 derogating from the authority of the original law ; or 
 alienating any part of that implicit obedience, to which 
 
 * Elmacin, Hist. Saracen, p. 16. 
 
NOTES AND AUTHORITIES, 13 
 
 it was entitled. With this view numberless volumes have 
 been composed, on the most respectable of which every 
 decision in the Mahometan courts is founded. All of 
 these, however, professedly derive their sole force and 
 claim to respect from the venerable and infallible autho- 
 rity of the Koran. 
 
 P. 82. 1. 16. By the ablest commentatonl See this pro- 
 phecy particularly explained in Mede, Newton on the 
 Prophecies, Vol. III. p. 98, &c. Bagot's Warb. Lec- 
 tures, p. 290. and Hallifax's Warb. Lect. p. 318. 
 
 P. 86. 1. 15. It is even necessary to acknozoledge, that in 
 the finger of God zee find the only adequatey and therefore 
 the real and illustrious cause.l We are told by a very 
 acute, but mischievous writer of Metaphysics*, that 
 from a finite effect we can only infer a finite cause. 
 Now, if this subtlety be employed to disprove the divine 
 original of the gospel, we contend against the Deist, 
 that it bears equally hard against the evidences of natu- 
 ral religion, and cannot therefore be consistently em- 
 ployed by him who admits those evidences : and to the 
 Atheist we reply, that it does not, when fairly examined, 
 answer the purpose for which he would employ it. The 
 Being, from whom all things derive their existence, may 
 be in his attributes infinite, though his works, in which 
 subsist the relations of cause and effect, be finite. By 
 this distinction we secure the honour of the divine na- 
 ture : and, carrying on the same distinction to the intro- 
 duction and establishment of the gospel, we first shew, 
 that it is not of human original, because all efforts of 
 human agency are unequal to the effect; and we then 
 assert, that every rule of just reasoning authorizes us to 
 admit the divine agency, which is equal. If indeed our 
 enemies be persuaded, that the unaided power of man 
 could not have established the gospel, we shall find little 
 difficulty in conquering the arguments which lead us to 
 
 * Hume's Essays, Vol. II. p. 153, edit. 1764. 
 
14 NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 
 
 have recourse to any intermediate cause, that falls short 
 of divine interposition. 
 
 P. 88. 1. 24. The promise of a Redeemer y &c.] It is evi* 
 dent from several passages in the New Testament, that 
 the Jews were in expectation of the Messiah at the time 
 of Christ's appearance. The woman of Samaria, though 
 of a schismatical church, yet deriving her knowledge from 
 the same source of divine prophecy, said to Jesus, / 
 know that the Messiah cometh, &c. John iv. 25. In Luke 
 iii. 15. we are informed, that the preaching of John was 
 of so divine a nature, that all men mused in their hearts 
 whether he was the Christ or not. And when Jesus had 
 performed a variety of miracles, which evidently bespoke 
 a divine interposition, this actual question was proposed 
 p^When Christ comethy will he do more miracles than this 
 man hath done'^ John vii. 31. Whether therefore the 
 Jews believed that Jesus was the Messiah, or rejected 
 him under this character, it is evident that they were in 
 expectation of a person who should sustain the office. 
 And indeed the confirmation, which he gave to his claim 
 to this superior and distinguishing title, was so full and 
 clear, that it is said in the 40th and 41st verses of the 
 fore-cited chapter, that many of the people declared of a 
 irutk, This is that prophet : others saidy This is the Christ, 
 The message of the Jews by the Priests and Levites to 
 John, Art thou the Christ? is a sufficient proof of the 
 expectation which generally prevailed of the advent 
 of a divine person, sustaining this character. John i. 19^. 
 The coming of the Messiah, made an express article of 
 the Jewish faith, as we are informed by Maimonides and 
 others of that church: and the denial of it was deemed 
 a dangerous heresy, and a virtual renunciation of the au- 
 thority and truth of the law of Moses. 
 
 P. 105, &c. Here it would not be difficult to multiply 
 authorities to support what has been advanced in this 
 and the following pages respecting the Gentile Philoso- 
 phy ; but a3 the subject is familiar to scholars, and has 
 
NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. l> 
 
 been often ably and fully discussed, I purposely forbear 
 entering into particulars, and refer my readers in genera) 
 to Brucker's Ilistoria Philosophic^, 
 
 P. lo4. 1. 10. Abject credulity of the multitudes whom he 
 deceived] The warm imagination and enthusiastic zeal of 
 Arabian authors has not suffered the birth, the infancy, 
 and the youth of their prophet to remain undistinguished 
 by many of those prodigies, and many of those presages 
 of his future greatness, with which superstition is ever 
 ready to adorn the history of its heroes. 
 
 Even the learned and sensible Abu'l Feda has related 
 at large several of those prodigies which are said to have 
 announced the birth of the infant prophet to the world, 
 together with their explanation by Satih, a famous di- 
 viner of those days. oJ^ ^! XJuXIl CoU W lailacO! jfh 
 
 ♦sXXi JkAJ «X.«ja£Vj *J^ u^J^ oVt^ 0«X*^^ *ij-U ^£iA ^j\ 
 
 «lVidiK OoJ ij\jA ^A^L A^3u \Jjua 'M *^U^ ^ u*-j.iJi 
 
 ^6m7 Feda, y^S v^xU 
 Ii)id» 1. 13. The circumstances which attended the earlier 
 years of Mahomet , &c.] AbdoUah the father of Mahomet 
 died, according to some authors, when he was two 
 months old. Five camels and an Ethiopian female 
 slave comprised the whole of his property, which re- 
 mained for the support of his widow and orphan son. 
 jui^ *:»W^ 'JW^ ^UiM^ if^S «Xa£ *iLi l—} ^u^i> 
 
 A bill Feda. 'i^j-i l-^*^' 
 See also Abu'l Faraj. de Moribus Arab. p. 6. 
 
 Ibid. 1. 17. Though descended from the most honourable 
 tribe of Arabia] The tribe of Koreish, in which Mahomet 
 
16 NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 
 
 was born and educated, was the most illustrious of all 
 the tribes of Arabs ; and was at that time distinguished 
 for its zeal for religion. It had the custody of the 
 temple of Mecca, from whence it was called iMS ^] : 
 they were also called yM^acO^* In order to ingratiate 
 himself with them, and to induce them the more readily 
 to embrace his religion, Mahomet transferred many of 
 their institutions into his new system. This is as- 
 serted by the Arabian historians themselves: thus Abu'l 
 Feda — *^^iJ^ »>xjj^ CaXcs. \^^\ Jjuj XA^ls^!! tlXjlf^ 
 
 P. 136. 1. 10. During his travels into the neighbouring na^ 
 tions, See] ^JtLa Al\ ^y^j 6«X>^ [X=S^J»X:iJ *' — ^xXj UXi 
 
 Ibid. 1. ^^5. But when a sudden and unexpected change 
 of fortune had raided him from poverty and dependence to' 
 opulence'] Mahomet in the 25th year of his age was 
 raised to an equality with the richest citizens of.Mecca. 
 by his marriage with an opulent widow, whose mercan- 
 tile affairs he had conducted in Syria highly to her satis- 
 faction. This event may justly be considered as the 
 foundation of all the future fortune of Mahomet : who/ 
 sensible of the advantages he had derived from the fa- 
 vour of Chadijah, is said to have remained strictly, faith- 
 ful to her during the whole of her life; and after her 
 death to have ever spoken of her in terms of the warm- 
 est and most grateful respect. ^\ ^x) ^ Jo».^> UJ^ 
 
 jU«*J^ i^j^ '^y^ »V'*^ *t^ ov>^jX fJ^ e3J!7^^ U**^ 
 
 *iXM* (^y^^ «^»^^>:> ^y^^^ l^^^xi *aXc l^*^ Ck*Cj£s^ 
 Abtil Pharaj. 
 
NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 17 
 
 P. 157. 1. 17. In a lonely cave, in the recesses of Mount 
 Hara, he shunned the society of men'] 2^Ju^ XJU« C6\S UJiJ 
 
 P. 139. 1. 17. The belief of one only supreme God'] The 
 former part of that well-known sentence, which now con- 
 stitutes the Mahometan confession of faith, '%\ ^\\ :^, 
 aXJ!, there is no God but Gody is said to have been in use 
 amongst the ancient Arabs long before the time of Ma- 
 homet, and was expressive of their belief in the unity of 
 the supreme Being. Vid, Mill, de Mohammedismo ante 
 Moham. p. 1 1. 
 
 P. 143. 1. 5, The character of Mahomet , according to east- 
 ern historians, had been hitherto preserved unblemished, SkcJ] 
 *A^* (j*«^aJI ^Ssl&\ ^^\^s^ jtXj ^yc* ^aXjo ^\ iyMj «-A^^ 
 UL«) ^Q»lnc!^ Ia^4X2>> ^^'(Xa?!^ L-.j{^^ a.^JUm^::».|^ UA^^ 
 
 Abut Feda. XcsnJUaSl^^^'^i ^-0 M 
 Ibid. 1. 28. When the time which he had chosen to a)t- 
 nounce his mission approached] Mahomet was forty years 
 old when he assumed the prophetic character; he pro- 
 bably delayed the commencement of his imposture to so 
 late a period, not merely with a view of more effectually 
 maturing his ambitious projects, but also in compliance 
 with an opinion which seems to have become proverbial 
 amongst the Arabs, that a prophet was never commis- 
 sioned by God before he attained his fortieth year: 
 
 P. 144. 1. 1. According to the expression of Abu I Feda] 
 
 Ibid.']. 20. After three years] ^\ J^^ Jj^c^ Co\S^ 
 
 AlnCl Feda. 'iyc^W J^\.* 
 
 P. 146. 1. 9. Unshaken in his purposes, and regard- 
 
 kss of the dangers and difficidties that surrounded him} 
 
 B 
 
18 NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 
 
 p. 147. 1. 4. Compelled, however y to escape ly a precipitate 
 
 flight'] From this flight of their prophet, the famous aera 
 
 of the Mahometans derives its beginning and its name : 
 
 the word Hejra in the Arabic language signifies a flight. 
 
 P. 148. J. 9. Resemble the irregular exploits of a rob- 
 ber, &c.] See Ahu'l Feda, p. 55. 
 
 P. 149.1. 13. Dismissing thousands of his captives'] See 
 Ibid. p. 118. 
 
 Ibid. 1. 19. Imbruing his hands in the blood of the 
 conquered] Mahomet at one time beheaded near 700 
 Koraidhites, his prisoners, under the most aggravating 
 circumstances of cruelty. The command was not issued 
 in the heat of action, when his passions were inflamed 
 by the opposition which had been made to his power; 
 but after his return to Medina, after a considerable space 
 had elapsed, and given time for his resentment to cool, 
 and for the feelings of humanity to exert their influence 
 in his breast. See Abul Feda, p. 79- 
 
 The Deity is afterwards introduced in the Koran 
 giving the sanction of his approbation to this disgrace- 
 ful act of savage barbarity. — " A part of them ye slew, 
 " and a part of them ye made captives ; and God hath 
 " caused you to inherit their land, and their houses, and 
 " their wealth." Chap, xxxiii. 
 
 P. 150. 1. 6. Stained with the recent slaughter of a 
 friend, a brothery or a parent] The situation of the un- 
 fortunate suflerer on this occasion, is exactly similar to 
 that of Priam, so pathetically described by Homer. 
 Touj S' eXa^' elcTzX^cjov Ilpici{j.o^ jw-sy^^? ^V%* ^' '^^^ ^^^t 
 lisg(Av *A)(^iXKyi05 Xa^s yovvura, xcii xuas %s7^a$ 
 A^kvoiCy uvdpo(p6vQVCf Ui ol TToXeocg ktocvov viag, 
 
 Iliad, a, 1. 477. 
 P. 152. L 18. But the boundless lust of Mahomet , &c.] 
 
NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. ig 
 
 The impostor limited his followers to the number of four 
 wives, [See Koran, ch. iv.] whilst he himself, according 
 to Abu'l Feda, had no less than fifteen, besides concu- 
 bines. But this was a peculiar privilege founded on the 
 express words of God himself. " O prophet, we have 
 '^ allowed thee thy wives, unto whom thou hast given 
 " their dower, and also the slaves which thv right hand 
 *' possesseth, of the booty which God hath granted thee; 
 '' and the daughters of thy uncle, and the daughters of 
 '' thy aunts, both on thy father's side, and on thy mo- 
 " ther's side, who have iled with thee from Mecca; and 
 " any other believing woman, if she give herself unto 
 " the prophet: in case the prophet desireth to take her 
 '' to wife. This is a peculiar privilege grarited unto thee, 
 *' above the rest of the true believers.'' Kor. ch. xxxiii. 
 
 P. 155. 1. 21. Noxc selecting the temple of Jerusalem, ajid 
 now that of Mecca.'] See Abu I Fed. p. 54. 
 
 P. 156. 1. 4. We see his steps every zohere marked with 
 blood and desolation'] The impetuous courage of Mahomet, 
 and the cruelty and devastation with which the progress 
 of his imposture was attended, reminds us of the charac- 
 ter which the Roman poet has given of Ca3sar. Nothing 
 surely can be more descriptive of the Arabian conqueror 
 than the following lines. 
 
 " Acer et indomitus, quo spes, quoque ira vocasset, 
 
 '^ Ferre manum, et nunquam temerando parcere ferro : 
 
 " Successus urgere suos 
 
 — — " Impellens, quicquid sibi summa peteuti 
 
 " Obstaret ; gaudensque viam fecisse ruina." 
 
 Lucan, lib. i. 1. 146. 
 
 P. 157. 1. 6. 'Precluded from the perusal of books and the 
 use ofwrititig] In the xxixth chapter of the Koran, Ma- 
 homet introduces Gotl as thus addressing him : " Thou 
 " couldest not read any book before this ; neither could- 
 *' est thou write it Avith thy right hand : for then had 
 ** the gainsayers justly doubted of the divine original 
 " thereof." Hence his foUpw.ers, instead of being ashamed 
 
 B 2 
 
120 I^OTES AND AUTHORITIES. 
 
 of this pretended ignorance of their master, affect to 
 glory in it, as affording a decisive proof of his divine 
 mission, and frequently call him (as indeed he styles 
 himself in the Koran) x.^\ ^.>JJ\ " the illiterate pro- 
 '' phet." 
 
 P. 157. 1. 28. He not only expressed a desire to exercise, 
 hut actually practised that 'very art, See] ^c ^\ jTS 
 
 a-aJu ^^S ^^Xs A.jft>LflU' ^As*. x^a-^ 3^«N» *>^«N» (2)^ Xi^i-« 
 
 \ c ]bs^ \^»>y^r-> t-^usC!^ !^^y*=> ^ #13 -M XaXS' \ — ^ 
 
 ^iiU* L_^ !«Xi> 4-*X^ii t_<^A.^aj ^M»rs\j (j**.*^^ ujU.*=^U 
 ^\ ^^UJ^ JL^x^ J^^*N» ^ ^^ «5^ (j^ «X#.s:^ Xl£ 
 
 ^ ^; jfc-Ju ^\ ^U '* Narrabat Anas ej: Al-Barao zVi- 
 " quiens: Mense Dhul-Kaada{ixnm Hegjrce sexti,)Apo- 
 *' stolus Dei Visitationem-sacram indixerat : Sed Mec- 
 ** censes noluerunt ei facultatem concedere Meccam in- 
 " trandi. Postmodum vero, (pace inita) stipulatus est 
 *' cum illis sc per tres dies tan turn Meccce, (ad Visita- 
 " tionem complendam,) moraturum. Ubi autem ad scri- 
 " bendum Diploma accesserunt, scripsere (Mohammedis 
 'f Scribse :) Hcc sunt conditiones, qnas 7iohiscnm stipulatus 
 " est Mohammed Apostolus Dei. Ibi (Meccenses) di- 
 ^' xerunt: Hujusmodi nequaq^iam ratum habebimus : Nos 
 *^ enim {volumus scribi:) Mohammed Abdo'llahi^/?*m5. 
 "Tunc ad y4lim dixit: Deleto istud, Apostolus Dei. 
 *' At ille, Minime vero, inquit, Per deum I Non delebo te 
 ^' in {Eternmn. Mox Apostolus Dei Chirographum ac- 
 " cepit, et quamvis prorsus scribendi imperitus esset, 
 ^' scripsit : H(E sunt conditiones, qtias stipulatur Moham- 
 " MED Abdo'llahi^^VzW; Nou ingredictur MeccsLin ar- 
 "'^ mafus, nisi tantum accinctus gladio, eoque in vagina re- 
 
NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 21 
 
 ** condito : Nemine?n ex ejus civikis secum ijuh exire com^ 
 ^* pellet, si iste civis in ea remanere vohierit, &c." Al- 
 Bochari. 
 
 ^ tjAA;^ ^-i^^ sj^tXj ^^y^) JLi' ifx^^ io «Xxi^t UXi 
 
 *' Cum autem invalesceret aegritudo ejus, dixit , yJJferte 
 *' mihi atramoUum et chaitam, ut scrihcwi vobis Libium, 
 ^' qiio pout obitum meum non erretis in (Sternum" AhtCl 
 Feda, 
 
 The Mahomettuis indeed have recourse to a miracle 
 to account for the former of these instances, and ascribe 
 the latter to a dehrium under which the prophet la- 
 boured, from the violence of his disease. It is, however, 
 far more probable to suppose, that in these trying situa- 
 tions the impostor for a while forgot the ignorance 
 which he had assumed, and discovered his real character. 
 
 P. 166. 1. 9. Constitutes a neiv, a striking, and peculiar 
 species of evidence for the truth of his religion'] In the 
 form of didactic precept in which the Koran is written, 
 and under that authority of a master which its author 
 assumes, it was not difficult for him to impose upon the 
 simple and unsuspecting minds of followers, who were 
 interested in the success of his arms, and to whom the 
 idea of his divine commission was welcome, as affording 
 the spirit and support of their party : nor is there a ne- 
 cessity for recurring to any other cause for the admira- 
 tion in which this composition is still held, than that 
 principle of attachment with which all men are disposed, 
 to regard the earliest productions of their country. 
 
 But different is the manner in which the doctrines of 
 Christianity are communicated to us, and devoid of the 
 advantages of which Mahomet availed himself, is the 
 simple and historical form under which the biographers 
 of Jesus Christ represent them. Uninvested with the 
 imposing character of master, unadorned with the splen- 
 dor of conquest, his historians bring him forward to our 
 
 B .3 
 
«2 NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 
 
 view only as the apparent brother and equal of humaa 
 kind. It is to the innocence and simpUcity of his hfe, 
 more perhaps than to the powers with which he was in- 
 vested, that they call the attention of men ; and while 
 thus artlessly, in the common scenes and amidst the 
 bumble duties of life, they display the character of 
 their master, they leave the truth of his pretensions 
 to be supported in every future age, as it was left in 
 the age which was distinguished by his appearance, by 
 the unprejudiced reasoning and inference of mankind. 
 
 In this mode of composition no arts are employed 
 to excite astonishment, or to impose upon credulity. 
 The conduct of the man is united with the pretensions 
 of the teacher. The life of him who assumed to him- 
 self the title of the Saviour of the world, is related 
 with the same simplicity as that of the lowest of our 
 kind ; and no other admiration is claimed from its nar* 
 ration, than what is due to the strictest form of histo- 
 rical truth. 
 
 That the manner^ therefore, in which the Gospels 
 are written, is not considered as grand and unequi- 
 vocal a testimony of the truth of Christianity, as that 
 of the Koran is by the followers of Mahomet, can 
 only be ascribed to that splendor of evidence, in which 
 this comparatively meaner one is lost; being too distant 
 and refined to affect the generality of mankind. 
 
 P. 186, 1. 9= To exemplify these extraordinary/ qualities 
 and 'Virtues i?i the actions of that life, &c.] A more regu- 
 lar and minute discussion of Christ's life and actions- 
 does not fall within the design of these SermonSr Bishop 
 NswcoME has indeed exhausted the subject in a work 
 which does equal honour to the piety, taste, and learn- 
 ing of its excellent Author. See Observations on our 
 Lord's Conduct as a Divine Instructor, and ofi the Excel- 
 lence of his Moral Character, 
 
 P, 209. 1. 5. And more particularhj bi/ Christ in the 
 
NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. o^ 
 
 New] "*=And when Jesus the son of Mary said, O 
 *' children of Israel, verily I am the apostle of God sent 
 ** unto you, confirming the law which was delivered be- 
 *' fore me, and bringing good tidings of an apostle who 
 " shall come after me, and whose name shall be f Aii- 
 " MED." Kor. chap. Ixi. 
 
 A similar prediction is implousl}'' ascribed to Christ in 
 the spurious Gospel which bears the name of St. Barna- 
 bas; a work, which (as I have already observed,}:) pro- 
 bably was originally forged by heretical Christians, and 
 has since been interpolated to support the pretensions of 
 Mahomet. The Arabic original still exists in the £ast||: 
 and translations both into the Italian and Spanish lan- 
 guages are preserved in Europe. - By the obliging com- 
 munication of the Rev. Dr. Monkhouse of Queen^s 
 College, who has in his possession an ancient MS. con- 
 taining the whole Spanish version, and also a translation 
 of a considerable part of the work into literal English, I 
 am enabled to give my readers some specimens of this 
 audacious forgery, and of the manner in which the gos- 
 pel history has been here corrupted, so as to accommo- 
 date it to the interests and assertions of the Koran. 
 
 Chap. 96. 
 " And when Jesus had ended his prayer, the High 
 ** Priest cried with aloud voice. Stay, Jesus, we want to 
 ^^ know who thou art, for the quiet of our people. He 
 " answered, I am Jesus of Nazareth, born of Mary, of 
 ^' the stock of David, a mortal man, and fear God, and 
 
 ^'L» iy<»j-> b"^^^^ *^>^^ (J—* ^*^ C:J'^^ ^^ UiXAo^ ^XaU 
 
 •S- <X«>s») X^jm\ tftXRj f^^ 
 
 f Ahmed is derived frotn the same root, :\nd signifies the sauie as Mo- 
 hammed, or Mahomet, 
 X Serm. VIII. p. 274. 
 H See Sale's Prelim. Discour. p. 74. 
 
 B 4 
 
24 NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 
 
 ^* seek his honour and glory. The High Priest said, It 
 *' is written in the book of Moses^ that God is to send 
 '* the Messias, who will come and declare the truth, and 
 "will bring mercy with hijii; and therefore we desire 
 " thee to tell us, if thou art the Messias whom we ex- 
 ** pect f Jesus said. It is true that God has so promised, 
 " but I am not he: for he w^as created before me. The 
 '^ High Priest said, By thy words and signs we know 
 " that thou art a prophet and a saint of God; and tliere- 
 " fore I in treat thee in his name and for his sake, that 
 " thou tell us how the Messias will come. Jesus an- 
 " swered, As God liveth, I am not that Messias which 
 *' the tribes of the earth wait for, as God promised by 
 " our father Abraham, saying, In thy family I will bless 
 '^ all tribes. But when God shall take me out of the 
 *^ world, Satan will again promote this cursed sedition, 
 " making the wicked believe that I am the Son of God. 
 *' My words and doctrine will be corrupted, insomuch 
 *^ that scarce thirty faithful shall be found. Then will 
 '^ God have mercy on his people, and will send his mes- 
 " senger into the world, by whom he hath created all 
 '^ things : and he will come from the South with power, 
 " and will destroy idolaters, and take away from Satan 
 *' the empire that he has over men, and will bring the 
 ^' mercy of God and salvation to those that shall believe 
 " him. Blessed are those that shall believe him." 
 
 Chap. 97. 
 
 *' I that am unworthy to loose his shoes, have had the 
 " favour to see him. The President, High Priest, and 
 " Herod, said. Disturb not thyself, Jesus the saint of 
 ** God, for in our time there will be no more sedition : 
 *' for we will write to the holy senate of Rome, that by 
 " an imperial decree none may call thee God. Jesus 
 " said, I am not comforted with this ; for from whence 
 *^ ye hope for light, darkness will come. But my conso- 
 ^^ latioii is in the coming of the Messenger of God, who 
 
NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 23 
 
 '^ will destroy all false opinions concerning me; and his 
 *^ law shall run through the whole world ; for so God 
 ** promised our father Abraham. And above all, my 
 " comfort is, that his faith shall have no end, but shall 
 " be inviolable, and preserved by God. The High Priest 
 " said, Will any more prophets appear after the coming 
 " of the Messias ? Jesus answered, There will come no 
 '' more true prophets sent by God: but there will come 
 " many false prophets, for which I grieve; because they 
 " will be stirred up by Satan by the just judgment of 
 '* God, and they will shelter themselves with my gospel. 
 " Herod said, How is it the just judgment of God, that 
 " such wicked men should come? Jesus said, It is just 
 " that he that believes not the truth to his salvation, 
 " should believe a lie to his condemnation ; for the world 
 " despiseth the good and believeth the bad, as is seen in 
 '^ the time of Micheas and Jeremias : for every one lov- 
 " eth his like. The High Priest said. What will the 
 " Messias be called, and how shall his comins: and man* 
 " ner of life be known I Jesus answered, The name of 
 " the messenger of God is admirable * ; for God him- 
 ** self gave it him after he had created his soul, and placed 
 " it in celestial brightness. God said, Observe Moham- 
 *' med, for I will for thy sake create paradise and the 
 *^ world with a great number of creatures, of which I 
 ** make thee a present : so that whosoever siiall bless 
 " thee shall be blessed, and whosoever shall curse thee 
 " shall be cursed. And when I shall send thee into the 
 " world, I will send thee for my messenger of salvation, 
 " and thy words shall be true ; so that heaven and earth 
 *' shall fail, but they shall never fail in thy law. Mo- 
 " hammed is his blessed name. Then the multitude lift 
 " up their voices and said. Send us, O our God, thy 
 "messenger; come presently, O Mohammed, for the 
 " salvation of the world." 
 
 * This is an allusion to the name of Mohammed, which is a participle 
 passive from the Arabic verb J^,^^^ to praise, to commend. 
 
26 NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 
 
 P. 197. 1. 4. Bi/ the advocates of Maliometism the 
 Koran has been always held forth as the greatest of 
 " miracles'] Auctor Celebris Abu Mohammed Mosta- 
 *^ pha Ebnalsaib Hasan, cognomine Gennabi, asserit 
 " Alcoramim continere sexaginta millia miracula, Ahmed 
 *' filius Abdo'l Hahm in sua apologia affirmat Alco- 
 " ranum esse majus miraculum, quam suscitatioitem moT- 
 *^ tuorum: et excellenter continere omnes alios sacros li- 
 **' bros ; et complecii omnia tempora, prccterita, praseritia, et 
 ^' futura. Algazel in professione fidei Mahometicas pro- 
 " fitetur, Alcoramim esse ^1^ Cj]^^ ^jU *^0o, ccter- 
 '* nuniy subsistentem essentia Dei.^* Maracci de AlcoranOy 
 p. 43, 44. 
 
 P. 199- h 5. In the language of Arabia also'} Of the 
 language of Arabia, in the time of Mahomet, there were 
 several distinct dialects. The grand distinction, 1k)vv- 
 ever, was that which subsisted between the language of 
 the tribes of Hamyar and of Koreish. That of Hamyar 
 is said to have been the most ancient, and to have ap- 
 proached nearest in its genius and signification to the 
 Hebrew and Syriac. The dialect of Koreish was, how- 
 ever, universally esteemed the most elegant, and in op- 
 position to the other was called 'y.ja.^^\,\ Xajj.x!^ the pure 
 Arabic, The superior degree of refinement which the 
 tribe of Koreish had introduced into their language, 
 arose from various causes; from their distinguished rank 
 as guardians of the temple of Mecca; from their situa- 
 tion, almost in the centre of Arabia, wdiich precluded 
 them from such an intercourse with foreigners^ as might 
 have corrupted their language; and above all, from the 
 continual resort of the several tribes to Mecca, whick 
 o-ave them an opportunity of selecting from their dis- 
 course and compositions such words and expressions as 
 they deemed most elegant, and thus gradually of trans- 
 fusing- the various beauties of the whole language into 
 their own dialect. In this dialect the Koran is written; 
 and of this purity and perspicuity of his language Ma- 
 
NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 27 
 
 hornet frequently boasts. See Pocock's Specim. p. 150, 
 151, 152. Koran, p. 223. 
 
 P. 209. 1. 28. There is indeed no evidence of the authen* 
 tlcity of any compositions, Sec] The high veneration with 
 ^vhich the scriptures have been respected, and that sus- 
 picious jealousy with which they have been guarded 
 hoth by Jews and Christians of every sect, even from 
 the earliest ages, aftbrd a strong argument against the 
 charge of corruption. The Jews, in particular, are said 
 to have carried this regard even to the excess of super- 
 stition. Their laborious zeal has prompted some among 
 them to number even the chapters, the sentences, and 
 the words contained in their scriptures: and they have 
 further remarked, how often, and in what form, each 
 word occurs throughout the whole. Their accuracy and 
 caution in transcribing their sacred volumes was, if pos- 
 sible, still greater. One of their Rabbins* has enume- 
 rated no less than twenty precepts concerning this mat- 
 ter, the strictest and most cautious which superstitious 
 zeal could dictate. Their scriptures were not confined 
 to the hands of a few interested individuals, their priests 
 or their rulers, but were dispersed at large throughout 
 the whole body of the Jewish nation : they were pub- 
 licly read in their synagogues every sabbath, w^here 
 they were likewise deposited under the immediate sanc- 
 tion of public authority, and preserved with an awful 
 veneration, which in the present age will, perhaps, with 
 difficulty be conceived or credited. Every, even the 
 most accidental, mark of disrespect was deemed a crime, 
 which nothing less than rigorous mortification could 
 expiate. 
 
 P. 210. 1. 21. The very exceptions to this general position 
 are few f and contribute additional proofs in favour of the 
 sacred text'] Trifling variations are by no means suffi- 
 cient to deprive any writings of their claim to the cha- 
 
 * Rabbi Moses, in tractatu de Lib. Leg. cap. 10. 
 
m NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 
 
 racter of purity. If this should be admitted, the authen- 
 ticity of every composition which has passed through 
 the hands of transcribers and translators is at once de- 
 stroyed ; for since all are unavoidably subject to such 
 errors, all must of course be involved in one common 
 censure. It may be further observed, that on this 
 ground, strong objections might be made to the Koran 
 itself, as well as to our Scriptures. That too has its va- 
 rious readings, in the accurate collection of which the 
 laborious industry of Mahometan commentators has 
 been frequently employed. Different copies differ mate- 
 rially in the titles of the chapters, the number of verses, 
 the distinction of periods, and other particulars which 
 strongly affect the sense. 
 
 The Koran of the Persians and the Shiites differs in 
 many places from that of the Turks and Sonnites, even in 
 essential points. Yet that any argument can be drawn 
 from hence against the purity and integrity of their 
 scriptures, the followers of Mahomet absolutely and uni- 
 versally deny, 
 
 P. 211. 1. 17. That no such corruption as he pretended 
 has ever happened to our scriptures.'] Whilst we defend 
 the integrity of our scriptures against the absurd and 
 futile objections of Mahomet and his deluded followers, 
 we should be careful lest by our own injudicious con- 
 duct we 2;ive occasion to a similar charofe. A serious 
 and thinking man cannot but be alarmed at that un- 
 bounded licence of conjecture, and that extravagant 
 rage for correction and alteration of the sacred text, 
 which has been too often indulged by pious, though in- 
 judicious commentators. That the text of every edition 
 which we possess stands frequently' in need of emenda- 
 tion, cannot perhaps be denied. But the proper mode 
 of emendation seems to be, not by fanciful speculation 
 and conjecture, but hy facts ;hy: a comparison of ancient 
 MSS, and ancient versions. Much too is to be effected 
 towards the illustration of obscure and difficult passages 
 
NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. qq 
 
 of scripture, by an accurate knowledge of the cognate 
 languages, and by an attention to the manners and cus- 
 toms of eastern nations. 
 
 P. 233, Further observations on Miracles. 
 
 In judging of Miracles there are certain criteria, pe- 
 culiar to the subject, sufficient to conduct our enquiries, 
 and warrant our determination. Assuredly they do not 
 appeal to our ignorance, for they presuppose, not only 
 the existence of a general order of things, but our actual 
 knowledge of the appearance that order exhibits, and of 
 the secondary material causes, from which it, in most 
 cases, proceeds. If a miraculous event Avere effected by 
 the immediate hand of God, and yet bore no mark of 
 distinction from the ordinary effects of his agency, il 
 would impress no conviction, and probably awaken no 
 attention. 
 
 Our knowledge of the ordinary course of things, 
 though limited, is real, and therefore it is essential to a 
 Miracle, both that it differ from that course, and be ac- 
 companied with peculiar and unequivocal signs of such 
 difference. 
 
 But as the term Nature is frequently used, and 
 sometimes abused, in the controversy upon this subject, 
 I beg leave to state, in a few words, my own ideas. The 
 course of nature is, we are told, fixed and unalterable, 
 and therefore it is not consistent with the immutability 
 of God to perform Miracles. But surely, they who 
 reason in this manner, beg the point in question. Wc 
 have no right to assume, that the Deity has ordained 
 such general laws as will exclude his interposition, and 
 we cannot suppose that he would forbear to interfere, 
 where any important end could be answered. This in- 
 
50 NOTES AND AUTHORITIES; 
 
 terposition, though it controls, in particular cases, the 
 energy, does not diminish the utility of those laws. It 
 leaves them to fulfil their own proper purposes, and only 
 effects a distinct purpose for which they were not calcu- 
 lated. 
 
 Let us, however, ask, what is meant by this stability 
 in the order of Nature? Gravitation is known by experi- 
 ence, and acts according to rules, which repeated ob- 
 servation has enabled us to ascertain : yet Magnetism, 
 of which the rules are doubtless equally fixed, though 
 more imperfectly known, suspends the force of gravita- 
 tion. Is Nature then uncertain in her operations, or 
 should we not rather say, that in different circumstances 
 her agency is different? Have not both their proper 
 sphere of action, and does it betray any credulity in ad- 
 mitting the evidence of those who have marked their 
 opposite effects? In certaiti circumstances we may have 
 strong reason to expect, that the one would act rather 
 than the other. But by a competent witness of the fact 
 we should be soon persuaded to believe, that a Pheno- 
 menon, however extraordinary in itself, and however 
 different from our pre-conceived opinions, really existed. 
 If the course of Nature implies the general laws of mat- 
 ter and motion, into which the most opposite phenomena 
 ma}^ be resolved, it is certain, that we do not yet know 
 them in their full extent ; and therefore that events, 
 which are related by judicious and disinterested persons, 
 and at the same time imply no gross contradiction, are 
 possible in themselves, and capable of a certain degree 
 of proof. 
 
 If the course of Nature implies the whole order of 
 events, which God has ordained for the government of 
 the world, it includes both his ordinary and extraordi- 
 nary dispensations, and among them Miracles may have 
 their place, as a part of the universal plan. It is, in- 
 deed, consistent with sound philosophy, and not incon- 
 sistent with pure religion, to acknowledge, that they 
 
NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 51 
 
 were disposed by the supreme Being at the same time 
 with the more ordinary effects of his power; that their 
 causes and occasions were arranc^ed with the same rejju- 
 larity; and that in reference chiefly to their concomi- 
 tant circumstances of persons, and times, to the specific 
 ends for which they were employed, and to our idea of 
 the immediate necessity there is for a divine agent, Mi- 
 racles differ from common events, in which the hand of 
 God acts as efficaciously, though less visibl}-. On this 
 consideration of the subject. Miracles, instead of contra- 
 dicting Nature, form a part of it: and all I object to is, 
 that what our limited reason and scanty experience may 
 comprehend, should be represented as a full and exact 
 view of the possible or actual varieties which exist in 
 the work of God. 
 
 Are we then asked, whether miracles be credible? 
 We reply, that, abstractedly considered, they are not 
 totally incredible; that they are capable of indirect 
 proof from analogy; and of direct from testimony; that 
 in the common and daily course of worldly affairs, events 
 the improbability of which, antecedently to all testi- 
 mony, was very great, is overcome and destroyed by the 
 authority of competent and honest witnesses ; that the 
 Christian Miracles were objects of real and proper ex- 
 perience to those who saw them ; and that whatsoever 
 the senses of mankind can perceive, their report may 
 substantiate. 
 
 Should it be asked, whether Miracles were neces- 
 sary ? and whether the end proposed to be effected by 
 them could warrant so immediate and extraordinary an 
 interference of the Almighty, as such extraordinary ope- 
 rations suppose ? To this we might answer, that, if the 
 fact be established, all reasonings a priori concerning 
 their necessity must be frivolous, and may be false. We 
 are not capable of deciding on a question, which, how- 
 ever simple in appearance, is yet too complex in its 
 parts, and too extensive in its object, to be fully com- 
 
32 NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 
 
 piehended by the human understanding. We know not 
 what event is necessary, or what means are requisite to 
 effect it. Events apparently insignificant are frequently 
 combined with others of the greatest magnitude and im- 
 portance, and indeed so combined as to be inseparable 
 from them ; nay to have been the conditional causes 
 without which they could not be produced, and even 
 the efficient causes which actually produced them- 
 
 Whether God could, or could not, have effected all 
 the ends designed to be promoted by the gospel, without 
 deviating from the common course of his providence, 
 and interfering with its general laws, is a speculation 
 that a modest enquirer would carefully avoid ; for it 
 carries on the very face of it a degree of presumption, 
 totally unbecoming the state of a mortal being. In- 
 finitely safer is it for us to acquiesce in what the Al- 
 mighty has done, than to embarrass our minds with spe- 
 culations about what he might have done. Enquiries of 
 this kind are generally inconclusive, and always useless. 
 They rest on no solid principles, are conducted by no 
 fixed rules, and lead to no clear conviction. Tliey begin 
 from curiosity or vanity; they are prosecuted amidst 
 ignorance and error; and they frequently terminate in 
 impious presumption or universal scepticism. 
 
 He that arraigns the necessity of an extraordinary 
 providence, may in the end question even the exist- 
 ence of an ordinary one: for when the genitis of wild 
 and undistinguishing enquiry is once let loose on ground 
 where there are no direct paths, and no settled limits, 
 who can tell whither the extravagant and impetuous 
 spirit may be carried ? 
 
 God is the best, and indeed the only judge, how far 
 Miracles are proper to promote an}^ particular design of 
 his providence: and how far that design would have 
 been left unaccomplished, if common and ordinary me- 
 thods only had been pursued. So from the absence of 
 Miracles we may conclude, in any supposed case, that 
 
NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 3S 
 
 they were not necessary ; from their existence, supported 
 by fair testimony, in any given case, we may infer with 
 confidence that they are proper. 
 
 Now we are not only capable of opposing one conjec- 
 ture to another, and of confronting an objection founded 
 on metaphysical speculations by an answer of the same 
 kind ; but we may proceed on grounds yet more solid 
 and satisfactory. A view of the state of the world in 
 general, and of the Jewish nation in particular, and an 
 examination of the nature and tendency of the Christian 
 religion, will point out very clearly the great expediency 
 of a miraculous interposition; and when we reflect on 
 the gracious and important ends that were to be eff'ected 
 by it, we shall be convinced that it was not an idle and 
 useless display of divine power; but that while the means 
 effected and confirmed the end, the end fully justified 
 and illustrated the means. 
 
 If we reflect on the almost irresistible force of preju- 
 dice, and the strong opposition it universally made to 
 the establishment of a new religion on the demolition of 
 rites and ceremonies, which authority had made sacred, 
 and custom had familiarized ; if we reflect on the extent 
 and importance, as well as the singularity of the Chris- 
 tian plan; what was its avowed purpose to effect, and 
 what difficulties it was necessarily called to slrueirle 
 with, before that purpose could be eflfected ; how much 
 it was opposed by the opinions and by the practice of 
 the generality of mankind ; by philosophy; by supersti- 
 tion ; by corrupt passions, and by inveterate habits; by 
 pride, and sensuality; in short, by every engine of hu- 
 man influence, whether formed by craft, or aided by 
 power; if we seriousl}^ reflect on these things, and give 
 them their due force, (and experience shews us that we 
 can scarcely give them too much,) we shall be induced to 
 admit even the necessity of a miraculous interposition, 
 at a time when common means must inevitably, in our 
 apprehensions, have failed of success. 
 
 c 
 
34 NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 
 
 The revelation of the divine will by inspired persons 
 is, as such, miraculous; and therefore before the adver- 
 saries of the gospel can employ with propriety their ob- 
 jections to the particular Miracles on which its credibi- 
 lity is rested, they should shew the impossibility of any 
 revelation whatsoever. If they grant, what indeed they 
 cannot disprove, the possible existence of a revelation, 
 it is absurd to say, that the Deity can interfere in the 
 act of revealing his will, and cannot in supplying evi- 
 dences for the reality of his interference. In whatsoever 
 age the revelation be given, succeeding ages can know 
 it only from testimony; and if they admit, on the report 
 of their fellow-creatures, that God had inspired any be- 
 ing with the preternatural knowledge of his will, why 
 should they deny, that he had enabled the same being to 
 heal the sick, or to cleanse the leprous? And how, may 
 it be asked, should the divine Teacher give a more direct 
 and consistent proof of his preternatural commission, 
 than by displaying those signs and wonders, which mark 
 the finger of God ? 
 
 As then the fact itself implies no impossibility, the 
 credibility of it will depend upon the character of those 
 who report it, and on the end which it professes to 
 pursue. 
 
 That the Apostles could not be deceived, and that 
 they had no temptation to deceive, has been repeatedly 
 demonstrated ; and so powerful is the proof adduced in 
 support of their testimony, that the infidels of these later 
 days have been obliged to abandon the ground on which 
 their predecessors stood; to disclaim all moral evidences 
 arising from the character and relation of eye-witnesses ; 
 and to maintain, upon metaphysical rather than histo- 
 rical principles, that Miracles are utterly incapable in 
 their own nature of existing in any circumstances, or of 
 being supported by any evidence. 
 
 To illustrate these general observations on the subject 
 of Miracles by an induction of particular instances^. 
 
NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. SJ 
 
 would be unnecessary. Those instances have been fre- 
 quently adduced, and ably enforced by several eminent 
 writers, and never more successfully than by one *, whose 
 long and well-spent life has been useful lo the world, 
 and ornamental to the learned body to which he be- 
 longs; whose erudition derives fresh lustre from his vir- 
 tues, and whose character is equally venerable as a de- 
 fender of the Christian faith, and as a pattern of Chris- 
 tian meekness and benevolence. 
 
 P. 256. 1. 23. JVhefi the Caliph Omar, the contemporary 
 and companioH of Mahomet y teas solicited to spare the cele- 
 brated library of Alexandria, he replied to this effect.'] See 
 Abu'l Pharaj. Hist. Dynast, p. IBO. Harris's Philologi^ 
 cal Enquiries, p. 2ol. Modern Universal Hist. Vol. I. 
 p. 498. 
 
 P. 261.1. 1. Mahomet seems to have entertained very 
 gross and mistaken ideas of the Christian Trinity] 
 
 If we trace the Christian religion through the various 
 revolutions of the church, we shall observe two doctrines 
 which, beyond all the rest, mark with a distinguishing 
 lustre the creed which justly deserves the appellation of 
 Catholic. Explications of those doctrines may vary;' 
 but the grand essentials of them seem to be interwoven 
 with the original texture of Christian faith, I mean the 
 doctrines of the divinity and atonement of Christ: 
 doctrines alike unknown to the Koran of Mahomet and 
 the Creed of Socinus. 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding this remarkable coincidence of 
 opinion, there is scarcely any thing which the modern 
 Socinian affects to regard with greater abhorrence and 
 indignation, than a comparison that associates his own 
 tenets with those of Mahomet. To the eye of reason, 
 however, the similarity is clear and apparent. The title 
 of Unitarian is equally boasted of by the disciple of So- 
 cinus and the follower of the Arabian prophet. Both of 
 
 * See Dr. Adams's judicious reply to Mr. Hume. 
 C 2 
 
36 NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 
 
 them reject the Divinity of our Lord ; and, with a con- 
 fidence wholly unbecoming a being whose faculties are 
 so bounded as man^s, both of them maintain the impos- 
 sibility of a threefold mode of subsistence in the divitie 
 nature, because the human intellect is incapable of form- 
 ing any precise ideas of the subject : as if nothing could 
 be real in the essence of the divinity, which is not level 
 to the comprehension of man! The objections of both 
 to this sublime mystery proceed on the same presump- 
 tions. I call them pre^^umptions ; for they merit no bet- 
 ter title. The appeal to reason will not be granted, till 
 reason is proved to be infallible. Its objections are 
 brought from an imperfect faculty, exercised in a limited 
 sphere. But the doctrine i am now speaking of, as it 
 was not of its discovery, so neither is it a subject for its 
 investigation. Reason has no data in itself on which to 
 proceed, either for finding it out independently of a di- 
 vine revelation, or for scrutinizing it when it is revealed. 
 Metaphysical arguments and reasonings a priori must 
 at best be precarious and unsatisfactory. Beings, formed 
 as we are, must derive conviction from another quarter. 
 We can only reason from what we know : and where we 
 have no grounds in that species of evidence which falls 
 within the sphere of human observation, we must rest 
 satisfied with our ignorance. But if a revelation is given 
 to supply the defects of natural knowledge, and unfold 
 such doctrines as reason could have formed no concep- 
 tion of; instead of cavilling at their mysteriousness, we 
 ought silently and gratefully to acquiesce in their truth. 
 But the Socinian and the Mahometan object to our 
 doctrine its inconsistency with human reason. The ob- 
 jection supposes that man is possessed of a larger com- 
 prehension than falls to the lot of mortality; and that 
 what he cannot understand, cannot be true. 
 
 We appeal to the scriptures. But the Mahometans 
 and Socinians have both discovered the same methods 
 of interpretation ; and either by false glosses pervert 
 
NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. S7 
 
 their plain and obvious meaning ; or, when the testimony 
 is so direct and explicit, that no forced construction can 
 evade it, they have recourse to the last artifice of abor- 
 tive zeal; the cry of interpolation ! 
 
 If the Mahometan denies, like the Phantomist of 
 more ancient times, the reality of the sufferings and 
 death of Christ, as represented by the evangelists; the 
 Socinian, by denying their efficacy, sinks them to the 
 level of common martyrdom : and though the facts 
 themselves be not questioned, yet their design and end 
 is totally lost in the creed of Socinus, 
 
 " But let God be true, and every man a liar/* If 
 these are the doctrines of the gospel, let us receive them, 
 whether Mahometans be converted or not. Let us de- 
 liver and defend the truth, let the success of it be what 
 it will. 
 
 There is no period of the Christian church in which 
 the Divinity of Christ was not admitted as a primary 
 article: nor can the enemies of this doctrine point out 
 the time when, if it be a falsity, it was admitted as a 
 truth: much less can they account for its admission into 
 the several symbols of Christian faith in the very first 
 ages, if it w^as a doctrine unknown to Christ and his 
 Apostles. The Socinian hypothesis staggers all specula- 
 tion. It is contrary to every maxim of historical evi- 
 dence; and, if pursued to its obvious consequences, in- 
 cludes in it the overthrow of Christianity, and renders 
 every record of every age suspicious and uncertain. It 
 reverses the common rules by which we judge of past 
 events; and, in the strictest sense of the expression, 
 makes the firsts last, and the last, first ;— -makes the less 
 superior to the greater; and what is doubtful and 
 partial, more decisive than what is full, clear, and cer- 
 tain. 
 
 Examiiie Socinianism by any rule of history that has 
 been adopted for the trial of any fact, or the determina- 
 tion that has been passed on any opinion, and we can 
 
38 NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 
 
 scarcely avoid seeing its utter inconsistency with the 
 universal creed of the Christian church from the earliest 
 period of its existence to the present time. 
 
 Is it then probable, that the whole church should have 
 formed a wrong idea, not only of a few circumstantial 
 points, but of matters of the highest consequence, through 
 every period in which we are capable of tracing the his- 
 tory of its opinions ? If Christ was nothing more than a 
 mere 7nan, how can it be accounted for, that his divi- 
 nity should be the general and current sentiment of 
 the church in so early a period as the present enemies 
 of the doctrine are obliged to acknowledge it was? It 
 was acknowledged by those who were the immediate 
 followers of the apostles : and when heretics who op- 
 posed the doctrine arose, they were answered in set 
 treatises by those who may justly be called the great 
 guardians of the church, and whose particular business 
 it was to explain, illustrate, and defend its doctrines. 
 What they delivered on this subject, they delivered not 
 as their own private speculations, but as the known and 
 avowed sense of the Catholic church. They were only 
 the instruments of communicating this sense of Chris- 
 tian doctrines to the world. They did not pride them- 
 selves on the novelties of invention. They came for- 
 ward with an established rule in their hands ; and were 
 happy to be esteemed not the setters forth of strange doc- 
 trines, but the plain assertors of old and acknowledged 
 truths. 
 
 Socinianism makes every thing doubtful. And no won- 
 der — while it makes so little of the most express decla- 
 rations of scripture, we need not be surprised that it 
 should pay so little respect to the plainest evidence of 
 history. #. 
 
 Some late attempts on the Christian system have 
 alarmed the fears of more modest and humble believers. 
 The attemps, however, though artfully conducted, have 
 defeated their own end. The zeal of innovation has 
 
NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 39 
 
 stretched beyond its own measure: and sober Christians 
 have been rather shocked by its daring outrages, than 
 staggered in their faith by its spaciousness and so- 
 phistry. 
 
 If the attempts had succeeded, we should have had 
 little remaining but the name of Christianity : and that 
 in the end would have yielded to a name more grateful 
 to those who would rob it of its distinguishing honours. 
 The gradation from Socinianism to Deism is very 
 slight; and especially that species of Socinianism which 
 has been patronized by a writer, who in order to sup- 
 port it has thought proper to abandon the inspiration of 
 the scriptures ; and has made no scruple to call the apostle 
 St. Paul an inconclusive reasoner*. On such a footing 
 Socinianism may possibly maintain its ground. But on 
 such a footing Deism may maintain its ground much 
 better: and it is rather w^onderfui that those who have 
 given up so much, should retain any thing. For what is 
 there in Christianity, when all its distinguishing doc- 
 trines are takea away, that could render it a subject 
 worthy of a particular revelation ? Did the stupendous 
 miracles that were wrought to introduce and establish it 
 in the world, and the train of prophecies which were 
 gradually disclosed to point out its high and illustrious 
 origin, find an end suitable to their extraordinar}^ na- 
 ture ? 
 
 Morality, and a future state, include the whole of 
 Christianity according to the representation of a Soci- 
 nian. But suppose a Deist should adopt (as many have, 
 and justly may) the same morality, and the same sanc- 
 tions on the ground of natural evidence, wherein lies the 
 essential and discriminating characteristic of Christi- 
 anity? Where lies the real difference between a believer 
 in divine revelation and a religious theist ? 
 
 Socinianism cuts to the very root of all that is distin- 
 
 * Corruptions of Christianity, Vol, 11. p. 370 
 C 4 
 
40 NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 
 
 ^uishiog in the gospel. It destroys the necessity, and 
 €ven the importance, of a n>iraculous interposition, and 
 gives the infidel too great reason to exclaim, that all that 
 was extraordinary was superfluous ; and that the appa* 
 ratus was toa expensive and too splendid for the pur- 
 poses to which it was applied. 
 
 This seems to he an argument a priori against that 
 species of Christianity, which some, under the pretence 
 of refining it from corruption, would reduce to the level 
 of natural religion. 
 
 P. 267. 1. ]2. That romantic fable of the angel of death] 
 Vid. Koran, p. SoQ. 1. 9. Mill, Dissert, de Mohammedismo 
 ante Moham. p. 82. Hyde in Notis ad Bobov. de Visit, 
 iEgrot. p. 19. R. Elias, in Tishli. See also Buxtorf. 
 Synag. Judaic, et Lexic. Talmud, 
 
 Ibid. 1. 16. That imaginary y yet dreaded tribunal] Vid. 
 Al-Gazal. apud Maracc. Prodr. ad refut. Alcoran, Part, 
 iii. p. 90. col. 1. Mill Dissert, de Mohammedismo, &c. 
 p. 76. et ejasdem Orat. Inaugur, p. 14. 
 
 Ibid. 1. 25. The vast but ideal balance] Vid. Kor. p. 
 286. 1. ]0. Mill. Dissert, de Mohammedismo, &c. p. 81, 
 82, 83. Sale's Prelim, Disc, p. 89. 
 
 P. 274. 1. 6. We are there told, &c.] 
 
 The whole history is thus related in the Gospel of 
 Barnabas: and as the representation which it gives, 
 though false and absurd, is yet novel and curious, I 
 make no apology to my readers for quoting it at large. 
 
 Chap. 216. 
 " Judas came near to the people with whom Jesus 
 " w^as ; and when he heard the noise he entered into the 
 *' house where the disciples slept. And God seeing the 
 " fear and danger of his servant, ordered Gabriel and 
 " Michael and Rafael and Azrael to carry him out of 
 " the world. And they came in all haste, and bare him 
 '* out of the window which looks towards the south. 
 *' And they placed him in the third heaven, where he 
 
NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 41 
 
 " will remain blessing God, in the company of angels, 
 ** till near the end of the world. 
 
 Chap. 217. 
 
 *' And Judas the traitor entered before the rest into 
 " the place from which Jesus had just been taken up. 
 " And the disciples were sleeping. And the wonderful 
 " God acted wonderfully, changing Judas into the same 
 " figure and speech with Jesus. We believing that it 
 '* was he, said to him. Master, whom seekest thou ? And 
 " he said to them, smiling. Ye have forgotten yourselves, 
 " since ye do not know Judas Iscariot. 
 
 *' At this time the soldiery entered; and seeing Judas 
 " so like in every respect to Jesus, laid hands upon 
 « him, &c." 
 
 Chap. 218. 
 In which is related the passion nf Judas the traitor, 
 " The soldiers afterwards took Judas, and bound him, 
 " notwithstanding he said with truth to them that he 
 " was not Jesus. And the soldiers mocked him, saying, 
 '^ Sir, do not be afraid; for we are come to make thee 
 *' King of Israel; and we have bound thee, because we 
 " know thou hast refused the kingdom. And Judas 
 " said. Ye have lost your senses. I came to shew you 
 ''Jesus, that ye might take him; and ye have bound 
 " me, who am your guide. The soldiers lost their pa- 
 " tience, hearing this, and they began to go with him, 
 ^' striking and buffeting him, till they reached Jerusa- 
 " lem, &c. &c. 
 
 Chap. 219. 
 " They carried him to mount Calvary, where they 
 " executed criminals, and crucified him, stripping him 
 '^ naked for the greater ignominy. Then he did nothing 
 " but cry out, O my God, why hast thou forsaken me, 
 *^ that I should die unjustly, when the real malefactor 
 " hath escaped ? 
 
4^ NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 
 
 '' / say in truth * thxit he was so like in person y figure, 
 ^^ and gesture to Jesus, that as many as knew him, believed 
 ^'firmly that it tvas he, except Peter: for which reason 
 " many left his doctrine, believing that it had been 
 " false; as he had said that he should not die till the 
 *' end of the world. But those who stood firm were 
 '^ oppressed with grief, seeing him die wdiom they un- 
 '* derstood to be Jesus : not recollecting what he had 
 " told them. And in company with his mother, they 
 *' were present at his death, w^eeping continually. And 
 '* by means of Joseph Abarimatheas f , they obtained 
 '^ from the president the body of Judas. And they took 
 '^ him down from the cross, burying him with much la- 
 *' mentation in the new sepulchre of Joseph ; having 
 " wrapped him up in linen and precious ointments. 
 
 Chap. 220. 
 " They all returned, each man to his house: and he 
 " who writeth, with James and John, went with the 
 " mother of Jesus to Nazareth. And the disciples, who 
 " did not fear God with truth, went by night and stole 
 " the body of Judas, and hid it ; spreading a report, that 
 *' he [i. e. Jesus] had risen again, from whence sprung 
 '^ great confusion among the people. And the high- 
 *' priest commanded, under pain of Anathema, that no 
 " one should talk of him ; and on this account raised a 
 " great persecution, banishing some, tormenting others, 
 " and even stoning some to death : because it w as not 
 '* in the power of any one to be silent on this subject. 
 " And then came news to Nazareth, that Jesus had risen 
 '^ again. And he that writeth, desired the mother of 
 " Jesus to leave off her lamentation. And Mary said, 
 '* Let us go to Jerusalem, to see if it is truth. If I see 
 ^' him, I sh^ll die content. 
 
 * What is here printed in Italics, is written in the MS. in red charac- 
 ters. 
 t It is thus written in the MS. 
 
if 
 
 NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 43 
 
 Chap. 221. 
 The Virgin returned to Jerusalem with him that 
 writeth, and James and John, the same day that the 
 *' decree of the high-priest came out. And as she feared 
 ^* God, though she knew the command was unjust, she 
 " entreated those who talked with her not to speak of 
 "her Son. Who can say, how we were then affected? 
 *^ God, who knows the heart of man, knows that between 
 *^ the grief for the death of Judas, whom we understood 
 " to be Jesus, and the pleasure of seeing him risen again, 
 " we almost expired. And the angels who were the 
 " guardians of Mary went up to heaven the third day, 
 " and told Jesus what was passing. And he, moved 
 " with compassion for his mother, entreated of God 
 " that he might be seen by his disciples. And the com- 
 " passionate God ordered his four favourite angels to 
 *^ place him within his own house, and to guard him 
 "three days: that they and they only might see liim, 
 " who believed in his doctrine. Jesus descended, sur- 
 " rounded with light, into the house of his mother: 
 " where vv'ere the two sisters, Martha and Mar}^, and 
 " Lazarus, and he that writeth, and John and James, 
 " and Peter. And when they saw him, they fell with 
 " their faces on the earth, as if dead. And Jesus lifted 
 " them up ; saying, Fear not, for I am your Master. 
 " Lament not from henceforth, for I am alive. They 
 " were astonished at seeing Jesus, because they thought 
 " him dead. And Mary weeping said. Tell me, my Son, 
 " why, if God gave thee power to raise up the dead, did 
 " he consent that thou shouldest die, with so much re- 
 " proach and shame to thy relations and friends, and so 
 *' much hurt to thy doctrine, leaving us all in desola- 
 " tion .? Jesus replied, embracing his mother, Believe 
 " me, for I tell thee the truth, I have not been dead ; 
 " for God has reserved me for the end of the world. In 
 " saying this he desired the Angels to manifest them- 
 " selves, a?nd to tell how he had pa&sed through every 
 
44 NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 
 
 " thing. At the instant they appeared like four suns; 
 *' and all present prostrated themselves on the ground, 
 '* overcome by the presence of the Angels. And Jesus 
 " gave to all of them something to cover themselves 
 " with; that they might be able to hear the angels 
 " speak. And Jesus said to his mother, These are the 
 " Ministers of God. Gabriel knows his secrets; Mi- 
 " chael fights with his enemies; Asrafiel will cite all to 
 "judgment; and Azrael receives the souls. And the 
 '^ holy Angels told, how they had, by the command of 
 *' God, taken up Jesus, and transformed Judas, that he 
 *' might suffer the punishment which he wished to bring 
 "on Jesus. And he that writeth said. Is it lawful for 
 " me to ask of thee, in the same manner as when thou 
 " wast in the world ? And Jesus answered, Speak, Bar- 
 ^' nabas, what thou wishest. And he said, I wish that 
 " thou wouldest tell me, how God, being so compas- 
 " sionate, could afflict us so much, in giving us to un- 
 " derstand that thou wast he that suffered, for we have 
 " been very near dying? And thou being a prophet, why 
 '* did he suffer thee to fall under disgrace, by [apparently] 
 " placing thee on a cross, and between two robbers ? Je- 
 " sus answered, Believe me, Barnabas, let the fault be 
 " ever so small, God chastiseth it with much punish- 
 *' ment. And as my mother and faithful disciples loved 
 " me with a little earthly love, God chastised that love 
 " by this grief; that he might not chastise it in the 
 " other world. And though I was innocent, yet as they 
 " called me God, and his Son, that the devils might not 
 ** mock me on the day of judgment, he has chosen that 
 " I should be mocked in this world. And this mocking 
 <* shall last till the holy messenger of God f shall come, 
 " who shall undeceive all believers. And then he said, 
 " Just art thou, O God ! and to thee only belongeth the 
 " honour and glory, with worship, for ever! 
 
 t i. e. Mahomet. 
 
KOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 45 
 
 Chap. 222, and the last. 
 
 ** And then he said, See Barnabas that thou by all 
 '* means write my Gospel, relating every thing which 
 " has happened in the world concerning me; and let it 
 ** be done exactly; in order that the faithful may be un- 
 " deceived, knowing the truth. He that writeth said, 
 " Master, I will do it as thou commandest me, God will- 
 ** ing : but I did not see all that happened with Judas. 
 " Jesus answered. Here stand Peter and John, who saw 
 " it, and who will relate it to thee. And he told Jamea 
 " and John to call the seven apostles who were absent, 
 " and Nicodemus, and Joseph Abarimatheas, and some 
 " of the 72 disciples. When they were come, they did 
 " eat with him ; and on the third day he commanded 
 " them all to go to the Mount of Olives with his mo- 
 " ther: because he was to return to heaven. All the 
 " apostles and disciples went, except 25 of the 72, who 
 ** had fled to Damascus with fear. And exactly at mid- 
 " day, while they were all in prayer, Jesus came with 
 '* many Angels (blessing God) with so much brightness, 
 " that they all bent their faces to the ground. And Je- 
 " sus raised them up, saying. Fear not your Master, who 
 " comes to take leave of you, and to reccoramend you 
 " to God our Lord, by the mercies received from his 
 " bounty : and be He with you ! And upon this he dis- 
 " appeared with the angels; all of us remaining amazed 
 " at the great brightness in which he left us." 
 
 P, 295. Ye shall know them hy their fruits,'] There are 
 various tests of moral truth: and the excellency of a 
 religion may be judged of under distinct lights, all of 
 which are calculated to give reciprocal strength and evi- 
 dence to each other; though doubtless some are better 
 adapted than others to afford conviction to the generality 
 of enquirers. Few minds are qualified for abstract spe- 
 culation ; and fewer still, are satisfied with the conclu- 
 sions which result from a train of reasoning that is built 
 on it. 
 
46 NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 
 
 But of that evidence which arises from facts most 
 persons are capable of judging: and as the Christian re- 
 ligion is designed for universal benefit, the wisdom of 
 Providence has adapted its proofs to the object it had in 
 view; and rendered them clear and open to the senses, 
 in order that they might carry more certain conviction 
 to the understanding. 
 
 Miracles were open testimonies of a divine interpo-^ 
 sition ; and gave a sanction to the doctrines, and an au- 
 thority to the precepts, in the defence of which they were 
 professedly wrought. 
 
 The personal character of our blessed Lord, and the 
 Various parts of his conduct, both in the more retired 
 and the more public scenes of life, afford a strong evi-* 
 dence for the truth of that cause which he both lived 
 and died to promote ; nor are the characters and eon^ 
 duct of his apostles destitute of the same evidence : for, 
 animated by the spirit of their divine Master, they fol- 
 lowed his example; and the constancy with which they 
 vindicated his rehgion amidst the sharpest persecutions, 
 and the cheerfulness with which they submitted to death 
 in order to give their last seal to its truth, would not fail 
 of leaving a very deep impression on the minds of sober 
 and impartial observers. The astonishing triumph o^ 
 Christianity over the superstition, idolatry, and wicked- 
 ness of the world ; over all that philosophy could con- 
 trive, and ail that power could accomplish, carried with 
 it a visible token of an Almighty hand; and the effects 
 produced by it on individuals and societies rendered the 
 interposition of that hand still more illustrious. 
 
 The blamelcssness and purity of character, for which 
 the primitive Christians were so much distinguished, 
 have been acknowledged even by their enemies. Pliny, 
 who was by no means disposed to treat them with much 
 lenity, or their cause with muqh respect, confesses that 
 the most rigid scrutiny into their conduct, turned out in 
 every view favourable to the innocence and chastity of 
 
NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 47 
 
 their morals. It is indeed very remarkable, that the 
 account he gives of the Christians was such as he had 
 received, not from their friends and adherents, (whose 
 report of their religion might be liable to the suspicion 
 of partiahty,) but from persons the least of all men in- 
 clined to sacrifice truth in order to save the credit of 
 Christianity and its professors. He received the account 
 from persons who had been Christians, but who either 
 from fear or interest, or some other motive unknown 
 but to the Judge of all, had apostatised from the church, 
 and relapsed into idolatry. Such were the persons who 
 affirmed, (and Pliny does not appear to disbelieve their 
 testimony,) that the highest fault with which the Chris- 
 tians were justly chargeable, was their assembling on a 
 stated day before sun-rising, and singing a hymn to 
 Christ, as to a Deity:— in binding themselves by a 
 sacrament to avoid every kind of wickedness, particularly 
 fraud, robbery, and adultery :— not to violate their word, 
 or refuse to yield up whatever had been entrusted in 
 their hands, when it should be demanded : and that it 
 was their custom to depart, and afterwards to meet again 
 at an innocent meal, where all partook in common of 
 the entertainment that was provided *. 
 
 The ancient apologists constantly challenged their 
 enemies to produce any accusations against them which 
 tended to impeach their morals: and appealed to their 
 conduct, as an evidence in their favour, with a confi- 
 dence which nothing but conscious uprightness could 
 have inspired. Instead of shrinking from the severest 
 trial that jealousy itself could make, they invited their 
 adversaries to meet them upon a ground, where the 
 merits of the question could be ascertained most exactly; 
 where success was to be most honourable, and defeat 
 most ignominious. 
 
 Their meekness and forbearance amidst the most in- 
 jurious treatment, and their patience and perseverance 
 
 -• Lib. X. Epist. 97. 
 
48 NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 
 
 amidst the most threatening dangers, were objects of ad- 
 miration even to their persecutors. But their benevo- 
 lence was as amiable as their zeal was ardent : and while 
 truth gave tliem courage to brave distress and death, 
 compassion softened their hearts when they beheld the 
 miseries of others; and the tenderest sympathy was 
 united with the most inflexible integrity. 
 
 Eusebius has preserved in his Ecclesiastical History * 
 a very memorable fragment of an epistle of Dionysius 
 the Bishop of Alexandria, who flourished at the time 
 when the empire under Gallienus was distracted by in- 
 ternal divisions, arising from the interfering interests of 
 contending and jealous competitors for power; and when 
 the calamities of war were doubled by the more dreadful 
 visitation of plagues, and famine, and earthquakes. At 
 a crisis so trying as this the Christian religion had an 
 opportunity of shewing its superior influence, by the 
 exemplary conduct of its professors. Their resignation 
 to God, and their unwearied benevolence towards the 
 distressed, exerted at the hazard of their own lives, and 
 manifested by the most endearing attentions that the 
 tenderest compassion could dictate, are described in this 
 Epistle in a manner so striking and pathetic, as neces- 
 sarily to impress the mind with a deep sense of the power 
 of that religion, which nourishes the gentler qualities of 
 the human heart, and sooths its more amiable feelings 
 at the time that it arms the breast with a more than 
 common fortitude, and enables the Christian to stand in 
 the evil day, and endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus 
 Christ. The venerable father at the same time remarks 
 the different behaviour of the heathen. They abandoned 
 their dearest friends the moment that calamities overtook 
 them ; and, seeking their own safety, left the wretched to 
 perish without relief. 
 
 Bardesanes, the celebrated Syrian Heretic, observed in 
 his day, that Christianity in a moral and civil view had 
 
 * Lib. vii, c. 23, 
 
NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 49 
 
 been wonderfully beneficial: for that Christians of all 
 countries had retained the good qualities and rejected 
 the reigning vices of the several nations of which they 
 were natives. " In Parthia (says he) the Christians, 
 *' though Parthians, are not polyganiists: nor in Persia, 
 ** though Persians, do they marry their own daughters. 
 *' In Bactria and Gaul they do not violate the marriage- 
 " bed: and wherever they reside, they resist the influence 
 " of corrupt laws and wicked customs*." 
 
 P. 303. 1. 12. In the East, under the influence of Maho- 
 metnn belief, the human mind appears to have lost somezvhal 
 of its capacity and pozcerl To this torpid inactivity no- 
 thing perhaps has more effectually contributed than the 
 doctrine of Fate, whicli, as it is adopted in the creed of 
 the Mussulman f , is not only derogatory from the dignity 
 of human nature, but plainly hostile to the interests and 
 duties of social life. It renders the reason of man use- 
 Jess, by destroying his free agency; it restrains and dis- 
 courages industry, checks the flights of genius, and in 
 the place of that active and persevering vigour, which 
 can alone prevent or remedy misfortune, substitutes a 
 passiveness without piety, and a despondence without 
 resignation. Taught by his prophet that every human 
 event is irrevocably preordained by the Deity, and that 
 not the time only, but even the manner and circumstances 
 of his death have been unalterably fixed from all eter- 
 nity, the superstitious Mussulman deems every attempt 
 to change the common order of things a crime not far 
 removed from rebellion against the established laws of 
 God. Hence he beholds his parents, his children, and 
 
 * Jortiu's Remarks, Vol. I. p. 357. edit. 1767. 
 
 ifXKS. ^ »^j'-^ xUaJ^^ (J^^ J'^'^ i' 
 
 Koran, cii. xvi. 
 l^i u,,»^f=h^ XVjo Mat ^i^ ^^ ^^^. ^y^y^ (j-* ^^ 
 
 Al'Mojahed, Jsajum ^\ ^^ 
 
50 NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 
 
 his friends falling a sacrifice to disease and death, with a 
 stupid and ineffectual concern. Hence he views the pes- 
 tilence ravaging his country, and destroying thomands and 
 ten thousands in his streets^ without exerting one single 
 effort to check its baneful progress. The arts by which 
 more enlightened nations have been enabled to repel, or 
 at least to mitigate its rage; arts which nature, philoso- 
 phy, and religion unite to recommend, are regarded by 
 the disciple of the Arabian prophet as impious and pro- 
 fane. Blindly and obstinately attached to the principle 
 of absolute and unqualified predestination, he sits in a 
 state of torpid insensibility, till the Almighty arrests the 
 hand of the destroying Angel, and suspends for a period 
 the work of death and desolation. 
 
 P. 330. 1. 1^. Yet Christianity far surpasses every other 
 religion in its visible tendency to make us better men, and 
 in its real effects upon the sentimetits and the manners of 
 mankind'] Even from the testimony of Mr. Gibbon, if 
 we attend to his facts, without assenting implicitly to his 
 opinions, it appears, that Christianity had in some de- 
 gree contributed to the moral improvement of that em- 
 pire, which, under the inauspicious influence of Paganism^ 
 had been plunged in the foulest immoralities. Frailties, 
 absurdities, and crimes are to be found in those who 
 wielded the sceptre after the establishment of Christi- 
 anity ; but the catalogue is not so numerous, or so black 
 and portentous, as that which presents itself, to the dis- 
 passionate enquirer, in the preceding ages. We are not 
 shocked with the cold and deliberate inhumanity of a 
 Tiberius, with the outrageous debaucheries and frantic 
 cruelties of a Nero, with the gross sensualities of a Vi- 
 tellius, with the disgusting puerilities and odious barbari- 
 ties of a Domitian! 
 
 But we may be told, that, after tlie introduction of the 
 Gospel, this stupendous empire fell into ruin. Be it so. 
 But was not the superstructure itself much defaced, and 
 were not the very foundations loosened^ long before, un- 
 
NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 51 
 
 der the dissolute manners of the people, the turbulent 
 spirit of the Praetorian bands, the profligate servility of 
 the Pagan senate, and the enormous oppressions of Pa- 
 gan emperors ? 
 
 Is extensive empire, we may ask the objectors, a 
 blessing to the general interests of society f Did the 
 Roman empire, founded as it was upon the violence of 
 conquest, and supported by all the arts of corruption, 
 and all the rigours of despotism, give rise to such a po- 
 litical or a moral condition of the world, that any mind, 
 enlightened by philosophy and softened by benevolence, 
 could seriously wish for its continuance? 
 
 To arm the hands of conquerors, or to glut the am- 
 bition of kings, made no part of that Teacher's design, 
 whose kingdom was not of this world. It is therefore no 
 solid objection to his religion, that it did not promote 
 those secular interests, with which both the Founder, 
 and the immediate supporters of its pretensions, dis- 
 claimed even the slightest connection. But the Gospel, 
 be it remembered, even amidst the convulsions and dis- 
 tractions of the Roman empire, gradually infused juster 
 notions of virtue and piety into the bosoms of indivi- 
 duals. It tamed the savage spirits, and enlightened the 
 understandings, of the barbarians, who reduced the scat- 
 tered provinces to subjection, and at last pushed their 
 arms to the enfeebled and unresisting Capital. And let 
 it not be forgotten, that from the subversion of this em- 
 pire arose all the improvements in arts, in science, in 
 civilization, and in government, which are now esta-. 
 blished in Christian countries, and to which Christianity 
 itself v/as indirectly instrumental. The Gospel, before 
 the fall of this empire, first spread its influence in pri- 
 vate life, and then it put a partial check on the crimes 
 of those who acted on the great theatre of public Hfe. 
 If the fall of the Roman empire was, upon the whole, an 
 evil, Christianity was not the sole or the obvious cause 
 of that evil. If it was eventually a good, we ar« in- 
 
5t NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. 
 
 debted for a share of that good to the just notions of 
 their duty, which the Gospel had implanted in the minds 
 of its professors, and to the powerful motives by which 
 it ericouraged them in the prosecution of their true hap- 
 piness. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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