BR 127 .B86 1826 Burder, John. Lectures on religion \r LECTURES ON RELIGION. BY l/ JOHN BURDER, M.A. '•' Prove all things ; hold fast that which is good." 1 Thcss. V. 21. ^^,-,,..r..,- /^ LONDON: B. J. HOLDS WORTH, 18, St. Paul's Church- yard. 1826. CONTENTS. I.ectuie Page PREFACE .r. List of Subscribers *'" Introductory Obseuvaiigns !• * FIRST DIVISION.— FALSE RELIGION. I. Erroneous Systems of Religion, which are occasioned by Ignorance of tiie Trutli II. '^'^ II. Erroneous Systems of Religion, which are opposed to the Truth. 1. Modern Judaism HI. 43 2. Blohammedanism IV. 64 3. Deism V. 85 III. Erroneous Systems of Religion, which are distinguished by Corrupt Additions to the Truth VI. IV. Erroneous Systems of Religion, whose characteristic is a Partial Reception of the Truth. 1. Such as reject some of the Essential Doctrines of the Gospel VII. 2. Such as are marked by disregard to the practi- cal part of Religion VIII. 3. Such as consist in inadequate attention to Reli- gious Truth IX. 182 107 132 1 58 SECOND DIVISION.— TRUE RELIGION. 1. Evidences of the Truth of the Christian Religion. ^- . t X. 203 1. Direct Proofs i t^j^ 225 2. An.<5we'r3 to Objections. (1.) To such as relate to the Holy Scriptures XII. 252 (2.) To such as relate to the Doctrines of the Bible XIII. 278 (3.) To such as are founded on the characterof Professed Christians XIV. 297 1 T. The principal truths of Religion, as exhibited in the Holy Scriptures. 1. The view which the Holy Scriptures give of God. (1.) The Mode of the Divine Existence, com- monly called The Doctrine of the Trinity.. . XV. 321 (2.) TheCharact|rofGod XVI. 341 2. The view which the Holy Scriptures give of tho Messiah. (1.) The Person of Christ XVII. 362 ri.) The Life and Death of Christ XVIII. 383 (3.) The State and Office of Christ in Heaven. XIX. 407 III. The Religion of the Bible contemplated, as existing in the Human Character. * 1. The important change which Religion effects in the character of man XX. 431 2. The Religious Man contemplated in the Regard which he has to God and Christ XXI. 451 3. The Religious Man viewed in his Conduct to- wards his fellow-men XXII. 472 4. The Religious Man considered in reference to the Future State XXIII. 493 IV. The Claims of the True Religion XXIV. 519 PREFACE. L HE opinion is extensive^ prevalent among those who content themselves with vasjue notions on the subject of piety, that there are as many different religions in the world as there are classes of religious people ; a sentiment which is somewhat confirmed by the manner in which the names and tenets of the various sects are exhibited on the pages of Theological Dictionaries. The conse- quence of this opinion is that when men are exhorted to worship God and to prepare for the invisible state, they plead, in vindi- cation of acknowledged negligence, the sup- posed diiiiculty, amidst such a Babel-like tumult of conflicting dogmas, of ascertaining what ought to be rejected and what believed. The Author of the following Lectures conceived that some benefit mioht accrue viii PREFACE. from a systematic arrangement of the senti- ments of mankind on the subject of Religion. He has accordingly taken the Gospel, which is in the first place assumed^ and after- wards jprot'ed to be true, as the basis of such a classification ; exhibiting all the modes of faith and worship which it was deemed im- portant to notice, in the relation which they respectively bear to the Religion of Christ. He hoped, by this method, not only to evince the substantial unity of the Christian ('hurch, notwithstanding the distinctive names which its several portions bear ; but also to force the various forms of error out of their usurped position of rivalry to the Gospel, and to compel every one of them to furnish its quota of testimony to the excel- lence of that Religion, which, like the Holy Book whence it is derived, "has God for its author, truth for its matter, and salvation for its end.'' It has long been the sedulous endea- vour of the Writer, not merely to derive his sentiments generally from the word of God, which all believers in divine revela- tion profess to do ; but, as much as pos- sibll,^.,to adhere to that precise view of Christian doctrine which is therein con- PREFACE, IX tained. His aim is to contemplate truth in its native simplicity, and in the mutual connexion and dependance of its several parts ; avoiding each Of the opposite faults of taking aught from it, or adding aught to it. The narrowness of the limits which the Author thought it right to prescribe to him- self, has exposed him to the hazard of being occasionally superficial. It is hoped, how- ever, that nothing of vital character has been omitted. Those doctrines have been inves- tigated most fully which seemed most to re- quire elucidation ; while care has been taken, that, however brief the statement of any truth might be, the bearing which it has on Christian feeling and practice, should not be overlooked. The object proposed was not to describe the circumstantials of Religion, but rather to prove that the Gospel is un- questionably true and supremely