Wi 
 
 'M; 
 
 KlPi 
 
PBIHOETv 
 
 BT 96 .D8 1832 c.l 
 Duncan, John M. 1790-1851 
 Lectures on the general 
 principles of moral 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2010 with funding from 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/lecturesongeneraOOdunc 
 
LECTURES 
 
 ON THE 
 
 GENERAL PRINCIPLES 
 
 MORAL GOVERNMENT, 
 
 A3 THEY ARE EXHIBITED IN THE 
 
 FIRST THREE CHAPTERS 
 
 GENESIS. 
 BY JOHN m/dUNCAN, 
 
 Pastor of the Associate Reformed Congregation of Baltimore. 
 
 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word 
 was God. — John i. 1 
 
 The Word was made Flesh, and dwelt among us; and we beheld his glory, 
 the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.— 
 John i. 14. 
 
 Every one of us shall give account of himself to God. — Rom. xiv. 12. 
 
 Baltimore: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY CUSHING & SONS, No. 6 N. HOWARD STREET. 
 PRINTED BY JAS. LUCAS AND E. K. DEAYER. 
 
 1832. 
 
Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1832, by Jo- 
 seph Cushing, Joseph Cushing, Jr. and John Cushing, in the Clerk's 
 Office of the District Court of Maryland. 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 To the Members of the Associate Reformed Congregation of 
 Baltimore : — 
 
 Dear Brethren — 
 
 You will recognise, in the following sheets, the sub- 
 stance of a course of pulpit lectures, on the first three 
 chapters of Genesis, which I have just finished: — as 
 well as of a series of biblical exercises, conducted 
 with a class of young men, in your lecture room, two 
 years ago. Though I neither love the toil, nor covet 
 the honors of authorship, and advance no pretensions 
 to "the art of making books;" yet I have been indu- 
 ced to prepare the following pages for the press, in 
 consequence of having been repeatedly solicited so to 
 do; and in the fond hope of relieving some ingenuous 
 minds, which may have been greatly embarrassed by 
 the technicalities of scholastic theology. I have endea- 
 vored to express myself in a clear and perspicuous 
 manner ; though possibly in this I may have failed in 
 many instances, as I seldom use my pen, and have 
 now been compelled to write rapidly. 
 
 The views which you have already heard, and 
 which are here presented to you in a form that will 
 afford you an opportunity for more leisurely examina- 
 tion, are the result of my own researches, — long, pa- 
 tiently and diligently pursued. This remark is made, 
 because I know not to what dark age, or to what wander- 
 
viii DEDICATION. 
 
 ing, whimsical and hated errorist, my ideas may be 
 referred. A hard name is the magic wand, by 
 which an angry, but feeble, disputant often metamor- 
 phoses the humblest pretensions into the mightiest 
 misdemeanor. Already you know, if rumor utters a 
 true report, I have been represented as worthy to bear 
 the name and the reproach of almost every heresy 
 which has ever appeared; while, like the bible itself, 
 whose single authority over the human conscience, it 
 has been my lot to proclaim and defend, I have had the 
 singular felicity, or infelicity, of being successively 
 claimed by all parties. The allegations, which have 
 been thus so freely made, form no small commendation 
 of the argument to which your attention has been in- 
 vited; for, if different parties, professedly deriving 
 their peculiarities from the bible, can so readily dis- 
 cern their peculiarities in the doctrines I have advan- 
 ced, those doctrines and the bible must appear quite 
 like to each other. And if, feeling the point of this 
 remark, critics, who have so gratuitously expressed 
 either their praise or their condemnation, should now 
 change their ground, they may, perhaps, discover that 
 opinions founded on hearsay testimony, or on suppos- 
 ed powers of intuition, or under the force of obstinate 
 and preconceived prejudices, will always, most proba- 
 bly, be inaccurate. At all events, you will have it 
 fairly in your power to correct the misrepresentations 
 with which you have been most painfully and unkind- 
 ly annoyed, as well as to show that an honest, well 
 meant effort to elucidate the philosophical principles of 
 Christianity, by no means involves the abandonment of 
 Christianity itself. Human creeds, however antique 
 
DEDICATION. ix 
 
 and abstruse they may be, are not in your view, syn- 
 onymous with the gospel — The one may be renoun- 
 ced, while the other shall appear in greater beauty 
 and simplicity. 
 
 You know well, that I never have aspired after, and 
 therefore, in presenting the following work to your 
 careful and candid perusal, cannot now be seeking to 
 obtain, a dominion over your faith. The doctrine 
 which you have uniformly heard from my lips, and 
 which is here transcribed with my pen, has proclaim- 
 ed your right to examine truth for yourselves, as the 
 privilege and dignity of your intellectual existence ; 
 while the distinct assurance has been given to you by 
 the redeemer, that all his children shall be taught of 
 God. You can bear me testimony, how affectionately 
 and earnestly these high considerations have been 
 pressed on your attention. If indeed, the master, 
 whom I desire humbly and efficiently to serve, has, 
 by his Spirit, written my epistle of commendation on 
 your hearts, I hope I know how to thank him for the 
 official honors so graciously conferred, and at the same 
 time to rejoice with you in your joy. 
 
 Most cheerfully do I inscribe this volume to you. 
 Twenty years have elapsed, since the pastoral care 
 of the congregation was committed to my hands. 
 Many have gone from among you, during that short 
 period, to meet "the Lord in the air," and rejoicing in 
 the hope of his glory ; and many more, I fondly trust, 
 are peacefully waiting the call from on high, which 
 shall summon them home. At the same time, other 
 events have occurred, and painful to be remembered, 
 which were the source of the keenest anxieties ; and 
 
x DEDICATION. 
 
 which are now alluded to, only because they awake 
 the fond recollection of your uninterrupted kindnesses ; 
 while, from your own well formed convictions of the 
 value of christian liberty, you cheerfully sustained the 
 struggle, in w T hich the acquisition of the sacred boon in- 
 volved you. With like magnanimity, I have no doubt 
 you will maintain the blessing so secured. Your va- 
 rious sympathies and affectionate regards are, and ever 
 shall be, most gratefully reciprocated : Nor shall my 
 heart cease to plead for your spiritual and everlasting 
 welfare, and that of your children, while the hand, that 
 records its tenderest emotions, shall be able to sub- 
 scribe the name of 
 
 Your brother and pastor, 
 
 JOHN M. DUNCAN. 
 April, 1832, 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Dedication, --------------.-. 7 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 Introductory, ----.---------..13 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 Of God TheElohim — One God and one Lord, 31 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 Voice or Word. — Word made Flesh. — Two-fold manifestation of 
 God, ----- - - - - 51 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 The Father. — The Holy Ghost — Terms explained. — Views of 
 the personal operations of God, in relation to the government 
 of Man, -- 68 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 Of Creation. — Man — Personal Responsibility, ------ 92 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 The Paradisiacal Constitution. — Tree of Life — Rewards and 
 Penalties. — Mosaic Law — The Flood, ------- 114 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 Fall. — Its circumstances — Its effects. — Use of the tree of know- 
 ledge of good and evil Physical agency by which death was 
 
 introduced. — Nature of death. — Condition of all men. — Law 
 
 and Gospel. — Human depravity, --------- 137 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 Mediatorial Constitution.— Its origin Mediator.— God man- 
 ifested in the flesh Seed of the woman. — Phraseology ex- 
 plained The delivering the kingdom to the Father, when 
 
 the end shall come, _.--- _-- 167 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 Mediatorial work Manifestation of God.— Righteousness of the 
 
 Law, fulfilled by the second Adam.— Reasons for the death of 
 Christ. — Principles of the divine administration. — The recon- 
 ciled man. — Pardon of actual transgressions. — Term atone- 
 ment, - 193 
 
xii CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 Application of the Mediatorial Constitution General Views 
 
 Election. — Nature and Reason of the two Dispensations 
 
 Condition of the gentiles Light of Nature, ----- 224 
 
 LECTURE XI. 
 
 Subject continued. — Ishmael and Isaac. — Esau and Jacob. — Type 
 of the Potter. — Pharaoh. — General reasoning, - - - - - 252 
 
 LECTURE XII. 
 
 Faith and Vision — Reason of Faith — Nature of Faith. — Opera- 
 tions of Faith. — Repentance — Gifts of God Divine Power, 270 
 
 LECTURE XIII. 
 
 Reason why Jehovah sent our first parents out of Eden The 
 
 principle of Labor. — Jewish laws. — Provisions for the Poor. — 
 New Testament regulations. — Origin and evil of public char- 
 ities. — State of Society.— Remedies — Ecclesiastical mistakes. 
 — General conclusions, ------------- 307 
 
 LECTURE XIV. 
 
 Principle of Religious Forms — Cherubim. — Sacrifice. — New 
 Testament Ordinances, ------------- 344 
 
 Conclusion, -------- -- 369 
 
LECTURES 
 ON MORAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY 
 
 I have announced my intention of delivering a series of 
 prelections, on the first three chapters of Genesis. You 
 may, perhaps, be aware, that in executing that intention, 
 sundry questions might arise which are of a purely scientific 
 character. It is no part of my design to state, or answer 
 those questions. The object I have in view, will invite your 
 candid and patient audience to a discussion of the general 
 principles of God's moral government in our world. 
 
 The history of man, and the study of the Bible, present 
 to every inquirer after truth two great constitutions, which 
 have been established by divine legislation; — the one origi- 
 nal, and the other remedial. They are respectively described 
 as exactly corresponding with the intellectual attributes of 
 human beings; as happily suited to their earthly condi- 
 tion; and as terminating in their weal or their wo, on 
 principles of perfect righteousness. These constitutions 
 are uniformly, in the scriptures, denominated Law and 
 Gospel; and we speak of them in the most familiar manner, 
 using those distinctive appellations without any reserve. 
 Yet it is very evident that they are not, either politically 
 or technically, fairly understood. A spirit of baneful con- 
 troversy has, long since, converted them into topics of 
 angry and embittered strife. At the present moment, the 
 whole church has become the arena of most unhappy con- 
 tention ; and I fear, too much is not said, when the descrip- 
 tion is extended, so far as to sketch out a moral aceldama, 
 where ministerial plumes lie dishonored; and where, to rob 
 2 
 
14 LECTURES ON 
 
 a brother of his high and holy reputation, as a servant of 
 Jesus, becomes the boasted exploit of sectarian ambition. 
 
 In undertaking to elucidate the principles of these two 
 constitutions, I enter not the lists as a combatant. They 
 fall under my cognizance in the regular discharge of offi- 
 cial duty. The systematic form of discussion, under which 
 I seek to detail my views, or to investigate the philoso- 
 phy of the constitutions referred to, may indeed require 
 many a painful allusion to the state of moral science, to 
 the present condition of the church, and to the future 
 times, whose melancholy prognostics crowd upon us so 
 thickly and rapidly; but I have no personal quarrel to 
 avenge, nor any sectarian animosities to indulge. The 
 present attempt has been induced by a peculiar interest 
 I have been led to cherish in the chapters selected. 
 
 In them, a group of most interesting facts is presented 
 to your view. A series of transactions, peculiar on account 
 of their simplicity, is related to have transpired ; and the 
 record of the whole is unencumbered with any difficult tech- 
 nicalities, unembarassed by doctrinal speculations, and un- 
 broken by sophistical argument arising from jarring sys- 
 tems: or, there is no portion of the sacred volume, which 
 we can so easily divest of these disadvantages. It forms, 
 so to speak, a field of moral inquiry, which has seldom been 
 explored. It is a part of the holy scriptures, on which a 
 lecture or a sermon is rarely heard from our pulpits. While 
 the general mind may have thus been unwarily led to over- 
 look it as unimportant, the facts and phrases will have a 
 freshness and a novelty about them, and an opportunity will 
 be afforded to look at divine things under other than the or- 
 dinary forms of illustration. Like our own beloved land, 
 which has become the welcome asylum to the advocates of 
 political liberty; who, tired of the oppression of some an- 
 cient regime, would gladly escape from the misrule of a 
 crippled, but infatuated despotism ; these chapters may af- 
 ford, to a conscientious and independent inquirer after 
 truth, a freedom of investigation, after which he in vain 
 sighed amid the subtleties and mysteries of scholastic the- 
 ology. 
 
 Let there, however, be no misunderstanding. I have 
 not said that these chapters have never been examined. 
 Use has been made of them. But commonly, they are sup- 
 posed to state certain things, which, after a course of pre- 
 vious instruction authoritatively communicated, they would 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 15 
 
 appear to state. From such an appearance, easily discovered 
 when a proper reflecting medium has been provided, those 
 things are assumed as true ; and then the various assump- 
 tions thus derived, are carried into all parts of the scrip- 
 tures, as containing the true principles of all wise and accu- 
 rate biblical exegesis. Now the question which will meet 
 you at every step, in the analysis on which we are about 
 to enter, involves the truth of those assumptions. If they 
 shall be found to be true, of course the conclusions to which 
 they lead, must be sustained : because the logical ratiocina- 
 tion by which they have been reached, is not to be refuted. 
 But if those assumptions are not true, the conclusions to 
 which they lead cannot be defended. The many new pre- 
 mises which may be afforded, must be carried through all 
 our scriptural exposition, and modify every subsequent 
 view which authority may have imposed, or education en- 
 grafted. The process is not very difficult, where candor is 
 not lacking, or where prejudices are not suffered to reign in 
 arbitrary and undisputed sway. A mind, thus furnished for 
 investigation, is as unlikely to be deceived, as it is likely to 
 acquire truth ; for its communion is with the God of truth, 
 and its appeal for wisdom is to him who "givethto all men 
 liberally, and upbraideth not." 
 
 You may, perhaps, more distinctly perceive the propriety 
 of the selection I have made, and more cheerfully submit to 
 its temporary guidance, if I should plead in its behalf the 
 example of the master himself. When the pharisees came 
 to him with a question, which much agitated the schools of 
 Sammai and Hillel, and asked, whether it was '•' lawful for a 
 man to put away his wife," he answered, " what did Moses 
 command you ?" They readily replied — "' Moses suffered to 
 give her a bill of divorcement and to put her away." True, 
 said the redeemer — " For the hardness of your heart he wrote 
 you that precept; but from the beginning of the creation 
 God made them male and female." Back to the beginning, 
 and to the records contained in these chapters, he carried 
 these disputants, when controverting a point of moral law. 
 May we not do the same? And are we not particularly, not 
 only warranted, but induced to do so, when we discover 
 from his mode of explaining apparent difficulties, wherein 
 certain things do not seem to harmonize with general and 
 original principles, that those difficulties arise from mistaking 
 the character and intention of some intervening circum- 
 stances, which were merely prudential and temporary ? The 
 
16 LECTURES ON 
 
 mosaic law was enacted by the divine lawgiver; yet it does 
 not alter the original statute, when the condition of society 
 no longer required the contemplated indulgence, and could 
 return to her primordial relations. Possibly there may be 
 some other things, besides those which are connected with 
 the subject of divorce, and about which theologians may be 
 as much divided as the two Jewish schools referred to ; and 
 in relation to which they may be equally fastidious, without 
 possessing superior information. Peradventure an appeal 
 to primeval ordinances may be as clear and satisfactory in 
 such cases, as in the precedent which has been furnished. 
 
 But can we not all perceive that in the present day, there 
 are special reasons, why a minister of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 tenderly and affectionately regarding the heritage which the 
 Lord hath given him, should undertake such a discussion, 
 and in a manner most consistent with his best judgment ? 
 We live in a singular age, when many christians act, and 
 many ministers sustain their influence, more by excitement 
 than by any thing else. It is with pain I even hint at some 
 of the meagre operations of the day. But the state of the 
 case is as I have described it, and the revulsion must be 
 felt by every intelligent mind; Is not the whole christian 
 church deeply agitated ? Are not religious communities 
 every where thrown into distraction and turmoil? The in- 
 novations that have disturbed the mahomedan imposture, — 
 the encroachments which have invaded papal misrule, — the 
 various assaults which have directed their efforts against the 
 union of church and state, — the divisions between high- 
 church and low-church, old school and new school, of 
 which multitudes talk so significantly and freely, — the out- 
 cry against sectarianism, — the breaking up and threatened 
 dissolution of old and established parties, — the warm con- 
 troversies to which voluntary associations have given rise, — 
 the social combinations which are starting up all around us, 
 and in which the restlessness of the public mind seeks to 
 expend its zeal, — this new, this high, this varied excitement, 
 which seems so little to regard ancient ordinances, and is 
 pervading the whole of our moral interests, — what means it 
 all? 
 
 Some are standing in great fearfulness, amazed at the 
 scene before them. Others are weeping, because the fathers, 
 who were so wise and good, so learned and holy, have lost 
 their influence, and are trembling for the ark itself. And 
 many are smiling with great complacency, promising to them- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 17 
 
 selves that the falsehood of Christianity shall soon be ex- 
 posed, and that the progress of light and knowledge shall 
 soon drive all priest-craft from the world. Though very 
 different in their feelings, yet are they not all alike superfi- 
 cial in their views? Are not these things too general, too 
 wide, and too broad, — have they not approached with a 
 pace too regular, and with an energy too powerful, to be 
 discarded as unworthy of candid and patient examina- 
 tion? They must have a reason, and that reason must be 
 commensurate with themselves. Some change must have 
 occurred, involving the constitution of the human mind it- 
 self, to wake up all this diversified feeling; to call forth all 
 this activity ; and so deeply to interest, not only all denomi- 
 nations of christians, but all classes of human beings. And 
 he who presides over the whole, — the mediatorial prince who 
 has foretold, from ancient times, the things which are to 
 come to pass in the latter days, must be about to accomplish 
 some glorious work. To be more particular: 
 
 In order to approach our subject by the most accessi- 
 ble avenue, permit me to ask you, why is it that the politi- 
 cal world is so much agitated? Mankind are not more quiet 
 as politicians, than they are as religionists. The fact every 
 one knows. Revolutions and changing dynasties, are too 
 frequent, succeed each other too rapidly, and are followed 
 by consequences too marked ; while their tidings spread too 
 extensively, and are met by too many responses prompt and 
 loud, not to rouse the intensest anxiety. Ought the fact to 
 be explained? Or shall we stand off wondering at the phe- 
 nomenon, weeping over the convulsion, or smiling com- 
 placently at the prospect of a catastrophe, in which all civil 
 government shall terminate its control ? Nay, you all know 
 the reason of these perplexities. Your children know it. 
 With what enthusiasm you talk about liberty! How quickly 
 your children imbibe the spirit of independence you breathe. 
 Nor only so ; but to your own revolution, as commencing a 
 new era in the political world, you ascribe the struggles of 
 the nations after free institutions. 
 
 But how came you to know all this? How does it happen 
 that you so harmoniously agree as to the identity of a gene- 
 ral cause, so mighty in its influence, so certain in its pro- 
 gress, and so varied in its results ? You have not speculated 
 at hazard. You have not theorised at random, nor reasoned 
 without premises. You sat down and carefully pondered 
 the things you heard. You respectfully listened to your 
 2* 
 
18 LECTURES Otf 
 
 statesmen, while they leisurely discussed general principles; 
 traced effects to their causes, and demonstrated the inappro- 
 priateness of ancient customs and laws. Your politicians 
 were neither ashamed nor afraid to declare what they thought. 
 They courageously met, or with manly fortitude endured, 
 the difficulties attendant on their noble enterprise ; and now, 
 when they are gone, you celebrate their deeds, imitate their 
 example, and prize as your richest inheritance, the freedom 
 they left you. 
 
 Grant to your ministers like liberty and boldness of 
 speech, listen with equal patience, and without prejudice, 
 examine with similar candor and care, and you may as readi- 
 ly comprehend the cause of all that religious excitement 
 which has occurred. The cases are parallel; for what you 
 call politics is but a branch, and a very important branch of 
 morals. The law of God, James informs us, is " the law of 
 liberty:" so that your profession calls upon you to subscribe 
 to the doctrine of liberty, in its reference to Christ's king- 
 dom. It is your privilege to be the free-men of the Lord. 
 You are forbidden to call any man master. Search then 
 and see. Are you not under the dominion of an ecclesias- 
 tical lordship, which men have claimed the right to set up ? 
 Has the question of liberty been finally and fully settled by 
 the reformers in their contest with papal infallibility ? Do 
 you live under no restrictions created by a sectarian policy, 
 which have been boldly defended ? Feel you no oppression 
 from the hand of ecclesiastical power? If you do, then may 
 you easily comprehend the reason of the present excite- 
 ment. If you do not, others do, and they have risen to com- 
 plain. It is no part of their object to undermine Christiani- 
 ty, or to decline into some of the heresies of which they 
 have been so ungenerously accused. They love their mas- 
 ter, and bless him for his word. They delight in his law 
 after the inner man, and live in intimate fellowship with 
 him as their counsellor and their Lord ; but they demand the 
 liberty wherewith he hath set them free. 
 
 It may be, that many shall still suppose that this subject 
 of moral liberty has made but little impression on the reli- 
 gious mind. And so far as I have yet stated the matter, the 
 remarks which have been offered, will, perhaps, not be felt 
 as very conclusive. Combatants on all sides, seem to be very 
 fond of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and of the ancient creeds, 
 as well as of the annual statutes, of church courts. The 
 deceptive ostentation, the dazzling magnificence of exte- 
 
Moral government. 19 
 
 rior policy, together with the show of official character, 
 make a strong appeal to the senses. There are, therefore, 
 other matters that belong to the subject of liberty, which 
 must be first settled, and the discussion of which will ele- 
 vate the human mind above the glitter and pomp of outward 
 circumstance. Or, according to the favorite maxim of the 
 creed defenders, — "noman turns against creeds, until creeds 
 turn against him," which is in other words to assert, that no 
 patriot turns against the political government of his coun- 
 try until he feels that government to oppress him ; accord- 
 ing to this maxim, the religious community will not lose 
 their admiration of ecclesiastical and sectarian control, until 
 the discussion of some previous questions shall have ele- 
 vated their moral views. But then that discussion is now 
 going on with fearful intrepidity, and ecclesiastical politi- 
 cians are trembling for the shibboleth of their party. Nor 
 must they be surprised, or feel themselves entitled to break 
 out into sarcasm and invective, because that those who are 
 outside, as well as those who are inside, of the church, are 
 deeply interested in the controversy. The matters at issue 
 involve the interest and character of the human mind. — Let 
 me explain : 
 
 On what ground may any man claim his liberty? God 
 made him free, it may be answered. But on what princi- 
 ple has his creator constructed his liberty ? Is it not on the 
 individuality of his being, or in view of his personal respon- 
 sibility ? And is not this same subject of personal responsi- 
 bility, at this very moment, under discussion every where ? 
 If then you can rob a man of his own sense of individuali- 
 ty, or make him feel so inane that he ceases to regard the 
 value of personal character; — i. e. if you can paralyze his 
 conscience, and dissipate his self esteem, then you may, by 
 mere power, call it civil or ecclesiastical as you please, pros- 
 trate his liberty. But rest assured, that in proportion as he 
 recovers the feeling of personal character, the scale will be 
 turned, and a crisis will come on, when the offensive sta- 
 tutes must be rescinded. If this be true, then the day of 
 ecclesiastical liberty has dawned, and is hastening to its 
 meridian splendors. Men may hold to their creeds if they 
 please, and talk about the value of ecclesiastical rule and 
 the impossibility of doing without it, if they choose, but 
 their hour is coming. 
 
 Take an illustration or two : Many have been resolving 
 religion into an exclusive operation of divine power. But 
 
20 LECTURES ON 
 
 now, every where, you hear the doctrine of personal re- 
 sponsibility, urged with great point and force. Such ex- 
 pressions as the following, are becoming very common : 
 "Men may be saved if they will : if they are not saved, the 
 fault is their own." And when the statement is thus une- 
 quivocally set forth, multitudes, who have lived on the faith 
 of other times, are exceedingly startled. The preacher is 
 immediately suspected of heresy, — it may be pelagianism, 
 or unitarianism, — rumor begins her " many inventions," 
 and puts forth her romantic tales; a series of heart-burnings 
 are engendered, and ministers and elders learn to tamper 
 with the conscience of their brother. It is a very curious 
 question, and worthy of consideration, — why are so many 
 old christians offended, when they hear the sinner's perdi- 
 tion ascribed to his own fault ? Do they mean to say, that 
 the fault is God's? If they do not, why are they offended ? 
 
 Politics, I have said, form a very important branch of mo- 
 rals, and involve the principles of government. The ideas 
 which men may have formed on the subject of government, 
 must be alike, whether they be applied to a divine or hu- 
 man administration. They must necessarily be so. Now 
 in the common discussions which grow out of regal pre- 
 tensions, a controversy has long been pending whether the 
 sovereignty of kings and the free- agency of the people are 
 compatible with each other? Dreary and disastrous has been 
 the experiment to which this matter has been subjected. At 
 length, among ourselves, the sovereignty of rulers has been 
 put under wholesome restrictions. The free-agency, the 
 individuality, the liberty of the people is now, in our land, 
 the popular doctrine ; and it is carrying its reforming influ- 
 ence into all parts of the world. 
 
 So it is in the christian church. The doctrine of divine 
 sovereignty has long been stated in a form which is supposed 
 to interfere with human free-agency. Religious doctrines 
 are often approached with a superstitious dread, as though 
 it were unlawful to investigate such sacred matters. But 
 the political maxims which have become established, are 
 bringing, in spite of our fastidiousness, the subtleties of the 
 schools into comparison with themselves. They cannot be 
 avoided. Demonstrate the free-agency of man, and on the 
 principle of free-agency he will reason every where. Show 
 it to him first where the light is not too brilliant for his steady 
 gaze, and after a little he will follow on to look at the same 
 thing in more splendid connexions; nor will he be re- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 21 
 
 strained by any legislative enactments which men may 
 frame. Under the government of God, are men free-agents? 
 If they are, how can this comport with the old doctrine of 
 divine sovereignty ? If they are free-agents, are they not per- 
 sonally responsible to God : and then what becomes of the ec- 
 clesiastical sovereignty of men? In whatever sense sovereign- 
 ty may be ascribed, yet are men entitled to dominion over 
 the human conscience, so far that they may make authorita- 
 tive creeds as standards of doctrine ; and erecting those 
 creeds into terms of communion, deprive a minister or a 
 christian of spiritual privileges in the community where the 
 providence of God may have located him ? 
 
 Carrying the inquiry a little further, another question 
 arises, can a man be personally responsible for that which 
 he does not possess, or for that which he cannot perform ? 
 Do the scriptures proffer to the faith of mankind, a doctrine 
 of divine sovereignty, which represents it as demanding 
 that which a man cannot render ? In political controversy, 
 the human mind has acquired other ideas of responsibility; 
 and will no attempt be made to ascertain how far those ideas 
 are compatible with our relations to the divine throne ? 
 Admitting, as every man freely must admit, the infirmities 
 of human nature ; and moreover admitting, as every biblical 
 reader freely must admit, that without a mediator we can do 
 nothing ; yet the question necessarily arises, does not divine 
 sovereignty impose its commands upon us, as being sus- 
 tained by evangelic privileges? Is it not the sovereignty of 
 a mediator of which the scriptures speak ? Are they not 
 describing the administration of "a merciful and faithful high 
 priest" seated on the throne, who, having learned obedience 
 by the things which he suffered, is regulating human con- 
 cerns with a view to the good of men ; and duly considering 
 the infirmities incident to our condition, demands nothing 
 but that which we can render? Is not his government in 
 morals precisely analogous to his government in physics, 
 in which human effort maybe most unreservedly made, with 
 a confident dependence on divine providence ? 
 
 But then are we not dead in sin ? Has not Adam's trans- 
 gession defrauded us of all moral power? Is not this 
 the condition of every man, until God makes him, in the 
 exercise of his sovereignty, spiritually alive ? While a man 
 is dead, can he be personally responsible? If God shall not 
 make him spiritually alive, can his perdition be referred to 
 his own fault ? These are the interesting questions, which. 
 
22 LECTURES ON 
 
 an age grown inquisitive by political emancipation, is ear- 
 nestly pursuing. And theologians have their hands full. 
 Adam's sin is now the grand subject of debate, and particu- 
 larly as its consequences are to be considered in reference 
 to human ability and inability. After all, the question, in 
 general terms is, whether and how each man is personally 
 responsible ? That he is so, every one is beginning to as- 
 sert ; old systems will wither, and the arm that would uphold 
 them will be paralized. The doctrines of personal respon- 
 sibility, and of human liberty, are essentially the same; and 
 as they stand connected, they are shaking to its centre 
 every ecclesiastical establishment in Christendom. If I tell 
 not the truth, believe me not. 
 
 There is another matter which, in view of our present sub- 
 ject, deserves very special consideration. In every branch 
 of science, men are very diligently engaged in making im- 
 provements. We can turn to no department of society where 
 we do not observe this fact, and all the world seems to 
 have been thrown into bustle by the literary and philosophi- 
 cal pretensions, which in all directions, are courting public 
 respect and confidence. I am fully aware that those who 
 are wise by hereditary statute, have caricatured " the march 
 of mind;" and that even ministers of the gospel affect to be 
 facetious, and try to be severely satirical, when " the signs 
 of the times" are supposed to augur great and profitable 
 changes. But after all abatement is made for the interesting 
 representations of the influential, and the oftentimes dog- 
 matic, leaders of public disputes, the change in sentiment 
 and feeling, is imperceptibly, but surely, introducing its 
 grand climacteric. 
 
 The character of the change which is so visibly arranging 
 its important preliminaries, after all, amounts merely to a 
 well meant and determined attempt to simplify that which 
 before was abstruse and mysterious. In other words, men 
 are trying to understand and explain every thing, as far as 
 their intellectual force, or their varied observation can carry 
 them. Even in your schools a very persevering effort is 
 made, to bring down the various branches of education to 
 the comprehension of the juvenile mind: nor is the process 
 finished. In every direction old theories are yielding to new 
 discoveries, and philosophers are abandoning speculation in 
 pursuit of facts. And shall nothing of a corresponding 
 character occur in morals? Shall all this intellectual expen- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 23 
 
 diture, various and enterprising as it is, accomplish nothing 
 for the gospel, and bring no tribute to the church ? 
 
 Theologians very frequently treat a reputed opponent quite 
 cavalierly, and very fiercely, but inconsiderately, revile him 
 as a heretic. On the present point they may be so disposed 
 to resist any application of the preceding remarks to their 
 own science, and proudly tell us that morals are always the 
 same. But would they arer that to be the fact, in thus stating 
 their objection ? General principles may be much the same ; 
 but then are not the principles of physics as uniformly the 
 same as those of morals ? Have sun, moon, and stars al- 
 tered their courses, or is there any thing new under the sun ? 
 Yet in relation to all the different departments of science, 
 the doctrines of philosophers have changed again and again; 
 and may not those of moralists vary with equal ease and 
 frequency? Can we maintain so improbable an idea, that 
 because the principles of the divine government are always 
 essentially the same, therefore the opinions of men, and 
 even of good men, are always accurate ? Has God himself 
 never modified his dispensations, to meet any particular 
 state of society ? Was there no difference between the 
 Jewish ceremony and the patriarchal ritual ? Does not the 
 gospel dispensation differ from both, and professedly pre- 
 sume on an increased amount of intellectual fojce, as though 
 the church had escaped from childhood, and attained to full 
 age? To say then, in the present connection, that morals 
 are always the same, is either ignorantly or sophistically, to 
 get away from the subject in hand. 
 
 But how stands the fact? Is there no room for improvement 
 in the speculative opinions which men, and good men too, 
 have promulgated in reference to religious principles ? Are 
 our theological systems so plain, that they cannot be simpli- 
 fied ; or so harmonious that no arbitrator is required ? Will any 
 enlightened man, belonging to any of the controversial par- 
 ties, undertake to say, that in every thing he alone is right? 
 Are not all the contending sects confessedly asserting mys- 
 teries? and is there no danger of being in error, when they 
 unhesitatingly admit, that in many things, the subjects of 
 tneir speculations are above their comprehension ? Then 
 again, may not their plea of mystery be the very thing that 
 betrays the necessity for investigation ? — What is a mystery? 
 The general idea, if I mistake not, is, that a mystery is a 
 certain something, in its own nature incomprehensible to hu- 
 man reason; which something is accordingly not to be de- 
 
24 LECTURES ON 
 
 fined. The doctrines concerning such points, may always 
 be matter of debate; and as no one may pretend infallibly to 
 decide what the facts concerning them are, ought we not to 
 be very cautious how we receive such things as articles of 
 faith, and exceedingly careful, to say the least, that they shall 
 not be too extensively multiplied ? Our eternal all is at 
 stake, and it is God's revelation on which we are required 
 to meditate. Shall men rudely impose upon us their notions, 
 telling us how venerable they are for their antiquity, and 
 haughtily demand our assent, or superciliously condemn our 
 hesitancy? Do they not feel that there is something exceed- 
 ingly startling and forbidding in their whole statement, 
 when they apprise us that Christianity is full of incompre- 
 hensible things? Are there really any incomprehensible 
 thino-s in the gospel, — might not some humble inquirer ask, 
 without giving any serious offence? 
 
 I know very well that I am treading on dangerous ground. 
 A thousand voices would instantly and tumultously reply, 
 the scriptures themselves speak undisguisedly of their own 
 mysteries, and it is in vain to object to their statement. 
 God forbid that I should utter one word disparaging to the 
 scriptures, or breathe the most distant suspicion of their di- 
 vine inspiration, or of their indubitable accuracy. But, per- 
 haps, by a mystery they do not mean a certain something in- 
 comprehensible to human reason. It is worth our while to 
 ascertain ; for if they should not so denominate that which 
 is incomprehensible, then the spell in which our investiga- 
 tion may be bound, is dissolved. Some few quotations in 
 which instances of their use of the term will be afforded, 
 may determine this matter, without any great dispute: take 
 the following : 
 
 " Now to him that is of power to establish you according 
 to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ according 
 to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since 
 the world began ; but now is made manifest, and by the 
 scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment 
 of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the 
 obedience of faith." * 
 
 " But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the 
 hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto 
 our glory; which none of the princes of this world knew ; 
 
 but God hath revealed them unto us by his spirit, for 
 
 the spirit searcheth all things, yea the deep things of God." t 
 * Rom. xvi. 25,26. f I Cor. ii. 7, 8, 9, 10. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 25 
 
 " Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, ac- 
 cording to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in 
 himself." * 
 
 " By revelation he made known unto me the mystery, as I 
 wrote afore in few words ; whereby when ye read, ye may 
 understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in 
 other ages was not made known unto the sons of men." t 
 
 So then mystery is a mere secret, which may be made 
 known, made manifest, revealed or uncovered. 
 
 In like manner the term is applied to human things : 
 "The mystery of iniquity doth already work. "I It is also 
 used in reference to a rite or ceremony, or emblem : "The 
 mystery of the seven stars. "§ "I will tell thee the mystery 
 of the woman and of the beast that carrieth her."|| Among 
 the heathen also, we hear of the various mysteries of their 
 false gods. Early ecclesiastical writers used the word with 
 the same signification ; and it may be found in the commu- 
 nion service of the church of England, in the same accepta- 
 tion, and in reference to the Lord's supper. 
 
 The term then, in its scriptural use, is employed as an 
 appellative of a mere secret, which may not be, for a time, 
 fully disclosed. And the advocate of incomprehensible 
 things in religion must find out some other argument to 
 justify his view. Christianity, as it is exhibited in the new 
 dispensation, instead of being full of mysteries, is intended 
 to do them away, and to bring out to light, that which had 
 been long hidden or kept secret. Supposing then, that the 
 popular systems of Christianity not only assert that there 
 are, but actually teach to us, incomprehensible things, and 
 tell us that these matters are the peculiarities of the gospel, 
 is there no room for improvement? Ought we still to main- 
 tain mysteries if the scriptures disown them ? Or shall we 
 adhere to matters as certain verities, which are in their own 
 nature incomprehensible, because that in any particular pe- 
 riod of society, or in any given state of physical or moral 
 science, they may not be explained? 
 
 But how has it happened that the term, and the thing of 
 which the term is a sign, has been so often, and so much, 
 misapplied ? How is it that so generally among ministers 
 and the pious, to say any thing against mysteries, is to be 
 guilty of the worst of heresies, if not to abandon chris- 
 
 *Eph. i. 9. f Eph. iii. 4, 5. 
 
 \ 2Thess. ii. 7. § Rev. i. 20. 
 
 || Rev. xvii. 7. 
 
26 LECTURES ON 
 
 tianity itself? One great reason unquestionably is, because 
 they certainly do hold certain things which themselves 
 cannot explain. But then, I apprehend the cause lies 
 much deeper, and is to be traced far back in the history 
 of our race. The gloomy legends which are opened up to 
 view, by an allusion to preceding ages, many are apt to re- 
 solve into one universal, all pervading cause — human de- 
 pravity. It would be folly in the highest degree, not to ad- 
 mit the existence and the potency of the reason so prompt- 
 ly assigned. But an inquisitive mind asks for something 
 more than an explanation which is so general. There 
 is a necessity to be more particular, and to look after the 
 minuter operations of secondary agents. 
 
 We are told that there were mysteries from the beginning, 
 or things which were kept secret since the world began. 
 Starting at a point so very remote, we must follow society 
 down, as it begins to expand and ramify itself, and may per- 
 haps, thus discover the object of our search. At first, all 
 the various powers of government, civil and ecclesiastical, 
 so to speak, were vested in the same individual. The prince 
 was the priest, and the priest was the prince. This state 
 of things would not only be established by a divine ordi- 
 nance, but resulted from the nature of the case. Adam 
 would be naturally looked up to as fairly entitled to all of- 
 ficial honors, and his eldest son would as readily be ac- 
 knowledged as his official heir. That particular association 
 which is now called the church, did not arise until long after, 
 when a double trial had been made of the efficiency of the 
 original system that had placed the priest on the throne, or 
 called the occupant of the throne to act as priest. This in- 
 stitution, as long as it lasted, served to typify the official 
 prerogatives of the promised mediator, who is now a priest 
 upon his throne. Of course, all government was then to 
 have been exercised on mediatorial principles; — a fact which 
 you may keep in mind, as it has an important bearing on 
 the question, whether Christ died for all men or not, and 
 decides the point whether the heathens are under mediato- 
 rial law or not. Civil government, as it was established 
 after the fall, was intended to wear an evangelic character; 
 so that all mankind were, and are, placed as much under 
 the mediatorial institute, as they had been under the original 
 law. 
 
 It is not necessary to follow society in the future devel- 
 opment and changes which it exhibits ; to notice the union 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. O^ 
 
 between church and state under the Jewish theocracy ; the 
 disruption of that union under the new dispensation ; its 
 re-establishment under Constantine ; its perpetuity to the 
 present hour, notwithstanding that nations have wept and 
 bled under its blighting influence ; nor the probable state of 
 things during the millennium, when they may revert to their 
 primordial simplicity, and when every trace of official mis- 
 rule may be obliterated from our distracted world. Enough 
 has been done to obtain a position from which to look after 
 the matter of inquiry. 
 
 In the state of things which has been described, it must 
 be evident to every one, that official men were apparently 
 entrusted with a great deal of power. The exercise of 
 power is as liable to corruption, as any thing else belonging 
 to man. A restless ambition would very soon begin to ex- 
 cogitate schemes of aggrandisement, and be dissatisfied 
 with any thing short of absolute authority. The plan of 
 operation would be covert, and its progress insidious, as 
 mankind would not readily surrender their liberties. Every 
 plausible mean, every ingenious artifice, every sophistical 
 argument would be pertinaciously employed, in order to al- 
 lay suspicion, and so secure the object. The prince, under 
 such circumstances, and with such designs, would not fail 
 to use his sacred functions, well knowing the regard which 
 men have for the holy things of the Lord, and the excite- 
 ment into which they are easily thrown by the seeming in- 
 terference of supernatural agents. The very moment that 
 religion degenerates into superstition, the multitude, by ex- 
 changing intelligence for ignorance, and becoming credu- 
 lous instead of thoughtful, are prepared for political slavery. 
 And so, on the other hand, as soon as they break their po- 
 litical fetters and learn to think, superstition flies, and a pure 
 and undeflled religion may quickly interest their feelino-s 
 and absorb their souls. Under such a revolution, "a nation 
 might be born in a day." 
 
 Laying hold of these peculiarities of human nature, 
 which a mere politician often profoundly studies, the prince, 
 in his march after power, soon learns to obtain the conquest 
 of the human mind, by appealing to its fears. A series of 
 mysteries preserved with sibylline care, and generating a set 
 of popular mystic notions, would be one of his happiest and 
 most effectual expedients. The glory of the Lord would be 
 changed into the most degenerate representations; the hu- 
 man mind would become reprobate; and a spiritual death, so 
 
28 LECTURES ON 
 
 often ascribed to Adam's sin as its single and omnipotent 
 cause, would supervene. Every thing would then be accom- 
 plished which the despotic ruler had devised ; and infatuated 
 nations would transmit to their children the very mysticism, 
 which defrauded them of intellectual power, and converted 
 them into serfs. Such I take to be the origin of the false 
 ideas of mystery that are abroad in the world, and by which 
 a sacred and accurate term has been grossly misapplied. 
 
 I would not be understood to say, that, comparatively 
 speaking, while we are in this world, and are living by faith, 
 we do not "see through a glass darkly," nor yet that there 
 are no matters hard to be understood, in that sacred volume, 
 where, as Lactantius figuratively but elegantly remarked, 
 "an elephant may swim, while a, lamb may wade." The 
 point is here : if one man, or one age — if many men or many 
 ages, be incompetent to explain a certain truth, does it fol- 
 low, that such a truth is in its own nature incomprehensible 
 to the human mind? And if we are only emerging from a 
 long period of darkness, in which kings reigned with un- 
 questioned supremacy, and monarchies as such were re- 
 puted to be of divine right; in which councils determined 
 articles of faith, and popes ruled in the temple of God as 
 the vicegerents of "the messenger of the covenant;" are 
 those matters which could not then be satisfactorily explain- 
 ed, now to be viewed as incomprehensible? Does it follow 
 that what Calvin and Luther did not understand, no one 
 else can elucidate ? Or in the multifarious effort which human 
 intellect, free and independent, is now making, are no dis- 
 coveries to be made, no new combinations to be devised, no 
 secrets to be told? If the theologian has risen to no higher 
 moral elevation than this, it is no wonder that he feels his 
 imbecility to control the commotions around him ; and piti- 
 fully SJgJlS over the disasters which fill his views by day and 
 his visions by night. Better that the church had been sup- 
 plied with ministers fresh from the circle of her own fami- 
 lies, than from theological seminaries, which thus prove 
 themselves to be but splendid deceptions. 
 
 Are not "many running to and fro, seeking after know- 
 ledge ?" Is not intelligence every where diffusing itself? 
 Have not men long been discussing human responsibilities 
 on broad, general principles ? I ask not whether any men are 
 now more learned than their predecessors, or have read and 
 written more books; but whether the mass of mankind are 
 not putting on a new intellectual character ? Children ask 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 29 
 
 their parents, who never thought beyond the dogmas of their 
 catechism, many questions which they cannot answer. And 
 these larger children, opening their eyes upon the world 
 around them, may ask their ministers, who never travelled 
 out of the periphery of their own sectarian system, many 
 questions which the word mystery will no longer answer. 
 The inquirer is not satisfied, and will not submit to rebuke. 
 Whatever may be the final issue, such is the present condi- 
 tion of society. Inquiry is advancing ; is growing impor- 
 tunate and intrepid, bold and adventurous ; and they who 
 mean to meet things as they are, and to save the world from 
 the delirious misrule of infidelity, must quit their creeds, and 
 turn to their bibles. If they will not, they may calculate 
 on consequences which will prove these present days to be 
 "but the beginning of sorrows." 
 
 We are informed by the spirit of prophecy that a day 
 of great gloiy is to dawn upon our world. That day cannot 
 be far distant. A time of tribulation may, and in all proba- 
 bility will, intervene; but "the coming of the Lord draweth 
 nigh." Is there any preparation to be made for his appear- 
 ance ? Will he do it all by his own fearful judgments, or have 
 we a part to act? Do any imagine, that the church shall re- 
 main as she now is, — broken up into parties, and distracted 
 by incessant hostilities? Shall not these sects be dissolved, 
 and some other ecclesiastical ground be marked out, where 
 brethren can meet in unity, and where the divine blessing shall 
 come down like the dew on Hermon ? Are not the various 
 parties heaving painfully, as though corroded by some mor- 
 tal disease ? The "power of life and death" has been taken 
 away; and the reputation of many a maltreated son of truth 
 is given up to be adjudicated by the world, which, like Pilate, 
 ignorant of, and unconcerned about, the technicalities of sec- 
 tarian law, can find no fault. Society at large is acquiring 
 more liberal and benevolent feelings, and care very little 
 about the distinctions which were forged in the master's 
 name, by the false philosophy of past ages. And what the 
 immediate result may be, depends very much upon the offi- 
 cial bearing of ministerial men and ecclesistical courts. 
 Their haughty mien, their demand for punctilious conformi- 
 ty, and their unrelenting animosities, will only increase the 
 difficulties, and deepen the gloom. The high concerns of 
 Christ's house, and the destinies of immortal souls must not 
 rest on the will of well disciplined partisans, or the majority 
 of votes in an ecclesiastical legislature. The day for these 
 3* 
 
30 LECTURES ON 
 
 things is gone by. A new era has commenced. It started 
 well, for benevolence was its impulse, and the dissemina- 
 tion of truth was its object. But how has the scene changed ! 
 These very benevolent institutions, appearing as purely 
 voluntary, have become apples of discord; and every heart 
 that has preserved its kind feelings, or beats with fraternal 
 love for dying men, is mourning at the altars of the Lord, 
 and is sickened by the strife. 
 
 But if such a day, as the Spirit of the Lord has predicted, 
 is really coming; if the time is at hand, and if a moral rev- 
 olution is shortly to extend the redeemer's kingdom to 
 earth's utmost bounds, how could it be otherwise than that 
 mankind should be greatly excited ? Must not old things 
 give place to new things, and pass away ? What else can 
 any man, who has not given himself up to the sensualities 
 of the scene around him, expect? What else can any man, 
 but the lover of obsolete ordinances, or the child of mere 
 animal feeling, desire ? What else can a minister, who is not 
 too superannuated to admire the energy of his children, or 
 too juvenile to understand the value of official influence, or 
 too confident to suffer even the Lord to work according to 
 his good pleasure, anticipate ? Have we never read the story 
 of the antediluvian world, the discomfiture of Pharoah's 
 host, or the tale of Jerusalem's destruction ? I protest to 
 you, that I see not how the millennium can come, without 
 such earthly doings, as those which are now surprising the 
 world. That they have come, and are in their progress, only 
 confirms my confidence in the elder brother, who, sitting as 
 Lord on the throne of glory, presides over the troubled 
 scene which his Spirit foretold. The immediate conse- 
 quences, I confess, are deeply troubling; for society seems 
 to be dissolving, and it is no wonder that "men's hearts are 
 failing them for fear." 
 
 The foregoing, and such like views, ever present them- 
 selves, when, according to the ability which the Lord hath 
 given me, I endeavor to read society. They have driven 
 me to examine the scriptures for myself. The result of the 
 investigation shall be presented to you, in the following 
 course of lectures. I approach you with no authoritative 
 creed, but offer to your judgment trains of thought which 
 have deeply interested myself. You are responsible for 
 yourselves. You have the bible in your own hands; you 
 have the intellectual spirit which God has given you ; you 
 are surrounded by the various evolutions of the times; and 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 31 
 
 you must carefully decide for yourselves. Be not intimi- 
 dated by the outcry of those who never ventured beyond 
 their catechism, and perhaps can scarcely tell you even what 
 is in that. Search, on your own responsibility, for the truth 
 as it is in Christ. I ask you to attend to no speculations 
 which rob your master of his divinity, or predicate a dignity 
 of human nature inconsistent with the indispensable neces- 
 sity for a mediator, or the gracious operations of the Spirit 
 of God. I have no sympathies with arian speculations, or 
 socinian criticism. My simple object is to declare truth 
 as I have learned it ; and all that I ask at your hands is mag- 
 nanimity enough to listen to it. And if, under the hysterical 
 excitement necessarily incident to a community full of mor- 
 bid sensibilities, this cannot be awarded, I must leave you 
 to the high judgment of conscience, which I pray God may 
 not be mistaken. 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 Of God — The Elohim — One God and one Lord. 
 
 Moses has commenced his brief sketch of the early an- 
 nals of our race, by asserting that "in the beginning God 
 made the heavens and the earth:" at least, our translators 
 have so rendered his language. To me, this declaration 
 appears as a mere truism, a self-evident fact, which no man 
 of common intellectual discernment would question. It is 
 indeed true, that some have affected to deny the existence 
 of God ; or have talked about the eternity of matter, as 
 though they really understood what they said, or whereof 
 they affirmed. But then it is equally true, that the scrip- 
 tures have remarked, "the fool hath said in his heart there 
 is no God." The apparently abstract proposition, which 
 shows itself on the face of the text, would then seem to be 
 uttered with a degree of formality altogether unnecessary. 
 Perhaps it may not be so; and my observation maybe cen- 
 sured, to say the least of it, as a mere piece of fastidious 
 criticism. The sequel will evince whether the preceding 
 
32 LECTURES ON 
 
 comment is accurate or not ; and whether, in the discussion 
 on which we are entering, it has any importance. 
 
 Certain it is, that theologians have considered the naked 
 proposition, as given to us by our translators, to be abun- 
 dantly plain, and have confidently built upon it their nu- 
 merous and conflicting systems. Having presented it to 
 their pupils or readers, they immediately proceed to dis- 
 course about God, as though the subject of which they 
 treat, were really within their reach. How many beautiful 
 and elaborate essays, detailing and illustrating the divine 
 perfections, have appeared, awaking public interest, and 
 commanding public admiration. The human mind has thus 
 been absorbed, and has wasted all its energies, in contem- 
 plating a mere abstraction. Omnipotence, omniscience, om- 
 nipresence, infinity in every direction, our moralists have 
 labored to delineate, when they would speak of their glo- 
 rious creator. The subject they have confessed to be in- 
 comprehensible, and seem to have thought that they have 
 done enough to satisfy any modest inquirer, when they have 
 stated in magniloquos phrase, that which they did not under- 
 stand. They have thrown us to the circumference of a 
 circle, and left us to traverse an eternal round. 
 
 But it may be asked, whether it is intended to deny, that 
 omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence, do belong to 
 God ? Certainly not. But I do intend to ask, what these 
 terms mean? Explain to me what omniscience is, for exam- 
 ple. It imports, some one may reply, the knowledge of all 
 things. But then again, the question may be pressed, what 
 are we to understand by all things ? And an answer, 
 stating all that theologians have labored to conceive and to 
 express, may not be so easily framed. If indeed I should 
 be referred to the heavens and the earth as the works of 
 God, which he made, which he knows, which he sustains 
 and superintends, as Moses has told us, that — "in the be- 
 ginning God made the heavens and the earth" there is then 
 no difficulty in comprehending omniscience, or any of the 
 terms which have been employed, as well as their applica- 
 tion. For then we can form our ideas of Jehovah and his 
 attributes, by those things which we know, which are within 
 the range of our perceptions, and by which he intended to 
 teach us of himself. 
 
 But have our theologians been contented with this dis- 
 play? Have they not stretched their imagination far, very 
 far, beyond these limits ; and carrying us out of our own 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 33 
 
 world, begun to descant upon illimitable space, and the in- 
 finite God filling illimitable space? And what do you know 
 now ? You have sought to rise to the contemplation of ob- 
 jects beyond mortal ken, and are presuming to traverse re- 
 gions where the great creator has furnished no guide. 
 Worlds there may be, systems of worlds there may be, 
 spreading themselves out in infinite space, or revolving 
 round the throne of God as their eternal sun; but the ques- 
 tion is what do we know about them? Who can tell what 
 God is doing in them, or among them ; or describe in what 
 manner he has revealed or manifested himself unto them? 
 Yet, ignorant as we are, these are the fields of conjecture, 
 in which mankind have been speculating about godhead. 
 Here they suppose themselves to have studied the divine 
 character with the greatest accuracy; and on abstractions, 
 of which they have in vain endeavored to form some intel- 
 ligent notions, they have erected their various systems. 
 They cannot be satisfied with discoursing about omnis- 
 cience, omnipotence or omnipresence, as these things may 
 be predicated of the world with which we are connected; 
 but, attaching to the momentous subject of God's moral 
 government all their own conjectures, and basing their 
 theories on the abstract perfections they ascribe to him, they 
 have made religion a mere tissue of most perplexing myste- 
 ries. Hence their continual controversies, which involve al- 
 most every moral principle about which the mind of man 
 can be employed, and even now seem to be no nearer their 
 termination, than when they first commenced. 
 
 To me it appears abundantly clear, that here, where 
 Moses commences his account, in the heavens and the 
 earth, or those hosts of created objects of which the human 
 mind can take cognizance, wc necessarily find our limit. 
 Beyond these we cannot go. Any attempt which may be 
 made, is a mere wasteful expenditure of intellect, and 
 ends in fruitless conjecture. Doubtless there is a great 
 deal beyond these limits ; but then it is impossible for us to 
 attain to that which has not been brought within our own 
 mental range. Even our future state of being is above our 
 comprehension, and is so represented to us in the scrip- 
 tures themselves. Paul informs us, that when he was 
 caught up into the third heavens, he "heard unspeakable 
 words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter."* And 
 John says, "it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we 
 
 *2 Cor. xii. 1—4. 
 
34 LECTURES ON 
 
 know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for 
 we shall see him as he is."* Of course then, if we are not 
 fitted to know, to see or hear, things which are unrepre- 
 sented in this material system with which our present exis- 
 tence is connected, we must form our ideas of God from 
 those views which he has afforded of himself, and must 
 speak of his attributes as he has manifested them. Every 
 thing beyond this world is mystery, i. e. is a secret to us. 
 
 It belongs not to man to perceive spirit abstractly con- 
 sidered. We cannot perceive or know, each other's spirit, 
 excepting as it is exhibited in its appropriate form, or by 
 some external act. And as God is a spirit, — so said Jesus 
 to the Samaritan woman, we cannot know him, unless he 
 shall manifest himself by and in his works, or shall assume 
 personal form. The necessity, under which we are thus 
 placed, is found in the very constitution of our nature, and 
 must exist so long as it shall belong to us to acquire our 
 ideas by means of our external senses. The divinity of 
 Jesus Christ, to use popular language, is not so irrational a 
 doctrine, nor is it so destitute of evidence to be derived 
 from the nature of things, and from the nature of man, as 
 some have confidently pretended. The real truth is, that 
 it is founded in the nature of things, and in the nature of 
 man, and therefore the scriptures have taught it. And those 
 who have defended this doctrine, have, I think, essentially 
 weakened their own argument, by basing it simply on the 
 sovereignty of God. 
 
 It is necessary to pursue this subject a little farther. How 
 can any man explain to me wisdom, goodness and power, 
 as attributes of God? Of abstract qualities the human mind 
 can form no idea. It matters not whether those qualities 
 are predicated of God, of man, or of any creature. The 
 scriptures certainly occupy this ground in undertaking to 
 teach us of God. "The heavens," they say, "declare the 
 glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handy work. 
 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night show- 
 eth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where 
 their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all 
 the earth, and their words to the end of the world."! "That 
 which may be known of God is manifest in, or among them, 
 for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things 
 of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, be- 
 ing understood by the things that are made, even his eternal 
 
 *Uohniii. 2. fPs. xix. I. 4. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 35 
 
 power and godhead, so that they are without excuse."* "He 
 left not himself without a witness, in that he did good, and 
 gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our 
 hearts with food and gladness."! Take away these external 
 exhibitions of Jehovah, in which he has, says Paul, mani- 
 fested that which may be known of him, and what philoso- 
 pher can give us any idea of God, or explain what is meant 
 by his wisdom, goodness or power? Undoubtedly there may 
 be a God, good, wise and powerful ; and he may be known, 
 loved and admired by other intellectual beings differently 
 constituted from ourselves ; but we can have no perceptions 
 of him. A blind man knows nothing of color — a deaf man 
 is utterly ignorant of sound. In like manner we must be 
 entirely unacquainted with the existence or character of 
 God, unless he be manifested to us, and in a manner suita- 
 ble to our nature. No reasonable controvertist will deny this. 
 The only alternative is blank atheism: a doctrine which the 
 psalmist tells us, none but a fool would advance ; and in 
 maintaining which, any man, Paul tells us, even the veriest 
 heathen, would be perfectly inexcusable. 
 
 If the preceding argument shall be admitted as con- 
 clusive, then the principle of a divine manifestation, i. e. of 
 God's manifesting himself to man, is conceded. The neces- 
 sity for such a manifestation is also traced, and with equal 
 clearness and certainty, to the constitution of human na- 
 ture. But if the principle, so far as it has been carried, or 
 in its application to the heavens and the earth, be correct, 
 then why may it not be equally true, if its application should 
 be extended? The test in this extended application of the 
 principle, will be the same as in its original application : i. 
 e. if the manifestation, which God made of himself in the 
 heavens and the earth, be rational and necessary, consider- 
 ing the peculiarity of the human constitution, then a further 
 manifestation of him will be equally rational, if the pecu- 
 liarity of human nature should call for it. On this sim- 
 ple view of the character of man, or of the necessity arising 
 from the constitution of his nature, must rest the whole 
 reason for the fact, and the doctrine, of the divinity of the 
 Saviour. "Such an high priest became us" — "in all things it 
 behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might 
 be a merciful and faithful high priest." 
 
 God having manifested himself to the human mind, by the 
 works of creation and providence, and that manifestation 
 
 ■ Rom. i. 19, 20. t Acts xiv. 17. 
 
36 LECTURES ON 
 
 being made in such a manner as is suited to the human 
 mind in its present mode of existence, is there no necessity 
 that the creator should proceed farther? Can the human 
 mind now be satisfied, or will it not pursue its inquiries ? Is 
 it unnatural or irrational to seek after personal intercourse, or 
 communion, with that being whose works have introduced 
 him to our acquaintance? Is it an unphilosophic thing to 
 suppose that God would make such an arrangement, as to 
 render it possible for the human mind to have a nearer and 
 more spiritual view of him ? If he should do so, would it 
 not be very desirable to us? And would not any intellectual 
 communication which he might make, be highly advantage- 
 ous? I cannot see why any fair reasoner should feel any 
 difficulty in conceding all that we have thus far asked for, 
 provided, that this personal manifestation shall not be incon- 
 sistent with the essential principles of our present mode of 
 existence. Our argument will not allow us to plead for any 
 display that shall be either above, or contrary to our na- 
 ture. 
 
 Now how stands the fact ? Has not the human mind been 
 employed and agitated by inquiries about God ? Has there 
 ever been a nation without her gods? It will not avail to 
 refer all this to priestcraft: for whence was the priesthood 
 derived? And when philosophers have abandoned, as spu- 
 rious and absurd, the religion of their fathers, or of the age 
 in which they lived, have they been able to elude the fact 
 that there is a God, or the idea of obligation to him ? Have 
 they not argued, over and over again, the nature of the 
 gods, as well as the modes and province of their operations ? 
 There is no impression more universal or uniform than 
 this, — there is a God ; nor any inference more general or 
 natural than this, — we owe him our homage, and he ought 
 to be worshipped. 
 
 The question then necessaiily arises, how shall we wor- 
 ship him ? Where shall we meet him? In what form shall 
 we address him? With what service will he be pleased? 
 Must we bow down and praise him in yonder sun, or moon, 
 or star? Is not this idolatry, at which the philosopher would 
 laugh, as well as the christian ? Shall we worship him then 
 in the great temple of nature ? And what is the temple of 
 naturefbut the whole assembly of creatures which God has 
 formed ? And this would be idolatry on a larger scale- 
 would it not ? Thus then we have reached a point where the 
 necessity of human nature betrays itself, and where a far- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 37 
 
 ther manifestation of God to man, becomes indispensable. 
 Withhold it, and mankind must either sink into the grossest 
 superstition, or be conscious of an obligation which they 
 have neither ability nor opportunity to meet. Nor is this 
 all ; but turning away from the evils of life, under the strong- 
 est desires after glory, honor and immortality, eternity be- 
 comes a blank, and they grow frantic with wild conjec- 
 ture ; or sinking into apathy, they die like the brute. The 
 necessity for a personal manifestation of Jehovah is found 
 then in the constitution of man. 
 
 Again : God is a spirit, and man has a spirit. Here then 
 is similitude. Common attributes and common principles, 
 throughout nature, lead to association. Accordingly this 
 is the very basis on which the scriptures have erected their 
 whole moral superstructure. Man, they say, was made in 
 the image of God, and the highest point of intellectual ef- 
 fort which they recommend to him, is to think, speak and 
 act like God. The God of the bible, is the God of nature, 
 and what he has written in the bible he has inscribed on na- 
 ture. Natural and revealed religion are the development of 
 the same essential moral principles. Christian philosophers 
 yield half their argument, as I believe, when they represent 
 Christianity as an original system : for the characteristics of 
 Christianity are in fact, only the modified operation of the 
 original institute. The gospel is intended, by its remedial 
 agency, to retrieve at last, when Jesus shall surrender the 
 kingdom to his Father, the disaster which has been intro- 
 duced by the fall, so far as that can be done in consistency 
 with the free-agency of man. This will be seen more dis- 
 tinctly hereafter. 
 
 I have remarked that what is written in the bible is in- 
 scribed on nature ; particularly in view of the fact that man 
 is made in the image of God. Hence we find, throughout 
 the whole history of mankind, that men are like the gods 
 whom they worship. If the gods be supposed to be sensu- 
 al, their worshippers are sensual. If the gods be cruel, their 
 worshippers are cruel. If the gods be intellectual, their 
 worshippers are intellectual. Even now, when men make 
 the world the great object of their admiration, they become 
 like it. When they contemplate the spirituality of the re- 
 deemer's character and government, they become spiritual: 
 beholding his glory they are changed into his image. The 
 denominations of christians who view God in all the benev- 
 olence which he has written in the scriptures, or carried out 
 4 
 
38 LECTURES ON 
 
 in his providence, are observed to imbibe like views ; while 
 those who think him harsh or always mysterious, go down to 
 the grave, unreconciled in their feelings, and doubtful as 
 to their destiny. Throughout their entire life the doctrines 
 of Christianity, and even the common virtues of the chris- 
 tian character, are inscrutable mysteries. This is human na- 
 ture. It cannot be otherwise. The brightest, the holiest, 
 the most philosophical idea which the human mind can 
 form, is that of resembling God. 
 
 Nor is this all. Association among human beings is 
 founded on the same principle. The child imitates his pa- 
 rent, and grows like him. The servant imitates his master, 
 and grows like him. The pupil imitates his preceptor, and 
 grows like him. The soldier imitates his commander, 
 and grows like him. The subject imitates his prince, and 
 grows like him. Whatever character a man knows to be 
 above or superior to his own. and which he at the same time 
 admires and loves, he will not fail to resemble ; and that 
 just so far as he contemplates it. That God should present 
 himself within the range of human observation, and in the 
 form best calculated to attract our notice and excite our ad- 
 miration, is the certain and only effectual method of either 
 elevating man when innocent, or restoring him when fallen. 
 I repeat it: this is human nature — both its philosophy and 
 its religion. God manifested in personal form, instead of 
 being an irrational view of the divine operations, is one of the 
 most rational in the whole range of morals. The doctrine of 
 Christ's divinity is founded in human nature, while the ex- 
 hibition of his mediatorial character is the purest display of 
 every moral excellence, which it is desirable for man to pos- 
 sess, and is exactly suited to our present state of sin and suf- 
 fering. He who is like Christ, is a holy, dignified, heavenly, 
 happy man. 
 
 In this manner, mankind have always estimated the sub- 
 ject of God. They have uniformly recognised the necessi- 
 ty for an image, from which they could derive becoming 
 ideas of the personal perfections of their creator. Moses 
 speaks with great frequency and familiarity of the divine 
 appearances, and severely censures the image worship into 
 which the nations around him had declined. All the heathen 
 have preserved these early errors ; and Paul, in his day, con- 
 demns them, not on account of the general mediatorial 
 principle in which they confided, but because they changed 
 the glory or similitude — for glory is manifested excellence — of 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 39 
 
 the incorruptible God, into an image made like to corrupti- 
 ble man, &c. The apostles have unequivocally represent- 
 ed Christ as the image of the invisible God. The later 
 errorists have gone a great deal farther, and, rushing into a 
 wretched extreme, have disgusted the intelligent, and 
 abused the ignorant, by filling their churches with pictures 
 and images. The sceptical philosopher himself, has ex- 
 pended all his vigor in his researches after some intelligible 
 idea of God, and is lost in the immensity of an inconceiva- 
 ble abstraction. 
 
 Having then shown, as I believe, the impossibility that 
 mankind should form any accurate or satisfactory idea of 
 Jehovah abstractly considered; that the constitution of hu- 
 man nature renders a. personal manifestation of God indis- 
 pensably necessary; that theologians, in attempting to lead 
 us beyond the exhibition which God has made of himself, 
 have done nothing but entertain us with their conjectures, 
 and confound us with their mysteries ; and' that of course, 
 when the proposition introduced by Moses, "in the begin- 
 ning God made the heavens and the earth," is considered as 
 the starting point for such unprofitable speculations, he 
 must be entirely misunderstood; let us proceed to inquire 
 more particularly what the sacred historian does mean. 
 
 If we now turn to the original hebrew text, we shall find 
 that a literal translation would very materially change the 
 declaration, at present under discussion. We should then 
 have the following proposition: — "In the beginning the 
 elohim made the heavens and the earth." The term Elo- 
 him is in the plural number; so that plurality is thus predi- 
 cated of the creator. How? In what sense? The inquiry 
 is important, if for no other reason, yet because it will lead 
 us away from those metaphysical abstractions, in which the- 
 ologians and philosophers have so freely indulged, when 
 speaking or writing of our general subject. 
 
 That the proposition, which is now offered, may be dis- 
 tinctly apprehended by those who have no acquaintance 
 with the hebrew language, let it be observed, that the ori- 
 ginal word which has been merely anglicised, has been fre- 
 quently rendered gods, by our translators. Thus: "God 
 doth know, that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes 
 shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, Elohim, knowing 
 good and evil."* "All the gods, Elohim, of the nations are 
 idols."! Suppose then, for the sake of illustration, and let 
 
 *Gen, iii. 5. f 1 Chron. xvi. 26. Ps. xcvi. 5. 
 
40 LECTURES ON 
 
 it be remembered that I make the supposition merely for 
 the sake of illustration, suppose that our present text should 
 be rendered thus : — "In the beginning the gods made the 
 heavens and the earth." Would not this translation very 
 materially affect the character of the mosaic proposition ? 
 
 The subject then which we have now to investigate, is 
 this: — what does Moses mean, what do the whole scriptures 
 mean, by the elohim ? For it is evident, that unless our 
 views of God be of that kind, that they can be consistently 
 expressed by a plural noun, they are not scriptural. Our 
 inquiry is manifestly of paramount importance, and we must 
 pursue it very carefully and deliberately. 
 
 But in the outset of our investigations, we shall be met 
 by the remark, that the peculiar manner in which Moses 
 speaks of God, has been often observed before ; and that the 
 fact has been as often confidently urged as a strong argument 
 in favor of the doctrine of a divine trinity. This plea is 
 not to be denied. But then the question starts up before 
 us, what do theologians mean by trinity ? The word is not 
 scriptural. None of the prophets, none of the apostles, have 
 used it. It is not to be found, even in the apocryphal 
 books. What then shall we understand by the term, or 
 what is the doctrine which it is intended to express. 
 
 Have not our theologians, in using the fact to which we 
 are now adverting, doubly perplexed moral science? Have 
 they not, instead of leaving us to the contemplation of one 
 inconceivable abstraction, absolutely given us three abstrac- 
 tions ? Have they not taught us that there are three omnis- 
 cient, omnipresent, omnipotent persons? And yet have 
 they not resolutely maintained that there is but one God? 
 Now we are compelled again to inquire, what is meant by 
 the term person ? Like trinity, it is not a scriptural word, ex- 
 cepting that our translators have so rendered a greek term, 
 occurring in the epistle to the hebrews, * which same term, 
 they themselves have rendered differently, and in the same 
 epistle.t But our translators, it is to be remembered, were 
 advocates of this doctrine, that there are three persons in the 
 godhead, and they have attached to the term the meaning 
 which was ascribed to it after the council of Nice. 
 
 The question returns upon us, what do theologians mean 
 by the word person ? They do not mean to say, that there 
 are three distinct beings, for that would make three Gods. 
 Neither do they use the term, as it is employed, when we 
 
 *ch. i. 3. |ch. xi. t. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 41 
 
 speak of a. man; for that would make three distinct beings, 
 and of course three Gods. But they find personal attributes 
 and operations ascribed in the scriptures to the Father; in 
 like manner they find them ascribed to the Son and to the 
 Holy Ghost ; and hence they infer, that there is a distinction 
 in the divine essence: which distinction they cannot ex- 
 press by any better term than person, while yet they pro- 
 fess to have no clear or well defined idea of its import; and 
 having thus expressed their doctrine, in woids which they 
 acknowledge themselves unable to explain, they give up the 
 whole matter as an incomprehensible mystery. 
 
 One of their late writers has thus expressed himself on 
 this subject : "Of the precise import of the term personality, 
 as applied to a distinction in the divine essence, or of the 
 peculiar nature and mode of that distinction, I shall not 
 presume to attempt conveying to your minds, any clear con- 
 ception. I cannot impart to you what I do not possess my- 
 self; — and convinced as I am, that such conception cannot be 
 attained by any, it had been well, I think, if such attempts 
 at explanation by comparisons from nature and otherwise, 
 had never been made. They have afforded to the enemies 
 of the doctrine, much unnecessary occasion for burlesque 
 and blasphemy."* Even Augustin himself, one of the most 
 distinguished of the latin fathers, and who took a very ac- 
 tive part in the discussions on this subject, which belonged 
 to his age, considered the phrase three persons, not as be- 
 ing precisely accurate, but merely preferable to silence. He 
 viewed the subject as above human comprehension, and 
 therefore did not know how to speak about it. Thus it is 
 estimated at the present day: and those who are not satis- 
 fied with the representations which are made, are afraid to 
 touch it, or find a very convenient escape under the gen- 
 eral impression, that the whole matter is an inscrutable mys- 
 tery. 
 
 I know of no ecclesiastical matter, whose history exhibits 
 more distracting anxieties among divines, or more of that 
 kind of speculation, which men pursue under the guidance of 
 false philosophy while the scriptures themselves are forgot- 
 ten, than this very controversy about the trinity. I have time 
 to state but a few general facts. 
 
 This controversy appears to have followed the introduc- 
 tion of the grecian philosophy into the church, in the se~ 
 cond century; and though various heresies were started, yet 
 
 *Wardlaw's Discourses, pp. 10, 11. 
 4* 
 
42 LECTURES OX 
 
 the christian doctors in general, down to the fourth cen- 
 tury, appear to have "entertained different sentiments upon 
 the subject"' of godhead, "without giving the least offence ; 
 and discoursed variously concerning the distinctions be- 
 tween Father, Son and Holy Ghost, each one following 
 his respective opinion with the utmost liberty.'' 
 
 In the third century, Noetus of Smyrna, '"'an obscure 
 man,'' taught that the supreme God united himself to the 
 man Christ, and was born and crucified with him. He and 
 his followers were hence called patripassians, as they main- 
 tained that the Father of the universe died for the sins of 
 men. Their idea does not appear to have been entirely 
 thrown out of the church to this day, for we often hear of a 
 suffering, expiring, rising God. 
 
 About the middle of the same century, Sabellius appear- 
 ed, and maintained that "a certain energy only, proceeding 
 from the supreme parent, or a certain portion of the divine 
 nature, was united to the Son of God, the man Jesus; and 
 he considered, in the same manner, the Holy Ghost, as a 
 portion of the everlasting Father." 
 
 While the doctrine of Sabellius was frequently con- 
 demned, the church, so far as any general facts can be stated, 
 appears to have been divided in sentiment, even when a for- 
 mal decision was attempted. In the east the trinity was ex- 
 plained as being one essence and three substances : and in the 
 west as one substance and three persons. 
 
 At last a crisis occurred. Alexander, bishop of Alexan- 
 dria, "on a certain time, in presence of the priests that 
 were under him, and the rest of the clergy," as Socrates in- 
 forms us, began to discourse somewhat "more curiously of 
 the holy trinity and the unity to be in the trinity. Arius 
 then being one of the priests placed in order under him, a 
 man very skilful in the subtleties of sophistical logic, sus- 
 pecting the bishop to have brought into the church the er- 
 roneous doctrine of Sabellius the africk, and being kindled 
 with the desire of contention, set himself opposite against 
 the opinions of Sabellius the africk, and as it seemed di- 
 rectly against the allegations of the bishop." Then an ec- 
 clesiastical war was commenced; the whole church was 
 thrown into fearful commotion; council after council was 
 called; the civil arm was employed; creed after creed was 
 framed ; and from that day to this, we have the doctrine of 
 the three persons on the one hand, or that of Arius and its 
 consequences, on the other. So then on both sides, the con- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 43 
 
 trovertists trace their origin to the fourth century, and their 
 unceasing strife is as fair a comment as could be desired, on 
 the value of creeds and confessions of faith. In this review, 
 unitarianism can boast but little; for the most part she is 
 shorn even of the little glory that Arius left her. 
 
 It is really painful to read the account, given of those 
 times by Hilary, who was perfectly familiar with their con- 
 tentions, and whose authority is not to be disputed. Thus 
 he writes — "It is a thing equally deplorable and dangerous, 
 that there are as many creeds as there are opinions among 
 men ; as many doctrines as inclinations ; and as many sour- 
 ces of blasphemy as there are faults among us ; because we 
 
 MAKE CREEDS ARBITRARILY, AND EXPLAIN THEM AS ARBITRA- 
 RILY. And as there is but one faith, so there is but one 
 only God, one Lord, and one baptism. We renounce this 
 one faith, when we make so many different creeds ; and that 
 diversity is the reason why we have no true faith among us. 
 
 We CANNOT BE IGNORANT, THAT SINCE THE COUNCIL OF 
 
 Nice, we have done nothing but make creeds. And 
 while we fight against words, litigate about new questions, 
 dispute about equivocal terms, complain of authors, that 
 every one may make his own party triumph; while we can- 
 not agree, while we anathemalize one another, there is 
 hardly one that adheres to Jesus Christ. What change 
 was there not in the creed last year ! The first council or- 
 dained a silence upon the homoousion ; the second estab- 
 lished it, and would have us speak; the third excuses the 
 fathers of the council, and pretends they took the word 
 ousia simply: the fourth condemns them, instead of excus- 
 ing them. With respect to the likeness of the Son of God 
 to the Father, which is the faith of our deplorable times, they 
 dispute whether he is like in whole or in part. These are 
 rare folks to unravel the secrets of heaven. Nevertheless 
 it is for these creeds, about invisible mysteries, that we ca- 
 lumniate one another, and for our belief in God. We make 
 creeds every year; nay every moon we repent of what we 
 have done, we defend those that repent, we anathematize 
 those that we defended. So we condemn either the doc- 
 trine of others, in ourselves, or our own in that of others ; 
 and reciprocally tearing one another to pieces, we have been 
 the cause of each other's ruin." Such is Hilary's account 
 of those deplorable times, whence the contending parties 
 on the subject of trinity derive their doctrines; and of those 
 mighty men, after whose failure to explain this abstruse mat- 
 
44 LECTURES ON 
 
 ter, no man can ever be supposed to have either mind or 
 grace enough to succeed. 
 
 I object then to the popular doctrine on this subject, be- 
 cause the terms in which it is expressed are not scriptural : 
 because they came into the church long after the apostles 
 had gone to their rest, and are the technicalities of a most 
 degenerate and contentious age ; because they required 
 more synodical force and civil authority to bring them into 
 the church, than can now be obtained to keep them there ; 
 because no man can even pretend to explain them; because 
 they never have done any thing but engender strife, and pre- 
 vent the lover of the Son of God from understanding his 
 gospel; and because we are explicitly commanded to speak 
 the things which "are freely given to us of God, not in the 
 words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy 
 Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual."* 
 
 Objecting to these terms and phrases, for the reasons which 
 have been stated, I propose to throw them all aside, and to 
 examine the scriptures, on this subject, for myself. Can 
 any of my brethren condemn my purpose ? Why should I 
 not see truth with my own eyes? Will God refuse to give 
 grace and wisdom to a man, who honestly intends to "search 
 the scriptures" for himself? Or is it impossible for a pray- 
 erful student to acquire a knowledge of God from the bible, 
 when God is revealed in the bible ? I apprehend that there 
 must be some mistake about this matter; and that the idea 
 of an inscrutable mystery has alarmed us all, by a great deal 
 too much. Is it not a humiliating thing that we should be 
 speaking of God in unintelligible language, and when we 
 see so many driven from the altars of our master by this 
 very fact ? Brethren, I must examine this subject, if in the 
 end I fail. But I address myself to the task with a manly, 
 yet humble, confidence, that I shall not be disappointed. 
 
 The question returns upon us — what does Moses mean 
 by the Elohim ? Let us carefully and patiently pursue this 
 inquiry. 
 
 In the progress of ages, terms not unfrequently change 
 their import entirely; and even when they do not, yet their 
 illustration may be very much modified by a new combina- 
 tion of circumstances to which they may be applied. It is 
 therefore one of the best methods of ascertaining the force 
 of any term, which a writer may use in any particular age, to 
 consider whether that term had any special import or refer- 
 
 *1 Cor. ii. 12, 13. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 45 
 
 ence in the age in which he lived. Moses appears in his 
 official character and relations, in writing this history. We 
 find him as the great old testament apostle, commissioned 
 to establish the Jewish commonwealth ; a measure, on which 
 Jehovah had resolved for particular reasons. The object for 
 which he wrote, may throw a great deal of light on the terms 
 he employs. And as he thought a brief history of the pre- 
 ceding state of the world to be necessary to accomplish the 
 end he had in view, perhaps the general facts which he re- 
 cords may be equally relevant, in our present researches. 
 
 By referring to his account, we find that Cain and Abel, 
 a few years after the fall, are introduced to our notice. 
 Cain is represented as being exceedingly offended — perhaps 
 because, for some misconduct, he had been despoiled of his 
 birthright, and disrobed of his official honors, as his father's 
 successor. The scriptural facts and comments certainly 
 place the character of Abel in bold relief, and show that 
 Cain was a dishonored, and a dishonorable, man. He resents 
 the affront by murdering his brother, and finally departs from 
 the presence of the Lord, to dwell in the land of Nod. His 
 going out from the prestnce of the Lord, is a very peculiar 
 phrase, and imports, as might be readily shown, his aban- 
 donment of the ecclesiastical establishment which God had 
 erected, when he placed the cherubim of glory in a taberna- 
 cle, at the east end of the garden of Eden. The service 
 required by the law of this mediatorial dispensation, it is 
 very evident from the story, he had first despised or corrupt- 
 ed. His departure to the land of Nod, was then a virtual, 
 if not a malignant, rejection of the ritual which had been 
 given to his father. In other words, he denied the doctrine, 
 and disowned his allegiance to the authority, of the media- 
 tor. After Abel's muider, and Cain's apostacy, Seth be- 
 comes his father's official heir. From him proceeds a race 
 of official men, known in the history, as the sons of God. 
 These sons of God, in process of time, so far lose their in- 
 tegrity as to marry the daughters of men, or the daughters 
 of Cain. The result was official infidelity, and most lament- 
 able degeneracy. At last Noah stands alone as officially 
 righteous; and Jehovah, entering into covenant with him, 
 brings the flood upon the earth. The crime of the antedi- 
 luvian age appears, then, to have been the rejection of the 
 mediator, — it was infidelity. 
 
 The mediatorial constitution was renewed in Noah, and 
 a further promise was given that the Lord would not again 
 
46 LECTURES ON 
 
 curse the ground any more for man's sake. But then man- 
 kind corrupted their way a second time before the Lord : and 
 though their crime was not precisely the same with the an- 
 tediluvian rebellion, yet it was so fearful in its character, 
 and so degrading and desolating in its consequences, that 
 something must be done, or truth would be driven from the 
 earth. They did not deny, but they corrupted the mediato- 
 rial institute. They changed the glory of the incorruptible 
 God into an image made like unto corruptible man. They 
 did not sink into sheer infidelity, but they declined into 
 idolatry. And it was, in order to counteract this state of 
 things, or to preserve the knowledge of God as revealed in 
 the mediator, that. Jehovah entered upon that new and 
 peculiar course of legislation, which is called, in the scrip- 
 tures, the mystery of his will : and which commenced with 
 the call of Abraham from the midst of his idolatrous family. 
 To carry out this general benevolent purpose, his descend- 
 ants were first elected, as the gentiles were afterwards. It 
 is in this very connexion that Moses receives his com- 
 mission. He was sent to bring the children of Abraham 
 from Egypt, and to conduct them to their official station in 
 the land of Canaan, as the elect of the Lord. Of course then, 
 it was the specific object for which Moses was consecrated, 
 and the nation was chosen, to proclaim the knowledge of 
 the true God, in opposition to the polytheism into which the 
 world had fallen. "The law was added because of corrup- 
 tion .-. 
 
 There is not the least indistinctness in the conclusion we 
 have reached. Moses never loses sight of his object, but 
 most solemnly and emphatically charges the people respect- 
 ing it. — 'Hear, O Israel. Jehovah, our elohim, is one Je- 
 hovah."! In this connexion then, we must consider and 
 explain the term, after whose scriptural import we are in- 
 quiring. 
 
 Observe, Moses says — our elohim! Were there any 
 other elohim 1 . Yes: many, very many. The gods of the 
 heathen, which were innumerable, were called elohim : — "all 
 the elohim of the nations," says the psalmist, "are idols." 
 And this is the contrast which Closes would present; — "Je- 
 hovah, our elohim is one Jehovah," or God: the elohim of 
 the nations are many gods. 
 
 But more than this : the nations imagined that there was 
 "a great universal father, himself one and many," and that 
 
 •Gal. iii. 19. fDuet. vi. 4. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 47 
 
 from him "a divine emanation proceeded; who, assuming 
 the form of a man, has descended from heaven for the pur- 
 pose of reforming and instructing and reconciling the hu- 
 man race. Nor, according to the speculations of the gen- 
 tiles, has this descent been accomplished once only : on the 
 contrary it has often been accomplished, and at each de- 
 scent, the emanation is in some sort esteemed a new per- 
 son, and is distinguished by a new title. This is paganism 
 as explained and received throughout the east; and to this 
 day prevails among the Hindoos."* Thus then elohim, 
 among these idolaters, included many gods, and many ema- 
 nations, descending in the form of man, for mediatorial 
 purposes: but our elohim, says Moses, is only one God. 
 
 Why then did Moses use the term elohim at all ? Would 
 it not, instead of counteracting idolatry, rather countenance 
 and perpetuate it ? Or does he intend to convey the idea 
 of a divine emanation, proceeding from heaven, and assum- 
 ing the form of a man, for mediatorial purposes? Or if the 
 term emanation is altogether unscriptural, and entirely dis- 
 proportioned to the magnitude of the subject, did he design 
 to teach any analogous doctrine ? It evidently appears, that 
 the idea of" plurality, in some form or other, is to be predica- 
 ted of God, or the word could not have any other than an 
 injurious tendency ; as all the idolatrous nations most abun- 
 dantly testify, by the use they have made of it. Could Mo- 
 ses then jeopard so carelessly the character of the dispen- 
 sation he was commissioned to introduce ? While he 
 was professedly condemning polytheism, could he so incon- 
 siderately establish it among his own people ? Or was it im- 
 possible for him to impart the knowledge of the true God, 
 and give a detailed account of the works of Jehovah, with- 
 out making this representation ? Is it then necessarily true, 
 that there has been an emanation from Jehovah, or some- 
 thing analagous to it, appearing among men, and in the 
 form of man ! I see not how an affirmative answer can be 
 avoided. On the contrary, if we proceed with Moses, in 
 his history, we shall find that he actually, unequivocally, and 
 more than once, states the fact, that God did appear in the 
 likeness of man. Read the short sketches he has given of 
 Abraham's life and of Jacob's life.! There is no escape from 
 a testimony, which is so clear and explicit. And if there 
 can be no escape, then in the fact of a divine manifestation 
 
 *Faber's, Three Dis. vol. 2, p. 395. 
 t Gen. xviii. 1—33 ; xxxii. 24—32. 
 
48 LECTURES ON 
 
 unto men, we have the reason for the use of the plural noun 
 elohim, and its various adjuncts. From the nature of the 
 case, this ancient apostle could not speak in any other way ; 
 and the doctrine, which the phraseology implies, was indis- 
 pensably necessary, both to correct the aberrations into 
 which idolaters had fallen, and to announce to mankind the 
 
 ONE JEHOVAH. 
 
 The foregoing argument may be illustrated and confirm- 
 ed, if we call up a similar representation made by the apos- 
 tle Paul, in his first epistle to the Corinthians. Like Moses, 
 he had occasion to condemn the idolatry around him, and 
 to oppose to it the' revelation of the true God which had 
 been made. In arguing on the propriety of eating meat, 
 offered in sacrifice to idols, he remarks: "There be gods 
 many, and lords many : But to us there is but one God, the 
 Father, of whom are all things, and we in him ; and one Lord 
 Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. " # As 
 though he had said, — "The heathen have many gods; and 
 many lords, proceeding from them in the likeness of men ; 
 but we have only one God, and one Lord proceeding from 
 him — thk lord from heaven, in the likeness of man. "t Is 
 this not the plain and evident meaning of what he has said ? 
 
 It might, in reading this passage hastily, or for sectarian 
 purposes, be imagined that the apostle had no intention to 
 represent Jesus Christ as any thing more than a mere man. 
 But where would then be the point of the contrast? The 
 heathen did not think their lords to be mere men, but con- 
 sidered them to be emanations from the gods ; which, having 
 accomplished the object of their descent, returned and were 
 reabsorbed in deity. This is the doctrine which Paul was 
 opposing. What then would an ingenuous heathen under- 
 stand him to mean by the one Lord Jesus, but one emana- 
 tion from the one God, and the only one that could be ac- 
 knowledged ? Here then we have Moses and Paul in the 
 same attitude. Though they lived in very different ages, 
 and were official men under very different dispensations, 
 yet they state precisely the same moral problem. Moses 
 sa y S — "Jehovah our elohim is one Jehovah," and records 
 the fact of his appearing in the likeness of a man : and Paul 
 sa y S — " W e have one God,, even the Father, and one Lord 
 Jesus Christ," who did appear in the fashion of man, and 
 denominates him the lord from heaven ; and all this too 
 in an argument against idolatry. Evidently this Lord of 
 
 * Ch. viii. 5, 6. 1 1 Cor. xv. 47. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 49 
 
 whom Paul speaks, belongs to the elohim of which Moses 
 speaks ; and in both cases there is but one jehovah : — one 
 god, of whom are all things, the heavens and earth and all 
 their host, and we in him ; and one lord, by whom are all 
 things, the heavens and earth and all their host, and we by 
 him. The two inspired writers give us the very same ideas. 
 Our discussion then, conducted thus far, has enabled us 
 distinctly to perceive that the scriptural representation of 
 Jehovah, offers to our consideration one God and one 
 Lord. Such has been the biblical fact from the beginning; 
 and such it is now ; — equally characteristic of creation and 
 redemption. Would it not be difficult, nay impossible, to 
 express the whole of this fact, without plural nouns, pro- 
 nouns, verbs and adjectives? Is there any alternative, ex- 
 cept it shall be to employ more nouns than one, and say, 
 God and Lord, or Jehovah and Word or Voice? Such is in 
 truth the proper use of the plural form of a word ; it saves 
 repetition, and would never be more commonly employed, 
 than in an infantile state of society and of language, when 
 words could not be very numerous, and distinctions could 
 not be very minute. 
 
 But when the fact is thus ascertained, that the scriptures 
 speak so freely of God and Lord, and when the necessity for 
 plural words so immediately follows, what inference shall 
 we draw? Are there then two Gods equal to each other; 
 or one supreme God, and another subordinate God ? By no 
 means, all the inspired writers would reply. There is no 
 truth about wiiich they are more positive, than that there is 
 but one God ; nor any in which reason would more prompt- 
 ly or entirely sustain them. Polytheism too, as it has exist- 
 ed in the world, has ever given the rein to the most licen- 
 tious fancy, degraded the individual character, and desolated 
 the social joys, of man. It has been the very desecration of 
 the human spirit, in the temple where Jehovah has called it 
 to minister to his glory. 
 
 But what shall we do with this scriptural exhibition of 
 our creator? Can any doctrine of trinity be more perplex- 
 ing than this duality which is thus demonstrably asserted 
 in the bible ? God, Word, and Spirit, are not more embar 
 rassing to the philosophic moralist, in view of the unity of 
 God, than God and Word, or Father and Son, are : nor would 
 it be more easy to explain the one form of expression than 
 the other, on any received hypothesis. To say that there 
 
 5 
 
50 LECTURES ON 
 
 are two persons in one case, or three persons in the other, is 
 only to change the terms and keep the difficulty. 
 
 Let it be remembered, that in human nature itself there is 
 a necessity for a manifestation of Jehovah in personal form, 
 if the preceding argument be at all accurate or conclusive. 
 If man cannot perceive spirit, abstractedly considered, and 
 if God be, in and of himself, a spirit, then either God must 
 manifest himself to us, or we must remain entirely ignorant 
 of him. Suppose then that Jehovah should manifest him- 
 self in personal form, according to the condition of our na- 
 ture, would we not speak of him as God, and God manifest- 
 ed! In this second view, would there be any impropriety 
 in the application of a term, or a title, which would express 
 the object of that manifestation, or the relation in which Je- 
 hovah would consequently stand to us ? Suppose that term, 
 or title, should be Lord : — would there be any impropriety 
 in the phrase God and Lord? Would the phrase imply that 
 there are two gods, or two persons in god head ? Would 
 there be any thing difficult or abstruse about such a use of 
 terms, under such circumstances ? Is it not precisely what 
 our nature calls for? And to our view, who are informed that 
 God is a spirit, would it not create all the distinction, which, 
 after all, we can perceive ? 
 
 Suppose still farther, that amid the many philosophic or 
 religious errors, which have been taught in the world, it 
 should have been maintained, that there had been many such 
 manifestations, and that these had been proclaimed to us as 
 so many different lords; would it not be a needful admoni- 
 tion to us, that there is but one God and one Lord; — one 
 infinite spirit, and one glorious manifestation of that spirit ? 
 Certain it is, whether the explanatory suggestion, just made, 
 be correct or not, it contains the very thing that human be- 
 ings need, and expresses those very peculiarities which are 
 ascribed to the Lord. He does come to manifest God unto 
 us; and on the principles of law which he thus announces, 
 are we governed. He is an image of God to us: he is our 
 king. Under these two distinct views is he continually repre- 
 sented, in both the old and new testaments. Beyond this 
 manifestation of Jehovah we cannot go. Immediately, on 
 making an attempt, we launch into the region of pure spi- 
 rit, which we are not competent to perceive or to know. 
 Beyond the law, thus derived, we have no duties : and any 
 discussion of moral obligation, which would carry us above 
 the administration of this enthroned Lord, would plunge us 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 51 
 
 into mystery, and leave us to perish amid our own vain con- 
 jectures, and superstitious apprehensions. 
 
 Thus far, it appears to me, that our way is clear, and the 
 explanation distinct and unobjectionable. If any thing is 
 supposed to have been left unnoticed, or not to have been 
 exhibited with sufficient variety of illustration, let it not be 
 forgotten, that I have merely commenced the discussion, 
 and given the particulars of the subject in their own order, 
 as they have been suggested by the progress that has been 
 made. Here then I pause for the present. 
 
 May God give us wisdom in all things, and finally bring 
 us to his heavenly glory, that we may see him as he is. 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 Voice or Word. — Word made flesh. — Two-fold manifestation 
 of God. 
 
 ,Some have maintained, that, in the mosaic system, no- 
 thing can be found that could have been designed to exhi- 
 bit in its purity, the doctrine of a Messiah, or even to pre- 
 serve it at all. This position is one of the most inaccurate, 
 not to say inconsiderate, premises, which a philosophic 
 moralist could advance. It has already been shown, that 
 both natural and revealed religion, as they have been distin- 
 guished, are based upon the constitution of human nature; 
 and that therefore the doctrine of one God and one Lord 
 is essentially characteristic of both. Mankind can have no 
 other idea of Jehovah, and never have attempted to advance 
 any other, without winding up their speculations, either in 
 sheer infidelity or fulsome idolatry. In fact Moses appear- 
 ed in the midst of a period, when the world had lapsed into 
 idol worship; and was professedly engaged in erecting a sys- 
 tem, designed to restore to the earth the knowledge of the 
 true God ; i. e. of one God and one Lord. Hence he uses the 
 plural noun elohim. And though, in common with other 
 official agents whom heaven has employed to proclaim to 
 us the truth, he states a double view even of this doctrine of 
 Jehovah, as shall presently be evinced ; yet, while his legal 
 ceconomy rests on the primary idea of God, as known from 
 the beginning, and as stated in these three chapters, his 
 
52 LECTURES ON 
 
 whole system was expressly intended to lead the people to 
 the Messiah. "The law," says Paul, "was our school- 
 master, to bring us unto Christ;"* i. e. Moses was officially 
 occupied in teaching to mankind the elementary principle of 
 God's moral government among men, on purpose to con- 
 vince them of the necessity for its mediatorial application. 
 Or, showing the peculiar character of the original manifes- 
 tation, which God had made of himself, he intended, or Je- 
 hovah intended by him, to prepare the human mind for an- 
 other manifestation in the flesh ; which is the sum and sub- 
 stance of the mediatorial scheme. 
 
 There may be some apparent novelty in the preceding 
 statement. The idea of a double manifestation of Jehovah 
 in personal form, may at first sight, seem to be, at least, ex- 
 ceedingly equivocal. Yet the fact exists, and is clearly 
 stated in the scriptures. It has been overlooked, and a 
 great deal of consequent confusion has resulted, both in the 
 general interpretation of the scriptures, and on the subject 
 of the trinity. For, as has already been remarked, Chris- 
 tianity has been represented as an original system ; the 
 remedial principle has not been clearly exhibited ; the argu- 
 ment on the subject of Christ's divinity has been very 
 defective, and the analogies of nature command little 
 confidence. But on this point, something more is neces- 
 sary than mere assertion. I then resume the analysis, and, 
 returning to the records with which Moses has furnished us, 
 call your attention to a particular circumstance which he 
 has stated, and to its general illustration. 
 
 In the third chapter, speaking of Adam and Eve, af- 
 ter they had eaten the forbidden fruit, he remarks — "They 
 heard the Voice of the Lord God," — Jehovah Elohim, it is 
 in the original hebrew — "walking in the garden in the cool 
 
 » to to 
 
 of the day."t The question naturally arises, what does 
 Moses mean by "the voice of Jehovah elohim?" — 
 And to many, it may seem to be a question that can be very 
 easily answered. But perhaps they may not have attended 
 to it very closely, and may not be aware of its general bear- 
 ing on the moral government of God. 
 
 Faber, in his Horae Mosaicae, and in his treatise on the 
 three dispensations, considers the being, thus manifested, to 
 have been "the anthropomorphic Word ;" or a corporeal man- 
 ifestation of Jehovah— the only begotten Son in human form. 
 
 •Gal. iii. 24. t Gen. iii. 8. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 53 
 
 Mr. Scott remarks on the place — "Some visible tokens of 
 the Lord's presence, perhaps in human form, seem here in- 
 timated, of which we shall hereafter find undeniable instan- 
 ces ; and which should be considered as anticipations of 
 his incarnation, who is called the Word of God, though the 
 word rendered walking may be referred to the voice, and 
 not to the Lord." 
 
 There is evidently a great deal of indistinctness in the 
 preceding statements. Perhaps, says Mr. Scott, in hu- 
 man form. Mr. Faber has the very same impression ; the 
 only begotten son in human form, he says, but leaves 
 the whole matter as a very obscure thing. 
 
 Now, it appears to me, that the first difficulty with which 
 we meet, in an investigation like the present, will be the 
 cause of all the other difficulties which may follow : and that 
 our great effort should be, to remove from our way, that 
 which first involved us in embarrassment. I therefore de- 
 ny, that the Voice of Jehovah Elohim, which Adam and Eve 
 heard walking in the garden, was the "anthropomorphic 
 Word" — the only begotten Son in human form — or the Lord's 
 presence in human form. I may be considered to be ex- 
 ceedingly adventurous ; but the following argument requires 
 that I should take this stand. Let my reasons be carefully 
 examined. They are the following : 
 
 1. Whatever the Voice of Jehovah Elohim was, it was 
 something with which Adam and Eve were quite familiar. 
 They knew this Voice when they heard his approach, and 
 betrayed no fear, but that which necessarily arose from their 
 knowledge of his character. On the contrary Adam says, — 
 "I heard thy Voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because 
 I was naked." He then knew the Voice of Jehovah Elohim, 
 and the reason of his fear was, simply that he was naked. 
 Under other circumstances he would not have been afraid. 
 
 In like manner, the Voice of Jehovah Elohim, refers to 
 previous intercourse, or to former occasions when he had 
 appeared. "Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I com- 
 manded thee that thou shouldst not eat ?" To which Adam 
 replies, — "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, 
 she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." 
 
 If then by the Voice of the Lord we are here to under- 
 stand the anthropomorphic word, or an appearance in anti- 
 cipation of his incarnation, it will certainly follow that every 
 previous appearance was perfectly similar in its character. 
 The creator, as such, was then not revealed or manifested in 
 5* 
 
54 LECTURES ON 
 
 personal form, to Adam at all, on this hypothesis ; nor was 
 there any manifestation, which would have corresponded 
 with his unsinning obedience to the law. As a matter of 
 course, he must fall, and so one half of the divine consti- 
 tution is left entirely out of view. For, supposing that 
 Adam had kept the law, would there have been no personal 
 intercourse between him and his maker? Or would that in- 
 tercourse have rested on mediatorial principles ? Most as- 
 suredly then, there must have been a distinct manifestation 
 which Jehovah made of himself to our first parents, and 
 which was suitable to*their condition in their original proba- 
 tion. And when Moses undertakes to give an historical 
 sketch of these early transactions, his reference must be to 
 that first manifestation ; nor could any thing be known of 
 the second, until the promise of "the seed of the woman" 
 was given. Any other exposition would be a mere supra- 
 lapsarian subterfuge, which would involve the divine pro- 
 ceedings in the grossest inconsistency. 
 
 2. The supposition, that by the Voice of God we are to 
 understand the anthropomorphic Word, i. e. an appearance in 
 anticipation of his coming in the flesh, would be a burlesque 
 on the judicial character he assumes. For such an appear- 
 ance would proceed upon the fact that Adam had sinned : 
 whereas that was the question to be tried. "Who told thee," 
 said the Lord, "that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of 
 the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not 
 eat?" These hasty judgments, these decrees of condem- 
 nation, laid up amid the councils of eternity, from which 
 there is no escape, and of which we hear so much, may suit 
 the abstractions of sectarian theologians ; but belong not to 
 the judicial policy which the scriptures have acknowledged. 
 God does nothing on arbitrary principles; nor does he gov- 
 ern us by laws, or condemn us by sentences, which are be- 
 yond our comprehension. The very reason, why he mani- 
 fests himself in personal form, is, that every thing, interesting 
 to us in his character and proceedings, may be brought with- 
 in the range of our perceptions. Take as an example, in 
 which the remarks just made are unequivocally sustained, 
 the conversation which the Lord had with Abraham, before 
 the destruction of Sodom : "Because the cry of Sodom and 
 Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, I 
 will go down now and see whether they have done al- 
 together according to the cry of it, which is come unto me ; 
 and if not I will know. If I find fifty righteous men — if I 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 55 
 
 find forty and five — if I find thirty — I will not destroy the 
 city."* Take away from us this view of the divine admin- 
 istration, and there may be justice in it, but there is no pos- 
 sibility that we should perceive its justice. Evidently the hy- 
 pothesis, which has been commonly received, throws away, as 
 unworthy of the slightest attention, the whole individuality 
 of man ; or exchanges it for some inconceivable abstraction, 
 with which, it is no intention of our heavenly Father to tor- 
 ture our little faculties. 
 
 3. The indistinctness with which the phrase — Voice of 
 Jehovah Elohim — has been presented to the christian mind, 
 is the cause of all the embarrassment that has existed on the 
 subject of the trinity. For, finding that the Logos or 
 Word was known from the beginning, that he had been "fore- 
 ordained, or for eknoicn, before the foundation of the world," 
 that by him all things were made, and that the divine dis- 
 tinction, expressed by the term trinity, existed before the 
 incarnation, it has been confidently affirmed that this dis- 
 tinction belongs to godhead itself. And, moreover, that, as 
 Father, Son and Holy Ghost, are the peculiar terms, expres- 
 sive of that distinction, as it is precisely stated to us in the 
 new testament, then Father, Son and Holy Ghost, exist in 
 godhead itself. Hence then the doctrine of three portions, 
 or three substances, or three persons, in the divine nature. 
 Hence also the doctrine of the eternal generation of the Son, 
 and the eternal procession of the Holy Ghost. These doc- 
 trines, while their own advocates do not pretend to explain 
 them, have ever been the occasion of irreconcilable contro- 
 versies. But if the Logos or Word is only in a first manifes- 
 tation of God, what the Son is in the second, then the sub- 
 ject of godhead, or rather the embarrassment which theologi- 
 ans have felt, in relation to that subject, is greatly relieved. 
 Then they would be under no necessity to run up their spe- 
 culations so high; or to infer, from the previous existence 
 which is ascribed to the Word, that a threefold distinction is 
 predicated of the divine essence itself. The distinction 
 would, in both cases, result from, and be characteristic of, 
 the manifestation which Jehovah has made of himself; and 
 a very little reflection, or scriptural research, I conceive, 
 would make the whole matter as intelligible to us, as any 
 other part of divine revelation. 
 
 4. The apostle John, referring to these very transactions 
 of which Moses writes, observes — "In the beginning was 
 
 *Gen. xviii. 20—33. 
 
56 ' LECTURES Otf 
 
 the word, and the Word was with god, and the Word was 
 god; — all things were made by him, and without him was not 
 any thing made that was made." Of course then, the word 
 of which John speaks, and the voice of which Moses speaks, 
 are identically the same. But then the Word, according to 
 the apostle, was not man, but was God. Afterwards he con- 
 tinues ; " The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." 
 This quotation appears, to me, to afford positive and deci- 
 sive testimony in favor of the doctrine advanced ; — i. e. that 
 there have been two distinct manifestations, in which God 
 has exhibited himself to mankind: both equally resulting 
 from the constitution of human nature; and suited, the one 
 to man as he was originally created, and the other to man 
 as he is a sinner. They seem to be so precisely analo- 
 gous, that, the mind, which recognizes the truth of the mo- 
 saic account of the fall, and perceives the propriety of, and 
 necessity for, the one, can be at no great loss to perceive the 
 propriety of, and the necessity for, the other; but will sensi- 
 bly feel, that if either be scriptural or rational, the other must 
 be equally so. The christian will thus have the divinity of 
 his saviour demonstrated ; while the dissenter, on that subject, 
 will have a new and difficult task thrown into his hand, in 
 an attempt to perform which, he may possibly be convinced 
 of his palpable and mischievous error. 
 
 5. The apostle Paul, in his epistle to the philippians, star- 
 tles us, by making a similar statement. Speaking of the 
 Lord Jesus, he describes him thus: "Who, being in the 
 form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God ; 
 but made himself of no reputation; divested or emptied him- 
 self, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in 
 the likeness of men."* Here then we have this double exhi- 
 bition ao-ain, — the form of god, and the likeness of 
 men; nor only so, but Christ Jesus is represented as divest- 
 in°" himself of one form, and taking upon him the other. 
 At the same time it must be evident to every one, that the 
 form of God does not mean the essence of God, seeing that 
 Christ could not divest himself of the divine essence. There 
 is then a. form of God, and there is a likeness of men, in which 
 God has exhibited himself to human view ; — in other words, 
 there have been two distinct manifestations of Jehovah; and 
 Moses is referring to the first when he tells us of the Voice 
 of Jehovah Elohim walking in the garden. 
 
 6. The apostle John, whom we have already quoted, as fur- 
 
 * Ch. ii. 6, 8. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 57 
 
 nishing us with very clear testimony on this point, further re- 
 marks: "No man hath seen God at any time ; the only begotten 
 Son which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared 
 him :"* and again in one of his epistles, " No marrhath seen 
 God at any time."t He also represents the redeemer as ob- 
 serving : "The Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne 
 witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, 
 nor seen his shape, or form, or visible appearance. "t — "Not 
 that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of 
 God, he hath seen the Father."§ "He that hath seen me 
 hath seen the Father." || These declarations or expressions 
 may be compared with another remark, Matthew reports him 
 to have made, when speaking of his "little ones :" "Their 
 angels do always behold the face of my Father winch is in 
 Heaven."% These varying phrases, and differing statements, 
 may be readily reconciled upon the principle of a twofold 
 manifestation; particularly when the subsequent references 
 to the old testament shall be duly considered. But the al- 
 lusion to form, other than that which is mediatorial, is too 
 frequent and striking to be explained in any other way. 
 
 7. When the ceremonial institutions of the former dispensa- 
 tion were in the progress of their proclamation, a very singu- 
 lar interview between God and Moses is described. Moses 
 prefers the following petition: "I beseech thee, show me 
 thy glory." To this, perhaps inconsiderate, prayer, God 
 answers; "I will make all my goodness pass before thee, 
 and I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Thou canst not see 
 my face, for there shall no man see me and live. And the Lord 
 said, behold there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand 
 upon a rock, and it shall come to pass, while my glory pas- 
 seth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will 
 cover thee with rmj hand while I pass by ; and I will take away 
 my hand and thou shalt see my hack parts, but my face shall 
 not be seen."** In the book of numbers also, when Aaron 
 and Miriam had spoken against Moses, Jehovah appears in 
 behalf of his servant, declaring: "With him will I speak 
 mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches, 
 and the similitude of Jehovah shall he behold." Here then, 
 again we have the similitude or form, not of man, but of God ; 
 I say not the form of man, because God says to Moses — 
 
 * John i. 18. • ||Ch.xiv. 9. 
 
 t 1 John iv. 12. IT Mat. xviii. 10. 
 
 \ John v. 37 ** Exod. xxxiii. ±8. 
 §Ch. vi. 46. 
 
58 LECTURES ON 
 
 Thou canst not see my face ; for there shall no man see me and 
 live. 
 
 In connexion with the preceding facts, two or three others 
 are recorded which seem to be of a totally different charac- 
 ter. It is said that Abraham saw and conversed with Jeho- 
 vah ; yet he did not die. Jacob also before he had met with 
 Esau on his return to his own country, called the name of 
 a particular place Penill, observing I have seen God face 
 to face, and my life is preserved.* Thus then God was seen. 
 But in both of these cases, he appeared in the form of a man, 
 as the history explicitly states. 
 
 We have then again this double manifestation of Jehovah 
 very clearly asserted ; nor only so, but Moses is placed in 
 circumstances which distinguish him as an official man from 
 all other men. The occasion had some peculiarity about, it, 
 which belonged exclusively to itself, or to no other period 
 which has transpired since the fall. Accordingly in his charge 
 to the people, he so speaks of it: "For ask now of the days 
 that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God 
 created man on the earth, and ask from the one side of 
 heaven unto the other, whether there has been any such 
 thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it ? Did 
 ever people hear the Voice of God speaking out of the midst 
 of the fire, as thou hast heard and live?"! And what was 
 the peculiarity ? We know of none other than that the Sinai 
 covenant was a dispensation of law. Its principles were, 
 do and live ; — transgress and dte. Now it is evident that 
 the very same thing was promulgated to Adam, before the 
 fall, and constituted the great characteristic of his original 
 probation. As, therefore, Jehovah was now reviving the prin- 
 ciple of law, as it is distinguished from that of gospel, 
 which belongs to the christian dispensation ; He appear- 
 ed in the character of lawgiver, and not of mediator; 
 in the form of God, and not in the form of man. The pro- 
 priety of this view would fully appear, if the nature, design 
 and operation of the two dispensations were fully understood. 
 It will devolve upon us to look at them hereafter. 
 
 On the other hand, the appearances to Abraham and 
 Jacob were purely mediatorial. The law was not given to 
 them. On the contrary, Paul assures us, that "the scrip- 
 ture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through 
 faith, preached the gospel before to Abraham, saying, in 
 
 * Gen. xxxii. 24—32. f Deut. iv. 32, 33. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 59 
 
 thee shall all nations of the earth be blessed."* The reason 
 of this also, will hereafter be considered. In the establish- 
 ment of the Sinai covenant, we have something analogous 
 to the original institute given to Adam, and in the Abra- 
 hamic covenant, a repetition of the subsequent promise, — 
 " the seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the ser- 
 pent." And with the two, the double manifestation of God 
 precisely corresponds. 
 
 8. On a particular occasion, God is represented as speak- 
 ing unto Moses, in the following manner: — "I appeared 
 unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of 
 Almighty God ; but by my name Jehovah was I not known 
 unto them."t This seems to be exceedingly singular lan- 
 guage, to any one who is familiar with the previous history; 
 for the word Jehovah occurs in it, with great frequency; 
 not simply as an epithet which the superior knowledge of 
 the historian enabled him to employ, but it is used by the 
 very individuals, who, according to the text, we might has- 
 tily suppose, were entirely ignorant of it. For example : — 
 while Abraham was on the mount, whither he had been 
 called to offer his son in sacrifice, and after the solemn cer- 
 emonies of that interesting scene were over, he called the 
 name of the place jehovah — jireh. Of course, critics have 
 found considerable difficulty in adjusting the seemingly con- 
 tradictory statements. Dr. Shuckford considers the trans- 
 lation to be faulty, and observes that the "best and most 
 accurate writers have remarked on the place, that the latter 
 part of the verse should be used interrogatively, thus : By 
 my name Jehovah was I not known unto them ?" t It is the 
 more objectionable, that this author should have so readily 
 and entirely adopted this explanation ; because, he himself 
 observes, — "That it is remarkable from the writings of 
 Moses, that there were two different and distinct persons 
 known and worshipped by the faithful from the days of 
 Abraham ; God whom no man hath seen at any time, and 
 the lord who at divers times appeared unto them. The 
 lord who appeared to them, is allowed by the best and most 
 judicious writers, to have been the same divine person, who 
 afterwards took upon him the seed of Abraham, and was 
 made man, and dwelt among the jews."§ 
 
 It is very evident to an attentive observer, that both the 
 difficulty and the explanation arise from considering the 
 
 •Gal. iii. S. fExod. vi. 3. 
 
 tShuckford's Connexions, vol. 2, p. 400. § Vol. 2. pp. 401-2. 
 
60 LECTURES ON 
 
 term name to refer to the mere word Jehovah: and that re- 
 ference would be the more readily made by the reader of 
 our english version, because it represents Jehovah as say- 
 ing, in the first clause of the text, — "I appeared by the 
 name of Almighty God." Indeed our translators have itali- 
 cised the words which are not in the original hebrew, in- 
 tending thereby to admonish their readers of the fact. But 
 might they not, when seeking for explanatory terms, with 
 equal propriety have rendered the passage thus — " I ap- 
 peared in the form of Almighty God" — or as Almighty God? 
 An appearance is spoken of, and that must have been in 
 form of some kind : and the history of the facts report it to 
 have been in the form of a man. 
 
 The term name means the representative of a being or 
 thing. Thus it was accordingly used. So God speaks of 
 the angel that went up before his people — my name is in 
 him.* So also in later times he spake by his prophets, con- 
 cerning his people and their habitation — " I will bring them 
 unto the place that I have chosen to set my name thereof 
 In like manner baptism is now administered, not in the 
 names of, but in the name of, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
 Name is therefore a term particularly referring to some ex- 
 ternal manifestation which Jehovah makes of himself. The 
 meaning of the passage then would be this — "God appeared 
 to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, in the form of, or man- 
 ifested as, Almighty God, which was the form of man : but 
 in the form of Jehovah, which Paul tells us, was the form 
 of God, he was not known unto, ox perceived by, them. The 
 ideas conveyed are precisely those which have already been 
 noticed, in the apparently contradictory phrases — -I have 
 seen God face to face, and — no man can see my face and 
 live. The whole is perfectly plain upon the principle of a 
 double manifestation of God. — The force of the denomina- 
 tion Almighty God as contrasted with the term Jehovah, 
 shall be considered hereafter. 
 
 This interpretation of the text which has been quoted, is 
 confirmed by the accompanying circumstances, which I 
 would state in the following manner: — In the form of man, 
 I did appear to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob; but in the 
 form of God I never was manifested unto them. But now 
 I will manifest myself to thee in the form of God. It is my 
 purpose by thy ministry to bring the people out of Egypt, 
 and to put them in a peculiar relation to myself, as my elect 
 *Exod. xxiii. 21. fNeh. i. 9. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 61 
 
 people, and to do among them such things, as well as to 
 display myself among them in such a manner, as no other 
 nation has ever witnessed. In the form of God, I will de- 
 liver to them the law; that they, being placed under it, and 
 by its oppressive operation being shut up to the faith of a 
 mediator, may be a standing monument to all nations that 
 no man can be saved by the works of the law. 
 
 9. The last circumstance which I shall notice, in proof of 
 this double manifestation of God, is derived from the con- 
 versation which Satan is reported to have held with Eve. 
 He does not appear accurately to have understood the mo- 
 ral position, which our first parents occupied in paradise : — 
 at least Eve felt herself to be under a necessity to explain, 
 after hearing his remark. Yet he makes no mistake in 
 speaking of God himself; for he denominates him the Elo- 
 him, just as Moses does. How should he be competent to 
 express himself with so much exactness in the one case, and 
 under such apparent embarrassment in the other? 
 
 The whole subject of angelic operations, many theolo- 
 gians hold as an exceedingly equivocal matter. Why they 
 should thus discard from their consideration an interesting 
 analogy, derived from the intellectual world in illustration of 
 moral science, it may not be worth while, at present, to in- 
 quire. If God has created one race of intellectual beings, 
 there is nothing unphilosophical in the idea that he should 
 have created another. If the animal and mineral worlds are 
 full of varieties, there is no unanswerable argument against 
 like varieties existing in the intellectual world. If sin is 
 discovered in one part of God's intellectual empire, there 
 is nothing so exceedingly repulsive, as some men affect to 
 consider it, in the supposition that sin may be found in some 
 other part of his intellectual empire. Accordingly Moses 
 introduces Satan to our notice, not only as using a common 
 term with himself in designating Jehovah, but as speaking 
 with perfect familiarity on the subject of the knowledge of 
 good and evil, to which Jehovah afterwards refers, as actually 
 belonging to other parts of his dominion : — "Behold," says 
 he, "the man has become as one of us, to know good and 
 evil." The redeemer too has explicitly informed us, that in 
 the resurrection, when all the natural relations are done 
 away, we shall be like the angels. There is then a simili- 
 tude between these higher orders of intellectual beings and 
 ourselves. The point of dissimilarity between us, appears 
 to consist in the natural relations which distinguish our pre- 
 
62 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 sent mode of existence, and belong not to them ; and of 
 course, in their not having been placed under any thing 
 like that form of political government, which has been 
 called federal representation. They seem to stand simply 
 on their personal responsibility ; hence all of them have 
 not fallen. Some have rebelled, while others have retained 
 their integrity. Now this is a mode of intellectual and 
 moral existence, in regard of which, it would be very diffi- 
 cult to assign any philosophical reason, why mankind 
 should not take the deepest interest in contemplating and 
 understanding it. But if this analogy can be thus traced, 
 both scripturally and rationally, then the reason why Satan 
 uses the term Elohim is very apparent. For then there is 
 a manifestation which God makes of himself to them, as 
 well as to us. This cannot be supposed to be in the form 
 of man. Of course then, there is a double manifestation of 
 Jehovah, agreeably to the doctrine I have advanced. 
 
 Hence, in the book of Job, Satan and the sons of God 
 are represented as presenting themselves before the lord. 
 The occurrence is statud to have taken place on a certain day ; 
 to have been repeated on a future and similar occasion ; 
 and the incidents are described with considerable minuteness. 
 The whole scene, in view of the phraseology employed, is 
 very much like that drawn out in the fourth chapter of gen- 
 esis, where Cain and Abel appeared at the door of the ante- 
 diluvian tabernacle, within which were the cherubim of 
 glory — the emblem of the invisible God. 
 
 Isaiah also, with most thrilling interest, depicts a vision 
 with which he was favored, in the year that king Uzziah 
 died, when he says, "I saw the lord sitting on a throne, 
 high and lifted up, and his train filled the everlasting tem- 
 ple. Above it," he continues, "stood the seraphim; each 
 one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and 
 with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 
 And one cried unto another, and said, holy, holy, holy is 
 jehovah of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory. And 
 the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, 
 and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, wo is 
 me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, 
 and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for 
 mine eyes have seen the king, jehovah of hosts."* 
 
 In like manner Jesus says, speaking of his " little ones," 
 — " their angels do always behold the face of my father 
 which is in heaven. 
 
 •Isaiah vi. 1 — 5. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 63 
 
 Surely the testimony of a twofold manifestation, in per- 
 sonal form, which Jehovah has afforded of himself, the one 
 in the form of God, and suited to man in his state of in- 
 nocence, as well as to angels in heaven ; and the other in 
 the form of man, suited to us in our state of sin, is clear 
 and undeniable. According to the usual ideas of the trinity, 
 what can theologians do with the fact? 
 
 But, after all, you may, perhaps, inquire what this mani- 
 festation was ? Or, in what, in either case, it consisted ? It 
 has been supposed that the Word, or Son, was the second 
 person of the trinity, and that, in the relations between God 
 and his intelligent creatures, established by the personal ex- 
 hibition contemplated, the second person is the representa- 
 tive of the whole deity. Sabellius, in preferring to say, a 
 certain portion, or energy, advocates essentially the same 
 view, and merely changes terms. Arius violently breaks 
 away from the whole subject, and talks about a lesser god; 
 thus teaching the doctrine of two gods, while he complains 
 of his opponents because they taught that of three. 
 
 The heavens and the earth are said to be a manifestation 
 of Jehovah, in which his attributes are displayed with great 
 beauty and brilliance. Whom then do they manifest? The 
 second person of the trinity — or God himself? Certainly the 
 scriptures do assure us that the heavens and the earth were 
 framed by the Word of God. This is the doctrine of faith 
 which they teach. But, at the same time, do they not as 
 clearly assert, that the godhead is thereby set forth to our 
 view ? — " The invisible things of him are clearly seen by the 
 things which are made — even his eternal power and godhead." 
 
 In like manner, we are informed that in Christ Jesus 
 " dwelleth all the fulness of the godhead bodily." A distinc- 
 tion, a portion, a person, separate from other portions or 
 persons, as belonging to godhead, is not even hinted at. 
 All the godhead — all the fulness of the godhead — dwell- 
 eth in him bodily. Any distinction which is supposed, 
 subsists merely between God himself — or the godhead, and 
 the bodily residence in which he dwells. And any other view, 
 his apostle would inform us, is mere philosophy and vain 
 deceit, after the tradition of men."* 
 
 Again — Christ is said to be the image of God,f — the image 
 of the invisible God\ — the brightness of his glory, and the 
 exact image of his substance. And God is declared to be "in 
 Christ, reconciling the world unto himself." Hence the 
 
 *Col. ii. 8, 9. 12 Cor. iv. 4. } Col. i. 15. 
 
64 LECTURES ON 
 
 gentile world is condemned for changing the glory of the in- 
 corruptible God, into an image made like to corruptible man. 
 
 Jesus speaks of himself in a manner equally explicit: — 
 "The Father is in me:" — "He that hath seen me, hath 
 seen the Father ; and how sayest thou then, shew us the 
 Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and 
 the Father in me ? The words that I speak unto you, I 
 speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in 
 me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Fa- 
 ther and the Father in me."* 
 
 The original manifestation in the form of God is described 
 in like terms. "Show me thy glory," or grant me a view 
 of thy personal appearance, said Moses* to which he re- 
 ceived for answer, — "thou canst not see my face, for no 
 man can see me and live." God himself is then invisible 
 — yet the similitude, the image of this invisible God, Moses 
 was permitted to behold. Isaiah also, in vision, saw the 
 king — Jehovah of Hosts. And Christ speaks of "the 
 face of his Father which is in heaven." 
 
 The mediatorial appearances, with which Abraham and 
 Isaac and Jacob were indulged, had the same general cha- 
 racter. Jehovah conversed with Abraham before the de- 
 struction of Sodom. Jehovah appeared to him again, and 
 said, I am Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou per- 
 fect." He afterwards told Moses — "I appeared to Abra- 
 ham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as Almighty God; but by 
 my name Jehovah, was I not known unto them. He ap- 
 peared to Moses himself, and said, -"I am that I am — I 
 am Jehovah Elohim."! 
 
 Could proof more ample or explicit be desired, in order 
 to show that, in all these cases, the being who was mani- 
 fested was God himself I A distinct personal appearance 
 there was; — various personal appearances there were; the 
 exterior form was different, according to circumstances; 
 but that form was always inhabited by God himself And 
 indeed what is there improbable, unnatural, or incredible in 
 such a view? Or was there not evidence enough of the 
 fact, when the heavens and the earth started into being, 
 when the bush on fire remained unconsumed, — when the 
 mountain burned to the midst of heaven, — when Christ 
 wrought his wondrous miracles? Is there the least neces- 
 sity to waste our ingenuity in framing some perplexed and 
 abstruse hypothesis? What more can be gained or desired? 
 
 * John xiv. 9—11. t Exod. iii. H. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 65 
 
 Perhaps these various personal appearances may be 
 charged with bringing a great deal of confusion into this 
 branch of moral science. But let it be remembered that this 
 confusion is not the result of the argument now advanced: 
 for, whether that argument be true or false, these appear- 
 ances are all matters of historical fact, which I have not 
 created, but simply arranged. And why should they intro- 
 duce any confusion? Are not the circumstances to which 
 they respectively belong, sufficiently distinct to account 
 for the variety which has occurred? Two systems of moral 
 government are delineated — Law and Gospel — the first con- 
 sistent with the form of God, and the second with the form 
 of man; or the revival of law and the prophetical annuncia- 
 tions of gospel, are described, each sustained by its own ap- 
 propriate manifestation. 
 
 In the mere fact of change of form, no difficulty can exist: 
 because every one must know that change is the property 
 of form, its susceptibility for which is apparent in every di- 
 rection. Our bodies pass through endless changes, from in- 
 fancy to manhood — from manhood to the grave — from a 
 natural into a spiritual state. Christ was transfigured — meta- 
 morphosed — changed his form on the mount; appeared in 
 more forms than one after his resurrection; talked of his 
 flesh and bones, while his apostles speak of his glorious body 
 in heaven. The glory of the Lord of old was a flaming fire 
 in a bush — a pillar of fire in a cloud — an "infolding" flame 
 over the cherubim. The Spirit was recognised at one time 
 in bodily shape, like a dove; at another in cloven tongues 
 like as of fire. Angels have been viewed as men; and again, 
 with a countenance like lightning, and raiment white as 
 snow. But all this change of form, which some correspond- 
 ing change in external circumstances may call for, does by 
 no means involve or imply the destruction of personal iden- 
 tity. 
 
 In relation to the subject under consideration, the per- 
 sonal identity is most carefully and scrupulously preserved. 
 He "made himself of no reputation — laid aside, divested 
 himself of the form of God, and took upon him the form of 
 man. The Word which was God was made flesh. The se- 
 cond Adam is the Lord from heaven. My Father is in 
 me — the angels behold the face of my Father, which is 
 in heaven. The Son is the brightness of glory, and the 
 exact image of his substance. Now can they, who have 
 been in the habit of viewing Jehovah as filling illimitable 
 6* 
 
66 LECTURES ON 
 
 space, as every where present, as alike, and at the same 
 time, manifested to both angels and men, feel any difficulty 
 in the idea, that he sustains two distinct manifestations, 
 suited to two distinct orders of intelligences, who are, for 
 the time being, in different circumstances? Or can there 
 be any great labour of imagination required to conceive 
 the fact, that, when this difference of circumstances shall 
 be obliterated, or when human beings shall be "like the an- 
 gels," the original manifestation, which Jehovah made of 
 himself in the form of God, shall then be equally suitable to 
 all, and Christ shall surrender the kingdom to his Father, 
 so that God shall be all and in all? May not he, who 
 covers himself with light as with a garment, assume, or lay 
 aside, external form, as may be most advantageous to his 
 creatures, without leading those creatures into polytheism, 
 or to suppose that in his own nature there must be three per- 
 sons ? 
 
 On the received hypothesis of the trinity, or viewing the 
 Lord, as the second person, how will the personal identity 
 be sustained, when the scriptural fact is under considera- 
 tion, that the word, which in the beginning was God, in 
 the fulness of time became man ? Or on the arian hypothe- 
 sis, that the Word was God, but not the supreme God, how 
 shall the personal identity be preserved, in view of his 
 becoming man? Neither of these systems can in the least 
 degree relieve the apparent embarrassment, into which we 
 are thrown by this change in exterior form. But if Jehovah, 
 with a view to the exhibition of himself to the creatures he 
 intended to call into being, should assume external form, 
 and before their creation should determine so to do, where 
 is there any difficulty? And if any thing should occur in 
 the history of any portion, or class, of those creatures, in con- 
 sequence of which that personal exhibition of himself should 
 be too glorious for them to behold ; is there any difficulty 
 then brought in, if he should be graciously pleased to con- 
 descend to the infirmities of those creatures, and manifest 
 himself in another form, better suited to their capacities ? Or 
 must we believe that the one cannot exist, when the other 
 is proposed, without contradiction or collision ? There does 
 not appear to me to be any very distressing mystery in the 
 principle of such a theory: but it would seem to proclaim 
 an act of grace, as interesting and intelligible, as it is suita- 
 ble and needful. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 67 
 
 But I would go a step further, and observe, that there is 
 not only a. personal identity carefully displayed, but an iden- 
 tity of "legislative principle is as distinctly retained. The 
 object in both the cases which have been described, is pre- 
 cisely the same. The intellectual perfection, and the spirit- 
 ual blessedness of man, are avowed as the design of both 
 law and gospel. Any representative character which may 
 be ascribed either to the first, or to the second, Adam, looks 
 to the same result. That is, the children of men, under the 
 operation of either the paradisiacal, or mediatorial, consti- 
 tution, can attain to the joys of the celestial kingdom, only 
 on the principle of their personal holiness. Whether they 
 be called to do or to believe, the consummation to which 
 they look forward, must be their likeness to God. And 
 when the end shall come, their final position shall be, such 
 as was originally contemplated, and as has just been stated ; 
 they shall be as the angels of God, the peculiarities of their 
 earthly existence shall be past and gone, and God shall be 
 all and in all. But these remarks anticipate the views, 
 which properly belong to the mediatorial constitution itself. 
 
 And now, perhaps, the question may be asked, what was 
 this form of God? In attempting to meet this question, I 
 think it necessary to remind you, that it is no part of my ob- 
 ject to start an original speculation on the subject of god- 
 head. My intention is, to endeavor, irrespective of the 
 scholastic and mystified explanations with which contending 
 sects have filled the church, to present what the scriptures 
 themselves have said. It would seem then, that the form 
 of God, is not, according to their report, the essence of God : 
 else the Lord could not have laid it aside. Nor only so: 
 but when humbled to be found in the likeness of man, we 
 still hear the language appropriate to indwelling godhead. 
 "In him dwelleth all the fulness of the godhead bodily." — 
 "My Father is in me." — "The Father that dwelleth in me, he 
 doeth the works." 
 
 Neither was this form, the angelic nature : for while it is 
 expressly called the form of God, Paul, in addition, tells us 
 that Christ did not take on him the nature of angels ; a de- 
 claration which could not be made with any propriety, if he 
 had assumed the nature of angels before. The remark ex- 
 cludes their nature from all connexion with the subject; or 
 in assuming the nature of man, the apostle would have said, 
 Christ laid aside, or divested himself of, the nature of angels. 
 Nor yet was this form, that of man; because the assump- 
 
G8 LECTURES 051 
 
 tion of human nature is the very object, for the accomplish- 
 ment of which, the form of God was laid aside. 
 
 The corresponding phrases which are used, are — si?nili- 
 tude of God — face of God — name of God — appearance, or 
 shape of God — presence of God — God dwelling in. So that 
 there seems to he no alternative. It is the form in which 
 God manifests himself to both angels and men, viewing the 
 latter as they were originally constituted, in which the an- 
 gels constantly behold him ; and in which we shall at last see 
 him, when the interests and concerns of this system shall be 
 wound up. 
 
 Would you press the question any farther? Then the 
 scriptures add, "God is light;" — "Our God is a consuming 
 fire." Ask you more? Pause and reflect. Remember, Mo- 
 ses could not look and live. Remember Isaiah bowed his 
 head and cried — I am undone — mine eyes have seen the 
 king. Jehovah of Hosts : Remember, that Paul, caught up 
 into paradise, heard unspeakable words, which it is not law- 
 ful for a man to utter. "Jehovah dwells in light which no 
 man can approach unto; no man hath seen him, nor can 
 see him." We must be satisfied with contemplating the 
 glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. There I leave 
 this momentous theme. The scriptures carry me no farther. 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 Of God. — The Father. — The Holy Ghost. — Terms explained, 
 — Views of the personal operations of God in relation to the 
 government of man. 
 
 Thus far. the discussion has merely delineated, as I sup- 
 pose, the scriptural view of the word, or Son, of God. The- 
 ologians have denominated him the second person of the 
 trinitv. The preceding argument exhibits him as God him- 
 self, manifested in personal form ; and so manifested, be- 
 cause that, the human mind having no innate ideas, but de- 
 riving its impressions from external things through the me- 
 dium of the bodilv senses, cannot see God, or acquire the 
 knowledge of God, in any other way. I speak, of course, 
 of the human mind, in its present condition, or as dwelling 
 in an animal body, and surrounded by the, almost endless, 
 varieties of a material system. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 69 
 
 But now, it may be asked, what then shall be understood 
 by the Father, and the Holy Ghost ? For the present I shall 
 adopt these terms, as most familiar ; and shall show them in 
 their appropriate place in the mediatorial system, when the 
 person or being to whom they respectively allude, or the per- 
 sonality they are respectively intended to express, shall have 
 been distinctly recognised. The double manifestation, one 
 in the form of God, and the other in the likeness of man, will 
 then, not only enable us to explain words and phrases, but 
 will appear beautifully proportioned to the character and 
 circumstances of men, whose interests Jehovah intends to 
 advance. 
 
 1. What are we to understand by the Father ? 
 
 No one, who has bestowed even common attention on 
 the varied, yet continuous, argument, which has been given 
 in the preceding lectures, can be at much loss to answer 
 this question. The Father is of course God himself : — the 
 self-existent spirit, the infinitely glorious being, whom we 
 cannot see, and who has been pleased to manifest himself 
 to his creatures, in appropriate and personal form. The 
 Father, the redeemer said, is in me: — the Father that 
 dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. In Christ, at one 
 time says Paul, dwelleth all the fulness of the godhead bodi- 
 ly ; and at another, "God is in Christ, reconciling the world 
 unto himself. It was Jehovah who appeared to Abraham, 
 and said, / am Almighty God. The king, whom Isaiah saw, 
 was Jehovah of Hosts. The Voice which Adam and Eve 
 heard in the garden, was the Voice of Jehovah Elohim. The 
 Word, in the beginning was God. The idea is very simple. 
 There is a God, all nature harmoniously and loudly speaks. 
 If he then should manifest himself, in external and personal 
 form, by what obliquity of mind can the fact be so grievious- 
 ly misunderstood, as to lead to the supposition that there 
 are two gods; or to involve the subject of his unity in the 
 least difficulty? By what principle of fair, or philosophic, 
 ratiocination, can it possibly follow that there is a supreme, 
 and a lesser, God — distinct and separate beings ? And above 
 all, — where is the propriety of the speculation, which, sup- 
 posing it to have become necessary that this manifestation 
 should be made in the flesh, pertinaciously maintains that 
 no other pretensions are set forth, than those which belong 
 to mere — it may be fiail and peccable — humanity? In all 
 such evasive theories, however rational they may be sup- 
 
70 LECTURES ON 
 
 posed to be, I can discern nothing but a fragment of the an- 
 cient idolatry. 
 
 To illustrate the subject by analogy : — If we were dis- 
 coursing of a mere human being, what should we con- 
 sider to be the man ? Is it not the mind — the intellec- 
 tual spirit ? Is not this evidently Paul's meaning, when he 
 says — -"If I do that / would not, it is no more 1 that do it, 
 but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law thai when I 
 would do good, evil is present with me ; for I delight in the 
 law of God, after the inner man : but I see another law in 
 my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bring- 
 ing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my mem- 
 bers. So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, 
 but with the flesh the law of sin."* The mind then is the 
 man — the being. 
 
 But if the apostle's expressions should, by any ingenious 
 controvertist, applying them to some favorite speculation, 
 be wrested from us, then what shall be done with the re- 
 deemer's argument on the resurrection ? Jehovah had pro- 
 claimed himself to be the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of 
 Jacob : but said Jesus, "God is not the God of the dead, but 
 of the living. ,: These patriarchs are then still living, not- 
 withstanding their bodies have long since been committed 
 to the dust. Or, again to return to the apostle Paul, how 
 shall we understand him, when, with a heart full of heavenly 
 anticipations, he writes — "We are always confident, know- 
 ing that whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent 
 from the Lord : we are confident, I say, and willing rather 
 to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."t 
 The body is not the man; but the home, the tabernacle, in 
 which, for the present the man resides. Have we then two 
 distinct men, or persons — one supreme man, and one lesser 
 man, — or are we all body — a mere material lump? Assur- 
 edly the spirit is the man ; and when that spirit is clothed 
 with external form, without which we could have no know- 
 ledge of, or intercourse with, him, he is still the same being. 
 The fact of a double manifestation on the part of God, 
 which has been abundantly proved, neither weakens nor per- 
 plexes our analogical argument; buton the contrary, affords 
 us an opportunity of extending its application. For, there 
 is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body ; and the change 
 which man experiences, in view of those different modes of 
 existence, does in no way affect the identity of his being, how- 
 
 *Rom. vii. 14—25. |2 Cor. v. 6—8. 
 
Moral government. *7i 
 
 ■fever it may modify his personal form, or exterior appear- 
 ance. So, when the lord, who made all things, and who 
 was God, laid aside the form of God, and took upon him the 
 likeness of man, no argument can arise from the glorious 
 transaction, against the fact that it is still the same infinite 
 and eternal spirit, manifesting himself. Here then I may 
 safely leave this interesting topic, as having been amply 
 illustrated ; — nothing, that I can perceive, is left to torture 
 an humble and honest inquirer. To proceed then : 
 
 2. What shall we understand by the Holy Ghost ? Mo- 
 ses informs us, that in the beginning, "the earth was without 
 form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep, 
 and the spirit of god moved upon the face of the waters;" 
 
 I shall not stop to meet the representations of those, who 
 would tell us, that the word here translated spirit, signifies 
 wind ; and that the appended words, of God, are merely in- 
 tended to express a, mighty wind; — as when it is said, trees 
 of God, and mountains of God, the meaning is tall trees and 
 great mountains. It is sufficient to observe, that in these 
 remarks, we have a very good specimen of what theologians, 
 who glory much in their literature, call criticism. Many 
 sectarian theologians repose a great deal of confidence in cri- 
 ticism ; and not unfrequently, though unintentionally, indulge 
 in their nice philological distinctions, at the expense of every 
 thing which can be valuable to them as accountable beings. 
 Whether there was a great wind employed at the time or 
 ■not; or whether the Holy Ghost does not derive an appella- 
 tion from the air, as the best symbolic representation of his 
 varied influences, I shall not delay to inquire — nor would it be 
 worth while. If the following argument does not exhibit the 
 thing itself, very little could be gained by exposing the imbe- 
 cility of a mere verbal subterfuge ; but should the thing be 
 fairly set forth, any honest reasoner would readily dispense 
 with his philology for the sake of his morals ; or rather, he 
 would discover that by mistaking the one, he has learned how 
 to misrepresent the other; and would quickly succeed in ad- 
 justing any discrepancy, which may be apparent, but is not 
 real. 
 
 The general argument, on which I am about to enter, re- 
 quires some preliminary observations, which may render it 
 more acceptable, and add not a little to its force. 
 
 1. That personality belongs to the Holy Ghost, cannot be 
 reasonably denied, if the following, and such like, scriptural 
 passages are deliberately considered : — " When he, the Spirit 
 
72 LECTURES ON 
 
 of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth : for he 
 shall not speak of himself; but whatsoevor he shall hear 
 that shall he speak; and he will show you things to come. 
 He shall glorify me : for he shall receive of mine, and shall 
 show it unto you."* — " While Peter thought on the vision, 
 the spirit said unto him, behold, three men seek thee. Arise 
 therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting 
 nothing ; for I have sent them."i " As they ministered to the 
 Lord, the Holy Ghost said, separate me Barnabas and Saul 
 for the work whereunto I have called them. — So they, be* 
 ing sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia."f 
 
 2. That the Holy Ghost is God is equally clear from these 
 texts; — "The Father that dwelleth in me, he doth the 
 works:" — " If I by the Spirit of God cast out devils." — And 
 " Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart, to 
 lie unto the Holy Ghost? Thou hast not lied unto men, 
 but unto God." — " Now the Lord is that spirit ; and where 
 the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. "|| 
 
 3. The Holy Ghost is never represented in the scriptures 
 in any personal form. On the banks of Jordan he descended 
 on Jesus "in a bodily shape like a dove." On the day of 
 pentecost, when the disciples were filled with the Holy Ghost, 
 there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and 
 it sat upon each of them." But in neither of these cases was 
 personal form assumed. Such events may indicate the class 
 of secondary agents he employs, as originating nothing con- 
 cerning himself, but taking of, and ministering about, the 
 things that are Christ's. They go no further. 
 
 4. As the Holy Ghost is never said to have assumed per- 
 sonal form, he is never, for that reason, recognised in the 
 scriptures, as a distinct object of religious worship. The rea- 
 son is very evident. God is not the object of religious wor- 
 ship to man, excepting as he is revealed in Christ. By the 
 Holy Ghost, and through Christ, we come to the Father. The 
 necessities of the case, as has already been shown, call for a 
 manifestation of God in personal form. Without it, we must 
 seek him in his works, and worship him in them ; which has 
 been sufficiently exposed as idolatry. As then, the Holy 
 Ghost is not to be viewed in personal form, if we recognise 
 him as a distinct object of worship, we should be left to a 
 like result, and must bow to him in a bible, a crucifix, a con- 
 secrated wafer, or a saint, which is the most heartless of all 
 
 *John xvi. 13, 14. \ Acts xiii. 2— 4. 
 
 fActs x. 19—20. || 2 Cor. iii. 17, 18. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 73 
 
 idolatry. The ordinance of baptism, recognises the matters 
 in which we are to believe ; and the apostolic blessing refers 
 to the several characteristics and operations, which have been 
 set forth as distinguishing Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; but 
 in neither case is a direct act of religious address to the 
 Spirit, as such, either expressed or implied. Nor yet does 
 the redeemer hint at such a service, when he tells the Jews, 
 that all men are required "to honor the Son, even as they 
 honor the Father." No, nor yet Paul, when contrasting 
 Christianity with the heathen mythology, in view of their res- 
 pective objects of worship: — " To us," says he, " there is one 
 God, even the Father, and one Lord Jesus Christ." And even 
 the heathen, though they had many gods and many lords, 
 yet had but these two classes of objects of worship ; seeming- 
 ly intimating that the fact has been, from the beginning, 
 just as I have stated it. — I presume that it is distinctly re- 
 membered, that in these remarks reference is made to the Ho- 
 ly Ghost, as distinguished from the Father. 
 
 Having offered these preliminary remarks, I proceed with 
 the question before us — what is the Holy Ghost ? I must, 
 however, be indulged with the liberty of taking, what may 
 seem to be, a circuitous route, in order to answer it. As the 
 idea, which I shall offer in solution of this universally conced- 
 ed mystery, may be treated as my own, I must be permitted 
 to choose my method of representing it. 
 
 When the apostle Paul wrote his first epistle to the Co- 
 rinthians, among other things, he noticed a particular case of 
 crime which had occurred among them ; in reference to 
 which they had not conducted themselves either discreetly 
 or faithfully. This case he undertakes to adjudicate:— "I 
 verily," he says, "as absent in body, but present in spirit, have 
 judged already, as though I were present, concerning him 
 that hath so done this deed; in the name of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, when ye are gathered together and my spirit, with 
 the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such an one 
 to Satan."* What is the import of this singular language ? 
 In what way could Paul's spirit be in the corinthian church, 
 when his body was absent ? The common-place idea, that 
 a man can translate his thoughts thousands of miles in an 
 instant, will not explain the apostolic phrase; because those 
 distant objects, which might interest his feelings, could not, 
 in that case, be in any manner conscious of his intellectual 
 operations. The fact would be quite different in the corin- 
 
 • 1 Cor. t. 3—5. 
 
 7 
 
74 LECTURES ON 
 
 thian church : it would be, to use the apostle's own language^ 
 "as though he were present." The whole assembly would 
 have felt "as though he were present;" and the disciplinary 
 process would have been conducted, "as though he weie pre- 
 sent." From the force and feeling of his official authority, 
 there was no escape. 
 
 A. similar idea is advanced bv the same apostle, when he 
 reports the faith of Abel.— "By faith Abel offered unto 
 God," he says, "a more-excellent sacrifice than Cain ; and by 
 it, he being dead, yet speaketh" One age lives on the thoughts 
 excogitr ted by the spirits of some other preceding age. The 
 spirits of the fathers, hover around the summit of Zion, and 
 are conjured into our sanctuaries and ecclesiastical courts, 
 to frown on every man who dares to think for himself; and 
 to visit on his guilty head the sad consequences of heresy. 
 By creeds and catechisms, and ponderous tomes of lofty 
 pretensions, they, being dead, yet speak. It is perfectly 
 astonishing how far such influence is exerted, and with what 
 easy credulity, men submit their own immortal minds to its 
 destructive control. 
 
 A friend writes a letter, or publishes a book. His spirit 
 is seen, is felt, in every sentence, in every line. The reader 
 discerns the attributes of his character, and not unfiequent- 
 ly fancies that he hears the tones of his friend's voice. 
 
 An individual of political, literary, or official merit, may 
 be so distinctly felt in the community to which he belongs, 
 as to command universal admiration for some signal service 
 he has rendered. Or he may be envied for his superior at- 
 tainments and standing ; and be reproached and maligned 
 by multitudes, who had not grace enough to acknowledge 
 their obligations to him. But when the rude hand of death 
 shall have dissolved the tie that bound him to an ungrateful 
 world, envy retires, suspicion sleeps, and his voice is heard 
 with deliberate and respectful attention. His spirit speaks. 
 
 A prince, screened from public gaze within his own 
 palace, or seldom leaving the metropolis of his empire, yet 
 exerts a powerful influence — legislative, military, or other- 
 wise — to the utmost extent of his dominions. His spirit 
 pervades every department in his administration ; and mil- 
 lions, who never saw him, respectfully mention his name, 
 submissively bow to the symbols of his authority, and en- 
 thusiastically eulogise his virtues. They would fight, they 
 would bleed, they would die, for his honor; and, for his 
 gratification, would chant the praises of a victory, that would 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. TO 
 
 leave, to many a bereaved widow and houseless orphan, their 
 tears as their meat night and day. Social influence is one 
 of the most powerful springs of human action, productive, 
 at one time, of a thousand blessings ; and at another, the pa- 
 rent of as many ills. 
 
 But we must take another and a farther view of Paul's 
 spirit. He gloried in a hope beyond this life ; and in scenes 
 of bliss and glory, amidst which his spirit should dwell, when 
 his martyred body should rest in the dust. How does he 
 speak, when this subject occupied his thoughts and employ- 
 ed his pen? "I knew a man in Christ fourteen years ago," he 
 said, '-'and of such an one will I glory, — I knew such an one 
 caught up into the third heavens ; how that he heard unspeak- 
 able words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. ;: 
 Whether "he was in the body, I cannot tell, or whether he 
 was out of the body I cannot tell." In what way these un- 
 speakable words were communicated to him, or what was 
 the mode or manner of action in which his spirit was em- 
 ployed, he could not explain. Perception, by means of our 
 external senses, he could readily have stated; but percep- 
 tion, in the case described, or when the spirit reaches its ce- 
 lestial atmosphere, he was unable to define. 
 
 Ardently did he desire to depart and be with Christ. 
 Amidst all his earthly troubles, his spirit rose into communion 
 with his beloved master, and coveted to be absent from the 
 body and to be present with the Lord. Then, like Abra- 
 ham, Isaac and Jacob, of whose etherial essence and celes- 
 tial destiny the sadducees seemed to be so stupidly ignorant, 
 he should live and behold and praise his glorified redeemer. 
 In heaven independent of this material tabernacle, be- 
 yond whose powers the spirit now perceives no objects, 
 hears no melody, and accomplishes no designs, it shall exert 
 all its faculties. What then, if the spirit of Paul, which had 
 been burdened with the care of all the churches while on 
 earth, should even now hover over our altars, and feel the 
 deepest, but a melancholy, interest in our distractions? — 
 Though invisible to us, we would in such a case, speak 
 of his personal presence. 
 
 But if this cannot be, still we know that angels acting 
 out a celestial character, living, moving and operating on 
 the principles of celestial existence, are appointed to a minis- 
 try on account of the heirs of salvation. They encamp 
 round them that fear the Lord, and watch over many a 
 timid, trembling, desponding child of grace. How far their 
 
76 LECTURES ON 
 
 agency may extend, or what various concerns may fall with- 
 in their range, no one can fully tell. It is the fact that I 
 wish to be distinctly noticed, and which is my reliance in 
 following out my subject. 
 
 Having stated the scriptural facts in relation to intellec- 
 tual creatures, so far as they are relevant to the object of our 
 present inquiry, I shall next endeavor to ascertain, whether 
 Jehovah offers any analogous representation of himself? For 
 if we shall find that a train of influences or operations, cor- 
 respondent with those which have been predicated of cre- 
 ated spirits, is ascribed to him; while at the same time, his 
 personal, though invisible, presence is distinctly and unde- 
 niably affirmed, nothing farther can be desired. 
 
 Man, it is said in the bible, was made in the image of God. 
 There can, therefore, be nothing either extravagant or im- 
 probable in the idea, that God is like man. More particu- 
 larly will it seem to be rational and satisfactory, when we 
 recollect that the special doctrine of a mediator is, that he 
 who was in the form of God, was made in the likeness of men ; 
 and that it behoved him in all things to be like untohis brethren, 
 that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest." The 
 point of resemblance has been supposed to be purely intel- 
 lectual or moral. Hence the explanation of the image of God, 
 as man was created in it, has been said to consist in ''know- 
 ledge, righteousness, and true holiness." Admitting this 
 view to be correct, the analogy, of which we are in quest, 
 would then exist in the intellectual operations, or in the ac- 
 tion of spirit, ascribed to God and man ; of course the influ- 
 ences of the spirit of man, which have been so particularly 
 detailed, would lead us to infer similar influences exerted by 
 Jehovah. Then the fact of those influences, analogically 
 traced, as far as the representations previously made of the 
 spirit of man would allow us to go, would explain the whole 
 scriptural doctrine of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 But let us hear Moses himself on this subject of the di- 
 vine image ? He reports the matter thus : — "And the elo- 
 him said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness." 
 It is not God abstractedly considered, it is not the Father 
 viewed in and of himself a pure Spirit, whom man re- 
 sembles ; but he is made like the Elohim. What then is 
 meant by the Elohim ? First, God is a Spirit; so also is 
 man. Secondly, God has manifested himself, or, as a spirit, 
 he dwells in external form. The fact is the same with man : 
 his spirit inhabits a body. So then we have a double resem- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 77 
 
 blance. And may there not be a third 1 May not God as 
 a Spirit, considered as manifested in external form, act in- 
 dependently of that form, as the spirit of man does; and 
 may not a doctrine of influences, large, important, and va- 
 ried, which he shall personally superintend or sustain, en- 
 sue ? Should this be the fact, would it not explain, would 
 it not in truth be, the very doctrine of the Holy Ghost ? Can 
 any thing farther be desired, to place the whole subject in 
 clear and intelligible exposition ? 
 
 To the law, and to the testimony, then. The apostle Paul 
 evidently states, and with considerable precision, the view 
 of the Spirit of God, which has been inferred by analogy. — 
 "The Spirit," he says, "searcheth all things, yea the 
 deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of 
 a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the 
 things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God."* 
 This is certainly writing in terms which are very plain and 
 positive ; and the very analogy, by which I have endeavor- 
 ed to illustrate our subject, is thus employed as the best, if not 
 the only one, by which the inspired writer could explain 
 himself to the apprehension of his readers. The spirit of 
 man, within him, carefully reflects on the purposes he has 
 formed, and the circumstances under which those purposes 
 are to be developed. In like manner the Spirit of God, — 
 within the form that he has assumed, shall I say? — reflects 
 upon, carefully considers, and ofttimes reviews, the various 
 designs of mercy he has proclaimed ; as well as their most 
 gracious and effectual application to the changing condition 
 of human things. The same general doctrine is taught by 
 the Lord himself, when he promised to his disciples, that he 
 would send them the Holy Spirit. "Howbeit," said he, 
 "when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he shall guide you 
 into all truth : for he shall not speak of himself, but what- 
 soever he shall hear, that shall he speak." Hearing and 
 reflection, both of which are ascribed to the Spirit of God, 
 may well go together, and are very happily sustained by the 
 analogy which is selected. 
 
 1 shall then be chargeable with no presumption, nor yet 
 with a puerile yielding to an errant fancy, if I should now 
 call up and apply, the particular cases of intellectual opera- 
 tion, in which the spirit of man is known to act, independ- 
 ently of its bodily form. We now no longer know Christ af- 
 ter the flesh. "The heavens must receive him until the 
 *1 Cor. ii. 10, 11. 
 
78 LECTURES ON 
 
 times of restitution of all things." But his spirit is with 
 us.— I mean not his human spirit, though even in that ap- 
 plication, our argument would be sustained. But he is God 
 manifested in the flesh ; and therefore the reference is to 
 the Spirit of God. The Spirit of truth is abroad, convincing 
 the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. And 
 who does not feel the fact? Whose heart does not feel the 
 attractions of his grace? Whose soul does not tremble 
 under the denunciations of his wrath? 
 
 Nor only so. Jesus, while on earth, though felt through- 
 out Judea, in the synagogue, in the temple, in the sanhe- 
 drim, in Herod's court, in Pilate's chamber, yet was an ob- 
 ject of envy, of reproach, of malignant revenge. His fol- 
 lowers were few. The fickle multitude, early assembled, 
 were as quickly dispersed. One disciple betrayed him ; an- 
 other denied him ; the rest forsook him and fled. A few 
 devoted females wept at his cross, or were early at his sepul- 
 chre. An astonished centurion confessed his power ; and 
 an expiring robber sued for his mercy. But what more ? — 
 He said himself to his disciples — "it is expedient for you 
 that I go away; for if I goxxot away, the Comforter will not 
 come." He went, and the Spirit came. With what pow- 
 er the apostles spake ! What mighty works they performed ! 
 What land did they not penetrate ? What philosophy did 
 they not confound? What mitred priest did they not hum- 
 ble ? What idol god did not totter on his base ? Do I say 
 more than the facts in the case will warrant, in remark- 
 ing, that a much greater amount of practical moral influence 
 was felt after the redeemer's death, than while he lived ? 
 
 Books, as the instrument of intellectual power, have also 
 been adduced, as an illustration on this subject. Holy men 
 of God have written it. They have written it, as they were 
 moved by the Holy Ghost. And what honest mind does 
 not perceive and feel the Spirit of God, in every sentence, 
 in every line ? Or can there be any thing more unseemly 
 than to be heard praying for the Spirit, while we put the 
 scriptures out of the way, traduce them as unintelligible, 
 seek not to be intimately acquainted with them, or substi- 
 tute in their place, avowedly or virtually, the books of con- 
 troveisial and embittered theologians? What a spectacle in 
 an age of revivals; — in a period when every sect has bosom- 
 ed within itself the principles of its own dissolution ? 
 
 In like manner the Son of God may be viewed as an ex- 
 alted Prince, seated on his throne — in glory — at the right 
 hand of the Majesty on high — far out of our sight — not per- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 79 
 
 sonally seen on earth. But his Spirit is in all parts of his 
 mediatorial dominions. Every old testament prophet — every 
 new testament apostle — every humble saint has the Spirit of 
 Christ in him : all the world is under his tuition, and every 
 unbeliever resists his grace, and foolishly courts his wrath. 
 
 But all this argues, it may be said, mere influence; and 
 may be resolved into a mere emanation, without evincing 
 any personality. Suppose that such be the fact. Is there 
 any thing in the scriptures, or in the systems of popular 
 theology which men laud with so much fulsome adulation, 
 to forbid us to speak of the Spirit's influence 1 Or has our 
 schedule of familiar analogies yet run out? Was not the 
 spirit of Paul traced to its heavenly habitation, "shining in 
 full glory," personally enjoying his saviour's love, though 
 his body is in the grave? Have not angels been adduced, 
 as ministering spirits, acting on the principles of the celes- 
 tial world ? And above all, may we not thus speak of the 
 Spirit of God — who is every where present — invisibly, yet 
 personally, superintending all the widely diversified interests 
 of the mediatorial empire ? To this point, it has been my 
 object, to carry this discussion; and it has never been lost 
 sight of for a single moment. The spirit of the believer, 
 singing the praises, and shouting the alleluias of redeeming 
 love, while yet his bodily lips are sealed in death, is not a 
 mere emanation from an annihilated, or mouldered being. It 
 is the man himself, in spotless robes, and with his golden 
 harp, fully conscious of his own identity. 
 
 The scriptural view of God, which, if I mistake not, has 
 been very distinctly ascertained, is then simply this : — The 
 Father, is God himself, considered as he is in his own be- 
 ing, — an infinite, invisible, eternal Spirit: The Word, or 
 Son, is God himself, as he has assumed, and is revealed in, 
 personal form, with the view of manifesting himself unto his 
 intelligent creatures, that they might enjoy personal inter- 
 course with him. The Holy Ghost is God himself, acting 
 invisibly, yet personally, in his providential superintendence 
 over his works. Every one can distinctly perceive in this 
 delineation, that there is but one God ; and no one can feel 
 any necessity to advance the inexplicable dogma, that there 
 are three persons in one God. No philosopher would ever 
 describe man as three persons, and but one man; yet the 
 same three-fold view can very consistently be taken of man. 
 Or if any sophist, vain of his power of philosophic refine- 
 ment, should so represent the human being, the world would 
 
80 LECTURES ON 
 
 leave him to his self-gratulation, and mind their own busi- 
 ness, under the guidance of thejr own common sense ap- 
 prehensions. But the subject of godhead has been so mys- 
 tified by the ancient philosophy, either oriental or grecian-; 
 and so obscured by men, who, offended with the grossness 
 of the vulgar idolatry, diverged into most extravagant spe- 
 culation ; or so uniformly represented, as incomprehensibly 
 mysterious, by theologians who were deceived by a false 
 philosophy, and scarcely ever thought of breaking away from 
 its trammels ; that mankind have helplessly mistaken their 
 unintelligible statements for good sense, and scriptural 
 truth. At least so the thing appears to me. 
 
 But if we had not reached a conclusion so rational and 
 simple, yet it is evident, that the three-fold view of God, 
 which the scriptures so clearly state, arises entirely from the 
 manifestation which he has made of himself to his creatures. 
 As to God, considered in his own being, he is, said Jesus, 
 a Spirit. There are not, there cannot be, three persons in 
 a Spirit. Predicated of the human spirit, the absurdity of 
 such an idea would immediately appear : and no analogy 
 could be pointed out in any direction. Nor is the notion 
 of Sabellius a whit better; while that of Arius must be con- 
 demned by its own terms. For which of the phrases — three 
 persons — three portions — a supreme God and a lesser God 
 — would be most appropriate, in commenting on the scriptu- 
 ral view which has been presented? 
 
 The precise use of the terms, however, that have been 
 employed in the scriptures on this subject, has not yet been 
 pointed out : and there may be a necessity that this should 
 be done, in order to possess a full apprehension of the 
 whole matter. Then, suffer me to call up to your recollec- 
 tion the fact, which has been so variously illustrated, that 
 the bible has noticed two distinct personal manifestations, 
 which Jehovah has made of himself. One in the form of 
 God, and the other in the form of man : one as creator, and 
 the other as redeemer. When agents derive their names 
 from the operations they conduct, from the object they have 
 in view, or from the circumstances under which they act, 
 those names may change ; or they may not be equally ap- 
 plicable to, or expressive of, every mode of operation, or 
 every phase of character, or every form of social relation, 
 in which we may be required to contemplate these agents. 
 Man is a generic term. But all men are not magistrates, 
 bishops, civilians, or physicians. So here. The terms, 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 8 1 
 
 which are used in reference to God as manifested to us, are 
 not equally appropriate to every view, in which his charac- 
 ter, work, or official relations, are set forth. Word, King, 
 Lord, Image, Glory, are appellation, which belong to both 
 manifestations, because the general principle, they are in- 
 tended to express, is equally characteristic of both. The 
 phrase form of God, can be properly applied only to the 
 first. The phrase form or likeness of man, with the words 
 Jesus, Christ, Saviour, Prophet, Priest, Captain, can only 
 be applied to the second. 
 
 So also the terms Father, Son, Holy Ghost, which I have 
 used, throughout this lecture, on account of their familiarity, 
 belong to the mediatorial manifestation, and not to the origin- 
 al view which God gave of himself. This remark may not at 
 first appear strictly accurate; because such passages as the 
 following may seem to be in direct hostility to it: — "God 
 hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, by whom 
 also he made the worlds:" — "Jesus Christ, the same yester- 
 day, to-day, and forever." I have not been careful in the 
 selection of examples, in which the supposed conflict with 
 my remark may apparently exist; because I intend to make 
 but one explanatory observation: and it is this; — that the 
 scriptures evidently show great concern to preserve in our 
 minds, the idea of personal identity in view of the two-fold 
 manifestation of which they speak. This consideration, 
 highly important in itself, and affording an irrefutable argu- 
 ment in favor of the divinity of our saviour, would readily 
 explain, and remove such seeming discrepancies. The 
 Word, which was in the beginning, was made flesh : — the se- 
 cond Adam is the Lord from Heaven. You never hear Jesus 
 say, referring to the divine nature, as characteristic of his 
 mediatorship, — "The Son of God who dwelleth in me, he 
 doeth the works ;" though he does make such a remark of the 
 Father dwelling in him. You never hear him say, alluding 
 to his divine nature, — " If I by the Son of God cast out de- 
 vils ;" though he does say, that he did cast out devils by the 
 Spirit of God. — On the contrary he says, "The Son can 
 do nothing of himself : — I can of mine own self do nothing; 
 as I hear I judge." The terms Father, Son and Holy Ghost, 
 I feel perfectly safe in repeating the remark — are then strict- 
 ly applicable to the second manifestation alone ; and arise 
 from the following circumstances: Jesus had no earthly fa- 
 ther. God was his father : hence then the relation of Fa- 
 ther and Son. — Again. There is an evil spirit, which reigns 
 
82 LECTURES ON 
 
 in the hearts of the children of disobedience; — the God of 
 the world — the prince of the power of the air. In opposition 
 to whom, and in reference to the better, to the heavenly and 
 purifying, influence exerted in the divine providence, the 
 Spirit of God is denominated the Holy Ghost. 
 
 In regard of the first manifestation, the terms which are 
 used, and which, at the same time, are equally applicable to 
 the second, are Jehovah, Word, and Spirit. And they are 
 as demonstrably expressive of the scriptural doctrine, which 
 has been advanced, as the terms Father, Son and Holy Ghost 
 can be. The opponent, who may be offended, because his 
 own ideas are not sustained, may criticise my use of terms, 
 but the principle is preserved in all its distinctive force and 
 character. 
 
 I have farther to observe, that in view of this two fold man- 
 ifestation, there are two distinct works ascribed to God — 
 creation and reconciliation; there are also, in the same con- 
 nexion, two different conditions spoken of, in which man is 
 personally exhibited — innocence and sin; and there are two 
 distinct forms of government described, under which man has 
 been placed — law and gospel. These several particulars I 
 would class thus : 1. Jehovah, Word, and Spirit — creation — 
 man in innocence — law. 2. Father, Son and Holy Ghost — 
 reconciliation — man in sin — gospel. These various sub- 
 jects could not be kept, each in its respective place, in the 
 preceding discussion ; because the general matter of trinity, 
 which belongs to both classes, was under consideration: and 
 the course of the argument, which has been pursued, required 
 that this matter should be viewed in all its bearings. There 
 are some things yet belonging to the subject of trinity, which 
 have not been mentioned ; and particularly in reference to 
 the mediatorial manifestation. They will be best illustrated 
 when we shall have reached the mediatorial constitution it- 
 self, as it is drawn out in the third chapter. 
 
 Before this lecture is closed, however, we may call up 
 again, for the purpose of farther illustration, the object which 
 Jehovah designed to accomplish by these manifestations of 
 himself. Some things have been brought to light, in the re- 
 citation of the biblical texts that have been quoted, which I 
 have omitted to notice, intentionally reserving them for a 
 separate argument, in the conclusion of this exercise. 
 
 It has been rendered very evident, as I think, that the ne- 
 cessity for such divine manifestations is to be traced to the 
 constitution of human nature. God is a Spirit and man can- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT 1 ; S3 
 
 fcot see him. Yet, that we should have personal intercourse 
 with him, is an idea equally natural, rational and desirable. 
 As intellectual beings, material things cannot possibly be- 
 come the ultimate object, either of our thought or feeling. 
 We rise to the intellectual world, and to the moral relations 
 which belong to it, by the impulse of our being. Atheism 
 is pure absurdity all round. Then it results, that Jehovah 
 must occupy such an attitude with regard to us, as will make 
 this personal intercourse practicable and pleasant. And as 
 he denounces idolatry as highly criminal, while its own his- 
 tory betrays it to be degrading in the very extreme; he has 
 not taught us, either by^the attributes of our own nature, by 
 the analogies of his works, or by any scriptural or oral reve- 
 lation, that his object can be obtained in any other way than 
 by his assuming personal form. And even then if this personal 
 form, so assumed, has no correspondence with our indivi- 
 dual powers of perception, the object in view cannot be at- 
 tained : the aspirations of our immortal nature remain unsat- 
 isfied; and we are driven back to degrade ourselves amid the 
 sensualities of the material world. 
 
 Admitting then such a personal form to have been assumed, 
 and with the explicit design of placing the knowledge of God 
 within our reach, can our knowledge of God go beyond that 
 exhibition? If we can pretend to any thing more than con- 
 jecture, when we attempt to transcend such o manifestation ; 
 or if, in making such pretensions, our views should be either 
 distinct or accurate, would it not then follow that the exhi- 
 bition itself is incomplete, is not commensurate with our 
 nature ? Again, then the object in view would be lost. But 
 philosophers and divines, have trifled with the human mind, 
 by mistaking the terms in which Deity speaks of himself; or 
 by disregarding the application, in which he employs those 
 terms, they have, by a series of incomprehensible and un^ 
 profitable abstractions, converted into pure mystery, "that 
 which may be known of God." They have talked about, and 
 reasoned from, omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, 
 goodness and justice, as though they could judge of them 
 otherwise than by "the things which are made," or which, 
 in the kind providence of God, have become "visible." And 
 all this they have done, at the same time that they were con- 
 scious, they could not have accurately judged of the intel- 
 lectual powers of a fellow man, but by his work. 
 
 Some scriptural declarations, which the preceding argu- 
 ment has thrown in our way, appear to me, not only strongly 
 
84 LECTURES ON 
 
 to bear upon, but most happily to illustrate, the important 
 topic, thus again called up. I refer to them with considera- 
 ble confidence, because they seem to be peculiarly appropri- 
 ate. 
 
 1. God says to Moses, — " I appeared to Abraham, to 
 Isaac, and to Jacob, as Almighty God. Again he says — 
 "By my name, Jehovah, I was not known unto them." 
 Now the facts in the case are, that God did appear to Abra- 
 ham, to Isaac and to Jacob, in the form of a man: and that 
 he did appear to Moses on the mount, in a form, the face 
 whereof, Moses could not see and live. The particular cir- 
 cumstance to which I would call your attention, is that 
 while Moses could not see Jehovah in one form, in the 
 other, the form of a man, he appeared to Abraham, Isaac 
 and Jacob, as Almighty God. So he said to Abraham, 
 when he did appear, I am Almighty God, walk before me, 
 and be thou perfect." Where then are the proportions, 
 what is the moral symmetry, between Almighty God and 
 the form of man, on which an intelligent, sanctified, chris- 
 tian spirit may dwell with satisfaction and profit? 
 
 When Jehovah promised to Abraham that a son, in whom 
 his seed should be called, should be born unto him, some 
 doubt was expressed, or betrayed, in relation to the possi- 
 bility, or probability of the promise ever being fulfilled, and 
 then the question was asked, " Is any thing too hard for 
 the Lord?" Has he not power? Will he fail to fulfil his 
 word? When again, at a moment peculiarly interesting, 
 and well calculated to try the patriarch's faith, he was com- 
 manded to offer his son in sacrifice, he immediately obeyed 
 the divine summons; "accounting," says Paul, "that God 
 was able to raise from the dead." Such are the accompa- 
 nying phrases and facts, which the history affords, of the 
 good man's faith in the exhibition which had been made to 
 him. Extending our ideas in a corresponding manner, we 
 should eventually embrace all the varieties of human life; 
 and our faith would distinctly anticipate an exercise of 
 power, as far as the nature or consistency of our earthly cir- 
 cumstances could require. The issue would be, an entire 
 confidence in the mediatorial ability of the Son of God to 
 sustain, in efficient and successful operation, all the se- 
 condary agencies of his own spiritual kingdom. We should 
 then remember, that no calculations on mere omnipotence, 
 no waiting 1 for an exertion of divine power, while the means 
 are disregarded, or considered as unnecessary formalities, 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 85 
 
 tan possibly be justified. Instead of all those deliberations, 
 which terminate in no useful purpose, and lead to no prac- 
 tical results, we should reflect more maturely on the moral 
 proprieties, which our own free agency would imply. What- 
 ever God, in inscrutable sovereignty, might do, would 
 never constitute the problem of our painful arid distracting 
 thought; but with an intelligent eye and a submissive heart, 
 we should diligently engage in evident duty, and act in mo- 
 rals, as we do in the common things of life. " All power," 
 said our risen Lord, " is given unto me, in heaven and in 
 earth." It is a delegated power, of which he speaks, and 
 the sphere of its operations is this general system, with 
 which our existence is connected. Within that sphere he 
 must act consistently, abiding faithful, as one who " cannot 
 deny himself," and doing for his vineyard whatever can be 
 done. No power is predicated of his official character, be- 
 yond that which is coincident with the essential principles 
 of our nature, so that our own free agency cannot possibly 
 be set aside. 
 
 If I were discoursing of political forms of government 
 among men, my argument would be readily understood. 
 Every one knows the .difference between a pure despotism, 
 where the will of the prince is the law, and a limited govern- 
 ment, in which the principles of a known constitution be- 
 come, both a restraint on the ruler, and a guaranty to the 
 subject- The first of these issues in slavery, degradation, 
 and weakness; the second is characterised by liberty, 
 strength and glory. The intellectual being acquires power, 
 in proportion as he acquires intelligence, and never loses 
 his power until his integrity is gone. The greatest glory, 
 a ruler can win for himself, and the greatest blessing, he 
 can confer on the multitudes whom he governs, are to multi- 
 ply the means of education. An intelligent people, other 
 things being equal, are always the most powerful. In ei- 
 ther case, however, we would talk of all power; but the 
 phrase would not mean the same thing in both. In the one 
 case, it would refer to an absolute sovereignty, which no 
 one could certainly define; in the other, the constitution 
 would both restrict, and determine its meaning. 
 
 Such is the fact in relation to our present subject. We 
 are all talking about divine power, as an abstract perfection, 
 without reference to any constitution or laws. To speak of 
 any thing which God cannot do is almost considered blas- 
 phemy. The idea no one seems able to catch; while the 
 S 
 
86 LECTURES ON 
 
 scriptural query — " What could have been done more to 
 my vineyard, which I have not done in it?"* — is like one of 
 Paul's difficult sayings, "hard to be understood." Now 
 the bible gives us a very different account of this matter. 
 There a constitution is provided; laws are enacted and pro- 
 mulgated; arid the government which is spoken of, is that of 
 a superintending providence, carrying out the principles of 
 the constitution, and faithfully sustaining the operation of 
 the laws. All power, then, in this connexion, means that 
 power which is contemplated by, and consistent with, the 
 constitution and laws. 
 
 In fact, to put us into such a state of things, or under 
 such a form of government, whose principles we can under- 
 stand, and whose interests we can appreciate, is the very 
 object which God has in view, in manifesting himself in per- 
 sonal form; and is the very demand, which the intellectual 
 nature of man necessarily makes. As among men, intelli- 
 gence will make better citizens, than swords and bayonets 
 can produce ; so in the government of God, enlightened 
 consciences will make better moralists and more holy men, 
 than can ever be produced by earthquakes and tempests. 
 Devils can tremble without being reformed; and many a 
 frightened criminal has violated solemn promises, which he 
 had not principle enough to fulfil. Jesus Christ did not 
 come to encompass us with mysteries, but to enlighten our 
 understandings. And in proportion as we escape, by his 
 tuition, from mere abstractions, and acquire clear percep- 
 tions of his character and government, we grow in moral 
 efficiency, and abound in spiritual peace. We may not 
 then be waiting for some sovereign operation of divine 
 power, to make us holy; neither need we be afraid of some 
 overwhelming judgments, coming, we know neither whence, 
 nor why. But by the light which he has imparted, and the 
 clear, undisputed truths which we may obtain, we may walk 
 peacefully on toward his heavenly habitation, confiding in 
 his faithfulness. 
 
 2. The apostle Paul represents the Spirit of God as 
 searching all things. How can such a term be applied to 
 the omniscient God? The redeemer also says, that the 
 Spirit shall not speak of himself, but what he shall hear, 
 that he shall speak. Where is the propriety, what is 
 the import, of the remark? W T hen Jesus would explain, he 
 represents the Spirit as convincing men of sin, of righteous- 
 ness and judgment; as taking of those things which are m- 
 * Isa. v. 4. 
 
Moral government. 87 
 
 tegral matters in the mediatorial constitution, and illus- 
 trating them to the apprehensions of the human mind; and 
 as a kind preceptor, patiently waiting on the slowness of 
 our intellectual operations. " The deep things of God," 
 which he searches, are those which belong to God, — not 
 abstractedly considered, for he is not to speak of himself, — 
 but of God as manifested in personal form. They are such 
 things, as he, dwelling in the ancient prophets, testified be- 
 fore, and concerning, the sufferings of Christ, and the glory 
 that should follow. Just, says Paul, like the spirit of man 
 in him, reflecting on his various interests in the world, and 
 looking after the best means of advancing them. Some- 
 times, when rebellious men turn from his ways, and resist 
 his influences, he is grieved; when they repent, he alters 
 his course ; and when they abide faithful, he cherishes and 
 comforts them. The phraseology then describes an official 
 agency, measured out, not according to the abstract perfec- 
 tions of godhead ; but presented in just and accurate pro- 
 portions with the system, whose operations it superintends. 
 A providence is proclaimed, which, instead of breaking up 
 all responsibility, and metamorphosing the human mind into 
 a mere mechanical agent by a despotic sway, is most bene- 
 volent in all its dispensations; and like that of a limited 
 monarchy, or a " constitutional" government, is not only 
 consistent with, but wisely and patiently cherishes the free 
 agency, or intellectual liberty, of its subjects. The human 
 mind cannot be evolved in any other way. God has not 
 formed his creatures, afterwards to disregard the attributes 
 by which they are distinguished; nor called into being a 
 concatenation of causes, with a view to a corresponding 
 series of effects, afterwards to nullify those causes by ab- 
 sorbing them in the mighty action of his own abstract per- 
 fections. 
 
 It is well known that there are many, who indiscrimi- 
 nately refer every thing to the councils of eternity ; and con- 
 sider every thing, as the execution of some invisible decree, 
 secretly formed in the divine mind, before ever the heavens 
 or the earth were. They argue from the omniscience of 
 God, as a mere abstract perfection of his nature; and con- 
 founding foreknowledge and foreordination together, as in- 
 capable of being distinguished, they have elaborated a sys- 
 tem, which has driven one half of them into fatalism ; and so 
 far perplexed the other half, that they know not how to keep 
 out of it. Now the Spirit of God is not thus represented 
 
88 LECTURES ON 
 
 in the texts which have been quoted. Foreknowledge there 
 unquestionably is; predestination there unquestionably is; 
 but a withering and demoralizing doctrine of fate there is 
 not. General outlines are specified; minute facts are some- 
 times foretold ; and both belong to a course of intellectual 
 operation, to which any wise man, and that in proportion to 
 his wisdom, is competent. In this very feature of charac- 
 ter, Paul declares man's resemblance to God, — in one of 
 the texts under consideration. But neither -prescience nor 
 predestination, is carried out so far, as lo preclude reflection 
 on the part of man ; or that analogous exercise on the part 
 of the Holy Spirit, here called searching the deep things of 
 God. Theologians, in their speculations on this subject, 
 have run up their metaphysics a vast deal too high, either 
 for their own consistency, or for the comfort of mankind. 
 The apologies for indolence and unbelief, which have 
 thence been derived ; the subterfuges which the disin- 
 genuous have thence learned so artfully to affect; the toil 
 and distraction in which the humble and sincere have there- 
 by been involved; and the quenching of the Spirit within them, 
 which must certainly follow, and of which some ministers 
 have been scientifically guilty, when an offer of salvation is 
 to be made unto all; — these, and such like consequences 
 have both flowed from, and unanswerably refuted, the cold, 
 system to which I refer. This matter, however, will come 
 up again hereafter. 
 
 On the supposition that God has revealed himself in per- 
 sonal form, while in this respect, he is now removed from our 
 view ; and taking into consideration the providence of God, 
 which has been so emphatically declared by inspired men; 
 some such train of spiritual operations as has been described, 
 from the very nature of the case, must be carried on ; and if, 
 in regard of them, God is represented, either as a gracious 
 governor, uniformly seeking the welfare of those whom he 
 rules; or as a loving/a/Aer, whose parental solicitude is ex- 
 ceedingly great, there can be no serious difficulty in an 
 endeavor to ascertain the character of those operations. 
 How would a father deal with an errant child? Would he 
 not admonish, reason, entreat, warn, chastise, forbear? — 
 Would not his spirit continually hover around the beloved 
 object? Would not all means be employed, not merely 
 those which might be purely paternal, but whatever the social 
 circle could afford — to reclaim the wanderer? Should re- 
 pentance or reformation be accomplished, and the prodigal 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 89 
 
 return, what would a father do then ? Or if repentance should 
 not follow, but crime should lead to crime, until all means 
 have been repeatedly tried, and forbearance has been ex- 
 hausted ; must not his benignant spirit, grieved and dis- 
 tressed, retire ? — All has been done that can be done ; and 
 amid tears, entreaties, expostulations, and warnings, the ir- 
 reclaimed culprit rushes on perdition as his fate. 
 
 Now God is our father. His commands are with us, sus- 
 tained and illustrated by his own personal representations ; 
 and his Spirit attends us, using all the means consistent with 
 either our own nature, or that of the system with which 
 we are connected. How affectionately he entreats! How ten- 
 derly he expostulates! With what condescending familiar- 
 ity he reasons! How kindly he warns! How reluctantly he 
 chastises ! How long he forbears ! Whom does he reject that 
 repents and returns? When resisted, does he not grieve ? 
 Does he hastily, or without many and sore provocations, re- 
 tire ? And when he departs, has not every thing been done 
 which could have been done, and done in vain ? Is there 
 any farther dispensation — any other Saviour — another sacri- 
 fice ? Or in this providential course, has not sin against 
 the Son of Man been often borne with ? Has not the blas- 
 phemy against the Holy Ghost at last been perpetrated ? If 
 then all has been done that could be done, and no more sa- 
 crifice for sin remains, is not the reason abundantly evident, 
 why that blasphemy is unpardonable? 
 
 3. Our redeemer has informed us, that "the father judg- 
 eth no man, but hath committed all judgment, to the son." 
 The reason of this arrangement is also assigned: — "because 
 he is the Sox of Man." And further, even the character of 
 the judicial process is declared — "As I hear 1 judge, and 
 my judgment is just." But very differently have theologians 
 represented this matter. As on the one hand, they have ab- 
 sorbed human free agency in the divine omnipotence ; and on 
 the other, taught men to reason out the divine omniscience 
 into fatalism ; so here, they have set off divine justice, cloth- 
 ed in all the terrors of its own incomprehensible infinitude. 
 They have reasoned about infinite sin, and infinite penalty, and 
 an infinite satisfaction to divine justice, capable of saving ten 
 thousand worlds; until it is purely impossible for any man, by 
 such a technical standard, to form a correct idea of his own 
 moral character or standing. Then again, to meet allegations 
 so fearfully mysterious, others have talked about infinite mercy, 
 until all judgment is lost in a doctrine of universal salvation! 
 8* 
 
90 LECTURES ON 
 
 But this subject, like the preceding, must be interpreted 
 in consistency with the personal manifestation, by which Je- 
 hovah's rectoral relations with us are established. The Fa- 
 ther himself judgeth no man, even as the Spirit speaketh 
 not of himself. Of course then, as the doctrines, taught to 
 us, are within the range of our perceptions; so the judg- 
 ment, to which we are amenable, is correspondent with our 
 capacities of action. The sentence which occurs, is not 
 the result of an estimate which infinite justice has formed; 
 for every man shall give an account of his works. "As I 
 hear, I judge," says the Son of man ; "and my judgment is 
 just:" — not merely in view of abstract legal principles, but 
 with a distinct and clear reference to the facts in the case. 
 He alludes not to his own accurate foreknowledge, nor to his 
 individual opinions previously made up : but to that which 
 he hears, — to the testimony that may be adduced when the 
 books are opened. 
 
 Look again at the interesting disclosure. God "hath ap- 
 pointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in 
 righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained"* Con- 
 sider well, I pray you, who he is. Remember that he is the 
 Lord, your brother, who assumed your nature; who learned 
 obedience by the things which he suffered; who was tempt- 
 ed in all points like as you are, and is therefore able to 
 succor them that are tempted ; who has a fellow feeling for 
 you in all your infirmities, and who is touched with the ten- 
 derest sympathy, when you suffer. Remember that he was 
 made like you in all things, on purpose that he might be a 
 merciful and faithful high priest, — even now, when he sit- 
 teth as a Priest on his throne. Take then the subject of 
 judgment, into you rown deliberate and rational considera- 
 tion ; instead of giving way to those metaphysical extrava- 
 gances, which array infinite justice against your own little- 
 ness ; abandon those inappropriate and inaccurate technical- 
 ities, which confound all your ideas, drink up your spirits, 
 tangle your faith amid unintelligible conjectures, and par- 
 alyse your arm, while extending it "within the vail," you 
 would lay hold on the High Priest's throne. 
 
 Taking the three foregoing items together, while they 
 separately appear to be in perfect good keeping with those 
 divine manifestations in person, of which the scriptures 
 speak, they seem to me to unfold, with peculiar beauty and 
 vividness, the very object of those manifestations. For if 
 
 •Acts xvii. 31. 
 
Moral government. 91 
 
 the nature of man requires them, and if God, instead of retiring 
 within himself, steps forth to exhibit himself, with the inten- 
 tion of meeting- the necessities of our nature ; the several 
 trains of personal operations, which have been affirmed, 
 must certainly follow. And if we are to imitate his exam- 
 ple, or to carry out into the social relations of life, any general 
 principles of political government which he has taught us, 
 then the preceding argument is accurate and conclusive. 
 For, it has actually embodied, in his own example, those 
 principles of legislative and judicial policy, which fire indis- 
 pensable to government among men. Nor can it be a very 
 abstruse proposition to any one, that the government of the 
 human mind, whether administered by God or man, must 
 proceed on the same elemental principles; — simply, be- 
 cause it is the human mind which is governed, and its in- 
 trinsic character and active powers are the same in both 
 cases. 
 
 My views, on this subject, may not be mysterious or ab- 
 struse enough, to please those who are fond of dark and 
 doubtful things in religion ; or who are afraid that light may 
 lead to error. Certain it is, that our theme has been divest- 
 ed of its supposed mystery ; and that the mixture of false 
 philosophy and sectarian theology, which the traditions of 
 past ages have imposed upon mankind with so much empi- 
 ricism, has been treated with very little ceremony. I make 
 no apology for my hostility to dogmas, which no mortal man 
 can explain to me ; which cannot be found in the scrip- 
 tures ; and which are the stereotyped decisions of the par- 
 tial councils of a degenerate age : — dogmas which display, 
 it is true, the royal signet ; but then that signet is the re- 
 presentative of an authority, generated near four centuries af- 
 ter my master had gone to his rest; and was neither known 
 nor acknowledged, by either himself or his disciples. But if the 
 views, simple as they may be, are scriptural and rational, or 
 if they carry their own demonstration to every unprejudiced 
 and candid mind, I desire no more. If, on the other hand, 
 they are faulty and defective in all these respects, then, 
 while I shall be glad to see them overthrown, I shall rejoice 
 that attention to the scriptures has been sufficiently roused, 
 to expose their sophistry. My heart has no unhallowed in- 
 terest to maintain, no selfish ambition to gratify. The Lord 
 is judge over all the world, and searches every bosom. To 
 his holy word I bow, with supreme and unreserved rever- 
 ence. May all the saints learn submission to the law of 
 Almighty God. 
 
92 LECTURES ON 
 
 LECTURE Y. 
 
 Of Creation. — Man. — Personal Responsibility. 
 
 Having spoken of two different personal manifestations,, 
 which God has made of himself, in view of the character and 
 powers of mankind; the first of these, with its appropriate 
 associations, now comes up before us. Agreeably then to- 
 the classification stated in the last lecture, the arrangement 
 of our subjects, as they must now be considered in order, 
 is as follows: — Jehovah, Word, and Spirit — Creation — Man 
 as he was originally formed, — and Man under Law. 
 
 Our first question, of course, is, — How did God create 
 the world ? 
 
 If instead of this question, I should ask you how does God 
 reconcile the world unto himself, you would readily reply, 
 in scriptural language — "God is in Christ, reconciling the 
 world unto himself." In explanation, you might go on and 
 say, that in order to reconcile man, he assumed a human 
 form, and appeared in the likeness of men ; by which means 
 he became qualified, so to speak, to act for our benefit, in a 
 manner consistent with the laws of our being, and the neces- 
 sities of our condition. Or again, to use biblical language, 
 you would say — "Forasmuch as the children were partak- 
 ers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of 
 the same, that through death he might destroy him that 
 had the power of death." 
 
 In like manner I would say, that in the beginning, God 
 in the Word, created the heavens and earth : and going 
 on to explain, I would further remark, that, He, having pur- 
 posed to call into being this system, and to place an intel- 
 ligent creature in a presidency over it, did assume an appro- 
 priate form; and that, acting in this form, the whole work 
 was done, while he himself, stood, as manifested, Lord of 
 the whole. 
 
 Certainly the scriptures do entertain, — do clearly set forth, 
 this simple view of the whole matter. — "In the beginning," 
 Moses announces to us that "the elohim made the heavens- 
 and the earth :" And again, that Adam and Eve "heard the 
 Voice of Jehovah Elohim walking in the garden." John tells 
 us that in the beginning was the Word — all things were made 
 by him; and without him was not any thing made that was 
 made. He was in the world, and the world was made by 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 93 
 
 him, and the world knew him not." Paul, quoting from the 
 book of psalms, testifies to the same fact, — "Thou Lord, in 
 the beginning, hast laid the foundation of the earth ; and 
 the heavens are the works of thine hands." The original 
 word in the psalms, which the apostle renders Lord, is the 
 singular of Elohim; and is the same used by Jehovah, when 
 he informs Moses, that he had appeared to Abraham, as Al- 
 mighty God ; and used by Jacob, when he remarks — "I have 
 seen God face to face," and denominates the spot where 
 the sacred interview was enjoyed, Peni-EL. Both these ap- 
 pearances, you remember, were in the form of Man. — Lord 
 is the emphatic, or distinguishing title of Jehovah as mani- 
 fested in a personal similitude. — The apostle, speaking for 
 himself, would say concerning his master,- — "By Him were 
 all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, 
 visible and invisible." 
 
 God then, or Jehovah in personal form, came down to cre- 
 ate the heavens and the earth, as he came down to give the 
 law to Moses from mount Sinai ; or as he appeared to Isaiah, 
 when in a vision he saw the Lord, — the original word is not 
 Jehovah, nor Elohim, but Adonai, which signifies Lord, — 
 upon a throne, high and lifted up. He came down in hu- 
 man form to reconcile man, when he appeared as the babe 
 of Bethlehem, and angels sang, — "Unto you is born this day 
 in the city of David, a Saviour who is Christ the lord." 
 So also he came down, in the form of God, to create the hea- 
 vens and the earth; when, as he himself informs Job, "the 
 morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shout- 
 ed for joy." 
 
 Having assumed external form, in which he would per- 
 sonally act, God impresses upon this system, which is sum- 
 marily denominated the heavens and the earth and all their 
 host, a corresponding character. I mean to be understood 
 as intimating, that his intelligent creature man, whom he 
 designed to create, was to be an intellectual spirit, inhabit- 
 ing a bodily form ; and that a material system was now form- 
 ed, to subserve the various purposes, which such a state of 
 being, as has been predicated of man, would involve. By 
 this series of external agencies, God manifested his own 
 character, together with the principles of his actions, in a 
 manner correspondent with the constitution of the human be- 
 ing ; inasmuch as it is evident, that man being destitute of what 
 have been called "innate ideas," must acquire his information 
 by his external senses, and from external sources. At the 
 
94 LECTURES ON 
 
 same time, while this external system afforded to him the 
 range of his observation, it also has prescribed the sphere, 
 and furnished the means, of his individual and responsible 
 actions. 
 
 Hence it is said — "the heavens declare the glory of God, 
 and the earth showeth forth his handy works:" — "The in- 
 visible things of him are clearly seen, being understood by 
 the things which are made, even his eternal power and god- 
 head. That which may be known of God is "thus" mani- 
 fested among men ; for God hath thereby showed it unto 
 them." So that the whole material system is intended to 
 subserve a principle of symbolic, or scenic, representation, 
 suited to the present mode of man's existence. Our future 
 concern then will necessarily be, to watch and describe the 
 development of this principle. 
 
 Jehovah pronounces his work to be very good. He then 
 intended to exhibit himself to mankind as good. Just as 
 he has done in the gospel, or in the work of reconciliation, 
 so he did at the beginning : — he sought to leave the best 
 impression of his own character upon his creatures. God is 
 love. He has no pleasure or satisfaction in any injury, 
 which his creatures can sustain. He does every thing, 
 which the nature of the case will permit him to do, to pro- 
 mote their welfare ; i. e. he multiplies his blessings, employs 
 his restraints, and exerts his influences, for their benefit, 
 and as far as is consistent with their free-agency. To go 
 farther, and interfere with, or take away from them, their 
 free-agency, is no part of his law or of his providence. To 
 do this, would be to despoil man of his glory ; and to inflict 
 upon him the sorest evil, which under any circumstances 
 he can possibly suffer. God's government is, and always has 
 been, a government of Love. Such is the view which he 
 designed and desires to give of himself to the human mind; 
 and our first parents were placed in the happiest circum- 
 stances, from which such an impression of the divine char- 
 acter could be derived. 
 
 All the different parts of creation were most wisely ad- 
 justed, and carefully adapted to each other. A series of 
 causes originated a corresponding series of effects; a 
 system of reciprocal relations, exceedingly multiform and 
 diversified, was instituted; and every thing was so well pro- 
 portioned, so accurately formed, and so bountifully supplied, 
 that the whole combination could be sustained in unbroken 
 order, and undisturbed harmony. God does all things right. 
 
Moral government. 95 
 
 The most laborious research, the most scrutinizing analysis, 
 the most minute experiment, can detect nothing wrong. The 
 farther our investigation is carried, the more our admiration 
 is excited, and our confidence secured. All the world, 
 even now that evil has been introduced by the fall, live by 
 faith in the divine providence, and grow wise by studying 
 his works. If the laws of nature were erroneous ; if nothing 
 could command our eulogy by its wisdom, or instruct us by 
 its rectitude, then goodness could not have been displayed ; 
 man could have no motive to act, no incentive to hope, no 
 subject for praise. The divine character would have been any 
 thing else than an object of contemplation to an intelligent 
 being, or a pattern of imitation to a creature of moral obliga- 
 tion. Place then these two things together, and we have 
 exhibited before us, in the finished work of creation, the very 
 matter which has been specified in the divine law; which 
 every intelligent being must approve ; and which the re- 
 deemer has set before us in the gospel ; and that is, — righte- 
 ousness produces happiness. This is the elemental principle 
 of all government, and is the philosophy of life. According- 
 ly the great creator most magnificently, and gloriously, dis- 
 played it in his own work. 
 
 But in reviewing this original work of the creator, we are 
 invited to contemplate more than the exhibited character of 
 the creator himself. The distinguishing features of the 
 creature also, and the principles which belong to its individ- 
 ual being or action, require our most deliberate attention. 
 Here the question of power and responsibility arises ; — a 
 question, the discussions on which occupy so much space 
 in theological controversies; and a misapprehension of 
 which, may lead to the most fearful mistakes. Now it must be 
 evident, on the face of the mosaic account, as well as from 
 the nature of the case, that each creature was formed in 
 view of a particular design, which it was made competent 
 to execute ; that the laws of its being were impressed upon, or 
 incorporated with, its own nature ; or that the external, ma- 
 terial body, which is presented to the eye, is the mere visi- 
 ble organization, under, or within, which, certain principles 
 or laws were put into operation ; and that no creature could 
 be expected to act above, or contrary to, the laws which be- 
 longed to its own constitution. Hence Moses represents 
 every living creature, as made after its kind ; and speaks of 
 the herb yielding seed, whose seed is in itself; and the fruit 
 tree yielding fruit, whose seed is in itself. He states facts 
 
96 Lectures otf 
 
 in their own simplicity, and as though he were altogether 
 unconscious of the difficulties, which more modern writers 
 have discovered in relation to ability and inability. He 
 looked upon the whole scene before him with an unpreju- 
 diced eye ; and his observations are made, with all the fa- 
 miliarity of the first and simple impression he had received. 
 Jesus uses the same style of remark, when he compares the 
 kingdom of heaven to a man casting seed into the ground: 
 — "the earth," says he, "bringeth forth fruit of itself." 
 
 Each individual creature, it is evident, must act, or ope- 
 rate, according to the laws of its being. Beyond these laws, 
 it could not go. Whatever power might be predicated of it, 
 must exist within the range of those laws. Destroy those 
 laws, and its power is destroyed : interrupt their operation, 
 and the exercise of its power is interrupted. A fig tree 
 could not produce grapes ; neither can figs be gathered from 
 the vine. No intelligent or consistent moralist, would car- 
 ry his ideas of power any farther; would attempt to tax the 
 providence of God, beyond the laws which his own plastic 
 hand had framed; or, depending on omnipotence, would 
 defend the wisdom of a prayer that besought the Eternal to 
 cover the fig tree with grapes, or the vine with figs. Nei- 
 ther should any wisdom be manifested, in a hypothetical ex- 
 position of power, which should destroy the fig tree or the 
 vine, and then piously refer to Jehovah for the figs or the 
 grapes. 
 
 If we may conceive of a case, in which the action of the 
 laws, belonging to the constitution of any creature, should 
 be suspended or impaired, so that the effect, contemplated 
 by its existence, did not, and could not, follow, and then 
 inquire what the remedy must be, — the answer is at hand. 
 Every one can see that the remedy would consist in restor- 
 ing the suspended action of those laws. Can any good rea- 
 son be assigned, why, in such a case, we should prefer to 
 confide in the mere omnipotence of God, working without 
 means ; when the universal characteristic of the material 
 system is, that he works by means ? Can any one tell us, 
 why the fruits of the summer should be produced by the im- 
 mediate power of God, rather than by the intervention of se- 
 condary causes, which the season itself affords ? — But this is a 
 very plain matter. Yet the principle of divine operation, 
 or the view of a creature's power of operation, so simple in 
 this connexion, becomes a puissant affair, in the metaphysi- 
 cal theology of learned sectarians. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 97 
 
 But to proceed. Moses next introduces man to our no- 
 tice, and apprises us of some very peculiar circumstances 
 connected with his creation. 
 
 1. The Elohim are again presented, under that plurality 
 of view, which has already been the subject of protracted 
 discussion, in the preceding lectures. The Elohim said, "let 
 us make man in our image, and after our likeness." How 
 shall we understand this language ? 
 
 You are all aware, that this is not the only instance in 
 which this kind of phraseology is employed. You remem- 
 ber, that after the fall, the historian represents Jehovah Elo- 
 him as remarking, — "Behold the man is become as one of 
 us." And again, when he descended to the plains of Shi- 
 nar, to confound the language of men, he said — "Go to, let 
 us go down and there confound their language." — Other in- 
 stances might be adduced : but the foregoing are sufficient. 
 The question is, where is their propriety ? In reply, I re- 
 mark, 
 
 (1.) That as we have had exhibited to us two distinct person- 
 al manifestations of God, with only one of which, it is possi- 
 ble for us to have any familiarity in our present lapsed con- 
 dition ; we must obtain our principles of explanation from 
 the one, and apply them to the other, so far as our minds 
 can carry them. Now when the redeemer said — "If a man 
 love me, he will keep my words ; and my Father will love 
 him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with 
 him," — who feels any difficulty ? But here the doctrine of 
 a divine manifestation in personal form, — while Jehovah con- 
 sidered in himself as a Spirit is no object of our vision, — or 
 the scriptural exhibition of one God and one Lord, is so pal- 
 pable and distinct, that no inconsistency is suspected ; or it 
 readily vanishes. The original manifestation, constructed 
 on the same principle, and holding out to human view one 
 God and one Lord, may well be conceded to have been as 
 clear when it was afforded ; and would be so to us now, 
 were it as possible for us to see, as it was for Adam. If that 
 concession be afforded, — and I cannot conjecture why it 
 should be withheld ; all the difficulty arising from the use of 
 such language is removed. 
 
 (2.) The noun, by which God is designated to us, is in the 
 plural number: so that, on grammatical principles, other 
 words, which would be grammatically connected with it, 
 must be modified into a corresponding form. And as the 
 manifestation is personal, the personal pronouns readily fall 
 9 
 
y» LECTURES ON 
 
 under the same philological rule. Nor can any reason be 
 assigned why they should not, when personal distinction is 
 implied. 
 
 (3.) Other scriptural expressions, and applied to man, re- 
 quire the same indulgence in interpretation, — if indulgence 
 it may be called. Such are the following : — "Return unto thy 
 rest, my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee J' 
 "Bless the Lord, O my sow/," again and again repeated by 
 David. "For that which J do, I allow not: for what J 
 would, that do I not ; but what / hate, that do /. Now if 
 / do that / would not, it is no more / that do it, but sin that 
 dwelleth in me. /know that in me, i. e. in my flesh, dwell- 
 eth no good thing." Such is Paul's language. And it be- 
 comes, if possible, more striking, when speaking of himself, 
 as having been caught up into paradise, he says — "Of such 
 an one will I glory ; yet of myself I will not glory, but in my 
 infirmities." All these different forms of expression are, as 
 applied to the same person, under the same personal view, 
 highly improper; but they are both correct and beautiful, 
 interesting and necessary, when applied to the same person 
 under different personal appearances. 
 
 (4.) While these expressions may be illustrated on the 
 distinction which has been stated, we are forbidden to carry 
 that distinction so far, as to overthrow the doctrine of the 
 divine unity. Not only are we explicitly informed that there 
 is but one God, but in the very passage from which these 
 plural pronouns have been taken, singular pronouns are 
 used with equal familiarity: — for it is said, — "So the Elo- 
 him created man in his own image : in the image of the 
 Elohim created he him; male and female created he them." 
 And afterwards, — the Elohim said, — "Behold J have given 
 you every herb." "Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof / 
 commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat?" While then 
 the distinction stated, is, on the one hand, necessary to ex- 
 plain the phraseology ; on the other, the phraseology itself re- 
 stricts us from going beyond the distinction. 
 
 2. The Elohim are said to make man in their own image, 
 and after their own likeness. 
 
 This image is supposed to consist in "knowledge, right- 
 eousness and true holiness."* Now that God is character- 
 ised by knowledge, righteousness and true holiness, there 
 can be no doubt ; and when man possesses these things, there 
 is as little doubt that he is like God. But that these things 
 * The idea is taken from Eph. iv. 23, 24.— Col. iii. 10. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 99 
 
 cannot be included in the record, at present under consider- 
 ation, is evident: because, 
 
 (1.) Knowledge, righteousness and true holiness, suppose 
 intellectual and moral exercises, in which man could not 
 have been engaged, until he was created and put on his pro- 
 bation. He gets his knowledge from the sphere of observa- 
 tion that is afforded to him. Not having any " innate 
 ideas," he must depend upon his external resources; and 
 until, as an intellectual being, he was put on those resources, 
 he could not possess the ideas which were to be derived 
 from them. Righteousness, in like manner, is conformity to 
 law; and he could not, therefore, have righteousness until 
 he had conformed to law. — How is the fact, or how should 
 have been the fact, with regard to infants? 
 
 (•2.) The image of God does not always mean the same 
 thing in the scriptures. — " A man indeed," says Paul, " ought 
 not to cover his head, for as much as he is the image and 
 glory of God ; but the woman is the glory of the man."* 
 Was not the woman made in the image of God ? See the 
 record.! 
 
 It has also been asserted, that by the fall of Adam, all 
 mankind have lost the image of God. Neither can this as- 
 sertion be sustained by the scriptures. For when God re- 
 newed the mediatorial constitution with Noah, as M the heir 
 of the righteousness of faith," he assigned as the reason of a 
 statute, in relation to murder, then promulgated, — " For in 
 the image of God made he man."} In the text, just quoted 
 from the pen of the apostle Paul, it is expressly asserted that 
 the man is the image and glory of God. And James, speak- 
 ing of the tongue, observes — " Therewith bless we God, even 
 the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after 
 the similitude of God." § 
 
 All these things are readily explained, by the fact that as 
 the Elohim, mean Jehovah, who is a spirit, as manifested in 
 personal form, and acting independently of that form in his 
 continual providence ; so man, being made in their image or 
 after their likeness, was similarly constituted : i. e. man has 
 an intellectual spirit, dwelling in an external form or body ; 
 which spirit may exert an influence independently of his bodi- 
 ly presence. — The allusion which the apostle makes, in des- 
 cribing the man as the image of God, and the woman as the 
 glory of the man, is not to this primary view, but to official 
 
 * 1 Cor xi. 7. X Gen. ix. 6. 
 
 i Gen. i. 26, 27. § James iii. 9. 
 
100 LECTURES OK 
 
 standing and authority. Adam was our social head. Eve 
 was not. 
 
 The first thing which we are required to notice concern- 
 ing man, — the general matters being settled — is that he has 
 a body. God has created him with an animal nature. And 
 this body, like every other creature, has its own laws im- 
 pressed upon, or incorporated within, itself: all of which 
 laws are necessary to its well being. It is a beautiful piece 
 of divine mechanism, "fearfully and wonderfully made;" 
 displaying the divine wisdom in one of its loveliest efforts; 
 and putting to the blush the absurdity of atheistical specula- 
 tion. It must act according to its own laws, — not contrary 
 to them — not above them. Nothing else, nothing more, 
 can be expected from it : nor can we imagine that the divine 
 power will be exerted to sustain it in a train of operations, 
 for which it is not constitutionally fitted. 
 
 The body of man, it is necessary further to remark, was form- 
 ed of the dust ofthe ground. It originates in, and from, this 
 material system, or is a component part of it. This view of 
 the origin ofthe body, as traced to the laws ofthe material sys- 
 tem, is never lost sight of in the scriptural representations 
 concerning it: in proof of which assertion, let the following 
 texts be submitted. — " In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat 
 bread, till thou return to the ground; for out of it was thou 
 taken : for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."* 
 "Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as 
 the clay ; and wilt thou bring me into dust again r"t "All flesh 
 shall perish together, and man shall turn again to dust."t 
 11 He knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust."§ 
 " Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was."|| " We 
 have had fathers of our flesh, who corrected us, and we gave 
 them reverence. "IF 
 
 The next thing that is observed concerning man is, that he 
 has an intellectual spirit. Without this he could not re- 
 semble the Elohim. This spirit is the immediate gift of God, 
 and did not spring from the dust, nor is it the offspring of 
 the material system. God breathed into man's nostrils, when 
 his body was formed from the ground, the breath of lives ; 
 i. e. both animal and intellectual life. The same idea is pre- 
 served throughout the scriptures. — " The spirit shall return to 
 God who gave it."** " We have had fathers of our flesh — shah 
 
 * Gen. ii. 7; iii. 19, 23. ||'Eccl. xii. 7. 
 
 fJobx. 9. IT Heb. xii. 9. 
 
 + Job xxxiv. 15. ** EccK xii. 7. 
 |Ps. ciii. 14. 
 
MORAL GOVERxNMENT 101 
 
 we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and 
 live."* " O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh."t "None 
 of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to 
 God a ransom for him, for the redemption of their soul is 
 precious."! There is no man that hath power over the spirit, 
 to retain the spirit."§ " The burden of the word of the Lord, 
 which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the founda- 
 tion of the earth, andformeth the spirit of man within him."\\ 
 " Fear not them that kill the body, but are not able to destroy 
 the soul ; but rather fear him, which is able to destroy both 
 soul and body in hell."V To God, then, immediately and di- 
 rectly, are we indebted for our spirits. They have no earthly 
 father. 
 
 I am aware of the argument that has been employed, and 
 by no secondary men, to disprove the origin of the human 
 spirit, as it has just been declared. But I must be permitted 
 to leave their argument on this subject unnoliced ; as it is 
 advanced principally to sustain a doctrine, which, we shall 
 hereafter have opportunities enough, to demonstrate to be 
 unscriptural. 
 
 The spirit of man, like every other creature, has its own 
 laws, impressed upon, or incorporated within, itself. Paul 
 has expressed my idea thus : — " The gentiles do by nature 
 the things contained in the law, — which show the work of 
 the law written in their hearts."** Like every other creature 
 then, the spirit of man is under a necessary obligation to 
 act according to the laws of its own nature : — not contrary 
 to, nor above, them ; but in perfect correspondence with them. 
 Noris the power of God either expected to legislate for, or to 
 act by, the human spirit, in any manner that is not consistent 
 with its nature, or proportioned to its faculties. Neither is 
 it to be supposed while these faculties are suffered to lie dor- 
 mant, or are not called out into action to the whole extent 
 of their force, that God will gratuitously supply the defi- 
 ciencies, by an effort of his own omnipotence. 
 
 Here, then, or in the constitution of each individual hu- 
 man being, is laid the basis of his personal responsibility. 
 Whatever may be his social relations, or however his ex- 
 ternal circumstances may be modified, he yet has an indi- 
 viduality, which must be his essential characteristic while 
 
 »Heb. xii. 7. ||Zech. xii. 5. 
 
 fNum. xvi 22; xxvii. 16. IT Mat. x. 28. 
 
 JPs. xlix.7, 8. M Rom. ii. 14,15. 
 § Eccl. viii. 8. 
 
 9* 
 
102 LECTURES ON 
 
 his spirit exists. His body may be enthralled, but his mind 
 must be free ; and for himself he must give account to his 
 creator. Xo one man can eat or drink for any other man ; 
 but the organs of each animal system must possess their own 
 vitality, and sustain their own functional operations ; in like 
 manner, no one man can think for any other man; but each 
 individual spirit has its own characteristic faculties, and these 
 must sustain their own personal operations. It is this indi- 
 viduality of being, with all its appended rights and primordial 
 privileges, that mankind are now waking up to consider; 
 and which, with such spasmodic effort, they are pleading 
 against both political and ecclesiastical misrule. Nor will 
 the controversy terminate, until the victory is achieved, and 
 the aristocracy of the dark ages falls disfranchised, before the 
 banner of intellectual freedom. The assumed principles of 
 political and ecclesiastical despotism are contrary to both 
 nature and revelation. 
 
 The Son of God himself, while upon earth, could not 
 think for his hearers. Hence he asked them with so much 
 point, "Why do ye not understand my speech ;" and re- 
 plied with so much plainness, — "because ye cannot hear 
 my word." Their prejudices, — their sluggishness, — their 
 deeply seated errors, — their familiar, but inaccurate, techni- 
 calities, — their sectarian dogmatism — their crude, but ste- 
 reotyped maxims, derived from the traditions of the elders, 
 and sustained by the commandments of men, prevented 
 them from hearing either candidly or correctly. Hence 
 thev misrepresented his doctrines, traduced his character, 
 reviled his ministrations, and upbraided him under the harsh- 
 est epithets. " This people's heart," said he, " is waxed 
 gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they 
 have closed; lest at any time they should see with their 
 eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with 
 their hearts, and should be converted, and I should heal 
 them."* And again, in his last hours, and in full view of 
 his cross, contrasting his own benevolent feelings towards 
 them with all their unkindness to him, he said, "0 Jerusa- 
 lem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest 
 ihem that are sent unto thee, how often would I have ga- 
 thered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her 
 chickens under her wings, and ye would not."t Let the 
 human spirit then be either holy or sinful, it must, from its 
 own nature, think for itself: — no other being can think for it. 
 * Mat. xiii. 15. I Mat. xxiii. 37. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 103 
 
 It is unquestionably true that one man may express his 
 thoughts to other men; and that they, taking up those 
 thoughts, may professedly and habitually act upon them. 
 There is a great deal of this species of intellectual operation 
 in the world; and there necessarily must be. It is one of the 
 finest and best views of the social character of man ; but, when 
 abused, it leads to the most direful and disastrous conse- 
 quences. It affords ample room for the two extremes, at- 
 tendant on human things — good and evil. On the one 
 hand, it is the very soul of the creed-making system; is the 
 only support of political or ecclesiastical despotism, when it 
 connects an approval of the dogmas of past ages with civil 
 or religious privileges; and can alone account for that idola- 
 trous reverence for the fathers, which eulogizes so highly 
 their talents, their learning and their piety, and smiles so 
 sarcastically at the pigmy pretensions of their children. It 
 always has been, and it would seem that it always must be, 
 so, that men who are too timid, or too indolent, to think for 
 themselves, should perpetually detail the thoughts of others. 
 And then again, many who pretend to think for themselves, 
 are all the time meditating upon the ideas of those who 
 have been long numbered with "the pale nations of the 
 dead." How important is the question now-a-days, what 
 Calvin, or Luther, or Owen, or Edwards, and a host of 
 others, meant in their writings ! Can any one conceive a 
 more humiliating intellectual spectacle, than when whole 
 denominations of religious men, — the old in their dogma- 
 tism, and the young in their intemperate zeal — are biting 
 and devouring one another, while professedly arguing out 
 such an unprofitable question? But look abroad — hear, 
 read, see, and decide for yourselves. 
 
 On the other hand, this principle of intellectual opera- 
 tion, by which the human spirit takes cognizance of exter- 
 nal objects, presented to its contemplation, is incorpo- 
 rated in the divine government over man. When Jehovah 
 created the world, he made an exhibition of himself, with 
 the view of arranging subjects of thought to the hu- 
 man mind. The fact is abundantly evident. The divine 
 works furnish to mankind the matters of their varied in- 
 vestigation. But the knowledge, which they are intended 
 to impart, cannot be acquired without effort or reflection. 
 The redeemer did not ask the credence of his hearers to 
 mere assertion, but appealed to every variety of evidence of 
 which the subject was susceptible; — to creation — to provi- 
 
104 LECTURES ON 
 
 dence — to the scriptures — to reason — to his own miraculous 
 works. The Holy Spirit is not given to control or subdue 
 us by repeated emanations of resistless power; or to pre- 
 clude the necessity for personal inquiry; but he is sent to 
 convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. 
 Jehovah no more deals with the spirit of man, irrespective 
 of its own high faculties, than he sustains our animal life, 
 by a providence that gratuitously dispenses with daily labor. 
 The very principle of intellectual improvement is to be 
 found in our intellectual effort. A debased mind must be 
 regenerated; a corrupt life must be reformed; the being, 
 who has gone astray, must be brought back; and personal- 
 ly to attend to, and achieve, this momentous change, is the 
 matter of moral obligation which the scriptures prescribe. 
 Personal responsibility is therefore the necessary result of 
 our personal existence; and no institution or operation of 
 God is intended to set it aside. Every man must give an 
 account of, and for, himself, to his creator. 
 
 This intellectual spirit, which the Elohim breathed into 
 man, is made, for the time being, a tenant of the body, 
 which had been formed from the ground. The body, then, 
 is the instrument by which the spirit acts. It acquires its 
 ideas by means of the bodily senses; and applies the ideas, 
 thus acquired, to the various purposes of life ; or in the dis- 
 charge of its responsibilities, according to the measure of 
 ability which belongs to the body. Weaken the powers of 
 the body, and the spirit's ability to act is necessarily dimin- 
 ished. A man cannot act in sickness as he would in 
 health. A blind man can have no idea of colors, and a 
 deaf man can have no idea of sound. A child has no 
 maturity of thought, and in old age " the silver cord is 
 loosened and the golden bowl is broken." And hence 
 Paul complains, that when he would do good, evil was pre- 
 sent with him — that the law in his members warred against 
 the law of his mind. 
 
 I apprehend that the animal part of man is but little con- 
 sidered in discussions on moral science. The theologian 
 appears promptly to despatch any reference which might be 
 made to it; and thinking that the question — can matter sin? 
 
 shuts out all necessity for illustration, he hastens away to 
 
 speculate about abstract spirit. In like manner he had rea- 
 soned about God; and merely pursues his own mode of rea- 
 soning, in thus treating man. Having contemplated the 
 creator, enthroned in his own inscrutable perfections, out- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 105 
 
 side of the world himself had made, it was natural and ne- 
 cessary to carry his intellectual creature in search of him; 
 and, impossible, to ascertain some points of communion in 
 which the two could meet. Here, as a matter of course, 
 the theologian fails; and hence the very virtues of the chris- 
 tian, like the attributes of godhead, have become profound 
 and inexplicable mysteries. For example : — Who can tell 
 us what faith is ? No one. To be sure, definition upon de- 
 finition has been afforded by systematic divines. But then 
 they only throw the difficulty one step forward: and when 
 pursued, the answer is — Faith is the gift of God. But then 
 what is the thing which is given ? In what sense is that 
 thing a gift? Does God bestow faith upon us, as he gives 
 us our daily bread ? Or are these as different in the manner 
 of their acquisition, as in their nature ? Must we believe 
 what we do not see, do not hear, do not understand ? Or 
 is it as John says, — " That which we have heard, which we 
 have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and 
 our hands have handled, of the word of life — declare we 
 unto you ?" If it be, then we get our ideas through our ex- 
 ternal senses, of which our spirits take cognizance, and 
 judge, understand, are convinced, and believe. But in that 
 case there is no difficulty or mystery about the matter. For 
 then faith is the gift of God, as our daily bread is the gift 
 of God : i. e. we get our daily bread by a divine blessing 
 upon our daily labor; and so we obtain faith by a divine 
 blessing upon our honest and patient investigation after 
 truth. And can it be otherwise ? How can we believe in 
 him of whom we have not heard, and how can we hear 
 without a preacher? 
 
 In the same manner many reason, when they reject all 
 external ordinances. All is spirit with them. Others run 
 to the opposite extreme, and are ever seeking after exter- 
 nal ordinances. Sermons, prayer-meetings, and conse- 
 crated days, seem to command their entire confidence ; and 
 they justify themselves to their own consciences, by calling 
 the excitement, which is thus produced or revived, heart- 
 religion ; as though the heart was intrinsically different 
 from mind, or as though Christianity did not require, but 
 was unfavorable to, intellectual cultivation. How absurd 
 that system necessarily is, which does not enact and sanc- 
 tify external institutions, as the mere means of mental illu- 
 mination ? 
 
 Out of this peculiarity of our present mode of existence, 
 
] 06 LECTURES ON 
 
 viz: that our intellectual spirit dwells in an animal body, 
 arise all our natural relations. Take away that fact, — let 
 the spirit return to God, while the dust returns to the dust, 
 and these natural relations cease; for, says the redeemer, — 
 " in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in 
 marriage." How much more evident must it be, that all 
 the political relations of life, from the paradisiacal constitu- 
 tion down, are limited in the same way, and confined in 
 their action to the same material organization. Through 
 this material organization, and by means of the external 
 senses, any objects connected with the political, as well as 
 those belonging to the natural, relations, may be presented 
 to the human spirit, and form the matters of its careful revi- 
 sion, or its deliberate judgment. It is the nature and pro- 
 vince of mind so to act; nor is the case altered by the cha- 
 racter of the objects so presented. Whether they shall be 
 good or evil, the mental exercise remains the same in prin- 
 ciple. The spirit, sustaining its own free agency, and de- 
 ciding by its own power of conscience, chooses between 
 good and evil, and must meet the consequences of its own 
 determinations. All that can be required, in order to origi- 
 nate, and carry through to its issue, such an intellectual 
 process, is information, afforded or acquired, according to 
 the established laws of human nature. And the various 
 relations of life, whether considered to be natural or politi- 
 cal, are intended to aid and facilitate, not to nullify or im- 
 pede, such a train of mental action. " He that is called in 
 the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's free-man." Per- 
 sonal responsibility is the high and distinguishing character- 
 istic of our personal existence. 
 
 Having now traced up personal responsibility to its con- 
 stitutional and necessary connexions, let us next inquire 
 after the law to which the spirit was made amenable. 
 From the whole view of creation, it must be. very evident 
 that, while every other creature served definite objects suit- 
 ed to its own capacities, the spirit of man was made to con- 
 template, to obey, and to enjoy God. Righteousness, as 
 productive of good, was the high object it was formed to 
 secure. In securing that object, it would act according to 
 its own nature, and meet its own responsibility; but dis- 
 carding that object, responsibility is violated, and condem- 
 nation unavoidable. In other words, it is as much the na- 
 ture of mind to contemplate, obey, and enjoy God, as it is 
 the nature of the fig-tree to bring forth figs; or the moral 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 107 
 
 results prescribed to the human spirit, as naturally follow 
 from its constituent principles, as it belongs to the earth to 
 bring forth fruit of herself. Hence the law is said to be 
 written on our hearts; and the gentiles are described as 
 doing by nature the things contained in the law. And in- 
 deed, would it not be strange that the mind should be called 
 to obey a law which is not coincident with its own nature, 
 or which it had no capacities to obey. As well might it be 
 expected that men should gather grapes of thorns, or figs of 
 thistles. 
 
 The law itself, — as it has been summarily expressed in the 
 scriptures, requires of the human mind simply to do and 
 live. That which must be done, is the thing, which, as 
 either enacted by a written code, or inscribed on nature, is 
 both right and good, and is perfectly within the reach of the 
 human mind. A man cannot believe in him of whom he 
 has not heard ; neither can he fulfil a duty, which he has no 
 opportunity of knowing. This doing was as much within 
 the range of Adam's abilities, as believing is now within the 
 reach of our capacity ; and he was personally as accounta- 
 ble under law, which required him to do, as we are under 
 gospel, when required to believe. — Let it here be distinctly 
 understood that I am not speaking of the paradisiacal consti- 
 tution; but of the law impressed upon, or incorporated with, 
 the nature of every human being : — the law of spirit in its 
 own individuality. 
 
 It may be both seasonable and instructive, to call up to 
 recollection, that God himself, the great pattern of imitation 
 had been doing also. He had created the heavens and the 
 earth and all their host. This work is both right and 
 good. So clearly was this the fact, that Adam could dis- 
 tinctly perceive it, and make his observations in the most 
 intelligible and unequivocal manner. In other words— God 
 did, in his work of creation, exemplify the connexion be- 
 tween rightousness and life, or show that the thing which 
 is right, is the thing that is good- But this righteousness 
 of God, did not, in any way interfere with the personal re- 
 sponsibility of man, so as to cover any deficiencies belonging 
 to his nature, or any improprieties of which he might be 
 guilty. It was an example to illustrate the divine character, 
 and explain the divine designs ; from which man might learn 
 his personal duties, and derive the necessary inducements 
 to perform thern. But it was no part of Jehovah's inten- 
 tion to impute this righteousness to Adam, or to any of his 
 
108 LECTURES ON 
 
 posterity : it was not a robe which his hand had wrought as a 
 garment of justification — it served not as a final plea in 
 judgment. The law toman was, do and ltve : and his 
 obedience to this law, would present him as justified by his 
 own works. Whereverthen a doctrine of imputation may 
 be scripturally or rationally argued, it cannot be sustained, 
 in any respect, as a substitute for personal responsibility. 
 
 Of course there is, and necessarily must be, a limit to per- 
 sonal responsibility. Man is not infinite, and the law of his 
 nature could not be infinite. The law could not transcend the 
 powers of his nature, nor be stretched beyond the sphere of 
 action in which he was placed. Accordingly, on the one 
 hand, I cannot accede to the lofty, yet undefined, notions 
 which have been entertained of Adam's superiority, as though 
 he were something more than human ; nor, on the other, 
 can I believe, that the paridisiacal institute, was either the 
 only law under which he was placed, or an arbitrary statute, 
 enacted as a solitary test of his obedience. For, as we have 
 seen, the law of his personal being was written on his heart, 
 or incorporated in his nature ; and must be obeyed through- 
 out the entire extent of his agency, and in reference to all 
 the relations, belonging to the system with which he was 
 connected. Whatever was the nature, or the intention, of 
 the paradisiacal law, that institute could not set aside the 
 law written on his heart, nor supersede its obligation, in those 
 circumstances to which it would naturally and necessarily 
 apply. And those circumstances were neither few nor un- 
 important. For observe — The marriage institution was es- 
 tablished, from which the various natural relations would 
 unavoidably follow : — The sabbath day was sanctified, which 
 would seem, as being a positive institution, to represent a 
 series of religious ceremonies as belonging to the service 
 due to God ; — The dominion over the creatures was en- 
 trusted to Adam's judgment, and they were afterwards named 
 and classed according to his judgment: — He was put into the 
 garden "to dress and to keep it," and was thus engaged in 
 all the operations of an active life ; — gold and precious stones 
 &,c. are also enumerated, along with whatever was pleasant 
 to the sight, or good for food, or contributing to the comforts 
 and conveniencies oflife, as items in the bountiful provision 
 his creator had made. A scene of operation, and a condition 
 of existence, entirely like that which the world now presents, 
 with the exception that evil had not been introduced, is thus 
 minutely described by the inspired penman. Here then, we 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 109 
 
 have the sphere of man's personal responsibility, when origin- 
 ally formed, — the parts as well arranged, and the theatre of 
 action as extensive, as the corresponding system is at this 
 day, or has been since the fall. It is, moreover, abundant- 
 ly evident, that this state of things, thus set up at the begin- 
 ning, was intended to have been perptuateed, until the cre- 
 ator's intentions in framing it should be answered ; while at 
 the same time some ulterior purposes were distinctly held 
 up to view. 
 
 It may, perhaps, be objected, that the preceding view in- 
 volves the possibility of the commission of sin, by Adam or 
 any of his children, irrespective of the paradisiacal constitu- 
 tion ; and at any point in the whole range of their personal 
 responsibilities. Reminding you, in the first place, that the 
 preceding argument has been drawn from the nature of the 
 case, and that the detail which has been presented is the histo- 
 rian's own account of Me facts in the case, I readily admit the 
 accuracy of the objection, and concede its implication. What 
 then ? Is there any thing wrong in the concession? Is any 
 scriptural principle overlooked, or put at defiance? Did not 
 Adam sin, when he ate of the forbidden fruit? Did not Eve 
 sin — and as she was not our social head — did she not sin 
 in violation of personal responsibility ? Was she not "first" 
 in the transgression ? Did her sin become impossible before 
 the social head had eaten ? Have not angels sinned ? Does not 
 God himself speak of good and evil, in other parts of his do- 
 minions? — Any difficulty which may arise here, proceeds 
 from the assumption, that the existence of sin argues apre- 
 viously corrupt nature. 1 say assumption — because neither 
 Adam, nor Eve, nor the angels, had a previously corrupt 
 nature. 
 
 That such a concession may be safely made, is farther 
 evident from the nature of personal responsibility itself. This 
 could not be absorbed in any social institute. The mediato- 
 rial righteousness of the Son of God himself, has not absorb- 
 ed it : but he commands every man to believe ; and on a com- 
 pliance or non-compliance, depends the issue. By his own 
 nature, every man is in a state of personal probation ; good 
 and evil are placed before him. And every where, through- 
 out the scriptures, a man's final destiny is connected with 
 his own responsibility. Spiritual and eternal life, on the 
 one hand, and spiritual and eternal death on the other, are 
 respectively attached to the facts given in answer to the ju- 
 dicial inquiry, whether a man has done good or evil ? Who 
 10 
 
110 LECTURES ON 
 
 ever heard of any man's being condemned at the bar of God 
 for Adam's sin; or of any other judicial inquiry, than that 
 which involved the deeds done in the body, and demanded every 
 one to answer for himself ? Ah ! much do I fear that multi- 
 tudes are slumbering on an awful precipice, in view of this 
 momentous matter. Rouse up, I beseech you, and search 
 the scriptures, that you may ascertain, whether you must not 
 be judged in the great day of retribution — each for yourself? 
 
 It may now be very fairly asked, what would have been 
 the consequence, if Adam, or any of his posterity, had sin- 
 ned, in violation of personal responsibility? Should such 
 a transgressor have died ? To answer this question, it 
 must first be settled, what kind of death it means? If it be 
 temporal death, to which the question refers, I unhesitating- 
 ly answer, that thus the transgressor would not have died : 
 because temporal death is uniformly connected with Adam's 
 sin. In Adam all die. It is very true that, death may be in- 
 flicted as the penalty of a municipal statute : — but that occurs 
 only because death has been brought into the world, as the 
 consequence of Adam's sin. And it is also true, that death 
 was inflicted as the penalty of the mosaic law ; but that resul- 
 ted from its typical purposes and character. Neither fact dis- 
 turbs our general argument. However righteous any man may 
 be, he cannot escape death: — "It is appointed unto all men 
 once to die." In such a case, personal responsibility would 
 have left a sinner to the divine favor for pardon, on the prin- 
 ciple of repentance, or to the decisions of the day of judg- 
 ment, when every man must give account of himself to 
 God. 
 
 Again it may be asked, what would have been the final 
 issue under such circumstances, if the transgressor had not 
 died ? In what way should he have been brought into judg- 
 ment? These questions are entitled to a distinct answer, 
 whether the case of transgression shall be admitted or de- 
 nied. It could not have been intended that man should 
 live here forever, if the paradisiacal law had not been viola- 
 ted : and personal probation must necessarily lead to a judi- 
 cial investigation. There were evidently two sides to the 
 constitution under which mankind were placed ; and if sin 
 were followed by penalty, obedience must secure reward. 
 How then shall we decide this interesting matter? Are 
 there any scriptural principles, unequivocally set forth, 
 whose truth is indisputable, and on which we may conn- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. Ill 
 
 dently rely ? I think there are such principles, very distinct- 
 ly stated ; and that they fully meet the whole case. 
 
 The apostle Paul, in his argument on the resurrection, 
 addressed to the corinlhians,* very explicitly assures us, that 
 "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." Now 
 Adam had this very flesh and blood, which cannot inherit 
 the kingdom of God. Of course he could not inherit 
 the kingdom of God; or he must, some how or other, part 
 with flesh and blood. — Again the apostle observes, "there is 
 a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. ''And so," he 
 adds, it is written, "the first man Adam was made a living 
 soul ; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit." The 
 doctrine of these two kinds of bodies, he does himself ap- 
 ply to the primordial, as well as to the remedial state of 
 man ; and observes that their order was — "that was not first 
 which is spiritual, but that which is natural ; and afterward 
 that which is spiritual." The doctrine of the resurrection, 
 as connected with the christian system, he argues on these 
 original principles. A natural body is not the mere off- 
 spring of a fallen nature, but is all that was produced from 
 the ground, or belonged to Adam before he fell ; and is strict- 
 ly analogous with the material system of which it forms a 
 part. On the other hand, a spiritual body is not a mere ap* 
 pendage of Christianity, presented as analogous with the 
 resurrection ; but was contemplated from the beginning; for 
 which reason it is incorporated with Christianity. 
 
 Again, he says, "we shall not all sleep, but we shall all 
 be changed; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the 
 last trumpet: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead 
 shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 
 Temporal death then is not indispensably necessary to our 
 putting off the natural, and putting on the spiritual body : a 
 change may be accomplished in a moment, in the twinkling 
 of an eye ; of which, the facts that occurred in the history of 
 Enoch and Elijah, are bright and interesting examples. Any 
 supposed difficulty, in the case before us, is then readily and 
 entirely removed. Nor is death itself either so unique or 
 monstrous a matter, as it is generally represented to be ; but 
 is analogous to an event which should have occurred, if 
 Adam had not eaten the forbidden fruit ; and which should 
 have pressed home the personal responsibility of every hu- 
 man mind, with equal force. Thus then, by a change which 
 would have taken place, not so painful nor dishonorable as 
 temporal death, yet still by a change from a natural into a 
 
 * 1 Ep. xv. 44—52. 
 
112 LECTURES ON 
 
 spiritual body, should mankind, whether they had personal- 
 ly done good or evil, have been introduced to the judgment 
 seat. 
 
 We have now reached the paradisiacal institute. But 
 wishing to consider that matter by itself, I shall postpone it 
 to the next lecture ; and in the mean time anticipate our 
 discussion, so far as to take up the following question: — 
 Was Adam left to fulfil his various duties in his own strength ? 
 This question, in an age, when there is so much contra- 
 dictory, and unsatisfying argument on the subjects of divine 
 power, and human ability and inability, may perhaps serve 
 to throw these litigated matters into a novel form, or one 
 which has not been defaced by scholastic technicality. Let 
 us see what reply may be obtained from the facts, as they 
 are afforded in the scriptures. 
 
 Moses informs us that on the seventh day God rested 
 from all his work. And what did he mean by God's rest- 
 ing? Paul, illustrating the mediatorial system as an eccle- 
 siastical constitution, compares it with this early form of 
 moral government which Moses describes ; and remarks — 
 "He that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from 
 his own works, as God did from his." An analogy is evi- 
 dently intended to be asserted. In the latter case, we learn 
 that Christ, as to his bodily presence, is now removed from 
 our view, and that in place thereof the spirit has come. 
 The analogy then would be, that God, having finished the 
 work of creation, entered into his rest; or that in personal 
 form he was removed out of Adam's sight, and the spirit 
 came. 
 
 It may, perhaps, be considered as a breach upon this an- 
 alogy, that the Voice of God, or God in personal form, did 
 afterwards appear in the garden. But so also the redeemer 
 appeared to Paul, when he commissioned him to go to the 
 gentiles. So he appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 
 when he would make, or renew, his covenant with them. 
 So he came down to the plains of Shinar, and to Sodom, 
 when he appeared to execute his purpose. A like occasion 
 had now occurred ; something out of the course of ordinary 
 rule was to be adjudicated; and viewed, as the facts allu- 
 ded to are to be estimated, the seeming discrepancy is done 
 away. 
 
 Then the Spirit came, as he comes now. We are wont 
 to refer every thing to the single agency of the Spirit; and 
 many feel warranted to wait, when they are called to be- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 1 13 
 
 lieve the gospel, until the Spirit shall renew their hearts. 
 Others, who have tasted that the Lord is gracious, are con- 
 tinually representing the Spirit's influences in such a light, 
 that a sort of irresponsible state is supposed to exist ; and an 
 inability on the part of man is inferred, with all which the 
 doctrine of a personal election and reprobation most exact- 
 ly fits. They plead indeed for the use of means ; — but then 
 any one may see that their doctrine of divine power and hu- 
 man inability, renders the means utterly useless. Multitudes 
 of sinners thus excuse themselves from believing; and mul- 
 titudes feel themselves to be in a most fearful predicament, 
 while the penalty hangs over them, — "he that believeth not 
 shall be damned," and the scriptures unequivocally declare 
 that the sinner perishes by his own fault. Theologians can- 
 not reconcile these contradictory views, and the cry of mys- 
 tery will no longer avail. 
 
 How then stood the matter at first? Can we speak of 
 Adam's inability ? Do the scriptures report him as indo- 
 lently waiting for God ? Or do they refer his fall to any 
 thing else than the sinful emotions of his own bosom ? None 
 of these things can be affirmed with confidence in relation 
 to him. And why should they be affirmed of man now? 
 Man, it may be replied, is now encompassed with infirmi- 
 ties. True. But the divine government has proportioned 
 its operations to his infirmities. He is not now under law, 
 but under grace. Where then is the difference in princi- 
 ple ? There is none. It is now as much within the com- 
 pass of our ability to believe, as it was within the compass 
 of Adam's ability to obey. Not that there is no divine pow- 
 er now, or was no divine power then. For in both in- 
 stances the Spirit's operations belong to the divine govern- 
 ment. The simple fact is, that in the former case, the subject 
 has been obscured and misrepresented by scholastic subtle- 
 ty : in the last case the subject has been habitually over- 
 looked ; and by referring yourselves to the display of una- 
 dulterated truth at first afforded, you may more quickly and 
 more accurately understand the interest which you your- 
 selves, and all men, have in the influences of the Spirit of God. 
 Here, beneath the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, 
 the ministry might lay down their fetters; and go forth, un- 
 trammelled and unabashed, to preach salvation by "the 
 seed of the woman, to all the world." 
 
 W 
 
114 LECTURES ON 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 The Paradisiacal Constitution. — Tree of Life. — Rewards and 
 Penalties. — Mosaic Law. — The Flood. 
 
 If the argument afforded in the preceding lecture be ac- 
 curate and conclusive, and if the historical details have been 
 neither misrepresented, nor exaggerated, then the paradi- 
 siacal statute must not be so interpreted, as to destroy per- 
 sonal responsibility. In other words, — It has been shown 
 that personal responsibility belongs to the very nature of 
 man, or is the necessary accompaniment of his personal 
 existence : — that each man is accountable for himself, and 
 for himself alone, at the bar of God : — that no one man, not 
 Daniel, nor Noah, nor Job, — and may I not add— nor Adam, 
 can be a substitute for any other man, or deliver either son 
 or daughter by his righteousness; — and that, wherever a 
 doctrine of imputation may be maintained, or of whatever 
 political compact it may form a part, it cannot contravene 
 this great law of our personal being. 
 
 It has also been shown, that the spirit of man proceeds 
 immediately from God himself, while the body is referred to 
 a secondary agency, belonging to the material system. No 
 man can have power over the spirit; but each one, accord- 
 ing to the instructions delivered by the redeemer to his dis- 
 ciples, has it in charge to live above the fear of his fellows; 
 and direct his movements, under the solemn consideration 
 that God alone is the arbiter of the immortal spirit. Of 
 course then, the paradisiacal institute must direct its agency 
 to that which it can reach : and cannot terminate in the des- 
 truction of spirit. 
 
 To this view may be added the fact, that the mediatorial 
 system itself does not destroy, or set aside, personal responsi- 
 bility. On the contrary, that system has been introduced, 
 because " the one offence" of Adam, limited in the devasta- 
 tion it brought about, left in personal responsibility the op- 
 portunity for a remedial operation. Permit me to illustrate 
 my meaning by an analogy. — You have entrusted your funds 
 to an agent, in whom you thought you had just cause to con- 
 fide. He has been unfaithful, and squandered your means. 
 You are involved in consequent suffering, but you have con- 
 tracted no guilt. Personally, you have not sinned. This 
 is a social operation which every one understands. No 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 1 15 
 
 one complains of its injustice, objects to its philosophy, or 
 emblazons it as awful or unapproachable, on account of its 
 mystery. Every one perceives, that while personal respon- 
 sibility results from personal existence, so social responsibil- 
 ity results from social existence. Each is equally necessary, 
 justifiable, and philosophical in its own connexions. 
 
 But in the case contemplated, another question arises. 
 The infidelity of your agent, and the consequent suffering 
 in which you are involved, lead to the inquiry whether you 
 can meet your own personal obligations ? Your character is 
 unhurt, but what are your means ? If your means are wasted, 
 your creditors must then look to your personal character; and 
 their future conduct must be regulated, not by pressing the 
 principle of social responsibility, with a sort of Shylock per- 
 tinacity and cruelty ; but as one system has been brought to its 
 extremity, the remedy must be sought for in a higher system ; 
 and all future operations must be framed in coincidence with 
 the remedial principle, thus derived. Such a course would 
 be as wise, as it is humane. So in the case before us. The 
 one offence of Adam has pushed the system of social respon- 
 sibility to its extremity : the remedial principle must be 
 sought for in the higher system of personal responsibility. 
 Evidently we are involved by Adam's sin in suffering ; and 
 as evidently we have no means of meeting our personal ob- 
 ligations ; but as clearly our personal character has not been 
 forfeited. The fact that we were not then born, renders the 
 idea of the forfeiture of personal character perfectly unrea- 
 sonable and absurd. And when a philosophic theologian 
 undertakes to maintain that idea, it is no wonder that he is 
 lost in mystery, and is unable to defend his system, by scrip- 
 ture, analogy, or otherwise, to the common sense of man- 
 kind. 
 
 I have said, that the limited effect of the paradisiacal insti- 
 tute, afforded the opportunity for the introduction of the me- 
 diatorial system. The preceding analogy was intended to 
 illustrate that position, by evincing, that in personal respon- 
 sibility, while unviolated, the remedial principle must neces- 
 sarily be sought. If a remedial principle could not be thence 
 derived, it could come from no other source, — as appears 
 from the two following scriptural considerations. 
 
 1. Speaking on the subject of the resurrection, the re- 
 deemer informs us, that "in the resurrection they neither 
 marry, nor are given in marriage." Of course all the 
 other natural relations will be done away; and our social ex- 
 
116 LECTURES ON 
 
 istence, whatever may be the form under which it shall be 
 maintained, shall not be regulated by those principles which 
 are essentially characteristic of it here. But further, the re- 
 deemer adds, that they who rise shall be "like the angels of 
 God." The angels are not bound together by social 
 ties, analogous to those which subsist among men upon earth. 
 Their condition in their own sphere of action, and our con- 
 dition in the flesh, differ — in what? Certainly in this, that 
 social responsibility is not found among them, in the same 
 form in which it has been established among Adam's race. 
 When, therefore, angels sinned, they sinned on their personal 
 responsibility. Amid the varieties of creation, and while 
 this difference has been stated, it would appear that the his- 
 tory of these intelligences has been given to us, on purpose 
 to show the results of personal responsibility. On the other 
 hand, our political relations differ, and the adamic constitu- 
 tion develops the issue of social responsibility. No mediator 
 has been provided for the one ; while for the other a media- 
 tor has appeared. Why is this? It is a sovereign act, it may be 
 said. But why refer an act to sovereignty, when a reason good 
 and sufficient is at hand? And is not that reason at hand, 
 in the present case, when the fact is so plain and distinct, 
 that there is a whole race of intelligent beings who had not 
 personally sinned, but who were involved in disaster and sor- 
 row by the fault of another? Does not the justice of the case, 
 does not the goodness of God, point to the reason? But 
 
 2. Adam's children, in consequence of the righteousness 
 of the mediator, are now so far extricated, from the embar- 
 rassment in which they were involved by Adam's sin, as to be 
 fairly and consistently put on their personal responsibility. 
 As by the offence of Adam they became sinners, so by the 
 righteousness of Christ they have become righteous; and as 
 by the offence of Adam they have been brought into condem- 
 nation, so by the righteousness of Christ they are now in a 
 state of justification. If then, now they despise the rule of 
 faith, under obligation to which, and on their personal res- 
 ponsibility, they are placed, " there remaineth no more sac- 
 rifice for sins ; but a certain fearful looking for of judgment 
 and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." 
 The issue of personal responsibility is the same in both 
 cases. So that in the limited effect, which I have ascribed 
 to the adamic institute, arises the opportunity for a remedial 
 dispensation. If personal responsibility had been violated, 
 and the sentence of the law in this connexion had been 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 1 17 
 
 passed, the above scriptural facts evince that a mediator could 
 not have been provided. — If any then have been apprehen- 
 sive, that the present argument is likely to issue, either in a 
 " socinianised " corruption, or an infidel rejection, of the 
 mediatorial principle; they may perhaps see, that this princi- 
 ple is introduced by the very door which our argument throws 
 open: and furthermore, they may, peradventure, perceive, 
 that the popular representation, on this subject, shuts out 
 that principle. Hence it is, that theologians so often resort 
 to sovereignly, in their various lucubrations ; for they can 
 have no other reason, when personal responsibility is so un- 
 ceremoniously, yet inconsiderately, foreclosed. 
 
 I consider the paradisiacal constitution as nothing more 
 than apolitical, or external, dispensation, like the mosaic law, 
 by which in fact it was typified. Its sanctions then were 
 temporal in their character. It promised temporal reward ; 
 it threatened temporal penalties. It grew out of the social re- 
 lations which had been created, and could not go beyond 
 them, as they formed a part of the general external system 
 which God had set up. And the object was to display, un- 
 der a visible, or symbolic form, the connexion between right- 
 eousness and life: just as God had displayed the same gen- 
 eral principle in creation itself; as every man must do in all 
 his actions, and in every relation in which he stands ; and as 
 in fact is done, by contrast, in the various consequences of 
 Adam's offence. The connexion between sin and death is 
 now, not only written in the bible, but it is inscribed on the 
 material system, and incorporated in the animal nature of 
 man himself. Such is the doctrine which I would advance 
 on this subject; which results, as I think, from the very na- 
 ture of the case ; and which, as I believe, the scriptures will 
 most plainly and lucidly exhibit. Let us try. 
 
 Before, however, I proceed directly to the argument, by 
 which I expect to establish the doctrine advanced, there is 
 one circumstance, belonging to the general subject, which 
 requires particular attention. It is generally supposed, — 
 and no wonder, for our translators so represent the fact, — 
 that there was a symbolic tree of life, placed in the midst of 
 the garden ; and for a purpose, analogous to that for which 
 the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was similarly 
 situated : — a kind of sacramental pledge of life, as the other 
 was a sacramental pledge of death. If so, then the tree of 
 life was an appendage to the constitution, and must neces- 
 sarily be found there, in connexion with its sacramental 
 
118 LECTURE* ON 
 
 companion. How then does ihe document read ? — "And the 
 Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the 
 garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the know- 
 ledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the 
 day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Here you 
 perceive is a distinct reference to the one tree, while its char- 
 acter is carefully discriminated, and yet not one word about 
 a particular tree of life. Nay more, — Adam receives ex- 
 press and unrestrained permission to eat of every other tree 
 of the garden, and nothing still is said about a particular 
 tree of life. Still farther. — Eve gives to Satan a distinct and 
 minute account of the circumstances, under which God had 
 placed her partner and herself, and speaks of the tree in the 
 midst of the garden as the very one, of which they were not 
 permitted to eat. Now if there was any distinct tree of life, 
 planted in the midst of the garden, and made symbolic of 
 life, these omissions are wholly unaccountable. And thus 
 it would seem, that one of the most prominent and favorite 
 points of allusion, which they might make, who suppose that 
 eternal life was promised in the covenant, is rendered very 
 equivocal in the outset. 
 
 There are but one or two considerations, which can at all 
 be urged in favor of the prevalent notion, that there was a 
 particular tre^ of life. The first is derived from the second 
 chapter, and from the account which Moses gives of the 
 planting of the garden. He says, — '-'and out of the ground 
 made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to 
 the sight, and good for food ; the tree of life also in the midst 
 of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil."* 
 This seems to be as strong proof as could be desired in sup- 
 port of any proposition ; for it is nothing short of direct and 
 positive assertion. Yet our surprise, instead of being aba- 
 ted, must only be increased, when we recollect that there 
 is not one word about such a tree in the constitution itself. 
 But any hebraist will tell you, that the language, in which 
 the historian wrote, has but few adjectives: and that in a 
 case, where an adjective is not at hand to complete a de- 
 scription, like that under consideration, the noun would be 
 repeated. Calling in this philological peculiarity to our aid, 
 and translating the passage accordingly, Moses, would then 
 make the following statement: — "And out of the ground 
 made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to 
 the sight, and good for food, and a tree of life ; and also, in 
 
 •Terse 9. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 119 
 
 the midst of the garden the tree of knowledge of good and 
 evil." The phrase tree of life would then be equivalent to — 
 tending, or conducive to, life: — every tree pleasant to the 
 sight, good for food, and conducive to life, the Lord God 
 made to grow out of the ground. The same form of speech 
 is used in the first chapter, — "the tree of fruit bearing fruit 
 after his kind."* Such a translation removes all discrepancy, 
 and corresponds with the actual fact; for all the trees which 
 were given for food, were really trees of life. 
 
 Another plea may be set up in favor of the popular no- 
 tion, and which would be derived from the third chapter; 
 when God assigns the reason why man was put out of the 
 garden: — "Lest," said he, "he put forth his hand, and take 
 also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever." f But all the 
 trees were trees of life ; and the word may be, and ought to 
 be, so rendered here, unless it can be shown that there was 
 one particular tree, specially denominated the tree of life. 
 That the term is in the singular number, argues nothing 
 against our position ; because the fact is the same in the 
 second and eighth verses of the sajne chapter, where our 
 translators themselves have rendered the word as plural. — 
 Neither can any thing be obtained, in favor of the common 
 notion on this subject, from the circumstance, that it would 
 seem, from the phraseology, that if Adam, after his sin, had 
 eaten of the trees of life, he would have lived forever ; be- 
 because the term rendered forever, is applied to any period 
 whose termination is concealed from view. For this reason 
 it is applied to express eternity; for the same reason it is 
 used in reference to the period of a man's natural life ; as 
 also when a prospective view was taken of the Jewish dis- 
 pensation, by Moses himself. X 
 
 In truth there was no necessity for such a symbolical tree, 
 inasmuch as all the trees were trees of life ; nor can the sha- 
 dow of a reason be offered, as furnished by the constitution 
 itself, why any such symbol should have been set apart. 
 This will further appear when we come to consider the pre- 
 cise use of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 
 
 But let us turn to the constitution itself. And now, that 
 no mistake may be committed, I shall state the doctrine, as 
 it has been held on this subject, in the language of another, 
 whose ability and accuracy, in such a case, will not be 
 doubted. — "The death," says Dr. Edwards, "which was to 
 
 •Verse 11. fv. 22. J See Exod. xii. 14 ; xxi. 6.— 1 Sam. i. 22. See 
 Kennicott's dissertation on the tree of life. 
 
120 LECTURES ON 
 
 come on Adam, as the punishment of his disobedience, was 
 opposed to that life, which he would have had as the re- 
 ward of his obedience in case he had not sinned. Obedience 
 and disobedience are contraries: and the threatenings and 
 promises, that are sanctions of a law, are set in direct oppo- 
 sition ; and the promised rewards and threatened punishments, 
 are what are most properly taken as each other's opposites. 
 But none will deny, that the life which would have been 
 Adam's reward, if he had persisted in obedience, was eter- 
 nal life. And therefore we argue justly, that the death 
 which stands opposed to that life, is manifestly eternal 
 death, a death widely different from the death we now die." 
 If Adam, for his persevering obedience, was to have had 
 everlasting life and happiness, in perfect holiness, union 
 with his maker, and enjoyment of his favor, and this was the 
 life which was to be confirmed by the tree of life; then 
 doubtless the death threatened in case of disobedience, 
 which stands in direct opposition to this, was a being given 
 over to everlasting wickedness and misery, in separation 
 from God, and in enduring his wrath."* 
 
 This venerable and highly esteemed author, whom many 
 seem disposed to place along side of Calvin and Augustin, 
 indubitably asserts in the foregoing paragraph, as it has been 
 transcribed from his pen, that on the one hand, life, tem- 
 poral, spiritual, and eternal, would have been the reward of 
 Adam's obedience to the paradisiacal statute ; and on the 
 other, that death, temporal, spiritual, and eternal, has been 
 the punishment of his disobedience to that statute. This doc- 
 trine, I understand to have been generally received, as a true 
 exposition of these early transactions. That it has been 
 denied, at times, I will readily admit; but then the denial 
 appears to have been, for the most part, if not uniformly, 
 connected with the rejection of some other matters of vital 
 importance. I therefore suppose that the doctrine in view 
 has been so strenuously maintained, because it has been con- 
 ceived that those other important matters necessarily depend 
 upon it. Yet it appears to me, that while many hold those 
 other matters as demonstrably true, this doctrine they feel to 
 be contrary to their own common sense. They therefore 
 would not controvert it, equivocal as they may think it, being 
 afraid of the consequences which they imagine must neces- 
 sarily result. I am sure that such has been the condition 
 of my own mind ; but not fearing the supposed consequences, 
 
 ♦Edwards on Original Sin. — Part II. ch. i. sec. 2. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 121 
 
 because I do not think that they would occur, I unhesitat- 
 ingly deny the doctrine which our author has advanced. 
 
 Yet if we grant unto this writer his premises, his conclu- 
 sion must irrefragably follow : i. e. If life, temporal, spiritu- 
 al, and eternal, was the reward of obedience to the adamic 
 law ; death, temporal, spiritual and eternal, must have been 
 the punishment of its transgression. But how does he 
 prove his premises? His remark is — "But none ivill deny, 
 that the reward was eternal life." In this phrase, as is evi- 
 dent from the closing part of the paragraph which has been 
 quoted, he includes spiritual and temporal life. But sup- 
 pose that some one should deny that the reward was eternal 
 life — what then ? Very possibly he might be set down as 
 insane; so universally have theologians and sceptics taken 
 this exposition of the brief record for granted. It is, how- 
 ever, no new thing that one half of the world should think 
 the other half to be crazy : or that, in the religious controver- 
 sies which men conduct with so much confidence; and while 
 they have forgotten the scriptural injunction to "speak the 
 truth in love," they should resort to the use of such epi- 
 thets. The redeemer was thought to be beside himself, 
 and Paul was reproached with madness. — But suppose that 
 some one should deny our author's position. You see he 
 assumes it : and from mere assumption draws his conclusion. 
 His assumption, adventurous though it may seem to be, 
 I deny. Then it will follow, by his own argument, that, 
 if life, temporal, spiritual, and eternal, was not the reward 
 of obedience ; death, temporal, spiritual and eternal, cannot 
 be the punishment of disobedience, unless his assumption 
 should be proved. 
 
 It has already been abundantly proved, that there was no 
 such thing as a symbolical tree of life'. .'It deserves now to 
 be further remarked, that even life itself is not mentioned 
 in the constitution, in any form. And if so important a re- 
 sult as eternal life, involving the destiny of the immortal spi- 
 rit, should be depending, is it not singular that not one sin- 
 gle word should be said about it in the institute, in ex- 
 ecution of which it should occur ? How can this be ? Is 
 there not room to suspect some mistake, or to demand an 
 explanation ? 
 
 But perhaps it might be answered, that the promise of life 
 was implied. How can this be made to appear? On the 
 supposition that Adam had obeyed the law, and did not die, 
 the terms employed would be fully complied with, for the 
 
122 
 
 LECTURES OH 
 
 threatening should be neither incurred nor executed.-*- 
 Any thing farther must be expressed. If nothing farther is 
 expressed, we have reached the limitation of the sta- 
 tute. Eternal life has nothing to do with the matter. — But, 
 it may, perhaps, be rejoined, that if man did not die, he must 
 live forever. The paradisiacal constitution does not say so. 
 How can it be otherwise, you may ask ? Why, when we 
 have reached the extremity of one rectoral principle, we 
 must refer to another. So here : when social responsibili- 
 ty runs out, we must refer to personal responsibility, and as- 
 certain its issues ; or we shall be involved in a difficulty from 
 which there is no avenue of escape. Now, we have seen, 
 that if Adam had obeyed the law, each human being would 
 have been put on his own personal obligations : and a 
 change from a natural into a spiritual body, being contem- 
 plated in the general system, each one should have render- 
 ed an account for himself; — and in this connexion alone is 
 eternal life to be obtained. From the nature of the case, 
 therefore, eternal life could not have been the reward of 
 Adam's obedience, to the law he received in the garden : 
 and an assurance, that he should not die temporally, is all 
 that could be implied. If eternal life was not, and could 
 not be, the reward of obedience ; why, agreeably to the 
 argument which has been quoted, eternal death could not 
 be the penalty due to disobedience. 
 
 On the supposition that life had been promised in the 
 covenant, as it has been called, and that a symbolical tree of 
 life had been planted in the garden, yet the argument we 
 are considering would fare no better. For while personal 
 responsibility remained behind, eternal life and eternal death 
 would still be associated with it ; and the political dispensa- 
 tion, which clothed Adam with his official character, could 
 not have appropriated the sanctions which belonged to ano- 
 ther system. The term life then, had it been expressed, 
 could have imported nothing more than temporal life, and 
 the tree could have symbolised nothing else. Nay, if 
 the hebrew word, rendered in the next chapter forever, had 
 been appended, nothing farther could have been designed ; 
 because, that term, signifying any period whose termination 
 is concealed, maybe, and often is, applied to a man's natu- 
 ral life, as well as to eternity. In no way can the doc- 
 trine under consideration, be inferred from the terms of the 
 constitution itself; — either as to their direct, or implied as- 
 seitions. On the contrary, that doctrine cuts up by the roots 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 123 
 
 every thing that belongs to the subject of personal accounta- 
 bility ; and presents to view a judicial policy, which is, in 
 every way, and in the highest degree, repugnant to every 
 thing like justice. It is no matter of wonder that the veil 
 of mystery has been thrown over the whole affair; and that 
 men, professing Christianity, walk in darkness, and live in 
 doubts, all their days. 
 
 The argument in favor of this doctrine, cannot be derived 
 from God's interpretation of his own institute, when he ap- 
 pears to execute its sentence. He utters not one word 
 about spiritual or eternal death, in his address to Adam. 
 The whole operation terminates on man's animal body ; and 
 the material system of which that body forms a part. I know 
 it may be, and has been, said, that the sentence executed, 
 was not of "equal extent " with the evil threatened; and that 
 that apparent inconsistency is to be accounted for, by "the in- 
 timations of mercy, " which had just been given. Nothing 
 is more easy than to make assertions ; — where is the proof 
 of such a strange commentary ? The tree planted in the gar- 
 den, was symbolical of the knowledge of good and evil, as 
 the original terms, describing its objects, distinctly specifies. 
 Did the execution of the sentence fail in this respect ? The 
 threatening was, " in the day thou eatest thereof, dyino- thou 
 shalt die ;" and the execution of that threatening was — " dust 
 thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return." Where is the 
 difference ? There is none. No eye can see, no mind can 
 perceive, any. But it is very apparent that spiritual and eter- 
 nal death cannot be predicated of the last ; and therefore it 
 is said not to be of equal extent with the first, in which spiritu- 
 al and eternal death is supposed to be implied. And what is 
 still more strange, while the sentence executed is asserted not 
 to be equal in extent with the evil threatened, yet all mankind 
 are said to be spiritually dead in Adam. The evil then has 
 actually come on mankind, far beyond the limits of the 
 sentence, as declared to be executed; and that, notwithstand- 
 ing the :< intimations of mercy " which had just been given. 
 In other words — All that God professedly visits upon man 
 for this one offence, is in so many words declared to be tempo- 
 ral death; and yet theologians have solemnly and unreservedly 
 proclaimed it to be spiritual death. — Dust thou art. and unto 
 dust shalt thou return, — what intelligent or candid mind, 
 can, or would, by any tortuous course of reasoning, turn such 
 language into a description of spiritual death? 
 
124 LECTURES ON 
 
 If then, from the very fact itself, as it is told in language so 
 plain and simple, spiritual death, even though it had been in- 
 tended in the original sentence, is not executed upon man, is 
 it not abundantly evident, that amid the wreck which Adam's 
 sin produced, the spirit is unhurt; and that personal res- 
 ponsibility is the very thing which the mediatorial system re- 
 gards? So, for the third time, we have reached this same 
 conclusion, by simply exhibiting .scriptural facts. 
 
 The deficiency of argument, thus drawn from the origin- 
 al facts, is variously supplied by quotations of scriptural 
 texts, which are derived from the old testament, and belong 
 to the mosaic economy, that was itself the administration 
 of law : or from the new testament, that exhibits the finished 
 work of the redeemer, and by which all are made righteous, 
 and are brought into a justification of life ; so that this latter 
 class of texts is connected with the results of personal respon- 
 sibility. For example — I should be far from denying, or even 
 doubting, that "the wages of sin is death, and that the gift 
 of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." But 
 any one can see, that all these judicial results meet a man 
 on his own personal accountability: — For, "he thatbelieveth 
 on the Son of God, hath everlasting life ; and he that beliveth 
 not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth 
 on him." Such disjointed extracts, taken, not only out of the 
 local connexions in which they are found, but from the sys- 
 tem to which they belong, are poor adjuvants of the cause 
 they are employed to uphold. They all work in the opposite 
 direction ; and serve to evince that, under the mediatorial 
 system, God is dealing with man as an intelligent and res- 
 ponsible being, put on his personal obligations, and called 
 to answer for himself. 
 
 I have had frequent occasion to refer to the mosaic insti- 
 tutions as being an administration of law. God introduced 
 it as the law-giver. Moses, you recollect, could not see 
 his face and live. Accordingly, Ezekiel describes the whole 
 house of Israel under it — or rather God exhihits the condi- 
 tion of the house of Israel under it, as an assemblage of dead 
 and dry bones. They are thus set forth, not as existing in 
 this state in consequence of Adam's sin, but as sinners against 
 law which had been given to themselves by Moses. It was 
 ordained, it is true, in the hand of a mediator; being designed 
 to subserve a general mediatorial purpose, but still it was 
 law. Hence Paul describes it as " the ministration of death 
 and condemnation :" # and in his general reasonings on the 
 
 *2 Cor. iii. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 125 
 
 relative position of works and faith, it furnishes him with the 
 means of demonstrating the insufficiency of works. The 
 sanctions of the mosaic law are purely of a temporal charac- 
 ter ; as I presume any one may know, without having any 
 great amount of biblical scholarship. And it is a singular 
 fact, much as it may have been overlooked, that the trans- 
 gression of Adam, and the transgressions of the jews, are 
 said in the scriptures to be alike. 
 
 The psalmist says, — " Ye shall die like Adam, and fall 
 like one of the princes."* The idea intended to be con- 
 veyed, as is very common in the old testament, is expressed in 
 the form of a couplet. To die like Adam, and to die like 
 one of the princes, is much the same thing. The whole 
 psalm relates to official character. The fall of Adam was 
 the fall of a prince, and is to be interpreted on official 
 principles : but not as the execution of a fell sentence, which 
 sweeps every thing to destruction, without pausing to con- 
 sider, whether nothing remedial is left behind. And as all the 
 jews constituted a nation of official men, were God's kings 
 and priests, this kind of death might be predicated of them 
 all. Hence 
 
 Hosea, speaking of Ephraim, says, — "They, like Adam, 
 have transgressed the covenant, or dispensation."! Here 
 the sins, or offences of the jews, are declared to be like 
 Adam's offence ; and not only so, but the dispensations, 
 under which they respectively sinned, are compared together. 
 If so, Adam's offence was committed against a law, whose 
 sanctions were of a temporal character. 
 
 The apostle Paul furnishes, in his elaborate argument on 
 justification, the same general idea.t Here he refers to 
 some who "had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's 
 transgression." The prophets, as has just been evinced, 
 speak of the jews as sinning like Adam: but Paul speaks 
 of those who did not sin like Adam; leaving the impression 
 that there were some who did sin like him. Let us look at 
 the different parts of his argument. But let it be remem- 
 bered, that, when sin is denied of any of those who lived 
 between Adam and Moses, the meaning is not, that they 
 had no personal unholiness, or were chargeable with no per- 
 sonal transgression ; but that their sin was not committed 
 against law. Please to bear this in mind, when you at 
 tend to the following exposition. 
 
 *Ps. lxxxii. 7. f Ch. vi. 7. % Rom. y. 12—20. 
 
 11* 
 
126 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 " Until the law," he says, " sin was in the world: but 
 sin is not imputed where there is no law. Nevertheless, 
 death reigned from Adam to Moses." These things are 
 here stated: — " There was a period when there was no law: 
 — during that period sin could not be imputed; because, 
 where no law is, there is no transgression : but notwith- 
 standing this, all the way down from Adam to Moses, 
 death, which comes by sin, reigned, even over them who 
 had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression. 
 Adam's transgression was committed against law; sin like 
 his transgression, must be sin against law; so that death 
 reigned over them to whom sin could not be imputed. 
 If, there was a period when law was not, then they 
 who lived during that period could not sin like Adam. 
 Accordingly he had said, sin is not imputed where there is 
 no law; and yet adds, " until the law sin was in the world; 
 and again, that death reigned, from Adam down to Moses, 
 even over them that had not, like Adam, transgressed law. 
 The plain meaning of all this is — that wherever you find 
 death, it is the consequence of sin : now from Adam to 
 Moses you do find death; but during all that period 
 you do not find law, and therefore cannot find sin: how 
 then is death thus reigning to be accounted for? Why 
 plainly by a reference to Adam's sin — all men are sinners 
 by Adam's one offence: — by him sin entered into the world, 
 and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, be- 
 cause that in him they have all sinned. Of course it follows, 
 that they, on whom death has come by his offence, and not 
 by their own, are the very ones who did not sin like Adam; 
 had they sinned like Adam, death would have come by 
 their own offence. 
 
 Again. The reason why death did not come by their 
 own offence, was simply this, that they were not under law. 
 Now though there is a sense in which this may be predicated 
 of infants and idiots, to whom the passage has been applied ; 
 yet no reason can be assigned why the apostle should sin- 
 gle out the infants and idiots, who lived between the time of 
 Adam and Moses. And moreover, if, during that period, 
 there were any others who were not under law, the reference 
 must necessarily include them. Now in the very outset of 
 his argument, he had declared that the gentiles were not 
 under law; but that the jews were. It follows that 
 the gentiles did not sin like Adam ; — yet death did reign 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 127 
 
 over them. Moreover, the jews themselves were not under 
 law till Moses came; and yet death reigned over them. 
 The doctrine of the apostle is the same taught by the pro- 
 phets, viz. — that the jews, under the mosaic law, did sin 
 like Adam. Then the two dispensations, — the law under 
 which the jews were placed, and the paradisiacal statute — 
 were the same in character: — both of them had temporal 
 sanctions. 
 
 But farther, the apostle, in this very argument, informs us 
 that there were "many offences" or that the offence had 
 abounded: i. e. while there were some, who, not being un- 
 der law, did not, and could not, sin like Adam ; there were 
 others, who, being under law, did sin like him. Hence he 
 remarks — Thk law entered, so that the offence hath 
 abounded. This is merely the opposite side of his argument. 
 The facts arG.tbat the law entered, or was given, by Moses. 
 If law was introduced, sin might be imputed, or the 
 offence might abound. Accordingly such has been the fact, 
 and the mosaic law proved to be the ministration of death 
 and condemnation. So then the jews did sin like Adam, 
 and like him were brought into death. Accordingly there 
 was a necessity that the righteousness of the redeemer 
 should go beyond the "one offence/' and cover these 
 " many offences" of the jews. This was done, and he is, 
 by means of death, the mediator for the redemption of trans- 
 gressions that were under the first testament.* It must be 
 very clear, that the dispensation under which Adam was 
 placed, and that afforded to the jews by Moses, were the 
 same in character; and that if spiritual and eternal death 
 cannot be referred to the one, neither can it be referred to 
 the other. 
 
 This context, however, furnishes us with an illustration 
 of a different kind, in view of our general subject. The 
 apostle lays down the doctrine, that Adam is a figure of 
 Christ: and in correspondence with it, remarks, that as by 
 one man's offence, the many, i. e. all men, were made, or 
 constituted, sinners, so by one man's righteousness, the many, 
 i. e. all men, shall be made, or constituted, righteous: And 
 again — as by the offence of one, judgment came upon all 
 men to condemnation; even so the free gift came upon all 
 men unto justification of life. I know full well, that some 
 would make the words all men refer to the elect. When- 
 ever they shall be able to make this out, they will be fairly 
 
 *Heb. ix. 15. 
 
128 LECTURES ON 
 
 entitled to their system. But why should they attempt it, 
 when the plain fact is before them, that all men go down to 
 the dust, in consequence of Adam's sin ; and that all men are 
 raised from the dead, in consequence of Christ's righteous- 
 ness? This simple fact explains and justifies all the apos- 
 tle's terms, and gives them a very beautiful and important 
 signification. Their difficulty lies here : — It is very evident, 
 that by Christ's righteousness all men are not made person- 
 ally holy: but somehow or other, in their estimation, all 
 men are made by Adam personally sinful. And as the two 
 things do not correspond, they must invent a mode of ex- 
 planation, which will preserve the assumption with which 
 they start. 
 
 Now it is very evident that the same terms may be, and 
 in the scriptures often are, applied both to the symbol and 
 to the thing which the symbol represents. When the jew 
 brought his sacrifice to the altar, and Christ'offered his life, 
 the term sacrifice was unhesitatingly applied to either. 
 Aaron was a priest, and Christ was a priest. The term 
 saint, or holy one, may be very properly applied to an indi- 
 vidual, in view of his personal holiness; but it is equally 
 applied to the nation of the jews, or to christian nations, in 
 view of their being God's peculiar people. In like manner 
 the term unclean may be applied to an individual, in view 
 of his personal defilement; but it is equally applied to the 
 gentiles as not being God's peculiar people. You remem- 
 ber that Peter was prepared by a vision to receive the mes- 
 sengers of Cornelius; in which vision, a great sheet was 
 let down before him, containing all manner of beasts, clean 
 and unclean. When commanded to kill and eat, he answer- 
 ed, "Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that 
 is common or unclean." The answer he received was, — 
 " What God hath cleansed that call not thou common." All 
 this he himself explains in the following manner: — "Ye 
 know that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is zjeiv to 
 keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but 
 God hath showed me that I should not call any man common 
 or unclean; therefore came I unto you without gainsaying, 
 as soon as I was sent for."* The terms saint and unclean, 
 are not here applied, excepting in a symbolical sense. 
 
 You also remember that Paul, speaking on the subject of 
 divorce, in his first epistle to the Corinthians, has the fol- 
 lowing observations: — "The unbelieving husband is sanctifi- 
 
 ♦Actsx. 12, 13, 14—28,29. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT 129 
 
 ed by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the 
 husband ; else were your children unclean ; but now are 
 they holy." Personal sanctification, personal cleanness, 
 personal holiness, are not meant by the apostle ; neither is 
 it in the Jewish ceremonies to which he refers : for as to the 
 first, it is an unbelieving husband or wife that is sanctified, 
 while the children might not have known the right hand from 
 the left, nor have done either good or evil : and as to the 
 second, he is giving directions to a christian church. 
 
 In like manner he represents the Jewish economy as a 
 ministration of law, of condemnation, of death. Of course 
 they who were under it were sinnkrs. On the other hand 
 he describes the new testament, as the ministration of the 
 spirit, of righteousness and of life. By parity of reason, 
 they who are under it are in a state of justification, or are 
 righteous. Not that all the jews were personally sinful 
 and condemned, so that they had no personal acceptance 
 with God ; nor yet that all who live under the new testament 
 are personally righteous. Hence he also says to Peter — 
 "We are jews by nature, and not sinners of the gentiles. So 
 there is a double sense in which the terms righteous and sin- 
 ner must be viewed. If primarily they refer to personal qual- 
 ifications, secondarily they are merely official. Take this 
 second, official sense, and the apostle's argument stands out 
 clear and satisfactory. 
 
 But as the redeemer's work has been thus brought up be- 
 fore us, let me ask, whether he was made under the law ? 
 Was he really under the law, or was he not put there for an 
 official purpose ? Did he not bear our sins in his own body ? 
 But did he thefeby become personally a sinner? Did he not 
 die for our sins — but did he die because he was personally a 
 sinner? Did he not redeem us from under the curse of the 
 law, by being made a curse for us : — yet did he die either 
 spiritually or eternally? If spiritual and eternal death is the 
 curse which the law denounced on us, and he did not die 
 spiritually and eternally, then did he die in our room, or as 
 our substitute ; or did he endure the curse of the law ? Do 
 not the scriptures say that he was put to death in the flesh ? 
 — In fine, can any one assign the reason, why, when Paul 
 declares — "Christ has redeemed us, being made a curse for 
 us :"* he should prove it by a quotation from the mosaic law, 
 saying — "For it is written, cursed is every one that hangeth 
 on a tree ?"t 
 
 *Gal. iii. 13. fDeut. xxi. 22, 23. 
 
130 LECTURES ON 
 
 Understand me. These questions are asked, not with 
 any intention to throw any doubt over the mediatorial char- 
 acter of our redeemer, as though he was not our substitute, 
 or had not been made a curse on our account; but merely 
 to show, that as he did not die spiritually and eternally, spir- 
 itual and eternal death could not have been included in the 
 penalty of the adamic statute. And as his being a curse, — 
 not for the jews alone, but as prefigured by Adam, — has 
 been proved by the mosaic law, the mosaic law and the 
 paradisiacal constitution must be the same in principle, in 
 their reference to life and death. As Christ died in the 
 flesh, Adam by his sin, brought death in the flesh: and as 
 the mosaic law pronounced temporal death, the adamic in- 
 stitute could do no more. 
 
 In this connexion it may be also asked, what does the 
 baptist mean, when he says — "Behold the Lamb of God that 
 taketh away the sin of the world!" His view appears to 
 be precisely the same taken by Paul, when he speaks of the 
 one offence, by which all men are made, or constituted, sin- 
 ners, and are brought into condemnation. The sin of the 
 world is this one offence; and Christ comes to take it 
 away. Should this sin lead to temporal, spiritual and eter- 
 nal death, of course Christ by his righteousness must take 
 away temporal, spiritual and eternal death from all the world, 
 which, it must be admitted by all, is not the fact. For while 
 the baptist speaks about the world, the apostle speaks of 
 the many, or all, on whom Adam's offence has entailed its 
 disastrous consequences. To all men then the baptist re- 
 fers, when he says that Christ takes away the sin of the 
 world ; and there is no room left for any interpretation, but 
 that which would be established by the fact of the resurrec- 
 tion of the dead : in which all men are shown to be brought 
 into a justification of life, by the righteousness of Christ. 
 
 There are some analogies, afforded in the scriptural his- 
 tory, which cannot be explained, excepting on the principle 
 by which I have now interpreted the original law; analo- 
 gies, to which no one would ever think of ascribing any 
 thing more than a secular, or external, agency. In conse- 
 quence of the flood, the life of man was very much shorten- 
 ed; and by the same physical instrumentality here employed 
 — a curse upon the ground. Yet no one would ever sup- 
 pose that spiritual, or eternal death was thereby introduced. 
 An effect is produced on the whole material system, and on 
 the animal powers of man ; the use of animal food became 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 131 
 
 necessary ; the common and universal depravity, as it had 
 been betrayed in the preceding ages, is referred to with 
 grief; and God places his bow in the clouds, as a testimony 
 that he would no farther curse the ground for man's sake. But 
 notwithstanding these facts, no one would ever think of re- 
 ferring spiritual and eternal death to the curse, then pro- 
 nounced on the ground. Such an effect, as has been 
 contemplated in our exposition of the adamic dispensation, 
 involving the animal nature of man, and his secular associa- 
 tions, without going any farther, may be produced in our 
 world, and as a divine judgment, without being censured as 
 fanciful or absurd. In supposing the effects of Adam's 
 transgression, when God cursed the ground for his sake, to be 
 similar in their character ; the principle of exposition, thus 
 adopted, has nothing objectionable or derogatory in itself 
 For as it is thus sustained by scriptural fact, and admitted 
 to be, on an equally extensive scale, the very course of judicial 
 policy adopted by Jehovah in a subsequent case ; unless 
 there can be something, indubitably and demonstrably clear, 
 to show that the divine judgment was of a different kind in 
 Adam's case, the interpretation now given is unassailable. 
 Moreover, the ground, having been cursed for Adam's sake, 
 this very course of policy, developed as succeeding the 
 flood, whether there was any thing farther included or not, 
 was pursued in the event of the fall. If there be any far- 
 ther proceedings involved in the execution of the threaten- 
 ed calamities, they who advocate them have the burden of 
 proof upon themselves; while the explanation now given, 
 and so far as it goes, cannot be rejected, without impeach- 
 ing the wisdom and providence of God. 
 
 And that such a mode of divine administration might be 
 conducted in common with the remedial scheme, is also illus- 
 trated by analogy : For, when the ground was cursed for 
 Adam's sake, God yet gave to him the promise of "the seed 
 of the woman." So when again, further temporal calamities 
 overtook the human family, in consequence of the flood, 
 God entered into covenant with Noah; who appears, as 
 Paul explains his official character, as "the Heir of the 
 righteousness of faith." The covenant made with him, in- 
 cludes all mankind, as its own particulars abundantly evince. 
 Yet a mere external condition is described, and spiritual and 
 eternal life is left in its own original connexions, — a matter 
 belonging to personal responsibility. In like manner, God 
 made a covenant with Abraham, in which he sustains the 
 
1 32 LECTURES ON 
 
 official character of Heir of the world ; yet nothing more 
 than external advantages or privileges were secured. Spi- 
 ritual references abounded, — the scenic display was appro- 
 priate and beautiful, — the righteousness of faith was brilliant- 
 ly set forth,— the Spirit of the Lord wrought out, in his pro- 
 vidence, a most magnificent "allegory," — but each individ- 
 ual under it, has his own eternal life reserved as the object 
 of his personal responsibility, to be sought, secured, and 
 enjoyed, by intercourse between God and his own spirit. 
 
 Nor has the analogy yet run out. — The actual transgres- 
 sions of mankind have been very much modified, in conse- 
 quence of the external position created by these symbolic 
 systems respectively. After the fall, they became infidels 
 — after the flood, they became idolaters — under the Jewish 
 economy, the children of Abraham became formalists — un- 
 der the christian dispensation, — what are we? — the advo- 
 cates of Jewish dogmas, intermixed with gentile philosoph- 
 ism. And yet shall we sternly reject our external associa- 
 tions, in which good and evil are so variously and uniformly 
 intermingled, as accounting for the depravity of mankind, 
 who derive their ideas from external spectacle, and by 
 their external senses ? — But this subject will present itself 
 hereafter. 
 
 Having these analogies, we may speak with some confi- 
 dence as to the accuracy of our principle of exposition. 
 And the more so, when descending to the details afforded 
 by the new testament, we hear Paul declare, — "In me, i. e. 
 in my flesh, there dwelleth no good thing. — I see another 
 law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, 
 and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in 
 my members. — With my mind I myself serve the law of 
 God ; but with the flesh the law of sin. O wretched man 
 that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death 1 — 
 But I keep my body under, and bring it into subjection, lest 
 that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself 
 should be a cast-a-way. — What the law could not do, in that 
 it was weak through the flesh, God sent his Son in the like- 
 ness of sinful flesh to do. — "Mortify therefore your mem- 
 bers, which are upon the earth." A thousand other like ex- 
 pressions might be quoted ; and they would all be sustained, 
 as philosophically accurate, in the view now given. But this 
 matter also must be reserved. 
 
 Unless I am greatly mistaken, the doctrine, which I have 
 advanced, is necessarily, but covertly, admitted by theolo- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 133 
 
 gians, against themselves. For not only do their comments 
 upon regeneration imply the principle for which I contend, 
 and put the christian into the very state I have described; 
 but they strenuously maintain the necessity for the Spirit's 
 operations, to accomplish such a change in the human con- 
 stitution, that man's spirit may be able to understand the 
 gospel. And when it is done, so that with the mind the 
 believer really does serve the law of God, yet they cannot 
 get sin and death out of his flesh. What then is the real 
 difference between us ? I have announced that the offence 
 of Adam did not produce that, which they say the Spirit of 
 God must remove. And what advantage do they really gain ; 
 can more glory redound to God by saying, that one di- 
 vine constitution removed a difficulty; than by saying, that 
 another divine constitution did not produce that difficulty? 
 What benefit do they secure, by supposing that God does 
 away by supernatural means, that which he had done by na- 
 tural means? — There must necessarily be a sophism in their 
 speculations. And it arises, I imagine, from some conceit 
 they have entertained of the superior value of that which is 
 supernatural, derived from mistaking the precise use of mi- 
 racles. The mere display of divinity would appear, with 
 them, to be every thing, and the object of that display nothing. 
 But there is another way, by which they covertly employ 
 the principle here set forth. In preaching the gospel to 
 men, do they not address the conscience? All men have 
 conscience. Paul tells us, that among the gentiles, "their 
 consciences are continually accusing or else excusing one 
 another." And what is conscience ? Is it matter? Is it 
 mind ? Is it neither ? — It is very common to represent it as 
 the vice gerent of God in the bosom of man ; — an idea, bor- 
 rowed, I presume, from the book of proverbs, in which the 
 wise man says, — "The spirit of man is the candle of the 
 Lord." But if conscience be the spirit, or a property of the 
 spirit of man, is conscience dead? Or if the spirit of man 
 be the candle of the Lord, is the spirit dead? Do any ap- 
 peal to conscience, as though it were a mere cold fragment 
 of death, bereft of all animation or power? Or in those ap- 
 peals, does not every one try to bring forward views, of 
 whose truth the mind is, or may be, conscious ? And is it 
 not in this very connexion where conscience is found ; be- 
 ing in itself, that very measure of spiritual illumination and 
 life, which any individual may possess? — May not con- 
 science be defiled — seared as with a hot iron — loaded with 
 12 
 
134 LECTURES ON 
 
 dead works ? And when such is the case, is that its natural 
 state ; or is it the result of a course of actual transgression, 
 in consequence of which God gives a man up to " a repro- 
 bate mind ?" Either then it is folly to talk about mankind 
 having conscience, or inconsistent to maintain that they are 
 spiritually dead by Adam's sin ? In a state of spiritual death, 
 as that phrase is figuratively used, men may be, when degra- 
 ded by the long established habits of loathsome vice, or ma- 
 lignant hostility to truth ; but then conscience goes too — de- 
 filed — seared — shrouded in death. 
 
 But now it may be asked — Even admitting that the para- 
 disiacal constitution has been correctly set forth, what was 
 its use? Did not God unnecessarily expose his creature to 
 the fetches of temptation ; by an arbitrary institute, endan- 
 ger his standing; and so sport with his constitutional weak- 
 ness? By no means. We are informed that it was not 
 good that man should be alone. A companion was accord- 
 ingly created, and an enlarged condition of social existence 
 was thus contemplated. Social responsibility now arises, 
 and its results would be of the most diversified and extend- 
 ed character. The young must learn from the old, and the 
 inferior from the superior. Parental influence, derived from 
 parental example, would be most decisive; and a moral im- 
 pression would be left, which would be good or bad, accord- 
 ing to the character of the influence. This is human na- 
 ture, which, in no form, could sustain an operation more im- 
 portant, or lead to issues, either more diversified or extend- 
 ed. Here then the paradisiacal constitution comes in. The 
 head of the race held an official connexion, by the results 
 of which, the relation, between righteousness and life on the 
 one hand, and sin and death on the other, is put into the 
 most splendid form, and made to subserve most decisively 
 its intended purpose. Nor could Adam's official character 
 be regulated by any other law ; or, being so regulated, ter- 
 minal in any other consequences. And did mankind re- 
 flect on the origin of temporal death, or duly estimate the 
 moral influence of the varied afflictions of life, they would 
 neither so severely censure the providence of God, so list- 
 lessly refer to the effect of Adam's sin, or talk so ignorantly 
 and spasmodically about death. 
 
 At the same time, when Adam was put under this parti- 
 cular institute, it deserves to be specially noticed, that he 
 was taken from the place where he had been created, and 
 put into the garden, which had its own peculiar advantages 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 135 
 
 and privileges. Official character always confers honor; 
 and enlarges the sphere of useful and dignified action, in refer- 
 ence to him on whom it is bestowed, as well as advantage 
 to those who are subjected to its control. It is no degrada- 
 tion to a child that he should be subject to his parents, or 
 to a nation that it should be subject to its prince. On the 
 contrary, the intellectual faculties of children are most hap- 
 pily evolved under a proper parental superintendence ; while 
 a nation enjoys peace, and gains renown, under the discreet 
 legislation and benignant providence of a wise prince.—- 
 So, if Adam had obeyed the law, under which, in his official 
 character, he was placed ; all his offspring would have been 
 deeply indebted to, and highly benefitted by, his fidelity. 
 And even as the fact has turned out, the connexion between 
 sin and death is so fully and undeniably established, by the 
 official consequences of his sin, that infidelity, which affects 
 to laugh at the inspiration of the bible, must cower to the 
 analogous demonstration of nature. 
 
 Such is the most philosophical view, which can be taken 
 of the results of official character. They may be seen ex- 
 emplified in every department of social life. And is it 
 not the scriptural view in the case before us? "Cursed is 
 the ground," said God to Adam, " for thy sake." What 
 is the meaning of this phrase, for thy sake? Have we any 
 analogous cases, in which this language is used, from which 
 its meaning may be ascertained? — The following examples 
 are offered. 
 
 If, said God, I find in Sodom, fifty — forty and five — thirty — 
 twenty — ten righteous men, I will spare all the place/or their 
 sakes. — I will multiply thy seed for Abraham's sake. — In thy 
 days I will not do it, for David thy father's sake. — I will give 
 one tribe to thy son for David, my servant's sake, and for 
 Jerusalem's sake, which I have chosen. — For my name's 
 sake will I defer mine anger. Expressions of this kind a- 
 bound in the scriptures. What is their meaning? What 
 kind of legislative, or providential, operation, are they in- 
 tended to intimate ? 
 
 Here theologians begin to talk to us about merit and demer- 
 it, and finally run off into a sort of commercial account; until 
 they affect to strike an accurate balance, when the elect de- 
 pend on Christ's righteousness, but suffer Adam's sin to come 
 in by wholesale, as though a correct arithmetical calculation 
 were entirely unnecessary. But these are not scriptural 
 terms. They sustain a sectarian dogma, or a piece of false 
 
136 LECTURES ON 
 
 philosophy; but distort, while they profess to advance, mor- 
 al science. The object of the inspired penman evidently is, 
 to refer to the practical influence of the agent, to which they as- 
 cribe the effects contemplated. Ten righteous men might have 
 excited an influence, powerful enough to have regenerated 
 the city of Sodom ; — even as the preaching of Jonah brought 
 the city of Nineveh into sackcloth and ashes. They might 
 not, it is true. But our God acts not from omniscience ab- 
 stractedly considered. His judgment is according to facts ; 
 and his long suffering waits on the development. And so 
 the argument might be made out, in view of the other cases 
 quoted. 
 
 Such would have been the effect of Adam's righteousness. 
 Such ought to be the effect of Adam's sin. That is — Each 
 individual would have been instructed by Adam's obedience 
 and its consequence, that eternal life depended on obedience 
 to the law inscribed on our nature; or was indissolubly con- 
 nected with personal holiness: as by Adam's disobedience 
 and its consequence, it is now demonstrated to every one 
 that eternal death will be the consequence; if, as personal 
 transgressors against the law of our own nature, we are not 
 regenerated and sanctified. The law written on the heart 
 requires us to do and live ; and the adamic constitution was 
 intended to afford an external symbol, by which that law, 
 and its operations should be visibly illustrated. 
 
 Sceptics have been not a little sardonic in their witty 
 objections on this subject ; but they have forgotten their phil- 
 osophy in their love of pleasantry. Would God, say they, 
 have brought upon mankind their present amount of suffer- 
 ing, because Adam ate an apple? But then the question is, 
 can official sin detail a general calamity ? Or, going back 
 to the original state of our being, could a different or a more 
 appropriate test have been provided? 
 
 Presuming that our subject has been sufficiently elucidated, 
 I might pause for the present. I only delay to remark, that 
 the popular doctrine on the adamic constitution is not now 
 assailed for the first time. You may go back, discovering 
 many similar attempts at different times, until you would find 
 the early fathers contending about the matter, and Chrysos- 
 tom and Augustin taking different sides. They have passed 
 away to the generations of the dead; and others have again and 
 again occupied their places. Now our turn has come. We 
 have the bible in our hands, and must decide for ourselves. 
 What did they say ? It is imbecility to ask, Read, judge, de- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 137 
 
 cide for yourselves. Their talents, like their rights, were no 
 better than your own. And if you will only examine, you 
 may decide, even with superior accuracy. I leave the merits 
 of the argument with you : — and may God Almighty bless 
 your prayerful deliberations. 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 Fall. — Its circumstances. — Its effects. — Use of the Tree of 
 Knowledge of good and evil. — Physical agent by which 
 death was inflicted. — Nature of death. — Condition of all 
 men. — Law and Gospel. — Human depravity. 
 In the last lecture I described the paradisiacal constitu- 
 tion as a political institute ; and as intended by its results, 
 to serve a symbolical purpose. This principle of external 
 display, carried out with a view to intellectual or spiritual 
 benefit, belongs to the whole material system; and explains 
 the relation between matter and mind. The heavens and 
 earth, in this way, declare the glory of God ; or by visible 
 representation manifest the invisible things of his nature. 
 Legal ordinances typified moral privileges. The natural re- 
 lations were artificial means of accomplishing spiritual ob- 
 jects. Hieroglyphics were mere representatives of other 
 things. — While language was circumscribed, and possessed 
 few words, its terms were taken out of their natural, and 
 applied in a tropical, sense. — Prophecy is the language of 
 signs and figures, and speaks more by pictures than by 
 sounds. — In fact, all language is full of figure, and is so from 
 absolute necessity : — not that this circumstance, as might 
 be supposed, is a mere peculiarity of the orientals ; but it be- 
 longs to the primitive state of society, and attends it, even 
 when advanced to the greatest degree of refinement. 
 
 To exemplify more minutely : — A tiger would represent 
 fierceness; — a lion, courage; — an ox, strength; — a serpent, 
 wisdom; — a mountain, firmness ; — a palm-tree, the righteous 
 man ; — a green bay tree, the wicked man. In the chapters 
 before us — a tree in the midst of the garden, was the symbol 
 of the knowledge of good and evil ; — the garden itself typi- 
 fied a condition of great external blessedness, under a right- 
 eous political administration; — the bruised head of the ser- 
 pent signified the broken power of the god of the world; — 
 
138 LECTURES ON 
 
 the sacrifice pointed to the offering of life, which Immanuei 
 should make, while it illustrated the mortification of the lusts 
 of the flesh, which is an important and imperious duty bindinor 
 on all men ; — the cherubim, at the east end of the garden 
 of Eden, manifested God as dwelling among men ; — Adam 
 himself, as having the dominion, was the image of Jehovah 
 as Lord of all. 
 
 In later times, the prophet, priest, and king, with their 
 respective services ; Melchizedek and Moses, distinguish- 
 ed as they were in the peculiarities of their own official re- 
 lations, and the carnal ordinances with which they were re- 
 spectively concerned ; were only vivid emblems of the Son 
 of God, in view of his mediatorial character and action. 
 Abraham, as a covenant head, was constituted a pattern of 
 the righteousness of faith ; while in his family history, we are 
 furnished with a series of most beautiful allegories. The 
 Sinai covenant was "the ministration of death and condem- 
 nation," showing that it is impossible to be saved by law; 
 and the new testament is "the ministration of righteousness 
 and life," evincing that the sinner may attain to everlast- 
 ing life by faith in a mediator. Christ is the image of the 
 invisible God, the brightness of his glory, to which we are 
 predestinated to be conformed. A husband is an image to 
 his wife, — a parent to his child, a ruler to his subject, — a su- 
 perior to his inferior. The principle which I am thus press- 
 ing on your consideration, ramifies itself through all society ; 
 follows human life in all its sinuosities ; and leavs no social 
 relation, natural, political, or religious, free of its control. 
 The paradisiacal institute, in the view which has been given 
 of its nature and official objects, is only conformed, by our 
 argument, to the whole course of divine legislation among 
 men. He who would plead for the exception of that origi- 
 nal statute, or hesitate to admit that where Christ is an im- 
 acre Adam must also be r must show the reason why, 
 
 In the primitive state of society, when mankind would 
 slowly imitate the hieroglyphical system, by which God of- 
 fers, through our external senses, the subjects of our intellec- 
 tual perception, their first efforts would necessarily be very 
 defective. But as population enlarged, as the objects of 
 thought became varied, and social interests grew multiform, 
 as society advanced in refinement, and intellectual men de- 
 voted their leisure to educate the general mind, oral tradition 
 would give place to historical record, and hieroglyphics to the 
 more extended system of alphabetical language. If then 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT'. 139 
 
 God, who had originally taught men, according to the prin- 
 ciples of their own nature ; and had carried those principles 
 as far as their circumstances required ; should make any 
 farther communication, would he not adopt their later modes 
 of imparting instruction? Is there any impropriety, or ir- 
 rationality in the idea, that in the advance of society, when 
 an accumulation of labor should call for its division, and 
 other classes of official men should be needed ; that God 
 should make known his communications by official men, 
 specially appointed ? Or is there any thing offensive and 
 unphilosophical in the notion, that such official men should 
 speak, or write, as the nature of the case or the circumstan- 
 ces of society might demand ? Where then is this tax on 
 human credulity, which the doctrine of the preaching of the 
 cross, or the inspiration of the holy scriptures, is declared 
 to impose? — But you admit those doctrines : — see you not, 
 that external means are thus multiplied ; — that minis- 
 terial men are examples, whose moral influence must ne- 
 cessarily be extended and powerful ; and that the scriptures 
 themselves, are but a transcript of the divine character? 
 
 It deserves farther consideration, that even when the of* 
 ficial men, who were employed at any particular time, were 
 permitted to use the written language of their country, yet 
 the ancient symbolical method of communicating truth was 
 not abandoned. Moses wrote his roll of the judaic history 
 and constitution ; and God himself wrote the law on two 
 tables of stone. But the history which Moses wrote, while 
 it gathered all the ancient symbols into a good and safe 
 keeping ; recorded also the circumstances under which orig- 
 inated a whole series of new symbols, or a whole range of 
 carnal ordinances, made up of the elements of the world. The 
 prophets wrote ; but they incorporated an extensive system 
 of prophetic hieroglyphic, and symbol, in the communica- 
 tions they made. The apostles and the evangelists wrote ; but 
 the master, by the institutions he set up, preaching, baptism, 
 and the Lord's Supper, secured, by symbolically representing, 
 the great points of his mediatorial enterprise. The reason 
 of all this is evident. The condition of society might call for 
 writing; but the meaning of symbols is more fixed and uni- 
 form, while an alphabetical language is both local and change- 
 able. And under this view, it is not a little strange, that 
 multitudes, who profess to regard divine things, so carelessly 
 consider, or so habitually neglect, divine ordinances. 
 
1 40 LECTURES ON 
 
 It would seem then, that the principle, adopted in expo- 
 sition of the adamic dispensation, betrays no hasty or im- 
 mature speculation ; but runs through all nature, and gives 
 character to all God's institutions. In fact, if the paradisia- 
 cal law be not interpreted on that principle, it will stand 
 alone; as contradictory to the whole course of divine le- 
 gislation, as it is destructive of personal responsibility, and 
 therefore contrary to the nature of man. — But waving any 
 farther general remarks, let us proceed with our analysis. 
 
 How did the fall occur? Is it to be accounted for by na- 
 tural means ; or must we refer it to a supernatural agency, 
 which Adam was unable to resist ? Was there any secret 
 influence exerted by Jehovah, in pursuance of his own eter- 
 nal and irreversible decree ; — did he permit an intelligent 
 being to exert a superior power, which Adam had no capaci- 
 ty to oppose; — or did man commit transgression when he 
 might have avoided it? These questions are of paramount 
 importance ; and it is presumed they may be very fairly and 
 distinctly answered. Certainly the historian professes to 
 give us an account of the whole catastrophe : and there is, as 
 certainly, a wide difference between a crime that is commit- 
 ted from compulsion, and that which results from the exer- 
 cise of a man's own free-agency. 
 
 I must here call up to your recollection the fact, which 
 has been the basis of the whole of the preceding argument, 
 and of every theoretic view that has been developed: viz. 
 That man has no innate ideas. I am aware that this fact 
 has been, in various ages, a matter of harsh and protracted 
 controversy. A field of conflict has been marked out, in 
 which have appeared such men as Aristotle, Plato, Des- 
 cartes, Hume, Reid, Locke, and I know not how many 
 more, as combatants. But my impression is, that this 
 subject has been finally and satisfactorily elucidated by 
 Locke; and that, notwithstanding the opposition he met 
 with, every one, who is at all acquainted with the philoso- 
 phy of mind, would freely concede the doctrine I have 
 stated. And certainly, any man, who is governed by can- 
 dor and a love of truth ; or who is not infatuated by the con- 
 ceits of a false philosophy, or the prejudices of an illiberal 
 sectarianism ; has only to observe the peculiarities of his 
 own constitution, and the daily operations of his own mind, 
 to be fully satisfied in relation to the point in question. 
 
 But if the fact, thus averred, cannot be disputed, its truth 
 cannot be affected by the character of the ideas which a man 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 141 
 
 may have: i. e. whether his ideas shall be good or bad, they 
 are not innate. He may have an innate capacity to make a 
 choice; or he may labor under external difficulties in making 
 a choice; but his choice is neither holy nor sinful, until it is 
 made. If his ideas are not innate, but are derived from ex- 
 ternal sources, they can be neither good nor bad, until 
 so derived ; because they do not exist. Knowing the charac- 
 ter of external objects, or the difficulties in which he may 
 be involved, you may anticipate what the character of his 
 ideas will be. But if those external objects be of a mixed 
 character, and good and evil are thereby presented to an 
 intelligent and free agent, with the intention that he should 
 make a wise and deliberate choice; you can readily see 
 what ought to be the character of his ideas. And if you can 
 perceive this, you have apprehended the principle of per- 
 sonal responsibility, and can be at no loss to explain its phi- 
 losophy. 
 
 There is a very common notion, that the actual trans- 
 gressions of mankind cannotbe explained, but by admitting, 
 that their intellectual nature is previously corrupted. If 
 by this, it is intended merely to assert, that a man commits 
 transgression, because he has cherished erroneous impres- 
 sions derived from external objects; or that, when good and 
 evil are presented before him as an intelligent and a free 
 agent, he has chosen evil, this view is scripturally cor- 
 rect. For, — "As a man think eth in his heart, so is he. 
 Out of the heart proceed all evil thoughts. Every man is 
 tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and en- 
 ticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth 
 sin." But if, transcending these limits, it is intended to 
 advance the doctrine, that the intellectual nature of man is 
 sinful before it has derived any ideas from external objects, 
 or before lust has been conceived, then I demur, not being 
 able to understand how such a thing can be. For, if lust 
 has not been conceived, there can be no ideas : and if lust 
 has been conceived independent of external objects, then 
 there must be innate ideas; — which, from the principles al- 
 ready elucidated, there cannotbe. 
 
 But that such an exhibition of the human mind, as that 
 which I reprobate, cannot be true, if there be no innate ideas, 
 and if the spirit comes from God, is still farther evident, 
 from the facts in the historical sketch before us. Sin may 
 be explained, without maintaining such an unscriptural and 
 unphilosophical view of the human mind. Adam and Eve 
 
142 LECTURES ON 
 
 had no corrupt nature when God formed them, or before 
 lust was conceived. Neither mind nor body was previously 
 corrupted, in their case. The fact was the same with regard 
 to fallen angels. They had no previously corrupt nature, 
 unless it can be supposed that God created them sinners; — ■ 
 which no man in his senses can suppose. 
 
 Nor is this all: Moses goes on circumstantially to relate 
 how it happened that our first parents did sin; and instead 
 of referring the fact to their innate depravity, he ascribes it 
 to ideas which they derived from external circumstances. 
 The serpent beguiled Eve. She saw that the tree was good 
 for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to 
 be desired to make one wise. Having eaten, she gave of 
 the fruit to her husband ; and he hearkened to the voice of 
 his wife. This is the whole account; and it is not unlike a 
 thousand things which have occurred in every age, and 
 which we may see every day. Evidently, as the apostle 
 James explains the whole subject of sin, in relation to every 
 human being, and when considered as personal transgres- 
 sion, lust was conceived, and then sin was brought forth. 
 If there had been a corrupt nature, previous to the enter- 
 tainment of the ideas acquired from external objects, it 
 would seem that sin could scarcely have been committed 
 more promptly. Let it be remembered that I am reasoning 
 on the general principle, that the existence of actual trans- 
 gression does not necessarily imply a previously corrupt 
 nature. I do not deny that a previously corrupted nature 
 would lead to sin — i. e. to a course of action that would be 
 contrary to a law, which, on abstract principles, is pure and 
 holy; neither have I yet argued out the consequences of 
 Adam's sin upon all mankind. 
 
 It farther deserves your consideration, that we have a 
 general subject illustrated here, by more than a single or insu- 
 lated fact: — there is a great variety of circumstances. The 
 fallen angels had been very differently situated, and fell on 
 personal responsibility, exhibiting a range of intellectual 
 aberrations, as varied and extensive as their number or their 
 personal characters; unless theologians can carry out, and 
 establish, their system of a dull and impracticable uniformity 
 in the invisible world. Adam was a social head, Eve was 
 not. The one fell under social, the other under personal 
 responsibility. The one was male, the other female. The 
 one was tempted by the serpent, the other by his wife. The 
 one brought death into the world and all our woes; the 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 143 
 
 other entailed consequences peculiar to her own condition. 
 A greater variety of circumstance cannot be presented in 
 the whole extent of human existence: for all human life is 
 now developed in the issues of social and personal responsi- 
 bility; in the influence of male or female character; and in 
 the mingled operations of different beings of diversified ta- 
 lents. Yet a previously corrupt intellectual nature is not at 
 all necessary to account for the multiform results. But 
 enough of this. 
 
 In stating the facts of the case, Moses informs us that a 
 serpent talked with and beguiled Eve: and this apparently 
 strange matter requires our attention. Concerning it, I re- 
 mark, 
 
 1. That he means to inform us, that a literal serpent was 
 employed as the agent in this transaction. Because, (1) he 
 compares it with the beasts of the field ; with which he 
 would not have compared an intellectual spirit. (*2) God 
 says to the serpent, — " Thou art cursed above all cattle, and 
 above every beast of the field; upon thy. belly shalt thou go, 
 and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life'' which could 
 not be predicated of an intellectual being. (3) God farther 
 said to the serpent — " I will put enmity between thee and 
 the woman, between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise 
 thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel:" — which is a uni- 
 versal fact in the history of the serpent. (4) The subtlety of 
 the serpent is proverbial; hence Jesus says to his disciples, 
 "be ye wise as serpents." (5) Paul tells us that the serpent 
 beguiled Eve. (6) " No part of ancient mythology is more 
 curious, though, in some respects, more intricate and per- 
 plexed, than the worship of the serpent. Nearly allied to 
 that of the cherubic symbols, it rivals it in point of univer- 
 sality, and closely resembles it in point of application."* 
 (7) The curse pronounced on the serpent, constituted a 
 visible and suitable emblem, — on the same principle on 
 which every thing else is represented to man, i. e. external 
 symbol — in illustration of the promise that the redeemer 
 should break up the dominion of the god of the world, or 
 " destroy the works of the devil." And this, it appears to 
 me, would be accomplished without supposing a change of 
 the serpent's form. His eating dust is enough. 
 
 ♦Faber's Orig. of Pag. Idol. vol. I. p. 439. It is also said that " in 
 the orgies of Bacchus Maenoles, (or the mad) his worshippers were 
 crowned with serpents, and yelled out Eve, Eve, even her by whom the 
 transgression came." Parkhurst's Heb. Lex. 
 
144 LECTURES ON 
 
 2. That Moses intends to inform us, that the serpent was 
 the mere agent of an intellectual spirit, is also evident: be- 
 cause — (1) There is very superior intelligence discovered. 
 The address was made to Eve, rather than to Adam. Adam 
 was " the image and glory of God," and on him rested the 
 official responsibility : Eve was the glory of the man ;" and 
 therefore might be the more easily assailed, not feeling the 
 full force of that responsibility. — The speaker talks of the 
 Elohim, a term which expresses the whole mode of the divine 
 manifestation to us; and at the same time remarks, concern- 
 ing the knowledge of good and evil, in a manner which shows 
 him to be acquainted with the state of things in the invisible 
 world. — And the very choice of his agent, was as deep-laid 
 an artifice as the nature of the case would admit of. (2) 
 Satan, in the new testament, is described as " that old ser- 
 pent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole 
 world."* (3) One part of the mediator's work was to con- 
 demn, judge, or cast out the prince of the world. " For this 
 purpose was he manifested, even to destroy the works of the 
 devil :" — to " destroy hirn that had the power of death, that is 
 the devil." 
 
 I am aware, as I have before remarked, that this whole 
 subject of satanic influence, and that of the fall, or even the 
 existence of angels, has been disputed ; and that an attempt 
 has been made to resolve all the scriptural allusions to such 
 matters into metaphors. But why, or what advantage is to 
 be gained, either in scriptural exposition or philosophical 
 speculation, I cannot see. If, in addition to what has been 
 said, intellectual beings here can influence each other, or 
 modify the forms of matter; is it unphilosophical that intel- 
 lectual beings, though of another and a higher order, should 
 modify matter, and thereby influence us? Does not God by 
 such means affect us, both in communicating good and 
 inflicting evil ; and do we not thereby affect each other? If 
 there be such a race of intellectual beings, as our argument 
 contemplates, how else could they affect us than through 
 the instrumentality of matter? Admitting the fact of their 
 existence, and remembering the peculiarity of our being, as 
 obtaining our ideas through the medium of our external 
 senses, is not every other circumstance in perfect good keep- 
 ing with the whole subject ? 
 
 Admitting the doctrine of spiritual agency, still there does 
 not seem to have been any thing very unmanageable in the 
 *Rev. xii.9. 
 
MORAL GOVERN iMENT. 145 
 
 temptation stated. For whatever may be the supposed in- 
 tellectual superiority of the deceiver, yet the sphere of his 
 action, in that case, as well as in all other temptations to 
 which we may be subject, was circumscribed by the laws of 
 the material system. There is no evidence that the literal 
 serpent actually spoke. Such might have been the appear- 
 ance; but as the scriptures unequivocally ascribe the power 
 of death to the devil, and as it is his kingdom which the re- 
 deemer came to overthrow ; the power of speech, manifested 
 on the occasion, was only farther proof of the presence of 
 an intellectual agent. Eve was deceived: — The appearance 
 was false. On the other hand, Adam was tempted by his 
 wife, and was not deceived.* Many a lying wonder and sign, 
 and much deceivableness of unrighteousness, after the power 
 ofsatan, has the world seen since that day ; in view of which, 
 we can discern nothing but a scene of human guilt, followed 
 by its natural and merited consequences. 
 
 Take a glance at the other side. The creator had placed 
 our first parents in the midst of the happiest circumstances. 
 Blessed in each other's society — surrounded by every thing 
 excellent and good, redolent and lovely — the countenance 
 of their Lord radiant with smiles and beaming with love — 
 their access to him free and unrestrained — themselves dis- 
 tinctly warned against the evil which overtook them, and 
 solemnly forbidden to do the very thing they did do — 
 what more could an intelligent being desire ? An intelli- 
 gent being asks for information : — information they had. 
 A dependent creature seeks for happiness: — they possessed 
 every thing that could make them happy. The providence 
 of Jehovah presided over the whole scene; — his Spirit dwelt 
 with them. God had done every thing for them which their 
 nature(required,orthe peculiarity of their situation demanded. 
 He could not have gone farther without destroying their free- 
 agency. He could not have thrown farther restraint upon 
 the subtle adversary, than that under which the temptation 
 itself shows him to have been placed : — for there was no ap- 
 peal made to them but through external circumstances, nor 
 could they else have been overcome. What more would 
 they have had? Or can any one imagine, that a righteous 
 Lord made them responsible for an amount of power which 
 they never possessed? 
 
 Theologians, however, have put this whole affair in such 
 a light, that every one must feel some misgiving in relation 
 
 • 1 Tim. ii. 14. 
 13 
 
146 LECTtJftES oti 
 
 to it. From their premises, the conclusion that God is the 
 author of sin, to many a mind appears unavoidable; and 
 perhaps some would admit the conclusion, rather than aban- 
 don the premises. Here theological science and the com- 
 mon sense of mankind are at utter variance. The argu- 
 ment, whose conclusion appears so offensive to some, and 
 which I apprehend all would gladly explain away, is derived 
 from the abstract peifections of godhead, about which we 
 can know nothing. God has manifested himself, and beyond 
 that manifestation our inquiries cannot be carried, without 
 becoming involved in perplexing conjecture. 
 
 The argument would run thus : — Nothing can be fore- 
 known as certain which is not fixed as certain ; therefore, 
 according to the order of nature, predestination is the basis 
 of foreknowledge. — Or thus; — whatever is foreknown must 
 certainly come to pass ; therefore — what? Foreknowledge 
 is as sure a basis on which to rest the doctrine of fate, as 
 predestination itself can be. Then Adam fell because it was 
 foreknown or predestinated that he should fall. If this con- 
 clusion be admitted, is not God the author of sin ? If it be 
 denied, how came Adam to fall ? He fell as a free-agent, 
 it may be replied. But how could he fall as a free-agent, 
 when it was a certain and necessary thing that he should 
 fall, and all contingency is shut out from consideration. 
 Here is a mystery. For how can these two things be recon- 
 ciled together? — Perhaps, it might be offered as an alleviat- 
 ing circumstance, that God intended to do mankind a greater 
 good by introducing the gospel. But then we may answer, 
 that, independent of God's being thus represented to do evil 
 that good may come, — a thing which he forbids to his crea- 
 tures — this notion does not relieve the original argument; 
 because it still makes the fall to be necessary, in pursuance 
 of a divine determination. 
 
 But is it not evident that we have in the present case a 
 constitution with two sides ? Was not obedience contemplat- 
 ed, as well as disobedience? Was not penalty opposed by re- 
 ward? And did not Jehovah foreknow what would occur in 
 one view, as well as in the other ? If then foreknowledge ne- 
 cessarily implies predestination, it must have been predes- 
 tinated that Adam should fall, and that he should not fall. 
 As this cannot be, it simply follows that foreknowledge does 
 not necessarily imply fore-ordination; and that God might 
 foreknow a train of circumstances which he did not ordain; 
 but which are to be traced simply to the responsibility and 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 147 
 
 agency of the creature. Nor in this conclusion is there any 
 thing derogatory to the character of Jehovah; or that can 
 in the least degree detract from the wisdom or righteousness 
 of his lordship over our world; while the free-agency of the 
 creature is entirely relieved, and stands forth sustained in 
 all its individuality of operation. 
 
 Certainly the scriptures do so exhibit the divine character. 
 God takes no pleasure in the death of his creatures; he does 
 every thing, consistently with their nature, which he can do ; 
 he would gather them, as a hen gathereth her brood under 
 her wings, but they will not. — "Let no man say, when he 
 is tempted, lam tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted 
 with evil, neither tempteth he any man : but every man is 
 tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and is en- 
 ticed." Language cannot be plainer, or more to the point; 
 it seems to have been framed on purpose to meet the spe- 
 culations of the day, which either directly or indirectly 
 charged God with being the author of sin. 
 
 Cleaving to a false mode of reasoning, some may say, — 
 still it is evident that Adam fell by divine permission. But 
 then the question comes up, what is permission ? Does it 
 imply, that any extraneous and irresistible force Was allow- 
 ed, under which Adam could not avoid sinning? If this is 
 meant, then the fatalism thus asserted, is no better than the 
 fatalism resulting from predestination, as it has been urged 
 in view of this avernian catastrophe. — Is it not evident, from 
 the fact of the temptation, as well as from the divine declar- 
 ation in reference to the fall — Behold, the man is become 
 as one of us to know good and evil, that good and evil are 
 intermingled elsewhere than in our immediate world ; and 
 consequently, that it is over such a condition of things that 
 Jehovah presides? Does the existence of evil in our world, 
 imply, that when one human being tempts another, he who 
 is so tempted, is by a divine agency led into sin ? Or would 
 you infer any injustice in the divine administration which 
 does not paralyse the arm of every wicked man, and house 
 the righteous, so that they should neither see nor hear the 
 evil that is around them? Would you have the great gov- 
 ernor of the world to break up all the relations of life, re- 
 verse the law of probation, and make you holy by force? If 
 not, then extend the same rectoral principle to the relations 
 of mind, and to the circumstances attendant on those rela- 
 tions, and where is your difficulty ? Under such a view, 
 permission does not imply force ; the divine government 
 
148 LECTURES ON 
 
 appears to be regulated according to the nature of things; 
 and the free-agency of man is preserved in its own distinct- 
 ness, and occupies its own appropriate place. 
 
 Take an example. Satan was permitted to tempt Job ; 
 and, as you all know, sore and heavy were his calamities. 
 Far more severely dealt with, than, it would seem, Adam 
 had been, for he was bereaved of all his outward comforts, 
 which Adam was not ; and well nigh reduced to that 
 solitude, which Adam, it would appear, apprehended ; — 
 yet Job held fast to his integrity. Nay, he seems among the 
 other subjects of his glorying, to glory over Adam. "Did I 
 cover my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity 
 in my bosom ? Did I fear a great multitude, or did the 
 contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and 
 went not out at the door?* True, God found reason to 
 condemn Job, but did not find fault with every thing he had 
 said. On the contrary, his criticising and carping friends 
 were censured, while he was consecrated as a priest, to min- 
 ister in sacrifice for their sins ; and was most abundantly 
 blessed in the end. — This divine permission then, which 
 may be supposed to have been granted when Satan found 
 his way to the garden of Eden, does by no means imply any 
 necessity to sin imposed on Adam ; but refers to a course of 
 administration necessarily belonging to a state of things, in 
 which good and evil are intermingled. 
 
 I have been the more particular in an effort to elucidate 
 Adam's transgression, because it is an epitome of all that 
 follows, in the varied and melancholy history of mankind. If 
 the argument pursued, does not shake the harsh prejudices 
 of some determined sectarian; it may perhaps rescue some 
 ingenuous youth, who, dissatisfied with the metaphysical 
 subtleties he cannot unravel, is hovering on the verge of 
 dreary infidelity. And many a young man, in this day of 
 free and unrestrained inquiry, like the youth in the garden 
 of Gethsemane, is wistfully looking to the end of all these 
 distractions, in hope that the clouds will be scattered, his 
 own mind relieved, and his way to eternal glory made bright 
 and clear. — To the prayerful and candid attention of such 
 an one, I offer my exposition of this momentous subject : 
 while, at the same time, I do seriously and earnestly wish, that 
 ministers and christians, forgetting the past, or learning from 
 its misdeeds, would look more to the intellectual and inde-s 
 pendent character of the coming generations, 
 
 *Jobxxxi. 33, 34, 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 149 
 
 We must now turn to consider the effects which eating 
 of the forbidden fruit produced upon our first parents. These 
 effects have been represented as of the most fearful charac- 
 ter; — nothing less than that this guilty pair became "dead in 
 sin, and wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and 
 body." How wise men, with their bibles in their hands, 
 could make so broad and unreserved a statement as this, it 
 is very difficult to explain ; unless that they carelessly, and 
 without investigation, copied the errors of preceding ages. 
 There are many things which come from the fathers instead 
 of the bible ; things which have formed a chaplet of immor- 
 tality around the brows of Augustin and his compeers, but 
 which have nothing to do with the testimony of the pro- 
 phets and apostles. The facts, as the scriptures report 
 them, afford a very different case. Look at them — 
 
 1. Adam's sin was conventional. He fell as an official 
 man. And certainly it is not the fact now, that the trans- 
 gression of a man in an official character, forthwith deso- 
 lates all his private character. Many men do, in their place 
 as members of a corporate body, what they would shrink 
 from doing as individuals. A man may, in such a case, 
 ruin his personal reputation forever ; but it does not neces- 
 sarily follow that he should. In his personal responsibility 
 the remedial principle must be sought; and it may be, for it 
 often is, found there. 
 
 2. Even if Adam's sin had not been official, but, like 
 Eve's, had been personal, such a fearful disaster, as we are 
 considering, would not necessarily follow. For though the 
 scriptures have said, that whosoever shall keep the whole 
 law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all;" and 
 though the principle of law may be "the soul that sinneth 
 shall die;" so that there can be no recovery by law; yet it 
 does not follow that a remedial operation may be utterly im- 
 practicable under another system of government. The me- 
 diatorial principle of the gospel, viz. "if any man confess 
 his sin, God is faithful and just to forgive him his sin, and 
 to cleanse him from ail unrighteousness," might very natu- 
 rally and readily be introduced. The very fact of his con- 
 fession, may indicate a fragment of moral character yet re- 
 maining, like ten righteous men who should have saved the 
 city of Sodom, or like "a little leaven that will leaven the 
 whole lump;" or it may be, that fact might evince a general 
 state of good feeling. On such a fact, a government, that 
 is both wise and gracious, may very safely extend pardon, 
 
150 LECTURES 0« 
 
 and thus save a transgressor who would otherwise, accord- 
 ing to the progressive course of sin, become utterly base. — 
 And if one sin could not, or did not so desolate the moral 
 character of Adam, how should it so utterly desecrate all 
 the moral energies of his children ? 
 
 3. The history charges him with but one sin. God ar- 
 raigns him for but one sin. Paul traces the consequences 
 which have come down on all mankind to one offence. 
 What ingenuity is required, and wasted, in an attempt to 
 show that Adam violated each command of the decalogue; 
 and that death has come upon all the world because that he 
 became spiritually dead and wholly defiled ! 
 
 What is the proof by which such a fearful indictment is 
 established? 
 
 1. He was so stupid, it will be said, as to think of hiding 
 himself from an omnipresent God. But such is not the his- 
 torical fact. For he heard the Voice of the Lord God walk- 
 ing in the garden, and he hid himself from the manifested, 
 or personal, presence of Jehovah. Was Moses spiritually 
 dead and wholly defiled when he exceedingly feared and 
 quaked ? 
 
 2. It is said that Eve "laid the blame upon the serpent," 
 and Adam "laid the blame upon his wife, and even on God 
 himself." But did they not relate the circumstances as they 
 had transpired ? Did they not tell the truth, the whole truth, 
 and nothing but the truth ? Did they not, with great simpli- 
 city, frankness and candor, confess their sin ? And is it 
 not consistent with the most enlightened and liberal views 
 of human nature, to interpret that confession as repentance ? 
 
 But Adam said to God — "The woman whom thou 
 
 gavest to be with me." And is this any thing more than a 
 pleonastic mode of speech, in which more words are used 
 than are absolutely necessary, and which may well be em- 
 ployed when a language could have but few words ? 
 
 Can the proof adduced sustain the charge which has been 
 so confidently tabled? Or does any thing more appear on 
 the face of the record, than a sinful act, by which evil was 
 brought into, the world ; evil which they had begun to ex- 
 perience in their own persons, but which had not destroyed 
 the refinement or delicacy of their feelings ? An act, which 
 was perfectly consistent with their love of truth, with can- 
 dor, with confession, with repentance ; and which, in re- 
 ference to Adam, is ever recognised in the scriptures in its 
 own insulated character? Jehovah interpreted the case 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 151 
 
 very differently from the popular notion, which scholastic 
 theology has so injudiciously and harshly promulgated. He 
 pitied their condition ; averred that they were now brought 
 to know, not evil alone, but good and evil, and that all their 
 earthly relations were entirely changed. So far from being 
 spiritually dead, they were not even temporally dead ; nor 
 does it appear that the tree, of whose fiuit they had eaten, 
 was capable of producing death in either sense. Nay more. 
 They had not been condemned, their sentence was not 
 passed, until their kind Lord, retreating into that personal 
 responsibility which belonged to their nature, and availing 
 himself of their moral character as it was displayed at the time 
 before him, proclaimed the mediatorial constitution ; adapting 
 it to circumstances as they existed. God is love ; — his gos- 
 pel is, "if any man will confess his sins, God is faithful and 
 just to forgive him his sins ;" and one of the most beautiful 
 and luminous proofs of both is afforded by these very trans- 
 actions. 
 
 I have just remarked, that it does not appear, that the fruit 
 of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was the cause 
 of death in any sense. This intimation may, perhaps, star- 
 tle you, as contrary to all your impressions. My reasons 
 for the remark follow : — 
 
 1. It is not said, that this tree was a tree of death. It is 
 said that in the day, when Adam should eat of its fruit, dy- 
 ing he should die; but it is not said that the fruit should be 
 the physical agent by which death should be executed. Its 
 agency was much more confined in its physical action, and 
 might have been temporary. The terms by which its effect 
 was described at first were — the knowledge of good and evil ; 
 and those employed in stating the fact, after they had eaten, 
 weie — their eyes were opened, and they knew that they were 
 naked. Nothing farther is asserted concerning it. 
 
 2. While the principle of any constitution is preserved 
 entire, any case which may occur under it must be provided 
 for; either by special statute, or by the law of another con- 
 stitution, to which such a case may more properly belong. 
 According to the paradisiacal institute, Adam was our social 
 head, and to his offence the introduction of death is refer- 
 red. But Eve was first in transgression. If Adam had not 
 sinned — and the case might have occurred, then either the 
 tree was not the physical agent of executing death ; or con- 
 trary to the principle of the constitution, death would not 
 have come by Adam's offence ; or, Eve would not have died. 
 
152 LECTURES ON' 
 
 Eve violated her personal responsibility, and her sin was 
 considered and punished irrespective of Adam's offence. 
 Or if the fact, that her daughters have shared with her in 
 her penalty, should seem to make her sin official like 
 Adam's, its official character must be altogether secondary. 
 Or rather, I should say, that the fact in her case evinces, 
 that the principle of social responsibility belongs to the na- 
 ture of society. Consequently the adamic constitution is 
 not an arbitrary institute, unkindly engrafted on nature, but 
 was a mere regulation of the political relation in which 
 Adam stood to his posterity ; and therefore could only re- 
 sult in political, or external, advantages or disadvantages. — 
 In the subsequent parts of the scriptural history, instances 
 are not wanting, in which the peculiar character and deport- 
 ment of children are traced to maternal, as well as paternal, 
 influence. 
 
 3. If the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and 
 evil was the physical agent by which death was introduced, 
 how did death, so introduced, pass upon the lower orders 
 of creation. Evidently some other cause, more general and 
 more efficient, is necessary to explain the extent to which 
 death has been executed. 
 
 4. We have seen, in a previous lecture, that Moses could 
 not see the face of God, on mount Sinai, and live. No 
 such difficulty is even hinted at in Adam's case. He seems 
 to have been capable of the most perfect familiarity, and of 
 the most free intercourse. Moses was under the sentence 
 as passed, and the force of the physical agency by which the 
 sentence was executed. Adam was not yet under that sen- 
 tence, nor had he felt the power of the deleterious agent, 
 which was pointed out to him afterwards. 
 
 5. Death is appointed unto all men. — "I create peace, and 
 I create evil" saith the Lord. The execution of the pen- 
 alty was not put out of his own hands, but is left as a mat- 
 ter of his own just administration. 
 
 Then it may be asked what was the precise use of the tree 
 of knowledge of good and evil? To which I answer, that 
 its use is disclosed by the transactions themselves. Its ef- 
 fect on the animal constitution of our first parents was the 
 proof of their guilt. There was no equivocation possible in 
 the case. 
 
 But can it be supposed, it may further be asked, that, un- 
 der such circumstances, Adam would have dared to equivo- 
 cate ? To which again I answer, that while others have re- 
 
Moral government. 153 
 
 presented him as dead in sin, and wholly denied, they can 
 hardly censure a conjecture, which supposes merely that a 
 sinner would hide his transgression if he could. Nor can 
 they justly condemn an interpretation, which is founded on 
 a common judicial principle, that every man is to be held 
 innocent, until he is proved to be guilty. In their lofty spe- 
 culations on the abstract perfections of godhead, they may 
 indeed scout such a simple idea. But then they would for- 
 get such facts as the following. — When the cry of Sodom's 
 iniquities came up before the Lord, he descended to inquire 
 after the proof \n the case. When Cain replied to the Lord, 
 — am I my brother's keeper? — the Lord answered, thy bro- 
 ther's blood crieth to me from the ground. — When Saul pre- 
 tended that he had fulfilled the commandment of the Lord, 
 and made his strong asseveration before the divine prophet, 
 Samuel asked him, "what then meaneth the bleating of the 
 sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I 
 hear?" — When Abraham took the knife to slay his son, the 
 angel of the Lord said unto him, — "Lay not thine hand up- 
 on the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I 
 know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld 
 thy son, thine only son, from me."* On the day of judg- 
 ment, the wicked are represented as pleading their cause 
 thus — "When saw we thee an hungered, and did not feed 
 thee?" The answer returned is — "inasmuch as ye did it 
 not unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it not 
 to me." — The objector to our interpretation would forget, — 
 that we must appear before a judge; that the judge is the 
 son of man; that every one must give account of himself 
 in the day of judgment, when he shall be either justified or 
 condemned by his words. Judgment, like every thing else, 
 is not the mere sovereign act of a supreme Lord, acting in- 
 dependently of the feelings or views of the intelligent crea- 
 tures he has made ; but every eye shall see, and every ear 
 hear, and every tongue confess, that the judge of all the earth 
 doth right. 
 
 And now we may distinctly perceive, if the foregoing view 
 of the judicial object of the tree of knowledge of good and 
 evil be correct, then there was no use for any particular tree 
 of life, to serve an analogous purpose. Of course then, there 
 was no particular tree of life, for God makes nothing in 
 vain. 
 
 "Gen. xxii. 12. 
 
154 LECTURES ON 
 
 But if the tree of knowledge of good and evil was not the 
 physical agent by which death was introduced, by what 
 means was the sentence executed ? This question too is 
 fairly and fully answered by Moses. For he tells us, that 
 the Lord God cursed the ground ; and that he did this for 
 Adam's sake ; or because that he had violated the statute 
 which had been given to him. An analogous fact occurs in 
 the history of the flood, producing still farther temporal ca- 
 lamities. Any medical philosopher, even though he has 
 made but slender attainments in his science, will under- 
 write this scriptural explanation. You may be fully satisfied 
 on the subject by very little inquiry or observation. 
 
 This physical agency will not only explain the cause of 
 death, but it will, at the same time, account for its universal- 
 ity, and will demonstrate the interest which all mankind had 
 in Adam's official character. But it cannot prove that 
 Adam, or any of his posterity, did become, by his one of- 
 fence, dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the facul- 
 ties and parts of both soul and body. How could any 
 noxious miasm, or poisonous vapor, thus exhaled, morally 
 pollute the mind ? Nay more — how could spiritual death be 
 instantaneously spread out over the powers of the intellec- 
 tual spirit, by an act whose penalty was so slowly executed, 
 that the powers of the body itself, were brought only into a 
 dying condition ? And farther still — how could death tem- 
 poral, spiritual and eternal, be implied in the sentence origi- 
 nally pronounced, when the only apparent physical agent, 
 by which the sentence could be executed, did not produce 
 death at all ? Or is it not evident that the original sentence, 
 instead, as has been asserted, of going beyond the sentence 
 which was actually executed, fell far short of it ? For, if the 
 tree of the knowledge of good and evil was the physical 
 agent by which the original sentence would have been ex- 
 ecuted, then death could not go beyond Adam's own race. 
 Whereas, when the ground is desecrated, and becomes the 
 physical agent, the whole material system is immediately in- 
 volved in its destructive influence. — How much theologians 
 have taken for granted ! Well might a candid reformer, 
 charge his successors to recollect, that Calvin and his noble 
 companions had not discovered all that is in the bible. 
 
 This matter, however, cannot be dismissed yet. For, 
 admitting the correctness of the preceding argument, 
 and supposing that the death of the body, with the various 
 temporal calamities that attend it, constituted the penalty 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 165 
 
 of the broken law; even then, would not death be eternal, 
 seeing that the doctrine of a resurrection belongs to the 
 mediatorial system ?— Still all my labor would appear 
 to be in vain. — Perhaps not. The objection may be more 
 specious than solid. Let us try. 
 
 1. If Adam had not broken the law, but had secured its 
 reward for himself and his posterity, they should not, 
 according to the general principles which Paul advances in 
 his argument on the resurrection, have remained here for- 
 ever. As there is a natural body and a spiritual body, they 
 should have been changed. How would this change have 
 been accomplished ? Unquestionably by the power of God. 
 As manifestly death itself, comes, not as the simple ef- 
 fect of any physical agency, but as a matter of divine admin- 
 istration ; it is not then to be viewed as a mere physical ne* 
 cessity, but as a decision of the divine judge. Man at first 
 was made no more than "a living soul," and could have no 
 power to change himself. His inability to raise himself 
 from the dead, would no more argue the eternity of 
 death, than his inability to change himself from a natu- 
 ral into a spiritual body, would argue the eternity of his ex- 
 istence in this world. — The resurrection therefore involves 
 more questions than the mere issues of law may present. 
 
 To illustrate my meaning by an analogy. If you have en- 
 trusted your funds to an agent, and he has squandered them 
 away ; assuredly the next question which arises is, whether 
 you are able to meet your personal obligations ? — In the 
 case before us, we have the two systems of social and per- 
 sonal responsibility. Under the first, death has been intro- 
 duced. Then the question is, whether, under the second, 
 a man can recover himself? If he can, there is nothing in 
 the sentence of the law to prevent him. But he cannot raise 
 himself from the dead, because in his own nature he is 
 nothing more than a living soul. 
 
 Call back the analogy. If you are unable to meet your 
 personal engagements, when your agent has wasted your 
 means, as your personal character has not been lost, 
 another question arises: — what will, — what ought, your 
 creditor to do ? Your personal character is the very thing 
 which will attract his attention, and in view of which, he 
 will determine his course. — So in the case before us. Adam 
 had committed one offence, but still his personal character 
 invited confidence ; and the personal character of his chil- 
 dren is, by his sin, unhurt. What then will God do? Ac- 
 
156 LECTURES ON 
 
 cording to the nature of the creature he has made, accord- 
 ing to tlie system of personal responsiblity which he estab- 
 lished, and at the very point where an exertion of his own 
 power would be indispensable, even if sin had not been 
 committed, what may we look to him to do? — Is it contrary 
 to philosophy or scripture, that when onesystem is exhaust- 
 ed, we may draw on the resources of another? When state 
 objects, so to speak, or political purposes, or the general 
 interests of social life, are preserved, is the divine govern- 
 ment so defective as to leave individual integrity unconsider- 
 ed? Would an administration, so narrow and improvident, 
 be either wise or good ? Did not Jehovah pardon David's 
 sin, while yet for public reasons, or because he had given 
 occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the crime 
 itself was formally punished? Or must all such considera- 
 tions be thrown aside as fugitive and irrelevant, and system 
 be jumbled up with system, merely to give way to the anti- 
 quated conjectures of a speculative theology, whose distem- 
 pered fancies are more sacred, than its arguments are con- 
 clusive ? 
 
 2. Not only have we two systems, whose respective inte- 
 rests must be considered, but the actual circumstances, as 
 they are stated, were arranged to meet those interests. 
 There is nothing, in the whole paradisiacal law, to prevent 
 the full development of personal responsibility, not even in 
 view of transgression. The tree, placed in the midst of 
 the garden, by its own terms, contemplated a state of things, 
 in which good and evil should be intermingled. It was not 
 all evil— all death, that was to be introduced. All that 
 was good was not to be destroyed. Evil should come, but 
 that which was good might remain with it. The extent of 
 the threatened evil must be interpreted by the fact. The 
 death threatened was not perdition, instantaneous and entire. 
 The penalty was expressed in very different language. 
 Dying, thou shall die, said the creator; thus intimating a 
 prolonged state of being, though suffering under a mortal 
 infirmity. The fruit of the tree was not the physical agent 
 in executing the penalty ; but the ground, which would be 
 gradual in its operation. Though Adam forfeited the privi- 
 leges of the garden, yet he might be returned to the spot 
 whence he was taken. The very nature of the animal sys- 
 tem, in that it might become mortal and corruptible, while 
 the existence of the spirit is eternal, together with the limit- 
 ed effect produced on the moral nature of our first parents. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 157 
 
 All these things abundantly evince the political character, 
 and consequently the external influence, of the adamic in- 
 stitute. No case can be more clear. Every view which it 
 presents looks to a remedial agency as both natural and 
 just; both wise and good. And when the remedial expe- 
 dient is so visibily exhibited, at every point and on every 
 turn, it would be very strange, if the dogma, unrelentingly 
 wrapping up every thing in the gloom of eternal death, 
 should still be obstinately defended. 
 
 We must now look at the effects of the fall, as 
 they were visited upon all men. That all men were in- 
 volved in Adam's official proceedings, must be evident, 
 from the nature of the case, as well as from the character of 
 the physical agent employed. The deleterious influence 
 which the ground, as having been cursed, exhales, is uni- 
 versal. There is no escaping from it. How men can dis- 
 pute the fact, I do not see. But that they should quarrel 
 with the philosophy of the fact, as it has been taught, is no 
 matter of wonder. Our nature instinctively revolts from 
 any political doctrines, which impute a vindictive character 
 to the Eternal, or build up despotic institutions on earth. 
 The Spirit of God affords no such instructions to the human 
 mind. And the moral philosopher, in attempting to esta- 
 blish such notions, fails in his argument from a deficiency 
 of testimony, and runs counter to nature. Take away the 
 bayonet and the sword, the gibbet and the stake, the star- 
 ehamber and the inquisition, and human beings naturally 
 revert to original principles. Hence the controversies of 
 the present age. Church courts will fail in their conflicts 
 with nature. 
 
 Death has come upon all men. The body, as the scrip- 
 tures describe it, has become — this mortal, this corruptible. 
 A weakness of the flesh has supervened. Man is not able to 
 do, what he could do, if his animal nature did not labor 
 under this mortal infirmity. Hence then he is unable to 
 obey law, which was the rule of his being in its original 
 vigor. Accordingly the Son of God is sent in the like- 
 ness of sinful flesh, to do that which the law could not do, 
 in that it was weak, through the flesh. Or, in other words, 
 the gospel is framed to meet this very weakness, under 
 which our corruptible bodies suffer and groan. Hear Paul. 
 11 In me, i. e. in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. I keep 
 my body under, lest, after having preached the gospel to 
 others, I should be a cast-a-way myself. There is a law in 
 14 
 
158 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 my members, warring against the law of my mind. The flesh 
 lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: 
 and these are contrary the one to the other." Hear the re- 
 deemer: — "The spirit truly is willing, but the flesh is 
 weak." 
 
 We have already seen, that the body, and its external 
 senses, constitute the means by which the spirit acquires its 
 ideas, and the instruments by which it acts. Injure the 
 body, or weaken the external senses, and the range 
 of the spirit's ideas, as well as the sphere of its action, 
 necessarily becomes limited. Under such circumstances, 
 we cannot do, even what we would do. The power to will 
 may exist, where the power to perform is not possessed. 
 A multitude of objects are now spread out before me. I 
 see them all. Let me be deprived of my animal organs of 
 vision, and I can see them no more; but my intellectual 
 power, considered as an attribute of spirit, is not diminished. 
 Restore by medical means my animal organs, and I see 
 again ; but a surgical operation has not restored a lost in- 
 tellectual attribute. While blind, I would see, if I had the 
 bodily power. When my body dies, my spirit still lives. 
 So when Adam brought death into the world, the body 
 alone became corruptible in consequence of his sin. Be- 
 yond this every thing is personal. I would have seen better, 
 and would have acted more powerfully, if my body had 
 been unimpaired in its various faculties; but still I see and 
 act according to the bodily power left, and for that I am 
 personally responsible. Deny this view, and there is no 
 escape from sheer materialism. 
 
 There is no subject which theologians have tortured into 
 more shapes, or have penciled out under a greater variety 
 of profile, than that of human ability and inability. It is 
 really mournful to observe, how deeply and awfully myste- 
 rious they have made a very plain point. Certainly it is a 
 very simple thing, that in consequence of Adam's sin super- 
 inducing a weakness of the flesh, men cannot obey law; 
 and it is'just as simple that they can obey gospel, which is 
 intended to meet and help their infirmities. The whole 
 doctrine of the scriptures is, that man cannot be saved with- 
 out a mediator, but that he can be saved with one. And it 
 is certainly very evident that, neither under law nor gospel, 
 neither before nor since the fall, can man be viewed as in- 
 dependent of the providence of God, or as living in the mo- 
 ral and intellectual world, any more than he does in the phy- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 159 
 
 sical world, without the co-operating agency of the Holy 
 Spirit. What can be more simple? 
 
 It is true that this matter has been argued in the scrip- 
 tures : — but why ? The two systems, — law and gospel — 
 belong to the history of man. Under the one, evil has 
 been introduced ; under the other, a remedy has been pro- 
 posed. They are therefore the legitimate subjects of human 
 thought. Accordingly, in all ages, mankind have been 
 reasoning on their respective claims. Nay, so far have 
 they carried their controversial expositions, and so great 
 have been the mistakes into which they have reasoned them- 
 selves, that Jehovah found it necessary to represent the in- 
 efficiency of the one, and the remedial agency of the other, 
 under two distinct dispensations — the mosaic and the chris- 
 tian. The argument which serves to elucidate the original 
 subjects, involves, of course, the two dispensations; and 
 the argument intended to explain the two dispensations, in- 
 volves the original subjects. The jews, mistook the nature 
 of their external position, and of the purpose of election by 
 which they occupied that position. Necessarily they stum- 
 bled on a great deal of metaphysical speculation about hu- 
 man ability and inability. Paul had to meet and refute 
 their errors. Since their days, christians have mistaken 
 their external position, and the purpose of election, by which 
 they have been so peculiarly distinguished. They have, in 
 fact, revived the judaic notions, and are consequently in- 
 volved in all the metaphysical subtleties of the age in which 
 Paul wrote. But more of this hereafter. 
 
 You perceive, that I have not denied the fact of mankind 
 deriving a corrupted nature from Adam. But then, that cor- 
 rupt nature consists in this — that man has a mortal and cor- 
 ruptible body. As then he originally acquired his ideas 
 by means of his external senses, so he acquires his ideas 
 now. Those senses have become impaired, but the intel- 
 lectual power is not in itself injured, or corrupt. It can 
 have no ideas farther than it has the external means of ac- 
 quiring them. But so far as those means go, it not only 
 can, but does, acquire them. It is here, where personal respon- 
 sibility, from the very nature of the case, arises; where abili- 
 ty must be supposed; and beyond which, in reference to 
 our personal nature, the influence of Adam's sin does not, 
 and cannot go. There is indeed an indispensable neces- 
 sity that a mediator should be provided; and that his insti- 
 tutions should correspond with the measure of our ability, 
 
160 LECTURES ON 
 
 as the law corresponded with the original ability of Adam. 
 But that mediator being provided, and his institutions 
 being established, we become personally accountable, 
 and perish by our own fault, if we perish at all. Hence 
 the scriptures write so freely of the lusts of the flesh, and in- 
 form us, that whenever a man commits sin, he is drawn 
 away of his own lust, and is enticed: while they also de- 
 scribe the gentiles as doing by nature the things contained 
 in the law, and showing the work of the law, written on their 
 heart. 
 
 Man having this corrupt nature, i. e. a corruptible and 
 mortal body, — carrying about him "this body of sin and of 
 death," — having u a law in his members warring against the 
 law of his mind," — goes out into the world to associate 
 with beings of his own kind, and corrupted like himself. 
 At the same time, the whole material system is, to him, 
 like his own constitution, an intermixture of good and evil; 
 interesting all his sympathies, and forming the resources on 
 which he draws, in seeking the supply of his wants and the 
 gratification of his desires. Thus constituted and thus cir- 
 cumstanced, in consequence of sin committed by his social 
 head, having no innate ideas, either good or bad, — acquiring 
 all his ideas by his external senses and through the medium 
 of external objects, — and yet living and acting under per- 
 sonal responsibilities, with which his everlasting destiny is 
 connected; he appears in the midst of a troubled scene of 
 action, to fulfil the duties, and meet the trials, that await 
 him. Let us follow his course. 
 
 As a new born babe, " born to trouble as the sparks fly 
 upwards " — he suffers and complains. In his early life, 
 and while mind as yet unfurnished with intelligence, by which 
 he can discriminate between good and evil, he betrays the 
 propensities of his corrupt animal nature: — propensities 
 which seem to characterise the lower orders of creatures 
 themselves, who have not been endowed with intellectual 
 and immortal spirits. These propensities, varying in char- 
 acter and degree, as widely as the animal temperament can 
 be diversified, the excitement he feels, and the restraints un- 
 der which he acts, are derived from the external circum- 
 stances in which he is placed. 
 
 I am aware that the case of children is often very differently 
 represented. They are supposed to betray, in all their ap- 
 parent aberrations, an intellectual depravity, or a state of spir- 
 itual death, as the direct, the necessary, and the invariable 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 161 
 
 consequence of Adam's transgression. The scriptures ap- 
 pear to give a very different account of this interesting mat- 
 ter. Take the following passages. — "Your little ones, 
 which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that 
 day had no knowledge between good and evil."* "Before the 
 child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good."t 
 " Brethren be not children in understanding ; howbeit in ma- 
 licebeye children, but in understanding be men."t " Should 
 not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than six 
 score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right 
 hand and their left hand; and also much cattle ?"§ " The 
 unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbe- 
 lieving wife is sanctified by the husband ; else were your chil- 
 dren unclean; but now are they holy."\\ "Verily I say unto 
 you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye 
 shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."^! "Suffer lit- 
 tle children, and forbid them not, to come unto me, for of 
 such is the kingdom of heaven. And he laid his hands on 
 them, and departed thence. "** " The promise is to you, 
 and to your children. "ft " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and thou shaltbe saved, and thy house."tt These, and such 
 like passages of the scriptures, evince children to be the 
 peculiar objects of the divine affection and care : as present- 
 ing the best view of moral character, when a simile is sought 
 for in illustration of conversion, or when intellectual life is, as 
 it were, to be commenced anew ; and as belonging to that 
 number, over whom the mediatorial administration is pecu- 
 liarly extended. 
 
 But to resume the account of a human being, as he is pas- 
 sing through the world. — He is first committed to parental 
 care. And surely no one can be so dull an observer, as not 
 to have perceived the innumerable deficiencies of domestic 
 life : — the collisions of feeling ; — the contrarieties of opinion ; 
 the opposite habits of discipline ; — a course of government, 
 which, either by its severity palsies the mora? sense and 
 crushes all independence, or by its excessive mildness and 
 imprudent indulgence nurtures the passions, and leaves the 
 mind dormant; — a premature attempt to call out intellect, 
 while the feelings are untutored ;— the disregard of moral 
 influence, inducing a constant appeal to corporal chastise- 
 
 * Deut. i. 39. IT Malt, xviii. 2—5. 
 
 t Is- vii- 16. **Matt. xix. 14, 15. 
 
 |1 Cor. xiv. 20. ft Acts ii. 39. 
 
 § Jonah iv. 11. tjActs xvi. 31. 
 
 jj 1 Cor. vii. 14. 
 14* 
 
162 LECTURES ON 
 
 merit; — false systems of religious education, which substi- 
 tute the abstract propositions of an antiquated catechism, 
 for the spiritual exercises of the parental mind, and the co- 
 operating agency of the Spirit of God, presiding'over the so- 
 cial action of heart upon heart ; — the unphilosophical at- 
 tempt to engraft upon the infantile spirit, the notions of 
 other men, which parents themselves do not understand ; — 
 the great solicitude to appear fair and stand well with the 
 particular class of society to which a family may belong ; — the 
 endless calculations which terminate on business or plea- 
 sure, on wealth or honor, on fashion or amusement, while 
 conscience is coerced into silence, or is modified according 
 to the standard of morality which that class of society may 
 have adopted ; — what, I pray you, can be expected from such 
 a tissue of parental delinquencies, but the general depravity 
 of morals we are called upon to explain ? 
 
 It must also be apparent to every observer of human life, 
 that all children do not grow up to indulge the same vices, 
 or to commit sin in the very same form. The children of 
 the heathen, exhibit, under parental tuition, a very different 
 set of habits, from those which characterise the children of 
 the jews ; while the children of christians vary from both. 
 in the very same community, one family will grow up entirely 
 dissimilar to another family. The artificial distinctions of 
 society ; the form of political government; the despotism to 
 which men may pusillanimously submit, or the liberal and 
 independent principles they may enthusiastically maintain *, 
 the ecclesiastical parties which may grow out of a period of 
 excitement, and whose dogmas may and will be transmitted 
 by a religious entail, until that excitement is worn out ; these 
 and such like varieties of social life, are carefully and sacred- 
 ly regarded by parents in training their children, giving form 
 to their manners, tone to their feelings, and vigor to their 
 prejudices. All this will occur too with as much uniformity 
 as can possibly be asserted in an argument which traces up 
 the general depravity to a corrupt spiritual nature, derived 
 from Adam. How many hundreds and thousands, in our 
 own day and country, are episcopalians, or presbyterians, or 
 baptists, or methodists, or friends, or unitarians, or infidels, 
 merely because their fathers were such before them ? How 
 many sects, and congregations, are sustained in this very way ? 
 How adventurous, how preposterous, how heretical, it is 
 conceived to be, for any man to break away from the do- 
 minion of this social law. He has lost his cast in christen- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 163 
 
 dom, as certainly as though he had lived in Hindostan; 
 and his compeers seem to think that they owe him no chris- 
 tian reciprocities, but may sport with his feelings, cripple 
 his influence,, ruin his reputation, warn their friends against 
 a pernicious contagion, and condemn him both for time and 
 eternity. I know that it is a very popular doctrine that 
 every man should think for himself, and a very popular boast 
 that in our beloved country any man may do so. But then let 
 the pigmy adventurer take the public at their word, and 
 begin to dispute the infallibility of the fathers ; and even 
 they who would rejoice in his success, stand aloof from the 
 enterprise, in which, for conscience sake, and it may be for 
 the public's sake, he risks, so to speak, his all. And yet multi- 
 tudes affect to wonder at human depravity, when parents 
 bring up their children under such fearful auspices, and thus 
 often reduce the finest intellect to spiritual death. I mourn 
 over the melancholy scene. 
 
 But if the parental course should have been elevated above 
 these sectarian movements, and this hereditary imbecility, 
 yet how quickly the youthful mind becomes vitiated by its 
 early associations. A thousand adventitious circumstances 
 attend on the gradual development of juvenile character. The 
 young begin to calculate on their own individuality, the 
 strength of their own opinions, and the rationality of their 
 own choice ; and a new scene is opened, which, in its inci- 
 piency, gives a fair prognostic of its riper pretensions. Under 
 the force of early predilections, long vibrating, it may be, 
 amidst doubts and fears, but at length settled on objects en- 
 tirely sublunary, if not entirely sensual; the rising genera- 
 tion become capable of abusing their personal respon- 
 sibilities, and listlessly sink into the same routine, in which 
 their fathers descended to the grave. Referring them to 
 the church, in hopes of inducing other and better resolves, 
 they found themselves met by mysteries, become sacred by 
 age, and which left their inquisitive minds baffled at every 
 step ; while sectarian prejudices, ministerial conflicts, and 
 ecclesiastical despotism, forbad any investigation into mat- 
 ters they did not understand ; — and thus embarrassed and 
 perplexed, they abandoned the hopes in which their fathers 
 gloried. The multitude stand startled at the general de- 
 pravity, and can discern no explanation, excepting that 
 Adam's sin brought all mankind into temporal, spiritual and 
 eternal death, by defiling all the parts and faculties of both 
 
164 LECTURES ON 
 
 soul and body. You may go into the pagan world, and 
 changing terms, you meet the same result. 
 
 A modern writer has well expressed my ideas, in the fol- 
 lowing paragraph : — "The thread of every life is entangled 
 with other threads, beyond all reach of calculation. The 
 weal and woe of each depend, by innumerable correspon- 
 dences, upon the will, and caprices, and fortunes, not mere- 
 ly of the individuals of his immediate circle, but upon those 
 of myriads of whom he knows nothing. Or, strictly speak- 
 ing, the tie of mutual influence passes without a break, from 
 hand to hand, throughout the human family : there is no in- 
 dependence, no insulation, in the lot of man; and, there- 
 fore, there can be no absolute calculation of future fortunes ; 
 for he, whose will or caprice is to govern the lot, stands, 
 perhaps, at the distance of a thousand removes from the 
 subject of it; and the alternated influence winds its way, in 
 ten thousand meanders, before it reaches the point of its 
 destination."* In such a state of things, who does not wish 
 to see those overturnings, by which our mediatorial prince 
 shall revolutionise the human family, and construct our so- 
 cial operations on new and better principles ? The promise 
 of the millennium is, or ought to be, as great a relief to the 
 mere philanthrophist, as it can be to the most refined mor- 
 alist ; — who, fascinated by the beauty and brilliancy of the 
 promised re-organization, is wistfully watching for the mas- 
 ter's coming, amid the distractions which now threaten to 
 drive our ecclesiastical principalities into delirious and blast- 
 ing misrule. 
 
 I may be asked whether any thing better can be expected 
 in this dying world? To this I would briefly answer, that if 
 you reverse the causes, you may reverse the effects ; that 
 the scriptures have said, — "Train up a child in the way in 
 which he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart 
 therefrom ;" that if the iniquities of the fathers are visited 
 upon the children, the mercy of the Lord is extended un- 
 to children's children ; and that we have a promised scene 
 of millenary righteousness and blessedness, in the descrip- 
 tion of whose peculiar mercies, the taking away a corrupt 
 spiritual nature, as having been derived from Adam, is no 
 where even hinted at. 
 
 But finally it results from Adam's sin, that satan has ac- 
 quired power in this world, and that we are all exposed to 
 his temptations. "We wrestle," says Paul, "not against 
 
 •Nat. His. of Euthusiam, p. 138. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 165 
 
 flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, 
 against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spi- 
 ritual wickedness, in high places." — "If our gospel be hid, 
 it is hid to them that are lost; in whom, the god of this 
 world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest 
 the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image 
 of God, should shine unto them." — "Be sober, be vigilant," 
 says Peter, "because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring 
 lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." To 
 many a timid christian, nothing is more appalling than this 
 very view of his earthly course. How many have fallen un- 
 der the prowess and malignity of this mighty apollyon ! 
 And how often do multitudes ascribe their sins to his artifi- 
 ces, and make a natural imbecility of their moral nature, 
 derived from Adam, their apology ; rather than confess their 
 heedlessness, and their unbelief; and rather than equip them- 
 selves for the conflict, or put on the panoply which the great 
 captain of their salvation has provided. 
 
 To these three causes, — the flesh, the w^orld, and the 
 devil, do the scriptures uniformly ascribe the personal de- 
 pravity of mankind. Whenever they speak of the corrupt 
 spiritual nature of an individual, or of a community of indi- 
 viduals, they intend to describe the powerful control of the 
 influences which have been thus enumerated. They may 
 speak of the character of human beings, in viewing law se- 
 parate from mediatorial provisions ; as I would fain hope 
 theologians themselves make the same reference, in the es- 
 timate of mankind, they so often express. Thus judged, all 
 mankind must necessarily perish. But still their perdition 
 would be connected with their personal responsibility, as 
 none of them can obey law. Yet, under the influences 
 stated, nothing else can be inferred than a carnal mind, or 
 the habit of minding the things of the flesh, which is enmity 
 against God. 
 
 If any should not be convinced by the preceding argu- 
 ment, or do not perceive that their own responsibilities call 
 on them to mortify the flesh — to overcome the world — and to 
 resist temptation, as covering the whole sphere of their ac- 
 tion in relation to sin ; then let me ask them to explain to 
 themselves, how, or whence, that good originates, which 
 they call morality in contradistinction to religion? If 
 mankind be wholly defiled in all the parts and faculties of 
 body and soul, and be dead in sin, how can this morality ex- 
 ist? It will not do to account for it by mere restraint ; be- 
 
166 LECTURES ON 
 
 cause as all is evil, when a restraint is imposed, that which 
 remains unrestrained, must still be evil. But the morality, 
 of which we speak, is not evil, but good. Will any one un- 
 dertake to say, that conjugal love and fidelity, the parental 
 storge, and the whole train of social virtues are evil, and 
 expect to be believed ? When Jesus loved the young ruler, 
 who had kept the commandments from his youth, up, and 
 was near to the kingdom of heaven, were the virtues of this 
 young man evil, and did the redeemer love that which is 
 evil ? When the gentiles do by nature, the things contain- 
 ed in the law, and show the work of the law written on their 
 hearts, is all this evil? When Paul, comparing, in this 
 respect, jews and gentiles together, remarks, that they who 
 have done good, whether they be jews or gentiles, shall in- 
 herit eternal life, must their good, and that which is written 
 on their hearts, and in them by nature, be still spoken of as 
 evil? And all this too, as the consequence of Adam's sin ; 
 when the consequence of that sin is explicitly declared to 
 be, the knowledge of good and evil ? Or when the scriptures 
 speak of any being dead in sin, do they not thereby describe 
 a course of personal transgressions which have entirely de- 
 solated the social virtues : — "Trespasses and sins, wherein in 
 time past ye ivalked, according to the course of this world — 
 according to the prince of the power of the air — in the lusts of 
 the flesh?" Look at Paul's description of a community cha- 
 racterised by a reprobate mind, in the first chapter of his 
 epistle to the Romans,* and see whether it be Adam's sin 
 or their personal transgressions, to which he ascribes their 
 dreadful and loathsome apostacy; or whether the very good 
 we have spoken of, as constituting morality, is not absent? 
 — In fine, is the phrase, — dead in trespasses and sins, anything 
 more than figurative verbiage, describing those who have 
 abused their privileges, dishonored the institutions of divine 
 love, and turned traitors to the general weal? — If this argu- 
 ment fail to convince, it is useless to protract a discussion, 
 when even demonstration will not produce conviction. 
 
 But after all what has been gained by our argument ? — 
 Truth, if no other peculiar advantage, I answer. Yet I 
 trust, we have also gained personal responsibility, unembar* 
 rassed by the subtleties and sophistry of the schools ; we 
 have disclosed to those who are "ever learning and never 
 coming to the knowledge of the truth," the reason of their 
 unbroken disappointment ; we have made appear to those 
 ♦Verses 18—32, 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 167 
 
 who are professedly waiting for God, and who have never 
 experienced the regenerating efficacy of his grace, the rea- 
 son why they have not realised what they seem to desire ; 
 and we have thrown the mere sceptic, confident in his un- 
 belief, proud of his superiority to fanatical delusion, and bit- 
 ter in his satirical strictures, upon his own personal obliga- 
 tion, as he demanded. The object was worth achieving. 
 And having achieved it, as we believe, we will hold it fast 
 with becoming confidence, as though it cheered and sus- 
 tained us in our way to the heavenly inheritance. "Go ye," 
 said Jesus, when he commissioned his disciples on their 
 errand of mercy, and ascended to the throne of his glory, — 
 "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every 
 creature. He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved; 
 but he that believeth not shall be damned." — Would to God, 
 beloved brethren, ye did believe. 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 Mediatorial constitution. — Its origin. — Mediator. God 
 
 manifested in the. flesh. — Seed of the woman. — Phraseology 
 explained. — The delivering of the kingdom to the Father, 
 when the end shall come. 
 
 I have represented the paradisiacal institute as a politi- 
 cal, or external, dispensation. The mediatorial constitution, 
 which we must now proceed to consider, must of course be 
 explained on a corresponding principle. Under the one, 
 a great and sore evil has occurred ; and under the other a 
 remedy for that evil is provided. Of course the two constitu- 
 tions must be viewed as assimilated to each other : or, as on 
 the one hand, the broken law is the ministration of sin and 
 death ; so on the other, the gospel must be the ministration of 
 righteousness and life. The law having been constructed 
 to meet the peculiar attributes of human nature; the gos- 
 pel must be similarly framed, or it would be inappropriate 
 to the case it was intended to relieve. Under both forms 
 of the divine administration, man must be governed^ an 
 intelligent and accountable agent; and those forms must be 
 suited to him as having no innate ideas ; but as acquiring his 
 ideas by his external senses, and through the medium of 
 objects which those senses can recognise. 
 
1 68 Lectures on 
 
 God himself made man thus, and there is nothing derog- 
 atory to the divine character in supposing, that the divine 
 legislation will precisely correspond with human nature. 
 The mediatorial system cannot be original in its principles, 
 because it is only intended, and proclnimed, to be remedial; 
 and ofcuurse any available matter which may yet belong to 
 the original system, that is to be relieved, will not be rejected. 
 Man is not taken out of his corruptible body, and placed in 
 another bodily form, which shall be more congenial to the 
 benevolent purposes of his creator. Neither are the natur- 
 al relations to be broken up, and the principle of social re- 
 sponsibility to be discarded. But a new social hkad is to 
 be consecrated ; each individual must "work out his own 
 salvation ;" and provision, ample and free, must be made ; 
 that, notwithstanding the infirmities he inherits, and the 
 trials that await him, he may be enabled to obtain eternal 
 life. Of course the two systems must be perfectly an- 
 alogous, and the distinct attributes of man must be as fully 
 and as prominently displayed in the last as they were in the 
 first. Nor does the grace, or the wisdom, or the power of 
 Jehovah appear less conspicuous, when an intellectual 
 agency is thus predicated of man ; than when he is described 
 as perfectly passive, or mechanical, under the influence 
 of a regenerating Spirit. A mere word, a sovereign act of 
 power, would accomplish the one; while a series of means, 
 most diversified and minute, and equally appropriate to the 
 endless variety of character and situation which human so- 
 ciety presents, would be required by the other. Where shall 
 we search for the philosophy of the natural world, if it be 
 not in the relation between cause and effect; in the mutual 
 dependencies, in the action and reaction, which meet us 
 at every step; while each creature preserves its own indi- 
 vidual character, and carries out its own distinct operations ? 
 In like manner where shall we search for the philosophy of 
 intellectual life, or moral obligation, if all the actions of man's 
 individual faculties are to be merged in one omnipotent 
 mandate ; which mandate is uttered according to no known 
 law, but proceeds from mere sovereign good pleasure. I infer 
 then, from the nature of the case, that there is more room to 
 display grace, wisdom and power, in a regal administration 
 over intelligent and free agents, than there can be in a sov- 
 ereign superintendence over mechanical agents. 
 
 In fact, our preceding lectures have evinced, that the me- 
 diatorial institute arises directly out of the original system ; 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 169 
 
 and in view of the divine character, is a natural and ne- 
 cessary result from the violation of that system. Call up to 
 your recollection the following particular?, which have been 
 distinctly noticed in the progress of the general argu- 
 ment. 
 
 1. Angels fell on personal responsibility. In their con- 
 dition there is nothing analogous to the natural relations 
 among men.* No mediator has been provided for them. 
 How should there be ? Where would a mediatorial stand- 
 ard be reared ? On what circumstance in their history, on 
 what attribute of their being, could a remedial institute ex- 
 ert its influence ? The case with mankind is entirely dif- 
 ferent. Behind social responsibility remains another sys- 
 tem, yet unimpaired. A redeemer might turn with confi- 
 dence to man's personal character. Under such circum- 
 stances, why should a mediator not be provided ? — The door 
 is opened here, and a Saviour enters. 
 
 2. If Adam had not eaten the forbidden fruit, then after a 
 period of personal probation, each of his posterity should 
 have experienced a change from a natural into a spiritual 
 body, and thus have been introduced to a final judgment. 
 This change could not have been accomplished by the power 
 of the human being, inasmuch as Adam was made merely 
 a " living soul." Here then too, in the contemplated ope- 
 rations of the system, the exercise of divine power is neces- 
 sarily called for. Consequently, when we are reduced, by 
 Adam's transgression, to look at the other side of the sta- 
 tute, or to follow out the penalty in its deleterious action, we 
 arrive, by a different route, at the very same spot. For death 
 is now the outlet from this state of being, to introduce each 
 individual to his personal account ; as the change from a na- 
 tural into a spiritual body would have been, if Adam had 
 not sinned. The divine power is therefore referred to, from 
 the nature of the system; and whenever Jehovah steps forth 
 to act, he will of course display the intrinsic excellence of 
 his own character. 
 
 3. The posterity of Adam have been brought into their 
 various embarrassments, by a sin not their own. A judicial 
 case is thus referred to the divine arbitrament. If the accused 
 be not guilty, shall they be condemned ? If there be any 
 alleviating circumstance, shall it not be considered — will not 
 
 justice speak ? If there be any hope of reform, will notmercy 
 speak ? Is there no dispensing, no pardoning power, be- 
 
 •Matt.xxii. 30. 
 15 
 
170 LECTURES ON 
 
 longing to the supreme governor? Shall not the judge of 
 all the earth do right? — How simple, how easy, the whole 
 case is ! 
 
 4. By the fall of Adam, his children suffer under the ma- 
 lignant prowess of a powerful adversary; by which means 
 the judicial investigation is extended to embrace a wide range 
 of circumstances. A spectacle is presented to the universe ; 
 and other hosts of intellectual beings become deeply inter- 
 ested in the decision. Again we are thrown on the divine 
 character; and our case creates universal interest and sym- 
 pathy. 
 
 The system itself then opens up a door for mediatorial re- 
 lief, and the character of God becomes the turning point, 
 where an inquiry is to be instituted as to subsequent proceed- 
 ings. I know very well that theologians have taken a very 
 different view of this whole matter. Fond of abstractions, 
 and imagining that the more degraded the creature is repre- 
 sented to be, the more glorious God will appear, they can 
 see nothing but an inscrutable sovereignty presiding over 
 the melancholy scene ; and deepen the gloom, by teaching 
 that God should have been just, had he condemned Adam 
 and all his posterity to everlasting perdition, for the "one 
 offence." I cannot so speak of Jehovah. The scriptures 
 afford no such representations of his character or conduct. 
 And much do I marvel, that even those who have been 
 taught, from their earliest years, to estimate their creator under 
 such dark and suspicious shadings of character, when they 
 see that he has filled the earth with his goodness, should not 
 promptly embrace the first opportunity of forming lovelier 
 views. Such thoughts of God must cripple all their efforts 
 in his service ; rebuke any approach to intimate or filial fel- 
 lowship ; limit their spiritual experience; fill up their pil- 
 grimage with misgivings and distraction; and consign them 
 to the grave amid doubts and fears. Hence confidence has 
 been withdrawn from the redeemer himself; and saints and 
 angels, as secondary mediators, with a surplusage of super- 
 rogated works, and liturgies for the dead, have been called 
 in as adjuvants. Hence so much blame has been thrown on 
 Adam at one time, and on Satan at another; for some mode 
 of explanation, which involves every thing in obscurity, is 
 indispensable to meet such a statement. Hence the chil- 
 ling maxim, by which many justify their own tremulous 
 hopes — "he who never doubted, never believed." The 
 character which such moral philosophers or melancholy the- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 171 
 
 ologians delineate, when they undertake to describe the gov- 
 ernor over all, excites no confidence and wins no love. — I 
 feel not at all surprised, that a party should arise in France, 
 as has been reported, or that such a sect should arise any 
 where, setting forth the idea, — that Christianity may be suit- 
 able to the heavenly state ; but that we need another system of 
 religion, and one that will be fitted to this world. — Fortu- 
 nately, however, for many, their inward exercises do not al- 
 ways correspond with their published creed. They derive 
 loftier moral views, and more heavenly sensations, while 
 meditating on the divine promises. In these promises, 
 which are exceedingly great and precious, they glean some 
 vivid ideas of divine love; and under the pleasing and en- 
 chanting, but often transitory, excitement, they, for the mo- 
 ment, forget their petrifying views of God, as riding on the 
 whirlwind, and crushing them under the denunciations of 
 unsatisfied law. — But let us appeal to the law and to the 
 testimony: — Our beloved Lord speaks for himself. 
 
 God is love. All his works, — creation and providence — 
 proclaim his goodness. " I am," said he, " the Lord, the Lord 
 God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in 
 goodness and in truth, — slow to anger and ofgreat kindness." 
 He meets all who are distrustful and timorous with a solemn 
 oath, — " As I live, saith the Lord, 1 have no pleasure in the 
 death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way 
 and live ; turn ye turn ye from your evil ways ; for why will ye 
 die, O house of Israel ?" — Such is his character, and when did 
 he ever falsify it ? Whom did he ever disappoint ? Whoever 
 called and were not heard, or turned and were rejected? 
 Who ever perished at the foot of the cross, or were thrown 
 from the everlasting arms into the gulph of perdition ? 
 Whom has he not commanded, warned, entreated, and be- 
 sought? — Come, plead against him if thou canst. Recount 
 his unkindnesses, tell ofthine unanswered prayers, make men- 
 tion of thy righteous deeds, and publish abroad the sorrows 
 of a heart he has broken by his unrelenting severity,- — if it 
 be in thy power, to fling one single reproach against his mer- 
 ciful administration. Reproach him ? No, thou canst not. 
 All thy life long, his people, his ministers, his bible, his Spir- 
 it, have sounded in thine ear, — " God so loved the world, that 
 he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in 
 him should not perish, but have everlasting life :" and at 
 this hour, conscience, in thine own bosom, responds to the 
 truth of the fact. At his bar, and in the day of his burning 
 
1 72 LECTURES ON 
 
 glory, thy spirit shall meet the unanswerable argument — to 
 sink, it may be, unredeemed, and under a load of personal 
 guilt, into wailing and woe. 
 
 This is with me, as it ought to be with all, a favorite topic. 
 Permit me to recite some of the appeals, which the Saviour 
 himself makes to the good sense of mankind. — " What man 
 is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him 
 a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?" No 
 man would be so inhuman or unfeeling. " If ye then, being 
 evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how 
 much more shall your father, which is in heaven give good, 
 things to them that ask him ?" He has nothing evil about 
 him. He is your father, and you are his children. Can 
 you then for a moment suppose, that he is destitute of the 
 feelings of a father? 
 
 You ask me, why I receive sinners and eat with them? 
 "What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one 
 of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilder- 
 ness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it ? And 
 when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, re- 
 joicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together 
 his friends and neighbors, saying unto' them, rejoice with 
 me ; for I have found my sheep which was lost." In like 
 manner, when I go out as the great shepherd ; "there is joy 
 in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over 
 ninety and nine just persons that need no repentance." 
 
 "Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose 
 one, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek 
 diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she 
 calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying, rejoice 
 with me ; for I have found the piece which I had lost. 
 Likewise, I say unto you there is joy in the presence of the 
 ano-els of God over one sinner that repenteth." 
 
 A prodigal son, having spent all his property in riotous 
 living, returns to his father's house, degraded, mortified and 
 ruined ? Shall he be rejected? Or will not a glad father, 
 and a rejoicing household, clothe him with the best robe, kill 
 for him the fatted calf, and rejoice that he who was lost is 
 found ? Would any object to such a display of the paternal 
 heart, unless it might be a jealous, ill-natured, self-righteous 
 brother? And do you find fault because I seek to turn sin- 
 ners from destruction? Have you no humanity to stimu- 
 late; no good sense to direct, your feelings? Shall your 
 heavenly Father manifest less kindness than his own crea^ 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 173 
 
 tures ; or in moral sensibilities, sink below a mortal man ? 
 Be it known unto you, that " it is not the will of your 
 Father, which is in heaven, that one of these little ones 
 should perish." 
 
 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, who, 
 in taking occount of his servants, freely forgave a defaulter 
 10,000 talents. He had been brought under the condemna- 
 tion of law ; and himself, wife and children, and all that he 
 had, were liable to be sold. But he humbly sought his lord, 
 and was freely forgiven. Such is the nature of the kingdom 
 of heaven, or the import of the gospel of grace. — But that 
 same servant, went out and found one of his fellow-servants, 
 who owed him 100 pence. Disregarding the high example 
 which had been set before him, and abusing the grace of 
 which he had been so large and welcome a recipient, he vio- 
 lently proceeded to the extremity of the law. Prayer, entreaty, 
 promises, appeals to his compassion, produced no impression 
 on his hard heart ; but he cast his unfortunate companion 
 into prison, and left him to his sufferings, until the debt 
 should be paid. But the lord was wroth, and said — " O thou 
 wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou 
 desiredst me. Shouldest not thou also have had compassion 
 on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee ? And the 
 lord delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all 
 that was due to him." Such is the kingdom of heaven ; such 
 is my Father's administration: "so shall he do also un- 
 to you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his 
 trespasses." 
 
 The idea, therefore, that God would have been just in con- 
 demning all Adam's posterity to eternal perdition, and for 
 Adam's "one offence, " falsifies every view of the divine 
 character which has been given in the scriptures; belongs 
 to a system of morals which would degrade even a sinful 
 man ; and is reprobated by the master as sheer wickedness. 
 On the other hand free forgiveness, a gracious response to 
 a prayer for mercy, and a kind regard to every good moral 
 feeling which can exist in a human heart, constitute the very 
 mode of divine operation which is embodied in the gospel, 
 and which invites human confidence. There are " terrors 
 of the Lord" unquestionably. Dishonored law, and des- 
 pised grace, will remit a man to " the tormentors." But 
 how ministers of the gospel can so far have forgotten 
 the benevolence of their high calling, and the grace of the 
 gospel they preach ; how they can consent to merge what 
 15* 
 
174 LECTURES ON 
 
 is so good and lovely, so condescending and kind, in con- 
 tinually uttering denunciations, and throwing human beino-s 
 into such fearful paroxysms of alarmed feeling ; or how they 
 can interpret animal convulsions as spiritual exercises, wor- 
 thy of an intelligent being and grateful to Jehovah ; I do 
 not, and cannot, perceive. Assuredly such proceedings are 
 not sanctioned by the commission they have received; by 
 the nature of the message they are required to utter; by any 
 intelligent views of human nature they can form ; or by any 
 example either of the master, or of his apostles, they have 
 ever read. 
 
 As a mediatorial scheme may then naturally be looked for ; 
 as all its provisions must be suited to the case which is to be 
 relieved ; and as those provisions must be most heavenly and 
 godlike in benevolence ; let us proceed with the historian, and 
 investigate the attributes of the remedial system, which was 
 promptly introduced. It is expressed by God himself in the 
 following manner : — " I will put enmity between thee and 
 the woman, and between thy seed and her seed ; it shall bruise 
 thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." The peculiar phra- 
 seology was derived from the transactions themselves, as they 
 had just transpired ; and imported to Adam and Eve, as much 
 as any promise, can announce to us, which appears to be 
 more lucid and expressive, now that we are placed under 
 different circumstances. A better view could not have 
 been given to our first parents, nor a happier emblem have 
 been selected, than that which the history of the literal ser- 
 pent should transmit from age to age. 
 
 "The seed of the woman" is declared to be the mediato- 
 rial prince, who should arise to achieve the redemption of 
 our race. From the very first he is described as the Son of 
 God, and as "the desire of women." Adam had been known 
 as the Son of God ; but he was made of the dust of the 
 ground, and was not "the seed of the woman." Christ was 
 not made of the dust, but was "the only begotten Son of God." 
 This peculiarity in regard of his human natuie, is very dis- 
 tinctly asserted in both the old and new testaments ; and its 
 design was, that he might wear <>'the likeness of sinful flesh," 
 without having sinful flesh: or that he might have the nature, 
 into which sin had introduced its baneful influence, without 
 having the sin. If he had been a son of a mortal father, 
 both physiologically and legally, his flesh would have been 
 awful. Like "Adam he would have been merely "a living^ 
 soul," instead of a quickening spirit. But as God himself 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 175 
 
 was his Father, both physiologically and legally, his animal, 
 or human, nature became qualified for the instrumentality it 
 was intended to subserve. — "A body," said he, "hast thou 
 prepared me" — suitable in its constitution and temperament, 
 for the great work it was intended to perform. This Was 
 necessary. "It behooved him, in all things to be made like 
 unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful 
 high priest in things pertaining to God. — It became him, for 
 whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bring- 
 ing many sons unto glory, to make the. captain of their sali- 
 vation perfect through sufferings. — Such an high priest be- 
 came us, who was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from: 
 sinners, and made higher than the heavens. — We have not 
 an high priest, which cannot be touched with the feeling of 
 our infirmities ; but was in all points tempted like as we are, 
 yet without sin." It was indispensably necessary that our 
 Saviour should wear our nature ; but it was equally neces- 
 sary, that he should be without sin. This was the great 
 point to be gained. His being "the seed of the woman," 
 while yet he had no mortal father, accomplished the import- 
 ant end; and in a way, to which no one, who understands 
 the doctrines of correct legal jurisprudence, or can state an 
 accurate and consistent view of the physiology belonging 
 to the case, could offer one rational or philosophical objec- 
 tion. 
 
 As the constitution of the mediatorial person, is not an 
 arbitrary matter, whose attributes are to be considered in- 
 dependently of the nature of the system which is calling for 
 relief; the first thing which claims our attention, is the ap- 
 plication of an original principle to the case in hand. Man 
 has no innate ideas; but acquires his ideas by means of his 
 external senses. Inferring the existence of a supreme in- 
 telligence from the works around him, and which are inten- 
 ded to afford, through those senses, the evidence of Jeho- 
 vah's eternal power and godhead, he naturally seeks after 
 personal intercourse with Jehovah. To meet that desire 
 and view, Jehovah had previously assumed external form ; 
 and under this manifestation, he is denominated the Voice 
 or Word. Man is now fallen. According to our argu- 
 ment his external senses are impaired. Can he then enjoy 
 that personal intercourse which his nature demands; and if 
 not, what shall be done? I answer, that agreeably to the 
 fact recorded in the biography of Moses, man could not, in 
 his lapsed state, see the face of God and live. Either then, 
 
176 LECTURES ON 
 
 the whole doctrine of personal intercourse must be aban- 
 doned, or another manifestation, suited to man's present 
 condition, must be afforded. Here then, in the nature of man, 
 and from the nature of his circumstances, arises the necessity 
 for Christ's divinity. And if this view be correct, the doc- 
 trine of Christ's divinity, which, as you know, I never for a mo- 
 ment denied, is put to rest. No man, who admits that our argu- 
 ment is scriptural and conclusive, can ever have, even a lin- 
 gering, doubt upon that controverted point; — in relation to 
 which philosophy and philology, reason and revelation, history 
 and authority, reproach and invective, have all been summon- 
 ed, and forced to respond to the appeals of angry disputants : 
 and about which, — after all the controversy, the common 
 mind has not one clear, or well defined idea, in leference to 
 its heavenly principle. The spirit of Arius and of the coun- 
 cil of Nice, which at an early day acted out a very gloomy 
 trao-edy in the name of the head of the church, seems still 
 to preside over the troubled scene. Whether any thing can 
 be offered to reconcile the combatants, prejudiced and com- 
 mitted as they are, is a very doubtful matter; or rather, men 
 are too sectarian, calmly or patiently to judge of any argu- 
 ment which is not expressed in their own technicalities. 
 
 The necessity for a second personal manifestation of Je- 
 hovah having occurred, he has been pleased, so far as man 
 is concerned, to divest himself of the form of God, and to 
 take the form of a servant. Accordingly the mediator has 
 been represented as a divine personage, by the old and new 
 testament writers, as well as by his own assertions before 
 he appeared, and while he was upon earth. The details on 
 this subject are highly interesting, and the progress of our 
 discussion requires us to pursue them. 
 
 When Cain was born, Eve remarked, — "I have gotten 
 the man, Jehovah his very self." She does not appear to 
 have noticed or understood the peculiarity of the promise, 
 as it was afterwards explained; yet seems fully to have un- 
 derstood t^e fact, that the deliverer should be divine. What 
 was her train of reflection, or wherein the fallacy of her cal- 
 culation consisted, we are not informed. But she appears 
 to have cherished her mistake ; and to have incorporated it 
 in the early habits of thinking, which her son had formed. 
 Her observation is the only hint given, from which we can 
 ascertain any reason for his dereliction. His character be- 
 trays mortified pride, and disappointed ambition, together 
 with excited envy on account of his brother's higher pro- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. ltT 
 
 mise. — The case of Rebecca, furnishes an analogous fact, in 
 the history of maternal mistakes. 
 
 At the close of the scene, when Abraham was called to 
 offer his son in sacrifice, he called the name of the spot — 
 Jehovah-jireh, saying in this mountain Jehovah shall be seen. 
 The deportment of the patriarch, including, of course the 
 confession of the divine name which he thus made, has been 
 celebrated in the scriptures, as a brilliant specimen of the 
 righteousness of faith. The situation in which Isaac was 
 placed, when bound on the sacrificial pile, and under the 
 uplifted knife of a beloved father, who was reposing all his 
 confidence in the ability of God to raise his son from the 
 dead; the relief which was granted when another victim 
 was provided; — the whole matter with all its references, 
 forms a beautiful figure of the mediatorial system, the pa- 
 triarchal faith in which, is so highly commended. ^ As 
 Abraham was constituted a covenant head, and the heir of 
 the world; as he did become an official head, under whose 
 auspices two subsequent dispensations were erected ; and 
 as in his seed all the families.of the earth should be blessed, 
 there can be no mistake in the comment he makes; while 
 the facts must be considered as a typical pledge of some fu- 
 ture and more glorious scene. Somewhere, in the develop- 
 ment of God's purposes of love, events must transpire, in 
 which this singular pledge should be redeemed, and to 
 which this scenic exhibition most distinctly and happily al- 
 luded. Accordingly the reference points to the sacrifice of 
 the Son of God, when on mount Mori ah or Calvary, he ap- 
 peared to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself. He 
 with whom Abraham conversed, and to whom he offered 
 sacrifice, was the angel, or messenger, of Jehovah, of whom 
 mention is frequently made; and who is described as the 
 lord, that was afterwards to come into his temple. On the 
 present occasion he said to Abraham, — "Thou hast not 
 withheld thy son, thine only son, from me."* 
 
 But other facts occurred in the history of this princely 
 patriarch, as well as in that of his immediate successors, 
 Isaac and Jacob. When he was "ninety years old and nine, 
 Jehovah appeared unto him, and said unto him, I am the 
 Almighty God, walk before me and be thou perfect.'' — 
 Again "Jehovah appeared unto him, in the plains of Mam re : 
 and he sat in the tent door in the heat of day. And he lift 
 up his eyes and looked, and lo three men stood by him." 
 
 *Gen. xxii. 12. 
 
178 LECTURES ON 
 
 After this he held a long and familiar conversation with one 
 of these, who is represented to have been Jehovah. Moses 
 was explicitly told by Jehovah — " I appeared unto Abraham, 
 unto Isaac, and unto Jacob as, or by the name, or form, of 
 almighty God; but by my name, or personal form, of Je- 
 hovah, was I not known unto them. All these appearances 
 in the biography of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were in the 
 form of man ; and ihe facts no presumptuousness can deny, 
 nor ingenuity fritter away. 
 
 David utters a remarkable declaration, which is afterwards 
 quoted by the redeemer in elucidation of his own official 
 pretensions: — "The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at 
 my right hand." The term Lord, as it was originally used, 
 ever imported inferiority on the part of him who used it. 
 David, in using it, then referred to the superiority of him of 
 whom he spake. Hence the difficulty which the pharisees 
 felt in answering the question, — "if David in spirit call 
 him lord how is he his son ? David, as the king of Israel, 
 had no superior, but the God of Israel. 
 
 Isaiah describes a vision which he enjoyed, when the roy- 
 al magnificence of the heavenly court was spread out before 
 his view. That which the prophet beheld, an apostle tells 
 us, was the glory of Christ.* 
 
 The prophet Malachi closes the old testament, with the 
 divine promise,' — "Behold, I will send my messenger, and 
 he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom 
 ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messen- 
 ger (angel,) of the covenant, whom ye delight in : behold he 
 shall come, saith Jehovah of hosts." Jehovah here pro- 
 claims, — my messenger shall prepare the way before me: 
 the Lord is to come into his temple: the angel of the cov- 
 enant is the Lord, who was to come. This passage the re- 
 deemer interprets as referring to John the baptist, who came 
 to prepare his way ; and whose official employment, for 
 which he had been specifically designated, was to bear tes- 
 timony to the Messiah. 
 
 There is something peculiarly striking, and particularly 
 interesting, in this denomination, which the prophet uses in 
 reference to the Lord; and which has already occurred to 
 our notice in the history of Abraham. He is called the 
 angel of the covenant, which might at first view detract 
 from the divinity of his person. But the mosaic dispensa- 
 tion was the administration of law, and was introduced by 
 
 * John xii. 41. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 179 
 
 God under the character of lawgiver: — or in his form, or 
 name, Jehovah. Was there then, under the levitical dis- 
 pensation, no personal exhibition of Jehovah in a mediato- 
 rial point -of view? Having appeared in the form of man to 
 Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and the jews living, not merely 
 under the sinaic, but also under the abrahamic covenant; 
 was this peculiar and important manifestation of God entire- 
 ly withdrawn? Observe, the expression of Malachi identi- 
 fies the Lord with this angel, and calls him the angel of 
 the covenant. And this fact can scarcely fail to call up 
 to the recollection of the biblical reader, a declaration that 
 God made to his people, which is remarkable in itself, and 
 at the same time clearly explains the matter in hand. " Be- 
 hold," said he, " I send an angel before thee, to keep thee 
 in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have 
 prepared: beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him 
 not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my 
 name is in him."* Again, the reader of the scriptures will 
 as readily call up to his recollection, a fact which occured 
 in the history of Joshua. On some occasion, while he " was 
 by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, 
 there stood a man over against him, with his sword drawn 
 in his hand; and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, 
 — Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, nay, 
 but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. 
 And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, 
 and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant? 
 And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, — 
 Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for the place whereon thou 
 standest is holy."i Here the angel, or the messenger, — 
 for we are not to suppose that it was an angelic form which 
 he assumed, — whose official character is that of captain, — 
 a term which, you know, is appropriated to the Lord Jesus, 
 — appears not only as a man; but acts as Jehovah, in re- 
 minding Joshua, that the spot on which he stood was holy, 
 being consecrated by the divine presence. The angel, or 
 messenger, of the covenant, who went up before the people, 
 and who consequently was captain, requiring all obedience 
 to his orders, in whom Jehovah's name dwelt, was then 
 that same Almighty God, who had appeared to Abraham, 
 Isaac, and Jacob, their patriarchal fathers. It was he, of 
 whom the prophet Isaiah predicates that same "fel- 
 low-feeling," which the apostle Paul ascribes to our great 
 
 *Exod. xxiii. 20, 21. f Joshua v. 13—15. 
 
180 LECTURES ON 
 
 high-priest,, saying — "In all their affliction he was afflicted, 
 and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and 
 in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them and car- 
 ried them all the days of old.* Malachi has stated this sub- 
 ject, or penned his prophecy, in appropriate terms, when 
 he says, — " The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come 
 into his temple, even the messenger of the covenant 
 whom ye delight in." 
 
 If I have not sufficiently identified the angel as being the 
 Lord, and well known as such, I will refer you to the ac- 
 count which Moses gives of his own induction into the 
 apostolic office. "The angel of the Lord appeared unto 
 him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. And 
 wheel Jehovah saw -that he turned aside to see, the Elohim 
 called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said — I 
 am the Elohim of thy father, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elo- 
 him of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob." — The angel and 
 the Elohim are the same. 
 
 The simple fact, however, that Jehovah says concerning 
 this angel, " My name is in him," ought to satisfy any one 
 who will give due attention to the use of terms. This 
 phrase is ever descriptive of a personal manifestation which 
 Jehovah affords of himself; and therefore has a direct refer- 
 ence to trinity, the doctrine of which has been already 
 discussed at large. But, perhaps, it may not be amiss to 
 observe again, that the original words, translated name, in 
 hebrew and greek, are used for the person himself, whom 
 they may be intended to represent. The name of Jehovah 
 is accordingly employed in the old testament, as a title be- 
 longing to either personal manifestation. In the new testa- 
 ment the redeemer prays, — " Glorify thy nam*," and com- 
 mands his disciples to baptise "in the name of Father, 
 Son and Holy Ghost." The term is thus used also for hu- 
 man persons; as for example: — "The number of the names 
 (persons) together were about 1:20. "t "Thou hast a few 
 names, (persons) even in Sardis, who have not defiled their 
 garments."? " And in the earthquake were slain of men 
 (names) seven thousand; and the remnant (of names, or 
 persons, of course) were affrighted, and gave glory to God."§ 
 The very fact, therefore, that Jehovah remarks concerning 
 
 *Isa. lxiii. 9. f Acts i. 15. + Rev. iii.4. § Rev. xi. 13. 
 
 See Parkhurst's Lex. either tleb. or Gr. He refers to Longinus as 
 using the greek terms, which would be literally rendered— one name, — 
 for one perso7i. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 181 
 
 the angel, whose official character we are considering — My 
 name is in him, — is irrefragable proof that the mediatorial 
 manifestation is designed to be expressed by the term. 
 
 To proceed, Matthew takes up the subject, where Mala- 
 chi left it, and tells us, both of the messenger who should 
 prepare the way of the Lord; and of the virgin-born child, 
 who should be called Immanuel, i. e. God with us: and 
 whom Isaiah had declared should be designated by the name 
 — Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlast- 
 ing father, the Prince of Peace.* John fulfils his office 
 in pointing to Jesus of Nazareth as the Highest, whose 
 way he came to prepare ; who should baptize men with the 
 Holy Ghost; who would thoroughly purge his floor, and 
 gather his wheat into the garner, while he would burn up 
 the chaff with unquenchable fire. 
 
 John, the apostle, says of him, — f j In the beginning was 
 the word, and the Word was with God, and the word was 
 God. The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, 
 and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten 
 of the Father, full of grace and truth." In short, all the 
 evangelists lay themselves out to demonstrate, by the de- 
 tails of his own ministry, that he was the Son of God, in 
 whom the Father dwelt. 
 
 Jesus declared that the Father dwelt in him. He said, 
 — " The Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne 
 witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any 
 time, nor seen his shape. I am in the Father and the Father 
 in me; he that hath seen me, hath seen the Father; and how 
 sayest thou then, show us the Father? 
 
 After he had gone to his kingdom, his disciples testified 
 concerning him, and proclaimed his glory: — "We were 
 eye-witnesses of his Majesty. In him dwelleth all the full- 
 ness of the godhead bodily. He divested himself of the form 
 of God, and took the form of a servant. God is in Christ, re- 
 conciling the world unto himself, not imputing unto men 
 their trespasses. All things were made by him. Moses 
 was faithful in God's house as a servant; but Christ, as a 
 son, presided over his own house. As God entered into 
 rest, when he finished the heavens and the earth, even so 
 
 Jesus, having finished his work, entered into his rest 
 
 These, and a thousand other like glorious things, are found 
 in the sacred scriptures, describing the Lord from Hea- 
 ven, coming down to act as the second Adam in the form 
 
 *Isa. ix. 6. 
 16 
 
182 LECTURES ON 
 
 of man, to whom the Spirit was not given by measure; but 
 on whom that Spirit descended in bodily shape. 
 
 While these things are recorded in the bible, and belong 
 to the whole history of God's proceedings with men since 
 the fall, it is curious to observe what an abundance of like 
 things may be gathered from the heathen world. I will give 
 you a few of them. 
 
 "The ancient account seems to be very true, and of the 
 primeval philosophy, that, at certain fixed times, pure and 
 divine powers, for the good of men, walk on the earth, de- 
 scending from heaven; not clothed in air, as Hesiod speaks, 
 but having assumed bodies similar to our own, and having 
 taken upon themselves a life inferior to their nature, for the 
 sake of fellowship with us.*" 
 
 "The followers of Buddha unanimously declare, that his 
 incarnation in the womb of a virgin was foretold several 
 thousand years, though some say, only one thousand before 
 it came to pass. 
 
 " It is declared, in the Vicrama-Charitra, that the birth of 
 a divine child, from a virgin, had been foretold one thousand 
 years before it happened; nay, some say two thousand. 
 The time of his birth is thus ascertained from the Lumarica- 
 Chanda, a portion of the Scanda-Purana. When three thou- 
 sand and one hundred years of the Cali-Yuga are elapsed: 
 then Saca will appear, and remove wretchedness and misery 
 from t,he world. Saca is a title of the virgin-born Buddha. 
 
 "■ Whenever the deity condescends to be born of wo- 
 man, the person is one, but there are two natures. To this 
 distinction we must carefully attend, in order to reconcile 
 many seeming contradictions in the Puranas; and more 
 particularly so with respect to Vaivaswata and Satyavrata, 
 who are acknowledged to be but one person. The divine 
 nature is an emanation of Yishnou in his character of the 
 Sun; and Satyavrata is the human nature. These two na- 
 tures often act independently of each other, and may exist 
 at the same time in different places."! 
 
 "Virgil, in his Pollio, announces the approaching birth 
 of an extraordinary child, whom he decorates with all the 
 attributes of the Messiah of the Hebrews. This child was 
 to be the high offspring of the gods, the great seed of Jupi- 
 ter. When^Julius Cesar wished to crown his greatness by 
 
 *Faber's Dispensations, vol. 1. p. 305. 
 
 •fFaber's Dispensations, vol. i. pp. 311—12., who refers to Asiatic 
 Researches, vol. x. pp. 27—46, 47, and vol. vi. p. 479. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 183 
 
 assuming the title of a king, one of his creatures adduced 
 a prediction from the books of the Sibyl ; in which it was 
 foretold, that a prince was to arise about that time, whose 
 monarchy should be universal, and whose government 
 would be essential to the happiness of the world. Cicero 
 freely admits that the prophecy in question, was actually to 
 be found in the sibylline oracles."* 
 
 Much more might be readily advanced, and of the same 
 general character, from the mythology of the heathen. The 
 simple fact, however, when it is thus proved, answers my 
 purpose. And the whole view shows, that it was God him- 
 self who assumed a human form, and descended to bless 
 mankind, as their saviour. And if there has been no evi- 
 dence that the second person of the trinity, as he has been 
 termed, thus descended, there has been none to evince 
 that the Saviour, in his divine character was any thing less 
 than the Supreme God himself; nor can any one, who has 
 given himself time to understand the theory I have ad- 
 vanced, find the least room to charge it with a tendency, 
 either to tritheism, or to any of the popular forms in which 
 unitarianism has in vain solicited the credence of mankind. 
 And with this confidence, I leave the argument in your 
 hands. 
 
 But the necessities of human nature, under the deterio- 
 rating consequences of Adam's sin, called for more than a 
 personal manifestation of Jehovah. Adam had not only in- 
 troduced sin and death into the world, but he had forfeited 
 his official character as their social head ; and defrauded his 
 children of that "ministration of righteousness," which in 
 his official character, and for their benefit, he should have 
 wrought out. It was intended that his righteousness, by secur- 
 ing temporal life, and all its accompanying blessings, should 
 exhibit to his children the connexion between righteousness 
 and life, in view of their personal responsibility to the law 
 "written on their hearts." Such an exhibition was indis- 
 pensably necessary, considering the peculiarity of the hu- 
 man constitution ; or that the spirit of man acquires its ideas 
 through the medium of the bodily senses. Of the influence 
 of such official character and action, we have ample and 
 melancholy proof in the general depravity of mankind. A 
 remedial scheme must take up this great law of human na- 
 ture, and the mediator must furnish this "ministration of 
 
 * See Faber's Horae Mosaicae, vol. i. pp. 73—80. Horseley's Diss, 
 on Heathen Prophecies, pp. 15 — 29. 
 
184 LECTURES ON 
 
 of righteousness." Accordingly God assumes the form of 
 a. servant, was found in the fashion of a. man; and, being 
 made under the law, he became obedient unto death, that 
 he might "bring in everlasting righteousness."* 
 
 For this general object, he became "the seed of the woman," 
 thus wearing the likeness of sinful flesh : but as he had no 
 earthly father, a body being prepared for him by Jehovah, 
 who is hence called his heavenly Father, he had not sinful 
 flesh. The end designed to be accomplished, by all this 
 careful preparation of his exterior form, was, that he might 
 be an official agent, or a social head, such as the law had 
 made Adam. For this reason he was, as Adam was, emphati- 
 cally the Son of God ; though different from Adam in this, 
 that he (the man Christ) was the only begotten Son of God. 
 Hence he is called the second Adam, and is declared supe- 
 rior to Adam, in that he was a quickening spirit ; having all 
 life in himself as given to him by his Father. Thus Adam 
 is declared to be the figure of Christ : and the principle of 
 official action is distinctly defined to be, that, — as in Adam 
 all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive; or that, — ''as 
 by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condem- 
 nation ; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came 
 upon all men unto justification of life." Adam had forfeited 
 his official dignity; a chasm was accordingly created, which 
 under a remedial system, developed on the same principle 
 with the original institute, must be filled up, either by re- 
 storing that lost dignity to Adam, or conferring it on another. 
 It was conferred on another, Adam having become utterly 
 incompetent, as the formation of Christ's human body abun- 
 dantly manifests ; and therefore Christ is introduced as the 
 second Adam. 
 
 I know not whether any of you may have adopted the 
 swedenborgian idea, that God had assumed simply a human 
 body, without having a human spirit ;t or whether you might 
 not suppose that the argument, as far as it has been pursued, 
 involves that idea. It forms, however, no part of my specu- 
 lations. Christ is most unequivocally declared to be a man, 
 and is in so many words, called the man Christ Jesus. 
 "There is one God, and one mediator between God 
 and men, the man Christ Jesus."t — He hath appointed 
 a day, in the which he will judge the world in righte- 
 ousness, by that man whom he hath ordained :"§ He could 
 
 •Danl. ix. 24. 
 
 fl use the term spirit for the intellectual part of man, 
 
 JITim. ii. 5. § Acts xyii 31. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 185 
 
 not be a man, if he had not a human spirit ; he could not 
 speak of himself, separate from the Father, as he does, if he 
 had no human spirit ; his historians could not portray the 
 extending operations of his mind, growing in wisdom as he 
 advanced to manhood, as they do ; nor could he refer to 
 his own distinct intellectual operations, as he does, when 
 he says, — "As I hear I judge," — or when he says, " Of 
 that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels 
 which are in heaven, neither the Son," if he had no human 
 spirit ; nor could he be the second Adam, a social head to 
 the human family, if he had no human spirit. 
 
 But on the supposition that our intellectual spirits are 
 derived from our earthly parent, how could Christ be a man 
 at all ? Following up the subject physiologically from its 
 beginnings in other parts of the material world, we have 
 nothing more called for than a philosophical view of a more 
 intricate or complex material organization ; and theological- 
 ly, nothing else is required, but to show how he could have 
 human flesh, without having sinful flesh. If there should 
 exist in the material world any thing analogous to that 
 which is displayed in the intellectual world, and which con- 
 stitutes the man the legal, or official, head ; then this whole 
 matter is fairly and fully met by the declaration, that Christ 
 was" the seed of the woman." Hence it is, that in speak- 
 ing of his human descent, his spirit is not referred to at all; 
 but as his spirit like all other human spirits, was derived direct- 
 ly from God, the peculiarity of his body turns upon the fact 
 that it was not sinful flesh : — "That holy thing which shall be 
 born of thee, shall be called the Son of God." The 
 question in this connexion, never involves his spirit; 
 and simply because unholiness of spirit is a matter be- 
 longing to individual action and personal responsibility. 
 The singular manner in which the subject is represented 
 in the scriptures, together with an analogy between the 
 material and intellectual world, to which I have already al- 
 luded, is the basis of my idea. I know not how physiolo- 
 gists in general may estimaie it; but they must pardon me, 
 if I think of my bible more highly than I do of their conjec- 
 tures ; and refer them to its pages, rather than to their systems. 
 
 The theology of the world is never very widely different 
 
 from its philosophy. How should it be, when ecclesiastical 
 
 men occupy the chairs of science, and literary men alone 
 
 are considered competent to occupy our pulpits? Multi- 
 
 16* 
 
186 LECTURES ON 
 
 tudes may affect to laugh at philosophy; but in spite of them 
 philosophy will control their theology, or their theology will 
 control their philosophy. It must be so. For both are con- 
 cerned with God's works. Creation and the bible are like to 
 each other. The heavens and the earth, conspire with the 
 scriptures, to declare the glory of God. A revolution 
 occurring in the one, will bring necessarily a revolution in 
 the other; or if philosophy should advance, while moral sci- 
 ence still doles out the prejudices and dogmas of past ages, 
 it is no wonder that an uproar should be heard, and that 
 theologians should tremble under their own prognostics of 
 growing infidelity. — But my object was,, as to the subject be- 
 fore us, to refer physiologists to the bible : for the bible is 
 strictly philosophical, whatever the systems of its admirers 
 may be. 
 
 Thus qualified, or his mediatorial person being thus con- 
 stituted, the redeemer enters on his benevolent enterprise. 
 His apostolic character had been prefigured by that of Moses,, 
 who "was faithful in all God's house :" or, who was not 
 merely a prophet, but concentred all authority in his own 
 commission ; and whose influence was felt in every part ofthe 
 ecclesiastical establishment, that he was employed to erect. 
 Hence it is said, when Jehovah would illustrate his official 
 importance, — "With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even 
 apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of 
 the Lord shall he behold."* So Christ. — Of him it is said r 
 "No man hath seen God : the only begotten Son, which is 
 in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him ;" and he 
 "was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was." 
 But then Christ Jesus, "was counted worthy of more glory 
 than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath bmlded the house hath 
 more honor than the house." The creator hath more glory than 
 the creature. "For every house is builded by some man; 
 but he that built all things is God. And Moses verily was 
 faithful in all his house as a servant ; — but Christ as a 
 son over hts own HOusE."t Hence Jehovah says to him — 
 " Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: — Thou, Lord, 
 in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and 
 the heavens are the works of thy hand." As the "appointed 
 hetr of all things, by whom the worlds were made," he en- 
 ters on his remedial embassy — the brightness of glory, and 
 the exact image of God's person — (substance) or the char- 
 • Num. xii. 8. t Heb. iii. 2—6. 
 
foOBAL GOVERNMENT. 1S7 
 
 ActeR, the image, the visible representation of Jehovah in 
 
 THE FORM OF GOD.* 
 
 In this official character, which is so general, all authority, 
 which in a system of types has been parcelled out among 
 many individuals, devolves upon the Son alone. Hence, in 
 the discharge of his mediatorial work, he is Prophet, Priest, 
 and King. Summing up all as a social head of the 
 race, he was more gloriously prefigured by Ai>am : — He de- 
 clares his father to the human family; on his righteousness 
 the whole divine administration is conducted; and he ex- 
 ercises dominion over the whole system. Rising superior 
 to Adam, and carrying out a remedial principle commensu- 
 rate with the whole exigency which had occurred, he is " the 
 image of the invisible God" — a personal manifestation of 
 Jehovah htmself, such as had been originally afforded when 
 man was created, — the divine lord, the Lord from heaven. 
 And all is sustained in his person and work, with the most 
 perfect consistency, and in a manner precisely suited to our 
 present character and condition. Hence he speaks of him- 
 self in the following language: — "The son can do nothing 
 of himself, but what he seeth the father do: for what things 
 soever he doeth, these also doth the son likewise. For the 
 father loveth the son, and showeth him all things that 
 himself doth. For as the father raiseth up the dead, and 
 quickeneth them, even so the son quickeneth whom he will. 
 For the father judgeth no man, but hath committed all 
 judgment unto the son : that all men should honor the 
 son, even as they honor the father. He that honoreth 
 
 * The term Person, is the latin word persona anglicised : which in 
 its primary use was employed to signify a mask worn by actors on the 
 stage ; and which was the apparent, visible form, that they assumed for 
 certain purposes. The term substance, which some prefer, has the 
 same kind of relative signification. It is the outward form, in which 
 certain qualities, which would otherwise be, to us, mere abstract sub- 
 jects, and entirely above our perceptions, are expressed to, or can be 
 recognised by us. If this criticism be correct, the original term may 
 very properly be translated, either person or substance, according to 
 the nature of the subject which it is intended to set forth. In the elev- 
 enth chapter, faith may be represented as the substance of things 
 hoped for : and here Christ may be declared to be the exact image of his 
 person, with perfect accuracy. But in technical theology, term per- 
 son has another meaning, which the theologians themselves cannot de- 
 fine ; — something which is awfully sacred and deeply mysterious ; and 
 in its application to Father, Son and Holy Ghost, it approaches so near 
 to tritheism in the apprehension of many , that they run to the extreme, 
 directly opposite to that they wish to avoid. 
 
188 LECTURES ON 
 
 not the sox, honoreth not the father which hath sent 
 
 HIM."* 
 
 I know not how to speak of the beloved saviour, with 
 more heavenly conceptions, in distincter terms, or in loftier 
 phrase. The ideas and language have alike been taken 
 from the scriptures, and are utterly inadmissible in a de- 
 scription of a mere creature, or of any one less than God 
 himself. At the same time, I cannot imagine how a re- 
 medial system, intended to relieve the described and the 
 visible condition of mankind, so far as the official character 
 of the mediator is concerned, should be presented in more 
 suitable form, or of more proportionate dimensions. 
 
 Some difficulties are supposed yet to exist, which, it has 
 been conceived, are hard to remove on any hypothesis. 
 Christ, it is said, prays to his father ; — now how can 
 this be consistent with the idea of his divinity ?— But why 
 should he not pray to his Father? May not the man Christ 
 Jesus pray to his father ? Even in view of the mediatorial 
 personage, of which both natures are affirmed, where is the 
 alleged impropriety ? When David calls upon his own soul 
 to bless the Lord, does he not use a phrase of which similar 
 impropriety might be, and yet is not, asserted? — But above 
 all, does it not belong to his official work to fulfil all right- 
 eousness ; and may I not explain his prayer, as he explained 
 his baptism to his forerunner? Might you not as well ask 
 me, why he did any thing in human nature, or why he was 
 made like unto his brethren in all things, and why he learned 
 obedience by the things which he suffered ? Or rather, may 
 I not ask any one who objects to his divinity, why he should 
 not pray, when all round his humanity is unhesitatingly ad- 
 mitted ? 
 
 But then, it will be replied, his prayer was so peculiar : 
 for he said "Father, glorify thou me, with thine own self, 
 with the glory which I had with thee, before the world was." 
 — Well what was this glory ? Was it not. that which be- 
 longed to him as the Lord, seated on the throne, having 
 all power, and governing all things? Was it not God, as 
 manifested in the form of God, who was recognized as Lord ; 
 because, that from his constitution, man could not perceive 
 pure spirit ? And did he not, as thus manifested the Lord, 
 lay aside, so far as sinful man is concerned, the form of God, 
 and take the form of man? Does he not pray then, that his 
 Father would clothe him with that glory, confer upon him 
 
 * John v. 19, 23. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 189 
 
 that power, and demonstrate him as entrusted with that lord- 
 ship, which men were thus originally called to recognize ? 
 And is not this identity every where asserted ? Was it not the 
 Word, which was in the beginning with God, and which 
 was God, that was afterwards made flesh ? 
 
 Again. We have had frequent opportunities of noticing 
 the peculiar force of the scriptural term name, as applied to 
 God : — the name Jehovah ; the name Almighty God ; the 
 name Father, Son and Holy Ghost ; my name is in him : ac- 
 cordingly, in connexion with the prayer under considera- 
 tion, he remarks, — "I have manifested thy name unto the 
 men which thou gavest me." And elsewhere he prays, — 
 "Father glorify thy name"* The prayer corresponds with 
 the subsequent fact, which Peter expressed with so 
 much point and beauty, when he said, — "Let all the house 
 of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Je- 
 sus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." And 
 as such, he is set forth, according to his prayer, when in his 
 church, and at his altars, men are baptized "in the name of 
 Father, Son and Holy Ghost. — You might then as well ask 
 me, why he prayed at all ? 
 
 In what way, it will be farther demanded, does Christ sit 
 at the right hand of Jehovah, on the throne of heaven? — 
 In reply to this question, I would ask you to remember, that 
 when God was originally manifested in the form of God, he 
 was so manifested both to angels and men. This view of 
 our subject, you recollect, was distinctly stated in the argu- 
 ment on the Elohim, or trinity: and may now be fully im- 
 pressed on your mind by quoting the declaration of our re- 
 deemer, concerning angels: — "They do always," said he, 
 Ci behold the face of my Father which is in heaven." All 
 the language on the subject, deserves particular attention. — 
 "The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou, on my right hand, 
 until /make thine enemies thy footstool." — "The Son, hav- 
 ing by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of 
 the Majesty on high." — He said himself — "ye shall see the 
 Son of man sitting on the right hand of power:" — "the 
 right hand of the power of God." — "It is manifest that he 
 is excepted, who did put all things under him." — At first 
 there was a single personal manifestation of God, to occupy 
 the throne as Lord. But a second personal manifestation 
 has become necessary, and he, who thus appears, is made 
 both Lord and Christ. As Lord and Christ this second 
 
 *Johnxii. 28. 
 
190 LECTURES ON 
 
 personal manifestation is now exhibited on the throne, and 
 on the right hand of the original manifestation. Hence Da- 
 vid's language. — The Lord, said unto my Lord ; and hence 
 the position occupied is described as the right hand of Ma- 
 jesty, or the personal dignity and glorious display of God, 
 as manifested to his c rent ures. Or, Jehovah having, for cer- 
 tain purposes, taken the form of man, in that form has gone 
 to the throne; which throne he had from the beginning oc- 
 cupied in the form of God, — having assumed that form for 
 the government of his creatures. As Lord in the mediato- 
 rial form, he sits down on the right hand of the previous 
 exhibition he had made of himself, as Lord in the form of 
 God. 
 
 This double exhibition, each having its own distinct offi- 
 cial relations, and sustaining those relations with the most 
 exact, consistency, shall continue, the luminous, but varied, 
 manifestations of godhead, while the necessity in which 
 they originated shall remain. But a change is contempla- 
 ted ; for our mediatorial Lord is invited to the throne un- 
 til — until all his enemies are put under his feet; thus long, 
 says Paul, — please turn to the first epistle to the Corinthians,* 
 thus long "he must reign. Then cometh the end, when 
 he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and pow- 
 er. The purposes of the mediatorial manifestation, for 
 which the Word divested himself of the form of God, and 
 took the form of man, shall then be all accomplished:— 
 which being done, the end has come. What shall occur 
 then, when, the object of this mediatorial manifestation be- 
 ing secured, its necessity ceases ; as we shall be qualified to 
 do, that, which by the fall we are incompetent to do — i. e. 
 to see God as he is ? The apostle informs us that Christ 
 shall then deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father, 
 — the everlasting Father. Of course then the mediator 
 reigns no longer, or is no longer Lord. The Word, who 
 had assumed the form of man while we were unable to see 
 God, now reassumes the form of God, when we are made 
 competent to see God ; and instead of a manifestation in 
 the form of man, God is exhibited, or God manifested in the 
 form of God, or, as it was in the beginning, the Word 
 which was with God, and which was God, is all and in 
 all. — The Father dwelleth in the Word. 
 
 What then becomes of the man, Christ Jesus ? Why 
 adds the apostle, — Then shall the Son, — then shall the Son 
 
 • 1 Cor. xv. 24—28. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 191 
 
 also, — then shall the Son also himself, be subject to htm 
 who put all things under him, and who manifestly was ex- 
 cepted, when all things were thus put under him. The con- 
 sequence of this subjection of the Son, is that God is all 
 and in all. — The Son, is here spoken of, as he, who says 
 of himself — "I can of mine own self do nothing:" — "the 
 words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself ; but the 
 Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." The dis- 
 tinction then between the Father and the Son is thus most 
 unequivocally asserted ; and when the end cometh, that dis- 
 tinction shall be visibly displayed, as it is not now ; for the 
 Son is at present on the throne. But then the distinction 
 shall be visible ; for God, even the Father, shall be all and in 
 all, while the Son himself shall be subject. 
 
 But still, it maybe inquired, what shall be the future rela- 
 tions of the Son ? — All things are brought back to their ori- 
 ginal condition of government, when the mediatorial king- 
 dom is at an end ; or they shall be consummated as they 
 would have been, if Adam had not eaten the forbidden fruit. 
 The human family, as they shall then appear in heaven, the 
 righteous who shall go away into everlasting life, shall be 
 recognized, in their own peculiar association. But where 
 is their Head? Adam had forfeited that dignity by trans- 
 gression. On whom then should it devolve, but on th esE- 
 cond Adam, who had been their redeemer? Hence Paul 
 says, when speaking of our family organization; — "I would 
 have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and 
 the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ 
 is God."* 
 
 If my remarks be somewhat more bold than those which 
 you have been accustomed to hear, and seem to convert 
 that which you have been wont to consider as an inscru- 
 table mystery, into a very plain matter ; perhaps you may 
 feel your mind perfectly reconciled, by recollecting, that he 
 who laid aside the form of God, so far as man is concerned, 
 while yet, in that form, he retained other relations, may also 
 lay aside the form of man, while the relations of that form of 
 man, or of the man, Christ Jesus, and as such, are in no way 
 affected. If not, then it may not be amiss for you to turn 
 to the commentators,! and observe their ideas and their per- 
 plexity. They will tell you, that Christ as man, like the 
 saints and angels, will be subject to the Father; and then 
 
 *lCor. xi. 3. 1 Eph. v. 23. 
 
 f Scott, Henry, Whitby, McKnight, Locke, Guyse. 
 
192 LD IT RES OX 
 
 enter into collision with '-'the Brians, who affirm, that if this 
 had been the apostle's meaning, he would have said, then 
 shall even Jesus himself be subjected." But they think the 
 whole argument of the apostle to be exceedingly obscure. 
 And no wonder ; for they go on to say, that — the Father, 
 Son and Holy Ghost, shall in union govern all things : and that 
 notwithstanding the apostle says that the Son shall be sub- 
 ject. Their error lies in their idea, that the distinction of 
 Father, Son and Holy Ghost, is in godhead itself; which 
 idea, from the very nature of the case, cannot be correct. 
 The distinction exists in the manifestation which God 
 makes of himself. Their doctrine is unquestionably main- 
 tained from the best motives, and with the view of elucida- 
 ting the divinity and personality, which, in the scriptures, 
 are indubitably predicated of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
 But those points can be clearly set forth without their doc- 
 trine ; as may appear very intelligibly to any mind that has 
 candor enough, and will take time enough, to consider the 
 subject. On the principle of interpretation adopted in these 
 lectures, the passage is as simple, and as expressive, as any 
 other in the bible. 
 
 I have now stated what I believe to be the scriptural ex- 
 hibition of this momentous subject. If I have departed 
 from the popular creed, as it has been transmitted to us 
 from the third and fourth centuries, my remarks are equally 
 remote from any alliance with those heretical speculations, 
 bv which that creed has been assailed. I conceive, as to 
 their relative importance, that the creed has rendered a 
 plain and glorious subject altogether unintelligible; — its au- 
 thors and advocates ha\e declared that they are unable to 
 explain the mystery they assert, and hold too sacred for any 
 thing but impiety to question. The reputed heresies, on 
 the other hand, rob the subject of all its glory, and dip deep- 
 er into mystery than the systems which they censure as irra- 
 tional and illiberal. The pretensions which some so confi- 
 dentlv make to rational Christianity, are about as conceited 
 as they are adventurous. 
 
 Most solemnly do I call upon you to ponder what I have 
 said. If the views I have offered to your consideration, be 
 correct, it is worth your while to ascertain the fact. I have 
 appealed to scriptural texts, which you may all read, for your-* 
 selves. I have stated things, concerning the necessities 
 and operations of human nature, of which you are all com- 
 petent judges. I have summoned you into the Holiest of 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 1 93 
 
 all, whither you may all come through the rent veil of the 
 redeemer's flesh, and on bended knee ask God for his Spi- 
 rit to teach you. I have waked up your excitement on a 
 subject, which brought down the heavenly host to the plains 
 of Bethlehem, and inspired them to sing — "Glory to God in 
 the Highest, peace on earth, and good will towards men : 
 — "For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a 
 Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." — And now may God 
 Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, abundantly bless 
 you ; and bring you, in that day of glory, when the Son 
 shall deliver up the kingdom to the Father, to shout with 
 his redeemed, 
 
 Death is swallowed up in victory. 
 
 lecture IX. 
 
 Mediatorial work, — Manifestation of God. — Righteousness of 
 the Law, fulfilled by the second Adam. — Reasons for the death 
 of Christ. — Principles of the divine administration. — The 
 reconciled man. — Pardon of actual transgressions. — Term 
 Atonement. 
 
 In proceeding to consider the work of our mediatorial 
 prince, whom our last lecture introduced to view, surround- 
 ed by all the glory of his official relations, two or three things 
 must be called up to our recollection. The work of crea- 
 tion, and that of reconciliation, are presented in the scrip- 
 tures as parallel to each other. Jesus has finished, "and 
 ceased from, his own works, as God did from his," and has 
 entered into his rest. While such is the principle on which 
 Jehovah acts in both cases, each work will of course corres- 
 pond with the character of the human mind,(or with the con- 
 stitution of the human being. That is, — As men get their 
 ideas by means of their external, or bodily senses, the divine 
 operations intended for their instruction, must be an exterior 
 display suited to such powers of perception. To meet these 
 powers of perception, God at first assumed personal form, 
 and exhibited himself by means of the material system which 
 he had created. And now, when the outward manifestation, 
 originally made, has become insufficient, or inappropriate, 
 in consequence of the baneful, and wide spreading, influ- 
 ence of Adam's sin ; a second manifestation is afforded, of 
 the same general character, and precisely suited to the pre- 
 17 
 
194 LECTURES ON 
 
 sent condition of infirmity in which mankind are found. 
 Compare the following biblical statements : — 
 
 As to the first — " That which may be known of God is 
 manifest among them ; for God hath showed it unto them. 
 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the 
 world are clearly seen, being understood by the things which 
 are made, even his eternal power and godhead." — "The 
 heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament show- 
 eth his handy work. Day unto day uttereth speech, and 
 night unto night showeth knowledge," &-c. &c. 
 
 As to the second — " The Word was made flesh, and dwelt 
 among us." — "He is the image of the invisible God." — 
 "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 
 How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard ; 
 and how shall they hear without a preacher; and how shall 
 they preach, except they be sent?" 
 
 In both cases, it must be evident to every one, who has 
 patience enough to look at that, which may, perhaps, be dif- 
 ferent from his early impressions, that an exhihition is af- 
 forded to the outward senses of men ; and that an appeal, 
 with a view to instruction, conviction and intellectual ac- 
 tion, is made under every variety of suitable and appropriate 
 form. Then, both from the nature of man, and from the 
 uniform mode of the divine operation, as well as from the 
 exposition offered of the thing itself, the mediatorial work 
 mustbe an exterior display. "God hath set his Son forth to 
 be a propitiation." "Before our eyes Jesus Christ hath been 
 evidently set forth, crucified among us." The Spirit takes 
 of the things which are Christ's, and shoivs them unto us. 
 He comes to convince the world of sin, of righteousness and 
 of judgment. God is in Christ reconciling the world unto 
 himself. He took the form of a servant, and became obe- 
 dient unto death. In all things he was made like unto his 
 brethren. 
 
 Adopting the principle thus announced, and indeed hav- 
 ing no alternative, we must apply that principle to a twofold 
 view of the mediatorial work. 
 
 Jehovah makes an exhibition of himself. The glory 
 of God is shining in the face of Jesus Christ. He is the 
 brightness of glory, and the exact image of his person. No 
 man hath seen God at any time ; the only begotten Son 
 which isin the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. 
 These, and a multitude of such like phrases, meet the bibli- 
 — rv where in the sacred volume. And as he 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 195 
 
 ponders them, his spirit is charmed, his feelings are interest- 
 ed, his mind is elevated, the holy things of the most High 
 become familiar, — beholding the glory of the Lord he catches 
 the living likeness, and is changed into the same image from 
 glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Thus he 
 is found at last reconciled. 
 
 The display, which Jehovah intends to make of himself, 
 is, — that he is love. " God so loved the world, that he gave 
 his only begotten Son. — In this God commendeth his love, 
 that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Herein 
 is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent 
 his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." Every where, 
 and in every thing — in the gospel itself, in the institutions 
 of the gospel, and in the mediatorial administration under 
 which we live, he is seeking to attract us by his love. How 
 charming are the overtures, the invitations, the offers, the 
 promises, which continually strike upon our ears ! How un- 
 tiring and attractive his forbearance! How excellent and 
 lovely his commands! How mild and well intentioned his 
 fatherly chastisements ! What a cloud of witnesses, patri- 
 archs, prophets and apostles, holy and inspired, parental 
 and fraternal, domestic and ecclesiastical, secular and spir- 
 itual, has he gathered around us ! With what profound 
 solicitude he expostulates, entreats or forewarns ! How 
 graciously he condescends to send his Spirit, that he maybe 
 the guardian of our steps, the companion of our walks, and 
 the inmate of our bosom! The very angels of his presence 
 become our ministers, encamp around our dwellings, and 
 give praise for our redemption ! 
 
 There is, however, no view in which his goodness appears 
 more conspicuous or surprising, than in his becoming like 
 ourselves, and learning obedience by the things which he 
 suffered ; that, being tempted in all points like as we are, 
 he might be able to succor them that are tempted. Nothing 
 is left undone, that could serve to constitute him a merciful 
 and faithful high-priest. His sympathy finishes the display, 
 and leaves no blessing to be desired, no deficiency to be 
 regretted. Nothing comes near it, save the bright glories 
 which illuminated the morning of the creation, which called 
 forth the sons of God to hymn his praise, and left on the hu- 
 man being the image of Jehovah-elohim. 
 
 He farther designs to manifest his wisdom. How may a 
 sinner be reconciled to God, is a question which none but 
 
196 LECTURES ON 
 
 the great Creator can answer. That such a thing might be 
 effected; that the child of transgression and sorrow might 
 call for relief on the God of love, who had been so freely 
 expending the treasures of his goodness, is an idea which 
 any intelligent being might readily conceive. But in what 
 wav such a magnificent enterprise should be achieved. — an 
 enterprise in which the divine glory should not be tarnished. 
 in which hnman nature should not be violated, and which 
 should be commensurate with the intermingling systems of 
 matter and mind, of personal and social responsibilities, of 
 human and angelic agencies, — is a question on which phi- 
 losophers have uttered their magniloquous pretensions, and 
 infidel men have affected to be most profoundly wise. But 
 who anions them has ever answered the troubled spirit, or 
 relieved the burdened conscience? So widely have they 
 straved, that the gospel has been foolishness to some, and a 
 stumbling block to others; and their most deadly hostility 
 has been provoked, when the doctrine of the cross has un- 
 folded itself with all its heavenly principles; or has drawn 
 out its lines as a perfect parallel to those, which the sen- 
 tence of condemnation had inscribed on the nature of wan, 
 and the earthly habitation which had been given him. The 
 adaptation of this moral mean to the end designed, is the 
 display of divine wisdom, which it unfolds. Like the exhi- 
 bition' of wisdom, every where breaking upon our view, 
 when we contemplate the moral or intellectual world, where 
 cause and effect are so nicely balanced, and where the 
 mightiest intellect o{ which man can boast may expend all 
 its^power, so the cross of the Son of God develops the wis- 
 dom of Jehovah. And wherever it comes, and is appre- 
 ciated according to its own intrinsic worth, it never fails to 
 elevate human character, to soothe human sorrow, to miti- 
 gate human evils, and to call forth, in their greatest luxu- 
 riance, the charities of human life. 
 
 But the last remark, by asserting the efficiency of the me- 
 diatorial scheme, suggests it to our consideration as an 
 equal manifestation of divine power. That is, the cross of 
 Christ is the power of God, just as any other system which 
 he may have set up, and which evolves itself in a series of 
 operative causes adequate to certain effects, is the power of 
 God: or as his providential co-operation, in sustaining his 
 own works, is the power of God. His power, in this con- 
 nexion, is not a single omnipotent cause, throwing away 
 from itself all secondary agents, or becoming so isolated in 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 197 
 
 action, as to disregard the influence of motive on the human 
 mind. When this power is most fully, or vividly, expe- 
 rienced, then the deepest conviction is produced, the loftiest 
 purposes are formed, the highest intellectual effort is made, 
 the greatest amount of intelligence is communicated. In 
 this view the mind of a Paul, or the heart of a John, the ob- 
 stinacy of a jew, or the stupidity of a pagan, might as readily 
 be overcome. And thus thousands upon thousands have 
 been brought to live in heavenly fellowship with their great 
 redeemer; have died in triumph, and joyfully broken away 
 from the embrace of this mortal life, to inherit the fulness of 
 joy, and possess the everlasting pleasures, which are at 
 God's right hand. This point, however, will call for more 
 elaborate argument in a subsequent lecture. 
 
 But turning from these primary attributes of Jehovah,— 
 goodness, wisdom, and power, — another question is started 
 up, which involves his justice. This matter, I am free to 
 confess, — as indeed from the preceding argument you 
 might very readily suppose, strikes me in a very different 
 light, from that in which you commonly hear it represented. 
 When I hear a minister of the God of love, making it the 
 grand object of his official addresses, to throw mankind into 
 convulsions, by exaggerating the terrors of the Lord, and 
 measuring his success by the nervous excitement he pro- 
 duces, my heart is pained within me. Such a ministerial 
 onset may rouse and alarm ; and addresses so violent and 
 harsh may suit the age in which we live ; but the end must 
 be a deterioration of christian intelligence, in which moral 
 imbecility and gross superstition, as they commonly do, 
 shall go hand in hand. How often, in such a state of 
 things, professed moralists are heard, in the same breath, to 
 bless God, and curse men made in the similitude of God ! 
 
 Certainly God is just. It would be insanity to question 
 the fact. He himself has set forth Jesus Christ to be a pro- 
 pitiation for the remission of sin, that he might be just, and 
 the justifier of him who believeth in Jesus. But what is 
 justice? Is God not just, unless he be cloihed in palsying 
 , terrors, and unless his administration shall be set off in 
 every thing that makes it forbidding and overwhelming; and 
 that when the cardinal fact in the history of his operations 
 is, that he has so loved the world as to give his only begot- 
 ten Son, because he has no pleasure in the death of the sin- 
 ner? 
 
 17* 
 
198 LECTURES Off 
 
 But what, I ask again, is justice? Is that, which is right, 
 not just? Is that, which is according to long established 
 law, not just. Is that, which fairly considers all the points 
 of equity, that may be presented, not just? Or is justice a 
 sort of theological cherubim, surmounted by a naming- 
 sword, which forbids a poor, trembling, dying, sinner to ap- 
 proach the offers of life; until a sovereign word, whose 
 principles of operation no mortal man can scan, removes the 
 unmeaning, but petrifying symbol ? If the mediator shall 
 act out a part equal to that which Adam acted; if he shall 
 kindly or equitably regard those who have been brought 
 into suffering by a fault not their own; if when law is sus- 
 tained, grace should seek, according to its excellent nature, 
 to be plenary, and even exuberant, in its provisions; do 
 men object, and call themselves philosophers? But let us 
 go out into this discussion. Adam, says Paul, was %. figure 
 of Christ. What does he mean? 
 
 It has been very explicitly declared, in the scriptures, to 
 be indispensably necessary, that the redeemer should re- 
 semble Adam. There can be no resurrection of the dead, 
 if Christ be not risen: "for since by man came death, by 
 man came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam 
 all die. so in Christ shall all be made alive." " Forasmuch 
 as the children were partakers of flesh and blood, he also 
 himself likewise took part of the same, that through death 
 he might destroy him that had the power of death." The 
 nature of the case required such a saviour, — one that should 
 be qualified for such transactions. Any plan, to be exe- 
 cuted by an official personage, of different characteristics, 
 would not be in good keeping with the system that had 
 been previously established. The remedy, in such a case, 
 should not have been proportioned to the evil; but should 
 be either inefficient by falling below the evil, or destructive 
 of man's free agency, by rising above the evil. " It be- 
 came him, for whom all things, and by whom are all things, 
 in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of 
 their salvation perfect through sujferings." And hence he 
 himself asked his sorrowing disciples, — "Ought not Christ 
 to have suffered these thins - - 
 
 The principle of official operation is very apparent and 
 distinct. The whole case presents the two sides of a legal 
 instrument: — disobedience and penalty, obedience and re- 
 ward; or, — sin and death, righteousness and life. The pro- 
 blem involved is neither difficult nor obscure: and the deci- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 199 
 
 sion is both easy and safe. If, by the disobedience of our 
 social head, death has been introduced into our world, then 
 by the obedience of another social head, life may be se- 
 cured. The sin contemplated, being official in its relations, 
 and personal responsibility having been preserved, there is 
 nothing at all unnatural in the proposed remedy. No phi- 
 losophic moralist can offer one fair objection; as no reason 
 can be assigned why righteousness should not bring life, 
 under the operations of a system by which sin brings death. 
 The commentator, who stammers, or stumbles, here, must 
 be ignorant of the first elements of government, and could 
 not safely be trusted with any legislative or judicial interests, 
 in either church or state, however conscientious, or well- 
 intentioned, he might be. Every thing that is wise and 
 good, lovely and fair, would wither in his hands; and the 
 whole social fabric would tumble into ruins under his er- 
 ratic and wilting policy. The difficulty of the case does 
 not arise from the impossibility of ascertaining any compe- 
 tent principle of relief, but in the selection and qualification 
 of the agent. Where shall he be found ? Who can under- 
 take the task with any promise of success? Answer this, 
 and all the rest is plain enough. Provide the agent, and 
 neither sceptic, nor theologian, has the least cause to demur 
 as to the character of the commission ; or to perplex and 
 puzzle himself about any new, recondite, or mysterious 
 operation, to which such an agent is called. An official 
 righteousness bringing in life, according to the very terms 
 of law, is the moral highway, in which the way-faring man, 
 though a fool, need not err. 
 
 Look at the thing. Adam's sin has introduced into our 
 world "the ministration of death" and condemnation. He 
 sinned, in violating law, and death followed, to the whole 
 extent of his representative character, as it was constituted 
 by law. His children who suffer death on account of his 
 sin, did not commit his sin. Yet they were constituted sin- 
 ners, according to the uniform operation of political govern- 
 ment. On the mere principle of personal responsibility, 
 which summons every man to give an account for himself, 
 such an issue could not have occurred. Though by the is- 
 sue, as it has transpired under social responsibility; he has 
 received a very important and salutary lesson, which, in its 
 application to himself, would teach him, that his personal 
 sin would finally involve him in personal condemnation. — 
 And now, even at this present day, when men affect to 
 
200 LECTURES ON 
 
 doubt the inspiration of the scriptures, and might fondly 
 imagine that divine mercy is too great to condemn them, on 
 account of their personal sin; they may turn to the inspired 
 volume of nature, on whose glories they descant with so 
 much energy and excitement, and learn the same moral les- 
 son, as it is taught under the great material emblem. 
 
 Take the other side. Adam might have obeyed the law, 
 and have brought in life as the reward of obedience. Then 
 all his children should have been placed under a "minis- 
 tration of righteousness;" which, in view of their personal 
 responsibility, should have also been a salutary and impor- 
 tant lesson, teaching them that their personal righteousness 
 should secure their personal justification. Nature should 
 then again have become an inspired volume, so to speak, 
 which all coming generations might easily read. And as, 
 in the first view, sin, by introducing death and evil into the 
 world, has so far disqualified them to meet their personal 
 responsibility, that a mediator has become indispensably 
 necessary; so in the second, righteousness, by introducing 
 life, and preserving the good which had been originally 
 created, should have fully qualified them to fulfil their per- 
 sonal responsibility. 
 
 Permit me then to suppose, that in forming a remedy, 
 the wise and beneficent creator should resolve to bring in a 
 second social head, — a second Adam, — who should do what 
 the first Adam failed to do; or who should introduce a 
 " ministration of righteousness," attended by circumstances 
 which should enable every man to meet his personal re- 
 sponsibilities: can any one object to such a remedial sys- 
 tem? Exterior circumstances may be somewhat altered, 
 but the principle, philosophically considered, is precisely 
 the same. It certainly is the only plan which is consistent 
 with personal responsibility. 
 
 You have all read enough of your bibles to know that the 
 mosaic dispensation, as it was before observed, is uniformly 
 denominated law; and that the christian dispensation is as 
 uniformly denominated gospel. I then call up to your re- 
 collection a scriptural fact, in reference to these dispensa- 
 tions, which you may have often-times remarked to be 
 couched in very singular phraseology. The first is declared 
 to be "the ministration of death and condemnation." So 
 much for law. The second is as unequivocally set forth 
 to be "the ministration of righteousness and of the Spirit." 
 This is gospel. And what shall we understand by these 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 201 
 
 singular exhibitions ? Has law, under the mosaic dispensa- 
 tion, when the jews sinned as Adam did, when "the offence 
 abounded," and when Jehovah described, to one of their 
 own prophets, the whole house of Israel, under the symbol 
 of a valley full of dead and dry bones, — any reference to 
 law as violated by Adam? If so, then the phrase, "minis- 
 tration of death," is an apostolic technicality, descriptive 
 of the condition of mankind, as they are constituted sin- 
 ners by Adam's transgression. But this being admitted, 
 then, on the other hand, the phrase "ministration of righ- 
 teousness," must also be an apostolic technicality, descrip- 
 tive of the condition of mankind, as they are constituted 
 righteous by Christ's righteousness. So far then as symbol 
 can explain, — symbol which has been in protracted and 
 magnificent display, — it follows that the finished work of 
 the mediator, privileges those to whom its knowledge has 
 already come, and will ere long privilege all mankind, when 
 his kingdom shall be one and his name one throughout the 
 earth, with the ministration of righteousness ; which 
 ministration will serve as a rule of government in view of 
 their personal responsibility. Of old he was praised, and 
 from the rising to the setting sun, shall he be praised, as 
 Jehovah our righteousness. 
 
 Such is the ground professedly occupied by the apostle 
 Paul, in a formal argument on the subject.* Thus he rea- 
 sons : — "As by the offence of one, judgment came upon all 
 men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one 
 the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. As 
 by one man's disobedience the many (all) were made (consti- 
 tuted) sinners, so by the obedience of one shall the many (all) 
 be made (constituted) righteous." The principle of opera- 
 tion, and the extent to which it is carried, are the same. 
 All are constituted sinners, and all are brought into con- 
 demnation by one man's offence, on the one hand ; so all 
 are constituted righteous, and are brought into justifica- 
 tion of life by one man's righteousness on the other.! 
 Two parallel lines could not be more distinctly drawn, — two 
 institutes, of similar character, could not be more circum- 
 stantially described. Indeed, that there might be no mistake 
 on the subject, the apostle had prefaced his argument, by 
 unequivocally asserting that Adam was the figure of Christ. 
 Here then are two official characters, — the one at the head 
 
 • To this argument I have had occasion to allude before, Lecture V U 
 
202 LECTURES ON 
 
 of the first, or legal institute, and the other at the head of 
 the second, or evangelical institute. Under the one condem- 
 nation and death have accrued, under the other righteousness 
 and life have been presented. In the one all men die, — 
 in the other all men are made alive. 
 
 Some theologians, in interpreting this passage, as just 
 quoted from the apostle's pen, feel no difficulty in applying 
 the terms — sinner and condemnation to all men ; because 
 their general doctrine of the original institute, and of the 
 consequences of its breach, permit them to do so most un- 
 reservedly. They consider that all mankind are temporally, 
 spiritually and eternally dead in Adam ; and that God should 
 have been perfectly just in sentencing all Adam's children 
 to such a doleful fate for his sin. Human depravity, the 
 lamentable characteristic of all ages and of a~ll communities, 
 offer them, as they suppose, facts enough for an impreg- 
 nable defence in advancing such views. But when they 
 come to look at the correlate terms — righteousness and jus- 
 tification unto life, they are compelled to change their ground. 
 And no wonder. For on the principle by which they in- 
 terpret the forensic terms in the first instance, they could 
 not interpiet the corresponding terms in the second instance, 
 without rushing into the doctrine of universal salvation. 
 Facts would not sustain so sweeping a conclusion, as any 
 intelligent man may see. But to give up their principle, in 
 view of the consequences of the fall-, would be to spoil 
 their whole theory, and send them adrift on a boundless 
 ocean, where no sun appears by day, nor stars by night. 
 How fearful a predicament! Yet, that they cannot carry 
 their principle through, is one of the best evidences that it 
 is incorrect. Give to the terms all round an official appli- 
 cation ; leave out of view the untenable idea, that by the im- 
 putation of Adam's sin all men are made personally sinners; 
 or by the imputation of Christ's righteousness, all men are 
 made personally righteous, — let temporal death be contrasted 
 with the resurrection from the dead, and all difficulties van- 
 ish. The argument becomes plain and consistent, and the 
 apostle speaks unrestrainedly to every candid mind. 
 
 I do not say that there is no difference between the two so- 
 cial heads, or the extent to which their official capabilities 
 may be traced. The apostle himself emphatically declares 
 that there is a difference; but then, instead of its being cal- 
 culated to restrict the benefits flowing from Christ's righ- 
 teousness, they are celebrated for their greater exuberance. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 203 
 
 ;! Not as it was by one that sinned," says the apostle, "so is 
 the gift. For the judgment was by one (offence) to con- 
 demnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justifi- 
 cation." The fact which he had previously stated, was, that 
 death had reigned over some who had not sinned after the 
 similitude of Adam's transgression; — of course then there 
 were some who did sin like Adam. These who did sin like 
 Adam, were guilty of the "many offences." He explains 
 himself afterwards, by saying, that in consequence of the 
 law entering, "the offence abounded." The reference is 
 most unequivocally to the jews, who alone were placed un- 
 der law, and could sin like Adam. Then he adds, — "But 
 where sin abounded, grace did much more abound; that as 
 sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign 
 through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our 
 Lord." In this, then, the gift transcended the offence ; for 
 this righteousness of Christ covered the offences committed 
 by the jews against Law which had been, for certain pur- 
 poses, privily brought in. Or, as the same apostle tells us 
 in another of his epistles, and when discussing the subject 
 of Christ's sacrifice: — "He is the mediator of the new tes- 
 tament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the 
 transgressions that were under the first testament, they which 
 are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance."* 
 And again it is observed, — "God hath set forth Christ to be a 
 propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his right- 
 eousenss for the remission of sins, that are past through the 
 forbearance of GW."t 
 
 Perhaps you may inquire how it was that the righteous- 
 ness of the redeemer thus transcended the original, or 
 adamic, type ; or on what principle it, the remedial right- 
 eousness, could be extended in its application, so as to 
 cover the transgressions committed under a temporary re- 
 vival of law? The answer is at hand. God had, by his 
 purpose of election, — adopted, it is true with a view to the 
 general good, and therefore gracious in its ultimate design, 
 yet privily introduced, — God had, in erecting the sinaic es- 
 tablishment, placed the jews in a very novel and peculiar 
 situation. The law ordained over them, proved to be "a 
 ministration of death," — a yoke, which neither they, nor 
 their fathers were able to bear. The reason for this inter- 
 ference with the regular operations of society, as they had 
 been, from the day the first promise was given, developed 
 
 *Hcb. ix. 15. f Rom. iii. 25. 
 
204 LECTURES ON 
 
 under the mediatorial administration, will be assigned here* 
 after.* In the mean time the fact of such interference, 
 whose authority could not be established but by a train of 
 splendid and awful miracles, deserves to be distinctly no- 
 ticed. Was there not then an evident necessity, that God 
 should protect the jews from all harm that might attend on 
 such an extra-judicial proceeding ? As all mankind had 
 been put under the remedial government of divine grace, 
 and that by two, if not three, distinct legislative proclama- 
 tions, — in Adam, Noah and Abraham, — how could al- 
 mighty god consistently throw any part of them back again 
 under law? In such a case, would he not, by a sovereign 
 act, have made their condition worse than it was before, and 
 have required of them that which they were not able to 
 render? And is this his method of dealing with men, whose 
 sorrows excite the sympathies of the universe, and over 
 which his Son so freely, and so often, wept ? Let his design 
 be what it may, necessarily he would protect and secure 
 the rights of his chosen people. And accordingly he pledged 
 himself to do so, in preaching the gospel to their fathers, 
 and in connecting the righteousness of faith along with all 
 the institutions which he gave them. Nor only so. The 
 saviour himself "delighted in," as "the angel of the cove- 
 nant," was the captain of their hosts, who went before 
 them while they were in the wilderness, and finally brought 
 them into the promised land. 
 
 Nor is this all. One great object, which was not lost 
 sight of at any time, was to afford an antecedent course, 
 which the force of circumstances had rendered necessary, 
 by which to introduce the Messiah. The law, by its own 
 terms, could hold its official relations, and authoritatively 
 bind on the Jewish conscience, only until the seed should 
 come to whom the promise was made. It was a mere 
 schoolmaster, instructing a pupil while yet a minor; — a pre- 
 paratory measure, to qualify an heir to receive, and to en- 
 joy, his inheritance. Of course, the inheritance, when he re- 
 ceived it, would fully compensate him for any disciplinary se- 
 verity, of which he might have complained ; and he might 
 be soothed and thankful, when the advantages of his 
 training should become apparent even to himself. And if 
 the benefits which have accrued from that singular dispen- 
 sation, — "glorious," even though it was "a ministration of 
 death," — were duly appreciated ; if we should only estimate 
 
 * Lecture X. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 205 
 
 the vast amount of evidence which it offers in behalf of the 
 pretensions of the Son of God, and the demonstration of 
 the impossibility of being "justified by deeds of law," which 
 it affords ; the whole world might praise God that he had 
 so peculiarly distinguished the jews. — In other words, — 
 The mosaic law belonged to a series of means, by which the 
 mediatorial system was to be introduced ; and that system, 
 must not only secure its primary object ; but guaranty the in- 
 tegrity of any intermediate measures, which were, either 
 originally, or casually, necessary to its introduction. If the 
 operation of the mosaic ritual, as an intermediate measure, 
 was attended by the abounding of the offence; then, the medi- 
 atorial system, spreading itself out over the means of its own 
 introduction, must display the abounding of grace. Hence the 
 redeemer, in being put under law, was put under it in its 
 mosaic form; and is set forth before us as, having fulfilled all 
 righteousness. 
 
 But I have another use to make of this seemingly strange 
 matter. — Theologians have sometimes found a difficulty in 
 extending the phrases, — by the one righteousness the many 
 are made righteous, and by the righteousness of one the 
 free gift came upon all men unto justification of life, 
 — some theologians, I say, have found great difficulty in ex- 
 lending these phrases to all men. They would rather, as 
 has before been stated, suppose some restrictive principle, 
 of which no notice is given in the context, yet growing 
 out of a covenant between the Father and the Son, to con- 
 fine these terms to the elect. But then, were not the jews 
 the elect of God ; and was not the apostle reasoning with 
 them at the time? Are they not put into contrast with 
 others, who were not under law, and who did not sin after 
 the similitude of Adam's transgression? And if such were 
 the Jewish circumstances, and distinct provision was made 
 for them, as the elect, to whom then can the phrases in 
 question refer, but to all men ? Are not the many opposed 
 to the elect, and does not the simple appellation, — the 
 many — rebuke all such prudish scruples? There is nothing 
 left for us, but to take the broad principle which the apostle 
 has laid down. Adam was a figure of Christ. And as all 
 men are constituted sinners by Adam's one offence, so all 
 men are constituted righteous by Christ's one righteousness: 
 As all men are brought into condemnation by Adam's of- 
 fence, so all men are brought into a justification unto life 
 by Christ's righteousness. 
 18 
 
206 LECTURES ON 
 
 The mediatorial work then consists in this, that it was a 
 ministration of righteousness. For this purpose Christ was 
 made under law. Righteousness is conformity to law ; and 
 life is the reward of that conformity. Christ having rendered 
 this righteousness, as our social head, procures for us life. 
 Adam and himself acted under the same general instrument; 
 and as the offence of the one brought all men into death, 
 the righteousness of the other brings all men into life. 
 Hence the redeemer is so fully and unequivocally declared 
 to be the resurrection and the life, — the Lord of life and glory 
 — whose voice shall be heard in the grave, waking up all 
 the dead. Hence it is said, that ere he shall surrender the 
 kingdom to the Father, death, though the last enemy, shall 
 be destroyed. In the morning of the resurrection, when all 
 men shall rise to die no more, death shall be cast into the 
 lake of fire. 
 
 Thus agreeably to the nature of law, according to its own 
 terms, and as it had been exemplified in Adam's case, life 
 is the result of righteousness. The facts most demonstrably 
 sustain the theory advanced ; and not only in reference to 
 Christ's work, but in view of Adam's sin. For if the resur- 
 rection from the dead, as exhibited in Christ's coming back 
 from the grave, and as it shall be exhibited at the last day, 
 when death shall be swallowed up in victory, be the con- 
 templated and appropriate result of his obedience to 
 law; then Adam's disobedience could only introduce that 
 death from which men are delivered by the resurrection. — 
 How important in the remedial plan, is the Saviour's 
 resurrection ! Its "power" in relation to practical godliness 
 is great, as Paul most aptly and beautifully describes it;* 
 and its memorial, as it returns in each revolving week, can- 
 not be otherwise than refreshing to the spiritual mind. — 
 Could any thing more interesting than the connexion be- 
 tween righteousness and life, thus luminously set forth, be 
 offered to the consideration of an intellectual being? No 
 wonder that the scriptures employ such glowing terms, 
 when they speak on this lofty theme : — "This corruptible," 
 they say, "must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put 
 on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on 
 incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, 
 then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, — 
 Death is swallowed up in victory. death, where is thy 
 sting ? O grave, where is thy victory ? The sting of death 
 
 •Phil. iii. 8—11. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 207 
 
 is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be 
 to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ." — Sorrow and sighing shall have forever ceased, and 
 the Lord God shall wipe away tears from off all faces. — This is 
 a justification unto life. He who forfeits its blessings, and 
 rises to everlasting shame, does so by his personal unbelief, 
 and sinks into death because he had despised the abundant 
 overtures of grace divine. 
 
 Supposing that Adam had obeyed the law, and brought 
 in "a ministration of righteousness," instead of "a ministra- 
 tion of death," what would have been its leo-al bearing? His 
 posterity would not have died, — death, which the redeemer 
 shall destroy, should not have entered the world. In other 
 words, — his childr?n, instead of having been involved in a 
 condemnation of death, would have obtained a justification 
 unto life. This constitutional result would have come upon 
 all men. But the question, I have asked, must go farther, 
 and inquire, how "a ministration of righteousness," brought 
 about by the official obedience of our first social head, 
 should have affected the personal responsibility of his chil- 
 dren ? Should it by imputation, have conducted them to 
 eternal glory, and thus have nullified the whole system of 
 personal responsibility ? Should there not have been an in- 
 dispensable necessity, notwithstanding Adam's official right- 
 eousness, that every human being should obey the law writ- 
 ten on his own heart ; and by personal holiness become meet 
 for that kingdom, which flesh and blood cannot inherit? 
 And if the contemplated operations, did not rest on an im- 
 putation which absorbed all personal responsibility, could this 
 ministration of righteousness have served any other purpose 
 than as a splendid and magnificent emblem to induce to 
 personal holiness; in the same way that God's own display, 
 or manifestation, of himself, calls for our imitation, or as 
 official excellence always demands attention. This would 
 have corresponded with the nature of men, as getting their 
 ideas through the medium of their external senses ; and ex- 
 hibited every man, as he necessarily is, individually account- 
 able. Certainly when Adam sinned, we did not eat the for- 
 bidden fruit ; and as certainly, if he had not eaten, we should 
 have thereby displayed no personal virtue. In the same 
 light is Christ's righteousness to be viewed. Its imputation 
 to us, absorbing our personal responsibility, is a mere theo- 
 logical chimera, and in all juridical science, a downright 
 absurdity. Every human being, who shall ever get to hea- 
 
208 LECTURES ON 
 
 ven, will get there on the principle of his personal holiness ; 
 and every one who is turned into hell, incurs this fearful 
 doom, not by any deficiency of this mediatorial righteous- 
 ness, to be attributed, either to itself or to any purpose re- 
 specting its application, but by his own personal unholiness. 
 From the nature of the case, then, and from the nature of man, 
 the ministration of the mediatorial righteousness must be an 
 appeal to man's outward senses ; and be intended to call forth 
 all his personal faculties, on the principle of personal re- 
 sponsibility, and for the purpose of personal sanctification ; — 
 without which sanctification, he can never enter the king- 
 dom of glory. 
 
 Certainly the scriptures take this very method of illustra- 
 ting the use, which they intend us to make of the subjects 
 they present to our consideration. — "Be ye holy, for I am 
 holy:" — "be ye imitators of me, even as I am of Christ ;" 
 — "let the same mind be in you, which was also in Christ 
 Jesus;" — "hereunto were ye called, for Christ has left us an 
 example that we should follow his steps." Similitude is in 
 fact the secret, the sacred, the philosophical, operation of 
 social life ; and gives to the divine manifestations on the 
 one hand, and to social responsibility among men on the 
 other, all their energy and importance. The characteristic 
 of our being at the first was, that we were made in the im- 
 age of God ; and the highest benefit which can be bestowed 
 on a race of sinners, is to renew them in knowledge, right- 
 eousness, and holiness, after the image of him that created 
 them. The very end and design of the divine government 
 is to preserve the likeness on the principle of personal re- 
 sponsibility ; and of course to make such an exhibition as 
 shall, by the excitement and exercise of those powers for 
 which man is accountable, further and secure that object. 
 And when the whole is obtained, and the mediatorial king- 
 dom is absorbed in the general administration, which pro- 
 claims God to be all and in all, the consummation supposes 
 us to be like God. There is, therefore, no other principle 
 on which the remedial transactions of Immanuel could be 
 constructed. They form a ministration, which, under the 
 superintending agency of the Holy Spirit, wakes up the hu- 
 man mind to consider its interests, and discharge its respon- 
 sibilities. The view thus disclosed, as I think, unfolds 
 the only principle of moral government consistent with per- 
 sonal responsibility, and exhibits the glorious import of the 
 gospel. This is the channel in which divine favor flows, 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT . 209 
 
 and in which the riches of divine grace discharge themselves 
 in full stream, — a river of life deep and broad, where all may 
 slake their thirst, and suffer no more forever. 
 
 But in interpreting the work of the second Adam as "a 
 ministration of righteousness," and thus throwing it into a 
 systematic arrangement which may be somewhat novel, you 
 may very fairly inquire, what is the place which the death of 
 Christ occupies in such a view ? Was his death necessary, 
 or had it any peculiar efficiency about it ? — Not only is the 
 inquiry fair, but if, in any place, my chain of reasoning is 
 weak, we have now in our hands the link that will break. 
 *Nor have I any objection that the whole catenation should 
 be dissolved, if at any point, it will not bear a just amount 
 of pressure. Truth, brethren, truth is the object the hu- 
 man mind is searching after. The Son of God came into 
 the world to bear witness to the truth. 
 
 1. The redeemer came to "finish the transgression, to make 
 an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to 
 bring in everlasting righteousness." In this variety of lan- 
 guage do the scriptures describe his work. But they do 
 not intend, by multiplying terms, to lead us away from its 
 great characteristic. The Spirit, to whose agency is com- 
 mitted the application of evangelic truth to the human mind, 
 convinces the world of righteousness : used in which con- 
 nexion by the master himself, the term covers the whole of 
 his finished work. As has already been intimated, he was 
 "made under law." The law then is the measure of his 
 operations; and prescribes, throughout, whatever was neces- 
 sary for him to undertake. Of course he must die because 
 the law had been broken. 
 
 But it may be said, that if Adam had obeyed the law, his 
 obedience Would not have included death. True, but his 
 obedience would have been the righteousness of the law ; 
 because, as it had not been broken, it could demand no 
 more. If more had been required than mere obedience to 
 the precept of the law, then mere obedience to the precept, 
 in his case, could not have been the righteousness required. 
 But now, the law having been violated, and a case of trans- 
 gression being called into judicial consideration, righteous- 
 ness requires something more than mere obedience to pre- 
 cept. Christ was not only made under the law, but 
 was put under its curse; for the law had said, in view of 
 "sin worthy of death" having been committed, — "cursed is 
 every one that hangeth on a tree." The explanation of his 
 18* 
 
£10 LECTURE? DM 
 
 death is then to be referred to the law. whose righteousness 
 he came to fulfil. Hence it was said by one of the ancient 
 prophets, — "The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' 
 sake ; he will magnify the law, and make it honorable.* 
 
 I feel no concern, whatever, to sustain the theological 
 distinction between Christ's active and passive obedience: 
 but prefer, with the apostle, to exhibit an entire whole. 
 The apostle's language is. — "Being found in fashion as a 
 man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, 
 even the death of the cross." In fact, when the scriptures 
 speak of the righteousness of the mediator, they uniformly in- 
 clude under that term, both his active and passive obedience, 
 considering him as being "made perfect through sufferin 
 Thus in one epistle, t -the many offences" committed by 
 the jews, are represented as covered by his righteousness : 
 and in another, t their -'redemption''" is referred to his 
 ''•death.'' So also reconciliation is sometimes referred to 
 the whole of Christ's work : as in the passage quoted, — 
 '•'God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself." 
 And again, — God '"'hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus 
 Christ, and hath given unto us the ministry of reconciliation." 
 At other times it is referred to his sufferings or death : — 
 'And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body, 
 by his cross.' 
 
 The death Christ forms the distinguishing part of 
 
 Christ's mediatorial work. Adam, in rendering the right- 
 eousness of the law. would not have died, because the law 
 had not been broken. But by Adam's transgression we are 
 constituted a race of sinners. This is our peculiarity, and 
 Christ is under the law as broken. Hence the suffer- 
 ings and death of Christ appear so conspicuous in the scrip- 
 tural details ; but they are not intended to supersede in our 
 minds the idea of his righteousness as a whole. A part, and 
 that which circumstances have rendered the most prominent, 
 is put for the whole; while in its own individuality, it is al- 
 ways put in connexion with our sin; is always referred to 
 the fact that the law was violated, and its penalty incurred ; 
 and is always represented as indispensably necessary. Often, 
 very often, do the inspired writers put this matter in the 
 foreground, as the very perfection of our mediatorial prince, 
 and make it emblematic of the whole of christian living. 
 "The preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolish- 
 ness ; but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God" 
 * Isai. xlii. 21. , tRom. ch. 5. { Hcb. be 15. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 211 
 
 "We preach Christ crucified, unto the jews a stumbling- 
 block, and unto the greeks foolishness; but unto them 
 which are called, both jews and greeks, Christ the power of 
 God, and the ivisdom of God." "God forbid that I should 
 glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom 
 the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." "I 
 am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but 
 Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the 
 flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, 
 and gave himself for me." "We are always bearing about 
 in our body, the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also 
 of Jesus may be made manifest in our body." 
 
 2. But the scriptures, in explaining the death of Christ, 
 not only fondly display its legal consistency : they compare it 
 with the great practical object, which "a ministration of 
 righteousness" was intended to subserve. God's grand de- 
 sign is to place before us a most perfect emblem of that 
 which he would desire us to be. This design is apparent 
 in the visible representations he has made, down from the 
 manifestation of himself, personally and in his works, to the 
 lowest form in which social life or official responsibility can 
 appear. Such is the essential principle of government over 
 a class of beings who are distinguished by personal intelli- 
 gence, and who get their ideas by means of their external 
 senses. Nor can a wider range, for the operation of such 
 a principle, be any where presented, than is afforded in our 
 own world; where every virtue must be acquired and main- 
 tained in the midst of toils, temptations and sufferings. To 
 "learn obedience by the thing's which he suffered, as though 
 it were necessary for him to acquire his ideas, in the same 
 way that ideas are acquired by ourselves, is no small nor 
 uninteresting part of the redeemer's work, considered in 
 view of its practical efficiency. How cheering and refresh- 
 ing is sympathy to a sufferer! It is the only inviting form, 
 in which the social affections of the human heart can be 
 displayed, when suffering must be endured. There is a 
 philosophic coldness, there is a stoical apathy, sustained by 
 every thing that is chilling in abstract principle, which 
 strong intellectual men often mistake for morality ; and under 
 which sensitive minds shrink and writhe. But our master 
 occupied a different position. "It behooved him in all things, 
 to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful 
 and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God." It 
 would not do for heaven itself to be too hard, or in any 
 
~ l ~ LECTURES ON 
 
 way too severely inquisitive ; not that Jehovah does any 
 thing wrong; but a series of practical operations, consistent 
 with the weaknesses of human nature, must be sustained, 
 and the human mind must be put into a situation where it 
 might act freely and unreservedly. A finer view of social 
 life, balancing strong and weak things together, could not 
 be presented, than our redeemer's work presents; nor can 
 any more be justly required, even by theologians themselves. 
 But now, christians, "forasmuch as Christ has suffered for us 
 in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind;- — 
 Christ also hath once suffered for us, having us an example 
 that ye should follow in his footsteps." His death was 
 a death unto sin, and teaches us to "mortify the deeds of 
 the body,*' that we may live: — one of the most important 
 items belonging to our personal responsibility. 
 
 3. You may remember that in a former lecture,* when 
 speaking on the subject of trinity, I had occasion to call 
 your attention to the peculiarity, and the force of the fol- 
 lowing phrases: — Almighty God ; — the Spirit searcheth all 
 things; — the Father judgelh no man, but hath committed 
 all judgment to the Son. This language serves to show, 
 that Jehovah, instead of leaving our little minds to struggle 
 in vain attempts, to arrange and express some adequate 
 conceptions of his own immensity, has exhibited himself 'm 
 a form and manner which is suitable to our apprehensions. 
 A similar view is presented to us here. "It behooved Christ," 
 says the apostle Paul, "to be made like unto his brethren, 
 that he might be a merciful and faithful high-priest.'' Doubt- 
 less our whole case is spread out in the light of his own 
 countenance. He knows all, and can do all, if nothing is 
 to be considered but his own omniscience or omnipotence. 
 But something else is to be taken into consideration. He 
 could have raised up children to Abraham, of the stones of 
 the street; but the scriptures must be fulfilled. So what- 
 ever he might be able to do, viewing simply his own per- 
 fections, yet the peculiarities of our nature must be re- 
 garded. His mediatorial administration must be conducted 
 in a form, which shall correspond with our intellectual ca- 
 pacities. Sympathy, like love, or wisdom, or power, or 
 justice, must be exhibited, or it would not fall within the 
 range of our perceptions. His sufferings and death, there- 
 fore, resulted from a necessity, which argues no deficiencies 
 in Jehovah, but some peculiarity in our own constitution. 
 
 • Lecture IV. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 213 
 
 It became God to make the captain of our salvation perfect 
 through sufferings: it behooved Christ to be made like unto 
 his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high- 
 priest. Such an high priest became us. In that he hath 
 suffered, being tempted, he is able to succor those that are 
 tempted. The necessity for the death of Christ, is like the 
 necessity for a divine manifestation in the flesh. The whole 
 mediatorial system is constructed like the original system of 
 creation; in which material things, with their varied rela- 
 tions and operations, are emblematic of spiritual things. 
 Like books, written by the finger of God, intellectual sub- 
 jects are stated, discussed, and exemplified in them. And 
 the age, which best understands the value of books, should 
 best understand the inspired volumes of nature, or should 
 study them the most intensely. 
 
 4. It is here, where, if I mistake not, the striking and 
 glorious superiority of Christ, as the second Adam, is to be 
 considered. The first Adam was made a "living soul;" — 
 the second Adam was made "a quickening Spirit." The 
 nature of the case, and the peculiarity of the mediatorial 
 person, alike called for this distinction. Mankind were to 
 be raised from the dead ; and Christ was God manifested in 
 the flesh. In view of the law, and of the nature of 
 grace, which will allow any thing that is not inconsistent 
 with law; and in view of a divin© manifestation, in which 
 all the principles of the original institute must be concen- 
 tred ; of which a change from a natural into a spiritual body 
 was the most glorious, because it was the consummation of 
 that institute; any superadded privilege or influence which 
 was called for, might be safely introduced: — safely, I mean, 
 in reference to ideas which the human mind can form. Now 
 that Christ should be "a quickening spirit," was called for 
 by the fact that all men had been brought into death by 
 Adam's sin. How could he then, as a quickening spirit, 
 raise man from the dead ; and not violate the essential 
 principles of the moral government, which had been estab- 
 lished among men? Through death, says the apostle, he 
 destroyed him that had the power of death. The dominion 
 of death being thus broken up, grace comes in to act out 
 her own character, and sets off our victorious prince with 
 all the glory and beauty, all the strength and majesty, which 
 our circumslances could call for, or which could win our affec- 
 tion and gain our confidence. Not that any thing is done for 
 the mere sake of show; but grace is exuberant, though it 
 
214 LECTURES ON 
 
 never acts inconsistently with law. The mediatorial system 
 has no deficiencies. 
 
 Admitting that "a ministration of righteousness," perfect 
 in all its parts, and affording a full display of its legal attri- 
 butes, had been constructed by Christ's " obedience unto 
 death,*' it may now be inquired whether in this he met the 
 whole object of his mediatorial mission ? To answer this 
 inquiry, we must revert again to the scriptural prototype, 
 and ask what else Adam would have done, if he had obeyed 
 the law ? This retrospective view discloses a secondary 
 fact of great interest. The most superficial observer would 
 discern that, the knowledge of evil should not have been 
 introduced into the world, if our first father had not sinned. 
 In other words, his children would have been placed in the 
 most happy external circumstances, in regard to their per- 
 sonal responsibility ; and should have enjoyed every facility 
 by which they could be assisted in discharging their obliga- 
 tion. A corresponding result must attend on Christ's right- 
 eousness, so that believers in his name might become per- 
 sonally qualified to fulfil their duties, and secure everlasting 
 life. Were it necessary, we have now an opportunity of 
 descanting on the various means of grace ; which, by the 
 word and Spirit of the Lord, are employed to affect the hu- 
 man mind, and to convince the world of sin, of righteous- 
 ness, and of judgment. The evil which lias been intro- 
 duced by the original offence, it might be shown, is sancti- 
 fied to the production of ultimate good. The tempter's 
 power is broken, or his kingdom is destroyed, according to 
 the terms of the original promise; so that the believer is 
 brought off more than a conqueror through him that loved 
 him and gave himself for him. And the Holy Spirit, in all the 
 plenitude of grace, and in all the variety of the kindest offi- 
 ces, would attend each child of redeeming love through all 
 the diversified scenes of his earthly pilgrimage. But all 
 these matters are perfectly familiar to every christian. He 
 is already acquainted with their freeness and their fulness ; — 
 they are the common topics to which he listens every sab- 
 bath, and on which he meditates every day. — A remark or 
 two only I think to be necessary. 
 
 The original promise was expressed in this language ; — 
 "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and be- 
 tween thy seed and her seed ; it shall bruise thy head, and 
 thou shalt bruise his heel." The principal idea here stated, 
 and which is made to represent the whole mediatorial work, 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 215 
 
 is that of the judgment, by which Satan, as the god of the 
 world, is overthrown. The same idea is frequently advanced 
 in the new testament, in explanation of the redeemer's work. 
 Thus — "Forasmuch as the children were partakers of flesh 
 and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; 
 that through death he might destroy him that had the power 
 of death, that is the devil."* — " For this purpose the Son of 
 God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the 
 devil. "t — "Now is the judgment of this world; now shall 
 the prince of this world be cast out."i — "The prince of this 
 world corneth, but hath nothing in me."§ The Spirit " shall 
 convince the world of judgment, — because the prince of 
 this world is judged. "|| — This event was achieved by the re- 
 deemer's death, or righteousness, because that was the fulfil- 
 ment of the law. "Now as "the sting of death is sin, and 
 the strength of sin is the law," the power of Satan must be 
 derived from the law as broken. Of course, when the law 
 was fulfilled, his power was destroyed, his kingdom was 
 overturned, his head was bruised. Any power which he 
 may now exert, the believer is perfectly competent to resist: 
 and thus the promise was fulfilled.1T 
 
 *Heb. ii. 14. J John xii. 31. ||John xvi. 8—11. 
 
 f 1 John iii. 8. §John xiv. 30. 
 
 UThe demoniacal possessions which occurred under the Jewish dis- 
 pensation, must all be referred to its peculiarity as being the adminis- 
 tration of law, or " a ministration of death." And if this simple view 
 explains their occurrence, the miracles which they furnished the me- 
 diator with the opportunity of performing, afforded appropriate evi- 
 dences of his messiah-ship. 
 
 The imprecations which so often occur in the psaims, form ano- 
 ther curious circumstance, that seems to require explanation. Vari- 
 ous opinions have been offered, which do not appear to me to be 
 satisfactory. Perhaps a reference to the peculiarity of the dispensa- 
 tion, under which the psalmist lived, may clear up the whole matter. I 
 will illustrate my meaning by some remarks of the redeemer on a pa- 
 rallel case. On a certain occasion, when he was passing through 
 Samaria, the inhabitants of some village would not receive him, " be- 
 cause his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem." The disci- 
 ples, hurt at the indignity offered to their master, asked him to permit 
 them to pray for fire from heaven to consume these Samaritans, even as 
 Elias did. He answered them by a rebuke ; — " Ye know not what man- 
 ner of Spirit ye are of ; for the Son of man is not come to destroy men's 
 lives, but to save them." What is the force of his reason ? Or how 
 does it bear on the conduct of Elias ? I would paraphrase his answer 
 thus : — Ye know not the nature of the dispensation under which you are 
 called to minister. Such a prayer might do for Elias, who lived under 
 " a ministration of death ;" but you must act under the ministration of 
 life." — That the term Spirit may be so viewed is evident from the use 
 
216 LECTURES ON 
 
 Perhaps, in reference to the mission of the Spirit, it may 
 be nsked, how can He be said to be sent, according to the 
 ideas of trinity which I have advanced ? Observe the terms 
 in which the redeemer speaks on this subject: — and when 
 " he is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall 
 not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall 
 he speak ; he shall gloiify me, for he shall receive of mine 
 and shall show it unto you." Of course it is not ab- 
 stract deity to which your attention is called, when the scrip- 
 tures refer you to the Holy Spirit. All the phraseology which 
 is employed, belongs to Jehovah as manifested in personal 
 form ; and the coming of the Spirit, is like the ascension of 
 Jesus, a transaction which derives its propriety and its 
 phrase from the nature of the thing. On the principle of 
 similitude, which is the professed object of the whole, and 
 on which all the circumstances are made to turn, there is 
 no more diificulty nor impropriety, than when Paul speaks 
 of being present in spirit, while absent in body. The spirit 
 of a manifested God, or of a visible and glorious personage, 
 of whom spirit and external form or body may be predicated, 
 might be said to come or to be sent, without any far-fetched 
 idea being presented to the mind. We can have no other 
 ideas of God, than those which are attendant upon, and con- 
 sistent with such a manifestation ; and any incongruity which 
 we suppose ourselves to perceive from the fact of the Spirit be- 
 ing sent, arises from the laboured and unsatisfactory attempt 
 we have made to form a conception of abstract deity. — 
 Jehovah, as manifested, says, my Spirit, in the same way in 
 which any of us speak, when we say, — my Spirit. — " The 
 Spirit of the prophets are subject to the prophets." The 
 language does not barely cover the idea of God's sending 
 himself. It is God manifested, who is represented to us as 
 both spirit and form, who says my spirit, contradistinguished 
 horn form, that form being removed from our view. We no 
 longer know Christ after the flesh. 
 
 The object of the mediatorial work is to reconcile man to 
 God. In this view, I presume, any one may distinctly re- 
 cognise a remedial operation, which addresses itself to man 
 as a free, intelligent, and responsible agent. The very term 
 imports one of the highest intellectual efforts which a ra- 
 
 made of it in Rom. viii. 15, and 2 Tim. i. 7. If then the circumstan- 
 ces or dispensation under which Elias acted, justified his prayer ; the 
 same justification may be advanced in behalf of David's official charac- 
 ter, in the matter alluded to. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 217 
 
 tional being can make; implies an action on his mind of 
 a variety of considerations, both pleasing and active ; and 
 indicates a state of heart in which a thousand evil passions 
 may have been repressed, or have given way to the liveliest 
 exercise of the best affections. The result is one in which, 
 kindness and love, argument and entreaty, expostulation 
 and warning, are employed ; and where mere force is the 
 feeblest and worst of all means that can be used. Accord- 
 ingly, both " the word" and " the ministry of reconciliation," 
 are intellectual in their character and Influence, and never 
 have been indebted to the physical arm for any thing of 
 which it has so proudly boasted. — " Now then," says an 
 apostle, " we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did 
 beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye re- 
 conciled to God." Hence it is that we are charged not to 
 resist. Hence it is that we are required to believe. And 
 hence it is that the fault is our own, if we are not saved. — 
 Having eyes, we see not; having ears, we hear not; and 
 having hearts, we understand not. But submitting ourselves 
 to other influences, and yielding to the lusts of the flesh, 
 to the corruptions of the world, and to the temptations of 
 satan, and that in defiance of every suggestion which divine 
 kindness has made, we bring everlasting ruin on our own 
 souls. 
 
 The reconciled man exerts all his intellectual energies 
 under the directing control of truth, whose evidence has 
 been brought home demonstrably to his own mind, while all 
 his feelings fully accord. He mortifies his flesh, "keeps 
 his body under," watches against temptation, and lives above 
 the world, that he may walk in communion with God. 
 Christ is in his heart the hope of glory, and he lives by faith 
 on redeeming love. He is distinguished by the fruits of 
 the Spirit, who dwells in him. His business is to glorify 
 God, to do good, arid finally to attain to everlasting joy. 
 His treasures, his conversation, his heart, are in heaven, 
 and he is patiently, but affectionately, waiting for the com- 
 ing of the Lord. His path is like the shining light, which 
 " shineth more and more unto the perfect day." " Drawn 
 with the cords of a man, and with bands of love," he 
 leaves the things which are behind, and reaches forward to 
 the things that are before. And when at last he has finish- 
 ed his course, he cheerfully bids the world adieu, lays off 
 the panoply in which he had maintained his successful con- 
 flict, and departs to dwell with his Lord forever. To pro- 
 19 
 
218 LECTURES ON 
 
 duce such a change in human beings, who are found de- 
 voted to the sensualities of life, and alienated in their minds 
 by wicked works, is the avowed object of the Mediator's 
 righteousness, and of the Spirit's operations. And the 
 whole proceeds from setting up the kingdom of God in hu- 
 man hearts. 
 
 It may be very readily conceived how the righteousness 
 of Christ, accomplished by his becoming obedient unto death. 
 should effect this reconciliation. It illustrates and exempli- 
 fies the connexion between righteousness and life, which is 
 the great moral lesson we have to learn, and constitutes 
 the very element of our intellectual existence. It unfolds 
 to us the principle of moral responsibility, on which our 
 everlasting destinies depend. It manifests the divine per- 
 fections with all their attractive influence ; exhibits the good- 
 ness and portrays the love of God, in the most inviting 
 and gracious form. It is the visible and demonstrative in- 
 terpretation of all those moral principles which are applica- 
 ble to our condition as subjects of the divine government, 
 and as living in a world of sin and sorrow. It affords a lu- 
 minous and lovely portrait of the glory of the Lord, by be- 
 holding which, we become changed into the same image, 
 from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. It 
 consecrates a hallowed spot where the Lord reveals his 
 presence, that by communion with him, he may leave the 
 full and vivid impression of his own pure and holy character 
 upon our spirits. It creates, and bestows all those secon- 
 dary agencies, through which, as his own appointed means, 
 he holds a purifying fellowship with our inmost thoughts. — 
 These, and such like results, make up its characteristic ope- 
 rations in a sanctifying process, which the Spirit carries on 
 within us. He who submits his heart and yields his affec- 
 tions, feels himself to be in the holiest of all, and in com- 
 munion with his heavenly Father. He calls up to recollec- 
 tion the lusts he has indulged, the sins he has committed, 
 the mercies he has abused; and how freely and copiously 
 he weeps, repenting of all that he has done. He looks to 
 his saviour's virtues and sorrows, learns the nature of his 
 own being, perceives the truth of the gospel brought home 
 to him "in demonstration of the Spirit and with power/' 
 and deeply convinced, he believes. He listens to the pro- 
 mises of future glory, and withdrawing his eyes from the 
 vanities of life, he transfers his affections to heaven. He 
 looks around upon a guilty, dying world, and his heart, 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 219. 
 
 bursting with the tenderest sympathies for his brethren, 
 he tells them, in impassioned strains, what the Lord has 
 done for his soul; seeks to convince them that there is a 
 living, regenerating, sanctifying influence about the truth 
 as it is in Jesus, when it is admitted into the heart; and be- 
 seeches them to be reconciled unto God. 
 
 Ought not such effects to follow, if the gospel be what it 
 pretends to be; if man be an intellectual creature; and if 
 Jehovah communes with his mind, or deals with him on the 
 principle of personal responsibility? Must not such effects 
 necessarily follow, unless the hearers of the gospel resist 
 the moral influence, which the God of love thus brings to 
 bear upon their own intellectual nature? Is not power, — 
 power to reconcile, to regenerate, to sanctify, to elevate, 
 the human mind, and analogous with the operations of power 
 in all other directions, here most abundantly disclosed? 
 See you not that God is thus working, working mightily, in 
 you, according to his good pleasure; and, by his Spirit, con- 
 vincing you of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment? Feel 
 you not, that the gospel is a competent instrument of spi- 
 ritual action on your own hearts; that the cross of Christ is 
 suited to your earthly condition; and that your sympathizing 
 high-priest is able to succor you in your temptations, — is 
 able to save, even to the uttermost, all that come unto God 
 by him? Have you ever heard any thing like it? Has the 
 proud philosopher ever displayed such wisdom, or the 
 haughty formalist ever manifested such power •? Behold, 
 sinner, what a glorious foundation God hath laid in Zion ! 
 Lay down your weapons of rebellion? Quit your unbe- 
 coming and ruinous strife with your heavenly Father. Lis- 
 ten to his exhortations. Harden your hearts no more 
 against the yearnings of his Spirit. Calculate not, that 
 after you shall have rejected his Son, there " remaineth a 
 sacrifice for sin." Think not, that mercy will plead your 
 cause, and avert your impending doom, while your nature 
 is unsanctified, and your soul unreconciled. Other founda- 
 tion no man can lay, than that which is laid, even the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. Reject him, and you are undone forever, be- 
 cause there is no other medium of reconciliation; — no me- 
 thod, consistent with your own intellectual nature, by which 
 you can be renewed in the spirit of your mind. An unholy 
 being is prepared for nothing, either in his own bosom, or 
 according to the established principles of all moral govern- 
 ment, but perdition. You might as well suppose that a hur- 
 
220 LECTURES O.N 
 
 ricane would contribute to vegetation, as imagine that an 
 unsanctified man would be meet for heaven. 
 
 But in speaking of the righteousness of Christ, it may far- 
 ther be inquired, what connexion it has with the "actual trans- 
 gressions'' of men, and those which are committed by them 
 as living on their own responsibility? — In the text which has 
 been so often quoted on these general subjects, this ques- 
 tion is very explicitly answered : — "God is in Christ, re- 
 conciling the world unto himself, not imputing unto men their 
 trespasses." Can any other explanation be desired? But 
 men are so full of their ideas of abstract justice, and reason 
 so exclusively on principles of mere law, that they have sub- 
 stituted a series of theological enigmas for the riches of 
 grace. Taking such a range of thought, they dwell in 
 deepest sadness on the forbidding and chilling views of di- 
 vine sovereignty which they have formed; and sit down wilt- 
 ed and writhing under the frowns of an angry Judge, as 
 though they had committed the unpardonable sin; when 
 they should have laid their heads upon a saviour's bosom, 
 and diank, yea drank abundantly, from the fountain of his 
 forgiving love. How often we have yearned over such 
 troubled spirits! And that, when, perhaps, we have scarcely 
 escaped from the toils ourselves. 
 
 Let us inquire after the principle. Theologians have rea- 
 soned from the nature of law ? But are we under law? If 
 we are not under law, their premises are inaccurate, and no 
 wonder their conclusion is so troublesome; — for what can 
 the human mind ever gain by false reasoning? The real 
 fact is that we are not under law, but are under grace. The 
 law gives sin all its power; but being under grace, "sin 
 shall not have dominion over us." Christ having become 
 the end of the law, by fulfilling its righteousness, we are 
 placed under gospel, and our inferences must now be 
 drawn from the nature of grace. What then may we not 
 expect from grace? What will not the God of grace do for 
 us, seeing that he has no pleasure in the death of the sinner, 
 and has loved us so much as to give his only begotten Son 
 to die for us? He is our loving Father, what may his chil- 
 dren not ask for? After all his professions and declara- 
 tions of fatherly kindness, can ministers of his holy sanc- 
 tuary still describe him as keeping up a judicial process on 
 principles of inexorable law, urging it even to an extremity, 
 and would you believe them. Would any of you, being a 
 father, give to your son a stone, when he asks for a piece of 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 221 
 
 bread, or a scorpion, when he asks for an egg} What then 
 mean all these fine-spun theories, and petrifying denuncia- 
 tions, which drink up the spirit by the anguish they create, 
 when prophets and apostles are singing and preaching 
 grace divine; and when the providence of God, in " the 
 riches of his goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering," 
 stands inviting, commanding, entreating, reasoning, expos- 
 tulating — waiting for the sinner to return? Surely ministe- 
 rial men have misunderstood their commission, and the chris- 
 tian church has not read aright the charter of her privileges 
 and her hopes. And yet these very dogmas which distort 
 our heavenly Father's image, and pierce our own hearts 
 with so many sorrows, are the things which official men are 
 so laboriously and fiercely defending, and which parents 
 are so inconsiderately teaching to their children. 
 
 Perhaps my remarks may be charged with a tendency to 
 licentiousness. Does such a tendency belong to the nature 
 of grace? Or does it acquire that tendency when it is put 
 into contrast with law, or is exhibited as forming the char- 
 acteristic of a remedial government in the hands of the Son 
 of God ? Is a reconciled man a creature of unbridled lusts, 
 or unhallowed propensities ? Or, as Paul would express the 
 idea, "can he who is dead to sin, live any longer therein?" 
 Is there any immoral, or antiphilosophic attribute belonging 
 to an administration of love? 
 
 But then are not our actual sins pardoned for Christ's 
 sake 1 Most assuredly. The scriptures have explicitly de- 
 clared the fact. We are all called upon, to be "kind one to 
 another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as 
 God, for Christ's sake hath iorgiven us." Nor is it un- 
 common with the bible to represent us as pardoned for 
 Jehovah's name sake. On what principle? The ground 
 was cursed, and might have been blessed, for Adam's 
 sake. Sodom and Gomorrah would have been saved for the 
 sake of fifty, or even often, righteous men. And why? If 
 the practical result of Christ's righteousness be to reconcile 
 the world ; and if, when the mediatorial kingdom has been 
 accomplished, the redeemed are presented as personally 
 holy, should pardon for their many transgressions be with- 
 held? Is not this the very thing declared in the text, — 
 "God is in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not 
 imputing unto men their trespasses?" What would you do 
 with a reconciled, a reformed, a holy man ? What would 
 an earthly father do with a returning prodigal ? Under such 
 19* 
 
222 LECTURES ON 
 
 circumstances is not forgiveness natural, wise, equitable, and 
 right? Has not God explicitly declared, that — "If we con- 
 fess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, 
 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness?" Could the 
 issue of law itself, be any thing more than that holy men 
 should be eternally happy ? And would not all this," flow- 
 ing from the practical efficiency of the redeemer's right- 
 eousness, under a government of love, be the fruit of grace, 
 which the redeemed may celebrate through eternity ? — 
 Christ's righteousness, as perfected by his death, thus be- 
 comes the propitiation ; or that official thing, on whose 
 principles, as intrinsically excellent, as most happily appro- 
 priate to the case, and as sustained by the law itself, God 
 can be favorable to our world, and extend pardon, freely 
 and fully, without infringing on the nicest point of government. 
 It may be farther objected, that the doctrine advanced ex- 
 hibits the sinner as justified by the merit of his own works. 
 To this I reply, that merit is another theological term, 
 whose technical obliquity has injured many a spiritual mind. 
 Besides, it is a term which belongs, in the common use that 
 is made of it, to the administration of law, under which we 
 do not live. As to justification, its details, though much in- 
 volved by theological sophistry, are very plain and simple 
 on the scriptural page. JN"o man ever can be "justified by 
 deeds of law," or obedience to law abstractly considered, 
 because no man can obey law. — This is what "the law could 
 not do, in that it was weak through the flesh." Here arises 
 the necessity for a mediator. This mediator, having obeyed, 
 or fulfilled the righteousness of the law, all men, who had 
 been previously brought into condemnation by Adam's sin, 
 are brought into a justification of life. This being effected, 
 all men are put under the mediatorial government, and are 
 required to believe and obey the gospel ; on their own per- 
 sonal responsibility, and under institutions of grace which 
 are most favorable to the discharge of that responsibility. — 
 He that believeth is "justified by faith ;" he that believe'h 
 not is condemned for his unbelief. And at the last day, 
 when "God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, 
 according to the gospel," every man shall stand justified or 
 condemned, according to the facts belonging to his individ- 
 ual case. — "I say unto you," said the blessed master, — 
 "That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give 
 account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words 
 thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemn- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 223 
 
 erf."* And again I ask, what else would you do with a 
 righteous man than justify him, or with an unrighteous man 
 than condemn him ? But theologians have confounded "deeds 
 of law," predicated of the government of law, and irrespec- 
 tive of a mediator, so much with "works" performed under the 
 mediatorial administration of the gospel, that every plain 
 reader of the bible is thrown into perpetual perplexities, and 
 no one can tell the precise place or value of good works. — 
 True they tell us, that good works are evidences; but are 
 not deeds of law evidences too? The question is not fair- 
 ly stated, and hence the difficulties which have arisen. 
 
 I may, perhaps, be censured, as having left out of view 
 altogether, the atonement. But this certainly is misap- 
 prehension. For I have been most carefully portraying 
 the reconciliation to your view. Go back again, and see 
 if such be not the fact. I have not used the word — atone- 
 ment. And are all your ideas to be thrown into con- 
 fusion, your prejudices to be called up in all their vigor, 
 and a scriptural argument to be scorned as unworthy of con- 
 sideration, because a particular word has not been used ? 
 Do you not see, what unhappy strife has been gendered by 
 words ? — Oh, but the word atonement is too important to have 
 been left out. Then I must assign my reasons for the omis- 
 sion. And, 
 
 1. After all the talk about it, the word occurs in our transla- 
 tion of the new testament but once ;t and there, as every greek 
 scholar knows, the original term so translated, ought to have 
 been rendered reconciliation. What then is the meaning of 
 all this difficulty, which is so constantly felt in relation to it ? 
 One would have supposed that the word occurred on every 
 page of the new testament. — It will not do to reply that the 
 thing itself is every where presented; for the thing itself, I 
 have endeavored most faithfully to describe. 
 
 2. The etymology of the word evinces it to be per- 
 fectly consistent with the argument stated. Ment is the 
 common termination adopted to form a noun : as for exam- 
 ple — punish-??jen£; blandish-??*^; refresh-«?e/^; accomplish- 
 ment. So here, atone-mewf. The termination ment is mere- 
 ly added to the two words at and one, and makes at-one- 
 ment, which means the being at one, or agreed, or recon- 
 ciled. 
 
 3. The word has a technicality about it, which employs it 
 to represent something in theological controversy, that is 
 different from the thing which it is intended to designate. 
 
 *Matt. xii. 36, 37. fRom. v. 11. 
 
224 LECTURES ON 
 
 I shall hereafter use the term in this particular sense, or 
 as importing reconciliation. 
 
 This mediatorial work, Christ as a prophet proclaims ; as a 
 priest he performs it; and as a king he has been exalted to 
 administer, or reign on its principles. He is "a merciful and 
 faithful high priest," he is exalted to be "a prince and a Sa- 
 viour to give or grant, repentance unto Israel and remission 
 of sins;" — and this is the mediatorial administration under 
 which we all live ; under which all have lived from the be- 
 ginning; and by which all shall be judged at last. — May 
 God Almighty give us wisdom to appreciate the privileges 
 of grace, that we may be found ready for judgment at last, 
 and that it may not be our condemnation that we refused 
 to believe in and obey him, who by his righteousness has 
 brought us all into a justification of life. 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 Application of the mediatorial constitution. — General Views. 
 — Election.' — Nature and Reason of the two dispensations. 
 — Condition of the gentiles. — Light of Nature. — Ishmael 
 and Isaac. — Esau and Jacob. — Type of the Potter. — Pha- 
 raoh. — General reasonings. 
 
 The extent of the mediatorial institute is a subject of very 
 great interest. No theological point has called forth more 
 argument, or excited more feeling. It has already been pre- 
 sented incidentally in the preceding lecture. The nature 
 of the institute could not have been discussed, without stat- 
 ing its extent ; because the terms of the apostolic argument, 
 which I have been endeavoring to analyse, included both 
 subjects. In fact, the nature of the redeemer's work can- 
 not else be ascertained. If Adam's transgression involved 
 the whole race, so that all are constituted sinners and are 
 brought into condemnation; and Christ's righteousness did 
 not extend to the whole race, so that all are constituted 
 righteous, and are brought into justification of life ; then Adam 
 could not have been a figure of Christ. Much less could 
 the abounding of grace over sin have been sustained. Such 
 is the view afforded by the apostle ; — a view which includes 
 both the efficacy and the application of the remedial statute. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 225 
 
 All the general principles on which I have been reasoning 
 lead to the same result. Jill mankind have been brought in- 
 to a state of sin and condemnation by a fault not their own; 
 all the principles of justice and equity, from which the medi- 
 atorial constitution itself arises, are necessarily due to all 
 and necessarily applicable to all. The theological restric- 
 tions which have been arbitrarily imposed, and ingeniously, 
 and variously defended, instead of conferring a favor on some, 
 take away a right from all ; — a right belonging to man's 
 existence, and awarded by the very constitution of our being. 
 
 The divine attributes, of which the mediatorial constitu- 
 tion forms so beautiful a display, necessarily bring all men 
 under the remedial operation which that constitution has in- 
 troduced. Controvertists speak of the goodness, and wisdom, 
 and power, and righteousness of Jehovah, in a system of gov- 
 ernment which does not respond to the personal responsibility 
 of its subjects; which not only leaves them unpitied and 
 unassisted in a train of sorrows and infirmities, that are not 
 to be traced to their own sin ; but which condemns them as 
 personally responsible under its administration, and for fa- 
 vors and privileges that have not been bestowed. It is im- 
 possible that any argument should justify such proceedings; 
 or that the scriptures should state any views of the divine 
 character so inconsistent with its essential attributes. 
 
 The nature of man, as being qualified to acquire ideas by 
 means of his external senses, renders it as practicable to ap- 
 ply a remedial ordinance to all as to one. One man will 
 be, on all accurate and consistent principles, as responsible 
 as another man, for that which he sees, hears, and has a 
 "heart to understand" And no reason can be assigned why 
 any man should not be under the common moral responsi- 
 bilities of the divine government, any more than that a rea- 
 son can be assigned why any man shall not enjoy the com- 
 mon privileges of his existence. 
 
 The nature of the remedial institute, or of the mediatorial 
 righteousness of the Son of God, being, as has been shown, 
 an external exhibition addressed to the human spirit through 
 the bodily senses, brings one man within its range as well 
 as another man. A doctrine of election cannot be sustain- 
 ed under those circumstances, which excludes any man from 
 seeing, hearing or knowing. And hence it is, that the con- 
 demnation of men does not consist in this, that there was 
 no light, but that the light did shine, and they loved dark- 
 ness rather than liofht, because their deeds were evil. Their 
 
226 LECTURES ON 
 
 condemnation is this — "That which may be known of God, 
 is manifest among them; for God hath showed it unto 
 them." — But "they hold the truth in unrighteousness; — 
 when they knew God, they glorified him not as God ; — they 
 did not like to retain God in their knowledge." Such are the 
 scriptural comments on the subject. God does not, by any 
 sovereign legislation, render it impossible for men to know, 
 love, and obey the truth. The mediatorial righteousness of 
 the second Adam, is like the sun in the firmament, intended 
 for all — and all may enjoy the light and heat if they will. 
 Our ecclesiastical lords would limit divine grace, and curtail 
 the blessings of reconciliation by arbitrary statute ; but God 
 spreads his tender mercies over all his icorks. 
 
 These general principles have, however, been already 
 sufficiently elucidated. Let us then rather seek the contro- 
 versial ground ; and endeavor to estimate the circumstances, 
 from which the restrictions, that some theologians defend 
 with so much acrimony, are supposed to arise ; as it is evi- 
 dent that the nature of the case calls for an act of legislation 
 which shall be as universal, as it is necessary. This I 
 will do, after noticing one farther matter, which ought not 
 to be omitted. In the chapters before us, it is certainly as 
 plain, that the promise given after the fall, expresses the 
 mode of administration to which Adam and his children 
 were subjected; as that the law, promulged in paradise, inclu- 
 ded himself and children in its operations. They were all 
 without any exception, exposed to death, reduced to toil and 
 sorrow, and involved alike in the same knowledge of good 
 and evil. They all have the same attributes of character, 
 the same faculties, both mental and corporeal, and are placed 
 in the same circumstances of life. 
 
 It may be said that all these things were the results of 
 Adam's sin, and prove nothing in favor of our argument. Be 
 patient for a moment. — Theologians do not mean to aban- 
 don their own ground, as that was formerly exhibited: viz. 
 that the sentence executed, was not equal to the sentence 
 threatened.* If they do abandon their ground, then as man- 
 kind would not be spiritually dead in Adam, they would of 
 course be under the mediatorial institute. If theologians do 
 not abandon that ground, then, by their own showing, all 
 mankind are under a penalty, whose operations are restrict- 
 ed by the mediatorial institute. They may take either 
 side of this dilemma. But still farther, all those other cir- 
 
 * Lecture VI. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 227 
 
 cumstances, which attended on the early annunciation of 
 the Saviour, and which were purely mediatorial in their re- 
 ferences, are as universal in their application as the conse- 
 quences of Adam's sin. The enmity between mankind and 
 the serpent ; the cherubim ; the sacrificial institution ; the 
 idea of Jehovah manifested in the form of man, or of a vir- 
 gin-born God — all of which are purely evangelical, are every 
 where to be noticed among men, or go as far as death and 
 the knowledge-of good and evil have gone. Or if these dis- 
 tinct matters are lacking under any particular condition of 
 society, the mediatorial idea, is prominent in some peculiar 
 and interesting form. — The universality of the mediatorial 
 symbols, offers an irrefragable argument in behalf of the uni- 
 versality of ihe institute itself. While all these things are 
 plain and palpable, there is not, even the most distant, hint 
 of any election restricting the operation, or application of the 
 mediatorial plan. Election comes into view long after- 
 wards, and for specific purposes, which shall be stated in 
 their own place. The mediatorial institute is the present, 
 and the gracious, legislation of divine wisdom, framed in coin- 
 cidence with man's personal responsibilities ; and you must 
 either admit its universality, or deny those responsibilities. 
 
 The particular text which I have quoted as interchangea- 
 ble with the first promise, and which I selected on account 
 of the precision of its terms, ascribes the very same latitude 
 to the mediatorial work. — " God was in Christ, reconciling 
 the word unto himself:" — The world. — I am fully aware 
 of the exception which may be taken to this term ; inasmuch 
 as it is sometimes to be understood in a limited sense. But 
 it is not always to be so considered. The exception may be 
 cheerfully conceded ; and yet, notwithstanding, the most 
 fastidious theologue must admit that the world may mean 
 the world. And perhaps, when he shall carefully observe 
 the use of the term in the new testament, he may find it 
 utterly impossible to sustain its limited sense, in application to 
 the redeemer's kingdom, by any ingenuity which he may em- 
 ploy. This philological difficulty I shall now endeavor to 
 bring distinctly to his view : and for this purpose, shall ar- 
 range the texts I may quote in three distinct classes. 
 
 1. "The Word was in the beginning with God, and the 
 Word was God. All things were made by him; and with- 
 out him was not any thing made, that was made. — He was 
 in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world 
 
.^s LECTURES ON 
 
 knew him not."* The idea here asserted is very frequently 
 stated in the scriptures in other language: thus — "By him 
 were all things created that are in heaven, and that are 
 in earth, visible and invisible. '"T He is "the heir of all 
 things."} Throughout the old testament too the God of 
 Israel is continually represented as the creator of heaven 
 and earth. 
 
 To the Word also has been ascribed the whole work of 
 a sustaining and overruling providence. — " "\\ ho being the 
 brightness of glory, and the express image of his person, 
 and upholding all things by the word of his power.' § "By 
 him all things con?ist."|| 
 
 The remark that I wish to make upon this class of texts, 
 which every reader of the scriptures knows might have been 
 much enlarged, is. that the world, meaning all things. 
 was made by him who was :; in the form of God." Of 
 course, when :i the Word was made flesh," and tabernacled 
 among men, he came into his own world, which he himself 
 had framed, and which he continually upheld. Hence the 
 apostle John remarks. — ;; He came unto hi* own. and his 
 own received him not."'' What is there then unseemly or 
 inconzruous.in theideathattheredeemershould come to save 
 and bless his own ? It may be replied, that the apostle refers, 
 in that phrase, to the Jewish nation. That may, or may not 
 be so. It mav not be so, because they who did not receive 
 him. were those who did not know him: but they are not 
 stated to be the jews ; for in the preceding verse it is said. — 
 •• He was in the world, and the world was made by him. and 
 the world knew him not." But let the term, his own. be 
 restricted to the jew? ; yet still hi* own did not receive him ; 
 and of course nothing is made out for the "limited atone- 
 ment." which is appropriated to the elect ; because the 
 elect, agreeably with the doctrine maintained concerning 
 them, will receive him. And if. by any show of argument, 
 the elect could here be introduced as the objects of his me- 
 diatorial kindness, yet they become so. by virtue of his 
 particular property in them, as being given to him by the 
 Father. But this idea of property, will destroy the argument 
 it is intended to support : for the whole world is his proper- 
 ty, inasmuch as he made it. So also Paul reasons, in his 
 epistle to the Hebrews. H Nor can any fair reason be as. 
 
 •John i. 1 — 10. 5 Heb. i. 3. 
 
 tCol. i. 16. II Col. i. 17. 
 
 + Heb. i. 2. TCh. iii. 3—6. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 229 
 
 signed, why the redeemer, as being God manifested, should 
 not bless the world ; seeing that the creator, by whom the 
 world was made, was God manifested. 
 
 2. The redeemer is declared to be invested with all power ^ 
 in heaven and in earth ; to have all things put under his 
 feet; to be the head over all things ; unto whom every knee 
 shall bow, and every tongue shall swear. He is also said 
 to be " the seed " of Abraham ; and Abraham is designated 
 as " the heir of the world ;" and that too by virtue of the 
 righteousness of faith. Noah also, who, every one knows, 
 was the heir of the world, is emphatically styled ''the heir 
 of the righteousness of faith;" of course, then, the world, 
 as such, has a deep interest in all that belongs to the right- 
 eousness of faith, which is the very peculiarity of the media- 
 torial institute ; so that Christ, as mediator, has the whole 
 world put into his hand; governs it by mediatorial law, 
 and awards to it mediatorial privileges. 
 
 It is true, that various dispensations have been established, 
 some of which have conferred their special favors on cer- 
 tain portions of mankind. The patriarchal dispensation, 
 erected with Adam, and afterwards revived with Noah, 
 was universal in its application. It was mediatorial, for its 
 characteristic was the righteousness of faith; and yet it was 
 co-extensive with the world. The mosaic dispensation 
 was confined to the jews. . And the new testament dispen- 
 sation has, thus far, been actually confined to a part of the 
 gentiles. But these two latter dispensations were not de- 
 signed to shut out the rest of the world from the benefits of 
 the first, as though they had no interest in the righteousness 
 of faith, which had been preached to them from the begin- 
 ning. So far from such a denunciation being the object of 
 the two subsequent " ministrations," they, in common with 
 the first dispensation, were set up by the redeemer himself; 
 as Paul explicitly declares: — " God hath," says he, "in 
 these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath 
 appointed heir of all thtngs, by whom also he made the 
 worlds, or dispensations, or ages. The Jewish ritual he en- 
 acted as "being in the form of God," and the gospel he has 
 proclaimed as "the Word made flesh." Both of these, the 
 law and the gospel, he has established for special purposes, 
 which I shall presently undertake to explain; but neither 
 of them was intended to set aside, or to revoke, mediatorial 
 law, as given to all men immediately after the fall ; and there- 
 20 
 
230 LECTURES ON 
 
 fore neither of them militates against the broad fact that he 
 is the saviour of the world. 
 
 3. If you will carry along with you the two previous clas- 
 ses of texts, which I have quoted, you will be prepared to 
 see the full force and beauty of those which follow. — "He 
 that sowed the good seed is the Son of man ; the field is the 
 world. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only be- 
 gotten Son." — " God sent not his Son into the world, to 
 condemn the world, but that the world through him might be 
 saved." — "And this is the condemnation, that light is come 
 into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light." 
 11 The gospel — which is come to you, as it is in all the world.' 7 
 "And we have seen and do testify, that the Father sent the 
 Son to be the saviour of the world."- — " And he is the propi- 
 tiation for our sins ; and not for ours only, but also for the 
 sins of the whole world.' 1 — "Who will have all men to be 
 saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth." — "We 
 trust in the living God, who is the saviour of all men, spe- 
 cially of those that believe." — "For the grace of God that 
 bringeth salvation, hath appeared unto all men." 
 
 These texts seem to be sufficiently explicit, and have af- 
 forded ample scope to the textual expositor to display his 
 ingenuity, in forcing them under sectarian restrictions. Nor 
 is any thing more easy, or injudicious, than to embarrass a 
 momentous subject by verbal criticism, as the whole of moral 
 -science has sufficiently demonstrated. Few reason on gene- 
 ral principles ; and a little philological acumen enables a 
 sectarian to carry his party feelings and views a great length. 
 The present subject has been long abused by this technical 
 refinement. But if you shall recollect and apply the gene- 
 ral views which have been stated, you will find them adequate 
 to disembarrass your own mind; and you will feel that a just 
 interpretation of scriptural terms will throw no impediments 
 in your way. 
 
 The real truth, however, is, that the doctrine of a "lim- 
 ited, or definite atonement," is necessary to maintain the 
 doctrine of " election," individually considered, which has 
 been so zealously advocated. They are twin sisters. Our 
 argument, therefore, necessarily requires, that we should 
 endeavor to ascertain the biblical form of election. That 
 there is an election asserted in the scriptures, no one can 
 deny. It appears there, plain and distinct, both in language 
 and fact ; to evade it is childish, and to oppose it is dishonest. 
 But to explain it, fairly belongs to the expositor; and on no 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 231 
 
 class of expositors is the responsibility to explain more im- 
 periously pressing than on those, who maintain that each 
 individual is personally accountable. 
 
 To me it seems, that election, as stated in the scriptures, 
 is purely official; or if there be any exception to this view, 
 it shall be explained in its own place. I mean to say, that 
 according to the scriptures, election is an appendage of 
 the two dispensations, which have been introduced since 
 the call of Abraham. Certain it is, that God did at one 
 time elect the jews, and that at another time, he did elect the 
 gentiles, to be his particular people. In the one case, then, 
 the jews, and in the other case, the gentiles, would very 
 properly be called God's elect. They severally stood in a 
 peculiar relation to him, according to a " purpose of elec- 
 tion." This statement is not to be controverted ; for the 
 scriptures have presented it in full delineation, both histori- 
 cally and doctrinally. 
 
 Election, however, has been considered as a divine 
 purpose, setting apart a certain number of mankind, which 
 number can neither be increased nor diminished, to ever- 
 lasting life ; and reprobating, or passing by, the rest, as heirs 
 of eternal death. But supposing, as I do, that election is 
 co-eval with the two dispensations, that a view of it, seems 
 to me to be a palpable abuse of its terms and design. Nor 
 only so; but it also appears to me that God himself, fore- 
 seeing the misinterpretation of his own high and holy 
 purposes, framed the abrahamic covenant, in order to pre- 
 serve the integrity of the mediatorial constitution; and to 
 prevent any collision between the two latter covenants, and 
 the gospel scheme itself. To explain. The mosaic ritual 
 was enacted under the covenant made with Abraham; and 
 under the christian economy, all believers are said to be 
 the children of Abraham. Of course, the law given by 
 Moses, could not, as Paul argues in his epistle to the gala- 
 tians, be contrary to the promise given to Abraham. His 
 language is very explicit — "And this, I say," he observes, 
 "that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in 
 Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, 
 cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none 
 effect."* Now the promise was given to Abraham as "the 
 heir of the world," and did actually constitute him such. 
 Thus it is expressed :-^<'In thee shall all nations be blessed." 
 That is, the promise given to Abraham included all nations ; 
 
 • Gal. Ui. 17. 
 
232 LECTURES ON 
 
 the law given by Moses, included only the nation of the 
 jews, as God's elected people. Of course, if there be 
 any meaning in terms, the limited operation of the law 
 given to the jews, as Jehovah's elect, was not intended to 
 countervail the universality of the gospel, preached to 
 Abraham as the heir of the world. Accordingly, when the 
 apostle finds the jews reasoning on erroneous views, in re- 
 lation to their own peculiar privileges, and arguing the re- 
 jection, or reprobation, or passing by, of all the rest of the 
 world, as though they had no interest in the gospel, he flies 
 at once to the abrahamic covenant, in order to demonstrate 
 their error. Such in fact, is the very argument he maintains, 
 in the very epistle and chapter from which our quotation 
 has been made. Changing terms, we conceive that his ar- 
 gument is equally applicable to the ideas of God's purpose 
 of election, which have since been so strenuously main- 
 tained. 
 
 The relative position of these different covenants, appears 
 to be as follows : — After the fall, when God gave the pro- 
 mise of the seed of the woman, he made Adam, a second 
 time, a covenant head to his race; or, if you please, a pa- 
 triarchal chief. Through him, he promulgated to the world, 
 the mediatorial institute, or, as Paul would express it, 
 "the righteousness of faith." After the deluge, he invested 
 Noah with this official pre-eminence ; and thus again pro- 
 claimed to the world the righteousness of faith. In process 
 of time an emergency occurred, which required a divine 
 interference, and a new act of legislation became necessary. 
 Nor was it an easy matter to interfere, because any mea- 
 sures which might be adopted, would necessarily affect 
 the organization of society. On a former occasion, and un- 
 der a similar emergency, the process which the great gover- 
 nor of the world adopted, and which he promised never 
 again to repeat, while time should last, was summary and 
 terrible; — he brought in the flood; and the whole race, with 
 a very small exception, perished beneath his awful rebuke. 
 Now again he comes down in judgment; yet under promise 
 that he would not again desolate the earth. But what 
 should he do ? It is manifest, that however lenient his pro- 
 ceedings might be, a new organization must take place : 
 and an organization which, whatever its provisions might 
 be, must not make matters worse than it found them. The 
 plan which infinite wisdom devised, and which has been 
 styled the mystery of the divine will, eventually proved to 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 233 
 
 be this very election, of which the scriptures so frequently 
 speak. God intended thereby to relieve the new series of 
 difficulties which had occurred. And accordingly Paul 
 traces up the law of Moses to them, as their origin ; for he 
 asserts that "the law was added because of corruptions,"* 
 which had been introduced. 
 
 Election ? — But the whole world had become corrupted ; 
 Abraham himself and his fathers were idolaters.! Thus the 
 elected alone could enjoy divine favors, and the rest of 
 mankind would be reprobated, or passed by. Jehovah would 
 be the God of the jews, but not the God of the gentiles. 
 Not at all, says the apostle. He is "the God of the gentiles 
 also; seeing it is one God who shall justify the circumcision 
 by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith, t" Not at 
 all, says Moses ; for Abraham was the heir of the world; 
 all nations were to be blessed in him, as they had been in 
 Noah, and Adam before him. He was exalted to the same 
 official pre-eminence; and secured the same evangelical 
 boon, even the righteousness of faith. And the purpose of 
 election, which was carried out into execution four hundred 
 and thirty years after, could not, and did not, interfere with 
 the righteousness of faith, in which all mankind had a like 
 interest. Manifestly then, 
 
 I. The gentiles were still under the patriarchal dispensa- 
 tion ; which was mediatorial in all its attributes, and had 
 conveyed to them all its ordinances. Wretchedly as they 
 corrupted the revelation which had been made from the be- 
 ginning, and repeated by Noah, yet the incarnation and 
 sacrifice of the Son of God, as promised and typified, were 
 the very sources of their exceedingly strange mythology. 
 They were not removed from the influence of patriarchal 
 privileges; but while they became more and more idolatrous, 
 their very idolatry proclaims their evangelical origin. It is 
 no uncommon thing for theologians to urge the universality 
 of sacrifice in proof of its divine authenticity. 
 
 2. The whole series of transactions with which Jehovah 
 filled up the israelitish history, was done before, or in pre- 
 sence of, the gentiles. Egypt marvelled, and Canaan trem- 
 bled. These things were not done in a corner. All men 
 heard of them ; all'men saw them. "These statutes," said 
 Moses to them, "are your wisdom and understanding in the 
 sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and 
 say, — Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding 
 
 * Gal. iii. 19. f Josh. xxiv. 2. t Rom. iii. 29—30. 
 
 20* 
 
234 LECTURES ON 
 
 people."* Considered, therefore, as having an official char- 
 acter, the mosaic ritual was a luminous and instructive dis- 
 play to the gentiles themselves; which might have checked 
 their idolatrous career, and taught them the most profitable 
 lessons. So that the purpose of election, which consecrated 
 the jews as a peculiar people, did not involve the reproba- 
 tion of the gentiles. 
 
 3. The gentiles having these avital privileges, and others 
 which occurred to them from the election itself, the apostle 
 Paul, in his great epistle to the romans, — where he is ar- 
 guing on the grand principles of Jehovah's moral govern- 
 ment, and that too in view of the purpose of election, — 
 declares that they are not condemned, saving for their own 
 fault. His reasoning is very plain. "That which may be 
 known of God," he observes, "is manifest in (among) them; 
 for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things 
 of him from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, 
 being understood by the things that are made, even his 
 eternal power and godhead ; so that they are vnthout excuse; 
 because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as 
 God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imagi- 
 nation, and their foolish heart was darkened. Even as they 
 did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them 
 up to a reprobate mind." Surely such a case is not to be 
 resolved into an inscrutable sovereignty, whose proceedings 
 are aside of any known judicial principles : neither does 
 any difficulty occur, too great for our minds to reach; 
 the reasons of which belong to the awful secrets, which the 
 last day shall disclose. The whole matter is very plain. 
 
 But the apostle goes further in his explanatory statements ; 
 and shows, that the gentiles not only have the outward man- 
 ifestation of which he had spoken, but that they have per- 
 sonal qualifications of a corresponding character and ex- 
 tent. "For," says he, "when the gentiles, which have not 
 the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, 
 having not the law, are a law unto themselves; which 
 show the work of the law, written in their hearts, their con- 
 science also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean- 
 while accusing, or else excusing, one another." Surely 
 the gentiles are not destitute of moral attributes; for they 
 "show the work of the law written in their hearts;" neither 
 are they incapable of exercising their moral powers, for they 
 do by nature the things contained in the law, and their 
 
 * Deut. iv. 6. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 235 
 
 consciences are ever bearing witness. Moral questions 
 and judicial principles are familiar to them, for they are 
 ever debating such things with one another. 
 
 The apostle does not leave us yet; but states distinctly 
 the relative condition of the gentiles. The jews, he says, 
 have the law of Moses; and the gentiles have not the law 
 of Moses. The jews do under the law of Moses, what 
 the gentiles do by nature. Of course, the jew shall be 
 judged by the law of Moses, under which he has been 
 placed; but. the gentile shall be judged without the law of 
 Moses. Both shall be called into judgment, and shall be 
 dealt with according to their circumstances. The gentile 
 who has sinned without the law of Moses, shall perish with- 
 out the law of Moses ; and the jew who has sinned in 
 (under) the law of Moses, shall be judged by the law of 
 Moses. And this judgment, which shall call up the secrets 
 of men, shall be conducted by Jesus Christ, and according 
 to the gospel: so that the gentile, who cannot be judged by 
 the law of Moses, because he is not under it, must be under 
 the gospel, seeing that he shall be judged "according to 
 the gospel." 
 
 To draw out the case at full length, says the apostle ; — ■ 
 "God will render unto every man according to his deeds; 
 to them who by patient continuance in well doing, seek for 
 glory, and honor, and immortality, he will render eternal 
 life : but unto them that are contentious, and do not obey 
 the truth, but obey unrighteousness, he will render indigna- 
 tion and wrath. He will render tribulation and anguish, 
 upon every soul of man that doeth evil: of the jew first, 
 and also of the gentile; but he will render glory, honor, and 
 peace, to every man that worketh good; to the jew first, 
 and also to the gentile. For there is no respect of persons 
 with God." This statement, one would think, might satisfy 
 the most fastidious theologian, and demonstrate to him that 
 the gentile, — that the whole world, — is not under law, but 
 under the mediatorial institute. 
 
 One other view, may, however, yet present itself, in which 
 the scriptures sustain a comparison between jews and gen- 
 tiles. Our apostle, in this same epistle, describes the jews 
 as living under divine forbearance. "Dost thou," says he, 
 addressing himself to the jew, "despise the riches of his 
 goodness, and forbearance, and long suffering; not knowing 
 that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance ?"* 
 
 * Rom. ii. 4. 
 
236 LECTURES ON 
 
 Again he asserts, that "God hath set forth Jesus Christ to 
 be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his 
 righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through 
 the forbearance of God."* So then the jew is governed in 
 forbearance. — The apostle elsewhere declares the gentile 
 to be similarly situated. "The living God," he observes, 
 "which made heaven and earth, and the seas, and all things 
 that are therein, in times past, suffered all nations to walk 
 in their own way. Nevertheless, he left not himself without 
 witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, 
 and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and glad- 
 ness."! And again : — "God that made the world, and all 
 things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, 
 dwelleth not in temples made with hands: neither is wor- 
 shipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, 
 seeing that he giveth to all, life, and breath, and all things; 
 and hath made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell 
 on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times 
 before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation ; that 
 they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, 
 and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 
 for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as cer- 
 tain also of your own poets have said- — 'For we are also his 
 offspring.' Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of 
 God, we ought not to think that the godhead is like unto 
 gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. 
 And the times of this ignorance God winked at."t From all 
 this it is evident, that the gentiles were objects of divine 
 forbearance, as well as the jews; that if he had given to the 
 latter a law, the first had his witness among them, preaching 
 his goodness, and urging them to seek him. God's "pur- 
 pose of election'' does not then involve the reprobation, or 
 passing by, of the gentiles. 
 
 According to this train of argument, it may be asked, 
 what benefits did the jews derive from being God's elected 
 people ? I was fully aware of the objection implied in this 
 question. And if I had not been, the apostle himself would 
 have warned us of it. The argument which he maintained, 
 in his epistle to the romans, was conceived to be liable to 
 the same objection ; and the question was asked of him. — 
 "What advantage then hath the jew, or what profit is there 
 of circumcision ?" To this he promptly replied, — "Much 
 every way ; chiefly because that unto them was committed 
 
 * Rom. iii. 25. f Acts xiv. 15—17. J Acts xvii. 24—30. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 237 
 
 the oracles of God." They had favors conferred on them, 
 which the gentiles did not receive. To the Israelites per- 
 tained "the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, 
 and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the 
 promises, and the fathers; and of them, concerning the 
 flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever." 
 All these privileges, which formed so peculiar a system of 
 tuition, and multiplied so much the means of obtaining in- 
 formation, were surely very great, and presented an inter- 
 esting spectacle to the world. But they were not so great 
 as to warrant the inference, that all the rest of the world 
 were deprived of their ancestorial privileges ; that the pa- 
 triarchal dispensation, with its traditions and institutions, 
 was useless ; that the non-elect were handed over to per- 
 dition. In fact the jews had drawn that inference, and it 
 was one of the apostle's objects, in the epistle referred to, 
 to show its total irrelevancy. We leave it in his hands. 
 
 Eut there is another point, brought up to view by the 
 quotations that have been made, and which is entitled to 
 careful consideration. We hear a great deal about "the light 
 of nature:" and it forms the matter of debate in the deist- 
 ical controversy. Now the question is, — what is the light 
 of nature ? It has been explained as the light which Adam 
 enjoyed before he fell. The general idea on the subject, it 
 is presumed, is different, and rather views the light of na- 
 ture as opposed to revelation. Strictly speaking, these two 
 views are the same; but when employed in actual discus- 
 sion, they are widely different. For the term revelation is 
 then confined to the scriptures, which have been given under 
 the two dispensations. All those, therefore, who have not 
 received these special oracles, live under the light of nature. 
 With this latter view I agree ; but I cannot adopt the farther 
 explanations which are given. The Westminster assembly, 
 for example, make this remark : — "Although the light of 
 nature, and the works of creation and providence, do so 
 far manifest the goodness, and wisdom, and power of God, 
 as to leave men inexcusable, yet they are not sufficient to 
 give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is ne- 
 cessary to salvation." Now this appears to me to be entirely 
 one-sided, — a species of government which is all penalty. 
 For, on the supposition that an individual, placed under the 
 light of nature, should act up to its dictates, he gains 
 nothing, — he cannot be saved. And yet if he acts not up 
 to its dictates, he is inexcusable and comes into condemna- 
 
238 LECTURES ON 
 
 tion on account of his aberrations. Surely such an exhibi- 
 tion of the government of God among men, cannot be just: 
 nor do the scriptures offer any thing to justify it. 
 
 It will avail nothing, to say, that no individual can com- 
 ply with the dictates of nature; and that therefore it is per- 
 fectly useless to state the case. For certainly mankind are 
 excusable in not doing that which they cannot do. If it 
 should be asserted by any one, that the fact is totally differ- 
 ent, and that men may be condemned for not doing what it 
 was impossible they should do, he must be conscious that 
 his own mind revolts from such a statement. He must feel, 
 that he has cast on the divine government an imputation of 
 the very worst sort, which nothing can palliate. It will not 
 relieve the difficulty, to appeal to the sovereignty of God: 
 that reply would indeed change the terms ; but at the same 
 time it would only repeat the imputation. Nor will it an- 
 swer any better purpose, to quote Paul's question, — "Nay, 
 but, man, who art thou that repliest against God?" For 
 the question has nothing to do with the matter in hand, as 
 shall hereafter appear. 
 
 The texts which we have been considering, have been 
 advanced in proof of the Westminster assembly's doctrine. 
 But, as we are not under their jurisdiction, and have no belief 
 in their infallibility, we beg leave to re-examine the texts for 
 ourselves. Paul certainly does not offer a view of the di- 
 vine government, so palpably defective. According to his 
 account, the gentiles were not inexcusable, because they did 
 not do, what it was impossible they should do : but "because, 
 that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, 
 neither were thankful ; but became vain in their imagina- 
 tions." They were "given over to a reprobate mind," not 
 because they did not do what they could not do, but because 
 "they did not like to retain God in their knowledge." 
 Neither does the apostle say that the gentiles were under a, 
 system which was competent to condemn them for their 
 sins, but incompetent to afford them that which was "ner 
 cessary to salvation." On the contrary, he represents them 
 as "doing by nature the things contained in the law," and 
 showing "the work of the law written on their hearts." 
 And finally, he declares that every gentile who worketh 
 good, should obtain glory, honor, and peace. 
 
 The apostle does not oppose nature to revelation. 
 For he asserts, that "the wrath of God is revealed from 
 heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 239 
 
 who hold the truth in unrighteousness ; because that which 
 may be known of God is manifest among them; for God hath 
 showed it unto them." He opposes nature to the elec- 
 tion. The jews, he declares, are under the law; the gen- 
 tiles "are a law unto themselves," — not that they are desti- 
 tute of any means, granted to them by Jehovah, of judging 
 what is right; but they show the work of the law written on 
 their hearts. 
 
 It is manifest that the phrase, " light of nature," used 
 in reference to the gentiles, and as opposed to revela- 
 tion, is applied very incorrectly. For they were under me- 
 diatorial law, by virtue of their ancestorial inheritance; and 
 mediatorial law is revelation. It is evident that they 
 are so completely under the mediatorial administration, 
 that in doing evil, they are inexcusable; and by working 
 good they may inherit eternal life. Yet they do not belong 
 to the election; i. e. viewed in reference to the Jewish 
 law. Of course, the extent of the atonement which be- 
 longs to " mediatorial law," is not limited by the extent of 
 the election; because mediatorial law goes beyond the elec- 
 tion. 
 
 It has often been remarked, that the deistical argument 
 has improved with the progress of revelation; and that, in 
 fact, deists themselves repose much confidence in the 
 mercy of God, and in the value of repentance. They tell 
 us that these ideas are derived from the light of nature; and 
 talk with a great deal of complacency of such men as 
 Socrates and Seneca, Plato and Cicero, as well as of 
 their fine moral sentiments. Christian moralists, on the other 
 hand, ever endeavor to throw these philosophers into the 
 shade; and deny that the light of nature proclaims the thing 
 that is necessary unto salvation. But how could the world 
 be destitute of evangelical ideas and terms? The whole 
 world has been under mediatorial law, and has lived by the 
 forbearance of God. And if God had manifested unto them 
 what may be known of him, or if his witness was ever pro- 
 claiming his goodness unto them ; why should not such men 
 as Socrates and Seneca, and Plato and Cicero, reason ra- 
 tionally and philosphically ? Does not Paul ascribe just 
 views to the heathen poets, when they said, that men were 
 " the offspring of God ?" Does he not tell us that the gen- 
 tiles did by nature the things contained in the law, and that 
 they were ever debating moral subjects among themselves? 
 Does he not declare, that, in so far as they did not reason 
 
240 LECTURES ON 
 
 right, they were inexcusable ? And why should not the 
 deistical argument improve with the progress of revelation ; 
 when, by that progress of revelation, the very ideas which 
 belong to the light of nature, are thereby made more plain 
 and distinct? And why should not the christian philoso- 
 pher resolve into the righteousness of faith, the morality dis- 
 played in the heathen world, as promptly as he does so re- 
 solve Jewish morality ? Was not the righteousness of faith 
 handed down from Adam to Noah, and from Noah to Abra- 
 ham ? Did not the abrahamic covenant bring out the same 
 doctrine before the world ; and the Jewish law, as a severe 
 schoolmaster, teach its necessity? As to a light of nature, 
 which is independent of mediatorial law, neither christian 
 nor deist knows any thing about it; and when they under- 
 take to argue, in relation to such a thing, they speak with- 
 out book, and draw conclusions without premises. Nature 
 is opposed to election. It is as much nature that the world 
 should be under the government of the mediator and his 
 evangelical institute, as it would have been nature for the 
 world to have been governed by the creator and his institute 
 of law, if Adam had not fallen. The state of society, or of 
 government among the jews, was unnatural.\ 
 
 In view of the Jewish polity, and while comparing "the 
 atonement" with the election, the scriptures have furnished 
 us with another official exhibition, whose principle is the 
 same with that on which our argument is based. That ex- 
 hibition is seldom considered in connexion with this sub- 
 ject; because, though mentioned three times in the scrip- 
 tures, it is supposed to belong to those things, "hard to be 
 understood," which Paul has written. I allude to the 
 priesthood of Melchizedek. It is true, that we know very 
 little concerning this man, and his official relations; but it 
 is presumed, that we know enough to establish the point 
 before us. Melchizedek was a priest of the Most High 
 God. He was not a priest under the levitical law, as he 
 had no levitical register, or was without father, without mo- 
 ther, without beginning of days or end of life, — all of which 
 matters must be stated concerning a levitical priest.* And 
 Christ was a priest, after the order 'of Melchizedek, and 
 not after the order of Aaron ; seeing that neither had he 
 any levitical register, as he belonged to the tribe of Judah. 
 The priesthood of Melchizedek was then in the gentile 
 world, and was outside of the circumference of "the election" 
 
 * See Gray's Priesthoods. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 241 
 
 altogether. Now, the apostle argues, that different priest- 
 hoods have different laws ;— his declaration is that "the priest- 
 hood being changed, there is made of necessity a change 
 also of the law." Of course, the priesthood of Melchize- 
 dek was not affected by any of the restrictions of the Jew- 
 ish ritual. Consequently the priesthood of Christ, "though it 
 might bring about the redemption of the transgressions that 
 were under the first testament," yet went far beyond them, 
 — and was co-extensive with the priesthood of Melchize- 
 dek. 
 
 The question which now arises is, what was the law of 
 the priesthood of Melchizedek? In answer to which, it is 
 to be remarked, 1. That this singular personage is intro- 
 duced to our notice, in the most formal manner, — he was 
 priest of the most high God. i. e. He held a special and im- 
 mediate commission from God himself: for as, every head 
 of a family was a priest in his own family, Abraham too was 
 a priest; yet he paid tithes to Melchizedek. w 2. Paul ar- 
 gues, that as Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, his 
 priesthood was not only outside of "the election," but far 
 superior to the priesthood of Aaron. 3. If "even Abraham" 
 paid tithes, any one else might have done the same, 
 on the principle of reasoning from the greater to the less. 
 Of course the priesthood of Melchizedek was characterised 
 by universality. Hence the apostle's peculiar language — 
 that Christ being a priest after the similitude of Melchize- 
 dek, was made so, "not after a carnal commandment, but 
 after the power of an endless life." And as he continueth 
 ever., he "hath an unchangeable priesthood," and is also 
 able to save unto the uttermost, them that come unto God 
 by him." Of course the priesthood of Christ goes back- 
 ward and forward, with the whole history of the human 
 race; within that range no "beginning of days" nor 
 "end of life" can be specified ; and it includes the whole 
 human family, as no particular class of mankind, can be ge- 
 nealogically traced, to whom it properly belongs. There is 
 no other priest for either jew or gentile. All have a like in- 
 terest in him and his official transactions. And the argu- 
 ment that represents him as making reconciliation for one, 
 necessarily represents him as making reconciliation for all. 
 
 The priesthood of Melchizedek, seems then, like the of- 
 ficial character of Abraham, to have been intended to pre- 
 vent all those narrow reasonings, to which the doctrine of 
 election has given rise. The apostle Paul certainly makes 
 21 
 
242 LECTURES ON 
 
 no other use of it, than to correct such impressions amoncr 
 the jews: for his evident design, in his epistle to the he- 
 brews, is to put the whole mosaic constitution into a se- 
 condary place ; and to lower it in the estimation of his coun- 
 trymen, who considered it primary and indispensable. And 
 as all their exclusive ideas, arose from the fact, that they 
 were the chosen, or elected, people of God ; he, in tracing 
 the limited operation of the law, in view of which they had 
 been elected, refuted their views of election itself. 
 
 Under the christian economy, when a second election oc- 
 curs, the argument, in favor of the universality of the medi- 
 atorial institute, is comparatively simple. Two particulars 
 alone need to be mentioned. 1. The terms which are used 
 are universal — "Go ye into all the world, and preach the 
 gospel to every creature." — "All power is given unto me in 
 heaven, and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all na- 
 tions" — "The times of this ignorance,. God winked at ; but 
 now commandeth all men, every where to repent." 
 
 2. The peculiar designation of the new economy, is — 
 gospel. And gospel is glad-tidings — glory to God, and 
 good will to men. It is "that which was from the begin- 
 ning." Its subject is the righteousness of faith, which was 
 proclaimed to Adam, the head of our race, after the fali ; to 
 Noah, constituted the head of the human family, after the 
 flood ; and to Abraham, made "the heir of the world." The 
 gospel is then concerned about that which is the inheritance 
 of man, by virtue of the first promise. Such is its general 
 subject; while the particular dispensation, under which its 
 full disclosures are made, will serve its temporary purpose 
 — "until the fulness of the gentiles be come in," when all 
 the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God. 
 
 In thus endeavoring to ascertain the position of the gen* 
 tiles, under the mediatorial administration of the Son of God, 
 I believe that nothing has been left unconsidered, which 
 was worthy of any particular notice : unless it may be, that 
 some one might reproachfully ask, — is it not strange, that, un- 
 der such circumstances, we should have no better account of 
 the gentiles, than that which history has recorded ? Certainly 
 we have abundant reason for sad and mournful reflections, 
 when we turn to the annals of so large a portion of our race. 
 And we wish we had no farther cause of grief. But one 
 portion of the history of man, was wound up in the deluge. 
 Was not that equally strange ? Another portion was wound 
 up in the necessity for the call of Abraham. Was not that 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 243 
 
 equally strange? Neither have the gentile nations ever 
 been viewed with a kindly eye, either by jews or christians. 
 For they have uniformly reasoned, as though the world had 
 nothing but evil in it; and as though the consequence of 
 Adam's sin had been pure, unmingled evil ; when Jeho- 
 vah's own comment is, — "Behold the man is become as 
 one of us, to know good and evil." And yet Abraham 
 met with Melchizedek : Isaac with Abimelech; Joseph 
 with Potipherah ; Moses with Jethro, and Job, and Bala- 
 am. Literary men, of enlightened and liberal views, have 
 spoken much of the philosophers; and the sybylline oracles 
 seem to have been but a collection of fragments of patriar- 
 chal traditions, long preserved, and scattered every where. 
 Then again, what shall be said for the election themselves? 
 Moses found them a stiff-necked and rebellious people; of- 
 ten did they relapse into idolatry ; Samuel had much trou- 
 ble with them; Elijah sought their reformation with many 
 tears; the babylonish captivity was a long and sore punish- 
 ment of their crimes; ten of the tribes have no habitation 
 which any anxious moralist can discover; in the redeemer's 
 day, the remainder were guilty of the very things for which 
 they condemned the gentiles, and finally filled up the cup 
 of their iniquity in acting the tragedy of the crucifixion. 
 
 And besides, what shall we say for ourselves ? What is 
 our own history, from the day that ecclesiastical councils 
 were formed, down through the long reign of their pernicious 
 decrees, even to our own times ; when the sectarian is tramp- 
 ling on his fellow, and every denomination is writhing un- 
 der its own legislative mistakes ? Or what account shall we 
 give of our own contentions, down from the lofty preten- 
 sions of papal misrule, to the lowest socinianism itself? Or 
 how do we appear, when to stimulate ourselves to deeds of 
 discipline, we are ever talking in sectarian jargon about the 
 purity of the church; and purchasing peace on our dying 
 pillow, by casting each other out of the church? And do 
 we wonder at the history of the heathen ? — Such is human 
 depravity. We fear a new tragedy is in preparation, and 
 will soon lay waste the fairest parts of our once goodly he- 
 ritage. For it is impossible, that such things, so fearfully 
 immoral, and so contrary to every emotion with which chris- 
 tian love might inspire the human bosom, should not have 
 a disastrous termination. Never did society more need re- 
 organization. That reorganization will take place: and the 
 prelude we dread* 
 
244 LECTURES Otf 
 
 But we have to consider the design and reason of the? 
 election. Tt is a sovereign act ; yet Jehovah never pro- 
 ceeds to such sovereign acts without a reason ; and a rea- 
 son, involving the good of his creatures as its object. Nor 
 only so; but that reason is always assigned, or is within the 
 reach of our apprehension, and will be seen, sooner or lat- 
 er, according as the human mind shall acquire moral vigor,' 
 or as succeeding generations shall improve upon the discov- 
 eries of those which preceded. Nor has the reason, in the 
 present case, been ever concealed. The history of the rec- 
 toral transaction itself, states its necessity, and evinces it 
 to be a dispensation of relief; a dispensation, intended to 
 be "a schoolmaster" for the time being, whose services were 
 necessary to expose the errors of idolatry, and lead a mista- 
 ken and distracted world to the Son of God, as the only 
 Saviour. 
 
 To be more explicit. We must return again to the apos- 
 tle Paul, who is the great commentator on the mediatorial 
 institute ; and who has, under the direction of the Holy Spi- 
 rit, traced out all its relations. In his epistle to the gala- 
 tians, and in an attempt to explain the extended character of 
 the abrahamic covenant, he supposes himself to be asked 
 this question — "Wherefore then serveth the law?" This is 
 the very question, which we are now to consider. He replies, 
 — "The law was added because of transgressions, till the seed 
 should come, to whom the promise was made." And what 
 were these transgressions ? The descendants of Cain, draw- 
 ing the posterity of Seth into their vortex of corruptions, 
 had inculcated and established that fearful infidelity, which 
 rejected the whole mediatorial institute. The postdiluvians, 
 effectually warned against such unbridled licentiousness 
 by the deluge, as the jews were afterwards warned by the 
 babylonish captivity against idolatry, supposed a multi- 
 tude of "incarnations" to have occurred, and so degener- 
 ated into polytheism. What may be the different amounts 
 of turpitude between infidelity and polytheism, 1 shall not 
 undertake to decide. But in all the guilt of the latter, the 
 world was involved, when God proclaimed the purpose of 
 election in the call of Abraham. This great patriarch him- 
 self was taken from an idolatrous family: so that the evil 
 must have spread far and wide, and the whole science of 
 morals have become most egregiously corrupted. Let us 
 then inquire into the character and extent of this corruption. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT 245 
 
 The two great correlate facts in the history of man, to 
 which our attention should be directed in the moral disqui- 
 sition we have undertaken, are, that — In Adam all men die, 
 and in Christ all men shall be made alive. Or, to vary the 
 mode of expression, the two great institutes, under which 
 mankind have been placed, are law and gospel. Or, to 
 vary terms a little farther, the two great views of moral obli- 
 gation, which the scriptures have employed their writers to 
 discuss, are designated by the phrases — the righteousness 
 of the law, and the righteousness of faith. Now, in the ge- 
 neral corruption which prevailed at the time of Abraham's 
 call, these elemental matters were misunderstood; or the 
 two institutes were mingled together in sad and wretched 
 confusion. Any plan, therefore, which Jehovah would de- 
 vise, and which should, at the same time, be suitable to the 
 unhappy condition of mankind, or calculated to redeem 
 them from their idolatrous depravity, must bring out these two 
 great facts, these two great institutes, and these two para- 
 mount views of moral obligation, in distinct and vivid dis- 
 play. To accomplish this desirable object, was, as I un- 
 understand the transaction, the design of Jehovah, in erect- 
 ing the two dispensations. The mosaic ritual was a symbol 
 of the first institute, or law ; and was intended to demon- 
 strate, that "by deeds of law, no flesh can be justified in the 
 sight of God." The christian dispensation was a symbol of 
 the second institute, or gospel, and was intended to exhibit 
 "the righteousness of faith." Accordingly the two dispen- 
 sations are respectively denominated law and gospel ; and 
 are continually represented as having those distinctive re- 
 ferences. 
 
 That such was the actual condition of mankind, when 
 Abraham was called, I infer, — 1. Because, as there are but 
 the two institutes, or the two modes of justification, the hu- 
 man mind in flying from the one, must, of necessity, retreat 
 into the other. If then the descendants of the patriarchs, 
 had misunderstood the doctrine of the righteousness of faith, 
 which had been revealed to them, they necessarily run into 
 that of the righteousness of the law: and thus the latter be- 
 came the basis of whatever hopes they had. If, in the mean 
 time, they still held fast to the positive institutions which 
 they had received, and whose whole reference was to the 
 righteousness of faith ; — which they might easily do, for a 
 community will change its doctrines much sooner than it will 
 change its forms, and will in fact preserve an outward cere- 
 21* 
 
246 LECTURES ON 
 
 mony long after its reason has been forgotten, — then their 
 theories and ordinances would be in direct collision, and 
 their theology would become a mass of confusion. 
 
 2. That such was their condition, I infer, because, that 
 the very thing which distinguished Abraham, as the friend 
 of God, was the righteousness of faith. This was the great 
 matter, which the covenant made with him was designed to 
 secure, and which his character and history so beautifully 
 illustrate. This spread its glory over mount Moriah, when 
 the father of the faithful ascended to commune with God 
 over the sacrificial pile of his bleeding child, and where he 
 received him "in a figure," as raised from the dead. But 
 this righteousness of faith could not have so pre-eminently 
 distinguished Abraham, if all around him had not "fallen 
 from grace," and sought justification by the righteousness of 
 the law. 
 
 3. That such was the condition of men, I infer, because 
 Job, who was cotemporary with Moses, and whose history 
 appears to have been written by that legislator, with a view 
 to show the insufficiency of deeds of law, — because Job, 
 though he anticipated the coming of his redeemer,yet sought 
 to be justified by his own obedience to law.. That Job had 
 formed such calculations, is evident from his high preten- 
 sions, and from the whole train of his reasoning ; but parti- 
 cularly from the manner of the divine appearance to him, in 
 the winding up of the protracted controversy. God did not 
 appear to him, as he did to Abraham, or Jacob, in a human 
 form, condescending to plain and familiar converse; for that 
 would have been a manifestation of his mediatorial charac- 
 ter. But he came to him, as he did to Moses, on the burn- 
 ing mountain. He came in a whirlwind, or in terrible ma- 
 jesty, and as the great lawgiver; before whom, thus reveal- 
 ed, every human being must bow in self-abhorrence. Moses 
 did exceedingly fear and quake. Ah ! no human being can 
 be justified by deeds of law. Without a mediator we are all 
 undone ; and of this important fact the old testament apos- 
 tle wished to convince his people, whom he was conduct- 
 ing to the land of promise, when he penned this beautiful 
 piece of scripture story. 
 
 4. That such was the condition of mankind, I infer, be- 
 cause, that, though the jews had the promises and the ordi- 
 nances, yet their great error was, that they went about to es- 
 tablish their own righteousness, being ignorant of the right- 
 eousness of God* Even after they had embraced Jesus of 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 247 
 
 Nazareth as the long promised Messiah, yet their ideas were 
 exceedingly confused ; they held fast to the law, and zeal- 
 ously labored to proselyte the gentiles to their prejudices 
 and mistakes. Hence Paul's long and elaborate epistles 
 were written, and his grand theme was, the righteousness of 
 faith, as opposed to deeds of law. 
 
 I have certainly given reasons enough to justify my infer- 
 ence ; and to demonstrate the proneness of men to relapse 
 into a legal condition, notwithstanding that a mediator has 
 been revealed to them. Or if more were necessary, every 
 deficiency would be supplied by simply looking at the pre- 
 tensions of infidelity ; which are nothing else than a blind- 
 ed attachment to the righteousness of law, that the best of 
 men never can render. But if such be the proneness of the 
 human mind; and if the condition of mankind, at the time 
 when Abraham was called, was such as I have described it to 
 have been ; there was a necessity that something should be 
 done. The then present age needed it. Future genera- 
 tions would require it. As the original mode of com- 
 municating instruction to men, was by external symbol; and 
 as the subjects to be explained had often been so represent- 
 ed before, what better method could be devised, than to re- 
 duce the subject to actual experiment, under a symbolical 
 form? Thus, the human mind, in all the varied shades and 
 sizes under which society at large presents it; and with all 
 the advantages that the special protection of the Almighty 
 could afford ; w as either left or called to a labored effort, to 
 show what the righteousness of the law was really worth. — 
 And when ages had elapsed, and the experiment was fairly 
 and fully tried; when national grandeur, and political dis- 
 tinction, and military prowess, and monarchical pageantry,, 
 and the wealth of a kingdom, had wrought up the period of 
 trial into an epoch in the history of man, never to be for- 
 gotten ; and when the demonstration, that by the deeds of 
 law no flesh could be justified in the sight of God, had thus 
 become irrefutable; then came the redeemer to exhibit the 
 righteousness of faith, under a parallel dispensation ; — a dis- 
 pensation excelling in its glory, more extensive in its ope- 
 rations, and more simple in its form. — Can any one ob- 
 ject to our principle of exposition ? Was not such a pro- 
 ceeding worthy of God, suitable to man, called for by the 
 circumstances of the case, and adequate to achieve the ob- 
 ject contemplated ? 
 
248 LECTURES ON 
 
 With the foregoing view, all the common illustrations, 
 which the scriptures employ, precisely correspond. To ex- 
 emplify. — " What the law could not do, in that it was weak 
 through the flesh, God sent his Son, in the likeness of sinful 
 flesh, to do." If the original institute had become thus in- 
 appropriate to the human condition, its symbol must be 
 characterised by that very same inefficiency. And no con- 
 ceivable end can be assigned, why an inappropriate insti- 
 tute should be revived, even under a symbolic form ; and 
 particularly, when mankind do not seem to be convinced of 
 its inappropriateness, but to show them its insufficiency. 
 
 The law was thus revived under symbolic form, only for 
 a little while; — until the seed should come, to whom the 
 promise was made. But why was it temporary? Had it 
 been sufficient, would it not have been permanent? If 
 " there had been a law given which could have given life, 
 verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the 
 scripture hath concluded all under sin." And especially 
 the jew; for the law having entered, the offence hath 
 abounded. 
 
 "The law was our schoolmaster, to bring us unto Christ, 
 that we might be justified by faith." Its object was to refer 
 us to Christ, by demonstrating the insufficiency of its right- 
 eousness, and by that means " to shut up" the jews 
 " unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed." Nor 
 could any atonement, which it prescribed, interfere with 
 this grand design; but, on the contrary, the ordinance of 
 sacrifice itself formed a very material part of the proof, 
 which the dispensation afforded, of the inefficiency of law. 
 For had those sacrifices been sufficient to take away sin, 
 "they would have ceased to be offered; because that the 
 worshippers, once purged, should have had no more con- 
 science of sins." The repetition of these sacrifices, there- 
 fore, was full evidence of their own incompetency. 
 
 The law, "written and engraven in stones," which "was 
 so glorious, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly 
 behold the face of Moses, for the glory of his countenance," 
 instead of justifying a sinner, was itself " the ministration of 
 death and condemnation." The children of Israel, who 
 lived under the law, instead of obtaining life thereby, were 
 actually condemned to death; as the prophet Ezekiel beau- 
 tifully represents in his vision of the valley of dead and dry 
 bones. Such was the condition of "the whole house of 
 Israel ;" and nothing saved them but the fact that the law 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 249 
 
 had been ordained in the hands of a mediator. Such are 
 the common illustrations on this subject. 
 
 In delineating the character of the mosaic ritual, the cir- 
 cumstances of its introduction, which were so fearful and 
 oppressive, and which precisely correspond with the gene- 
 ral idea we have set forth, ought not to be forgotten. We 
 shall detail them in scriptural language. " And the Lord 
 said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, 
 that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and be- 
 lieve thee forever. And it came to pass on the third day, 
 in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, 
 and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the 
 trumpet exceeding loud, so that all the people that were in 
 the camp trembled. And Mount Sinai was altogether on a 
 smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire ; and 
 the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and 
 the whole mount quaked greatly.* " And all the people saw 
 the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the 
 trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people 
 saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said 
 unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let 
 not God speak with us, lest we die."!" !< And he said, Be- 
 hold I make a covenant : before all thy people I will do mar- 
 vels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any 
 nation : and all the people among which thou art, shall see 
 the work of the Lord , for it is a terrible thing that I will 
 do with thee."t " Forget not the day that thou stoodest 
 before the Lord thy God in Horeb. And ye came near, 
 and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned 
 with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, 
 and thick darkness. And the Lord spake unto you out of 
 the midst of the fire."§ " For ye are not come unto the 
 mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor 
 unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of 
 a trumpet, and the voice of words: which voice they that 
 heard, entreated that the word should not be spoken to 
 them any more : for they could not .endure that which was 
 commanded. And if so much as a beast touch the moun- 
 tain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart; and so 
 terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear 
 and quake. "|| " Now, therefore, why tempt ye God, to 
 put a yoke on the neck of the disciples, which neither our 
 fathers nor we were able to bean"^I 
 
 * Exod. ix. 9—25. f Exod. xx. 18, 19. J Exod. xxxiv.— 10. 
 §Deut. iv. 10— 12, || Heb. xii. 18— 21. UActsxv. 10, 
 
250 LECTURES Ob 
 
 Such were the circumstances attendant on the giving of 
 the mosaic institutions. And what could be the nature of 
 an economy thus introduced ? What else shall we make of 
 it. than that it was a law which could not be obeyed, and 
 was, therefore, a ministration of death ? How painful and 
 distressing the feelings of the sinner must be in such a situa- 
 tion ! How bitter his waitings ! How lamentable his cries ! 
 Hear the people. Hear Moses. Hear Job. What was to 
 be done, or who can bear to fall into the hands of the living 
 God? Such an exhibition shut up the whole people of 
 Israel to the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 
 
 If there be any flaw in the preceding arguments, then, 
 unable to answer farther, I ask, what could have been the 
 design of such things? Certainly they do not describe the 
 actual condition of mankind ; for God had given the promise 
 of the "seed of the woman." Neither do they describe the 
 actual condition of the jews; for they were the children of 
 Abraham, to whom the gospel was preached, and the law 
 itself was ordained under mediatorial superintendence. No- 
 thing is left for us, but to consider the whole transaction as 
 purely symbolical, shadowing forth the insufficiency of the 
 righteousness of law. 
 
 How different is the exhibition under the new dispensa- 
 tion ! It is not now the burning mountain, but a crucified 
 Christ ; — not the awful legislator, speaking from the midst of 
 the fire, but the condescending mediator, manifest in the 
 flesh; — not the law, working wrath, but the gospel pro- 
 claiming mercy ; — not the ministration of condemnation and 
 death, but the ministration of righteousness and life ; — not 
 the ineffectual sacrifice, vainly repeated, but the one sacri- 
 fice that forever perfects them that are sanctified : — not the 
 spirit of bondage, but the spirit of adoption, of power, of 
 love, and of a sound mind ; — not a condition of pupilage 
 and servitude, but a state of liberty and privilege, where the 
 heir, arrived at full age, has received the inheritance. " W r e 
 are now come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the 
 living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable 
 company of angels, to the general assembly and church of 
 the first born, which are written in heaven, and to God the 
 judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 
 and to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the 
 blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than the 
 blood of Abel." Now "the riches of his glory" are spread 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 251 
 
 out over " the vessels of mercy, which he had afore pre- 
 pared unto glory." 
 
 Nor were these things done in a corner. The crucifixion 
 was brought about by the jews, whose unique institutions 
 made them the object of universal observation and remark; 
 and under the auspices of the roman government, which 
 was the mistress of the world. The whole story was speedi- 
 ly told; the Jewish temple was soon destroyed; the gentile 
 mythology was quickly assailed ; christains were called to 
 endure the severest persecutions; and wherever the gospel 
 came, he.r tidings rapidly spread abroad. These two dis- 
 pensations have been incorporated in the history of man- 
 kind, and can never be forgotten. That the righteousness 
 of the law cannot justify any man, and that the righteous- 
 ness of faith is the only ground of moral calculation, are 
 points which have been thus demonstrated to the world. 
 The errors of scholastic theology may require to be exposed, 
 but no new revelation can be needed. 
 
 Such has been the policy of the two dispensations, — and 
 can any one doubt its wisdom ? How can we judge of the 
 propriety of a measure, but by its design ; and if the design 
 be accomplished, while its character is unequivocal, who 
 shall condemn the measure? In the present case Jehovah 
 comes forth from his place to reorganize society, — whose 
 way had been corrupted before him ; while he graciously 
 refrains from pouring out his judgments, or visiting general 
 depravity as it deserved. He aims at recalling the human 
 mind to consider its evangelical privileges, and to abandon 
 its errors. When his whole pln.n is developed, as ra- 
 pidly as men can bear it, it turns out to be a clear and irre- 
 futable demonstration of the truth which had been pro- 
 claimed from the beginning, and the perversion of which 
 was the very error that needed correction. No one can say 
 that this plan did not involve "a purpose of election ;" or 
 that the history of the two dispensations is not the history 
 of such a purpose, carried out into execution. And if so, 
 that election ought to stand forth, distinct and prominent, 
 in a systematic detail of the divine proceedings. But in 
 the anxiety to maintain an individual election to eternal 
 life, this "mystery of the divine will" has been almost en- 
 tirely forgotten : and those portions of scripture which ac- 
 tually belong to it, have been purloined from their own con- 
 nexions, in order to sustain the sectarian dogma. 
 
252 LECTURES ON 
 
 I have now given the first view of the scriptural doctrine 
 of election. While this view cannot be denied to be 
 scriptural, there is nothing appearing in it, to contradict 
 the universality of the gospel, or to limit the extent of the 
 atonement, or institute of reconciliation. The word of re- 
 conciliation, proclaiming the righteousness of faith, is the 
 property of neither jew nor gentile, separately considered; 
 but has been given to the whole world. And this, I believe, 
 has been fairly demonstrated. 
 
 There are still some examples which have been adduced 
 in the scriptures, almost with as much distinctness as the 
 Jewish economy itself, and which I notecTffs belonging to 
 the doctrine of election, that deserve special consideration. 
 I had intended to bring this whole subject, and all its various 
 illustrations, within the compass of a single lecture. But 
 our remarks have been too far protracted, to allow me to 
 accomplish my design. I must then close the discussion 
 for the present, and reserve what remains for the succeeding 
 lecture. 
 
 LECTURE XI. 
 
 Subject continued. — Ishmael and Isaac. — Esau and Jacob. — 
 Type of the Potter. — Pharaoh. — General reasoning. 
 
 Resuming the general subject of discussion, on the doc- 
 trine of election, as it is sketched on the scriptural page, 
 I must now proceed to call up to your consideration, sundry 
 instances which appear to be individual in their character; 
 but which, after all, every one must perceive to be purely 
 political. 
 
 Certain persons whom God called into his service, and 
 whom he consecrated for special purposes, are mentioned 
 with peculiar honor, while others are reprobated as openly 
 wicked, and incorrigibly corrupt. But it is evident that this 
 second view of election, if such it may be called, is perfectly 
 analagous to the first, and is also official. Moses, Aaron, 
 Levi, Judah, Saul, David, the prophets, the apostles, and 
 many others, were all respectively chosen. Jehovah had 
 selected them to accomplish some particular end; but their 
 election did not secure their everlasting life. However 
 highly they might have been distinguished, by the special 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 253 
 
 commission put into their hands, yet it was a very possible 
 case for them to fail ; and instead of securing eternal glory, 
 to incur official disgrace, and serve as a beacon to all coming 
 generations. 
 
 The history of Balaam ; the suicide of Judas, rendered des- 
 perate by his own remorse ; and the persevering efforts of 
 Paul, using every wise and well-timed precaution, lest, after 
 having preached the gospel to others, he should be a cast- 
 away himself, amply elucidate this fact. All such cases of 
 election were acts of the mediator, exercising that sovereignty 
 which belonged to him as lord of the universe, or using the 
 prerogative of a ruler. So an earthly sovereign would act. 
 Such patronage is attached to his official station ; and he 
 employs it accordingly, using it ever for the good of his 
 subjects, and like a father to his people, if he be a righteous 
 ruler. He puts into commission those whom he judges to 
 be best qualified to manage the trust to be confided, and whose 
 services he can obtain ; or he aims to secure the greatest 
 amount of good. And while he thus acts, he secures the 
 confidence and wins the applause of all honorable men. 
 
 In the capacity of a wise and righteous sovereign, the Son 
 of God presides over the world and its concerns. In man- 
 aging the vast variety of interests committed to him, he 
 chooses his own servants, or official agents. Nor is there 
 anything capricious, or oppressive, invidious, or injurious, 
 in the choice he makes. He never acts without reason; 
 nor without a reason, which fairly and fully justifies his pro- 
 ceedings to all who are concerned. Those who are elected, 
 are highly honored, but their responsibilities are increased. 
 They are not introduced into a sinecure, where nothing is to 
 be done ; but they are called to action, which requires the 
 full exercise of all their talents. And those who are not 
 chosen are not injured : they are not deprived of any of 
 their rights; they are not reprobated; but are left in the free 
 and unrestrained enjoyment of their privileges ; and they 
 have no ground to take offence, or to talk of partialities 
 which are cherished to their detriment. In fact, they who 
 are elected, are servants to those who are not elected. 
 
 Let us look at some particular examples, which will fully 
 illustrate our meaning; and which may, perhaps, need some 
 explanation on their own account. God chose Isaac in pre- 
 ference to Ishmael : — had he any reason for so doing ? Yes, 
 replies an apostle. These "things are an allegory ; for these 
 are the two covenants; the one from mount Sinai, which 
 22 
 
254 LECTURES ON 
 
 gendereth to bondage." — But we who live under the chris- 
 tian dispensation, " are, as Isaac was, the children of 'pro- 
 mise ;" or, we are "children of the free ;" — are not in bondage, 
 but are heirs of liberty. Thus God did, by the election of 
 Isaac, give, long before their introduction, an emblem of the 
 two covenants, and a view of their respective characters. Has 
 not Paul assigned a sufficient reason in this case ? — Neither 
 was there any violence offered to the parties concerned, 
 agreeably to the ideas which then prevailed, or the distinc- 
 tions in society which then existed. For Ishrnael was the 
 son of the bond-woman, and Isaac was the son of the free- 
 woman : and the respective circumstances of the two indi- 
 viduals, furnished a fair opportunity to make the allegorical 
 representation. 
 
 Afterwards Jacob was chosen in preference to Esau. — 
 While they were yet unborn, and when they had done neither 
 good nor evil, their mother was informed, that the elder 
 should serve the younger. 
 
 Here, by the way, we may remark, that election had not 
 the most distant reference to Adam's sin, according to the 
 connexions in which it must stand, if the popular doctrine be 
 admitted ; for, then the apostle's remark, that the children 
 had personally done neither good nor evil, would be altogether 
 superfluous; and his further explanation — lhat the purpose of 
 God, according to election might stand, not of works, but 
 of him that calleth, would not reach the case ; because he re- 
 solves the election into the simple purpose of God — it is of 
 him that calleth : and because, that when he meets the ob- 
 jection, which charges partiality or unrighteousness on the 
 government of God, he never even hints at Adam's sin, 
 which yet, according to the doctrine maintained on the sub- 
 ject, would have effectually justified the whole transaction. 
 
 But to return ; God told Rebecca that the elder should 
 serve the younger. And why ? Can any reason be assigned 
 for so singular a transaction ? In the preceding part of the 
 chapter, where the statement is made,* the apostle had de- 
 tailed the privileges of Jacob's descendants ; but he had 
 done this with great heaviness of heart, because he foresaw 
 the sore judgments which should soon overtake them ; and 
 he was just about entering on the painful subject. In the 
 outset of his discussion, he meets an objection, which might 
 embarrass his argument ; and apparently keeping away from 
 the distressing subject as long as possible, or designing to 
 
 •Rom. ix. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 255 
 
 open it up gradually to his brethren, he first meets that ob- 
 jection. It is this. If the children of Israel be cast off, 
 
 then the promise God gave to Abraham would be violated : — 
 '.' The word of God hath then taken none effect' is his lan- 
 guage. Now, as God's promise cannot be broken, it fol- 
 lows that the children of Israel cannot be cast off. The 
 objection had its weight, but was not unanswerable. He 
 then proceeds to answer it. 
 
 " They," said he, "are not all Israel, who are of Israel; 
 neither because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all 
 children. You remember, continues he, that the promise 
 itself was — " In Isaac thy seed shall be called ;" but Ishmael 
 was of the seed of Abraham. The casting out of Ishmael, 
 did not make void the promise. And not only this, but you 
 also remember the case of Esau and Jacob: of whom God 
 has said, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." — 
 Now Esau was of the seed of Abraham, and yet was rejected. 
 The rejection of Esau does not violate God's promise. In 
 other words, the casting away of Abraham's literal posterity 
 will not destroy the covenant made with him. Your stand- 
 ing then as God's peculiar people, is not secured by the con- 
 sideration, that you are Abraham's seed. 
 
 Now the case of Esau and Jacob was intended to explain 
 the then present condition of the jews ; or like that of Ish- 
 mael and Isaac, had been a provision for the coming times — 
 an allegory, whose import subsequent events would unfold. 
 And to make this provision was the simple reason of the 
 election in both cases. Adam's sin had nothing to do with 
 either the one or the other. 
 
 . Accordingly, when the purpose of election was announced 
 to Rebecca, no outward violence is done to the two brothers. 
 Esau sold his birth-right, and behaved himself as indiffer- 
 ently as Ishmael had done. Jacob, it is true, appears to 
 have acted very disingenuously ; and his mother deported her- 
 self as strangely as either. But the providence of God, de- 
 clining to interfere with the free agency of his creatures, 
 must, of course, take mankind as he finds them, and as he 
 certainly foreknows they will be ; nor can he do otherwise, 
 unless he shall directly interfere with, and effectually con- 
 trol their personal volitions. He must, therefore, act on his 
 own foreknowledge. 
 
 Further — the apostle, in stating the case, uses the prophet's 
 language instead of his own ; and thus he eluded any per- 
 gonal reproach from the jews, while he established his ar- 
 
256 LECTURES ON 
 
 gument by authority which they could not dispute : — " Jacob 
 have I loved, and Esau have I hated." But perhaps the 
 prophet did not mean the thing which the apostle endea- 
 vored to make him speak. The jews, therefore, as fair rea- 
 soners, would either give up the point in debate, or go back 
 and inquire what the prophet did report. Perhaps our own 
 argument may be thought defective; let us then go to the 
 witness himself. Malachi's language is as follows — " I have 
 loved you saith the Lord. Vet ye say, wherein hast thou 
 loved as ? Was not Esau Jacob's brother ? saith the Lord : 
 yet I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau, and laid his mountains 
 and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderne — 
 "What exhibition is here afforded of God's hatred to Esau ? 
 None that we can see, saving that the Lord says — " I laid his 
 mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wil- 
 derness." And what proof have v\ e of God's love to Jacob ? 
 Xone that we can see. saving that he did not deal with him 
 as he did with Esau ; i. e. he did not lay his mountains and 
 his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness, but gave 
 him a goodly heritage in the land of Canaan. This view of 
 the transaction precisely corresponds with our general argu- 
 ment ; and instead of describing an election of individuals 
 unto eternal life, asserts an election of a different character 
 altogether: an election which is to subserve the general 
 purposes of the mediatorial government, as presiding over 
 the whole world. 
 
 The account given by Malachi, is the very same given by 
 Moses, when he records the whole matter with regard to the 
 two brothers. Isaac said to Jacob, — M God give thee of the 
 dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of 
 corn and wine : let people serve thee, and nations bow down 
 to thee : be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons 
 bow down to thee : cursed be every one that curseth thee, 
 and blessed be he that blesseth thee." Afterwards Esau 
 came, concerning whom, Paul remarks, — " for one morsel 
 of meat he sold his birth-right ; for ye know that afterwards, 
 when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected; 
 for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it 
 carefully with tears." What blessing did he so ardently 
 covet ? When did he so bitterly weep ? Who rejected him, 
 and would not repent, or recall what he had done ? Look 
 at him standing in his father's presence. There he weeps : 
 there he reproaches Jacob ; and asks his father to repent, 
 
 •Mai. i. 2, 3. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 257 
 
 and recall the blessing which had been given to Jacob. 
 Isaac did not repent; he did not recal what he had done; 
 but while he blessed the humble and weeping suppliant, he 
 left Jacob in full possession of the birth-right, and all its pri- 
 vileges. It is to this transaction, whose results so ex- 
 actly corresponded with God's purpose of election — the el- 
 der shall serve the younger, that both the prophet and the 
 apostle refer. This case of election, therefore, stands forth 
 before us a pure official matter, and totally different from 
 what it is often represented to be. 
 
 Who can object to the preceding exposition ? The eter- 
 nal must have such political rights and powers, so to term 
 them, whether the view of election, which we controvert, 
 be true or false. To object to them, seems to us, to de- 
 fraud him of his prerogative, and disrobe him of his supre- 
 macy; and what then should become of the doctrine of di- 
 vine sovereignty ! An earthly potentate, thus treated, would 
 be deprived of all legislative power, and executive patron- 
 age : would be in tact converted into a mere royal pageant, 
 whom no political party could respect; and all government 
 must be at an end, or the prerogative must be transferred to 
 ministerial hands. And can any one so regard the King 
 of glory? To object, seems to me to impeach his wisdom 
 and integrity, and in effect to say, — " why doth he then find 
 fault, for who hath resisted his will ?" Then we retire, leav- 
 ing Paul as the respondent. "Nay but O man," he rejoins, 
 " who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing 
 formed say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me 
 thus ? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same 
 lump, to make one vesselunto honor, and another unto dis- 
 honor r" The objection is met and answered. 
 
 The apostle, however, in replying to the objection, has 
 made use of an analogical case, which has been, and very 
 often is, erroneously interpreted. He is supposed to speak 
 of the glory of God, abstractedly considered, and without any 
 reference to the good of the creature ; — a moral view, which 
 certainly ought not to find any place in the preaching of 
 the gospel : seeing that the gospel, while it proclaims glory 
 to God in the highest, yet, at the same time, proclaims 
 peace on earth and good will towards men. But the case, 
 which he states, calls for no such interpretation. The whole 
 affair is a quotation, and is taken from the writings of Jeremiah; 
 to which we must turn, in order to ascertain the true design. 
 Jeremiah was told by the Lord to go down to the potter's 
 22* 
 
258 LECTURES ON 
 
 house. He went as he was commanded, and the potter 
 " wrought a work upon the wheels. And the vessel that 
 he made of clay was marred in the hands of the potter; so 
 he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the pot- 
 ter to make it." The clay was then so marred, that the 
 potter made another vessel of it, than he at first intended. 
 This circumstance forms the turning point of the allusion. 
 And though a sort of sovereignty is predicated of the potter, 
 evidently he is represented as making the best of the disap- 
 pointment he had met with. 
 
 The Lord himself applies the symbol, to which he had 
 called the prophet's attention. — "O house of Israel, cannot 
 I do with you as this potter ? saith the Lord. Behold as 
 the clay in the hands of the potter, so are ye in my hands,. 
 
 house of Israel. At what instant I shall speak concern- 
 ing a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and 
 to pull down, and to destroy kj if that nation against whom 
 
 1 have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of 
 the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what in- 
 stant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a 
 kingdom, to build and to plant it~ if it do evil in my sight,, 
 that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good 
 wherewith I said I would benefit them."* Here then Jeho- 
 vah himself makes the doings of the potter symbolical of hi& 
 own transactions among the nations, of whom eternal life is 
 not to be predicated ; and declares his intentions concerning 
 them to be modified, according as they shall, or shall not, do 
 evil : — even as the potter makes another vessel, when the 
 clay is marred fn his hands. Accordingly thus the apostle 
 applies the simile. " What, "" says he, "if God, willing to 
 show his wrath, endured with much long-suffering, the ves- 
 sels of wrath fitted to destruction!" Vessels of wrath — or 
 cray marred in the hands of the potter — nations that had 
 done evil in the sight of the Lord — the Jewish nation, who 
 were now about to be cast off for their unbelief! The ana- 
 logy has nothing to do with an election of individuals unto 
 eternal life; nay, even while the nation was rejected, a rem- 
 nant was saved, or incorporated, for the father's sake, in 
 the new dispensation, of whom eternal life is not at any time 
 asserted. 
 
 The case of Pharaoh has, often times, been an offence, or 
 a stumbling-block, in the way of an humble inquirer after 
 truth. He has been led to imagine, that God did actually 
 
 *Jer. xriif. 1 — 10. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 259 
 
 harden Pharaoh's heart, or, by some direct agency, did pre- 
 vent him from obeying the divine command, delivered by 
 Moses; and that too, on purpose to destroy him; or to 
 compel him, under a most miserable infatuation, to rush pre- 
 sumptuously on his fate. A mere sectarian, ignorant of 
 the purity and loftiness of moral principle, and repulsing 
 every fair and consistent explanation, might strenuously de- 
 fend such a theocratic view; or he might pertinaciously as- 
 sert, as Jehovah declares that the jews did assert, — ye 
 "come and stand before me in this house, which is called 
 by my name, and say we are delivered to do all these 
 abominations."* But from such a fabulous and harsh com- 
 mentary on the divine proceedings, or from such a defence 
 of the flagitious conduct of men, the human mind, if it 
 has not been spoiled through philosophy and vain deceit 
 after the tradition of men, instinctively revolts. The ques- 
 tion, however, is, how can we escape from the interpreta- 
 tion, when we look at the terms ? The theologian is per- 
 plexed ; and the infidel feels himself entitled to scoff at di- 
 vine revelation. But manifestly the whole case is covered 
 by the principles developed in the quotation, just made from 
 the prophecies of Jeremiah. If the views, which have been 
 advanced in relation to election, be correct, this case 
 presents the opposite side of this great subject : and both 
 sides of that subject may well be looked for, under an ad- 
 ministration, which presides over good and evil. Why 
 should not the consequences of sin be symbolised, as well 
 as the consequences of righteousness? — Let the following 
 explanatory remarks be duly considered. 
 
 1. It is abundantly clear, that though Pharaoh appears to 
 be referred to individually, yet that reference is to his official 
 character, as the king of Egypt. The language is similar 
 to, and to be interpreted on the same principles with, that 
 which is used concerning the hebrews, when God said, — 
 "Israel is my son." The whole case is to be expounded 
 by the rules, which belong to Jehovah's government over 
 nations ; and which he himself has so distinctly stated by 
 the prophet Jeremiah. 
 
 2. It is positively asserted that Pharaoh hardened his own 
 heart. He reasoned on the whole subject, which Moses 
 presented to his consideration, as a politician. He was cal- 
 culating the consequences which would accrue to his own 
 people, on the sudden exodus of such an immense multitude 
 
 •Jer. vii. 10. 
 
OgO LECTURES ON 
 
 of slaves, on whose labor the nation had been so loner ac- 
 customed to depend. He foresaw the serious difficulties in 
 which they should be involved, — the utter helplessness to 
 which they should be reduced. The rights of the hebrews, 
 — the history of their settlement in Eo-ypt, — the gratitude 
 which any recollection of Joseph's ministerial services might 
 have inspired. — the well known tradition that Abraham's 
 children should return to their own land, and the miracles 
 which had been wrought before his eyes ; were the consid- 
 erations, which, as a moralist, he ought most carefully, and 
 deliberately, to have weighed. But I will freely admit, that 
 when politics and morals are brought into collision, — whe- 
 ther the problem be presented to civil or ecclesiastical poli- 
 ticians, — mankind have found considerable difficulty in act- 
 ing right. They have no reason, in doing wrong, either 
 to complain, or to be surprised, if a retributive providence 
 should at last overtake them. Should a course of forbear- 
 ance be pursued, which allows them full time to reconsider 
 and rectify these errors, this is more than they could de- 
 mand from mere justice ; and all that they could expect 
 from grace. Thus God does deal, even with nations, — as 
 he states in the passage already quoted; — "At what instant 
 I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a king- 
 dom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; if 
 that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their 
 evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto it."* 
 Thus God did deal with Pharaoh. Long did he forbear; and 
 at any time had Pharaoh turned from evil, he might have es- 
 caped the calamities under which he suffered, and the catastro- 
 phe in which the judicial process terminated. Under this 
 view, no ense can be plainer; whether that case be individ- 
 ual or official. Nothing more is required of any controver- 
 tist, in order to see it so, than to consider, that politics are 
 but a branch of morals ; that God governs nations as well as 
 individuals; and that his providence towards one is emble- 
 matic of his providence towards the other. 
 
 3. The difficulties, which theologians have felt with re- 
 gard to the expressions concerning Pharaoh, arise from their 
 not considering the use which the hebrews made of active 
 verbs. These were often employed to express a mere per- 
 mission to do a thing, or a mere prophecy of some particu- 
 lar event. Take this example of the first; — "If the pro- 
 phet be deceived, when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord 
 
 * Jer. sviii. 7, 8. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 261 
 
 have deceived that prophet." Do you, can you, for a mo- 
 ment suppose, that God is guilty of the immorality of prac- 
 ticing a deception upon the mind of any creature, who, in 
 consequence of that deception, is involved in everlasting 
 perdition ? If the use of terms, or a grammatical principle 
 belonging to any language from which those terms are de- 
 rived, will explain such a measure in a consistent manner, 
 all difficulty is removed ; and no wisdom is displayed in the 
 fastidiousness that refuses to be satisfied. Every generous 
 and elevated mind would rejoice, to be relieved from such 
 an onerous and dishonorable imputation on the moral sys- 
 tem he had espoused. 
 
 Take these examples of the second: God said to Jeremi-. 
 ah, — "See I have this dny set thee over the nations and 
 over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to des- 
 troy, and to throw down, to build and to plant."* Thus Eze- 
 kiel speaks of himself, referring to his official attitude as a 
 prophet: — "And it was according to the vision which I 
 saw, even according to the vision which I saw when / came 
 to destroy the city."i God gave this command to Isaiah ; — 
 "Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, 
 and shut their eyes ; lest they see with their eyes, and hear 
 with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, 
 and be healed. "t The chief butler, giving an account of 
 Joseph's ability to interpret dreams, said, — "Me he restored 
 unto mine office, and him he hanged." § Mere prophecy, 
 and nothing more, is expressed by the terms ; as is abun- 
 dantly evident, not only from their own application ; but 
 from the fact, that when the redeemer interpreted the pro- 
 phecy uttered by Isaiah,. he charges the guilt directly upon 
 the jews. — "Their eyes they have closed." \\ Interpret the term 
 harden, when applied to God's dealings with Pharaoh, 
 under the recollection that the hebrews did thus employ ac- 
 tive verbs, and the whole matter is plain. 
 
 4. Let us put the different passages, as the apostle Paul 
 applies them to Pharaoh, together, and then we may, per- 
 haps, distinctly perceive their import. — "I will have mercy 
 on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion, on 
 whom I will have compassion. — Even for this same purpose 
 have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, 
 and that my name might be declared throughout the earth. 
 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and 
 
 •Jer.i. 10. jEzek. xliii. 3. J Isaiah vi. 10. 
 
 §Gen. xii. 13. || Rom. ix. If — 17, 13. 
 
26*2 LECTURES ON 
 
 whom he will he hardeneth. What if God, willing to show 
 his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much 
 long suffering' the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction.* In 
 exodus, the phrase is, "I will be gracious to whom I will 
 be gracious, and will show mercy to whom I will show 
 mercy." The very same principle runs through all these 
 passages: they all express the same political operation of 
 the governor of the world. To have compassion, — to show 
 mercy, to harden, and to endure, with much long-suffering, 
 are, in this connexion, synonymous, and interchangeable. 
 They are not intended to convey any idea of judicial blind- 
 ness ; or of a direct agency, by which Jehovah rendered it 
 impossible for Pharaoh to obey the summons, which he had 
 received. On the contrary, their meaning is perfectly coin- 
 cident with the fact, as the history evinces. God did show 
 compassion, or mercy, and did endure with much long-suffering, 
 when, on Pharaoh's professed repentance, judgment after 
 judgment was kindly removed. The effect which followed 
 was, that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. And as this ef- 
 fect did follow the compassion and long-suffering which 
 God displayed, he is said, not positively nor judicially, but 
 agreeably to the use of active verbs among the hebrews, to 
 harden Pharaoh's heart. Besides, the expressions refer 
 simply to national character and doings, as is evident in re- 
 lation both to Pharaoh and Israel. t 
 
 Moreover, the interpretation which God gives of his own 
 transactions, by the prophet Jeremiah, evinces that, not only 
 was the removing of the judgments in Pharaoh's case mer- 
 ciful, but the object of that removal was to give him space 
 to repent: for it is said, — " If that nation, against whom I 
 have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the 
 evil which I thought to do unto them." Accordingly Pha- 
 raoh is exhibited as a vessel of wrath fitted, or who had fit- 
 ted himself, for destruction. He was like the clay marred 
 in the hands of the potter; by which Jehovah figuratively 
 describes a nation which had done evil. 
 
 But then God said to this infatuated politician, — " For 
 this same purpose Ihave raised thee up, that I might show 
 my power in thee, and that my name might be declared 
 throughout all the earth r" True. But in the original he- 
 brew, the phrase literally signifies, " I have made thee to 
 stand." This declaration, too, is equivalent with showing 
 compassion or mercy, and enduring with long-suffering. For 
 
 * Mat. xiii. 15. f See Exod, xxxiii. 19." 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 0(33 
 
 it was by these means that the nation was made to stand, or 
 was preserved. Otherwise, any one of the judgments 
 would have swept them into destruction. Time was grant- 
 ed for repentance ; but as repentance was not produced, 
 God dealt with that obdurate people as the potter dealt with 
 the clay, when it was marred in his hand, and while he was 
 endeavoring to make it " a vessel of honor." So God in 
 his providence, presiding over an intermixture of good and 
 evil, must deal with mankind. If they will not suffer him 
 to guide them to glory, honor and immortality, and thereby 
 demonstrate the connexion between righteousness and life; 
 they must expect to be dealt with " as vessels of wrath," 
 long carried with great care, but at length dashed into 
 pieces, that the connexion between sin and death may be 
 set forth. The apparent assertion, that God dealt thus with 
 Pharaoh, on purpose to destroy him, is nothing more than 
 the idiomatic form of speech, so common in the hebrew 
 language, and which has already been noticed in the pecu- 
 liar use of active verbs, which characterize it.* 
 
 Now as this nation did not repent; as the governor of the 
 world must make a consistent and profitable use of their of- 
 ficial relations; and as a period had .occurred in the history 
 of man, when something must be done in order to preserve 
 truth in the world; while Jehovah, on the one hand, elects 
 the children of Israel through grace, to be a symbolical exhi- 
 bition of truth, so, on the other, he manifests correlative 
 views of truth, by his dealing with Pharaoh. The whole 
 matter is brought out, on both sides, to stand distinct and 
 prominent; not to show us, that God elects some to ever- 
 lasting life, and reprobates others to everlasting condemna- 
 tion; but to " declare his name throughout all the earth :" — 
 Or his design was, and is, to manifest his truth, that all men 
 might see, believe and be saved. The display comes home 
 to them, as being placed on their personal responsibilities; 
 and not, as having their fate determinedly and unalterably 
 fixed, by an eternal and arbitrary decree. So then, if man 
 perishes, he perishes by his own fault, the election itself be- 
 ing the criterion by which the moral problem is to be solved. 
 
 The subject of this providential superintendence, admit- 
 ting so broad a distinction between official services and indi- 
 vidual interest, is also beautifully illustrated by the redeemer, 
 in one of his parables. "The kingdom of heaven," said 
 he, " is like unto a man that is an householder, which went 
 
 *Soc M'Knight's Notes on Rom. ix. 4. 
 
264 LECTURES ON 
 
 out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. 
 And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a 
 day, he sent them into his vineyard." At different times, dur- 
 ing the day, he sent other laborers into the vineyard, pro- 
 mising to give them whatever was right. In the evening, 
 when the hours of labor were past, he called the laborers 
 to give them their hire: and he gave to each one a penny. 
 Those who came into the vineyard early in the morning 
 were offended at the conduct of their employer, and remon- 
 strated against his apparent injustice. " These last," said 
 they, " have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made 
 them equal to us, which have borne the burthen and heat of 
 the day. But he answered one of them, and said, — Friend, 
 J do thee no wrong : didst not thou agree with me for a 
 penny ? Take that thine is and go thy way ; I will give unto 
 this last even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do 
 what I will with my own ? Is thine eve evil because I am 
 good?" Now, says the redeemer, the kingdom of heaven 
 is like to this householder. But in what respect ? In this, 
 he replies, that " many are called, but few are chosen."* If 
 this be so, then the choice of the few, does not interfere with 
 the rights of the many: they are still respected, and get 
 their penny, the full reward of their labor. Or, God in his 
 own goodness, regulating his kingdom according to his own 
 wisdom, may confer distinguished honors on a few, and carry 
 out in his providence a "purpose of election," without in- 
 fringing on the moral privileges of the rest. The way to 
 eternal life is open to all, notwithstanding the election 
 which hastaken place. The election does not infringe upon 
 the universality of the atonement; neither is it an election 
 unto eternallife, which leaves all who are not chosen to perish: 
 but it is a pure rectoral matter by which God does no wrong 
 to any one ; and is perfectly consistent with the salvation of 
 every man. Then the scriptural doctrine on this unuttera- 
 bly interesting subject, leaves the personal responsibility of 
 each one, as placed under mediatorial law and accountable 
 to Christ his judge, unimpaired. 
 
 Such then are the scriptural views of the doctrine of el- 
 ection. Nor do I know of any other form in which the 
 bible states that doctrine, unless it may be that which is im- 
 plied in the declaration, — " The Lord has set apart him that 
 is godly for himself." And this exhibition of the doctrine, 
 so far as personal responsibility is concerned, is exactly 
 
 •Mat. xx. 1—16. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 265 
 
 what it should be. It leaves the statement which the re- 
 deemer has made concerning the resurrection unembar- 
 rassed: — "The hour is coming, in the which all that are in 
 the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall 
 come forth ; they that have done good unto the resurrection 
 of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection 
 of damnation."* It involves no reprobation; or giving over 
 unto eternal perdition, excepting on the ground of personal 
 crime. And in fact, no other view in reference to personal 
 responsibility, would correspond with the gospel as an exhi- 
 bition of the righteousness of Christ; for by that righteous- 
 ness, all men are made righteous, and are brought into justi- 
 fication of life. There is no election to restrict the resur- 
 rection of the dead. 
 
 It now only remains for me briefly to consider some gen- 
 eral reasoning, which is conceived to be utterly subversive 
 of the preceding views, and directly in favor of a limited 
 atonement, or an election of individuals unto eternal life. 
 All will say, God is omniscient, and therefore he foreknows 
 whatever comes to pass. And what then ? Whatsoever 
 -God foreknows will certainly, it is supposed, come to pass, and 
 is of course fixed and certain — foreordained, or predestined. 
 Foreknowledge and preordination, are thus represented to be 
 in fact the same thing ; and we are ofttm told that it is scarcely 
 worth while to distinguish between them, seeing that either 
 will lead infallibly to the same result. Nay more ; it has 
 been said that nothing can be foreknown which has not 
 been pre-ordained : so that the divine decrees are the basis 
 of the divine foreknowledge. Such it is imagined is the order 
 of nature in the case. This reasoning will be applied to 
 the subject we have in hand, as follows : — God foreknows 
 who will ultimately be saved, and who will not. This is ne- 
 cessarily implied in the fact that he foreknows all things that 
 come to pass. In this matter God cannot be deceived. 
 The precise number of those who are eventually to be 
 saved is therefore certainly fixed, beyond the power of 
 change; and it is a matter of small difference, whether, in 
 respect of that number, Gpd be said to foreknow or to fore- 
 ordain it. Still further; as God cannot foreknow a thing to 
 come to pass, which is not preordained, that precise num- 
 ber is foreordained : — -those that are saved, are elected, 
 and those who are not saved, are reprobated. I believe that 
 J have stated the argument fairly. If any object to the 
 
 •John v. 28, 29. 
 
 m 
 
266 LECTURES ON 
 
 statement, and instead of reprobating, would say that those 
 who are lost are passed by, I answer that either this passing 
 by is the consequence of a divine decree so predestinating 
 the matter, or it is not. If it be the consequence of a 
 decree, it is reprobation. If it be not the consequence 
 of a decree, God has simply foreknown the things, and has 
 predetermined nothing about it. — Then foreknowledge and 
 foreordination are not the same thing, and as foreknowl- 
 edge is not foreordination in the one case, neither is it in 
 the other; so that, if there be no reprobation, there is, bv 
 parity of reasoning, no election. 
 
 I object to the whole argument, thought it be though, 
 by many, to be unanswerable. The necessary connexion be- 
 tween foreknowledge and preordination, which it supposes, 
 is not called for by the philosophy of mind. We foreknow 
 that the sun will rise to-morrow, and we cannot be deceived. 
 It is true, that the rising of the sun to-morrow is a predeter- 
 mined event; but though it be so, yet its certainty does not 
 depend on our volitions. Here then is mind, foreknowing 
 an event, which must take place, and yet without pre-or- 
 daining that event. So far from our predetermining this 
 event, we merely foreknow it, while its occurrence depends 
 upon the volitions of another being ; and had we been igno- 
 rant of the plans and intentions of that other being, we should 
 have foreknown nothing about the matter. 
 
 We may shrewdly predict the results which shall occur 
 in the history of an individual, whose character, or conduct, 
 or circumstances, may have furnished us with premises from 
 which to reason. We may foretell, with unerring accuracy, 
 the downfall of an empire, or a revolution in a community : 
 and yet the events which are so unerringly prophesied, 
 have no dependance on our volitions. We may kindly use 
 all our efforts to prevent these foreseen disasters; may 
 feel the most pressing obligations so to act ; and yet our in- 
 fluence shall be exerted in vain. The more intellectual or 
 intelligent a man may be, the more familiar he may become 
 with such painful calculations. Yet his power to anticipate 
 and declare such things, though amounting almost to the im- 
 possibility of committing a mistake, argues no preordination 
 on the part of the individual whose prophetic vision has been 
 so clear. In fact, the old testament prophets, as well as the 
 new testament apostles, did thus distinctly and indubitably 
 foretell events, which occurred centuries after they had gone 
 to sleep with their fathers ; and others, which, to this hour, 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 267 
 
 are not fulfilled. Yet their foreknowledge did not exhibit 
 any power on their part to predestine what they had pro- 
 phesied. All this is perfectly accordant with the philoso- 
 phy of mind. For in all the cases specified, intellectual be- 
 ings simply declared what they had the power to perceive, 
 without any power to preordain. The volitions of number- 
 less other beings, and even of generations of beings, passed 
 under their prophetic glance : and all, that can be predicated 
 of the intellectual phenomenon, is, that great power of judg- 
 ment has been evinced. 
 
 God knows all things. To him the darkness and the 
 light are both alike. One day is with him as a thousand 
 years, and a thousand years as one day. He understandeth 
 our thoughts afar off. Nor is there a word of our tongue 
 which he does not know altogether. Give to a human be- 
 ing such power, and what will he not be able to foretell? 
 What calculations can he not make ? Where is any neces- 
 sity that he should constrain, or control, the volitions of be- 
 ings, whose hearts and ways are thus open before him ? 
 Could he not predict who would do good, and who would do 
 evil ? We repeat it : the philosophy of mind requires 
 no such indispensable connexion between foreknowledge 
 and foreordination. And therefore the foreknowledge of 
 God does by no means necessarily imply his foreordination. 
 To me it seems, that the argument which has been framed, 
 bespeaks a higher degree of perfection in the eternal, than 
 that which we combat. For certainly it requires more in- 
 tellectual reach, and a wider range of thought, in an intelli- 
 gent being, to foreknow and foretell the instantaneous voli- 
 tions and varied movements of millions of other beings, — of 
 a// other beings, than to foreknow and foretell what his own 
 volitions and movements shall be. The one implies omni- 
 science, and the other does not. — Beings who are free to 
 think and free to act, belong to a higher order of intelli- 
 gence, than they do, who have no freedom of volition: and 
 it is always more difficult to read their character, and fathom 
 their purposes. A slave can never be compared with a 
 freeman; as he never can possess half the intelligence, nor 
 evince half the intellectual force. Slavery destroys mind ; 
 liberty cherishes and enlarges it. The officer who can go- 
 vern a slave population, is, or may be, wholly incompetent 
 to preside over a free community. Now man as a free-agent 
 is altogether a different being from man as not free, in res- 
 pect of religion, as well as in regard of any thing else. In 
 
268 LECTURES ON 
 
 the latter case, he may be charmed with a series of " carnal 
 ordinances i" — pictures and images, fasts and festivals, pomp 
 and ceremony, are all that he delights in. But in the former 
 case, he calls for thought, and argument, which must be- 
 come refined, or profound, as rapidly as he advances in in- 
 tellectual growth. The nearer therefore that he approaches 
 to that, which his creator intended he should become, the 
 greater is the degree of mind which he calls into communion 
 with himself, and the higher docs the creator rise in his view. 
 So that the philosophy of mind, not only supposes no ne- 
 cessary connexion between foreknowledge and foreordi- 
 nation ; but absolutely breaks it up, inasmuch as it requires 
 more mind to govern man as a free-agent; and inasmuch as 
 free agency improves and exalts man himself. 
 
 But again I remark, that God foreknows what has never 
 come to pass, and what therefore could not have been pre- 
 ordained. If this assertion can be made good, the ar- 
 gument we are combating will be completely overthrown. 
 Let us try. When Jehovah made man at first, he placed him 
 in a probationary state : endowed with power to keep the law, 
 and yet liable to fall. The constitution, which the law- 
 giver established, had two sides; for it might be fulfilled, 
 and one train of consequences would follow; or it might be 
 broken, and another train of consequences would follow. 
 Certainly Jehovah knows both sides of his constitution. 
 This cannot be denied. The denial of such a plain, com- 
 mon sense, truth, would be in a high degree irrational. If it 
 should be denied, we have only to add, that the law was bro- 
 ken, and the appropriate consequences have followed, all of 
 which was confessedly foreknown; and now, the very object 
 of the gospel is to recover what has been lost, and to bring 
 about the other ; — an operation which is in actual progress, 
 and therefore, on the same ground must have been equally fore- 
 known. Indeed from the first, Jehovah declares himself to 
 know both good and evil ; nor could he threaten, on the one 
 hand, or promise, on the other, that of which he knew 
 nothing. 
 
 A similar state of things is described by the psalmist, in 
 which God actually declares what would have occurred, had 
 his people obeyed his commandments. " O that my people," 
 said he, "had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in 
 my ways ! I should soon have subdued their enemies, and 
 turned my hands against their adversaries. The haters of 
 the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him : but 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 269 
 
 their time should have endured forever. He should hav e 
 Fed them also with the finest of the wheat : and with honey 
 out of the rock should I have satisfied thee. — But my peo- 
 ple would not hearken to my voice : and Israel would none 
 of me. So I gave them up to their own heart's lust; and 
 they walked in their own counsels."* Here, what came 
 to pass, and what did not come to pass, are both distinctly 
 asserted. 
 
 One more example. — " Lord God of Israel," said Da- 
 vid, " thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh to 
 come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake. Will the 
 men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand ? Will Saul come 
 down as thy servant hath heard ?"t The Lord replied to 
 him, that Saul would come down, and that the men of Kei- 
 lah would deliver him into Saul's hand. Now the fact is 
 that Saul did not come down, neither did the men of Keilah 
 deliver David into his hand : for David immediately made 
 his escape. Here then God positively foreknew, and actu- 
 ally declared, what did not come to pass. The indispensa- 
 ble connexion between foreknowledge and predestination, 
 which has been so often asserted, is therefore a pure theo- 
 logical figment, destitute of all liberal thought, and as 
 cramped as it is untrue. 
 
 But, perhaps, it may now be objected, that my reasoning 
 destroys predestination altogether. This objection would 
 be inconsiderate. For such a being as I have supposed 
 God to be, presiding over such a race of intelligent creatures 
 as I have supposed men to be, must have his own views and 
 designs; and w r ould certainly predetermine to the extent 
 of his own volitions and plans. No intelligent being can 
 act without some defined purposes and intentions. Neither 
 would God so act. We may then expect to find, as a matter 
 of course, "fixed points," established rules, and unavoidable 
 events, displayed under his administration. He will carry 
 on a line of moral causes and effects, as indispensable and 
 certain as any laws in physical nature. He will create offi- 
 cial trust, as seemeth good to him, in order to sustain his 
 own government. He will bring about certain events, — the 
 crucifixion of his Son for example, — as indispensable to the 
 accomplishment of his own wise and gracious purposes. 
 And all these things may be foreknown and foreordained. 
 But none of them infringe, nor is there any necessity that 
 
 *Ps. lxxxi. 11—16. fl Sam. xxiii. 10—13. 
 
 23* 
 
270 LECTURES ON 
 
 they should infringe in the least degree, on the volitions of 
 his creatures, beyond their own proper responsibility. 
 
 From the whole, it' follows, that there is nothing in 
 God's foreknowledge or foreordination to interfere with the 
 universality of the gospel. And we are left free to declare 
 that Christ died for all men ; that his gospel may be 
 
 PREACHED TO ALL MEN; AND THAT WHOSOEVER WILL, MAY 
 BELIEVE AND BE SAA'ED. 
 
 LECTURE XII. 
 
 Faith and Vision. — Reason of Faith. — Nature of Faith. — 
 Operations of Faith.— Repentance.— Gifts of God.— Di- 
 vine Power. 
 
 I have endeavored to explain the nature, and to define 
 the extent, of the mediatorial institute. The obligation, in 
 which that institute involves mankind,, is our next subject of 
 inquiry. And here, as in the preceding lectures, my remarks 
 must be considerably modified by the views which theologi- 
 ans have advanced. For, if I should affirm that the gospel 
 is addressed to the faith of the human mind, and that every 
 human being is required to believe the principles and facts 
 which are detailed, then the questions will immediately arise, 
 — what is faith? Are men able to believe? These are 
 very important questions. They are important, if for no 
 other reason, yet because they have been so variously argu- 
 ed, and have agitated the public mind so much. It would 
 therefore be in vain to pursue our observations, without 
 keeping these inquiries continually in view. To answer 
 them, shall be the object of this lecture. 
 
 If Adam had obeyed the law, should there, in that case, 
 have been any room for the operations of faith? Perhaps 
 you would immediately answer, no. But why ? When God 
 said, — "in the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die," 
 were not our first parents required to believe him ? Then 
 certainly faith was demanded, even in paradise. And yet 
 nothing is more plain, than that the scriptures place faith 
 and deeds of law in direct contrast with each other. By the 
 one, the sinner may be justified i by the other, justification 
 is impossible. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 271 
 
 Again. When the redeemed of the Lord shall have been 
 delivered from their earthly troubles, and introduced into their 
 heavenly habitation, shall they any longer exercise faith? 
 This question also may promptly be answered in the nega- 
 tive. But why ? Shall all eternity be spread out to the 
 view of the ransomed ? Shall nothing be future to them ? 
 Or shall the promises of Jehovah not embrace the future ? 
 And shall not the redeemed believe those promises? 
 
 In short — can a community exist without faith? Is not 
 reciprocity, or a mutual confidence, indispensable to social 
 intercourse? Elevate the characters of the individuals who 
 may compose a society, and in proportion as that is done, 
 faith becomes strong. Alter the circumstances in which 
 these individuals move, lift, them beyond the reach of temp- 
 tation, and multiply their facilities to become, or remain vir- 
 tuous, and faith calculates with firmer confidence. In fact, 
 whenever we, and in proportion as we do, get out of the 
 range of vision, we get into that of faith. Such is the crea- 
 ture distinguished from the creator — "all things are naked 
 and open to the eyes of him with whom we have to do." 
 
 But though what I have said be strictly correct, though 
 faith may be predicated of Adam in paradise, and of the re- 
 deemed in heaven, yet it is evident, that when we compare 
 the primeval condition of our first parents, and the future 
 glory of the righteous, with our present state, faith is not 
 their distinguishing characteristic, while yet it is ours. Be- 
 cause "deeds of law" were required of Adam, which are put 
 into direct contrast with faith that is required of us ; and the 
 ransomed shall see God as he is. On the one hand, we 
 cannot render "deeds of laws," but to us "faith is counted 
 for righteousness ;" and on the other, we do not see God, 
 but live by faith, waiting patiently "for that we see not." — 
 Now, if faith may be predicated of the three different states 
 to which we have referred, and yet 'does not occupy the 
 same relations in all, the true way to understand our 
 own present and immediate interest in it, is to ascertain 
 what is the difference of those relations it sustains. In 
 other words, if the distinguishing characteristic of the pri- 
 mordial condition of man, or that which may specifically be- 
 long to his future state when perfected in Christ, shall be 
 laid alongside of faith as our distinctive peculiarity, the com- 
 parison will furnish us with the best view of faith itself. 
 
 Adopting the mode of explanation, which has just been 
 commended, a very little reflection will convince every one, 
 
272 LECTURES ON 
 
 that the point of contrast, which will thus be brought into 
 view, is between faith and vision. Nor is there any thing 
 unnatural or arbitrary in the moral distinction. For, if a 
 man cannot see, what relief has he, except in believing?-— 
 Every being, in proportion to his helplessness, is reduced to 
 a dependency on his fellows: and to meet such exigencies, 
 whether they argue perfection or imperiection, is the very 
 design of society. Hence, it has been stated, that commu- 
 nities cannot exist without faith : and the facts, which have 
 displayed the existence of faith in the original and future 
 conditions of man, show that it belongs to the constitution 
 of the human mind. Instead, therefore, of the mediatorial 
 requisition, which calls upon us to believe, being a sovereign 
 or arbitrary mandate, it results from the nature of the case ; 
 and instead of faith itself being a supernatural or extrinsic 
 property, it belongs to the operations of mind itself. We 
 are then called upon to believe, because we cannot see; and 
 in so far, as we cannot see, whether we be ill paradise or 
 out of it, in heaven or on earth, we are reduced to the sim- 
 ple necessity of believing. If the present state of man, 
 involves or supposes any disabilities which were not char- 
 acteristic of his condition in paradise, nor shall be charac- 
 teristic of his condition in heaven, those disabilities, 
 and that too, as far as they have occurred, are the simple 
 reason why faith is now so imperiously required. We are not 
 enjoined to render "deeds of law," merely because we cannot 
 render them : neither is it exacted of us to see, because we 
 cannot see. So the command has gone forth, calling for faith, 
 because believing is the only thing we can do. It is labor- 
 ing under this disability that the redeemer finds fallen man; 
 and taking him just as he finds him, the gospel is suited to 
 faith, as the law had been to vision. The sectarian who 
 has represented faith as supernatural or extraneous, and 
 the sceptic who has declaimed against it as irrational, have 
 alike misunderstood and misrepresented this momentous 
 matter. 
 
 Nothing is more common, than the ministerial announce- 
 ment that faith is the gift of God : nor is there any doctrinal 
 disquisition more frequently heard from the pulpit, than that 
 which arrays scriptural texts in proof of this proposition. It 
 would appear very ungracious, roundly to deny so favorite 
 an assertion ; and yet if it be true, as it is generally under- 
 stood, manifestly no man can believe until the special gift is 
 bestowed ; and they are acting according to the strictest 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 273 
 
 philosophy of the gospel, who are wailing to receive it, and 
 live without regard to personal responsibility. It will avail 
 nothing to reply, that as faith is a gift, our personal respon- 
 sibility requires us to ask for it; because the prayer that 
 seeks it, must be itself an exercise of faith. Either then 
 there must be some mistake in the manner of representing 
 this subject, or personal responsibility must be abandoned. 
 
 Suppose that we should allege, that vision, with which, as 
 we have seen, faith is contrasted, is the gift of God : what 
 should we thereby declare ? Would any one understand 
 this proposition as affirming that an individual, who has the 
 organ of vision, cannot see! Would it not be apparent to 
 every one, that the statement must imply that God had giv- 
 en to man the organ of vision, and spread before it the ob- 
 jects which it was intended to perceive ? For an individual, 
 to whom God has given this faculty, not to see, is culpably 
 to shut his eyes ; or to decline the opportunity of observation, 
 with which he has been furnished. The guilt of not seeing 
 is his own, because he can see if he will. Now though faith 
 be described as a gift of God, yet is it not to be so consid- 
 ered in like connexions? God has given to man a mind, and 
 spread before it objects which it can perceive. Then, not 
 to perceive those objects, is culpably to shut the mind's eye, 
 and to decline that intellectual observation for which he has 
 been qualified. The guilt of not perceiving, is his own; be- 
 cause he can perceive, if he will. And accordingly the un- 
 believer is condemned for this very reason. He has eyes, 
 but he sees not ; he has ears, but he hears not ; he has a 
 heart, but he understands not. If he could neither see, nor 
 hear, nor understand, there would be some apology — there 
 would be no guilt. 
 
 Let us carry our hypothesis a step farther. Suppose that 
 an individual, endowed with the organ of vision, should as- 
 sert, that the objects, which Jehovah has spread out before 
 his eyes, have no existence ; or that they are not, what 
 they plainly are. He does not believe what his own eyes 
 see? Let him argue out his own untenable dogmas. He 
 will be learned and ingenious ; and when we try to detect 
 his sophistry, we may, perhaps, become so much perplexed 
 by his artful refinements, that we may be almost convinced 
 he is right; while yet our own sense demonstrates that 
 he is wrong. Cannot this philosopher see ? Can he not be- 
 lieve what he sees ? Are we unable to believe what we see ? 
 In like manner, God has given mind to man, and has spread 
 before it objects suitable to its perceptions. The power of 
 
274 LECTURES ON 
 
 perception as clearly belongs to mind, as the power of vision 
 belongs to the eye. Cannot mind perceive ? We might 
 just as well ask, cannot the eye see ? If mind perceives, 
 cannot mind believe what it perceives? We might as well 
 ask whether man can believe what his eye sees? As 
 he who cannot see, is blind, or has not the organ of vision ; 
 so he who cannot believe, is idiotic, or is destitute of the or- 
 gan of intellectual action. — This is the direct conclusion, to 
 which, the general argument, based on the nature of things, 
 necessarily leads. It as certainly belongs to mind to per- 
 ceive, as it belongs to the eye to see. And it as clearly be- 
 longs to man to believe what his mind perceives, as it be- 
 longs to him to believe what his eye sees. Destroy the eye, 
 and vision is destroyed: take away mind, and the power to 
 believe is gone. It is therefore utterly in vain to preach 
 about man's inability to believe, as long as mind is conced- 
 ed to him. 
 
 Perhaps, we ought, in order to save an apparent confu- 
 sion of terms, to have remarked, in the outset of our argu- 
 ment, that as faith, to a certain extent, is to be predicated of 
 Adam, in his state of innocence ; so vision, to a certain ex- 
 tent, is to be predicated of us, in our present lapsed condition. 
 We were relying on the readers own discernment in the 
 case ; on the force attached to the statement, that vision 
 was the distinguishing attribute of Adam's primeval, and that 
 faith is the distinguishing attribute of his subsequent estate ; 
 as also on the scriptural details which we shall presently pro- 
 ceed to exhibit. Mind belonged to Adam at first, and there- 
 fore he had the power to believe ; we have the organ of vi- 
 sion, and therefore we see ; but by the fall, such a change 
 has occurred, and the relative proportion of our animal and 
 intellectual faculties has been so far affected, that while 
 Adam at first was placed in a condition characterised by vi- 
 sion, he afterwards was reduced, by "the weakness of the 
 flesh," to a condition characterised by faith. But the scrip- 
 tural illustrations will make our meaning more apparent. 
 
 The apostle Paul remarks — "We walk by faith, not by 
 sight:" thus putting faith and vision into contrast. He fur- 
 ther observes, — "whilst we are at home in the body, we are 
 absent from the Lord — we are willing rather to be absent 
 from the body, and to be present with the Lord." Vision 
 implies presence with the Lord : as faith supposes ab- 
 sence from him. Were it our privilege to enjoy that 
 vision, which is put into opposition with faith, we should 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 275 
 
 see God. For, in any other sense, God is ever present with 
 us : and when we shall realise that state, which he describes 
 as being "absent from the body, and present with the Lord," 
 the apostle John tells us, "we shall see God as he is." Vi- 
 sion therefore implies a sight of God. 
 
 Paul again declares, — "Now we see through a glass 
 darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but 
 then shall I know, even as also I am known." We see 
 darkly, or obscurely ; as in an enigma, in which one thing 
 represents another; i. e. we do not see the great -things 
 with which we are concerned. They are represented to 
 us, by way of preparing us to see them, and that repre- 
 sentation calls for our faith. Could we see the things them- 
 selves, we should not need the representation, and of course 
 there would be no room for the exercise of faith. We mean 
 that vision, not faith, would be our distinguishing charac- 
 teristic. 
 
 The redeemer also asserts, that " no man hath seen God 
 at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom 
 of the Father, he hath declared him." Vision is here put in 
 contrast with revelation; and revelation, which is the divine 
 testimony, is the great object of faith. Again he remarks, 
 in one of his arguments with the jews, — " not that any man 
 hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen 
 the Father." 
 
 The same general truth was proclaimed to Moses, when 
 he desired to see the Lord's glory: — "Thou canst not see 
 my face; for there shall no man see me and live." Such is 
 the fact; and it has been thought to be of sufficient import- 
 ance, to be thus formally, distinctly, and frequently an- 
 nounced. 
 
 In the last instance, however, which has been quoted, we 
 have more than the simple statement of the fact. Jehovah 
 assigns the reason why Moses could not see his face. He 
 had gratified his servant as far as was proper, and said — " I 
 will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will pro- 
 claim the name of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious 
 to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom 
 I will show mercy. Behold there is a place by me, and 
 thou shalt stand on the rock; and it shall come to pass, 
 while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in the cleft 
 ofthe rock, and will cover thee with my hand, while I pass 
 by: and I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my 
 back parts; but my face shall not be seen. Thou canst not 
 
276 LECTURES ON 
 
 see my face; for there shall no man see me and live."* 
 Had Moses been indulged any farther, "had the face" of 
 God been exposed to his view, it would have cost him his 
 life. But how, or why ? Death is the consequence of 
 sin; and in what way could it be produced by a sight of 
 God, which is the highest privilege of an intelligent, unsin- 
 ning, or redeemed man? Angels, said Jesus, behold the 
 face of my Father, which is in heaven. Manifestly there 
 could be no immorality about obtaining the view, and how 
 then cfOuld it produce death? 
 
 The history of such transactions, or the effects of such 
 appearances, as are recorded by Moses, will sufficiently ex- 
 plain the whole matter. The people said to him — "Behold 
 the Lord our God hath showed us his glory and his great- 
 ness, and we have heard his Voice out of the midst of the 
 fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, 
 and he liveth. Now, therefore, why should we die? For 
 this great fire will consume us: if we hear the Voice of the 
 Lord our God any more, then we shall die. For who is 
 there of all flesh that hath heard the Voice of the living God 
 speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and UvedV'\ 
 Moses himself said — " I exceedingly fear and quake." And 
 is there any thing unnatural in such feelings? Are not su- 
 pernatural appearances the dread of all the world? The 
 animal nature of man could not have borne the view. " The 
 weakness of the flesh," superinduced by Adam's sin, for 
 by his sin death has come into the world — incapacitates the 
 human being to sustain the resplendence of such glory : 
 and Moses, with all his official honors, was subject to the 
 infirmities, and exposed to the death, which form the lot of 
 his race. Take away this incompetency, thus brought 
 about, and the effect stated would not have followed; for 
 the scriptures have given us no explanation of death, but as 
 it is the consequence of sin. Plainly then vision is not, 
 nor can it be the distinguishing principle or attribute of our 
 present condition; and that simply because of the disability 
 under which, in that condition, we labor. 
 
 It is here where the doctrine of faith comes in; i. e. by 
 reason of that same disability, faith is the distinguishing at- 
 tribute of our present state. Will the theologian turn 
 round and tell us that man cannot believe? What? Able 
 'neither to see nor believe? This is surely strange. Where, 
 then, is the remedy? He must not retreat into divine power; 
 
 *Exod. xxxiii. 18—23. fDeut. v. 24—26. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 277 
 
 for God can qualify us to see, as well as he can to believe. 
 Neither must he talk about consistency; for then he yields 
 the whole argument, seeing that the only thing, with which 
 God is called upon to legislate consistently, is human in- 
 firmity. If, after all, faith is above his ability, he is no 
 better off with, than he was without, the remedy. It fol- 
 lows irrefutably that man can believe the gospel which is 
 addressed to him. 
 
 The term faith is generally used in a technical sense; 
 which sense it is not easy to apprehend or explain. There 
 are definitions in abundance, and there has been contro- 
 versy without end. Treatise after treatise, exegesis after 
 exegesis, homily after homily, and sermon after sermon, — 
 all have been furnished to explain and elucidate this inte- 
 resting particular; and yet, after all, faith is, in the minds of 
 most people, a mysterious something, which they have not 
 precisely understood. And they are not a few, who, des- 
 pairing of getting any clear views about it, have abandoned 
 their research, and exclaimed in pettish disappointment, 
 
 For modes of faith let angry bigots fight, 
 His can't be wrong, whose life is in the right. 
 
 This difficulty occurs in the evangelical use of the term, 
 while, in the common affairs of life, every body uses it, and 
 with a clear, well defined idea. We read a history, or hear 
 an oral relation, and talk about our belief, or our faith, in 
 what we have read and heard; and every one understands 
 us to assert our intellectual conviction of the truth of what 
 we have read or heard. An interchange of information 
 every day creates universal excitement of feeling, and calls 
 every body into action: and all this is nothing but the in- 
 fluence of faith, or a reciprocal confidence, wilhout which 
 society must be dissolved. Nor is there any wretched fa- 
 tuity betrayed in this social excitement. It gives birth to 
 the most vigorous thought, and to most extensive inquiry. 
 The character of witnesses, the probability of testimony, 
 and the consequences of events, are carefully scrutinized 
 and canvassed. The fewer the legal restraints that are im- 
 posed, the more intelligent the community becomes; so 
 that faith is always the associate of light and liberty, of ho- 
 nor and benevolence. Introduce legal enactments beyond 
 the simple necessities of the social compact, and in inter- 
 fering with the operations of social confidence, they become 
 substitutes for the workings of mind, and the harbingers of 
 24 
 
278 LECTURES ON 
 
 conflict and strife. So that this very principle, called faith, 
 or belief, while it is so well understood in the commonest 
 affairs of life, rises with the elevation of individual intellect, 
 and expands with the extension of our social relations ; 
 until it pervades the highest concerns, in which men can 
 have any community of interest. In short, how can any 
 man avoid believing that which he knows to be true? Or 
 how can he believe that which he knows is not true ? 
 
 But when we become religionists, and undertake to dis- 
 cuss Christianity; where faith, from the condition of man, 
 from the constitution of the human mind, and from the na- 
 ture of social principles, is as necessary as it is in common 
 life, we possess not this clearness of view; because we have 
 lost its simplicity. They who can believe the historian, or 
 he oral narrator, of any train of circumstances, and easily 
 give the rationale of this mental operation, seem to be at a 
 loss to explain what it is to believe a historian, or an oral 
 narrator,when relating sacred things. They who are every day 
 scrutinizing the character of witnesses, canvassing the pro- 
 bability of testimony, or predicting the consequences of 
 events, with a view to making up their judgment, or form- 
 ing an opinion, or exercising faith, are at a loss to explain 
 the same intellectual operation in spiritual things. They 
 can be believers, habitually and unreservedly, as friends, as 
 merchants, as politicians, as philosophers ; in all these con- 
 nexions they can display the greatest mental force ; the 
 highest excitement of feeling ; the wisest, the boldest, the 
 most persevering, the most efficient action ; and yet they 
 fail to carry the principle of these affinities into religion. 
 They can believe their fellow man in any relation of life, but 
 cannot believe him as a christian. They can believe God, 
 as he moves in his daily providential transactions; they can 
 read his volume of nature, as they call it, with accuracy and 
 care; but when they hear him speaking as the God of grace, 
 they know not how, nor what it is, to believe him ; neither 
 can they imagine that his bible is a plain, intelligible, book. 
 
 Now the reason of all this embarrassment, on a subject, 
 which, in any other form, is familiar, is very evident. When- 
 ever men turn to the science of morals, as it is displayed in 
 our inspired manual, they assume, as an incontrovertible po- 
 sition, 'that the subject of inquiry is altogether a mysterious 
 matter. They have been often told so. So the books and 
 the pulpit have declared. And who would not tread lightly 
 and cautiously on mysterious ground? They do not seem 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 279 
 
 to be aware, that the gospel has any coincidence with that 
 which is natural; but are rather inclined to suppose that it 
 is contrary to, and above, nature. Of course, the opera- 
 tions of mind are not the same in religion that they are in 
 any thing else; and faith in Christianity is wholly different 
 from what it is in our common transactions. Thus robbed 
 of the analogies by which divine truth is to be illustrated, 
 and led to abandon the visible symbols, which so variously 
 and beautifully represent it, men sink into despondency and 
 unbelief. Could they give up their false assumptions; could 
 they unlearn the dogmas, which have "grown with their 
 growth and strengthened with their strength;" could they 
 carry along the unbroken chain of human interests, through 
 all the varying circumstances of life ; and could they perceive 
 the intellectual identity of the believer, as he examines and 
 apprehends both physical and moral things, their difficulty 
 would vanish. They would find it as easy to understand 
 faith in Christianity, as they do in any secondary form in 
 which it occurs. They would carry their illustrations from 
 the fireside to the sanctuary, from the volume of nature to 
 the volume of inspiration, and understand the doctrine of 
 our moral dependencies with as much facility, as they do 
 that of our domestic or political relations. Nay more, they 
 would find, that throughout their whole course, in those 
 very things which they have termed domestic, natural, po- 
 litical, philosophical, they have been sustaining the very 
 moral operation, which they imagine to be so very myste- 
 rious and incomprehensible in religion. 
 
 Unfortunately, however, the common theological discus- 
 sions, to which they may have the opportunity of attending, 
 will afford them no aid in their retrograde movement after 
 truth. From these discussions they derived all their erro- 
 neous views ; and to remain under the scholastic dominion, 
 is only to perpetuate their own perplexing mistakes. They 
 will still be entertained with the injudicious distinctions, 
 that have involved the whole doctrine of feTith in all its ob- 
 scurity; and have forms of faith described to them, which 
 are, at the same time, declared to them not to be faith. 
 There is an historical faith — there is a speculative faith — 
 there is a faith of miracles — there is an appropriating faith 
 — there is a reflex faith — there is a saving faith. The mind 
 is bewildered by " distinctions without a difference," and 
 the man expires amid the obscurities of learned and inge- 
 nious explanations. I wish that all this were pure fabrica- 
 
280 LECTURES ON 
 
 tion. Cheerfully would it be retracted, and the inquirer he 
 referred to better instructions, wherever they may be found. 
 
 I have been exhibiting faith in contrast with vision : or, 
 to use Paul's language, as "the evidence of things not seen." 
 There are "invisible things of God," which he has "mani- 
 fested, in such a manner as to be "understood by the things 
 that are made." And can any one object to such a* display 
 on the part of God, made with a view to the instruction of 
 his intelligent creatures, who have no better means of ac- 
 quiring knowledge ? Is there any thing in the philosophy 
 of mind, which would evince such a display to be irrational ? 
 Man, as he is, sees a great deal of the wonderful works of 
 God; is this irrational? Should he see more, would that be 
 irrational? And if he shall be incapable of seeing more, yet 
 is not incapable of learning more by some other method, is 
 that other method irrational ? If by that other method, some 
 truth, or a series of truths, which he had not seen, and could 
 not see, should be brought home to his mind in clear and 
 satisfactory demonstration, would that mode be subversive 
 of mental philosophy ? Truth is not absurd, come in whatever 
 form it may be made known. And if a manner of commu- 
 nication is used, without winch truth cannot be made known, 
 that manner of communication cannot be absurd. Yet this 
 is the attitude, in which the sceptic stands who laughs at 
 the doctrine of faith. For faith is the evidence, the subsis- 
 tence in the mind, the demonstration to the mind, of things 
 which are not seen. It is an operation, by which the mind, 
 through the intervention of things that are made, gets at the 
 knowledge of things that are invisible; in which it argues 
 from the type to the antitype, from the symbol to the object 
 symbolized. Plainly then between faith and ignorance, 
 there is no intermediate state. For what should the mind 
 do with a truth, made evident by vision, but believe it? 
 And what can that same mind do with any other truth, de- 
 monstrated in any other way, but believe it ? I see no alter- 
 native. 
 
 Such is faith in Christianity. God has made known to 
 man certain things, which he cannot see. But then they are 
 demonstrated to him to be true; and when he is convinced 
 by this demonstration that they are true, what else can he do 
 with them than believe them ? An individual sees his father 
 die — what else-can he do than believe that his father is dead? 
 Would it not be folly for him to doubt? — But he was not an 
 eye-witness to the domestic catastrophe : he has simply re- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 281 
 
 ceived information of the afflictive fact — yet it is information 
 whose verity is fairly proved ; what else can he do than be- 
 lieve what he has heard ? Just so with regard to scriptural 
 truth. It stands demonstrated : and must not the mind, to 
 which the proof has come home in undeniable form, believe 
 scriptural truth ? — Where then is the difficulty of, or the ob- 
 jection against, the doctrine of faith? 
 
 It may be replied, that the truth of what the scriptures 
 have stated, is doubtful. Be it so ; but that involves ar to- 
 tally distinct question. Faith, as belonging to the philoso- 
 phy of mind, is one thing; and the character of any particu- 
 lar matter offered to consideration, is another thing. A man 
 may disbelieve what he knows is not true ; or he may doubt 
 what he does not know to be true ; and yet reason will bind 
 him down to believe what he knows to be true. If any one 
 doubts the truth of the scriptural statements, it does not fol- 
 low that he may begin to declaim against fait h as irrational : 
 but leaving faith to possess its own philosophic attributes, 
 his business is to ascertain the truth or falsehood of these 
 scriptural statements. He must scrutinize the charac- 
 ter of the witnesses; he must canvass the probability of 
 their testimony ; he must follow out effects to their causes, 
 and causes to their effects ; he must pursue the argument in 
 every direction, and in every form, to which his intellect 
 may make him competent. He must take up the subject, 
 just as he would any other matter, of the truth of which he 
 desires to be informed. And whether he believes or disbe- 
 lieves when he has done, the philosophy of faith, as a men- 
 tal operation, remains undisturbed ; or it is .alike demonstra- 
 ted by his belief or unbelief. In the one case, he exercises 
 faith in the thing which he has found out to be true ; and in 
 the other, he withholds his faith from that which he has 
 found out to be untrue. 
 
 Now suppose an individual to have instituted, and effi- 
 ciently to have carried on, such an investigation into the 
 truth of the scriptural statements. After he shall have ac- 
 complished his task, he proclaims himself to be convinced 
 of their truth. Is he not a believer ? Has he not faith? What 
 else is left for a man, under such circumstances, to do, but 
 to believe? Can faith be predicated of a man who has no 
 conviction? Is it not the province of revelation to make 
 things clear? Does not the Spirit of God convince the world 
 of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment? — Take the other 
 side, and suppose, that, instead of all this investigation, by 
 24* 
 
282 LECTURES ON 
 
 which he has been convinced, he had enjoyed unclouded 
 vision — what would have been the effect in that case ? — 
 Would it not be conviction? And when this favored indi- 
 vidual should be convinced by what he saw, would he not 
 be a believer? Certainly this idea of faith must be palpable 
 to -every one, as being the very thing which the scriptures 
 require of all their readers. What other idea of faith can 
 there be, in the very nature of things? Or what other con- 
 nexion can their be between Christianity, as an intellectual 
 system, and man as an intellectual being? 
 
 It may, perhaps, be objected to the foregoing observations, 
 that a man, who has gone as far as has been described, is a 
 mere speculative believer ; and will, in all probability, stop 
 short with the conviction he has reached. His heart, it will 
 be said, is not touched ; and there are hundreds like him r 
 who have never gone one step farther in the way to eternal 
 life. We do not know exactly what theologians mean by 
 the heart. If they mean by it, that it is a part of man's in- 
 tellectual nature, we cannot conceive how it is to be touch- 
 ed, but by such a train of convictions, as this objection 
 seems to consider so trivial or equivocal. The probability, 
 in our view, is that the heart would be reached by the pro- 
 cess which has been suggested; and that the individual who 
 has advanced to the specified point, would be strongly im- 
 pelled to go farther. Will the objection imply, that when, 
 for example, Paul says — "with the heart man believeth unto 
 righteousness," he means to say, that the head, the under- 
 standing, the judgment, has nothing to do with faith ? Or 
 does he not, orr the contrary, mean by the heart, the whole 
 intellectual man? There is much loose talking in religion, 
 about the head and the heart; as though they belonged to 
 different systems ; and, in character and location, correspond- 
 ed with the anatomical fixture of the literal head and heart 
 in the human body. Hence some teachers of Christianity, 
 undertake svstematically to address the head ; and others 
 employ all their force in assaulting the heart. Which of 
 them deals with man as an intellectual being? 
 
 As to the other part of the objection, in which hundreds 
 are so summarily included, as being thoroughly convinced, 
 while their speculations lead to no practical result, I should 
 doubt the facts. The process through which we have sup- 
 posed our case to run, would certainly bespeak better things. 
 But men differ in their views of human society; and often 
 trace what they see to very different causes. In the present 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 283' 
 
 instance, lest we might be supposed to be too much prepos- 
 sessed in favor of our own theory, we shall take cover under 
 authority. Halyburton, whose "rational inquiry into the 
 principles of the modern deists," it has been said, remains 
 unanswered, makes the following remarks. — "It is much'to 
 be regretted, that the bulk of mankind found their princi- 
 ples, as well as practice and hopes, on no better bottom than 
 education ; which gives but too just occasion for the smart 
 reflection of the witty, though profane poet, 
 
 By education most have been misled, 
 So they believe, because they were so bred. 
 The priest continues what the nurse began, 
 And thus the child imposes on the man. 
 
 Most part seek no better reason for their belief and prac- 
 tice, than custom and education. Whatever those offer in 
 principle, they greedily swallow down, and venture all on 
 so weak a bottom. And this surely is one of the great rea- 
 sons, why so many miscarry in this important matter. — The 
 more considerate, and better part of mankind, in matters of 
 so high importance, will, with the nicest care, try all, that 
 they may hold fast what is good. If a man understands the 
 importance of the case, he will find reason to look somewhat 
 deeper, and think more seriously of this matter, than either 
 the unthinking generality, who receive all in bulk, without 
 trial, as it is given to them ; or, the forward would-be-wits, 
 that ofttimes are guilty of as great, and much more perni- 
 cious credulity in rejecting all, as the other in receiving all." 
 
 The master seems to pass the same judgment, and to view 
 the individual whose case we have specified, as having at- 
 tained to a high condition of intellectual privilege: — "That 
 servant," he remarks, "which knew his lord's will, and pre- 
 pared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be 
 beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did 
 commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few- 
 stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall 
 be much required : and to whom men have committed much, 
 of him they will ask the more."* And indeed the man, the 
 prospects of whose course are under consideration, if he 
 shall reject the gospel, will generally distinguish himself in 
 abusing what he has acquired. He will reach greater lengths 
 in depravity, and rush to a more fearful extreme, than the 
 generality of those around him ; because he has had more 
 
 •Lukexii. 47, 43. 
 
284 . LECTURES ON 
 
 to overcome, and therefore feels a stronger stimulus urging 
 him onward in his iniquitous career. 
 
 But why should not a well formed conviction of truth lead 
 to the happiest results? Let us call back to our aid, that 
 which has been contrasted with faith. What effect would 
 clear and unclouded vision produce ? Would it end in mere 
 speculation too? Or would not the inducements to effort 
 be proportionablv stronger? Taking the figure under an- 
 other aspect — is light no stimulant? The day dawns, and 
 all the world is roused to action. And will not intellectual 
 light produce a correspondent effect? Is truth an inert 
 matter, or has it not, by its own nature, an influence on 
 mind? '-The words that I speak unto you," said Jesus, 
 "they are spirit and they are life." Instead then of convic- 
 tion, produced by fair investigation, being likely to end in 
 mere speculation, its natural tendency is to impel the man 
 who bus acquired it, to still further exertion. The very na- 
 ture of faith, therefore, as we have presented it, is, to lead 
 to action ; and that to the whole extent of the subject with 
 which it is concerned. "As a man thinketh in his heart," 
 says Solomon, "so is he." — "A good man," says the re- 
 deemer, "out of the good treasure of the heart, bringeth forth 
 good things: and an evil man, out of the evil treasure, 
 bringeth forth evil things." 
 
 I have already intimated that there is a very striking co- 
 incidence between this mental operation, and the nature of 
 truth itself. It as much belongs to truth to excite the mind 
 to action, as it belongs to the mind to act, when excited. 
 The effect of truth on the mind, is like that of light on the 
 eye ; and the mind under the influence of truth, is like the 
 eye under the stimulus of light. Truth excites, and the 
 mind is excited. They bear, therefore, a reciprocal relation, 
 which is both evident and natural; and which is sustained 
 in all the circumstances, where they can possibly meet. 
 There are a thousand cases, it is true, in which men are 
 commonly said to act by intuition ; whence has arisen no 
 small controversy, intended to settle the philosophy of in- 
 tuitive truth. Still, truth and mind bear to each other, in 
 these cases, their natural relation. An analysis will easily 
 discover a regular and accurate process of argument, through 
 which mind *has passed, rapidly arriving at a conclusion 
 which has been fairly deduced from premises distinctly per- 
 ceived. Or, if any should deny the actual process of 
 thought, in the cases alluded to, on account of the rapidity 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 285 
 
 of the supposed operation, — which, perhaps, many might 
 do, notwithstanding the proverbial quickness of thought,— 
 yet, evidently, the whole process can be readily made out 
 by an after review ; however instantaneously it may seem to 
 have occurred. " It may be difficult," says a popular medi- 
 cal writer, "for a person not accustomed to reflect on such 
 subjects, to believe that every time his leg is moved in 
 walking, he performs a distinct act of volition; but he will 
 be convinced of this, if he observes the motions of those 
 whose power of volition is impaired by disease. He will 
 find the patient hesitate which leg to move at every step; 
 and at length his attempts to move the limbs, produce a 
 confused and irregular action, incapable of carrying him 
 forward. The act of expanding the chest, is an act of vo- 
 lition; it is an act, in ordinary breathing, rendered extremely 
 easy by the gentleness of the motion required, and the con- 
 tinual habit which renders it familiar, and is excited by a 
 sensation proportionably slight; but which is as essential to 
 it, as stronger sensations are to more powerful acts of vo- 
 lition. Thus it is, that on the removal of the sensorial 
 power, respiration ceases."* 
 
 The direct tendency of truth, operating on mind, is, 
 to lead to any train of actions which it may prescribe; and 
 the direct course on which mind enters, after perceiving 
 truth, is obedience to injunctions so communicated. The 
 attribute of mind, so called out and displayed, is precisely 
 the principle of intellectual vitality, on which rests the 
 whole value of divine revelation. By revelation, Jehovah 
 communicates truth to men; truth appropriate to their nature 
 and circumstances; and in a form suitable to, or within the 
 range of, their apprehensions. This tiuth, thus afforded, it 
 belongs to them to perceive ; and having perceived it, it is the 
 character of the thing, — a character derived from the nature 
 both of truth and mind — that they should comply with its 
 dictates. All the adjuvants which are employed, direct 
 their influence to the same point ; and they are the mere 
 agents of the Spirit, in his great work of convincing the 
 world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Nor is 
 there any thing arbitrary, or incomprehensible, in the man- 
 ner of executing their task; but they address to the human 
 mind a varied and satisfactory argument; — an argument, 
 made up, as processes of ratiocination are in all other cases, 
 
 * W. Philips' Treatise on the nature and cure of Diseases, &c. 
 Amer. ed. page 54, 55, 
 
286 LECTURES ON 
 
 and equally as clear and conclusive. He who is con- 
 vinced of truth, which has been thus substantiated and de- 
 monstrated to his own mind, is a believer; and, as a matter 
 of course, must act accordingly. This is philosophy. This 
 is scripture. Just such a moral operation is called for by 
 the condition of man, and it is as consistent with the grace 
 of God, as it is with the liberty of the human mind. 
 
 The effects of faith will always correspond with the na- 
 ture of the thing believed. If a credible witness shall re- 
 cite to us a tale of crime and infamy, we are immediately 
 struck with horror. If he shall, on the contrary, communi- 
 cate some pleasing intelligence, we instantly become sen- 
 sible of pleasurable emotions. Such is the fact in Christianity. 
 — God reveals himself to us as love. He declares that he 
 has loved us so tenderly, as to give his only begotten Son 
 to die for us. He assures us that he has no pleasure in the 
 death of the sinner; that he is long-suffering and kind, — 
 always waiting to be gracious; that he will forgive iniquity, 
 transgression and sin ; and that whosoever cometh unto 
 him, he will in no wise cast out. It is the direct nature 
 and tendency of these things, to excite in the human mind 
 the most delightful feelings ; and under the obligation which 
 they create, to call forth its gratitude and love. Ought we 
 not, is it not natural that we should, love the thing which is 
 good! That which is beautiful and excellent, is the legiti- 
 mate object of esteem and admiration; and we can not 
 withhold our praise, without violating nature, or betraying 
 some obliquity, that falls not within the ordinary operations 
 of mind. It is for this very purpose that God has revealed 
 his love in Christ; given to its display so much interest; 
 adorned its circumstances with so much glory; and identi- 
 fied its overtures with every thing, which man can consider 
 valuable, or worthy of effort. And what can be more beauti- 
 ful and lovely, — what more likely to captivate and charm, 
 or what more capable to dignify and bless, than the gospel? 
 Earth suffers, angels mourn, and Jehovah grieves, when man 
 acts so unnatural and irrational a part, as to repulse from 
 his bosom such an enchanting scheme of love. 
 
 Again. If a credible witness should apprise us of some 
 imminent danger overhanging, which jeopards life, estate, 
 and whatever we hold dear, we should be instantly and 
 greatly alarmed; and would make every effort in our power 
 to avoid or escape the threatened calamity. Or, on the 
 other hand, if he should disclose something which would 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 287 
 
 be greatly to our advantage, and which we might certainly 
 secure by well timed and diligent effort, we should be im- 
 mediately roused to action. This illustration all men are 
 prepared to appreciate; for it is their daily employment to 
 avoid the ills, and to secure the joys of life. And should 
 they make like effort, and on the same principle of acting, 
 in relation to religion, they would meet their moral obliga- 
 tions, and carry out, to its whole extent, the scriptural doc- 
 trine of faith. A dire calamity overhangs our race, filling 
 time and eternity with its fearful consequences. Of this the 
 scriptures have distinctly and fully informed us, adding, in 
 their details, the divine testimony to human experience. 
 They have pointed out a way of escape; have proclaimed 
 a saviour; and promised everlasting life. They bring the 
 divine agency into co-operation with human effort, and 
 identify human happiness with practical righteousness. 
 They disclaim any interference with intellectual liberty, and 
 call for personal conviction, designing thereby to excite to 
 individual purpose and effort. Every thing which they re- 
 veal or proclaim, is the testimony of Jehovah, as a credible 
 witness ; and our faith in, or our belief of, what he has said, 
 should naturally lead us to avoid the evils, and secure the 
 benefits, of which he has spoken. And thus would follow, 
 in all their consistency, and variety, and beauty, and rich- 
 ness, those multiform virtues and good works, whose pre- 
 cise place in the christian economy, its expositors have 
 found no little difficulty to ascertain. They arise as all 
 other human actions arise; and by a simple operation, with 
 which every child of Adam is perfectly familiar, and which 
 he is exemplifying in every thing, and every day, throughout 
 his entire life. 
 
 I protest, I cannot see any thing of this deep mystery 
 about faith, which seems to perplex so many; which calls 
 for so many distinctions, when a formal statement of its 
 nature and attributes is attempted. I discern nothing in it 
 but a plain, easy, natural operation of mind ; in which a 
 man believes, on the testimony of others, what he has not 
 seen. Nor can I perceive any reason why it should occupy 
 so conspicuous a place in christian morals, other than, that, 
 as through the sin of Adam, we are rendered incapable of 
 vision, there is nothing else left, save to believe what others 
 tell us. 
 
 It will still be urged that, after all, men who have been, 
 and who are, convinced of the truth of the scriptures, and 
 
LECTURES ON 
 
 of the philosophy and propriety of their doctrines, do live 
 in sin. Be it so. What then ? Will it follow that the pre- 
 vious elucidations of faith are therefore imperfect? Will it 
 thereby appear that faith has not the tendencies which have 
 been ascribed to it ? I judge not. For is it not unnatural 
 and irrational, that men should act contrary to their own 
 convictions ? Is such deportment honorable, or consistent ? 
 Can any thing be said to justify it? And is not this the 
 very reason of their condemnation at the bar of God? Are 
 they not "beaten with many stripes," because that when they 
 knew their master's will, they would not fulfill it ? "Because," 
 saith the high and holy One, "1 have called, and ye refused; 
 I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded ; 
 but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none 
 of my reproof ; I also will laugh at your calamity; I will 
 mock when your fear cometh." To rebel against their own 
 convictions, is then highly criminal on the part of mankind. 
 But if resistance against these convictions is implied in 
 their course of sin, our argument is sustained even by the 
 very threatenings of the scriptures ; because the crime of 
 the resistance consists in its being an opposition to those 
 very tendencies ascribed to faith. Their living in sin, there- 
 fore, instead of disproving the practical influence of faith, 
 in exciting all holy affections, and inducing to all good 
 works, is demonstration that faith has that influence. 
 
 In averring that faith has a tendency to produce all the 
 varieties of practical godliness. I have had no intention of 
 attributing to it an irresistible mechanical force. Anything 
 which may be predicated of man, viewed in his probation- 
 ary character, under the government of God, must be con- 
 sistent with his free-agency, or it is false in morals. There 
 may be a thousand counteracting agencies, whose tendency 
 would naturally lead to practical ungodliness. They are 
 equally destitute of mechanical force ; and yet he may feel 
 their full influence, and suffer himself to be misled by them 
 into most criminal indigencies. He may choose the good, or 
 he may choose the evil, for God has characterised him by 
 freedom of will : but his mistakes are at his own peril. He 
 lives in a state of things, where there is an intermixture of 
 good and evil — each having its own associations, or being 
 a property of every part of the system. He has intelligence 
 to discern between them, and the gospel is intended to 
 afford him the greatest facilities in following the one, and 
 avoiding the other, which his condition will admit. His 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 289 
 
 knowledge of evil can exert no irresistible agency ; for his 
 knowledge of God, by the introduction of the gospel, is 
 more than equivalent to that agency. Yet he may yield to 
 an agency which he can resist. In a happier stale of things, 
 his first parents became polluted; and angels themselves fell, 
 and were dealt with as guilty. Thus man may fall at this 
 hour, and be condemned as faulty and criminal, in falling. 
 And such is the scriptural view of his case under such cir- 
 cumstances. He minds the things of the flesh, instead of 
 minding the things of the spirit. He has cherished, instead 
 of mortifying, his lusts. He has loved the world, instead of 
 loving God. He has tried to effect a compromise between 
 God and mammon; but has failed in the impracticable 
 scheme, and fallen a victim, as he might have foreseen, 
 to the lust which he brought into competition with his moral 
 sense. He has entertained the agents which decoy to 
 evil, and thus nurtured his passions with all their hurtful ten- 
 dencies ; and he has done this at the expense of his better 
 convictions, and his purer feelings. The operation is com- 
 mon, and the consequences are natural. No mechanical 
 force is necessary to explain the catastrophe. 
 
 The human mind may, after having reached the most vi- 
 vid conviction of any particular truth, soon loose the sense, 
 or impression, of that truth. The pains may not be taken, 
 in order to preserve its freshness. Its value may not be fully 
 credited, and.attention may be withheld from it : and so a rea- 
 dy admission may be given to other impressions than its own, 
 and which may be very insidiously made. Its companions 
 may not be sought — the mind may not persevere in its habit 
 of inquiry — a single virtue may be thought sufficient — and 
 thus an appearance of morality will cover a formal treaty 
 with lust, or serve as an apology for indolence. The sense 
 of truth is in this manner lost, and conviction has not pro- 
 duced its natural results. In order to preserve the force of 
 truth, when it has been acquired, its bidding must be obeyed, 
 and its influence be sustained by practical effort. Otherwise 
 there will be a total failure in the great work of regeneration ; 
 by which alone, as being an entire transformation, man can 
 be fitted for the enjoyments of heaven. There is a vast deal 
 of moral philosophy in the simple adage — " practice makes 
 perfect ;" and in no connexion is its philosophy more appa- 
 rent, than in the cultivation of faith. Faith leads to works, 
 and "by works faith is made perfect." Without works, 
 faith is like a body without a spirit — it is in an unnatural 
 25 
 
290 LECTURES ON 
 
 state— it is dead. There is no matter of wonder that a 
 man, who resists his own convictions, should soon loose 
 this sense, or impression, of truth on his own mind ; or, in 
 other words, that he who does not yield to their influence, 
 or follow out their tendency, should lose the convictions 
 themselves, and be justly denominated an unbeliever. 
 
 The redeemer very explicitly stated to the jews, that they 
 could not attain to evangelical truth in any other way. They 
 were very much astonished at the moral elevation, which he 
 evidently occupied, and seriously inquired by what method 
 he had reached it. " How knoweth this man letters," they 
 asked, " having never learned ?" To this he replied, — "My 
 doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will 
 do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, 
 or whether I speak of myself." To apply the principle of 
 this answer : — Everyman has some degree of knowledge. 
 The very heathen, as we have seen, have the law written on 
 their hearts, and do by nature the things contained in the 
 law. Their own conscience is ever bearing witness to them ; 
 and God himself has afforded them ample and varied exhi- 
 bitions of his nature and proceedings. It is surely not 
 too much to assert, that, in christian lands, the elemental 
 truths in evangelic morals are equally apparent. If any 
 man, be he christian or heathen, shall do the will of 
 God, as far as he knows it, or shall carry out into actual 
 practice the convictions which he cannot disavow, he shall 
 continue to grow in knowledge, to the whole extent of his 
 effort. The principle may be carried up to the highest de- 
 gree of moral refinement, to the greatest reach of intellectual 
 improvement, or to the loftiest assurance of faith ; and it 
 can be as effectually and profitably applied in that condition 
 of extended privileges. The sphere of action has then become 
 enlarged; all the fine affections and more delicate sensibili- 
 ties of the human heart, all the broad and expanded views, 
 and all the magnificent conceptions of the human mind; all 
 the dependancies of human life, in which multitudes, una- 
 ble to sustain themselves, look out for a leader, desire in- 
 struction and call for example; are then to be supported by 
 the practical operations of faith. He who has received ten 
 talents, must do the will of God, so fully and extensively, as 
 to gain ten talents more : at the same time that he who has 
 received but one talent, moves in an humbler sphere and 
 with feebler ability, to gain one talent. These moral agents 
 cannot exchange places ; but each must do the will of God 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 291 
 
 according to his ability. Ifeither declines to meet his own per- 
 sonal obligation, it matters not which of them it shall be, he re- 
 sists his own conviction,. loses the sense, or impression, of 
 divine truth on his own mind, and retrogades into unbelief. 
 It is natural that it should be so ; and just as natural as that 
 he should grow in knowledge by doing the divine will. "If 
 any man be a hearer of the word," says James, " and not a 
 doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a 
 glass, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what 
 manner of man he was." Christian, jew, or heathen, will 
 be alike amenable to the unhappy issue ; for it follows, 
 simply according to the essential laws of human nature, 
 which have indissolubly connected faith with works, or prin- 
 ciple with action. Christian, jew, or heathen, in the very 
 act of resisting conscience, will sear conscience ; or, not 
 liking to retain God in his knowledge, will sink into a repro- 
 bate condition of mind. 
 
 There is another scriptural subject, which is closely allied 
 to faith, because it is analogous in its character ; and which 
 is, perhaps, as widely misunderstood. I refer to repen- 
 tance : and call it up in this place, both for its own sake, and 
 on account of its analogical attributes. It is no uncommon 
 thing to hear of some ;. who are always repenting and always 
 sinning, or alternately sinning and repenting; and it is 
 equally common to view the convulsions of feeling which 
 others may experience, the many sighs they heave, and the 
 floods of tears they shed, as being truly penitential. Indeed 
 great effort is frequently made to produce these paroxysms 
 of feeling ; and that effort is giving character to the ministerial 
 operations of the present age. Sin being a great evil, abomina- 
 ble in its nature, and fearful in its consequences, it seems 
 befitting that the sinner should deeply mourn ; and that he 
 should so deeply mourn, as though he had discovered himself 
 to be " the chief of sinners ;" the vilest of the vile ; a very 
 wretch, whose visage has not a lineament of moral beauty; 
 and whose heart is nothing but " a cage of unclean birds." 
 This awful conviction being produced, and all hope being 
 merged in a sense of self degradation, so that the sinner 
 begins to writhe in agony, and tells, in unmeasured terms, 
 the torture of his soul, repentance is supposed to be strik- 
 ingly exemplified. To such a statement of the interesting 
 subject before us, I do most seriously demur: my ideas of 
 repentance are totally different; yet they neither justify sin, 
 nor exclude feeling; but they are far more consonant, as J 
 
292 LECTURES ON 
 
 believe, with the condition of man under the proclama- 
 tion of mercy — under which whosoever will, may be saved* 
 I do not see how, nor why, any man should be brought into 
 such a state of mind, who has not been guilty of some most 
 diabolical intentions, or flagrant transgressions ; or who is 
 not entirely ignorant of the calls of mercy, and therefore, put 
 on his justification under law ; or who has not been brought 
 under some artificial excitement, which is neither wise nor 
 pious ; or who is not a pitiable instance of nervous derange- 
 ment, whom no argument can reach, nor promises soothe. 
 This kind of feeling appears to me to be that worldly sorrow, 
 which Paul declares, worketh death : such as distracted the 
 bosom of Judas, when he threw back in anguish the thirty 
 pieces of silver, and in horrible despair terminated his wretch- 
 ed existence. 
 
 These ideas of repentance, which happily may be more 
 rare than I imagine, I suppose to originate in an injudicious 
 theory, which refers the sinner to law, as the condemning 
 power under which he lives. Now the fact is that we are 
 under grace, and not under law. The call to repentance is 
 not a legal, but an evangelical, matter. No man, since the 
 fall, has ever been under law : unless the symbolical exhibi- 
 tion of law, involved in the Jewish dispensation, be con- 
 sidered as throwing the children of Israel into that relation. 
 Change the fact, and bring law, deprived of all the modifi- 
 cations of the divine government which grace has introduced, 
 to bear in its appropriate force upon the human conscience, 
 and I readily grant that it may be remitted to unmingled 
 terror, and to the wildest distraction. Associate with such a 
 statement of the law a corresponding view of the divine 
 character, and introduce upon the whirlwind the coming 
 Judge, infinite in justice and almighty in power, instead of 
 describing the yearnings, and declaring the loving kindness, 
 of the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 
 and the tumultuous horror is protracted. Much I fear 
 that this is sometimes done in the most unwarrantable man- 
 ner, as though the Saviour were yet to die, and God were to 
 be reconciled. The effect thus produced, inspires the indi- 
 vidual, who so keenly suffers, with false views of God, and 
 sends him forth into the world to criticise and condemn his 
 brethren by a mistaken standard of piety; to inject doubts, 
 where, he should have offered consolation ; or to stand off in 
 in all the coldness of suspicion, when he should have unre- 
 servedly afforded the sympathies of a brother's heart. Such, 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 293 
 
 ah effect is undesirable in every view ; and, in the guise of 
 evangelical purity, makes sad the heart of those whom God 
 has not made sad. Repentance is evangelical in its char- 
 acter, and ought to be equally so in its terms. Thus it is set 
 forth in the scriptures, and thus it ought to be exhibited 
 from ministerial lips. 
 
 There are two greek words, which .the inspired writers 
 have used in their various grammatical forms, and which our 
 translators have uniformly rendered repent, or repentance. 
 The one signifies an uneasy condition of mind ; a state of 
 regret or sorrow, for something that has been done ; with- 
 out any regard either to duration or effects. So Judas is 
 said to have repented. The other word expresses a change 
 of mind; and consequently of conduct or behavior. Both 
 these terms are used by the apostle, when he remarks, that 
 "Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation, not to be 
 repented of." This "play upon the word repent" is not in 
 the original ; which would be better rendered, — "Godly sor- 
 row worketh repentance unto salvation not to be regretted." 
 The word, which signifies a change of mind, is always used, 
 when the repentance under consideration is called for. Man- 
 ifestly no sorrow for sin, however protracted or deep, makes 
 up repentance before God. Something more, a great deal 
 more, is required, and that in the most positive and solemn 
 terms. Many a man weeps over his sin, and greatly regrets 
 it, who has not repented, because he commits it still. His 
 feelings have been transitory; his mind has not been changed ; 
 and until his views are entirely altered, and sin is abandoned 
 with a firm and intelligent purpose ; until his feeelings, un- 
 der the direction of an enlightened mind, have become pure 
 and staid ; and until his habits shall be correct and uni- 
 form: he has not, however deep his sorrow, heavy his 
 sighs, or loud his lamentations, attained to repentance unto 
 salvation. 
 
 Very probably repentance has been misapprehended for 
 the same reason that faith has been misconceived : i. e. it 
 is viewed as the gift of God; and therefore the intellectual 
 operation it implies has been slighted. Christ, it will be 
 said, has been " exalted to give repentance unto Israel, and 
 forgiveness of sins." But it is to be observed that the word 
 Israel is a general term, and is applied to the whole nation 
 of the jews. And can it \>e said that repentance was be- 
 stowed as an individual gift upon that people; or that repen- 
 tance was, strictly speaking, a gift to them at all ? Certainly 
 25* 
 
294 lectures ore 
 
 not; for that nation, instead of repenting, were cut off. A 
 more liberal construction must therefore be sought ; and giv- 
 ing' must be taken in the sense of proclamation. Instead of 
 cutting them off instantly, Jehovah waited on them in much 
 long suffering, calling upon them by his apostle to repent ; and 
 delaying, in order to give them full opportunity to repent. 
 Hence Paul reasons with them on this principle, — "Ordes- 
 pisest thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance and 
 long-suffering kindness ; not knowing that the goodness of 
 God leadeth, (moveth, excheth, or urgeth) thee to repen- 
 tance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart, trea- 
 surest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath." 
 
 The same expression — God's giving repentance — is also 
 applied to the gentiles. When Peter "rehearsed" unto his 
 brethren the occurrences that had transpired during his visit 
 to Cornelius, they rejoiced and said, — "Then hath God also 
 unto the gentiles granted (given) repentance unto life." The 
 language is general, and denotes the call of the gentiles, 
 according to the purpose of election, which had been dis- 
 tinctly announced by the prophets. The great matter of of- 
 fence with Peter was, that he had gone among gentiles. 
 The inference drawn from his explanation was, that he had 
 done right, and that from henceforth any of them might im- 
 itate his example; seeing that it was now evident that God 
 had conferred the privileges of the gospel upon the gentiles, 
 as well as upon the jew? 
 
 In like manner, Zach arias, being filled with the Holy 
 Ghost, prophesied concerning his son, John the baptist — 
 " Thou shalt go before the face of the Lord, to prepare his 
 way, to give knowledge of salvation unto his people." — The 
 same kind of phraseology is used in relation to Jezebel — "I 
 gavehei- space to repent — and she repented not." — In fact, 
 the mode of expression is common with both profane and 
 sacred writers. 
 
 Faith resembles repentance in this respect ; or is the gift 
 of God in a similar maimer. The human mind is passive in 
 neither, but is active in both. And the texts which are 
 brought to show that faith is directly the gift of God, are 
 like those which have been advanced to establish a corres- 
 ponding view in relation to repentance. Thus — " Unto you 
 it is given* in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, 
 but also to suffer for his sake." Here suffering is as much 
 the gift of God, as faith is ; and evidently nothing more is 
 
 * A particular favor has been granted, or ye have been favored. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT 295 
 
 intended, than is implied in Peter's declaration, — " for even 
 hereunto were ye called, because Christ also hath suffered 
 for us." The suffering which is alluded to, resulted from the 
 nature of the calling, to which those who endured were re- 
 quired to respond under peculiar circumstances. The 
 mind is not passive, but is called particularly to endure, 
 which requires a great deal of active energy. Such was the 
 duty assigned to the philippians — not only to believe, but 
 also to suffer. And that duty was assigned to, or this task 
 devolved upon, them, with the view of their promoting more 
 efficiently the kingdom of Christ ; so that the matter of favor 
 figuratively applied to the means, belongs properly to the ob- 
 ject. Suffering, simply considered, is not a gift; nor is it so 
 represented in this passage ; but, it is spoken of in an 
 official view. Being then placed under those circumstances 
 which called for suffering, the whole text must be interpreted 
 on the same general principle : i. e. He who has been ex- 
 alted a prince and a saviour, to give, to grant, or to proclaim, 
 repentance unto Israel and remission of sins, hath given 
 unto you, hath called upon you, not only to believe, but to 
 suffer. And such being the call, you must not decline it in 
 either respect.* 
 
 Again, it is said — "For by grace are ye saved, through 
 faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the g*ijft of God." In 
 this expression, the apostle is supposed to assert unequivo- 
 cally that faith is directly the gift of God. But a little re- 
 flection may convince any one that the expositor has been 
 too rapid : for why may not the relative refer to the whole 
 proposition as well as to faith ? It is the gift of God that 
 "ye are saved by grace through faith." The whole economy is 
 a divine gift, and particularly was so to the ephesians; be- 
 cause they, being gentiles, were now called in, according to 
 the purpose of election, which Jehovah was executing at 
 the time in erecting the new dispensation. This peculiar 
 favor, conferred on the ephesians, was the very subject 
 which he was arguing out with them ; as is evident from the 
 whole chapter from which the text is taken. " You," says 
 he, " who were dead in trespasses and in sins, hath he quick- 
 ened, — That in the ages to come he might show the exceed- 
 ing riches of his grace." If any one should demur to this 
 analysis, and assert that faith is the nearest antecedent, and 
 that therefore the relative must necessarily refer to it ; we must 
 ask him to go a little farther, and to observe the grammatical 
 
 •Phil. i. 29. 
 
296 LECTURES Oft 
 
 construction of the sentence. He will find that the relative 
 is in the neuter gender, while the supposed antecedent is 
 feminine. Of course they cannot agree; and the assertion, 
 that faith is the gift of God, is not in the text. Further re- 
 mark must be entirely unnecessary. 
 
 These two matters then, faith and repentance, are intel- 
 lectual exercises: repentance is change of mind; and with 
 the heart man believeth unto righteousness. In view of 
 a general argument they illustrate each other, as kind- 
 red operations of mind. They differ as the correspond- 
 ing phrases in the old testament, — forsake your sins and 
 turn unto the Lord — differ. The call to repentance, re- 
 quires of men to alter their views, feelings and habits — to 
 abandon or renounce them, because they are sinful. The 
 call to faith, requires of men to accept the offers of mercy, 
 and to think, feel, and act accordingly. A compliance 
 with these calls imperiously demands the human soul to put 
 forth all its energies — which effort being declined, or care- 
 lessly made, sin is committed, and condemnation incurred. 
 
 After having explained the nature and operations of faith, 
 on the common principles which belong to the character of 
 man as an intellectual being, the question, whether he has 
 power to believe, becomes a mere inquiry whether he has abil- 
 ity to observe, read, and hear ; or to think, reason, decide, 
 and act in relation to any thing he has observed or read or 
 heard ? We might as well ask — can the farmer plough, sow, 
 reap, and gather into his garner? Can the mechanic han- 
 dle the implements of his trade ; ingeniously contrive and 
 promptly execute those various combinations, which have 
 both multiplied and supplied the artificial wants of mankind ? 
 Can the philosopher, by his researches, ascertain the laws of 
 nature, trace the path of a celestial luminary, or analyse the 
 properties of matter r These queries are too simple and 
 plain to admit any hesitancy in replying. Then if man has 
 power to do all these things, where lies the difficulty ? Is it 
 not strange that there should be any perplexity about such 
 a familiar matter? 
 
 But it will be said, that the argument maintained precludes 
 all the Spirits's operations, and shuts out divine power from 
 all concern with the subject? If so, I recant, and condemn 
 the whole leasoning so carefully elaborated. But is it the 
 fact that the Spirit of God has nothing to do with the opera- 
 tions of the farmer, the mind of the mechanic, or the genius 
 of the philosopher ? If instead of faith, we had been so for- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 297 
 
 tunate as to enjoy vision, would such superior ability have 
 rendered us independent of divine power? . Or doth not Je- 
 hovah " hang creation on his arm, and feed it at his board?" 
 Why then should not faith be as fairly represented in its own- 
 place, as vision may be in its own place ? Is diminution of 
 power an annihilation of power ? Or may not man be a 
 responsible agent, as well as an angel ? — -There must be some 
 fearful premises, both distant and occult, from which the 
 conclusions we would combat arise ; or moralists would never 
 have gotten into such unhappy collision with all the plain 
 perceptions of common sense, and the beautiful analogies 
 of nature. 
 
 Let us minutely trace one of these analogies. — A says to 
 B, the farmer cannot plough nor sow his field. B stands 
 astonished at so unblushing a declaration, which every one 
 is conscious is untrue, and intimates his great surprise. A 
 replies — I made the statement merely for illustration, and 
 freely admit that the farmer can plough and sow his field. — 
 The dispute is at an end. But C steps in, and remarks, the 
 farmer cannot plough and sow his field, unless God shall 
 co-operate with him. He is a poor feeble creature, and his 
 creator must support him every hour, and in every move- 
 ment ; and not only so, but he must bless his labors, and by a 
 providential agency make the earth to bring forward the seed 
 sown to the maturity of harvest. I know it, rejoins B, God 
 sends forth his Spirit, and the face of earth is renewed: nor 
 did I intend to utter any doubt about the agency of divine 
 providence. So I understood you, adds A : for the connexion 
 and consistency between the farmer's ability to plough and 
 sow, and the co-operating agency of God, is too plain and 
 evident to be denied. And in fact the farmer ploughs and 
 sows, because he knows that God sustains him, and will bless 
 his labors. — All parties are agreed, and the controversy is 
 over. And thus all the world talk about ability and inabili- 
 ty ; and say what can, and what cannot, be done, with well 
 defined ideas, and in perfect harmony. No evil passions 
 are engendered; no harsh language is used; every one does 
 his duty in his own place ; and the beautiful system which 
 God has formed, is preserved in regular and uniform opera- 
 tion. 
 
 I desire to be as plainly understood in my ideas of faith. 
 When I say that man can believe, I have not a solitary 
 doubt with regard to the Spirit's agency, or an overruling 
 providence.. On the contrary, the promises of the gospel 
 
298 LECTURES ON 
 
 guaranty to us this divine agency ; and the believer " works 
 out his own salvation with fear and trembling,*' because he 
 knows that " God works in him, both to will and to do, of his 
 own good pleasure;" just as the farmer goes forth to plough 
 and sow, knowing that God will sustain his being and pros- 
 per his labors. I mean nothing more, nor any thing less. 
 Dropping technical terms, I use words in their plain and 
 common acceptation, and suppose man in relation to morals 
 to be the same creature that he is in relation to every thing 
 else. And if christians in general would adopt this course, 
 they would soon understand Christianity, and understand one 
 another. The scriptures speak in this manner; and appeal 
 to the analogies of nature, which no one mistakes, to illus- 
 trate their meaning. 
 
 To return to the analogy, and change the point of argu- 
 ment. — A says to B, the farmer must plough and sow his 
 field. He has no choice in the case. B is as much aston- 
 ished as before, and again expresses his surprise. A must 
 again recant, for the proposition is too monstrous to be sus- 
 tained. And C can have nothing to object, for here a doc- 
 trine of election would be out of place. No decree, beyond 
 the common laws of nature, is suspected; and as the free- 
 agency of the farmer stands undisputed, all ideas of compul- 
 sion are cheerfully given up. Some individual, laboring 
 under a pitiable obliquity, or yielding to the prejudice of a 
 grievously faulty education, or anxiously endeavoring to mo- 
 vent an apology for criminal indolence, might frame an ob- 
 jection, whose apparent ingenuity would please himself. — 
 But all the world would smile at the petty conceit, and, hav- 
 ing no time to waste on the freaks of abstract theory, would 
 industriously pursue their course ; while he himself, not ca- 
 pricious enough to carry out his own svstem, would eat his 
 daily bread and enjoy his nightly rest, as though he knew 
 that effects had causes, or that ends were to be accomplished 
 by means. The truth of the case is simply this. The farmer 
 is fully aware that labor is the common lot of humanity, and 
 that unalloyed good is not to be attained in this world ; that, 
 if he does not plough and sow, he can reap no crop, for the 
 beams of the sun and showers of rain will not supply his 
 lack of service ; that he must gain bread by the sweat of his 
 brow, or starve ; that he must provide for his own house, or 
 make his wife a widow, and his children fatherless, before 
 he descends to the grave ; that to neglect his employment, 
 and to "follow vain persons," is to show himself "void oJf 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 299 
 
 understanding," while his field is "all grown over with 
 thorns, and nettles hath covered the face thereof;" that his 
 indolence will convert him into a wretched and degraded 
 pauper, will reduce him to infamy and crime, prepare for 
 him an inglorious death and a dishonoured grave, and usher 
 him into the presence of an angry God only to banish him 
 to hell. These are spirit-stirring reflections. They inspire 
 him with motives both rational and powerful, and he neither 
 "observeth the wind," nor "regardeth the clouds," but goeth 
 forth to his labor with the morning dawn, gathers his fruits in 
 their seasons, and is "satisfied with bread." Reverse the 
 picture, and the disastrous consequences of which he had 
 been distinctly forewarned, come in regular and rapid and 
 certain succession. His own conscience accuses and con- 
 demns ; and all the world affirms the decree, pronouncing 
 a "judgment that will not linger," and a "damnation that 
 will not slumber." 
 
 Just so do I understand the matter in reference to religion. 
 The christian is a moral farmer, and is called to plough and 
 sow, if he desires to reap. A thousand motives, involving 
 honor and happiness, both individual and social ; ex- 
 tending in their application both to time and eternity; and 
 which he can both comprehend and appreciate, agitate 
 his mind. His soul feels their power; for they are not 
 mere words whose sound has fallen on his ear, but "they are 
 spirit and life," and have reached his inmost mind. He 
 must obey their impulse and live, or resist and perish. There 
 is no other alternative. God, in much forbearance, is ever 
 varying the form in which these interesting truths are pre- 
 sented ; or multiplying and simplifying their illustrations, 
 waiting for a decision ; or inducing a review when a false 
 decision is made, and appealing, while the moral sense is 
 not entirely stupified, to its last and least remains. Angels 
 have tuned their harps, and wait to rejoice. Ministers, pa- 
 rents, a ransomed church, wait. How can the sinner resist ? 
 Or resisting, say — let common sense speak — -is he not guilty 
 — fearfully guilty ? 
 
 I cannot conceive of any other operation of divine pow- 
 er in the case, than that in which God thus accomplishes his 
 designs by appropriate means ; unless man shall be stripped 
 of his free-agency, and be as destitute of power of volition 
 as an inanimate machine. That operation of power Jeho- 
 vah disclaims: — "Not by might, nor by power, but by my 
 Spirit, saith the Lord." He promised much to Israel of old, 
 
300 LECTURES ON 
 
 but said, "I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of 
 Israel to do it for them." We are kept by his power through 
 faith. Neither can I see any valuable end to be answered 
 by any other view of divine power. If men can be saved, 
 according to the system laid down, and consistently with 
 their own responsibility, what need is there for any farther 
 operation of power ? If a farther exercise of power will ne- 
 cessarily construct individual salvation upon divine sove- 
 reignty, and take it away from human free-agency; then to 
 bring in that additional power, is not only to introduce an- 
 other, but a worse system of morals. It would distinct- 
 ly follow, that God must, without any reference to their 
 moral abilities, save all men, or assign a reason why he has, 
 in sovereignty, made a selection. In the one case men are 
 responsible to the extent of their capacity, and in the other 
 they are dealt with as responsible, while they have no capa- 
 city. Surely this. latter view is incomparably worse than the 
 first, and there must needs be a very sufficient reason for so 
 strange a proceeding. 
 
 The hypothesis, which strikes us as so singular and ob- 
 jectionable, has been both stated and defended. What is 
 the reason, by which its advocates would justify it? Some 
 will reply, all men have forfeited their moral rights; God is 
 under no obligation to save any of them; and he may surely 
 save some of them, without doing injustice to the rest. That 
 answer might do if it corresponded with facts. But mankind 
 have not lost their personal responsibility , and consequently, 
 have not forfeited their claims to a form of moral govern- 
 ment, which shall be consistent with that responsibility. It. 
 is true, that personally they have sinned ; but then they have 
 been brought into a condition of infirmity, by a fault not 
 their own, and therefore are objects of forbearance, — and this 
 same matter of forbearance is a favorite attribute of the evan- 
 gelical administration. Moreover, the gospel is as happily 
 suited to one human being as it is to another; and on a 
 principle of free-agency, is just as practicable for one as for 
 another: so that if there be no omnipotent combatant on 
 the field, one might be saved as well as the other. And 
 finally, they who are condemned, are not condemned on ac- 
 count of an original forfeiture, in view of which the gospel 
 has passed them by ; but because they have rejected the gos- 
 pel in their own unbelief. The answer stated does not then 
 correspond with the facts. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 301 
 
 Some may attempt to meet the difficulty by asserting, that 
 man is not competent to fathom so deep a mystery ; and that 
 God gives no account of his matters to his creatures. Such 
 a reply makes the whole hypothesis equivocal. Every man 
 should speak very modestly, when he professedly does not 
 understand the doctrines which he advocates. I see no ad- 
 vantage to be gained, by proclaiming a moral system, which 
 is so defective and unintelligible at the very start. Besides, 
 this reply is directly opposed to the facts in the case. For God 
 has given the reason, why he condemns any of our race, 
 with as much distinctness, as he has explained why he has 
 ■accepted others. The law "of the moral system is explicitly 
 applied both ways. — He who believeth shall be saved — he 
 who believeth not shall be damned. Nor only so. But Je- 
 hovah has not curtailed the intellectual inquiries of his crea- 
 tures, in any such abrupt manner. He has spread the uni- 
 verse out before them, and bid them carry their researches 
 as far as their capacities can extend. He has called upon 
 them to canvass his character, and investigate his proceed- 
 ings. He has no fear of his own integrity, nor does he 
 dread our scrutiny on our own account; but unhesitatingly 
 commands us to see, whether the judge of all the earth must 
 not do right. Under such circumstances, the plea of mys- 
 tery betrays our own ignorance, whenever it is heard. It 
 is sheer cowardice not to investigate. No doubt, we shall 
 meet with mystery, or that which to us is a secret, at last ; 
 for who can, by searching, find out God ? But reach myste- 
 ry, when and where we may, it will still betray merely our 
 ignorance. We may go on therefore, until faith is begin- 
 ning to mingle with vision, and patiently wait the disclosures 
 of the eternal world, where we shall see God as he is. 
 
 Theologians have, however, offered a formal reason for 
 this forbidding hypothesis, which seems to them fully to sus- 
 tain it. They tell us that God carries on this system of ope- 
 ration for his own glory. But is this dark expression made 
 up of mere words, or does it contain an idea ? If there be 
 an idea, what is it? Let us attempt to analyse it.— Glory is 
 manifested excellence. Now what excellence is there in 
 God's saving some, and not saving others? What excellence 
 is there in God's saving any, in a manner which is not con- 
 sistent with the attributes of their own nature ; or in not 
 saving all, if it may be done in a consistent manner ? Where- 
 in is the greater glory displayed — in a scheme constructed 
 on the intellectual free-agency of an intelligent creature, or 
 26 
 
302 LECTURES ON 
 
 in one which converts that creature into a mere mechanical 
 agent? Again ; admitting that excellence may be predica- 
 ted of the transactions under review, to whom is the mani- 
 festation made ? To God himself? This would be too small an 
 idea to be gravely entertained, in explaining such high con- 
 cerns. — To us, is the display made? Then what is the ex- 
 cellence, which is thus vividly exhibited ? We are left to 
 admit its existence, without being able to perceive it : and 
 this is no manifestation at all. — Can you see the excellence 
 of God's condemning immortal spirits for his own glory ? J 
 cannot. My soul shudders at the thought. The angels on 
 the plains of Bethlehem sung — glory to God, peace on earth, 
 and good will towards men. Perhaps it will be said, that 
 the glory of God is designed to be set forth be/ore the uni- 
 verse. But for what practical purpose? To afford induce- 
 ments to obedience, and to deter from rebellion, — it may be 
 answered. Then God governs the universe on the princi- 
 ple of moral agency, which I have been setting forth as be- 
 longing to his government Of man ; and our doctrine belongs 
 to every part of God's dominion, excepting this earth, and 
 to every intelligent creature, excepting man. And where is 
 the proof, or what is the principle of proof? Is spirit one 
 thing on earth and another thing elsewhere ; or shall not re- 
 deemed spirits be like the angels? But conceding even 
 this monstrous absurdity, by which method would the end 
 be best answered — by an example, in which free-agency is 
 laid aside, and which would consequently be altogether irre- 
 levant, as other intelligent creatures are free-agents ; or by 
 an example in which free-agents act out their own charac- 
 ter ? How would proceedings purely arbitrary, instruct a 
 rational creature to judge of the character of proceedings 
 which are not arbitrary? place him in what part of God's 
 dominions you please. 
 
 Still farther. — By what principles of jurisprudence, shall 
 some not be saved, but be left to sink into perdition for the 
 instruction of others ? Surely the case is a most strange an- 
 omale, which has not an analogy to support it. The re- 
 deemer suffers for the benefit of others ; but then his suffer- 
 ings do not involve perdition, and he endures them volunta- 
 rily ; which is a totally different matter. His was a magni- 
 ficent undertaking, which gave form to the love that God has 
 for man, and has long since been rewarded by an exaltation 
 to the throne. Believers may suffer now, and the good of 
 others be promoted thereby ; but then suffering is a consti- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 303 
 
 tuent part of their earthly lot ; and the means of doing good 
 are derived from the nature of the case ; nor do they perish, 
 even when called to martyrdom itself — but their afflictions 
 work out for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight 
 of glory. — There is no way to explain how any sinner is ru- 
 ined, but that it is his own fault. He does evil, and therefore 
 goes down to weeping, and mourning, and lamentation, and 
 woe. Nor is there any rule, to show how God, who is a 
 righteous Lord, and loveth righteousness, who is just while 
 he justifies the ungodly who believe in Jesus, and who has 
 no pleasure in the death of the sinner, can be glorified in the 
 sinner's condemnation, save that which belongs to an ad- 
 ministration strictly just. 
 
 It may now be objected, that simple as the foregoing views 
 represent faith to be, yet after all, the scriptures have argu- 
 ed out the matter at very great length ; from which it would 
 appear, that the subject has not all the simplicity which it 
 has been supposed to possess. But unless I very greatly mis- 
 take, theologians have here committed another grievous error. 
 I very much doubt whether the scriptures ever argue out the 
 question, whether man can, or cannot, believe the gospel. — 
 On the contrary, they positively require him to believe, and un- 
 hesitatingly condemn him if he does not believe the gospel. 
 They certainly do take up the subject of human "ability and 
 inability," and reason upon it at large ; but their remarks take 
 a different direction, and are applied to another point alto- 
 gether. Mankind have been placed under two distinct forms 
 of moral government — the one called law and the other call- 
 ed gospel. Of course, the respective attributes of these two 
 systems, have been the frequent subject of discussion. Their 
 reciprocal relations call them up, for the sake of mutual ex- 
 planations. The gospel has been introduced to effect what 
 the law could not do, in consequence of "the weakness of 
 the flesh." Of course the gospel could neither be illustrated 
 nor defined ; it could not be traced to its origin, and defend- 
 ed on the plea of necessity ; nor carried forward to its results, 
 and commended on its sufficiency, without referring to law, 
 the previous institute which had become ineffectual. Be- 
 sides, the question whether man can or cannot be justified 
 by "deeds of law," or whether he does, or does not, need a me- 
 diator, has given rise to a great deal of controversy in the 
 world. The antediluvians abandoned the mediator alto- 
 gether; the postdiluvians preserved the external mediatorial 
 symbols, but stammered about their import, as appears from 
 
304 LECTURES ON' 
 
 the fact, that Abraham's covenant relations, and official ac- 
 tions, were intended to illustrate "the righteousness of faith;" 
 the jews were, notwithstanding their zeal ofGod, seeking to be 
 justified by law, and going about to establish their own right- 
 eousness ; and to this hour the christian soldier, professedly 
 contending for "the faith once delivered to the saints," seems 
 to have but a cloud-capt tower of strength. How then could 
 the scriptural writers avoid discussing the comparative mer- 
 its of law and gospel; or informing men, that they could not 
 be saved by law; and that they must, as a matter of imperi- 
 ous necessity, flee to the Saviour ? This is the point of their 
 argument on the subject of human ability and inability. In 
 view of one institute — man has not ability to meet its require- 
 ments, according to the scriptures : in view of the other, he 
 has ability, and if he does not rise and diligently use it, he 
 must perish forever. In view of the one, no interference of 
 divine power, consistent with the intellectual and moral na- 
 ture of man, nor any thing short of physical omnipotence, 
 so to speak, could extricate him ; in view of the other, di- 
 vine power, as in every other instance, acts in perfect con- 
 sistency with the nature or abilities of the agent employed; 
 and man escapes, or is lost, on his own responsibility. In 
 other words — as by the sin of Adam, his children are una- 
 ble to meet their personal engagements, Jehovah has extend- 
 ed favor or grace unto them ; and put them into a condition 
 where they can meet those engagements. 
 
 A few texts it may not be improper to quote, in order to 
 exhibit this contrast. — "By the deeds of law, there shall no 
 flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law is the know- 
 ledge of sin." Every man who makes the experiment of 
 deeds of law, will utterly fail ; and instead of justification, 
 will acquire the knowledge of sin — the law will charge sin 
 upon him because he cannot fulfill it. "Therefore we con- 
 clude, that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of 
 law." The knowledge of sin does not follow the experi- 
 ment of faith ; because faith is within the range of human 
 ability, and the call for it can be met. 
 
 "Without me," says the redeemer, "ye can do nothing:" 
 i. e. take away the mediator, and man is undone; for then 
 he is referred to "deeds of law," and his case terminates in 
 the demonstration of guilt. That this is the meaning of our 
 redeemer, is evident, — 1. from the nature of the represen- 
 tation he makes. "I am the true vine, and my Father is the 
 husbandman." — Another vine may be said to exists but I am 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 305 
 
 the true vine. Abandon me and ye are undone, be your 
 proposed relief what it may. 1 am the true vine. To send 
 me into the world is the Father's great plan of salvation : 
 and to me you must come, or perish. Moreover, the whole 
 practical operation of faith, is compared to the process of 
 vegetation : in which, not only the original cause is pre- 
 sented, but an ulterior result is produced, through a series of 
 agents ; each of which occupies its appropriate place, and 
 ministers according to its own capacity. And, 2. The re- 
 deemer is addressing himself to jews, who misunderstood 
 his mediatorial character, had forgotten the righteousness 
 of faith, and were seeking to be justified by law. In oppo- 
 sition, therefore, to their mistaken theology, he was pointing 
 out the position, and connexions, of the mediatorial institute. 
 
 The rigid sectarian, who has diverged so far from the 
 simplicity of moral philosophy, as to mistake the scriptural 
 argument in relation to human ability, never meets the 
 terms can, or cannot, in the scriptures, without imagining 
 that they afford full proof of his dogma. And perhaps the 
 general impression is in his favor. Let us quote some ex- 
 amples of its use. " How canst thou say to thy brother, let 
 me cast the mote out of thine eye ? Ye cannot drink the 
 cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils. — If this cup cannot 
 pass from me, unless I drink it.— Christ could not enter into 
 the city — his disciples could not eat bread. — Christ could not 
 do many mighty works, because of their unbelief. — How 
 can ye believe, who receive honor one of another. — How 
 can you, being evil, speak good things?" A thousand in- 
 stances of this kind can be quoted, and no one will suppose 
 them to imply positive inability. Sometimes an inconsis- 
 tency is asserted ; and at others a breach of law is merely 
 supposed. 
 
 Let us select a particular example, which is often ad- 
 duced in a very positive manner. "The carnal mind, the 
 minding of the flesh, is enmity against God; for it is not 
 subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Now 
 this has nothing to do with the inability of man to believe 
 the gospel, considered simply as a moral agent. The as- 
 sertion is applied to him, in view of certain circumstances 
 which are stated. He is supposed to be minding the things 
 of the flesh, or giving his affections and time to worldly 
 pursuits and pleasures. The mind, thus employed, cannot 
 obey God; but is engaged in actual rebellion against him. 
 The redeemer has paraphrased this matter thus-^-" No man 
 26* 
 
306 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and 
 love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise 
 the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." " Doth 
 a fountain," says James, "send forth, at the same place, 
 sweet water and bitter? Can the fig-tree bear olive berries? 
 Either a vine figs?" Surely, all this is plain enough: and 
 no one can suppose it to follow, that because a man cannot 
 serve God and mammon, therefore, he cannot abandon mam- 
 mon and serve God. Because a man cannot see in the dark, 
 it does not follow that he cannot see in the light. 
 
 It appears, from the whole survey of God's works, that 
 he exerts an agency, which can be distinctly recognized 
 and which always adjusts itself to the nature and capacities 
 of the creatures, which it sustains. Such is the fact, physi- 
 cally, intellectually, and morally considered. Of course, 
 terms may be employed, which may be respectively applied, 
 either to the creature or to the creator, according as the 
 agency of the one or the other is intended to be expressed. 
 If, in relation to the subject before us, we shall suppose regene- 
 ration, new creation, being born again, and such like terms 
 and phrases, to belong to the divine agency ; then faith and re- 
 pentance, thought and feeling, principle and action, may be 
 as safely predicated of human effort. The foregoing argu- 
 ment has been constructed, under this impression; and our 
 subject has been involved in no confusion, but stands out 
 fairly and prominently, preserving simply its own identity. 
 
 It is now time that this discussion should be concluded; 
 and I shall close it by simply stating a case, which shall be 
 the strongest I can find. Saul of Tarsus was converted 
 from his persecuting purposes, and enlisted in the support 
 of the great cause he had been attempting to overthrow. 
 His history is supposed not only to exhibit more power than 
 my doctrine has conceded; but to be a good sample of Je- 
 hovah's ordinary proceedings, in bringing sinners to the 
 knowledge of the truth. I remark concerning it, 1. That it 
 occurred in the age of miracles. The new dispensation was 
 established by such exhibitions of divine power; and men 
 were thereby convinced of the truth of Christ's pretensions 
 as mediator. Hundreds of others had been in like manner 
 convinced. No one can calculate on such a peculiar inter- 
 ference now, for the new dispensation has been long since 
 established. 2. Paul was, by this means, professedly called 
 to the apostleship. Again, the case is lifted above the or- 
 dinary occurrences of our own times ; is exhibited as belong- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 307 
 
 ing to that peculiar age ; and is to be interpreted on official 
 principles. 3. No man appears more conscious of per- 
 sonal responsibility ; nor has any one ever manifested a 
 deeper solicitude to fulfil its claims. He studied closely ; 
 thought profoundly; labored industriously ; and closed his 
 life, rejoicing in the testimony of a good conscience. Had 
 he not done so, notwithstanding the extraordinary circum- 
 stances which roused his spirit to thought and action, he 
 might have preached the gospel to others, and have been a 
 cast-a- way himself; or, like Balaam,, he would have sunk 
 into perdition, unsanctified by his official honors. This 
 case, therefore, offers no opposition to the doctrine ad- 
 vanced, but lends all its influence to establish and maintain 
 the principles I have advocated, and sheds all its glories 
 upon the dignified theme — personal responsibility. 
 
 LECTURE XIII. 
 
 Reason why Jehovah sent our first parents out of Eden. — The 
 principle of Labor. — Jewish Laws. — Provisions for the 
 Poor. — New Testament regulations. — Origin and evil of 
 Public Charities. — State of Society. — Remedies. — Eccle- 
 siastical mistakes. — General conclusions. 
 
 The new constitution, so precisely suited to man, as per- 
 sonally responsible, having been announced, the Lord God 
 turned our first parents out of the garden, which he had 
 planted for them; and which had become the scene of their 
 crime and shame. Why did he do so? Why did he not 
 suffer them to remain and enjoy its beauties and its fruits? 
 Was not this step unnecessarily severe? These questions 
 merit a deliberate answer; and that answer may require not 
 a little consideration. 
 
 The historian represents Jehovah as tenderly commise- 
 rating the situation, in which these unhappy beings had in- 
 volved themselves by sin; and assigning their ejectment 
 from paradise to the same general cause. — " And the Lord 
 God said, Behold the man is become as one of us, to know 
 good and evil. And now, lest he put forth his hand, and 
 take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever; there- 
 
308 LECTURES ON 
 
 fore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden 
 to till the ground from whence he was taken." As Adam 
 had brought himself into the condition of the know- 
 ledge of good and evil, by eating of the forbidden fruit, he 
 might still continue to eat of the trees of the garden — and 
 might so live forever. To prevent his thus living forever, 
 he was driven to till the ground whence he had been taken. 
 
 The reason seems to be sufficient. But the question is, 
 what is really meant by it? Are we to suppose, that if Adam 
 had eaten of the trees of life, he would have lived forever, 
 and have never diedl Perhaps the generality of readers 
 have taken up this very impression, and do in fact suppose 
 that, by these means, he would have escaped death. Nor is 
 it easy to see how any one, from the first view of the case, 
 could avoid entertaining that idea. But is it not strange 
 that Adam himself never thought of this expedient — at least 
 so far as the narrative reports ? Instead of sewing fig-leaves 
 together, he might, if he did not, have resorted to this sim- 
 ple and better remedy. Is it not strange that Satan never 
 suggested it? And stranger still, that Jehovah should have 
 prevented it, when he was professedly stating the outlines 
 of a remedial plan? That he should have excluded Adam 
 from the means of living forever, when the very object of 
 Christ's death and resurrection is to bring in eternal life? — 
 This view, arising so directly from the appearance which 
 the narrative gives to the fact, cannot be sustained. 
 
 Moreover, the physical agency, by which death was 
 brought in, was the ground, as cursed. The tree of life, if 
 such a particular tree there was, must have been material in 
 its own nature; and consequently, being subject to the dele- 
 terious influence, under which all material things change 
 and wither, it was liable to decay. How could it, while 
 under the general sentence which followed Adam's sin, be 
 the means of imparting everlasting life to him ? The idea 
 is manifestly most incongruous. — there is nothing, in any 
 form, plausible about it.* 
 
 It has farther been supposed, that though Adam, by eat- 
 ing of the trees of life, would have lived forever, yet he 
 would have led a life of misery. But from what source 
 would this misery have proceeded ? That source must have 
 been external or internal. If the first, in what way could 
 external things affect an immortal being? Could they inflict 
 disease? Could they make him feel the sensation of want ? 
 
 * Lecture VII. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 309 
 
 Could they occasion any alarms? If internal, then what 
 would his misery be ? Not disease — for disease is the 
 working of death; disease could make no impression upon 
 his immortal, imperishable, frame. Would it be a sense of 
 guilt ? Then this living forever, would be only temporal 
 life; and where, when, and how, has spiritual life, which 
 theologians carry in their speculations up to this very point, 
 been dropped from their thoughts? So then he would live 
 forever, while he was spiritually dead, and as the conse- 
 quence of eating of the tree of life! i. e. According to their 
 doctrine, the consequence of Adam's eating of the forbid- 
 den fruit was temporal, spiritual, and eternal death; the 
 narrative states that the sentence of death was passed; but, 
 it is supposed, that eating of the trees of life would have 
 controlled the sentence, and man should not have died ; if his 
 eating of the trees of life would have controlled the effects 
 of his eating the forbidden fruit, the consequence of eating 
 the forbidden fruit could not have been death temporal, 
 spiritual and eternal ; or the consequence of his eating of 
 the trees of life would be life, temporal, spiritual, and eter- 
 nal. No sense of guilt could exist in the case, and the ac- 
 count of the fall is a mere fable. 
 
 The truth is, that this whole matter turns upon the force 
 of the original word, rendered forever. Now this word, 
 as formerly observed, may signify endless duration ; but it 
 does not necessarily do so. It is as often finite, as it is infi- 
 nite, when used by the scriptural writers; and it implies a 
 duration which is not known, but may be longer or shorter, 
 according to the nature of the particular subject to which it 
 is applied. To repeat the examples already adduced. If a 
 hebrew servant did not wish to "go out free/' his master 
 was required to bring him to the judges, and to the door 
 post, and to bore his ear through with an awl ; which being- 
 done, he became a servant forever. So Hannah proposed 
 to bring her child Samuel to the temple, that he might ap- 
 pear before the Lord, and there abide forever. The pass- 
 over was established as an everlasting memorial : — ' You 
 shall keep it," said Jehovah, " a feast to the Lord through- 
 out your generations; you shall keep it a feast, by an ordi- 
 nance, forever." In tiie case before us, as in that of the 
 hebrew servant, the term is simply applied to the duration of 
 a man's life. Adam was driven from the garden, to prevent 
 him from spending his life, in eating of the fruit of the trees 
 of life; and he was sent out to till the ground whence he had 
 
310 LECTURES ON 
 
 been taken. The term forever, and the circumstances of 
 the case, call for nothing more : and this interpretation 
 leaves the whole matter plain and unembarrassed.* 
 
 The Lord had just informed Adam, that in consequence 
 of his sin, he had forfeited his peculiar privileges ; that he 
 was now destined to a life of labor; that he should from 
 henceforth obtain his bread by the sweat of his brow ; and 
 that the earth would bring forth briars and thorns unto him, 
 which would occasion much toil and sorrow. This would 
 certainly be any thing but an agreeable prospect, to one who 
 had been accustomed to better things; and he would very 
 naturally prefer to live on the fruit of the trees of life, grow- 
 ing luxuriantly and spontaneously ; rather than to eat the 
 herb of the field, which was to be the product of his own la- 
 bor. Jehovah therefore interferes, and puts him directly un- 
 der the necessities of the condition to which he had reduc- 
 ed himself; breaks up all those associations which could 
 now lead only to indolent and hurtful indulgence, and sends 
 him forth to work. Thus was established the operative system, 
 which has referred the means of human subsistence to human 
 labor ; a system which must be perpetuated with all the com- 
 ing generations of mankind ; and which shall be as steadfastly 
 kept up as the sup in his course. Labor, or starvation, is the 
 simple alternative. There is no escaping from it ; there is no 
 modifying it ; there is no putting forth the hand to pluck the 
 fruit of the trees of life; nor can the experiment of a differ- 
 ent system be tiied in any form, without inflicting an injury 
 upon individuals and upon society — an injury which will be 
 felt to the whole extent of the experiment. Here is the first 
 principle of political economy ; and the true and only reme- 
 dy for the immense evils of pauperism, which no effectual 
 method has yet been devised to arrest. — This principle, I 
 now propose to consider at large, and in its various bearings 
 on society : as such a discussion may, perhaps, be the very 
 best form in which the wisdom and goodness of God to man, 
 in removing him from Eden, may be made to appear; while 
 at the same time, the doctrine of personal responsibility will 
 be still farther illustrated. 
 
 Under the Jewish polity, this same system was made the 
 basis of all the political regulations, which Moses, by the 
 divine appointment, enacted. There were many statutes 
 then enforced, which may appear to a modern reader very 
 singular, perhaps, even objectionable, and which are alto- 
 gether inappropriate now. But circumstances have been 
 
 •Lecture VI. Kennicott's Dissertation on the Tree of Life. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 311 
 
 very much altered ; society, then young and immature, has 
 now arrived at full age : bondage and minority have been 
 exchanged for liberty and manhood: and of course, the ex- 
 ternal policy, which must be sustained in view of the pre- 
 sent condition of mankind, is necessarily different from that 
 which any legislator could then have adopted. Still the ge- 
 neral principles, which belong to the intellectual and animal 
 natures of man, must be essentially the same; and Moses 
 regarded nothing with a more careful eye, than he did the 
 indissoluble connexion between human labor and human 
 subsistence ; which God established on that eventful day, 
 when he sent our first parents from the garden. 
 
 Moses did not forget the poor, or push the system so far 
 as to disregard the emergencies which are continually occur- 
 ring ; and under which a fellow man might "fall into decay" — 
 as he expresses it. His code has specified several provisions, 
 by which the poor might be relieved from any present dis- 
 tress ; but they seem to have been intended rather to pre- 
 serve, than to set aside the original system, with Which the 
 mediator commenced his administration. They are such as 
 follow — "when ye reap the harvest of the land, thou shalt 
 not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou 
 gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not 
 glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of 
 thy vineyard ; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stran- 
 ger."* "Six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather 
 in the fruits thereof. But the seventh year thou shalt let it 
 rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and 
 what they leave, the beasts of the field shall eat. In like 
 manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard and oliveyard."t 
 The poor then had the seventh year — they had the cor- 
 ners of the field — the gleanings of the field, of the vineyard, 
 and of the oliveyard. What was thus to be acquired, called 
 for their own labor ; and was not a simple gratuity, bestowed 
 upon the idle and dissolute. Neither was the labor compul- 
 sory, any farther than the actual necessities of life made it 
 so ; — a sort of compulsion, which, by the laws of his own 
 being, every man should feel, and ought to feel. But it was 
 not the compulsion of law. Every thing was left to the 
 moral force of the individual character of the poor. The 
 supply which was thus afforded, did most sacredly regard 
 their character, and was intended to cherish it, as far as the 
 nature of the case would allow. Nor yet was the provision 
 
 * Lev. xix. 9—11. t Exod. xxiii. 10, 11. 
 
312 LECTURES ON 
 
 thus made, of a public description furnishing a protracted 
 series of degrading statistics, and handing down from age 
 to age the palsying records of a public establishment. Every 
 man was the almoner of his own bounty, the trustee of his 
 own charity ; and the poor, who gleaned in his fields and 
 vineyards and oliveyards, gathered by their own labor what- 
 ever they could, thinking of, dreading, feeling.no public ex- 
 posure. In all this there was no degradation of the poor; 
 no depressing them in their own esteem ; no unfeeling at- 
 traction of the public eye to their condition ; no dissolving 
 of the ties which bound them to society; no breaking up of 
 the mutual sympathies, which resulted from their being bre- 
 thren, and enjoying a common heritage; but relief was af- 
 forded in the safest, the most humane and honorable man- 
 ner. Or if it may be supposed that any degradation was 
 experienced by these eleemosynary provisions, yet they are 
 evidently designed to make that degradation as light, and to 
 counteract it as far, as possible; — by calling out, on the part 
 of the poor, whatever character they had, and taking from 
 the bounty itself", much of the appearance of a gratuity: and 
 by, not only securing to the poor the heart-felt sympathies 
 of their brethren, but taking care that those sympathies 
 should not run riot, and become the mere ebullitions of un- 
 disciplined feeling. The question of almsgiving was thus 
 put into all its moral connexions; and the almoner had 
 something more to do, than merely to shed a tear and give a 
 mite. The poor man was his neighbor, became his com- 
 panion, and might be courted as his fellow traveller to eter- 
 nity. He is thy brother, said Moses. 
 
 Among the hebrews, it was a custom to tithe all the in- 
 crease of their seed ; to go up to the place where the 
 Lord had chosen to put his name ; and to eat before the 
 Lord. They carried thither the tithe of their corn, of their 
 wine, of their oil, and of the firstlings of their herds, and of 
 their flocks. Or if they thought the way too long, or found 
 it very inconvenient do carry up their tithe, to the chosen 
 place, they were at liberty to sell their tithe ; and tak- 
 ing the money, they might, on the spot, buy whatsoever their 
 soul lusted after, oxen, sheep, wine, strong drink, or whatever 
 they desired — and feast with their households before the Lord. 
 On these great festivals they were not to forget the levite, 
 who had no inheritance among them, nor the stranger,* nor 
 
 •This term stranger, included the poor, Levit. xxv. 35. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 313 
 
 the fatherless, nor the widow.* This was another provision 
 in behalf of the poor, which was calculated to affect their 
 character and standing in the community, in a very favora- 
 ble manner. It preserved their brotherhood, and prevented 
 their sinking into disgrace ; it stimulated them to action, 
 and cherished their most honorable feelings ; it hushed their 
 complaints, and awakened their best affections; it tutored 
 even the orphan in social virtue, by extending the fostering 
 care of a kind parentage, and prepared him, not only to dis- 
 play the most enthusiastic patriotism, but the most filial re- 
 gard to the religious institutions of the land. Politically and 
 morally considered, it must ever be a most disastrous occur- 
 rence, when the poor are cut off from their, interest in the 
 state, or from the friendships and great social movements of 
 the community to which they belong. They grow, in such 
 a case, into a distinct, independent, and degraded class; 
 and they acquire an anomalous character, which fits them 
 to commit depredations on society, or prepares them to ex- 
 ecute a despot's will. Moses wisely prevented all this; and 
 by preserving them in their political and moral standing, as 
 an integral part of society, he secured all their feelings and 
 efforts in harmony with the general weal. His statute was 
 founded on principles of a fine moral cast, which the re- 
 deemer himself distinctly recognised, when he said — "When 
 thou makest a supper or a dinner, call not thy friends, nor 
 thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors ; 
 lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made 
 thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the 
 maimed, the lame, the blind ; and thou shalt be blessed, for 
 they cannot recompense thee : for thou shalt be recompens- 
 ed at the resurrection of the just. "f 
 
 Moses farther provided for the poor, by requiring that 
 their wages should be faithfully and promptly paid : by af- 
 fording them every facility to redeem their land when it was 
 sold; and by liberally assisting them when they were re- 
 duced to want ; i. e. the poor must not be oppressed or mal- 
 treated ; their hardships must not be cruelly increased ; but 
 rather they themselves must be sustained and helped. "Thou 
 shalt not," said this lawgiver, "harden thy heart, nor shut thine 
 hand from thy poor brother; but thou shalt open thine hand 
 wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, 
 in that which he "wanteth. Beware that there be not a 
 thought in thy wicked heart, saying, — the seventh year, the 
 
 * Deut. xiv. 22—29 . f Luke xiv. 12—14. 
 
 27 
 
314 LECTURES ON 
 
 year of release, is at hand ; and thy eye be evil against thy 
 poor brother, and thou givest him nought." This assistance 
 was to be afforded by lending to the poor, according to their 
 necessity, and was to be extended cheerfully and with all 
 integrity. It was not a public charity, but a matter of pri- 
 vate concern, by which a sufferer was enabled to meet some 
 emergency, without any sacrifice of character. 
 
 It is true, Moses had no beggars, as they are now termed, 
 to provide for. Indeed, says Michaelis, — "If we trace back 
 the history of most nations, to their ancient state of general 
 poverty, we shall find, the farther we go back, that beggars 
 more and more decrease, until they almost entirely disap- 
 pear in statu natures. Perhaps, instead of them, we may oc- 
 casionally meet with an account of some brave man, who, 
 by the labor of his hands, could scarcely earn bread enough 
 for himself and his children ; and who actually was under the 
 apprehension of starving, when, to save his country, he 
 was called from the plough to the dictatorship."* All this 
 is to be accounted for, on the one hand, by that vigor of in- 
 dividual character, whose force and delicacy Moses seemed 
 to be so anxious to preserve ; and on the other, by the ab- 
 sence of those public charities, which have corrupted the 
 poor, without relieving them. The mosaic law comes in as 
 a commentary on the general statute, given at first ; and 
 which made the means of subsistence to depend on human 
 labor. 
 
 In the new testament, our subject is presented in the same 
 general form ; and the principles which belong to it are very 
 briefly, but very distinctly, stated. "The laborer" is empha- 
 tically declared to be "worthy of his hire;" and the with- 
 holding of it is very severely reprehended. "Behold," says 
 James, "the hire of the laborors, which have reaped down 
 your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth ; and 
 the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the 
 ears of the Lord of Sabaoth." — The necessity for labor is 
 declared with equal point : and the neglect of it is condemn- 
 ed with equal severity: — "For even when we were with you," 
 said Paul, "this we commanded you, that if any man would 
 not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there 
 are some who walk among you disorderly, working not at all, 
 but are busy bodies. Now them that are such, we command 
 and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness 
 they work, and eat their own bread."! And again, — "But 
 
 * Comment, art. 142. f 2. Thess. iii. 10—12. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 315 
 
 if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of 
 his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than 
 an infidel. "* Christianity, therefore, is, in this respect, the 
 same now that it was when the seed of the woman was 
 promised, and man was sent forth to till the ground whence 
 he was taken. 
 
 Legislation for the poor has not been forgotten by the 
 apostles, as is very evident from a great variety of facts, 
 which it is scarcely necessary to repeat. Paul, speaking of 
 the reception he had met with from Peter, James and John, 
 remarks, — "Only they would that we should remember the 
 poor; the same which I also was forward to do." It was no 
 uncommon thing to have collections made by the churches, 
 for the relief of the poor; and though Paul sanctioned and 
 directed them, yet he seems to have his own fears of the 
 consequences, and appeared very anxious that this species 
 of public charity should be confined to those who are 
 "widows indeed." In writing to Timothy, he directs, — "If 
 any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first 
 to show piety at home, and to requite their parents ; for that 
 is good and acceptable before God."t And again, — " If any 
 man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve 
 them, and let not the church be charged: that it may relieve 
 them that are widows indeed."! Had these rules been duly 
 regarded, and had their philosophy been understood, the 
 state and the church might have been saved at this time a 
 thousand evils, under which they are ineffectually, but 
 loudly, complaining. 
 
 The master himself, in correcting the many abuses which 
 he detected in his own house, reproved the pharisees, be- 
 cause they taught that a man might take that portion of his 
 substance, with which he should have supported an aged 
 father or mother, and. present it as a gift to the sanctuary. 
 Such offerings were not acceptable in God's sight. When, at 
 another time, he discovered the pharisees, distributing their 
 alms in the most public and ostentatious manner, he des- 
 cribed them as a set of hypocrites, and took occasion to lay 
 down this general rule, — " When thou doest alms, let not 
 thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth ; that thine 
 alms may be in secret : and thy Father, which seeth in secret, 
 himself shall reward thee openly. "§ A rule which has long 
 since been forgotten, and given place to public chanties, so 
 
 * 1 Tim. v. 8. 1 1 Tim. v. 4. 
 
 I Verse 16. §Mat. vi. 3, 4. 
 
316 LECTURES OS 
 
 extensive and splendid, as to leave the pharisees far out of 
 sight, and to actuate a large class in society, anomalous in 
 character and degraded in life, with which neither church 
 nor state knows what to do. 
 
 It is very evident that there is nothing exaggerated in the 
 preceding delineation of society, taken from the scriptural 
 pages. The principles are all plain and simple, carrying 
 their own evidence along with them, and commending them- 
 selves to every man's understanding. They are easily enu- 
 merated. — Every man should support himself by his own 
 labor. — Every man should support his own family by his own 
 labor ; or every family should have in itself the means of its 
 own support — Every poor man, who really needs assistance, 
 ought to have it, but nothing more ; i. e. he must labor as 
 far as he can. — Every poor man who has become really dis- 
 qualified to labor, should be sustained by others. — This as- 
 sistance, or support, must be derived in the most private 
 and considerate manner ; so that, while the poor man's phys- 
 ical wants are supplied, his moral character may not be injur- 
 ed, or his moral sense be impaired ; so that, when his distress 
 may have passed by, he may resume his own labor for his 
 own support. — This assistance, or support, should be ex- 
 tended by the poor man's immediate relatives, family con- 
 nexions, or personal friends ; or, in the event of their inca- 
 pacity, by his neighborhood. — None but an extreme case 
 indeed ought to be referred even to the church. — Public 
 establishments, set up by law, can do nothing but mischief, 
 for it is impossible that they should not, sooner or later, and 
 to the whole extent of their means, interfere with all the 
 principles of human society. 
 
 These views, which commend themselves to every man, 
 are in actual operation now. They always have been, and 
 always must be, in operation. And up to this point many 
 of the poor do help themselves, rise above their difficulties, 
 and command respect and confidence. But beyond this 
 point, whenever private benevolence becomes indiscrimi- 
 nate, and disregards the essential principle of human sub- 
 sistence, and public charities begin to display themselves, 
 a new condition of society supervenes ; and an unsuspected 
 evil is betrayed, which quickly demands an extension of 
 these charities. These charities are extended, and the evil 
 soon overtakes and goes beyond them, and loudly calls for 
 more. It fastens itself on the body politic, like a horse- 
 leach, crying, give, give. Such is pauperism and its history. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 317 
 
 The ancient monastic institutions, says Blackstone, "sup- 
 ported and fed a very numerous and very idle poor, whose 
 sustenance depended on what was daily distributed in alms 
 at the gates of the religious houses. But, upon the total 
 dissolution of these, the inconvenience, of thus encouraging 
 the poor in habits of indolence and beggary, was quickly felt 
 throughout the kingdom ; and abundance of statutes were 
 made in the reign of king Henry the eighth, for providing 
 for the poor and impotent ; which, the preambles to some 
 of them recite, had of late years strangely increased."* 
 Almshouses, hospitals, parish allowances, or poor rates, fol- 
 lowed ; to which have been added work-houses, or houses 
 of industry, and charitable societies without end. 
 
 The provisions which have been made to relieve these 
 hordes of paupers, have all originated in the most benevo- 
 lent feelings, both on the part of individuals, and on that of 
 the different legislatures. But as church and state were 
 blended together, the ecclesiastical ideas, which gave rise to 
 the monastic institutions, and which had made almsgiving 
 a very important item in preparation for heaven, not only 
 pervaded the general mind, but they were carried into the 
 councils of the nation. Thus that, which had been one of 
 the very'worst effects of the monasteries, was reproduced 
 by the royal prerogative ; and stalked forth in giant form ; 
 having exchanged its ecclesiastical habiliments for the civil- 
 ian's gown. So we have the evil now ; and perhaps not al- 
 together divested of the religious sentiment, which the Caliph 
 Omar Ebn Abd'alaziz has so forcefully expressed — " Prayer 
 carries us halfway to God, fasting brings us to the door of 
 his palace, and alms procures for us admission." After all, 
 let the character of the feeling, in which these institutions 
 originated, be what it may, yet the consequence has been 
 most disastrous ; not only to society, but to the poor them- 
 selves. A few extracts may confirm our statements. 
 
 One writer remarks: — "Since the poor laws were esta- 
 blished, however humane and judicious in their first institu- 
 tion, by affording a certain provision for infancy and age, we 
 find pauperism has been continually increasing ; and that, 
 with growing wealth, the laboring poor have become more 
 and more numerous and depressed." 
 
 Another writer observes — " Those most impolitic of all 
 impolitic laws, were unquestionably established on princi- 
 ples, and from motives, that do honor to the feelings of the 
 
 *Com. B. 1. ch. 9. 
 
 27* 
 
318 LECTURES ON 
 
 legislative body of the time in which they were enacted. 
 They were considered, not only by those who framed and 
 supported them, but by all sensible and intelligent people, 
 as the wisest and most philanthropic of human institutions. 
 They had for their chief object the comfortable sustenance 
 of those, who, feeble through age or misfortune, were ren- 
 dered incapable of exerting themselves in such a manner as 
 to procure by labor a sufficient supply of the necessaries of 
 life, and that by means the most rational; namely, by com- 
 pelling those who possessed none, or but a small share, of 
 ' the milk of human kindness,' to contribute in an equal 
 proportion with those, who, from liberal and benevolent dis- 
 positions, would have continued to do so without legal com- 
 pulsion. It was expected that the enacting of these laws 
 would have had the effect of introducing a spirit of industry 
 among the lower ranks; which, while it tended to render 
 the operation of the poor laws in a very small degree bur- 
 thensome to the wealthy part of the community, would also 
 have greatly promoted the prosperity of the nation. But 
 how blind is human foresight, and how imperfect all human 
 institutions! These laws, from the establishment of which 
 so many happy effects were expected to result, have tended 
 to consequences of the most alarming nature ; conse- 
 quences, which, if effectual measures are not speedily taken 
 to avert them, may, and probably will, end in universal ruin. 
 " It is added, that, notwithstanding the enormous assess- 
 ments to which the poor laws gave rise, they are by no 
 means attended with the advantages which were expected. 
 In place of tending to improve the morals, or increase the 
 industry of the poor, they have had quite a contrary effect. 
 It was but a short time after the enactment of these laws, 
 that the public were insulted with the famous song of, 
 
 { Hang sorrow, cast away care, 
 The parish is bound to maintain us.' 
 
 And how much this sentiment seems to be impressed on 
 the minds of the generality of that description of people, 
 for whose benefit these laws were framed, is well known to 
 all who live under their influence. They require not to be 
 reminded how necessary it is become to endeavor, by every 
 possible means, to curb that spirit of licentiousness, which 
 so generally reigns within the walls of a parish workhouse, 
 
MORAL GOVERN MENT 319 
 
 whence shame, honesty and pride, seem to be forever ban- 
 ished."* 
 
 The details of this subject are to the last degree distress- 
 ing and frightful. The rapid increase of the number of this 
 portion of the population ; the shame, and infamy, and dis- 
 grace, which their crimes necessarily produce, which no ex- 
 tent of bounty can ever relieve ; but to whose progress, mul- 
 tiplied and misguided charities, both individual and public, 
 must lend accelerated force, might arouse the deepest slum- 
 bers of the community. 
 
 But it is no part of our object to go out into these details. 
 Though they belong to the general subject, yet we are look- 
 ing forward to a class of conclusions, which can be sus- 
 tained without such troublesome minuteness. These shall 
 appear in their time. We are, at present, merely preparing 
 the way for them. 
 
 The question arises, and may be pressed with great pro- 
 priety and force, — how is society to be extricated from this 
 terrible labyrinth ? And certainly the answer is both near 
 and distinct, if our statements, taken from the scriptures, 
 be at all correct. There is manifestly neither discretion nor 
 safety in going on, guided by the ignis fatuus that has al- 
 ready led us so far astray. The farther we go, the more 
 rapidly the evil will grow, and the farther we may go. Every 
 additional society, intended to relieve the poor, will injure 
 the poor themselves, and add to the burthens which are de- 
 clared to be already too onerous. To stand still, if such a 
 thing could be done, would be to leave the evil as we find 
 it; and yet the evil could not remain stationary, because it 
 has its own principle of amplification, which would ulti- 
 mately carry us along with it. The evil itself must be as- 
 sailed — effectually and successfully, and society be brought 
 back under the force of scriptural laws. No other remedy 
 remains. But how is that to be done? 
 
 In attempting to answer a question of this kind, it is in- 
 dispensably necessary to ascertain the precise object in 
 view. The facts in the case, all serve to show that the poor 
 themselves have become degraded; their conscious feeling 
 of individuality is vitiated or impaired; or their moral sense 
 is deadened. The great remedy is a regeneration, or a re- 
 viving of their moral sense. There is, therefore, in the po- 
 litical object to be achieved, something analogous to that 
 which the great redeemer himself is aiming to effect; and 
 
 *Rees'Encyc. Art. Poor. 
 
320 LECTURES ON 
 
 the principles, on which he calculates as remedial, are those 
 on which the operation in view must rely. His grand de- 
 sign is to bring information, varied and extensive, furnish- 
 ing accurate views of our moral condition, to bear upon the 
 human mind. At one time he established a great variety 
 of symbolic institutions, and sent prophet after prophet to 
 enforce and illustrate them. At another, he affords his bible, 
 and organizes society under the inspection and sympathy 
 of numerous ministerial helps. He makes every man a 
 moral monitor to every other man ; and calls upon all by the 
 light of the good works they behold, to forsake sin and turn 
 to his commandments. He thus preserves the whole sub- 
 ject of morals, fairly and constantly, before our eyes, and pre- 
 sides, by his Spirit, and in love, over the whole train of in- 
 struction thus imparted to us. By argument, by appeal, by 
 entreaty, light is brought into the understanding, and im- 
 pressions are left upon the heart. His kingdom is thus set 
 up within us, and the sinner, learning to act from established 
 principles and rectified views, acts correctly; and attains to 
 those heavenly associations, whose members have all pure 
 personal characters. 
 
 A like operation I would commend in the present case; and 
 on the ground, that it will be found as effectual as it is con- 
 sistent, and as practicable as it is unequivocal. The poor 
 must be enlightened, that they .may be able to look at their 
 own condition, through another and a better medium; that 
 they may acquire higher motives and more enlarged views; 
 that they may learn to multiply their own internal resources, 
 and cherish feelings which will be utterly irreconcilable with 
 their present degradation. The community may thus re- 
 pose confidence in them ; as they can, and do now, in the 
 better classes of the poor, whose views and feelings have 
 not fallen below the consideration of personal individuality. 
 Education is by far too expensive, and the poor feel it to be 
 out of their reach. An inequality is thus created; and those 
 who cannot enjoy early tuition, expend their minds on such 
 objects as they meet; often reaching the extreme of vice, 
 before they have known any thing of its enormity. Here 
 then the remedial operation must commence; and as it pro- 
 ceeds, carrying light and liberty and love along with it, a 
 regenerating influence will be felt, which will ultimately re- 
 deem the whole class from infamy and distress. To the 
 accomplishment of this object, all the energies of the state, 
 urged on by the wise and good, should be unweariedly di- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 321 
 
 rected ; the consequences will repay them for their anxiety 
 and toil, and rid them of an evil which has long been a po- 
 litical opprobrium. 
 
 We speak not of pauper schools, erected, either by pub- 
 lic charities, or by religious sectaries, or by the legacies of 
 the rich. These we have ever considered to be of most 
 hurtful tendency; though perhaps they may be the best form 
 in which a mere gratuity can be conferred. But still such 
 institutions treat the poor as paupers; and do not fairly iden- 
 tify their children as an integral part of the community. 
 On the contrary, their children grow up with the very 
 associations, with the very habits of thought and feel- 
 ing, which the remedy proposed intends effectually to 
 destroy. They who get their education as a gratuity, have 
 only to take one step farther, and ask a support as a gratu- 
 ity. Lessons of independence cannot be taught, without 
 disgusting the pupil with the very institution from which 
 they proceed ; or, without disclosing to the child the parent's 
 shame, betrayed by the very act of sending him to school. 
 The influence of the higher classes is not brought to bear 
 upon the poor, in a manner calculated to elevate them, or 
 to cherish loftiness of sentiment ; but rather the distinction 
 is' made wider, and a depressing influence is exerted; while 
 those sympathies of life are withheld, which can be enjoyed 
 only by a living intercourse. The redeemer, carrying out 
 his regenerating plan, allows us the most intimate fellowship 
 with himself, and sends his Spirit to dwell in our bosom. 
 The very idea of communion with him is calculated to ele- 
 vate our thoughts, and to inspire us with lofty purposes and 
 feelings. And in the secondary operation we are recom- 
 mending, access to the higher classes, familiarity withthern, 
 the experience of their kindness and the sight of their 
 smiles, would have the happiest effect upon the poor — both 
 old and young. Pauper schools afford no opportunity. for 
 such communion, and leave no room for so fine a display of 
 humanity. Moses secured all this, by his regulation of the 
 various festivals which he enjoined ; and by the liberty which 
 he awarded to the poor, to go and glean in the fields of the 
 rich. On no occasion ought the rich more distinctly to recol- 
 lect the reason why Moses did this, than on the establish- 
 ment of schools. The poor man is thy brother. 
 
 It may not be amiss here to observe, that in the higher 
 remedial plan, which is carried out under the superinten- 
 dence of Jehovah, he is fully and accurately informed on 
 the whole subject with which his agency interferes. In like 
 
322 LECTURES ON 
 
 manner, they who would engage in the benevolent enter- 
 prise of lifting the poor from their degradation, ought care- 
 fully to investigate the subject they seek to relieve. But 
 unfortunately it happens that they who give, are as little 
 aware of the consequences of giving, as they who receive. 
 The community themselves do not understand the principles 
 of pauperism. They see the evil only partially. They think 
 it to be within the compass of their individual or social gra- 
 tuities ; and are grievously disappointed, when they find 
 that their benevolent design has been frustrated. They 
 search a little way for the. cause, and finding something 
 which seems to be sufficient to produce the evil they inveigh 
 against the insidious agent they have detected, and so leave 
 the whole matter ; until a periodical excitement again occurs, 
 which again calls forth their unavailing complaints ; and 
 seeing no alternative, but gratuity or starvation, their own 
 feelings impel them still to give. 
 
 How often has intemperance, for example, been declared 
 to be the cause of pauperism; and no doubt in a multitude 
 of instances it has been the fell destroyer. But if there was 
 no intemperance, there are other things, which belong to this 
 subject, and which would produce the whole evil. Pauperism 
 may lead to intemperance, as well as that intemperance may 
 lead to pauperism. 
 
 How often has pauperism been ascribed to bad and op- 
 pressive government ; and a bad government is certainly one 
 of the greatest of human calamities. But pauperism may be 
 engendered under any form of government; and certainly 
 will follow a system of legislation which enacts a code of 
 poor laws. It has other resources, and is characterised by 
 its own attributes, which may be fully displayed indepen- 
 dently of government. 
 
 Those principles, which are inherent in the subject, 
 whatever they may be, should be fairly and fully canvassed, 
 until both the rich and poor should understand them ; or any 
 effort which may be made to eradicate the evil, would be 
 continually counteracted and thwarted; and the benevolent 
 would again, as they did after the destruction of the mon- 
 astic institutions, seek the coercion of law, to compel 
 others to assist in bearing the burdens they had created. 
 And we conceive that there is nothing which ought to be more 
 distinctly impressed on the public mind, than this matter of 
 general education ; and not education, simply considered, but 
 extended, as it ought to be, in an honorable manner ; so as 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 323 
 
 to secure both the intellectual and moral elevation of all 
 classes. Again we repeat the important lesson which Moses 
 taught,-— The poor man is thy brother. 
 
 A system of education, — by its general character, as well 
 as by the associations or intercourse it should create among 
 the different classes of society, — would carry a moral influ- 
 ence along with it, and to the whole extent of pauperism. 
 Thejmediator, in seeking the moral reformation of our race, 
 through the medium of instruction, sustains an operation of 
 love; nor is there any thing which he more intensely la- 
 bors to impress upon the human mind, than this very fact 
 that God is good, and really desires to promote our present 
 and everlasting welfare. Such should be the character of 
 the enterprise now suggested. The greatest benefit which 
 can be conferred on a human being, is to furnish him, in an 
 honorable manner, with the means of intellectual cultivation. 
 It will be received as an inestimable boon ; as the strongest 
 expression of kindness which could be afforded, and as the 
 certain means of attaining whatever is within the reach of 
 human effort. He who engages in the undertaking, feels 
 that he is aiming at a magnificent object, which will absorb 
 his best affections, and carry a purifying influence to his 
 own bosoni. There is something in the very nature of the 
 operation, which necessarily assimilates it to the evangelical 
 purposes of Jehovah; so that, when it is fairly tried, it quick- 
 ly develops, as wrapped up within itself, the principles of its 
 own execution. It has a thousand adjuvants, which are im- 
 mediately called to its aid ; and there are a thousand unfa- 
 vorable circumstances, which it readily controls, or quickly 
 removes. Itstead of restraining the poor by the presence of 
 power, it animates them by the demonstration of love. It 
 substitutes kindness for whips and scorpions, and the excite- 
 ments of hope for the shiverings of fear. It represses trains 
 of suspicions and jealousies, and promotes a reciprocal con- 
 fidence. It elicits whatever is good, and restrains the jar- 
 ring passions of human nature, which are ever ready to run 
 into the extreme of licentiousness, under the influence of 
 the most vulgar and grovelling temptations. In short, such 
 a general system of education, confirms the various ties of 
 life, mingles heart with heart, and identifies the whole of 
 society in the pursuit of common objects, and the enjoy- 
 ment of common interests. AH the better classes of society, 
 by their mutual respect and their harmonious operation, de- 
 monstrate the truth of our remarks ; and the poor, brought 
 
324 LECTURES ON 
 
 under the same influences, would stand regenerated before 
 us, fitted for the noblest deeds, and stimulated by the purest 
 feelings. Whereas, on the other hand, frowns and. penal- 
 ties, which remove them to a distance, degraded by igno- 
 rance, and wretched through apprehension, destroy every 
 thing that is noble in their nature, and force them to nurse 
 their evil passions in their own defence. The most impoli- 
 tic of all political measures, is to throw off the poor from 
 our hearts and leave them to vegetate unregarded, or to feed 
 them upon charity, and punish them by law. |They occupy 
 a higher place in the scale of being, and are entitled to more 
 dignified consideration. 
 
 But, if I mistake not, society will throw many difficulties 
 in the way of such a project. They will apprehend that it 
 must necessarily lead to an indiscriminate intercourse between 
 the children of the rich and those of the poor; and that the 
 tendency of such intercourse will be to corrupt the children 
 of the better classes, by teaching them vulgar and profane 
 habits. Such an objection must necessarily have great 
 weight, as far as it is believed to be true. But the question 
 is, is it true ? I apprehend that it is not. Somehow, in 
 reasoning on morals," a tendency to evil, sure and uniform, 
 is ever suspected to be the single characteristic of mankind. 
 A tendency to good is "seldom supposed ; or if it is presumed 
 to exist, the reasoner who advances the idea, is heavily ac- 
 cused as heretical, or laughed at as chimerical. And yet 
 Jehovah himself describes our condition as an intermixture 
 of good and evil; and has established all his operations, as 
 a reformer among men, upon that tendency 'to good. On 
 this tendency he calculates in presenting truth to their 
 minds, and seeks to rouse them to moral action. His re- 
 medial interference is neither harsh nor violent ; he seeks 
 not by omnipotence to coerce, but by conviction to per- 
 suade, or by love to attract. And he calls upon us to imi- 
 tate his example. Christians are the light of the world, il- 
 lumining the darkness around them ; the salt of the earth, 
 communicating their own properties for the purification and 
 preservation of others. ]Nor is the expectation vain; for 
 the lower, are ever copying the higher classes of life, in 
 manners, dress, language, and a thousand other things, 
 which make up the minutiae of life. In the project contem- 
 plated, it will be well if the result be not the reverse of that 
 which the objection urges, and if the children of the rich do 
 not corrupt those of the poor. Many a lesson of false pride, 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 325 
 
 unprofitable and injurious, may be secretly insinuated ; and 
 habits, both of thought and feeling, may be most i nsidi- 
 ously formed, before the innovation may be suspected, or 
 shall have attracted any notice. But the truth is, from an 
 individual's own heart, down through all the forms and cir- 
 cumstances of life, every thing requires vigilance, .because 
 every thing may be mismanaged. It belongs not to man to 
 say — Let it be. Every thing is to be obtained by effort; and 
 the education of the young is not to be effected by magic, 
 or by an overweening confidence which shall relieve the pa- 
 rent from watchfulness and caution. I recommend no pro- 
 ject of spontaneous growth, whose practical operations re- 
 quire no providential care. Christianity itself, devised by 
 infinite wisdom, requires the superintendence, kind and for- 
 bearing, of him who framed it. 
 
 If, however, the pride of wealth, and of family distinction, 
 must still be arrayed against the philosophy of life and its 
 social relations; if the rich cannot consent to identify them- 
 selves with the poor, so far as to carry a moral and reforming 
 influence into the whole field of pauper wretchedness; if^ 
 in spite of our strong republican asseverations, with which 
 we are rendered familiar from childhood itself, an aristocracy, 
 disregarding the morality of benevolence, must be main- 
 tained; if the division of mankind into classes, by artificial 
 lines, must still be held as natural and sacred ; and if the vari- 
 ous ideas to which that division has given rise must be pro- 
 nounced orthodox and wise, without reference to those 
 moral laws which bind man to man, whatever may be the 
 difference of external circumstances; then the alternative 
 remains — charity or starvation. They who have hitherto 
 given, must go on to give. The evil they deplore will con- 
 tinue to grow ; and all the facilities and advantages which 
 our fine country affords, will not save us from the convul- 
 sions which must ensue, and which the voice of all experi- 
 ence has proclaimed in the clearest and most unequivocal 
 manner. The only effectual remedy that exists, is to be 
 found in reviving the moral sense of those who have sunk 
 into such great degradation. Abandon all thoughts of this 
 only remedy, and we may as well expect to carry sinners to 
 heaven without regeneration, as to accomplish any perma- 
 nent benefit for the poor, or cure the evils of which we com- 
 plain. 
 
 This system of general education, is, however, not the 
 only thing to be regarded, in view of the painful and afflict- 
 ' 28 
 
326 LECTURES ON 
 
 ing subject before us. Our charities must be reviewed; 
 for though they express great benevolence, they are yet 
 most improperly bestowed; and while they professedly seek to 
 relieve the poor, they are actually degrading them more and 
 more. Mere gratuities, extended to any one able to provide 
 for himself, are to that individual a positive injury. They con- 
 travene the great law which God has established, namely, that 
 man must gain subsistence by labor. And that law can no 
 more be safely set aside, than any other law which has been 
 enacted. Suspend the law of gravitation, blot the sun from 
 the firmament, or withold the rains, and no substitute can 
 be devised, by which their effects can be produced. Ban- 
 ish love to God and love to man, from a human heart, and 
 that heart can never be any thing else than evil. No more 
 can the means of subsistence be produced without labor. 
 Mere dependant poverty, where a man can help himself, is 
 therefore directly in the face of divine law, and is both crim- 
 inal and disgraceful. Under such circumstances, both he 
 who gives and he who receives, are alike in fault; and make 
 an inroad upon the well-being of society, which needs only 
 to be amplified, and pauperism is produced in full size. 
 There is no' escape from this statement. It is necessarily 
 true — the effect follows its cause most exactly, and philoso- 
 phically. 
 
 It is true that the poor we must always have with us ; and 
 they are entitled to the most tender consideration. There 
 are the aged and infirm ; the lame and blind, &c. &,c. who 
 are not able to help themselves, and who ought to be sup- 
 ported. Oftentimes a poor man is overtaken by an emer- 
 gency, which he did not foresee, and which he could not 
 prevent; a little assistance would immediately relieve him, 
 and enable him to rise above his difficulty. That assis- 
 tance should cheerfully be extended to him. "Thou shalt 
 open thine hand wide," said Moses, " unto him, and shalt 
 surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he 
 wanteth." Every one, will often find himself under cir- 
 cumstances, where he must act the kind almoner to the 
 needy, and God will bless him in his deed; for "he who 
 giveth to the poor, lendeth to the Lord." 
 
 But then the question arises, how shall these charities be 
 extended ? The redeemer considered the pharisees, as has 
 already been intimated, to have interpreted the law falsely, 
 when they excused a son from the duty of supporting his 
 father or mother, on the plea that he had presented asu gift, 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 3£7 
 
 that portion of his property which he ought to have devoted 
 to their use. Paul says — "if any widow have children or 
 nephews, let them learn first to show piety at home, and to 
 requite their parents ; for that is good and acceptable in the 
 sight of God." And again — "if any man or woman that 
 believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the 
 church be charged." According to these regulations, enact- 
 ed by inspired wisdom, and enforced by scriptural authority, 
 charity would be purely an individual matter, and should be 
 confined to the circle of family relatives. 
 
 We should almost be afraid to originate such a mode of 
 relief. But as the scriptures have so distinctly stated it, we 
 may venture to remark upon its simplicity ; and to assert, 
 that had it been faithfully employed, society would be vastly 
 more moral and benevolent than she is at this hour. — Wri- 
 ters on political economy, when they speak on this branch 
 of their science, frequently refer to Scotland, and note the 
 happy operation of these scriptural rules in that country. — 
 "Few," it is said, but such as are destitute of relations able 
 to support them, make the application "for public charity ;" 
 it being considered disgraceful, both to themselves and their 
 relations, to have their names entered on what is called the 
 poofs roll." So that, though these rules come under the 
 form of apostolic injunctions, yet their wisdom is demonstra- 
 ted by experiment, whenever they have been tried. And 
 every one will readily perceive that there is no danger of 
 their being carried to any hurtful extreme, or of their ever 
 operating as a bounty on marriage, and a spur to population. 
 
 The apostle, does certainly allude to eleemosynary provi- 
 sions made by the church, as such; and the office of deacon 
 was created, to take charge, with other temporalities, of the 
 church's alms. But observe how Paul limits and guards the 
 whole matter. — "Honor them," he says, "that are widows in- 
 deed ; — let not a widow be taken into the number, under three 
 score years old" — let nephews and children, let any man or wo- 
 man that believeth, relieve their own widows, and not suffer 
 them to be thrown upon the church fund. At the same time, 
 and alongside of these very restrictions, he remarks, that "if 
 any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his 
 own house, he hath denied the faith and is worse than an infi- 
 del."* The worst species of immorality must follow, the 
 renunciation of Christianity itself will ensue. Thus guarded, 
 the social charity can do no harm. But notwithstanding 
 
 •lTitn. v. 3,4—8,9. 
 
328 LECTURES OX 
 
 these restrictions, which have been either forgotten or mis~ 
 understood, this very provision, made for "widows indeed,' 5 * 
 is the embryo of all our public charities. The rule, good 
 and necessary in itself, has been carried beyond its own lim- 
 its ; and the abuses, endless in variety, and fearful in form, 
 have followed. The brief history of the matter may be told 
 almost in a sentence. — "In the first ages of the church, the 
 bishop had immediate charge of all the poor, both sound and 
 diseased; also of widows, orphans, strangers, &,c. When 
 the churches came to have fixed revenues allotted them, it 
 was decreed, that, at least one-fourth part thereof should go 
 to the relief of the poor; and to provide for them the more 
 commodious!}-, divers houses of charity were built, which are 
 since denominated hospitals." Here is the simple history 
 of the whole atfair. Thus poor rates were commenced, and 
 alms houses formed ; and they have been perpetuated under 
 the same false views of benevolence, in which they origina- 
 ted. Their abandonment is indispensable to our return to 
 the happier condition, in which the apostolic regulations 
 should have placed us. 
 
 The master himself has sufficiently exposed the whole 
 evil. The pharisees, in his day, were exceedingly ostenta- 
 tious in their alms-giving. They sounded a trumpet before 
 them, in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, 
 and exposed the whole matter to public view. Every body 
 knew what they did ; and thus in the very act of giving, they 
 lowered their own moral character. Public charity degrades 
 the benevolent themselves. The redeemer, therefore, for- 
 bad his disciples to act in any such manner; and laid down 
 this rule for their regulation. — "Let not thy right hand know 
 what thy left hand doeth, when thou doest alms." Act not 
 like the pharisees. Never bring your alms before the view 
 of men : your heavenly Father will neither approve nor re- 
 ward the deed ; but let them always be bestowed in secret, 
 in the presence of your heavenlyjfather, who seeth in secret, 
 and will reward you openly. The reason of all this the pha- 
 risees themselves made manifest — the duty was vitiated in 
 their hands ; their deceitful hearts obeyed" the impulse of 
 false motives; and they obtained, in the flattery and adula- 
 tion they received, all the reward they sought. And if it is 
 more blessed to give than to receive, then how shall the poor 
 fare under the operation of public charity, when public cha<* 
 rity degrades even the giver. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 329 
 
 The redeemer certainly had no intention to lay down an 
 arbitrary statute, without having a sufficient reason to en- 
 force it. He thoroughly understands human nature, and 
 has no need that any should tell him what is in man. He 
 legislates for mankind, according to their own nature and 
 capacities, ever seeking to promote their welfare, and to 
 protect them from the evils that are incident to their lot. — 
 His statute in the present case, then, is founded on the prin- 
 ciples of human nature ; and if it be disregarded, the worst 
 of evils must follow. Public charities can, therefore, do no- 
 thing but harm, however they may be modified; and the 
 very little ways that the apostle himself went, in encroach- 
 ing upon the general law, and which he did from sheer 
 necessity, he seems to have passed with a fearful heart and 
 a trembling step. The erection of houses of charity was a 
 bold and hazardous adventure, on which, from their own 
 just estimate of human nature, neither he nor his master 
 would ever have entered. That was left for the ecclesias- 
 tics of after times; who, misunderstanding both human na- 
 ture and divine law, have flooded society with inventions of 
 their own, which are rife to this hour, and as desolating as 
 they are rife. 
 
 There is another objection to public charities, in which 
 they seem, under another form, to invade nature's laws, and 
 whose force we see no way of evading. They appear to be 
 increasing the means of subsistence, without actually doing 
 it. The means of subsistence can be acquired only by la- 
 bor. Money cannot raise them; corn will not grow in the 
 rich man's coffers; nor can the treasury of a nation produce 
 a single stalk of wheat. Labor alone can accomplish the 
 growth of grain. But public charities bring hordes of con- 
 sumers, without providing any additional labor to supply the 
 increasing exigencies. Then, as a natural consequence, when 
 these supernumeraries are driven to occasional work, any giv- 
 en community will feel that there is an apparent increase of 
 laborers beyond the demand; and a reaction, of the most 
 hurtful kind, is carried back to the classes of the honest and 
 habitual laborers, which directly interferes with their resources. 
 With the apparent increase of labor, there is no actual in- 
 crease of it. Wages of course fall, are not always punctually 
 paid, and the hours of work are hurtfully multiplied. Then the 
 public charities must be increased, for the poor cannot live 
 by what they earn: and as lapidly as public charity grows, 
 the evil grows, and every new society adds to the general 
 28* 
 
330 LECTUftES ON 
 
 stock. Hence, in large cities, where public charities are 
 always most munificent, the operation commences, and the 
 pauper population begins to accumulate. Public beneficence 
 there first hangs out her signals, and the poor, from the coun- 
 try all round, feel actually invited to come and partake of the 
 bounty.— If nature's laws are thus defied, what else could 
 follow, than the very consequence that has been realised ? 
 The evil has been the legitimate result of ecclesiastical mis- 
 takes and monastic institutions. 
 
 There has been a very favorite project, which looks well, 
 and promises fair ; in which the benevolent seem promptly to 
 engage, and by which they calculate to do much good. — 
 They have wished to erect houses of industry, or have framed 
 societies to find work for the poor. We could heartily wish 
 success to the plan, if it were not that the prospects with 
 which its friends are flattered, are utterly delusive. It has 
 not been left to this age to conceive or execute this appa- 
 rently excellent enterprise. Public charity has long since 
 tried the experiment. The statutes which have been framed, 
 embraced the double object of providing for the impotent 
 poor, and finding employment for those who were able to work, 
 Nor only so, but the question was agitated, whether it would 
 be better to procure "stocks to be worked up at home," or 
 to "accumulate all the poor in one common workhouse." — 
 The latter plan has been objected to, as "tending to de- 
 stroy all domestic connexions, the only felicity of the honest 
 and industrious laborer; and to put the sober and diligent 
 upon a level, in point of their earnings, with those who are 
 dissolute and idle."* This project is therefore nothing new, 
 but has already been fully tried, and has contributed all its 
 influence to increase the evil it was intended to relieve. — 
 Such a result might have been expected, and- will infallibly 
 occur. The reasons why, or some of them, I shall proceed 
 to state. 
 
 It is very evident that a house of industry, or a society 
 finding employment for the poor, still dispenses a gratuity, 
 and a public gratuity. The name has been changed, but the 
 thing itself is preserved. Work is substituted for money ; but 
 it is still a gratuity. They who receive work on these terms, 
 do not perceive the degradation which begins so insidious- 
 ly ; but, having learned to take work as a gratuity, the 
 very next step is to take money. The idle will turn away 
 from the overture, and the corrupting principle appeals to 
 
 •Blackston, B. 1. ch. 9. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 331 
 
 the better classes of the poor ; so that by beginning a step high- 
 er, a house of industry becomes a nursery for the alms house. 
 The evil is the same, and its consequences the same, whether 
 the process commences with work or money ; or, if there be 
 any difference, the first is the most pernicious of the two. 
 
 The agent for such an institution, solicits A, B and C to 
 give to his direction whatever work they have to put out. 
 A, B and C consent to the proposition ; and so far as it goes, 
 they have accepted a gratuity, and committed to a trustee 
 that which they should do for themselves. But a still worse 
 effect follows ; the poor are by this means removed from the 
 sight of A, B and C. Intercourse between the different clas- 
 ses of society, of which there is by far too little already, is 
 thus broken up. A, B and C, are induced to believe that 
 the poor are well provided for, and never feel their sympa- 
 thies aroused in favor of those whom they do not see; or,, 
 while the evil is rapidly growing, that share of moral influ- 
 ence which familiarity would exert is withheld, and the poor 
 become degraded while the public really know nothing about 
 it. The subject sinks from public notice and public thought ; 
 and it presently becomes exceedingly paradoxical, that cha- 
 rity does not relieve the distressed. 
 
 Besides A, B and C, were in the habit of giving their work 
 to others, whom they knew and esteemed. What will become 
 of their poor? Either they must go to the public institu- 
 tion, or suffer. Should they apply to the society who cha- 
 ritably give out work, they meet with crowds of competitors 
 — for such a society will always have more applicants than 
 they can supply, — and are probably disappointed. Or should 
 they be furnished with employment, they must execute it for 
 lower wages than they would have obtained from A, B and 
 C, because they must assist in defraying the expenses of the 
 society. Perhaps they may be too sensitive to apply at all; 
 and then the institution has simply taken bread from one 
 poor individual to give it to another. A, B and C, never learn 
 this unexpected result, until it may be too late to use the 
 remedy. 
 
 Farther. — The institution being public, the poor are en- 
 ticed from the surrounding country, and more laborers are 
 brought into the community, where there are too many al- 
 ready. Wages, instead of being increased, are diminished, 
 and the charitable are called upon for farther assistance. — 
 A preference will be given to such an establishment, and the 
 honest laborer cannot bear up under the competition. — The 
 
332 LECTURES ON 
 
 expenses of the establishment must be paid; and thus the com- 
 munity vviil appeal to be more charitable than they really are. 
 It was not intended to produce these evils, for they were not 
 foreseen. The community designed to be benevolent; but 
 deceived by fair appearances, they never stopped to analyze 
 the operation in which they so promptly engaged. Good 
 intentions, however, never raised an ear of corn, though 
 they have often created the necessity that it should be done. 
 It may possibly be urged in reply to the preceding views, 
 that the apostle Paul directed that collections should be ta- 
 ken up, on the first day of the week, in the gentile churches, 
 for the poor saints which were at Jerusalem, with a view to 
 eke out an argument in favor of public charity. The fact is 
 not to be denied ; but then what are the connexions of the 
 fact? The passages which have been quoted from his epis- 
 tles, as well as the directions given by the master himself, are 
 evidently general rules. Are we to suppose that the apostle laid 
 down, or re-enacted, rules, which he neverintended should be 
 executed ; and that personally he said one thing and did an- 
 other ? Or is it an uncommon thing, that there should be 
 an exception to a general rule, which might suspend it for 
 the time being, without ultimately setting it aside ? Such 
 cases are emergencies, which must provide for themselves. 
 A famine or a pestilence would take a community by sur- 
 prise ; and more particularly the poor in a crowded city. — 
 The case would appear more peculiar still, if that commu- 
 nity should be under foreign domination ; for then their spi- 
 rit of independence would be cowed by military oppression, 
 and their energies would be paralyzed by unrighteous exac- 
 tions. Substitute persecution for the famine or pestilence, 
 and such would be the condition of the poor saints at Jeru- 
 salem. At Jerusalem their Lord had been crucified; there 
 some of their brethren had been martyred; and the apostle 
 himself could not enter the city without personal hazard. — 
 They had been informed, before they embraced Christianity, 
 that they must forsake houses and lands for the salve of the 
 gospel ; and they are represented at one time, as being so 
 hard pressed, that they were obliged to sell all they had and 
 make a common stock. Such a case must suggest its 
 own remedy. A general law would yield to a pressing ne- 
 cessity, as when David ate of the shew bread, or the disci- 
 ples plucked the ears of corn on the sabbath day. But take 
 away the emergency, and the general rule returns with all its 
 authority. Public charities, as they are now bestowed, have 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 333 
 
 created the distress they propose to relieve ; and pleading an 
 emergency, have converted an extremity into an habitual 
 evil. The two matters are perfect antipodes. 
 
 There is still another item in this subject of public charity 
 which merits very serious consideration. The apostle has 
 said, "that he who provides not for his own, and especially 
 for those of his own house, has denied the faith and is worse 
 than an infidel." But if the public undertake to provide for 
 his family, why should he trouble himself about the matter? 
 Instead of the moral question resting at all upon his con- 
 science, when he is about to form a family connexion, he 
 sees no evil in which he is likely to be involved, or which 
 will not, he calculates, be speedily relieved. The great im- 
 pulse to virtue is taken away ; in Paul's strong language, he 
 "denies the faith and is worse than an infidel;" or as the 
 fact continually presents itself, he is idle and intemperate, 
 profane and vicious: and not only becomes a pauper him- 
 self, but raises up a race, who will emulate and imitate his 
 awful example. — I affect not to be a political economist, but 
 plainly state my own impressions long since formed, and 
 every day confirmed ; and in behalf of which I appeal to 
 scripture, nature and history. And if these views are cor- 
 rect, public charity is the nurse of pauperism : and while the 
 nurse lives, healthful and vigorous, the child will thrive. 
 
 As has already been intimated, intemperance has been 
 heavily accused as the prolific cause of pauperism. And 
 most assuredly the drunkard is in a fair way to beggar both 
 himself and family. But then on the other hand, pauperism 
 may lead to intemperance ; for if public charity may be re- 
 lied on, a poor man is tempted to be idle, or to spend his 
 earnings in riot and dissipation. The necessity, under which 
 the divine constitution has placed him, to gain his subsist- 
 ence by the sweat of his brow, is in a great measure remov- 
 ed ; and losing the balance which moral principle would 
 have preserved, he learns to think lightly of an evil, which 
 he calculates will be speedily relieved. The statistics of 
 this matter are fairly petrifying. But I feel no great necessity 
 to furnish them, or to protract the argument; because the 
 subject has been attracting public consideration for many 
 years. The political measure of imposing a tax upon whis- 
 key, and a project to plant vineyards in our country, have 
 been largely and variously discussed ; so that it were impos- 
 sible that the information, which was thus spread abroad, 
 should not produce considerable excitement. The enormity 
 
334 LECTURES ON 
 
 and extent of the evil were thus exposed to view, and the 
 habits of society have been very much changed. 
 
 The abandonment of public charities may be thought to 
 be a very cruel step. And so it would be, as all violent 
 measures necessarily are, if it be suddenly done. The 
 charitable are as much in fault as the poor themselves, and 
 must retrieve their own errors in a prudent and cautious 
 manner. But it is presumed the object is not impractica- 
 ble. If no new societies should be encouraged ; if those 
 which are comparatively new should be dissolved; and if, 
 then, a gradual retrenchment should accompany a general sys- 
 tem of education ; the end would be ultimately attained. A 
 stopping point must be found somewhere, and that may as 
 well be ascertained by retrograding as by advancing. Should 
 the community, however, be incredulous, or give up the 
 matter in despair, they must only remember, that, in all the 
 departments of nature, violation of law will certainly entail 
 suffering; and that the pauper population will as infallibly 
 overtake the means of subsistence afforded by charity, as in 
 general society population overtakes the means of subsist- 
 ence derived from labor. The benevolent cannot alter the 
 course of nature, correct the wisdom, or mend the philoso- 
 phy of the divine institutions. 
 
 To remedy the evils of pauperism, we ought still to have 
 another resource on which to rely. It is not to be supposed 
 that Jehovah has framed a system for the moral reformation 
 of mankind at large, without that system being capable of 
 bearing with great effect on our present subject; because 
 the great thing needed, in relation to that subject, is moral 
 reformation. The additional resource should then be found 
 in the church, which God has made the light of the world; 
 and particularly in her ministers, whom he has commanded 
 to preach the gospel to all nations — to every creature. And 
 it would seem, from the example afforded in apostolic times, 
 as though, when a great and good revolution was intended, 
 it should commence with the poor. The wise, and mighty, 
 and noble, have all that they desire; and are apt to imagine, 
 from their own nourishing condition, that things are right, 
 just as they are ; that no improvement is needed, and that 
 no change would be for the better. Men in power seldom 
 seek or wish for reform. 
 
 But when we turn to the church, any calculation, in re- 
 ference to the matter in hand, seems to be utterly futile. 
 There are, at present, such various and incessant calls for 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 335 
 
 money ; and we hear so much of education societies, pa- 
 rental and auxiliary ; of gratuities and loans ; of beneficia- 
 ries and scholarships ; of bonds redeemed, and bonds remit- 
 ted ; that instead of the church exerting any influence to 
 cure the evil complained of, that very evil has become epi- 
 demic in her own precincts. And it requires very little 
 prescience to prognosticate some very heavy calamities as 
 near at hand. For pauperism will run a similar course, in 
 whatever connexion it exists ; and must necessarily assail, 
 in some form, the integrity of those who are found in its 
 ranks. The analogy is too striking to be disregarded ; or 
 if it should be pertinaciously defended, it will not be long 
 until it shall have worked out its own demonstration. It is 
 a pity that honorable young men should not be apprised of 
 the deleterious tendency of public charities, wherever they 
 may be found ; and that they are never more hurtful, than 
 when they come under guise of promoting the redeemer's 
 kingdom; because then the equivocal character of the means 
 is forgotten in the contemplation of the goodness of the ob- 
 ject. Under such circumstances, an ingenuous youth is in 
 great danger of supposing that " the end sanctifies the 
 means." 
 
 Pauperism, which is entirely an unnatural state of society, 
 originated, as has been seen, in regulations intended to di- 
 rect the application of the revenues of the church. And 
 when the church, as such, has the opportunity of gathering 
 and using large funds, she must necessarily undertake to 
 legislate on secular principles. Instead of wielding a moral 
 influence in her master's name, and under her master's 
 blessing, she has superadded something to the free-will of- 
 ferings of his people, and becomes distinguished by her po- 
 litical and commercial attributes. She must have a new class 
 of agents, and a new class of dependants, because she has a 
 new class of objects. And it would not be very difficult to fore- 
 tell, to what, such an operation, sustained by the strong reli- 
 gious feelings of mankind, would grow ; even if we had not 
 the history of the papal hierarchy, and the powerful influence 
 of ecclesiastical policy on the general principles of legisla- 
 tion, to forewarn us. The idea of a church becoming rich 
 is not unpopular in our own country, notwithstanding the 
 fearful examples of past ages. Some alarm has been felt, 
 but that is laughed at as a mere piece of infidel effrontery 
 or folly; and the moral irrelevancy of such means, in pro- 
 moting the interests of the redeemer's kingdom, is not sus- 
 
336 LECTURES ON 
 
 pected. Amass these means, and reform becomes impossi- 
 ble ; for they who wield them, — at least such is the history 
 of man — have no perception that any thing is wrong. They 
 who have apprehended evil, feel that they can scarcely 
 assail the colossal power without being crushed: and, be- 
 coming too timid to meet the danger, or make the sacrifice, 
 they cower to the supposed necessity, and call it expediency. 
 But should this apparently useful and needed operation be 
 encouraged, or should the events, which are now transi- 
 piring in the world, and have given to the papal power so 
 fatal a blow, not arrest it, another Henry the VIII. may be 
 needed in some after age, to cut short " the wide spreading 
 degeneracy." Those who are engaged in this matter, have 
 no intentions which deserve censure. They are seeking to 
 do good ; but they have mistaken the means, and may dis- 
 cover their error when it is too late. Apprehended con 
 tests for church property, even now, may impose silence 
 upon many a tongue ; and a civil charter creates, the turn- 
 ing point of argument. The moral character of the church 
 is suffering much, at this hour, from her secular measures. 
 The evident design of these pecuniary provisions is to 
 supply the world with ministers ; and hence they are ex- 
 pended in behalf of theological seminaries, education socie- 
 ties, &c. But when the object is stated, another evil is be- 
 trayed ; for the population is increasing far beyond the 
 means of furnishing them with ministers. Yet it is sup- 
 posed that the effort is as great as can be made ; and though 
 it is demonstrably insufficient, men can do no more than 
 they can do. In this way the difficulty is kept out of sight, 
 discussion is prevented, and the church remains satisfied 
 with her own unsatisfactory measures. Did the redeemer 
 or his disciples adopt such a course? Did they rear such 
 institutions, and wait on the proficiency and promise of an- 
 nual classes of students? Or were not elders ordained in 
 every city, chosen from the inhabitants of the city itself? 
 And must not every society have within itself the means of 
 its own operation ? 
 
 I am aware that the power of working miracles has been 
 urged as a sufficient explanation of the rapid manner in 
 which the churches were furnished with official men; i. e. 
 this power was a substitute for literature; and now that the 
 power is withdrawn, nothing but literature can qualify a 
 man for ministerial office. But this argument grows out of 
 a misconception of the use of miracles. Adam wrought no 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 337 
 
 miracles; neither did Noah nor Abraham. But when the 
 two dispensations, based on a purpose of election, were in- 
 troduced, that election was so far out of the ordinary opera- 
 tions of the divine government, that special proof of its di- 
 vine origin was indispensably necessary. This point hav- 
 ing been established, the power of working miracles was 
 withdrawn, excepting that old testament prophets, having 
 received an extraordinary commission, were under a similar 
 necessity to substantiate their pretensions by like proof. 
 Miracles never were intended to be a substitute for litera- 
 ture, nor to have any influence in determining a question, 
 like that which is now called up. The redeemer carried 
 his apostles out and in with him, during the whole of his 
 ministry, notwithstanding his intentions to endow them af- 
 terwards with such peculiar gifts. When he wished to in- 
 struct the gentiles, he called Paul to the enterprise; because 
 it needed high intellectual character, and varied literary at- 
 tainments. Paul found it necessary to lower the estimate 
 in which the power of working miracles was held, and re- 
 presented the constituent principles of human nature, and 
 the ordinary moral characteristics of society, as of much 
 higher consideration. He would rather speak five words 
 with his understanding, that he might teach others, than ten 
 thousand words in an unknown tongue, though the power 
 to do so would have commanded great admiration ; and 
 charity, or love, he thought far more excellent than all spi- 
 ritual gifts. 
 
 Neither were the elders, among the jews, learned men. 
 True, after the establishment of the synagogues by Ezra, it 
 was conceived to be necessary that the bishop should be- 
 come a literary man; public seminaries were formed to in- 
 struct those who were intended to occupy the episcopal 
 office ; then honorary titles were bestowed — such as Rabbi, 
 Doctor, &c. Metaphysical questions were soon started ; 
 long, and bitter controversies, divided the community, 
 into sects and parties; ordinances and burdens were impos- 
 ed upon the human conscience; and the traditions of men 
 took the place of the commandments of God. A similar 
 operation has been most successfully carried on since the 
 ascension of the redeemer and the death of his apostles, 
 notwithstanding his severe criticism of these public errors 
 of the jews, and his direct charge to his disciples not to imi- 
 tate their example. And now, with the fully formed impres- 
 sion, that literary men alone should enter our pulpits, multi- 
 29 
 
338 LECTURES Oft 
 
 tudes are perishing around us for lack of vision, and the 
 church has no agents to carry home to the poor the instruc- 
 tion which is necessary to raise them from their degrada- 
 tion. Elders in every city, ordained according to scriptural 
 rule, receive no compensation for their services, though the 
 redeemer has explicitly declared that " the laborer is wor- 
 thy of his hire ;" and, consequently, no services, or very 
 few, are rendered. The church, by these arrangements, 
 seems to be furnished with her full number of official men, 
 when in fact she is not ; and the gospel is not, nor can it 
 be, carried to every creature ; but the very influence which 
 was intended to bear upon the poor is withdrawn, or is not 
 exerted. The consequence is natural. ■ 
 . Society, at large, is not literary, either in old or new coun- 
 tries ; and particularly, where any considerable portion of the 
 population is made up of paupers. It is therefore an idle 
 plan which requires all ministers to form a literary charac- 
 ter ; and more especially, when the eldership render no ac- 
 tual service. A literary community may call for literary 
 ministers; but an illiterate community would be much better 
 served by those who are not very far ahead of themselves. 
 As society advances, she will call for official men of improved 
 character; and she will be able to furnish them. But if all 
 classes are put upon a level, and all must have literary 
 preachers, it is no matter of wonder that the supply should be 
 short of the demand, and that large funds are required to meet 
 circumstances which society can never manage. The con- 
 sequence necessarily is, that public institutions fail to realise 
 their object, even after the most expensive and excessive 
 effort. The poor are disregarded, population increases, 
 and the evil hourly grows more unmanageable. Occasionally 
 this evil attracts public notice ; a transient excitement is pro- 
 duced ; some new societies are formed ; interesting speeches 
 are pronounced; painful statistics are repeated; and the 
 whole matter terminates, as though something really praise- 
 worthy had been done, while the divine law is .disobeyed, 
 and society is not relieved. 
 
 It may be stated that in certain sections of the church a 
 different plan has been tried : and that notwithstanding some 
 objectionable peculiarities, these sections have grown in num- 
 bers and influence ; both society and ministerial characterhave 
 improved with theii progress, and they are rapidly spreading 
 themselves over the world. The fact demonstrates the truth 
 of the preceding remarks, yet, after all, it is only a sectional 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 339 
 
 movement; and so far as it is of sectarian character, it adds 
 to the aggregate of evil. It would seem strange that the 
 gospel of the Son of God, if it be what it professes to be, 
 should not carry its demonstration to every bosom. Surely 
 it cannot lack proof of its own truth, and one may be well 
 surprised that there are so many who do not submit to its 
 control. It is an easy thing to attempt to explain their con- 
 duct, by referring it to the depravity of the human heart. I 
 shall not dispute the truth of the position, but then it is 
 very general. The depravity of the human heart may in- 
 clude in it a great variety of particulars ; and those particu- 
 lars should be ascertained, that the general mass of evil may 
 be assailed. If the difficulty under consideration should be 
 the result of mismanagement, in the practical administration 
 of the church, then to keep that mismanagement out of 
 sight, and to talk of the depravity of the" human heart, may 
 seem very pious, but it is trifling with the subject. Perad- 
 venture many, who have not submitted to the gospel, have 
 seldom or never heard it ; and to speak in hard terms of their 
 rebellion is dealing unfairly— for how shall they believe in 
 him, of whom they have not heard ? And how shall they hear 
 without a preacher? They may have heard the gospel, and 
 yet some other reason may account for their unbelief. The 
 apostle Paul tells the jews — ".The name of God is blas- 
 phemed among the gentiles, through you." And perhaps 
 the matter under deliberation maybe traced up to some par- 
 ticular cause, that ought to be removed ; and that is the very 
 form, in which the depravity of the human heart is betrayed. 
 "By this," said the redeemer "shall all men know that ye 
 are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." And will 
 any man, who has any acquaintance with the different sects 
 in the christian church; who has heard their various contro- 
 versies, and read their different statements of the doctrines 
 of the gospel; who has observed the principles of their as- 
 sociation, adopted and carried out into execution in defiance 
 of the claims of local situation; who has watched their em- 
 ulation, their proselyting spirit, and their sectarian prejudi- 
 ces — will any man, who has known all this, pretend to say, 
 that the sects have demonstrated the truth of Christianity by 
 their brotherly love ? Can they have carried light and con- 
 viction to the houses and bosoms of the poor, or attracted 
 the attention of a casual observer by the moral beauty of 
 their profession, or the excellence of their harmonious feel- 
 inas in a common cause ? Will not the multitude be rather 
 
340 LECTURES ON 
 
 intimidated from investigating a subject, about which there 
 is thus apparently declared to be but little certainty ? Amid 
 the confusion of angry passions, bitter words, and endless 
 strife, would "one that believeth not, or one unlearned, be 
 convinced of all and judged of all?" The mischievous 
 consequences of sectarianism are altogether incalculable. 
 While they are defended and maintained, the church can 
 bring but a feeble moral influence, to reform the crowds of 
 paupers that fill our land; and can never exert those moral 
 restraints that are indispensably necessary to remedy the 
 evil, which the state seems long since to have given up in 
 despair. If these associations were dissolved, and chris- 
 tians of each community should consider more maturely and 
 harmoniously their own social and local, interests, they 
 might carry out the redeemer's rule and supply the demon- 
 stration of the truth of Christianity which is so much need- 
 ed. Those associations must be broken up, either by vol- 
 untary consent; or under the force of desolating judgments, 
 which already seem to be abroad in the earth. A bleeding, 
 a wailing, a dying world calls upon christians, of all denom- 
 inations, to quit their strife, and hasten to preach a crucified 
 Christ in her houses and her streets. And will they still go 
 on, offending and injuring that world by their contention, in 
 despite of all warning ? Then the mightiest influence, by 
 which the degraded and unhappy poor should be reformed, 
 and brought back to sobriety, industry and morality, will 
 still be wanting; and all their benevolent societies, like the 
 monactic institutions, will deepen the gloom, multiply the 
 sorrows, and increase the calamity, they professedly seek to 
 relieve. 
 
 If it were not for these things — i. e. if the church was not 
 divided into contending parties, if her official principles 
 were not so narrow as to shut out all but classical men from 
 her pulpits, and if the pauper principle were not so popular 
 an ingredient in her own general measures, she might bring 
 in a vast amount of moral influence to bear upon all classes. 
 She would be a praise and a beauty in the midst of every 
 city where her ordinances are administered, illumining the 
 darkness, and relieving the ignorance of all who dwell around 
 her altars. But as matters now stand, the essential princi- 
 ples of human society must yield to her artificial distinc- 
 tions, and the remedial agencies of the mediator are para- 
 lysed by her sectarian regulations. She has acted not much 
 unlike the rich man, who, fond of pomp and display and 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 341 
 
 equipage, has injured his own children by bringing them up 
 in idleness, and with feelings of pride and selfishness, which 
 have rendered them indifferent to the wants and interests of 
 all around them. How can the world be else than injured 
 in a moral point of view, when the very means of moral re- 
 formation, which God himself has instituted, should be so 
 crippled in their operation, and so circumscribed in their 
 objects? When, instead of elders being ordained in every 
 city, who shall be identified with each particular communi- 
 ty, a particular class of men is detached from society ; and, 
 regulated by creeds and laws of their own, are better in- 
 structed how to govern, than to reform their fellow men? 
 Let nature and reason speak, and Christianity will justify 
 their decisions; and if those decisions shall be faithfully and 
 affectionately followed up, a thousand blessings will be dif- 
 fused abroad, and the desert will presently blossom as the 
 rose. 
 
 This discussion has been maintained, because its subject 
 fell directly in my way ; but more particularly with a view to 
 some general conclusions, which I shall now briefly state. 
 It is very evident, that the argument just closed is perfectly 
 parallel to that, pursued on the subject of faith, in the pre- 
 ceding lecture. Man was driven from paradise, because 
 that God would not maintain him as a pauper, amid its luxu- 
 riance and bounty. And this purpose was adopted and 
 carried out, not in an unkind and arbitrary manner, but be- 
 cause the improvement of human nature, and the necessary 
 restraints under temptation, depend upon the industri- 
 ous exercise of our own faculties. Such is demonstrated to 
 be philosophy, from the whole history of mankind in rela- 
 tion to the means of subsistence. The same thing would be 
 very apparent, if the acquisition of science had been the 
 subject of inquiry. Morals, then, cannot be considered 
 as an exception to the general law, when that law results 
 from the simple philosophy of mind. Faith, therefore, like 
 labor, involves the full exercise of the human faculties; and 
 as the means of subsistence cannot be obtained without, 
 but may most certainly be obtained with, man's personal 
 labor; so salvation cannot be achieved without, but may 
 most certainly be achieved by, the exercise of faith, as the 
 operation of his individual powers. 
 
 The objection must not be again returned upon us, that 
 this view of faith shuts out the operation of divine power, 
 while the scriptures declare the necessity for regeneration. 
 
 29* 
 
342 LECTURES ON 
 
 For, though man must and can, obtain the means of subsis- 
 tence by his own labor, yet by the divine constitution it is 
 God who prospers his effort ; nor only so, but Jehovah 
 carries a regenerating influence into the field of labor. 
 11 Thou sendest forth thy Spirit," says the psalmist, " they are 
 created ; and thou renewest the face of earth." The same 
 word is here used, which is again employed by the psalmist 
 when he prays, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, renew 
 a right spirit within." The use of such language in the 
 scriptures,, does not at all interfere with our personal res- 
 ponsibility and effort; nor is it ever intended to argue an 
 incapacity on the part of man to believe, more than it does an 
 incapacity to labor. Neither does the' use of such terms 
 imply a state of absolute death in reference to the subject 
 to which they are applied ; for when the regenerating pro- 
 cess is carried on in the spring, life is not infused, but is 
 merely called out into exercise. The dead tree, or vine, or 
 plant, is not revived : but a principle of life is acted on. 
 wherever it exists; just as we have supposed in relation to 
 morals. 
 
 I am not without my fears, that divine grace is often con- 
 sidered as a simple gratuity, and the mediatorial kingdom, 
 as a kind of pauper establishment. For myself, I cannot 
 sanction such an idea of the subject. The philosophy of 
 human nature, is at irreconcilable war with such an idea: 
 and the material world furnishes us with no emblems of it. 
 God calls upon men to act up to the whole extent of their 
 powers; and demands no more of them. He does not re- 
 quire ''deeds of law," because we cannot render them. 
 "Faith is counted for righteousness," because such a system 
 is consistent with our capacities, and can be fully carried 
 out, according to the philosophy of human nature, and the 
 ordinary laws of his providence. It is true, that God has 
 gwen to us, and for us, his only begotten Son; but it is 
 equally true, that he has given the earth to the sons of men. 
 While in the one case, the means of subsistence are the 
 product of human labor, and in perfect consistency with 
 the gifts that have been bestowed, so in the other the be- 
 liever works out his own salvation, on the principle that it 
 is God who works in him. As we are called upon to pray 
 for our daily bread, so we pray continually for the healthful 
 influences of divine grace; and as the Spirit of God re- 
 sponds in the one instance, so he does in the other. If 
 men will not labor, they must starve ; and if they will not 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 343 
 
 believe, they must perish. The doctrine of personal respon- 
 sibility thus again stands out justified and commended as a 
 display of pure moral philosophy, and intelligible scriptural 
 legislation. 
 
 In preaching the gospel to any community, the redeemer 
 directed his disciples to seek out in the first place, the man 
 who was worthy ; — like the angels searching Lot in 
 Sodom, or Jehovah making inquiry after "ten righteous 
 men," with the view of ascertaining a starting point for a 
 remedial operation. A direct assault upon the worst part 
 of the community, though sustained by the denunciation of 
 most fearful terrors, is not the most prudent ministerial 
 effort; and even when it is successful, it generally amounts 
 to a discovery of some worthy men, who might have been 
 called out by less violent measures. But ministers are so 
 much in the habit of calculating on divine sovereignty, or 
 which is the same thing, divine power, that they are apt to 
 imagine that God's providence must guaranty all their ab- 
 surdities. Nothing is set down to the action of intelligent 
 human nature ; public opinion is set at defiance ; and com- 
 mon sense is laughed to scorn, in presuming to judge of 
 spiritual things. But in the mediatorial operations of the 
 Son of God, the human mind must pass for all it is worth; 
 and the only value of a minister himself, consists either in 
 the intelligence he displays, or the moral influence he may 
 exert. An altar inscribed to "the unknown God/' may 
 afford a better starting point for a moral reformation, than 
 the talents or eloquence of a Paul, with all the abstract 
 mysteries that all antiquity could affoid. 
 
 An individual must be approached with like wisdom and 
 caution. The remedial point in his character should be 
 ascertained, and then addressed as though a thinking being 
 were to be roused to action. That point maybe sometimes 
 very high, and at other times very low. Uniformity is an 
 idea that belongs only to the mind that is ignorant of human 
 nature, or which jesuitically intends to degrade and enslave 
 human beings. Or, as has been well remarked, — "by 
 placing force on the side of faith, you put courage on the 
 side of doubt." Call it what you may, grace, sovereignty, 
 power, mystery, law, or gospel, — apply it where you may, 
 in religion, politics, literature, or charity, — enforce it on 
 whom you may, christian, jew, mahomedan, or pagan, — the 
 system, whose formalities do not serve to revive the moral 
 sense, or awaken the intellectual energies of man, is false 
 
344 LECTURES ON 
 
 in philosophy, is heretical in Christianity, and was never 
 espoused by Jehovah, nor successful in practice. I care 
 not what excitement may be produced ; what alarms may 
 be roused ; what tears may flow, or what numbers maybe 
 added to a party : the end must be disastrous. There is 
 nothing to prevent such a catastrophe. A high nervous 
 excitability rushes into every extravagance, and is pleased 
 with its own prowess; but its boasted good is based on the 
 heaviest social calamities. Our influential men, who win 
 public favor by popular show, may think differently. To 
 their own master they stand or fall. But pauperism in every 
 form is false in philosophy, and false in morals. 
 
 LECTURE XIV. 
 
 Principle of Religious Forms. — Cherubim. — Sacrifice. — New 
 Testament Ordinances. — Conclusion. 
 
 When Jehovah created our first parents, and placed them 
 in the garden of Eden, he afforded to them, and in forms cor- 
 respondent with their own nature, every variety of instruc- 
 tive emblems. The heavens and the earth declared his glory; 
 — the assumption of personal form, presented to them a 
 ''ministerial organ" of heavenly fellowship with himself; — 
 the garden of Eden was his holy temple, where he delivered 
 his law, and where they enjoyed his presence ; — the seventh 
 day was a memorial of his finished work, and summoned 
 them to some special services, which they were required to 
 render, in view of a heavenly rest into which they should ul- 
 timately enter; — every thing around them was lovely and 
 good, teaching them of the Tore, the wisdom, the power, and 
 the righteousness of God ; — nothing was wanting to explain 
 their duty and to attract them to its performance. 
 
 Even in a political point of view, when the paradisiacal 
 statute was proclaimed, and social responsibility, with all its 
 multifarious circumstances, was appended to personal obli- 
 gation as connected with the law written on the heart, the 
 garden furnished a still more exuberant display of divine 
 goodness. If this secondary form of human existence mul- 
 tiplied duties, it also multiplied external advantages as at- 
 tendant on those duties. It was not good that man should 
 be alone ; so that the paradisiacal constitution was establish- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 345 
 
 ed out of real kindness, and was so set forth by the external 
 circumstances under which it was introduced. The tree of 
 the knowledge of good and evil, placed in the midst of the 
 garden, was like every other external symbol; a kind and a 
 needful monitor, as well as a simple and easy test of obe- 
 dience. In short, place man where you will, his character 
 must be developed by his works. Thus he is to be esti- 
 mated and judged by both God and men. — "By their fruits 
 ye shall know them." 
 
 In the progress of our discussion, we are now contempla- 
 ting man as a sinner ; and as placed under a remedial system, 
 which, like the original institute, must be correspondent 
 with his own nature. He is still surrounded by the external 
 exhibitions of the divine goodness. Now, as well as at first, 
 the heavens declare the glory of God. Social life, with its 
 various relations, we see still preserved ; and its distinctive 
 purposes are held up to view, as good in their intentions", 
 and as important in their operations, as they ever were. A 
 sabbatical ordinance, emblematic of a heavenly rest to be 
 enjoyed, after we shall have fulfilled our various responsibil- 
 ities and finished our earthly labors, was not revoked. Evil 
 it is true has been introduced ; but then that evil has not 
 been the entire desolation of the good originally created. 
 The condition, the constitution, and the life of man are an 
 intermixture of good and evil; and a remedy has been pro- 
 mulgated by which he may overcome that evil. And this 
 second constitution, like the first, being based upon, and 
 consistent with, the principles of human action, or calling 
 upon men to labor according to their ability ; must establish 
 its own external ordinances, or be illustrated by a series of 
 evangelic symbols. The nature of man requires such things : 
 the whole material world is a collection of such things. — 
 The cherubic. emblems or the sacrificial institution, baptism 
 or the Lord's supper, if they correspond with the external 
 situation of mankind, may be sustained by reasons as ration- 
 al, and serve purposes as valuable, as any other ordinance, 
 human or divine. In fact, without such outward forms, the 
 remedial system would soon sink into oblivion ; for, by 
 what means would you furnish man with remedial ideas, 
 seeing that he gets his ideas by means of his external 
 senses? 
 
 Religious forms have created a great deal of discussion. 
 Some moralists can never have enough of them ; they add 
 line upon line, and precept upon precept ; rites and ceremo- 
 
346 LECTURES ON 
 
 nies, fasts and feasts, days and weeks have been multiplied 
 without end: new inventions are added to old traditions, 
 and judgment, mercy, and faith are forgotten, amid tithes of 
 mint and anise and cummin. Social combinations and exter- 
 nal show become substitutes for practical virtues; and for- 
 mularies of faith and prayer, render thought and investiga- 
 tion unnecessary. An ecclesiastical legislation of this kind, 
 small in its beginnings, but fearfully rapid in its progress, 
 has more than once held on its course, until a ritual has 
 been established, so childish and burdensome, that revolu- 
 tion has become indispensably necessary. 
 
 On the other hand, many have rushed into the opposite 
 extreme, and have cast off all religious forms. They would 
 adore God in the great temple of nature, and laugh at all 
 religious associations. In the outward ceremonies of divine 
 worship, — in the priestly functions, in the sacrificial institu- 
 tion, in evangelic ordinances, — they can see nothing but 
 the inventions of designing men. In the church itself, hun- 
 dreds can hear sermons, and out of respect to public opin- 
 ion seek baptism for their children ; but perceive no beauty, 
 and feel no attractions in the new testament passover. So 
 mankind pass from one extreme to another, and in reject- 
 ing the superstition of the age in which they live, lose sight 
 of the elemental principles of their individual and social na- 
 ture ; and that too, while they can draw an accurate line in 
 an analogous case ; or can point out the difference between 
 despotism and anarchy, politically considered. Sometimes 
 these contradictory matters, institute their rival pretensions; 
 — ignorance presuming to be the mother of devotion, and in- 
 fidelity running up her genealogy to superstition,- — until in- 
 telligent men are brought to live in fearful suspense, pain- 
 fully prognosticating, yet afraid to meet, the disasters that 
 are coming. 
 
 The promise given to our first parents, assuring them that 
 "the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head," 
 was certainly not all that Jehovah gave, in order to set be- 
 fore them the remedial institute. The fate of the literal ser- 
 pent, converted into a degraded symbol of satan's overthrow, 
 which has been known in every age, and exhibited in every 
 country ; — the remark of Eve on the birth of Cain, when she 
 observed, "I have gotten a man, even Jehovah his very 
 self:" — the offerings which Cain and Abel respectively 
 brought to the Lord; — the official distinctions which were 
 very soon so accurately defined, and so strongly marked ;— 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 347 
 
 the prevalence of sacrifice all over the world, accompanied 
 with the expectations of a mediatorial advent ;— these, and 
 other matters of a similar kind -which might be mentionedj 
 certainly evince that fuller representations were made at the 
 time, than Moses has recorded. He was writing to a peo- 
 ple who were no strangers to the matters to which he so 
 briefly refers; and he felt no occasion to write any fuller details 
 for future generations, because the institutions, which he was 
 commissioned to establish, would supply any deficiency which 
 might be felt. The prophecies and promises which himself 
 uttered, the types and ordinances, designed to prefigure the 
 coming Messiah and his work, which belonged to the sinaic 
 ritual, clearly announced whatever was necessary to be 
 known by us. For this reason, he has not traced up sacri- 
 fice to its divine origin, further than as it is implied in the 
 history; nor has he, any where in his writings, explained 
 the nature of the cherubim. Both of these, however, appear 
 to have been attached to the early system of worship which 
 Jehovah established when he expelled man from the garden. 
 Neither of them was forgotten, either among jews or pagans, at 
 the time when Moses wrote ; but they evidently distinguished 
 the whole patriarchal dispensation, and were left among the 
 heathen, at the very time they were renewed with such pe- 
 culiar glory among the descendants of Abraham. — But they 
 require some farther illustration. 
 
 The cherubim are not generally understood. . "The com- 
 mon notion," says Faber, "that they were little better than 
 a sort of terrific scare-crows, employed to prevent mankind 
 from approaching the tree of life, seems to me to be no less 
 childish, than irreconcilable with other parts of scripture." 
 Under the levitical economy, the cherubim were placed first 
 in the tabernacle, and afterwards in the temple. And if 
 so, why should they not be considered as serving a corre- 
 sponding purpose from the very beginning? If they were 
 then, as well as afterwards, placed in a tabernacle, it would 
 seem that no doubt should be left, either of their hieroglyph- 
 ical character, or of their sacred intention. And that they 
 were so placed, appears to be very distinctly implied in the 
 following apocryphal text; — "Thou hast commanded me to 
 build a temple upon thy holy mount, and an altar in the city 
 wherein thou dwellest, a resemblance of the holy tabernacle, 
 which thou hast prepared from the beginning."* The 
 "flaming sword which turned every way," was "a bright 
 
 * Wis. of Sol. ix. 8. 
 
348 LECTURES ON 
 
 blaze of bickering Are," or "a fire infolding itself," which 
 was equally characteristic of the levitical cherubim, and 
 which was the symbol of the divine presence. The Jewish 
 rabbins have called this display of the divine glory the 
 shechinah : which is a term merely anglicising, in its substan- 
 tive form, the very word which Moses here uses, and which 
 our translators have very imperfectly rendered placed. It 
 ought to be, — "Jehovah Elohim caused to dwell, or put in a 
 tabernacle, at the east end, or before, the garden of Eden, 
 the cherubim." 
 
 When Moses gave his directions concerning the taber- 
 nacle, which was erected in the wilderness, he did not de- 
 scribe the cherubim. Neither were they described after- 
 wards, when Solomon built the temple. No very good 
 reason can be assigned for this repeated silence, unless it 
 be that the people were well acquainted with their character 
 and form: and this reason will be entirely satisfactory, if it 
 is recollected that "the various consecrated utensils, and 
 outer parts of the temple, were profusely decorated with 
 these mysterious hieroglyphics." Ezekiel, however, has 
 supplied the deficiency, when he details "the visions of 
 God," which he saw by the river of Chebar. He saw four 
 living creatures, which had the face of a man, the face of a 
 lion, the face of an ox, and the face of an eagle. "* Again 
 he remarks, — "I knew that they were the cherubim; — every 
 one had four faces a piece."! Of course the cherubim 
 were well known, as having four faces, surmounted by a 
 brilliant display, or. ardent blaze : — "the cherubim of glory," 
 or of manifestation, as Paul denominates them ; though he 
 did not think it worth while to speak particularly about 
 them, t 
 
 Furthermore, the same prophet, speaking of the king of 
 Tyre, represents him as having been in Eden, the garden 
 of God, and describes him as "the anointed cherub that 
 covereth; that was upon the holy mountain of god, 
 that walked up and clown in the midst of the stones of 
 fire." And the Lord God said to him, — "I will destroy 
 thee covering cherub from the midst of the stones of 
 fire."§ The prophet, by his allusion, not only evinces that 
 there were cherubim situated in connexion with paradise, 
 or the garden of Eden, and that they were associated with 
 a fiery display, but he does this after having previously ex- 
 
 » Ezek. i. t Ezek. x. 10—22. 
 
 I Heb ix. 5. § Ezek.xxviii. 12—16. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 349 
 
 hibited the cherubim with four faces, over which was seen 
 "a fire infolding itself." Nor is this all. The king is called 
 a covering cherub ; a term which we cannot explain, 
 unless we call up the fact that the cherubim shadowed, or 
 covered, the mercy-seat, under the levitical dispensation. 
 If this be the explanation, then so distinct a reference to the 
 mercy-seat leads us at once to the idea, that there were not 
 only cherubim placed in a tabernacle before the garden of 
 Eden; but that a ritual, large and varied, including all the 
 different ministerial services attendant on its ordinances, 
 was established from the beginning. The argument, then, 
 which demonstrates the erection of the tabernacle, and its 
 furniture, from the beginning, irrefutably proves the divine 
 origin of sacrifice, or the enactment of that institution by 
 divine authority. 
 
 The four faces which Ezekiel enumerates, — the ox, the 
 lion, the eagle, and the man, have been used as sacred 
 symbols all over the world. "This uniform veneration of 
 them," as Faber well remarks, "must have proceeded from 
 a common origin. That common origin can only be found 
 in a period, when all mankind formed a single society. 
 The existence of that single society cannot be placed later 
 than the building of the tower (of Babel.) Consequently, 
 the first veneration of those symbols cannot be ascribed to 
 a more recent age than that of Nimrod. But in that age, 
 which was marked by the commencement of a mythological 
 system, that was afterwards carried into every region of the 
 earth by them of the dispersion, the form of the cherubic 
 symbols must have been well known. Since the genuine 
 patriarchism, and the rise of idolatry, thus chronologically 
 meet together ; since the latter seems evidently to have 
 been a perverse depravation of the former ; since the three 
 animal figures, which entered into the compound shape of 
 the cherubim, are the very three animal figures which have 
 been universally venerated by the gentiles, from the most 
 remote antiquity: I see not how we can reasonably avoid 
 the obvious conclusion, that, in whatever manner the pagans 
 applied the symbols of the bull, the lion, and the eagle, 
 they were borrowed in the first instance from those animals, 
 as combined together in the form of the cherubim" 
 
 You will, of course, have perceived, that as the time of 
 
 dispersion, referred to in the preceding extract, was that 
 
 which occurred when Jehovah came down to confound the 
 
 languages of mankind, at the building of the tower of Babel, 
 
 SO 
 
350 LECTURES Otf 
 
 the only cherubim, from which the gentiles could have 
 derived their ideas, and have learned to venerate those 
 animal figures, both conjointly and separately, were the 
 paradisiacal cherubim. If so, then these four faces be- 
 longed to this great antediluvian symbol, before which Cain 
 and Abel brought their offerings, as Moses informs us ; and 
 when, probably, the question, who was to be the heir of 
 Adam's official honors, was visibly and peremptorily de- 
 cided. Nor have we the least reason to believe, that those 
 cherubim, whatever they were, were soon withdrawn. Ad- 
 mitting that they were any thing like the levitical symbols 
 which were afterwards set up, and which were placed in the 
 holiest of all, "shadowing the mercy-seat," while none but 
 the high priest could enter within the vail, and that only on 
 one day in the year, their permanency was as necessary in 
 the one case, as in the other. Indeed, the universality of 
 the cherubic emblems, argues as strongly in favor of their 
 permanency, as of their existence. 
 
 Having, as I suppose, sufficiently elucidated the identity 
 of the two representations, or the sameness of the intentions 
 evolved in the paradisiacal and levitical cherubim, another 
 question presents itself, and one which has been frequently 
 and elaborately discussed. It is this : — what was designed 
 by this exhibition ? Some have supposed that "created 
 spiritual angels" were represented under these singular and 
 peculiar emblems; and that as these faces were turned to 
 one another, and towards the mercy-seat, the angels were 
 exhibited thereby as intensely prying into, or studying, the 
 mysteries of redeeming love. Others have considered the 
 cherubim to be "emblematical of the ever blessed trinity, 
 in covenant to redeem man, by uniting the human nature 
 to the second person" These latter critics proceed to 
 argue, "that the personality in Jehovah is in scripture re- 
 presented by the material trinity of nature; and that the pri- 
 mary type of the Father, is fire; of the Word, light; and 
 of the Holy Ghost, spirit, or air in motion. The ox ox bull, 
 on account of his horns, the curling hair on his forehead, 
 and his unrelenting fury when provoked, is a very proper 
 animal emblem of fire ; as the lion, from his usual tawny, 
 gold-like color, his flowing mane, his shining eyes, his great 
 vigilance and prodigious strength, is of the light; and thus 
 likewise the eagle is of the spirit, or air in action, from his 
 being chief among fowls, from his impetuous motion, and 
 from his towering and surprising flights in the air." Such 
 
Moral government. 351 
 
 speculations you may, perhaps, consider to be exceedingly 
 fanciful, and to manifest a great deal more of doctrinal pre- 
 dilections, than of sound or profitable criticism. The whole 
 may remind you that the heathen interpreted these emblems 
 much in the same manner, considering that these four faces 
 were symbolic of the great deity they worshipped; and 
 that for this reason Paul condemns them, — because they 
 changed the glory of the incorruptible god into an image 
 made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four footed 
 beasts, and creeping things." 
 
 In the book of revelation, the apostle informs us, that — 
 "in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, 
 were four living creatures, full of eyes before and behind. 
 And the first living creature was like a lion, and the second 
 living creature was like a calf, and the third living creature 
 had a face as a man, and the fourth living creature was like a 
 flying eagle. And the four living creatures had each of 
 them six wings about him ; and they were full of eyes within : 
 and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, 
 Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come."* 
 Again, it is said that these "four living creatures, with the 
 four and twenty elders, fell down before the Lamb, — and 
 they sung a new song, saying, — Thou art worthy to take 
 the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, 
 and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kin- 
 dred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast made us 
 unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the 
 earth. "t Here then we have these same four faces which 
 distinguished the cherubim; but instead of representing 
 either angels or the trinity, they represent, in some view or 
 other, the redeemed of the Lord, gathered out of every 
 kindred and tongue, and people, and nation. 
 
 Again it is said of the redeemed, — "They are before the 
 throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple ; 
 and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. "t 
 This latter clause would be more literally rendered, — shall 
 dwell as in a tabernacle above them. The same sort of phra- 
 seology is used in reference to the redeemer: — "The Word 
 was made flesh, and dwelt as in a tabernacle amongst us."§ 
 Once more it is said, — "the tabernacle of God is with men, 
 and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, 
 and God himself shall be with them, and be their God;"|| 
 
 * Rev. iv. 6—11. fRev. v. 8—10. t Rev. vii. 15. 
 
 § John i. H. JJ Rev. xxi. 3. 
 
352 LECTURES ON 
 
 even then, when "God shall wipe away all tears from their 
 eyes ; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor 
 crying, neither shall there be any more pain : for the former 
 things are passed away." It would appear that the cheru- 
 bim and the saints, occupy a similar position, and the Lord 
 God is represented to dwell as in a tabernacle above both of 
 them. The cherubim then were emblematical of the saints; 
 and "the fire infolding itself," which was a symbol of the di- 
 vine glory over, or above, the cherubim, was emblematical 
 of God's dwelling with his people. 
 
 Such was not only the import of the levitical, but also of 
 the paradisiacal, cherubim : or the cherubim at the east end 
 of the garden of Eden, placed there in a tabernacle, with 
 u a bright blaze of bickering fire," constituted the great 
 antediluvian symbol of the mediatorial constitution j or of 
 its happy issue, when the redeemed shall be brought home 
 to glory. If I have rightly explained this matter, you may 
 perceive what a happy and glorious illustration of the first 
 promise these cherubim afforded. You can understand 
 what is meant in the fourth chapter, when the two brothers 
 are said to bring their offerings unto the Lord; and when 
 Cain is spoken of as going out from the presence of the Lord 
 to dwell in the land of Nod. You can readily conceive, 
 not only that sacrifice was then enjoined, but that Adam 
 must have been, by special appointment, the priest of the 
 most high God; and how ihe question of birthright, as in- 
 volving the honors of the priesthood, might awake the jea- 
 lous ambition of Cain, as he himself was declining, and 
 Abel was advancing, in the excellence and integrity of per- 
 sonal character. And you can easily account for the well 
 authenticated fact, that throughout the whole gentile world, 
 the four faces were so highly venerated, while every where 
 tabernacles, and mounts, and groves, were sacred to the 
 worship of the gods. Such a splendid and magnificent 
 symbol, permanently located so near the garden of Eden, 
 and serving such peculiar and holy purposes, would be as 
 reverentially regarded, as the corresponding levitical taber- 
 nacle was among the jews. The knowledge of its early 
 erection by the divine hand, together with all its moral re- 
 ferences, would be faithfully transmitted by Noah ; and ac- 
 quiring even new importance from the history of the judg- 
 ments which overtook the old world, the symbol itself might, 
 and would, be preserved, even though its evangelical allu- 
 sions might have become grossly perverted. Look at the 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT 353 
 
 analogous history of the cross, which, as an emblem of 
 Christianity, has been so grievously abused. 
 
 The particular object, which, it would seem from our 
 translation, the cherubim were designed to serve, was to 
 guard the way to the trees of life; or to prevent man from 
 entering the garden, and living on the fruit of those trees. 
 Of the importance of that object, no one, who has ever 
 examined the philosophy of human life, or who has observed 
 how little confidence can be reposed in the honorable feel- 
 ings of human beings, can have any doubt. The last lec- 
 ture has evinced the relations which that object sustains to 
 the theory here advanced. But, certainly, it is not neces- 
 sary that we should have a flaming sword, in order to sus- 
 tain the political operation, and to hold man in perpetual and 
 distressing fear. None of the jews, saving the high-priest, 
 could enter within the holiest of all. The whole dispensa- 
 tion, under which they lived, was one that was characteriz- 
 ed by bondage and fear. Were any invasions on the sa- 
 cred symbols ever attempted ? Give to the human mind the 
 idea of a supernatural agency, and immediately its sense of 
 guilt is waked, and all its fears are roused. The present 
 emblem of the divine glory was, therefore, not to be slight- 
 ed; nor could a trespass have been committed, or an inva- 
 sion of the garden have occurred, without betraying a pre- 
 vious course of wanton violence, and debasing sensuali- 
 ty. All the fine feelings of the human heart must, first have 
 been desolated ; and society, in view both of official and 
 private character, must have become abandoned and disso- 
 lute. Ages must have rolled by, infidelity must have been 
 triumphant, and atheism herself have lisen in fearless and 
 haughty triumph, before an act of rebellion, so daring and 
 desperate, could have been attempted. 
 
 It is, however, by no means improbable, judging from 
 some scriptural allusions which shall be stated, as well as 
 from the legendary lore of the pagan world, that such an 
 attempt was finally made, and that it became the ostensible 
 occasion of introducing the flood. But if that really was 
 the fact, it verifies the statement I have made: for Moses 
 informs us that — "God saw that the wickedness of man 
 was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the 
 thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." The pre- 
 vious circumstances are very rapidly told. "The sons of 
 God," it is said, "saw the daughters of men, that they 
 were fair; and they took them wives of all which they 
 30* 
 
354 LECTURES Off 
 
 chose." That is, the sons of Seth, or those who minister- 
 ed before the cherubim, married the daughters of Cain ; and 
 were ultimately drawn into the apostacy, which the first 
 born of our race had commenced. God, who had long 
 forborne with the growing infidelity, at length proclaims, — 
 " My Spirit shall not always strive with man ;" " I will de- 
 stroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the 
 earth." ■ 
 
 Furthermore, we are informed, that "there were giants 
 in the earth in those days ; and also mighty men, and men 
 of renown." Whatever influence such individuals might 
 wield, or for whatever high and lofty enterprise they were 
 qualified,, they took the lead in iniquity. "The earth was 
 filled with violence," and "all flesh had corrupted his way 
 before the Lord." Noah alone " found grace in the eyes 
 of the Lord," being " a just man and perfect in his gene- 
 rations ; and he walked with God." 
 
 The apostle Peter alludes to these things in his second 
 epistle, when he would forewarn the church of coming tri- 
 bulations. "There were," says he, "false prophets also 
 among the people, even as there shall be false teachers 
 among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, 
 even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon 
 themselves swift destruction. For if God spared not the an- 
 gels that sinned," — the messengers, alluding to the official 
 men whom Moses calls the sons of God, "but cast them 
 down to hell, (it is tarlarus in the original,) and delivered 
 them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment, 
 and spared not the old world, but saved Noah, the eighth 
 person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood 
 upon the world of the ungodly, — he knoweth how to deli- 
 ver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust 
 unto the day of judgment, to be punished : but chiefly them 
 that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and 
 despise government. Presumptuous are they, self-willed; 
 they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities."* 
 
 Jude is even more explicit. He says — " And the angels 
 which kept not their first estate, principality, but left their 
 own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains un- 
 der darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as 
 Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them, in like 
 manner to these, giving themselves over to fornication, 
 and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, 
 
 *2Pet. ii. 1-10. 
 
Moral government. 355 
 
 suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise, also, 
 these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and 
 speak evil of dignities."* 
 
 The phrase, which occurs in our translation, — in like man- 
 ner, — does not accurately render the original; because the 
 masculine pronoun, which has no antecedent but angels, is 
 left out. The sentence ought to read, — in like manner to 
 these, meaning these angels ; as any one may easily dis- 
 cover by turning to the passage in the greek testament. 
 Of course, the angels, who kept not their first estate, 
 could not be, as generally supposed, fallen spirits of the 
 angelic hosts; but must necessarily be the sons of God, or 
 the official men of the antediluvian age. The term angel, 
 must, therefore, be understood in its general sense, or mere- 
 ly means a messenger; a sense in which it is very often 
 used. The reference to these individuals being thus plain, 
 the description of their crimes is appropriate enough. — 
 They deported themselves like the sodomites, and were not 
 only given up to the most debasing licentiousness, but were 
 presumptuous, despised dominion, and spoke evil of dignities. 
 They might, then, have grown haughty and insolent enough 
 to have attempted an invasion of this hallowed spot, and 
 the desecration of these hallowed cherubic emblems of the 
 mediatorial constitution. And as fire was rained down 
 from heaven upon the guilty sodomites, it is not at all im- 
 probable that some such fiery symbols of divine vengeance 
 might have burst upon them, cleaving fissures in the ground, 
 whence the waters of the flood issued. 
 
 Whether our conjecture be correct or not, the pagan tra- 
 ditions relate the story in that form. To give the account 
 to you in the language of another: — "In gentile lore, the 
 titans, or giants, are described as being the offspring of 
 heaven and earth ; but, plunging into the most audacious 
 wickedness, they madly dared to scale the very mount of 
 God, and to wage war against the high majesty of the om- 
 nipotent. Their attempt, however, proved abortive : their 
 ranks were broken by hot thunderbolts : and they were pre- 
 cipitated into the central tartarus, where they lie bound 
 with chains of brass in a dungeon of adamant." And why 
 should not such traditions be common, or why should they 
 not be considered worthy of attention? Gentiles and jews 
 had a common origin ; and Moses writes with such aston- 
 ishing brevity, that we know not how to explain it, unless 
 
 •Verses 6—8. 
 
356 LECTURES ON 
 
 it be by supposing that he presumed upon the knowledge 
 of the facts, carried by tradition through all the world. — 
 Putting all these things together, it would seem that the para- 
 disiacal cherubim formed the permanent and chief antedilu- 
 vian symbol of God's gracious d< - o behalf of the chil- 
 dren of men ; and that they served a purpose, analogous to 
 that of the levitical cherubim, placed in a tabernacle among 
 the children of Israel.* 
 
 What may have been the precise import of these four 
 faces, I feel myself unable to determine. They certainly 
 were expressive of some things which were characteristic 
 of mankind. But whether they referred to certain attributes 
 which belong to man in general, such as labor, dominion, 
 intelligence, immortality; or whether they were intended to 
 refer to certain periods in the history of man. and to de- 
 scribe the character of official men during those periods, as 
 some think was the intention of the living creatures in the 
 apocalypse,! I cannot clearly satisfy my mind. Mr. Faber 
 supposes these symbols to have been altogether arbitrary. 
 I cannot agree with his view; yet lean offer no reasonable 
 conjectures, other than those which I have just stated, as 
 to the individual signification of the animal figures, which 
 were compounded together in this singular form. 
 
 If the hypothesis concerning the cherubim, which has 
 been stated, and, as I think, proved, in the preceding para- 
 graphs, be correct, it prepares the way for the consideration 
 of sacrifice, as a divine institution. If there was such a 
 permanent emblem of the divine presence, a patriarchal 
 and antediluvian shechinah ; or, if God was pleased, in this 
 symbolic manner, to tabernacle with Adam and his chil- 
 dren: then some external services must have devolved on 
 them, as they sought an audience before Jehovah. Call 
 back our argument on the nature and necessity of religious 
 forms. The cherubim, situated as has been described, only 
 furnishes the tabernacle, as inhabited by the divine presence. 
 The service, appropriate, expressive, and familiar, must yet 
 be provided. What was that service? What religious 
 forms did it prescribe ? Necessarily compelled to pursue 
 
 * Any one who wishes to see the subjeet of the cherubim discussed 
 at large, and with great variety of talent and literature, may consult 
 Parkhursfs Heb. Lex. on the word : Faber's Orig. of Pag. Idol. vol. 1, 
 pp. 403 — 464: vol. 3, pp. 602—661. In which works references maybe 
 found to others which I have not seen : — Bates, Sharp, Hutchinson, 
 Spenser, Hales, Sec. 
 
 | See Johnstone on the Revelations, iv. 7. 
 
Moral government. 357 
 
 this inquiry, we cannot be surprised to find frequent allu- 
 sions and instances of a sacrificial kind ; while yet the or- 
 dinance itself may not have been distinctly traced by the 
 historian to its origin. Incidental cases are enough. The 
 circumstance, recorded by Moses, viz. that " unto Adam 
 and his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and 
 clothed them," which has often given rise to the question — 
 whence were these skins obtained ? the facts which occur- 
 red in the history of Cain and Abel, and which are stated 
 in the fourth chapter; the subsequent and universal prac- 
 tice of offering sacrifice ; and the history of the mosaic ri- 
 tual ; — these things, combined with the erection of the para- 
 disiacal tabernacle, produce irrefragable demonstration, that 
 this propitiatory service was established by divine authority. 
 
 The apostle Paul affords a coincident view, when alluding 
 to these early transactions, he avers, that — "By faith Abel 
 offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by 
 which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testi- 
 fying of his gifts."* Sacrifice, at that period, the sacrifice 
 of life in the worship of God, is, by this inspired commen- 
 tator, declared to be the product of faith, — to be a righteous 
 act, — to be acceptable to Jehovah, — and to have obtained 
 an immediate response from on high. God did take a part 
 in these transactions, both Moses and Paul being witnesses. 
 Such are the moral connexions which sacrifice holds, down 
 through the whole biblical history. They appeared whenNoah 
 builded an altar, and the Lord "smelled an odour of rest," 
 as also when Abraham, on mount Moriah, received the ap- 
 probation of the angel, and had the resurrection from the dead 
 so beautifully portrayed to him. Both were official men, 
 of high character and holy renown; and both are celebrated 
 as being " the heir of the righteousness of faith." If sac- 
 rifice then has been so intimately, and so constantly, asso- 
 ciated with the mediatorial system ; if it has been uniformly 
 recognzied by God, and has ever distinguished holy men; 
 any doubt of its divine original must be worse than fastidious. 
 
 But further. Sacrifice has been enjoined, as necessary, 
 all over the world. It is evident, too, that the rite existed in 
 every nation before the commencement of authentic history ; 
 and the idea, that the gods were to be appeased in this 
 manner, was as general as the right itself. These facts 
 every one knows, who has any acquaintance with pagan 
 history, or gentile mythology. Certainly a practice so sin^ 
 
 •Heb. xi. 4. 
 
35S LECTURES ON 
 
 gular and yet so universal, must be traced back to some 
 common origin; to a period, and to circumstances, such as 
 these which Moses describes; when he relates that the first 
 pair, guilty and wretched, approached to humble themselves 
 before the Lord. No room is left for the ridiculous charge 
 of priestcraft, seeing that Adam was priest in his own fami- 
 ly ; and, as other priests did after him, offered sacrifice at his 
 own expense. Or, as Delaney has observed, — " After this, 
 when fathers grew up into princes, by the increase of their 
 families ; the priesthood, we know, became an appendage of 
 royalty : and sacrifices were then at the sacrificer's expense. 
 
 "We also know, that libations, and offerings of several 
 kinds, were the constant practice of private men in their 
 own families; and that priests had no perquisites from them: 
 nor can they, with any color of reason, be suspected to have 
 had any emolument of any kind, from this practice, in any 
 region of the earth, till more than two thousand years from 
 the first institution of this rite; though, if they had, it is ev- 
 ident, that the advantages derived upon any particular set of 
 men, from any practice, are far from being a proof, that such 
 a practice had no original foundation, but in the subtlety 
 and interest of that particular set of men. In truth, the sup- 
 position is as absurd, as any thing can well be imagined: 
 and will affect every profession under heaven, as well as the 
 priesthood; from the prince on the throne, to the meanest 
 officer and artisan in the commonwealth: nay, in truth, will 
 affect every profession in the world, much more than the 
 priesthood; because that is the only profession, which was 
 originally disinterested, in the discharge of duty proper unto 
 it."* 
 
 We shall reach the same conclusion, if we inquire into 
 the nature and design of the sacrificial rite. Its wisdom and 
 propriety will be no inconsiderable adjuvants, in sustaining 
 the influence drawn from its universality, and from the im- 
 possibility of tracing its origin, without following mankind 
 up to a common parentage. But, if I mistake not, the 
 general opinion is. that the institution is altogether arbitrary ; 
 that it results neither from the light of nature, nor the prin- 
 ciples of reason; and that there is no discernible connexion 
 between the blood of a slain animal and the pardon of an 
 offender's sin. From this view of the divine ordinance, 
 
 * Delaney's Rev. Exam. vol. 1. p. p. 129 — 30. See also Faber's 
 Orig. of Pag. Idol, vol. 1, p. p. 465—496 ; and Faber's Orig. of Exp. 
 
 Sac. 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 359 
 
 though advanced and defended by men of high literary char- 
 acter, I am under the necessity of dissenting. I do not 
 think that any religious institution, which Jehovah has es- 
 tablished, is arbitrary. There is a reason, good and suffi- 
 cient, for every such institution; a reason too, which results 
 from the object to be gained, and which is very near: — often- 
 times so near, that it is not perceived, merely because our 
 long vision is ever looking after something distant and 
 mysterious. All the different systems which God has created, 
 and all the different parts of each system, are accurately ad- 
 justed, and sustain reciprocal relations most happily arrang- 
 ed. In the operation of established law; both physical and 
 moral, the highest confidence may be reposed. God acts 
 upon them, and men must reason and decide in consistency 
 with them. 
 
 The particular institutions, which belonged to the para- 
 disiacal state, were all enforced by good and apparent rea- 
 sons. The sabbath was intended to record and memorise 
 the creation of the world, and to wake up in the bosom of 
 man all those feelings with which that subject should inspire 
 him. The social relations were foimed, because it was not 
 good for man to be alone. Man was entrusted with do- 
 minion, because the intellectual powers, with which he was 
 endowed, qualified him for such an extended sphere of ac- 
 tion ; because he acts by means of secondary agents; and 
 because he was made in the image of God, whose high pre- 
 rogative it is to govern his creatures, and whose glory con- 
 sists in conducting his administration upon the wisest and 
 most benevolent principles. The institutions after the fall 
 must be equally well sustained. The cherubim, the taber- 
 nacle, and the accompanying ritual, must all be commended 
 to the human mind, as needful and salutary. Their pro- 
 priety must be perceived, and be sufficiently obvious to meet 
 every objection which reason could suggest, or unbelief ad- 
 vance. So God defended them in his argument with Cain, 
 appealing to his own good sense, and comparing the evan- 
 gelic provisions along with the ill-humored complaints of 
 the haughty and discontented rebel. — "If thou doest well, 
 shalt thou not be accepted? And if not, a sin-offering 
 coucheth at the door." 
 
 In like manner, some subsequent changes in the number, 
 or the appendages of the divine institutions, are explained by 
 a reference to circumstances. The growth of society ren- 
 dered it more difficult of management, and required some 
 
360 LECTURES ON 
 
 new and appropriate regulations. "Within given periods, 
 excitement seems to expend itself; and while the principles 
 of moral science must remain the same, yet the outward 
 forms, under which they are expressed, or with which 
 thev are associated, must be modified. Both God and man 
 seem, by providential experiments, to have ascertained the 
 necessity for such periodical revolutions; — or ages, as they 
 have been calied in both the pagan and elect worlds. Read 
 the antediluvian and postdiluvian histories; analyse the 
 mosaic law, which is so full of corrections of the prevailing 
 corruptions of the nations; and of allowances on account 
 of Jewish obstinacy. Look at the occurrences under the 
 christian dispensation; — call up the reformation to view, and 
 witness the present perplexity and disquietude, when the 
 church has outgrown, and seeks to throw off, the forms of 
 past ages. There is always sufficient reason for such things ; 
 and while they have been foretold by him who sees the end 
 from the beginning, they are even ushered in by signs, com- 
 petent and distinct. 
 
 The reasons for sacrifice are not very difficult of discove- 
 rv. Denv its primitive enactment, and no other ordinance 
 appears to take its place; while yet the nature of man, and 
 the uniform mode of the divine proceeding with him, argue 
 the necessity of, and call for, some religious forms, by which 
 men should visibly profess their faith and their feelings; and 
 which would be acceptable with God. The accompanying 
 facts, developed in the history of Adam's family, as well as 
 that of all other ages, become entirely unaccountable ; or 
 exhibit man acting consistently with his own constitution, 
 while God himself wholly disregards it. Nor only so. But 
 Jehovah had put man under the mediatorial govern- 
 ment, by declaring that " the seed of the woman should 
 bruise the head of the serpent;" and yet enjoined no duties 
 in connexion with the gracious system. All other things 
 are shadowed out by external ceremony; and their know- 
 ledge is both preserved and disseminated, by being associated 
 with the actions of mankind. As far as I can perceive, 
 there is no subject, in reference to which the sceptic's fears, 
 or the critic's literature, has been more entirely at war with 
 the elements of society, or the facts which fill up the history 
 of the world. 
 
 The sacrificial institution consisted in the offering up of 
 life, with a view to the pardon of sin. By sin death had 
 been just introduced. Scarcely had the matter been adju- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 361 
 
 dicated, when the Lord himself clothed the transgressors 
 with coats of skin. The facts connected with the fall, the 
 remedy, the divine actions in setting up the tabernacle, and 
 clothing our first parents, are all crowded together, as be- 
 longing to the same general concern, and leave us no alter- 
 native. We must interpret the ordinance as a divine en- 
 actment, and explain it by the associations in which it is 
 found. Its character is obviously mediatorial. Its reference 
 is evidently, on the one hand, to the sin of Adam, by which 
 death had been incurred ; and on the other, to the death of 
 Christ, by which life should be restored. And it would, 
 therefore, readily serve as a divine comment upon the pre- 
 sent state of the world, by tracing up all our sufferings to 
 sin, as their cause; while it would be equally explanatory, 
 of the official relations, of the promised "seed of the woman." 
 There is, under such a view of the ordinance, nothing 
 forced, or far-fetched, or arbitrary about it. It is evidently 
 natural, appropriate, and expressive; and on the supposition 
 that moral truth must be symbolised to the human mind, it 
 was necessary, by such an institution, to explain the moral 
 circumstances of mankind, as well as the remedial provi- 
 sions of divine grace. 
 
 Certain it is, while Moses appears to take it for granted, 
 that the nature of sacrifice, as it had existed before the sinaic 
 ritual was enacted, was fully understood in its reference to 
 the practical consequences of sin, and in its alliance with 
 the doctrine of the righteousness of faith ; — certain it is, I 
 say, that he, and all the subsequent scriptural writers, do 
 place the mosaic sacrifice in those connexions. Under the 
 law, "without the shedding of blood there was no remission." 
 Vet it never was pretended that the blood of bulls and of 
 goats could take away sin ; or that Jehovah had any plea- 
 sure in burnt-offerings, on their own account. All these 
 things were merely figures for the time then present. The 
 Holy Ghost, who, as the Spirit of prophecy, is the testimony 
 of Jesus, did thereby "signify," or exhibit in typical form, 
 "better things to come." With this intention, these sacri- 
 ficial services resembled, in appearance, that of which they 
 were the shadow. The offering of life, and that for sin, 
 whereby the captain of our salvation was made perfect, could 
 not have been otherwise symbolised ; nor could the nature 
 of the divine government, as connecting sin and death, on 
 the one hand, and righteousness and life, on the other, have 
 been significantly set forth. The reason of the redeemer's 
 31 
 
362 LECTURES ON 
 
 righteousness, as including his sufferings, is very plain, and 
 that of the previous emblem could not be occult. 
 
 But the grand reason of any institution, is to be found in 
 its adaptation to produce a desired effect. If there is no 
 practical efficiency exerted, if as an actively operating cause 
 it accomplishes nothing, the ordinance is useless. In the 
 present case, legally speaking, righteousness secures life. — 
 Accordingly, as we have seen, by the righteousness of Christ 
 all men are brought into a justification of life ; and his right- 
 eousness is preached to mankind'as the object of their faith. 
 Could sacrifice then, or did it, so prefigure the finished work 
 of the Son of God, as to serve this practical purpose, or lead 
 men to believe ? If it did, the reason, and a sufficient rea- 
 son, for the institution, immediately presents itself to every 
 one. Accordingly the old testament saints, including the 
 early patriarchs, are distinguished by their faith in the pro- 
 mised Messiah. They looked forward to the redeemer's 
 day ; sung of his priestly character, of his sacrificial sorrows, 
 and of his glorious triumphs; and endured as though they 
 were fully persuaded that he would appear as their de- 
 liverer. All this they did, in connexion with the offering of 
 sacrifice. 
 
 But again. The object of the redeemer's righteousness, 
 was to place mankind in a situation where they might meet 
 their personal responsibilities ; and to furnish them with all 
 necessary facilities, considering "the weakness of their flesh." 
 Their obligations would then call upon them to forsake sin, 
 and do the thing that is right. This end being accomplish- 
 ed, the designs of Jehovah, in view of the existence of man, 
 are answered. Could the ancient sacrifice, typifying Christ, 
 and eliciting the operations of faith, exert any agency in in- 
 stituting, or sustaining, this progressive sanctification ? If 
 it could, then again, the reason, and a sufficient reason too, 
 for this institution, appears with great distinctness. If any 
 symbolic rite shall accomplish the most valuable purposes, 
 and present the very similitude of the object desired, what 
 more can be demanded in legislating for man ? He gets his 
 ideas by means of his external senses ; and the exhibition 
 which is capable of affording to him, through those senses, 
 the very ideas which he needs, accords precisely with the 
 peculiarities of his nature. That the sacrificial ceremony 
 did occupy this very place, and serve this very purpose, is 
 evident on its face ; is distinctly unfolded in history ; and is 
 officially announced in the scriptures. How then can bibli- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 363 
 
 cal critics, or moral philosophers, assert that this rite results 
 neither from the light of nature, nor the principles of reason ? 
 They might as well represent the whole mediatorial system 
 to be unnatural and irrational. 
 
 Pardon of sin was confessedly connected with the sacrifi- 
 cial ordinance. And why should it not be so connected? 
 If its legal associations, if its emblematic allusions, and its 
 practical operations, were such as have been described, par- 
 don might well be extended. What more could be desired 
 than faith in the saviour, and the sanctification of the hu- 
 man spirit ? Call the institution by what name you please, 
 apply whatever term may be employed to express its rela- 
 tions, the moral is very plain. The difficulties which critics 
 may suggest, or philologists exaggerate, are superficial. — 
 The sanctification of the human mind is the paramount ob- 
 ject of concern. All the claims of the divine law quadrate 
 with it, and every perfection of godhead is displayed in its 
 own untarnished glory, when the reconciled man is brought 
 home to heaven, redeemed and blessed. If pardon of sin 
 shall correspond with the requisitions of the law, and with 
 sanctified and glorified humanity, no reason can be assign- 
 ed why pardon should be withheld. 
 
 Accordingly, while the typical sacrifice is represented as 
 an atonement, it is sustained in that view, only because it is 
 associated with the reconciliation, or sanctification of the 
 human mind. Burnt offerings, presented as a mere formal- 
 ity, Jehovah again and again most indignantly rejects. — 
 "Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul ha- 
 teth : they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. 
 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes 
 from you : yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: 
 your hands are full of blood. Wash you ; make you clean ; 
 put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; 
 cease to do evil; learn. to do well; seek judgment; relieve 
 the oppressed ; judge the fatherless ; plead for the widow."* 
 Let your own good sense decide ; — of what use can a sac- 
 rifice, or prayer, or any other form be, where the moral at- 
 tributes, which should distinguish a thinking spirit, are want- 
 ing? But if such forms lead man to think, feel and act cor- 
 rectly ; if as outward means they represent to him moral 
 things under visible symbol ; if they become the occasion 
 and opportunity of his expressing his own desires and inten- 
 tions, or of his exemplifying before others that which is right; 
 
 *Js, j. 13—20, 
 
364 LECTURES ON 
 
 what rational objection can be urged against them ? Or if, 
 when they are rejected, the very principle of human action, 
 and of social intercourse, is abandoned, by what argument 
 can such dereliction be justified ? 
 
 The idea of merit, figures so largely in religious contro- 
 versy, and is so distinctly discerned at every turn we take ; 
 that it is very likely it may have distorted the views which 
 anxious moralists have formed on the subject of sacrifice. 
 What merit can there be in a burnt offering? Hecatombs 
 might smoke, and rivers of oil might flow, but what merit 
 would be evinced ? An ordinance, constructed on this prin- 
 ciple, cannot be traced to reason, or to the light of nature. 
 The practical effect on the spirit of man, produced by an 
 excitement that is created, and under which his own pow- 
 ers are called out into action ; an effect which elevates 
 while it sanctifies, which controls the lusts of the flesh, over- 
 comes the world, and enables the believer to rise superior to 
 temptation ; is the only object which regeneration can con- 
 template ; and constitutes the worth of the righteousness of 
 Christ, as well as of its various emblems, both ancient and mo- 
 dern. Discarding this theological figment of merit ; or substi- 
 tuting the loftier thought of practical agency acting consist- 
 ently with our intellectual nature ; any ordinance might 
 command confidence, and recompense the heart that devo- 
 tedly ministers under its direction. This idea, duly ap- 
 preciated and conscientiously sustained, can alone guaranty 
 the contemplated benefits of religious forms. 
 
 With all the light that the new dispensation affords, the 
 nature of its ordinances, simple and expressive as they are, 
 has been misapprehended. Theologians have commenced 
 their argument on erroneous principles ; and those princi- 
 ples throw their shade over every thing belonging to the sys- 
 tems, of which they are a part. By Adam's sin, all men are 
 brought into temporal, spiritual, and eternal death, we have 
 been taught. Consequently every thing like personal re- 
 sponsibility is absorbed in the imputation of that sin. Then 
 again, a corresponding operation is predicated of Christ's 
 righteousness in relation to the elect, and every thing is 
 merged in a second imputation. Many, it is true, have con- 
 demned this doctrine ; but I do not see that they have fairly 
 and fully met the argument of its advocates. How should 
 they ? Both parties start from the same point, and carry 
 with them the same original principles; and the doctrine 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 365 
 
 referred to casts its gloom over every theory with which it is 
 brought into contact. 
 
 Look at the facts. Baptism has been represented by some 
 to be regeneration. By others, it has been declared alto- 
 gether irrational to administer that ordinance to infants ; 
 because, it is said, they cannot understand the objects pro- 
 posed. A type or symbol cannot be the thing, which is ty- 
 pified or symbolised ; and methinks, any one might discern 
 that it is therefore utterly impossible, that baptism should be 
 regeneration. And if the blessing symbolised by baptism, 
 may be brought to infants, there can be no impropriety in 
 administering the symbol, which is nothing more than an 
 outward exhibition of that blessing. — "The promise i§ to 
 you and your children;" — "of such is the kingdom of hea- 
 ven." Thus the scriptures often speak, endeavoring to im- 
 press, on the minds of the religious community, a sense of 
 the interest which Jehovah takes in their offspring. On 
 what principle then, can an outward symbol of that interest 
 be rejected as improper and absurd? — Without touching the 
 question, whether baptism has been a designed substitute 
 for circumcision, I yet call up the fact that Jewish children 
 were circumcised; while it was utterly impossible that they 
 should understand its import, as a "seal of the righteousness 
 of faith." But circumcision was a symbol, shadowing out 
 certain blessings, as constituting an inheritance in which 
 parents and their children had a common right. If one in- 
 stance of such a use of an external religious form, has oc- 
 curred, and that under the positive direction of Jehovah him- 
 self; surely they have gone far astray, who pronounce a se- 
 cond instance to be absurd. But that instance stands not 
 alone. All our children live under the light of sun, moon, and 
 stars; enjoying the protection, and feasting upon the boun- 
 ties, of a divine providence, most profoundly philosophical 
 in all its operations ; while, perhaps, neither they nor their 
 parents understand any thing of the accurate and varied con- 
 nexion between cause and effect. This dogma, if carried 
 out, would stop the course of nature, and leave mankind to 
 starve and die, unless, they should become philosophers. It 
 is mournful to observe how inconsiderately men reason on 
 religious subjects, when they have some sectarian trifle to sus- 
 tain. They forget the analogies of nature, and drop entirely the 
 most familiar principles belonging to physics, the moment 
 they enter the region of morals. It is no wonder there are 
 so many sectaries, and so many controversies. Thus men 
 31* 
 
366 LECTURES ON 
 
 close their eyes on the constituent elements of the divine 
 works, and then undertake to explain them. These two 
 views of baptism, I have quoted, seem to me to be very 
 much alike. They both mistake the type for the thing- 
 typified. 
 
 The Lord's supper has been treated in the same manner. 
 The bread has been represented to be the literal flesh, and 
 the wine to be the literal blood, of the redeemer. Here the 
 misconstruction is so palpable and egregious, that it is mat- 
 ter of wonder, that christian ears should ever have heard it 
 uttered. But, even those, whose prejudices call for no such 
 impropriety, and who instantly reject it when stated, feel all 
 the "superstitious awe which that view of the ordinance 
 would inspire. Many have refused to commemorate the 
 saviour's death, through a long life, who have mourned over, 
 and anxiously sought to correct, their error, when on a bed 
 of death; as though the elements really possessed some in- 
 trinsic virtue to save the soul, in the last extremity. Others 
 comply with the injunction ; but year after year, they ap- 
 proach the table with trembling steps, and handle the sym- 
 bols with fearful hearts, as though they were about to "eat 
 and drink damnation" to themselves. Their single inquiry 
 i Sj — "am I a christian?" A very important question, it is 
 true. The ordinance should certainly be observed in a be- 
 coming manner, and with proper views and feelings. But 
 an inquiry, embracing such like matters, belongs to every 
 duty we perform, to every trial we endure, and to every 
 privilege we enjoy. Man, as personally responsible, should 
 possess a spiritual mind, sanctified affections, and a good 
 conscience in all things. The question here is, wherein 
 is the Lord's supper distinguished; or what is its peculiarity! 
 That peculiarity should be the special matter of thought, 
 when we consider the obligation which the ordinance im- 
 poses on us. Therein the Lord Jesus symbolically exhibits 
 himself as crucified for us, as loving us unto the death, and 
 giving himself for us. There is nothing so alarming in this, 
 that the people should be afraid to draw nigh, and contem- 
 plate and enjoy the testimony, or representation, of his love. 
 On our part, he requires, that we should "show forth," pro- 
 claim, herald, or preach, his death ; with a view of exciting 
 the attention, and achieving the reformation, of those who 
 are around us. Is there any thing painful, or forbidding, in 
 a ceremony which looks to such results ? Are you a patriot, 
 and do you love your country? Are you a father, and do 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 367 
 
 you love your children? Are you a friend, and do you love 
 your companions? Would you not seek their welfare? Are 
 you afraid to let them understand that Jesus is the Son of 
 God, and that he died for you ? Or would you lead them, by 
 absenting yourselves on such occasions, to suppose, that 
 you do not believe in the saviour of the world? Or as long 
 as you do not keep this sacramental feast, do you not feel 
 that the obligation, to live a holy life, is comparatively light? 
 
 But the view of the Lord's supper, implied in the preced- 
 ing observations is too simple, for the popular feeling on the 
 subject. It is not mystical enough to be acceptable, where 
 early impressions and sectarian prejudices reign, with their 
 supreme and desolating sway. The bread must be the lite- 
 ral body, and the wine the literal blood, of our crucified re- 
 deemer, somehow or other: not admitted, but most posi- 
 tively denied, in words ; yet in practical effect most deeply, 
 however unconsciously, felt. To inspect the real feelings 
 of the heart, and be aware of all the subtlety of the motives 
 it may secretly recognise, is a process of self-examination, 
 which few have either moral vigor or discrimination enough 
 to carry fairly out. If the fact be not, as I have stated, the 
 remark must have so much verisimilitude, that it would be 
 difficult to distinguish its difference from any other view 
 which can be truly asserted. 
 
 A similar misinterpretation of an outward ordinance, or 
 an official agency, attends the ideas which have been in- 
 dulged in relation to the ministry of reconciliation. They 
 have been invested with the power to forgive sins, and ab- 
 solve the ignorant, but troubled, offender. A beautiful offi- 
 cial gradation has been invented, which conducts the eye of 
 an admiring and unsuspecting, professor up from a simple 
 deacon, by a race of bishops and archbishops, until you reach 
 the pope himself. The most splendid revenues have sus- 
 tained a most heartless sinecure ; and a priestly domination 
 has beggared the conscience of the saints. Even where 
 such proud pretensions have been courageously assailed, 
 still a fragment, if not the whole, of the wilting policy has 
 been preserved. The sectarian follows the dictation of the 
 councils, that belong to his party ; and views their books as 
 the consecrated relics of gigantic and saintly minds. It has 
 not been long, since it was thought a sin, worthy of exem- 
 plary discipline, for a member of one denomination to hear 
 a minister belonging to another. And even now, it may-be 
 viewed as extremely hazardous to listen to an argument, which 
 
368 LECTURES ON 
 
 may have been prejudged, and censured as aside of ordinary 
 rule or a prescribed and idolised formularly. How import- 
 ant, but how completely misplaced, are external ordinances ! 
 How can the human mind enlarge, or the human conscience 
 acquire vigor, under such an ecclesiastical administration? 
 Personal responsibility is the costly sacrifice, which multi- 
 tudes have offered on this altar of idolatrous ceremony. If 
 no warning can obtain an audience, why — be it so. Under 
 such circumstances, — Jesus wept. — Ere long the world 
 will weep. 
 
 If we interpret new testament ordinances on such princi- 
 ples, it is no wonder, that a difficulty has been felt on the 
 subject of the early sacrifice ; or that a discussion, in refer- 
 ence to it, should have assumed the form of an inquiry, 
 whether it corresponded with reason, or could be derived 
 from the light of nature ? But literary and liberal men would 
 have saved themselves from a mere verbal argument, and 
 have rendered a more substantial service to the religious com- 
 munity; if they had expended the effort, which they, have 
 made, in a half-religious and half-literary controversy, on the 
 original sacrifice, on the mistaken views of christian ordi- 
 nances, which have rendered us all so superstitiously timid. 
 
 One question more remains. The Voice of Jehovah Elo- 
 him is represented to have created this paradisiacal taber- 
 nacle, in which the cherubim were placed, at the east end 
 of the garden ; and to have made the coats of skin, in which 
 our first parents were clothed. In what form, — the form 
 of God, or the form of man, — did he do these things ? It 
 may readily be answered, that if the curse had not yet been 
 executed, though it had been pronounced ; or if the ground 
 had not yet been thrown under that physical influence 
 which rendered it an instrument of death ; Adam might have 
 still beheld the original form, under which Jehovah was man- 
 ifested unto him. But whether the curse had then been 
 executed or not, it has been already observed, that change is 
 the property of form; that Christ was transfigured, changed 
 his form, or was metamorphosed, before his disciples; that 
 Eve said, — I have gotten a man, Jehovah his very self; and 
 that such appearances, in human form, were afterwards pre- 
 sented to the early patriarchs, in Jehovah's official transac- 
 tions with them ; as well as that the ideas of a virgin-born 
 saviour, or various emanations from the gods, in the form of 
 man, were common among the heathen, which no one 
 can trace up, more than he can trace up sacrifice, or explain 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 369 
 
 the cherubic symbols, and the sacred mounts and tabernacles, 
 without arriving at this early scene that has given rise to our 
 present question. The ordinances then created, gave form 
 to religious services throughout the world till Christ came. 
 
 In either case, it appears to me, that every difficulty is 
 removed ; and that the direct agency, attributed to the Voice 
 of the Lord in these matters, is satisfactorily explained. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 I have finished the proposed analysis of the first three 
 chapters of genesis; and have discussed the various gene- 
 ral principles of the government of God, which those chap- 
 ters present to our view. If you have carefully attended to 
 the doctrines I have advanced, you must have discovered 
 that no essential evangelical truth has been questioned. 
 The form, in which the subjects belonging to both law and 
 gospel have been stated, may be very different from that, 
 with which jyou are familiar ; but the things themselves 
 have been very distinctly asserted, and very earnestly advo- 
 cated. 
 
 My only crime is, that I have attempted to explain the 
 system of Christianity, and to offer some argument in elucida- 
 tion and defence of its doctrines, which I have supposed to 
 be rational and scriptural. A mighty offence truly, that 
 the abandonment of Christianity should be inferred! God 
 forbid, that I should not "hold the Head." — "God forbid 
 that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto 
 the world." — God forbid that I should " know any thing a- 
 mong you save Jesus Christ and him ciucified." "For I 
 am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ ; for it is the power 
 of God unto salvation, to every one that believetii ; to the 
 jew first, and also to the greek." Any accusation, which 
 would rapidly and harshly arraign my ministrations, and 
 condemn my well intentioned efforts to explain "the truth 
 as it is in Jesus," would be both unkind and unrighteous. — 
 "But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged 
 of man's judgment." Long since have I committed myself 
 and my ministry to the providential care of the master him- 
 self: and with him am I still willing to leave the high offi- 
 cial interests, which have assigned the present task. — But 
 it has become, by a vast deal, too common for profes- 
 
370 LECTURES ON 
 
 sors to criticise the personal religion of those around them, 
 and thereby betray their own gross deficiencies. 
 
 Had I supposed, however, in framing and delivering such 
 a systematic arrangement of scriptural subjects, as has been 
 pronounced in your hearing; about which there is a great 
 deal of seeming novelty ; and which, step by step, conflicts 
 with so many sectarian prejudices, and long established max- 
 ims ; — had I supposed, that the whole should have been at 
 once fully apprehended and accurately repeated, I should 
 have betrayed my utter ignorance of the intellectual and 
 moral character of religious society. Living in an age 
 when an old excitement has run down ; and when a new 
 one, whose causes and extent are scarcely perceived, is car- 
 rying forward the human mind to act under a different social 
 organization ; — undertaking a serious discussion of elemen- 
 tal principles, when so many others are seeking to control 
 society by reiterated appeals to feeling, or are inducing an 
 expenditure of public zeal in social combinations; — and 
 even questioning the wisdom and policy of many of the po- 
 pular movements, from which, almost every one tells me so 
 much good is proceeding; — the most I could expect would 
 be attention, toleration, and candor. How far even these 
 have been, or may yet be awarded, in response to a course 
 of lectures, which possibly might be prejudged and unhes- 
 itatingly condemned, even while they were unheard, J 
 shall leave to your own judgment to decide. — Read society 
 for yourselves. The principles of sectarian policy are not very 
 deep. Its story is too old, and has been too often recited on 
 the theatre of ecclesiastical strife, while its advocates have 
 too frequently outwitted themselves, and desolated the high 
 and holy interests committed to their charge, for any reflect- 
 ing man to be deceived. Harsh and cruel, disingenuous and 
 uncandid, imperious and unrelenting, it shall have its own 
 reward ; and, sooner or later, be overtaken by a retributive 
 providence. The Lord himself will institute a righteous in- 
 quisition; when, as Jesus said to his disciples, in reference 
 to the envious pharisees, — " Every plant, which my heavenly 
 Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up." In all our 
 collisions ; or in the excitement of temper, and the crimina- 
 tion and recrimination to which they may lead; we should 
 every one habitually recollect, that the Lord himself is judge 
 over all the earth. 
 
 If, in the course of the discussion which I have pursued, any 
 -. iark has escaped me, which may be justly censured as 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 371 
 
 giving unnecessary offence, or wantonly inflicting pain ; if 
 I have proved myself reckless of any brother's feelings or 
 interests, and. thus swerved from the integrity, or corrupted 
 the purity, of the ministerial character, I am not above 
 craving pardon. He, who was "in the form of God, and 
 made himself of no reputation, but took upon him the form 
 of a servant, and was found in the likeness of men," thus 
 humbled himself, on purpose to teach us,-— "That nothing 
 should be done through strife or vain glory ; and that in low- 
 liness of mind, each should esteem others better than them- 
 selves." If truth be severe; and reflections on the charac- 
 ter and tendency of public doings, uttered for the sake of 
 needful and seasonable illustration, be considered offensive; 
 I can only reply, that while the sense of duty was thus 
 evinced, and an appeal, unreserved and fearless, was thus 
 made to your own understandings, nothing unkind was in-' 
 tended. If I were conscious of the power to avenge any 
 supposed, or real, offence, yet I should consider the oppor- 
 tunity that invited its exercise, as a loud and peremptory 
 call scrupulously to analyse the feelings of my own heart. 
 A more salutary or important lesson has not been taught us, 
 than that which the redeemer thus pointedly expresses; — "If 
 ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father 
 forgive your trespasses." No intention, not even the slight- 
 est, has been cherished, throughout the preceding observa- 
 tions, to wound any man's feelings, to injure any man's 
 standing, to curtail any man's influence, or in any way to 
 indulge in unhandsome and fretting personalities. My con- 
 test has been with principles, and not with men : and if I 
 have spoken of theologians, I have merely used a general 
 term, without designing to make personal allusions. — Though 
 utterly unconscious that such an apology for any hasty ex- 
 pression of feeling is necessary; yet, if it be necessary, I 
 cheerfully make it. 
 
 Again, dear brethren, suffer me to remind you, that I am 
 not attempting, by any show of artful reasoning, to make a 
 stealthy approach to a lordship over your consciences. I 
 covet no influence, but that which truth awards ; or which 
 the master, in his own holy and condescending providence, 
 would sanction and bless. "A man," said John the baptist, 
 when certain disputants would rouse his jealousies on ac- 
 count of his master's apparent popularity, — "A man can 
 receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven." I 
 have no secret policy to sustain, nor painful misgivings to 
 
372 LECTURES ON 
 
 conceal. Your submissive credence is not asked to any 
 thing of which you are not personally convinced. When 
 Noah, Job, or Daniel, could save neither son nor daughter 
 by their righteousness; it would be the height of folly and 
 impiety, for any man, to decoy you from a distinct and 
 lofty sense of your personal responsibility, by setting forth 
 his own vicarious pretensions ; or to seek to convert your 
 love of truth into an idolatrous confidence in himself. No, 
 brethren, no. You must search the truth for yourselves; 
 and by individual fellowship with the Father, and his Son 
 Jesus Christ our Lord, become conscious of the evangelic 
 realities which have been set before you. — If any respect, 
 or affection, which you may have invariably extended to me, 
 for my work's sake, should avail to rouse you to deliberate 
 and prayerful thought ; and if the truth, as it is in Jesus, 
 should leave its hallowing and heavenly impressions on your 
 own spirits, I could neither ask, nor desire, more. The 
 services I render, are purely ministerial ; preparative to higher 
 relations in glory ; and without the most distant desire after 
 artificial importance, or ghostly power.— I beseech you, in 
 the language of our beloved Lord, — " Call no man your Fa- 
 ther on the earth : for one is your Father, which is in hea- 
 ven. Neither be ye called Masters; for one is your Mas- 
 ter, even Christ." 
 
 I may be wrong. The theory that has been exhibited 
 to your view, may be very defective. Should such be the 
 fact, the investigation, which has yielded the principles of 
 christian philosophy here carefully developed, has distinctly 
 taught me, that a christian man should ever preserve his 
 mind open to conviction ; and be ready to receive truth from 
 whatever source it may be derived. Progress in knowledge 
 is as much a characteristic of christian living, as progress in 
 holiness can be. The controvertist, who boasts that he has 
 passed from childhood to a man's estate, without ever 
 changing his views ; who thinks that the mere fact of such 
 a change is a disgraceful dereliction ; and who solemnly 
 determines that he never will ; while he lives, alter his ideas ; 
 may have learned his catechism well ; may have received a 
 very distinct impression from the signet of sectarian author- 
 ity ; or, with peculiar accuracy, and enthusiastic fondness, 
 
 " May grind divinity of other days 
 Down into modern use." 
 
 But he is the mere child of early prejudice. He has not 
 reviewed the course, nor ascertained the value, of ever- 
 
MORAL GOVERNMENT. 373 
 
 changing circumstances; under which God himself may 
 have modified all his providential proceedings. A higher 
 service could not be rendered to such a man, than to in- 
 duce him carefully to examine his creed, and diligently 
 to study himself : or to apprise him that he has taken on 
 trust, what he supposes himself to know. He mistakes his 
 talent ; overrates his strength ; finds fault without the power 
 of defending his inconsiderate remarks; and gets rid of his 
 difficulties, by refusing to look at them. Minds, thus un- 
 happily drilled, were readily preoccupied by false views 
 mistaken for vital religion, and crucified their long-promised 
 Messiah. Such minds, revolted from the simplicity of the 
 gospel, and succumbed to papal jurisdiction, when the re- 
 formers called them to contemplate and confide in the 
 righteousness of the Son of God. Such minds are never pre- 
 pared for the revolutions through which society must necessa- 
 rily pass. And if they are now mingling in the controversies 
 which are abroad in the earth, the millennium itself will lose 
 its beauty and interest in their eyes. I pray you, look well to 
 this matter ; personally and honestly investigate it, as though 
 it could not require too great an expenditure of thought, or 
 be too often associated with humble and anxious prayer. 
 To repeat it ; — I may be wrong ; and, if so, should be thank- 
 ful to be corrected. But more will be necessary to produce 
 this, than mere dictatorial assertion, or authoritative criti- 
 cism. These are very common in theological circles, and 
 can affect no one who understands his subject, or has any 
 respect for himself. On such high subjects no man may be 
 magisterial. 
 
 Yet even if the theory advanced be inaccurate, there is 
 no principle urged, nor doctrine stated, about which chris- 
 tian men and ministers, both good and intelligent, have not 
 differed in opinion. In every age, almost, have these sub- 
 jects been freely canvassed ; and different sects have never 
 gained any thing by their long cherished hostilities. Cal- 
 vinists and arminians, established and dissenting churches, 
 have alike to look back with complacency upon a long line 
 of revered and holy men, who lived like saints ; and died 
 like soldiers of the cross, reposing in the arms of the great 
 Captain of their salvation. And why may not men differ 
 now, as well as heretofore, and still be loved and hailed as 
 brethren ? Why all this contention ? On what moral prin- 
 ciple is it, I pray you, that a man may not utter and main- 
 tain his sentiments, because his brother, frail and fallible 
 32 
 
374 LECTURES ON 
 
 like himself, happens to espouse different sentiments ? Is 
 it really a fact, that a professor, who, thinking for himself, 
 cannot coincide with the majority, has therefore abandoned 
 the gospel, and turned traitor to the Prince of peace ? Is 
 mind to be scorned and scouted, when, appearing near the 
 altars of the Son of God, she asks after the reason of his 
 institutions ? Are immortal spirits, on their way to an ever- 
 lasting communion with intellectual beings, to be con- 
 demned as criminal, because they would learn to think un- 
 der the superintending care of the Holy Ghost? Are we to 
 be told in pettish and angry tones, — all these things have 
 been examined a thousand times before ; and no one may 
 be presumptuous enough to hope, that he shall throw the 
 smallest portion of light, on the interesting, but perplexing, 
 themes ? Shall the promise of divine teaching inspire no con- 
 fidence ; and is every one bound down under an irreversi- 
 ble fate, which renders it impossible for the human mind to 
 apprehend, or explain, the very things which God has pro- 
 fessedly revealed 1 If certain premises infallibly lead to un- 
 happy and distracting conclusions, shall we be forbidden to 
 inquire after t"he accuracy and wisdom of those premises ? 
 Or, finding that they have been unquestioned and unexamin- 
 ed, down through a long line of theological writers, and 
 multitudes of generations, who were prohibited the use of 
 every thing but artificial systems, shall the mighty aggregate 
 of tremulous and submissive disciples foreclose inquiry, and 
 compel us to receive what we do not understand, and dare 
 not investigate? They who can abide such intellectual 
 vassalage, must be left to enjoy their unenvied immunities; 
 or nurse their prejudices, and sustain their personal reli- 
 gion, by an overaction both imprudent and hurtful. Every 
 pure and holy mind would long to enjoy better things, 
 among the ransomed of the Lord ; and desire to show to 
 the world, that different opinions on the philosophy of mo- 
 rals, like different opinions on the philosophy of physics, 
 may only argue a variety of intellectual powers, and of the 
 circumstances under which those powers are developed. — 
 This promised and prescribed uniformity in the perceptions 
 of religious truth, is purely chimerical. Theologians, in 
 expecting it, have necessarily been disappointed; and scep- 
 tics, in demanding it, have condemned the purest philoso- 
 phy, when they supposed themselves to be assailing Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 Having yielded to a request, often and kindly urged, to pre- 
 pare these lectures for the press, I now lay my publication 
 
Moral government. 375 
 
 on the altars of the sanctuary ; and before him, to whom 
 every christian, and every minister, should be able to appeal 
 for the purity of his motives. Nor would I cherish any other 
 anxiety about it, than that it may do good and not evil ; 
 and more particularly, that young men, who are in great 
 danger of mistaking the present agitation of society, maybe 
 led to the only refuge, — the Lord Jesus Christ. They may 
 not be aware, how far the influence of past ages is in con- 
 flict with the advance of science, or opposed to the strong 
 sense of personal responsibility, which is pervading both 
 church and state. Ardently should we all desire that these 
 may not be driven into infidelity ; and, to the utmost of his 
 power, every one should labor to explain to them the prin- 
 ciples of the christian system. Young ministers might be 
 the sympathising counsellors of the companions of their 
 youth. But, perhaps, even some of them, distracted by the 
 multitude of systems, which theological seminaries may be 
 tenderly rescuing from the grave, may be helplessly hang- 
 ing on the arm of some ecclesiastical father, who can scarce- 
 ly realise that his son has become a man. Or, it may be, 
 that, confiding in the strength of their position, or compla- 
 cently reposing on the promises of an evanescent populari- 
 ty ; or fearing some inquisitorial outrage, to which the law 
 of their party may subject them ; they may not have forecast 
 enough to divine, or courage enough to prepare for, any 
 probable changes. — May God save our young men from the 
 impending ruin! Should my volume fall into their hands, 
 may he sanctify it to lead them to estimate their personal 
 responsibility, and to induce them to think for them- 
 selves. 
 
 Dear brethren, — I often look forward to the coming times, 
 with a feeling that is painfully intense, and in the anxious 
 musings of my own heart, ask myself, how our children shall 
 fare amid the religious distractions, and political turmoils, 
 which have commenced their apparently ill-omened career? 
 The ancient mode of religious instruction, by which the 
 memories of children were stored with the abstractions of a 
 heavy catechism, and under the imposing but deceptive idea 
 that it was a form of sound words, has sunk into disuse, 
 as it ought to have done. The substitute which should have 
 been adopted, or a prayerful parental effort diligently to 
 teach "the statutes and commandments of the Lord," as 
 they are distinctly stated in his own bible, has not been faith- 
 fully employed. The rising generation are growing up in 
 
376 LECTURES ON 
 
 comparative ignorance of divine things, to betray, I fear, 
 their moral imbecility or perverseness, when their fathers 
 are lying in the dust. Great reliance is reposed in some 
 periodical excitement, to produce which much undignified 
 and violent effort is made ; and religious ceremonies are in- 
 creasing, while spiritual intelligence is becoming more and 
 more defective. The christian, who loves the church, and 
 yearns for the souls of men ; — the moralist, who can scan 
 human character, or estimate the worth of causes by the 
 effects which are produced, cannot calmly look at the scene, 
 that is spread out before him. 
 
 I speak to you with all the candor and frankness of one 
 who has nothing to fear, excepting that he may go wrong, 
 and nothing to desire, but his master's approbation and bless- 
 ing. I pray and beseech you to bring your children to the 
 mercy-seat, and importunately to implore the glorified sa- 
 viour to bless them. Unfold to their view the treasures, the 
 exceeding riches of grace and glory, which the bible con- 
 veys to your fire-sides and to your bosoms. Teach them to 
 plead for the Spirit of the Lord to rest upon them. And 
 when you die, leave them the blessing of your faith, and 
 charge them never to forget that the eible — the bible — is 
 the charter of their heavenly hopes, and the counsellor in 
 their earthly sorrows. 
 
 May God give his Spirit to you and your children ; and 
 discover to you and them the unutterable value of his bible. 
 May the light of his countenance guide and cheer you 
 throughout your earthly pilgrimage ; and bring you at last, 
 regenerated, redeemed, and glorified, to dwell with him for 
 ever, in his high and holy habitation. 
 
 THE END.