/ PSALMS LIII. 1. **- The fool hathfaid in his heart, there is no God. IN the facred language, the fool and the fmner fignify the fame perfon. Impiety* is oppofed to the cleareft principles of rea- fon, and vice makes the facrifice of the beft and highefl interells of human nature. Vi- cious conduct naturally leads to impiety in principle — and, reciprocally, impiety in- creafes the flrength of every finful propenfi- ty. Irreligious principle, in every degree of it, fprings out of the corruption of the heart. It is the diftate of its finful inclinations, of its guilty wilhes, of its crimmal paihons. * Impiety is a term that expre/Tes thofe principles that deny the being, perfedions or providence of God, or thoie actions that molt diredly violate his authority, and the duty and reverence which wc owe to him. B :2 Caiifes of Injidelity. which, much more than reafon, contribute to form the moral fyllem and rule of con- duft of an unbehever. Atheifm, which is its ukimate grade, will ufually be found conne8:ed with extreme depravity of man- ners. Therefore, the facred writer fubjoins to the refieftion in the text, '' corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity." The progrefs of infidehty, like that of vice, is gradual. Men at firft enteriam doubts concerning thofe laws, only, of reli- gion which are raofl direftly oppofed to their favorite pleafures. By degrees they queflion every do61rine that impofes any reflraint upon their moft indifferent vices. At laft, they are emboldened to rejeft the whole fyftem of revelation. When the au- thority of revealed religion is thrown off, no limits can be affigned to incredulity and er- ror. Having no flandard of truth, each man's moral fyflem will be framed agreea- bly to his inclinations. And thefe inclina- tions, according to the common maxims of a vicious philofophy,* will be ere61ed into laws of nature. God, as the moral govern- * See introduiflicnto RoulTeau's Confefiions. Caiifcs of Infidelity, ^ or of the univerfe, will be excluded from his;- plan as foon as that doctrine becomes incon- venient ; 2u\(S.Jode, necc/Jily, accident, I know not what, will be fubftituted in his room, Atheifm is only the laft link in that chain of impious conclulions that arife out of the depravity of the heart. And, indeed, be- tween the rejeclion of revelation, and abfo- lute impiety, there is, in the philofbphy of the preft nt age, hardly any middle grade. The one and the other rell upon the lame principles, and are equally liable to the fe- vere cenfure of the facred writer — The fool hath formed the conclufion in his heart. It is the heart that reafons, and folly de- cides. In treating of the cauies of inlide- lity, which I purpofe to do in the prefent, and in a future difcourfe I fnaii take the fub- jeft in this extent, as queflioning generally the truth of religion. It is not my intention to enter into any difcuffion of the evidences of religion either natural or revealed. — Thefe have often been difplayed with fuch clearnefs, and eflablifned with fuch force of argument by a multitude of excellent wri- ters, that it cannot be proof, but honcRy and candor which men require to make them fmcere and humble converts to the crofs of 4 Caufcs of hifideliiy. Chrift. Frequently, the befl refutation of infidelity is to ex pole it to itfelf, and to lay open its real principles and motives. This I purpofe to do in the k lowing diicourfes : In the introdu6lion, permit me to obferve that this fubject, never unimportant, is, at the prefent period particularly interefting, and worthy your moft ferious attention. Europe is deluged with a flood of impiety. The corruption of her manners is daily in- creafing the extent of the evil. Her philo- fophers and wits, her orators and poets, are continually opening wider its lluices, and adding to it that force and extenhon which genius alone can give to the principles of vice. Our own country, although as yet but in the infancy of its exillence, is rapidly imitating the degeneracy of her manners, and, confequently, the licence of her prin- ciples. You fee the profeffed difciples of an impious philofophy filling many of the moft refpettable fi:ations in fociety — You frequently fee, in the upper clafles of for- tune, an open and undifguifed neglecl, and even contempt of the inflitutions of piety — You fee a profligate generation rifing up, who affc6l to fport with every moral tie. Caufes of Infidelity, e and to treat with levity the moft fa c red doc- trines of religion, and that great depofitory of truth, the holy Icriptures. Let us exa- mine the principL- upon which they a6t : to de\ elope them will be to demonftrate their folly. They may be comprifed under the heads of Vice, of Ignorance, and, of Vanity.* I. Infidelity, in the firfl; place, is com- monly founded in vice. Rare is it, indeed, that men commence their courfe of impiety by rational and ferious doubts concerning the authenticity of the facred fcriptures — that, actuated by an honeft love of truth, they have profoundly and impartially exa- mined the evidence on which they reft — and when, on good grounds, they have been convmced that there exifted no divine law to controul their condutt, and no fupreme judge to whom they were amenable, have then only indulged in greater licence of manners. On the other hand, do we not almoft always fee them begin by relaxation of morals ; and, after their taftes and habits have been vitiated, then, and only then, * MafTiUon Doutes fur la Religion. 6 Caiifcs of Infidelity. think of queRioning truths that controul their propenfities, or condemn their plea- fiires/* As long as they preferved their original {implicity of manners, they receiv- ed with refpeci^, the religion of their fathers, and entertained, without fufpicion, the fa- cred principles infliried into them in their education, and fo ftrongiy recommended by the voice of uncorrupted reafon. \\ hen their manners began to change, they found new queilions continually riling in their minds, concerning do^irines which hitherto had appeared fo refpeftable and holy. — Their doubts kept pace with their vices. As every fucceRive indulgence threw down the fences of virtue to a greater extent, they found thcmfelves tempted, by degrees, to bring in queilion, every law of religion that oppofed their inclinations, and at length, by one bold and decifive effort, to rejecl the whole. This is not an unfounded reprefentation, reRinp- merely on a pious prejudice. It is a matter of experience — and for the truth * From this remark, may be excepted a few, who feera to be governed from the beginning of life, by a peculiar perverfity of natural temper. Caufes of hifidcUty, j of it, I confidently appeal to the experience of thofe who afletl to diltelieve the gofpel, and to treat it with an unholy levity, if their i-nfidelity did not commence in a purfuit of plcafure, too free to be reconciled to its pure, humble, and felf-denied fpirit. At hrft, confcience, not yet perverted by falfe principles, nor rendered callous by the habit of finning, would remonfcrate againft their criminal purfuits. Thefe remoniiran- ces would be accompanied with refoiutions of amendment; but, finding every refolution overcome as foon as the temptation was re- newed, defpairing, at length, of their ov/n fortitude to conquer, they ftudied only to juflify their inclinations. A man has powerful reafons for endea- vouring to reconcile his opinions with his conduct — if his praftice is not fupported by principle, it lays the foundation of a pain- ful and diftrenincr conflicl: in the mind — he is miferable who, always a flave to his paffions, is, at the fame time, always over- whelmed by his own ("elf-reproacl:es — when his paCions are too ilrong for his fenLim.ents and purpofes of duty ; when he finds it dif- ficult to change his habits, and is umrillmg 8 Caitfes of Infidelity, to renounce his pleafures, he foon endea- vours to modify his principles according to them. And, unhappily, when a man ftudies to deceive himfelf, it is always in his own power — it is his heart, not his under- flanding — his wilhes, not his reafon, that then decide upon truth. Another proof that irreligious principles are the fruits of vicious and loofe living, is the fpirit of the objeftions, that are ufually made againfl religion. Are they not pointed againll thofe doc- trines, chiefly that are molt direftly oppof- ed to the criminal inclinations and purfuits of men ? The continence and purity requir- ed by the gofpel, firfl awaken the enmity of the libertine and profligate, and raife in them a wifli to find it falfe. Its fobriety and temperance difpleafe the dilfolute : its meeknefs, forbearance and humility, oflend the proud and refentful. The fpirit of re- treat, of devotion, and heavenly mindednefs which it enjoins revolts thofe whofe hopes and enjoyments centre only in this world. In a word, the predominant and charafter- iftic vice of each finner firfl: impels him to Ccsiifes of IrJiddiiyK g feek for objeclions agalnll religion. Above all, are not thefe objedions urged with the f^reateft zeal ag-ainil thofe do6iriiies fo drcad- ful to the guilty, the final judgment of God, and the eternal retributions oi his juftice ? Is it not in order to free their minds of the ap- prehenfions created by thefe awful truths, that they fo earneitly endeavour to ihake the deepell foundations of the chriilian faith ? Thefe ideas give no molellation to virtue : they are terrible only to vice, and vice alone is folicitous to deftroy them. Becaufe '• tlie carnal mind is enmity againlt God^. and is not llibjeCt to his law, neither indeed, can be, ' it v/ould endeavour to annihilate both the lav/ and the iaws^iver. / While, endaved as they are to tlieir luPcs,, they admit the authority of religion, they are compelled fecretly to tremble at the ideas of futurity. Their fears are a proof of their crimes. In this cafe,., their only rcfource for peace of mind is to renounce religion ; to perfuade themfelves, that, at death, they (liall ceafe to exill; and that, hereafter, there will be neither tribunal nor judge.. When thefe ideas are cPtabliih-- C 20 CaufesoJ Injiddiiy, ed, confcicnce has no more ground for its reproofs ; the heart no more caufe for its fears. To this point,therefore, all their (la- dies are bent, that they may acquire tran- quility in the pleafureable purfuits of vice. Senfual pleafure is their lupreme good, and if they can diveit themfeives of ail appre- benfions for the future, into it they plunge, with headlong and brutal appetite. It is the obje6l of all thofe writers, who have lately diiiinguilhed themselves as ene- mies of the crofs of Chrifl, to eflabiiih the licentious idea, that death is an eternal lleep ; that there is no moral governor of the univerfe, no judge to whom we are ac- countable for our ati ions. And is it not the objecl of philofophy in every nation, and in every age, when morals have become ex- tremely corrupted, to prove that men have the fame end with the brutes, only that they may abandon themfelves to the fame ap- petites ? If religion prefented nothing to their faith but abftrufe fpeculations, and incom- preheniible mylteries that had no relation to morals, they would pafs them with the Caufes of Injidelity, tt fame indifference, that they do the abdrac- tions of any other fcience : but it touches the heart, and controuls their luits — - therefore it is, that it awakens in them the keeneit oppohtion. They profefs, indeed, to be (hocked at its myfteries ; they find doc- trines in it that revolt their reafon, and on thefe they inceffantly declaim : but, it is only to conceal from themfelves and from the world, the true grounds of their enmity. It is becaufe relisjion commands them to renounce this guilty commerce ; to facrifice this criminal conneCiion ; to fubdue this dominant luft, and to flee even the motives and temptations to evil, that it excites all rancour of hatred, and all the bitternefs of hoftility. Afliamed to avow thefe dif- honorable caufes, they endeavour to enlill reafon in the fervice of the paffions, and pretend to reft on it an infidelity, that takes its true origin from the heart. It is becaufe religion can make no com.promife with vice, that It is the objetl of their abhorrence, — By the rancour of their m.inds, w^e may judge of the real ground of their enmity to the law of Chriil. Hypocrify and impolture, are the leall crimes which they impute to religion. Their farcafms and fneers. they are 1 2 Caufes oj Irifidelity, never tired of reiterating againft its hifto- riesj its doftrines, and its miniiiers. They urge them on all occafions; they repeat them without regard to decency or oppor- tunity. The malignity of their hearts, the irritation of provoked and difappointed paflions, continually burll forth, and dif- play themfelves in the whole manner of their oppofition to the inftitutions of piety. Too plain it is, to be denied, that their pre- tended infidelity, and their declared hoitili- ty to religion, take their rife foiely from their vices. Another proof that infidelity fp rings from the vices of men is, that, ufuaily, it keeps pace with their paifrons ; it flourifnes in prof- perity — in adverfity it lofes its confidence and effrontery. The tide of pleafure buoys it up ; health, and a vigorous flow of fpirits, keep far out of view that interefting period that tries the honefi:y and folidity of the principles of our condu£l. But, let affiiftion weaken the force of the pailions — let fome crreat and unexpecledreverfe of providence wreil from the proud the power or the wealth in which they truiled, and from the voluptuous the plecJures which intoxicated Calif es of Injideliiy, i^ them — let them be reduced to feel the va- nity and uncertainty of the world, within the narrow circle of which they had circum- fcribed all their happinefs and their hopes — their infidelity begms to totter — their hearts begin to mifgive them — that future world which they had hitherto defpifed, and pro- feffed to difDelieve, begins to acquire reali- ty and importance — anxiety and alarm take polfeflion of the foul, and in the moment of diitrefs and weaknefs, when they moil need a fupport like that of religion, they are left to defpair. When real danger appears, their pretended principles are not able to fuftain them : they find indeed that they had no principles — they w^ere only the deceitful didlates of a fenfual heart, which they had miltaken for principles. Why do their opinions vibrate ? Infidels in profperity, believers in extreme adverfity — Why does their boafied impiety for fake them at a fea- fon fo critical ? If it were founded on rea- fon, it could not change — reafon is aWvays the fame. But, relting only on the paflTions and the vices, it is mutable like them. W hen the fuel that nourilhes them is withdrawn, its delufions and eiirontcry are both at an end. i.-y Canjes of Lnjiddity, Let a Tinner who glories in his fancied ftrength of mind, becaufehe is not govern- ed by vulgar prejudices and fuperltitious fears, approach that hncere hour when thini>-s begin to appear in their true lights, when th" world which had deceived him is vaniihing from his fight, when he feels hhnfelf drawing near that eternal exigence which now ailumes an awful reality, and the terrors of divine juiiice impofe a dreadful neceiuty to be honeit— ah ! at this moment, can he reft upon his principles ? Vain principles ! they are fwept away like light and withered leaves before the rifmg ilorm. Inilead of that tranquil and afiefted incre- dulity with which he formerly difmilFed the duties of piety, or fneered at its remonllran- ces, you lee him agitated by cruel and ex- ceftive fears. His heart trembles and faints within him, at the profpeft of a judgment to come. Does he any longer cavil at the evidences, or revolt at the incredible doc- trines of religion ? Does he demand new proofs of it before he will believe ? No ; he believes and trembles. It is not its evidences, but its comforts, which he requires. You hear him intreat for thofe holy oihces which once he defpifed. He calls for thofe minifters Caiifes of Irji.delify, 15 of God who formerly were the obje8s of his negleft, perhaps of his foolilh fcorn. It is not now the queiiion with him, if there be a God? If there be a future (late of retribution? Thefe truths rulh with fearful evidence up- on his foul; but, with the trembling jailor, " what fliall I do to be faved ?" He preifes the verge of an eternal exiilence — the pad prefents nothing but fubjeds of gloomy and felf-condemning refletlion — the future of- fers nothing but a fearful and overwhelming defpair. If a ray of hope (trikes upon his mind, through the awful darknefs that fur- rounds him, it is derived only from that defpifed religion, to which, too late perhaps, he now flees for refuge. Oh ! 'tis an honed hour that tries to the bottom, the founda- tions of infidelity. How few can then (land the fevere fcrutiny of confcience, or bear the teft of their own reafon when difentan- gled from thofe objefts that ufed to deceive it ? Not one, perhaps, of all that witling tribe, who infult or cavil at a religion, which they have never examined. When the props on which his impiety had refted, are torn from beneath the finner, by the unre- lenting hand of death, the wretched fabric J" • i5 Caufes of Infidelity. tumbles on his guilty head, and crufhes him beneath the ruins. Is this reprefentation drawn too high ? Penitent Rochefter! I appeal to the tears and conFefiions of thy lad moments.* Was not this the language of thy defpair, fero- cious Blount ! v/honi thy miferies com- pelled to be thy own executioner ?f And Shaftefbury ! gay and mirthful Shaftefbury ! fo apprehenfive v/ert thou of the impotence of thy philofophy, to fupport thee in this great conflicl, that thou hail forewarned thy friends not to receive as genuine, any fen- timents on religion, which thou mightefl utter, in the weaknefs of nature, during her lad ftruggles. Thou haft, by anticipation, abjured a confellion thou waft afraid the honefty of death might extort from thee ? j * The noted Earl of Roclierter, the hiflory of whofe llber- tinlfm and penitence, has been written by Biftiop Burnet. f The author of the Oracles of Reafon, ^sPao, at lafl, be- coming gloomy and melanchoiy, in a fit of defpair, put an end to his own life. X Anthony Afhley Cooper, Earl of Shaftefbury, equally celebrated for his wit and his infidelity. He was fo fuccefs- ful in the ufe of delicate irony, that he endeavoured to ef- tablilh it as a principle, that ridicule is the proper tell of ti-uth. From the example cf miiny ether iutidels, he v/as Caufes of Ivjideliiy. 17 Such examples demonflrate that many, even ofthofewho arrogate to themielves the dillinclion of being philofophic infidels, have not a6led in life under the full convic- tion of their own principles. A lecret doubt flill lurked at the bottom of their hearts, which the light of eternity, as they approached towards it, has difclofed to view. And, does not almoR every liber- tine, in the intervals of his pafhons, after^ the intoxication of pleafure is off the mind, iind his confcience inifgive him when, in a cool and ferious hour, he looks forward to the end of life ? This is a new proof that the principles of infid.dity, which he sports in the moments of levity, and on which he fom.etimes aifecls to reaibn, are not embraced with candor and fincerity — they are the oiispring of the palhons, and that only during the ieafon of. profperity — aliiiclion, winch ilrips the en- chantment from vice, fhakes the conndence apprehenfive, left the fears of death might fliake tlie firmnefs of his philoibphy, and draw from him fomi; declaration fa- vorable to religion. He rcquclls his friends, if he (houlJ make any fuch declaration, to aieribe it to the weakucfs of nature; and to take his real fentimcats from liis writings. 2 8 Carafes of ■ Infidelity, which the mind had repofed in them. The ferious profpeft of eternity overwhelms them with defpair. Such is the opprobrious origin of infidel- ity. It continually fpeaks to us, indeed, of the fuperior illumination of reafon ; but it fprings out of the very bofom of darknefs. It boalls of a ftrength of mind fuperior to other men ; but it ihews us only the weak- nefs of a corrupted heart, a (lave to the mod difgraceful luits. Ah ! this vaunted ftrength is nothing but the boldnefs and intoxication of vice, that will fiiortly be converted into abjecl fear, and that now often trembles in fecret at its own daring. Frequently, in- deed, the moll confident appearances of im- piety are united with real and difquieting apprehenfions of the truth of religion. The proiligate endeavors to efcape from his own reiledions,by plunging into fucceilive fcenes of dilTipation. An oiientatious difplay of impiety, an exceihve levity on the fubjecl of religion, is intended merely to cover from the world, or to iliiie in his own bread, the apprehenfions that diilurb his peace. He derives a kind of perfuafion in favor of faliiiood by frequently repeating it. If the Caiifcs of Infiddify. i^ principles of his education fbinetimcs re- cur with force ; if the fears of futurity, at certain moments, difquiet him ; he ftudies to reprefs them, and to fortify his heart a- gainit itfelf, by venting, in a bold and inde- cent Iiile, the maxims of impiety. His feoffs, his fneers, his profane declamations againfh religion, are they any proof of the real and fettled convittion of his mind? Far from it. His mind is weak and timid ; and he llrives only to fupport his courage by playing the infidel. He is a coward who endeavours to allay, or conceal his appre- henfions by an overacled bravery — He re- fembles a fooiifh child who (ings in the dark to chafe away his own fears,* Every view which w^e have taken of the rubjetl, tends to confirm the truth which I propofed to illuftrate, that one, and, per- haps, the principal caufe of that infidelity, real or pretended, that infetts the circles of fafiiionable didipation, and has plunged fo many profligate youth in the depths of im- piety, is to be found in the growing vice and licentioufnef; of the public manners. '-'The fool hath faid in his heart there is no God — ■ * Maffillcn, so Caufes of Iiifideliiy. Cor mpt nr^ they, and have done abomina- ble iniquity." A fev/ philofophic infidels, perhaps, in whom a talie for Iiudy and Icience may have correfted the grolier diforders of the palEons, ^vill feel themfelves little aiiecled by the general llrain of the obfervations hitherto made. Yet is it true, notwithliand- ing, that the ground of their oppofition to the gofpel, is an inward and (trong averfion to the purity and holinefs of its precepts. They cannot fubmit their hearts to the yoke of the Redeemer ; therefore, they endeavour to break and caft it off. But 1 have chiefly in viev/ that numerous tribe who have never even fuperhcially examined the principles of chriiiianity — who have adopted the cant rather than the philofophy of impiety — and who continually fport its principles as a juftification of their irregulari ies. Unhap- py men ! who are tearing away, with perni- cious zeal, every remaining tie that yet ira- poies any check upon your career to ruin ; for one moment ferioudy confider your flaie -paufe in your courie, and look for- ward to its end. If there is a God, with what aggravated terror will you at lall meet Cav/es of Itifideliiy. 21 this judge whom you had notexpecled ? If the gofpel is true, what, O miferable Ibuls ! mult be your fearful deltiuy r* Can your im- pious levity change the eternal nature of right and wrong, or, by makmg you forget, fuCpend the punihiinent of your crimes ? Can your denial, or your oblivion of your creator, impede the iure and awiul courfe of his juiiice r^ If infidelity is condemned by the difgrace- ful principle from which it I'prings, it is not leis condemned by its unhappy confequen- ces. That horrible doctrine that removes God from the univerfe, pre.ents nothing to the rational view but a boundlefs waiie of death — of inevitable fufferinffs during a few moments of exiitence, followed by the hi- deous profpetl of eternal annihilation. If the fyflem of nature is not arranged and go- verned by a wife and gracious providence ; if we do not exiil by the power, and under the protection of a merciful and almighty parent ; if there is no happinefs but by ac- cident, and the tranfient polfeflion of it mull only augment the pain of being fpee- dily torn from it forever ; if mifery is urged upon us by the lav/s of a fatal necelhty, and 22 Caufes of Infidelity. there is no remedy for extreme fuffering % if in this Hfe only v/e have hope, and ail beyond is a fearful gulph of everlaiting obli- vion ; then exiflence is a curfe, this world is a dreary prifon, the good man may fit down in defpair, and weep over his own being ; or, like the fons of guilty pleafure, he may renounce his ufelefs virtue, and fay, " let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die!" The certain tendency of principles of ir- religion is to increafe the immorality and licenfe from which they fpring. Whatever weakens the obligations of piety, tends to dilTolve both the ties of virtue, and the re- flraints of vice. Convenience and power become the only rule of juftice — inclination and opportunity the only limit of voluptu- oufnefs. Relaxation of morals marches in the front, libertinifm follows in the train of infidelity. — Hovv' cautious ought youth to be even of liftening to principles fo flatter- ing to the padions, but fo dangerous to the foul ! Shun, as the moft ruinous en- emies, thofe falfe friends v/ho endeavour to infinuate into you the fatal poifon. Suf- pe61 the gay and fafcinating forms of plea- Caiifes of hifiddiiy. 23 fure under which they prefent vice to your choice — for, in the end, " it biteth like afer- pent, and llingeth like an adder." Thefe principles appear in their mo{l pernicious- and deteftable form when they invade, as, in fome inilances, even in this young country they have done, that fex whofe peculiar glory is modefty and chaui- ty. Religion (hould always find an afylum in the female breaft. It is the higlieft em- bellifliment, and it is the greateft fecurity of their characleriiUc virtues. When their re- ligious fentiments begin to be corrupted, fo- ciety is on the verge of diffolution — iicen- tioufnefs then is under no reftraint. But, while their hearts preferve the facred depo- fit of religion, entrufted to them in their early education, they impofe the moft effec- tual check upon libertinifm of manners. — To their piety, the public morals will owe the moil elfential oblio-ations. Deteft, therefore, and fhun the man v/ho would ever attempt to feduce your heart, by be- traying your underftanding. The princi- ples of irreligion can never be infinuated to you but with the bafefb defigns. Fleafure is the decoy of vice, and the advocate of iiix- 24 Caiifes of hrjideliiy, piety. Whenever (he offers her enticements, fufpe6l fome latent danger. She is a Syren whofe fong lures unwary voyagers into the midft of gulphs that fwallow them up, and amongd rocks that daih them to pieces. Shut your ears againil her enchantments — clofe your hearts againR her deftruftive charms. Religion is your fli eguard and your ornament — it is the fureil bafis both of your honor and your happinefs. Permit me, in the conclufion, to addrefs a ferious admonition to thofe young p^r- fons who, wifliing for greater licenfe, are be- ffinninsT to pronounce, though with a feeble and heiitating tone, the language of inhdel- ity. You are, as yet, little aware of the fa- tal ifTue to which you are tending. When once you begin to difplay your doubts, or your wit on the fubjecl of religion, or to feek for arguments to relax its ties, the pro- grcfs is commonly rapid towards the point of abfolute impiety. Every criminal indul- gence becomes a nev/ argument with the heart, acrainlt the- law of ChriR which con- demns it. By embracing the prmciples of infidelity, you are feekmg for a peace of confcience in the purfuits of vice v/hich Caufes of Infidelity. 25 they can never yield. The great and fun- damental truths of religion are too deeply impLmted in human nature to be eahly eradicated. And, while they remain, they muft difquiet the tranquility of the fmner. You may deny the exillence of a righteous Deity — iny our heart you may wiQi there, were none — you may fecretly lay to yourfelf, in the moment of temptation, there is no God ; but, Hill the fcntiment of his fear remains — the bodings of his juRice follow your crimes — ah ! thefe bodings are the deep, infallible di61ates of nature : they are lure prefages, to the impenitent, of an awiul retribution. Arreft, then, your ftep, if you are yet only entering on the threlhold of impiety. Seek, while you may, the precious refuge of religion, that will, ere long, be denied to the hardened finner. In the hour of affliciion you wilf find in its defpifed in- {litutions, in its doclrines, and its hopes, your only confolation. But if you deny your Creator — if you perfift to rejeft the Lord who bought you, to wliom, or to what, will you have recourfe in your extremity ? — When the cold hand of death is preiling upon you — when you are trembling before the king of terrors, o\\ ! with what dreadful E 26 Caufes of Infidelity. importunity will you be conPirained to im- plore the mercy of that God whom you have denied ! will you call for the aids of that religion which you have infulted! Good God ! the terror of looking into the grave under a fearful uncertainty about our eternal being ; or, under the more fearful apprehenfions of eternal mifcry ! Unthink- ing youth ! who are fporting v/ith fubjecls of fuch infinite moment, or aiking with a fneer, for the reafons on which relio-ion commands your faith, and your obedience — look on the death-bed of an unbeliever, and fee the reafons ! There is an object in which )-ou may contemplate the value of religion, and the falfehood of thofe impious principles on v/hich you are hazarding your falvation. See the trembling, the expiring, the defparing mortal ! His terrors (peak to you wiih the evidence of demonfiration, and declare the exiiience of a holy and righteous judge of the univerfe. His lan- guage, and his looks proclaim the reality of the dreadful retribution he is going to re- ceive. The remorfe which diilracLs him, Ihould preach the gofpcl to you with the moll perfuahve eloquence. Ah ! impiety of living is a dreadful preparative tor a Caufcs of Lifiddiiy. 27 dying bed. Fatal indeed is his folly who Jays in his heart there 2s no God, till that moment of irremediable terror and difmay when he fees him already drelTed and feat- ed for judgment. " Behold, now is the accepted time — behold, now is the day of falvation !" " Turn ye, therefore, to the firong hold, ye prilbners of hope !"' [ 28 ] DISCOURSE IL CAUSES OF INFIDELITY^ -™U!3eJ25E=ra Psalms liii. i. The fool hath f aid in his heart , there is no God. THE reileclion of the facred writer in this padage relates immediately to that delperate atheilm which denies the exiRence of an infinite and eternal Spirit, the maker and the judge of men ; or, to that oblivion of God which feizes fmners in the ordinary train of life, and leaves their paffions and their vices without reftraint. I have ex- tended the idea fo as to embrace the prin- ciples of infidelity univerfally, inafmuch as they are all efPecls proceeding from the fame caufe. The charatler of the fool may well be applied, not only to thofe cool and fpe- culative unbelievers who have eiiabliflied to themfelves fyftems of impiety from the abuie and perverfion of reafon, but to thofe Caufcs of InfidJ,ily. li-C) light and ignorant pretenders to infidelity who liave only adopied from others certain licentious maxims which they have not been able to conneft with their principles or their conlequences ; or, whole powers reach no tarther than to indulge a perpe- tual vein of rude wit, and indecent pieaian- try on the fubjeci of religion. In a dif- courfe of this nature, adapted to general inftruftion, perfons of this chara6l:er v/ill perhaps merit our principal attention — be- caufe fober and rational infidels are rarely to be met with, while impudent and ip-no- rant men are every where to be found. In treating of the principles of iiiiidelity, and expofing their criminaiiiy and folly, I have avoided entering into any confidera- tion of the excellence of the gofpel, or of the evidence on vvhich it rells. I have con- fined my attention to unfold thofe guilty and difgraceful caufes thatufually combine their iniiuence to render men enemies to reliffion. Thefe I have endeavoured to comprehend under the heads of vice, of ig- norance, and of vanity — Vice that creates in the heart an inveterate enmity to the law of God, and puts an unjuil bias on the mind 30 Caiifes of Infidelity, in judging of divine truth — Ignorance that has never ferioully and impartially examin- ed the fubjecl — And Vanity that aiTumcs a falfe and frivolous honor to itfelf for thinking diifercntly from the bulk of man- kind. The firPt of thefe caufcs I have already illuRrated. I proceed to obferve, that II. Ignorance is a frequent fource of thofe irreligious principles, and dii'courfes that every where produce fo much evil in foci- ety. An ignorance as criminal, as it is dif- graceful — that fprings as much from the corruption of the heart which is unwilling to fee the truth, as from the defeft of the underllanding which has never fincerely examined it. I have not in view at prefcnt a few phi- lofophic infidels whofe memory the annals of literature liave prefervcd, and who, by Vvifdom, knew not God — v/ho have left the fame of their genius, with their pernicious writings to infed pofterity— but, who ha\^e left alio their errors, and contradi8ions to be added to the innumerable proofs v/hich •**#- Caiifes of lnfiddiiy\ 3 1 every age has furniflicd of the weaknefs and uncertainty of human reafon on all fubjcfts of divine and moral fcience, when not illu- minated by the fpint of God. Thefe inge- nious enemies of the gofpel, however, have been men of wit rather than of profound talents. Their prejudices have led them to examine the queilion of its truth on one fide only. They have been willing to fee nothing but prefumptions againft religion. Dillinguiihcd more by the powers of the imagination than by thofe of the under- (landing, you find thim, v/here they ought to be moil ferious and grave, indulging a perpetual vein of ridicule and wit. 1 he moll^ philofophic of modern infidels has confelfed that his metaphifical fubtleties are not calculated to produce a clear and fettled conviction of their truth in the mind.'- The inaccuracy of Voltaire in hif-_ tory and antiquities, fo neceffary tojuilex- * Mr. Hume, after endeavouring, with great ingenuity, to annihilate both the material and the Spiritual world, as they are ufually underllcod, and to cftablifh the principle that uoihincr exiils in the vmiverfe but vaiious and fucceffive trains tif ideas, aclaiowledgcs that, although lie could find no reafons fufficiently lolid to overthrow what he ha.1 advanced, yet, he could not act upon his own c&nclu'ions, ncr, at all tinics, viold iheni a clear and unwavering alkut. 32 Caitfes of Lifidclily. amination of the authenticity of religion, is ahiiod proverbial. Thefe fubjefts he con- iidered as hardly worthy the attention of an author whofe fame depended folely on his wit.f — But, fepa rated from his faults, what is he, or the moil: famous patrons of an in- fidel pliilofophy, compared with the New- tons, the Boyles, the Clarkes, the VVarbur- tons, the Lockes, the Feneloos, the Rollins, the Pafcals, and all that endlefs lifl: of great names, diiiinguiihed equally for genius and for piety, who have appeared as the friends of religion, and have brought the moll pro- found and illuilrious talents as a voluntary oileiiiig to the foot of the crofs. But thefe difcourfss have ghiefly in view a clafs of men very difierent from the fpe- ■j- Thomas Paine, ia that booh of his entitled T!:c Jjpe of RciipjTiy iiiiiiiitely exceeds Mr. Voltaire in hiilorical and criti- cal inaccuracy. He has a certain fprightlinefs of manner arid boldnefs of allertion %vhich diilinguilh him ; but fo to- tally defecrive is he in point of erudition, that in no other country but this, where tliere is much fuperficial reading, but little folid and extenlive learning, could his work have ob- tained any currency. Thole parts of it which have any ap- pearar.cc of realoning he has borrowed almoft wholly from Mr. Boulanger. For the reft, it ib made up of the hulf-re- membered ideas cf his childhood, of indigcfted criticiiins picked up in a Icofe reading, and of the moft palpable vio- lations uf Liltorical truth. Cavfes of L-ifiddtty. 33 dilative and ingenious unbelivers who have jull been named — a clals to be met v/ith in moil faJ ionable circles, and, every where, among the fraatterers in knowledge, who are merely the apes of the former. I mean thofe men of pleafure, who are enemies to religion, becaufc religion is an enemy to their vices — who never have exa- mined the luminous and refpeclable evi- dence on vv4iich the gofpel refts — who fpeak with confidence of what they do not know, and blafphem.e Vv'hat they do not underftand — the delight of the frivolous and vain, the oracles of the ignorant — who retail among their companions objetiions againft religion with which they have been furnilhed by a loofe and defultory reading, or which have palled from mouth to mouth among the li- bertine and profligate till they have become vulgar and dale. A great preacher^* has happily called them the echoes of infidelity, v/ho juft repeat the blafphemies which they have heard from others — The mere oro-ans of impiety who fc rve to convey its tradi- tions from one race to another. * MatTiilon. g^ Caufes of Infidelity. To attack doclrines that have flood the t^Il of fo many ages — that have been illuf- trated by the greateft writers with the mod luminous evidence, and eftabliflied on the moil fohd foundations — ^that have counted among their fubmilhve difciples men of the moft liluflrious characlers, and the mod profound learning who have eileemed their obedience to the faith their chief glory — doftrines that have commanded the homage of the wifed as well as the moll powerful of mankind, would require uncommon ge- nius and erudition, deep refleclion, and ex- tenfive refearch. Is this the charafter of thofe forward and conceited youth who preach infidelity in the circles of their liber- tine companions — who declaim with pert- nefs on the credulity of the vulgar, and the craft of the priefthood — who are ever ready to jell on the fubjeft of religion, and aim, by an impious effrontery, at a reputation for wit which nothing but tlie ignorance of their hearers can afcribe to them ? No, they are men of fuperficial talents, too much devoted to their pleafures to think. It would be doing them too much honor to fble them Theiits, or Atheifis, or, indeed, to call them by any name that implies a Caufes of Infidelity. Sj fvftcm of principles. Their limited know- Irdoe is fuMicient only to embavrars then- minds with diiticulties on the fubjed of re- licrion, not to furniih their folut ion— to cre.- afe doubts not to ailord certainty. Their doubts are accompanied with a diOionelTy of mind that does not wiQi ta have them refolved. They form, a conve- nient protetlion for their vices, which every approach to the truth ferves to difquietand fill with apprehenlions. They hate tac light; neither come they to the light, left their deecb fhould be reproved. Far from feeking ^for real and folid information, v/hrch, it tiiey were fincere, they could not fail to obtain, on a fubjed enlightened by the labours of fo many pious and excellent writers, then: only itudy is to Uiun conviclion. One knows not, at fome times, whether mod to pity, or be amufed at men of this dercription. when they alfea to reprefent relipion as a pious prejudice, and to re- proach the credulity of the believing multi- tude. Is there no credulity, are there no prejudices attached to impiety? Alas! can any prejudices be fo llrong as thofe 3 5 Caufcs of Infidelity. formeci by the padions again (1 die truth ? as thofe with which vice combats religion ? Can any credulity be more abilird and weak than that which is often dilplayed by the enemies of rehpion when their aim is to depreciate the chara61er of a good man, or when they think they have found a tale that will militate againil. the facred hiftory ? Nor is this confined alone to thofe pert, il- literate fools who exciie your contempt, while they provoke yourlioneil indignation — this diio-raceful blot flains the rcDutation O A of writers of the p-reateii name who have enlifted themfclves among the champions of impiety/'^ 1 he flibles of nurfes and of children are not more ridiculous than the narrations that have been gravely made, and the fiftions that have been aifuraed by philofopliers to contradict the Mofaic fyf- tem of the worlds and of the oriinn of man. f * liaac Vcfflus, the famous grammarian, was fo remark- able for his creduhtv and his infidelity, that king Charles cnce wittily faid of him, " There is nothing you cannot make that man beheve except his Bible." f In lord Kaims' Sketches of Man, and lord Monboddo on The origin of Languages, may be feen fome very extraor- dinnry relations of ignorant travellers, and fome moft abfurd fictions adopted in order to difcredit the Mcfaic account of the primitive ftate of human nature, and the unity of the huaBan race. Becaufe Moles has iniormed us that the v/orld, at CdXiJcs of Infidelity, §7 And the moil celebrated v/it of modern times,* if he can, by ranging through anti- quity, find one fable more improbable than another, its certain recommendation, and title to belief, is its inconhilency with the hiftory of the bible. firft, was a chaotic mafs covered with water, MonHcur Bail- ly, that he may recede from him as far as poffible, has fup- pofed, in his letters to Voltaire, that it was originally a ball of iire ftruck off from the fun by the impulfe of a comet, and that it has, in an almolt infinite fucceffion of ages, been gra- dually cooling, and becoming a fit habitation for man, and tliat the iird habitable fpots were at the poles. If this had been a tenet of religion, how would fuch a philofopher as Monfieur Bailly have received it? . * Mr. Voltaire, you find in him every where the moft in- congruous relations, and the moft palpable contradiJiicns en the fubjccl of religion. See letters addrej^d to hhn by certain ^Jjvjs for many examples of this kind.. To the lift of credu- lous or fanciful writers Mr. Volney may very fairly be ad- ded, if Indeed he believed his own fiftions, and did not ra- ther value himfelf on making tlie moll extravagant fuppofi- tions, only that he might make a great oifplay of learning in fupporting them. This author, eftimable as an hiftorian, immediately becomes vifionary as an anti-religionift. This charge v/ill be fully eftablilhed in the m.ind of every candid and judicious reader who fhall examine his attempt to prove the chriftian religion to be nothing more than a corrupted worihip of the fun — and that the hiilory of the Innocence and fall of man, of the woman, the temptation, tlie ferpent, and the curfe, is only an aftronomical hieroglyphic of the Egyptian prleils to fignify fpring, fummer, autamn, ani winter, and the conllellations that prefide over thefe feafons. iJee his Ruir.s of Palmyra — If chrillianity were obliged to have recourfe to fuch incredible fuppofitions to fupport the hiftory of the fcriptures, what a triumph would it afford t