Columbia (Hnitiersttp 
 intl)eCitpof3^rttigork 
 
 THE LIBRARIES 
 
 Bequest of 
 
 Frederic Bancroft 
 
 1860-1945 
 
COMPREHENSIVE VIEW 
 
 OF THE 
 
 .EADING AND MOST IMPORTAF'^ PRINCIPLES 
 
 OF 
 
 NATURAL AND REVEALFiD 
 KELIGIOISr: 
 
 J>1GEST*D IN SUCH ORDER AS TO PRESENT TO THK "IOCS AND REFLECTITiC 
 
 MIND, A BASIS FOR THE SUPERSTRUCTURE OF THE ENTIRg 
 
 SYSTEM OF THE DOCTRINES OF THE GOSPEL, 
 
 BY THE REV. SAMUEL STANHOPE SMITH, D.D. L.L.D 
 
 LITB PRESIDENT OF THE COI.LBGJ: OF NEW-JERSSY. 
 
 Second Edition — with additions. 
 
 NEW-BRUNSWICK: 
 
 Printed and Publislied by Deare .V Mver. 
 1816, 
 
"W 
 
 District of Nerv-Jerati/, aj. 
 
 Be it P.EMEMBER2D, that on the twenty-fourth day of August, m 
 the fortieth year of the Independence cf the T.'r-ited Statts o" America, 
 Deaie &; Myer. of tlie ^aid district hue de osited in lir.? ofFce, tl-.e title of a 
 book, the right '.vhereof tl.ey claim as proprietors, in the woiJs following, to wit: 
 *' A Comprehensive View oi the leading and nict important orinciples of Na- 
 *'tuial and Revealed Relidon, digested in -uoh order as to pre ent to the pioua 
 *' and reflecting niiud, a basis for the superstructure of the entire "vstem of the 
 "doctrines of the Gospel. Bv the Rev, Samuel Stanhope Smith, D.D. L.L.D. 
 " late President of the College of N^w-Jersev ^ 
 
 In confornoity to an aci or the Cor^cress oi the United States, entitled. " Ao 
 act i'^r the encoura Lenient of learning, by securin? the copie? of naps, charts, 
 and hooks, to tlie anihor:^ and proprieters of such copies, o iring the times 
 therein mentioned ;" and al«o to the act, entilled. ' An act suoplementarv to 
 the act, <^r;itled an act for the cncouragemcDi o; leaniing, by sccurir:^ ti'e cop- 
 ies o. map-, -^harts an(j honks, to Vas a ithors ar-d pro-jrietorsofsuch copies, daring 
 ilii limes the; ein mentioned, and extending the benefit; th<^reof to the arts of de- 
 iigaing, engraving and etching, historical and other nrii.ts." 
 
 ROBERT B0GG9, 
 Clerk of (ht District of Nm-Jers ty. 
 
 \ 
 
 ■^ ^*f 
 
PRELIMINARY NOTICES 
 
 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 jVO donbt ran exist in the. mind of a judirionsv.hristian, hut that 
 the Sacred Scriptures comprise the most complete development of 
 the entire system of our holy religion. But the extent and variety 
 of information which they embrace, the loose and narrative style in 
 which a great portion of them is written, and the picturesque and 
 poetic imagery in which others are clothed, have presented an occa- 
 sion both to ingenious and to feeble minded men, to build upon them 
 a multitude of contending opinions, each supported by detached ex- 
 pressions collected from these divine oracles, or by interpretations, 
 either plausible or forced, imposed upon their language. Divines, 
 in order to correct or restrain this ambiguous diversity of senti- 
 ment, have endeavoured to reduce the whole of the doctrines f the 
 sacred writings to certain definite principles, arranged in scientific 
 order, so as mutually to illustrate and support one another. This 
 would have been a scheme sufficiently rational, if system writers 
 liad confined their object to digesting the diffusive and expanded 
 phraseology of the scriptures into a few simple and connected pro- 
 positions, intended to present the substance of the whole to the 
 mind, under one view. But their design has become so mingled 
 with tlie discordant theories of dilFerent writers, that their extend- 
 ed discussions on each topic have often destroyed the simphcity of 
 the gospel, and led their readers, as well as disposed the writei's 
 
themselves, to substitute human reason for the word of God. I«i 
 
 fStead t prescr-L;wg a brief analysis of the doctrines contained in the 
 Bible, they have too frequently attempted to make their respective 
 explanations of the system of divine truth an entire hbrary of theo- 
 logical science : — It has occurred to the author that it would be de- 
 sirable to students in that sphere of knowledge, to have its princi- 
 pal subjects distinctly pointed out, and clearly illustrated, in a short 
 compass, in order to direct their future inquiries, and so to guard 
 their future addresses from the pulpit, from blending discordant 
 opinions ; that they should, in no pomt, err against the general sys- 
 tem of evangehc truth. He further hoped that such a compen- 
 dious view might usefully aid the private christian, in examining 
 the sacred scriptures, and pursuing throughout the whole the con- 
 nected thread of christian doctrine. 
 
 These are the objects to which his attention has been chiefly di- 
 rected in the following discourses, designed to embrace a very com- 
 pendious scheme of the leading principles of Natural and Revealed 
 Theology. When these leadmg principles are fixed they become 
 centers in which all the doctrines in that branch of the sci- 
 ence naturally inhere, and diverging from which, they are easily 
 traced by the judicious reader. This design very early occupied 
 his mind, while pursuing his own studies under the superintendence 
 of that eminent and learned divine, the late Rev. Dr. Witherspoon. 
 At the request of a number of young men, in the year 1772y gradu^ 
 ates of the college, at that time residing in the institution for the 
 prosecution of their theological studies, of whom the author was 
 one, the doctor was prevailed on to commence a course of lectures 
 on this subject, which he continued once a week till the Autumn of 
 1773y when different objects of pursuit in life attracting the greater 
 portion of the class, it was of course dissolved. The doctor haii 
 
proceeded in his course, intermixing his lectures with much extem- 
 pore illustration, as far as to the Covenant of Grace. The clear 
 method which he pursued is, on many subjects, particularly the 
 T'nmYi/ and the Covenants, in many of its outhnes adopted. The 
 author arbnowledges with pi-irle, the assistance derived from notes, 
 taken at that time from the mouth of the speaker. Of these lec- 
 tures the most copious abridgment, which was, or probably could 
 be made by any gentlemen not acquainted with the art of stenogra- 
 phy, has been published by the editor of Dr. Witherspoon's works, 
 though with much imperfection, as was naturally to be expected. 
 And, if the venerable man had lived, he would, probably, have been 
 little pleased in seeing this, and several other mutilated productions 
 of his pen, accompanying his more perfect works.* It is greatly 
 to be lamented, that many circumstances, after the design was com- 
 menced, concurred to prevent its execution. The judicious reader 
 who is best acquainted with Dr. Witherspoon's manner, will pro- 
 bably find little affinity in these discourses, with his writings ; yet 
 the author is not conscious that they contain opinions, on any prin- 
 ciples of rehgion, materially varying from those which that great 
 jtian was known to adopt. Any comcidences of sentiment in the 
 subjects treated by us in common, may easily be traced, if any per- 
 son have the curiosity, by comparing these discourses with that 
 abridgment. Diversity in the manner of proposing them to the 
 world, ought to be expected, even in a pupil who admires his mas- 
 
 * During his life a printer in New-Jersey was commencing an edition of his 
 Moral Philosophy in its present imperfect state. He was arrested in its pro* 
 gress, by being threatened with a legal prosecution. This event caused the 
 doctor a year or two before liis death, to direct the burning of a very large num- 
 ber of his manuscripts by his late wife, he himself being blind. His Moral Phi- 
 losophy, and Lectures on Criticism, would probably have shared the same fate 
 if many copies of both had not been preserved by his students. Thef wer« used 
 merely as texts. 
 
ter. The principles which they contain have long been the basis 
 of religious instructions communicated first to the students at 
 Hampden-Sidney, in Virginia, and since to a theological class in 
 the college of New-Jersey. And lately, the author has employed 
 many of the leisure moments afforded him, by the 8:nndnpss of pro- 
 Tidence, in the course of a tedious disorder, in reviewing, correct- 
 ing, and arranging them in their present form, for the press. 
 
 It is his earnest prayer that the following pages may contribute 
 in any degree to elucidate the doctrines of the holy scriptures, not 
 to the learned only, but to the humblest christian, for which, being 
 freed, as much as possible, from all metaphysical discussion, he 
 ^.opes they will be found to be usefully adapted. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Oir Natural Theology, . . . . . H 
 
 Evidences of the Christian ReligioD, , . . .73 
 
 The Trinity, or Three-Fold Existence of the Deity, . . 229 
 
 Of the Decrees of God, , . . . .257 
 
 Of the Covenant of Works and the Fall of Man, . . 301 
 
 Of the Covenant of Grace, . . . « . 343 
 
 Of Sanctification, ... . , 375 
 
 Ofthe Nature of Faith, . . . .• .399 
 
 Of Justification, ...... 415 
 
 Ofthe External Seals ofthe Covenant of Grace — 1. of Baptism, 441 
 
 2. Of the Lord's Supper, . . . , . 483 
 
 On a Future State, . . . . .501 
 
 ASkrm^w, ... 521 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page ^34 line 2 from boltoin, for ^VKtj read "irvj^ii' 
 235 5 for Heno Nous read Hev <> Nous. 
 
 340 5 for moral read natural. 
 
 381 9 for ai read no. 
 
 495 1 for ecquen read ecquem. 
 
 533 3 from bottom, for ofAer read oK';. 
 
 539 10 ibr ijielding read nielding. 
 
 5iZ 11 for insiduously read insidimisly' 
 
A COMPENDIOUS SYSTEM 
 
 . OP 
 
 NATURAL AND REYEALED 
 THEOLOGY ; 
 
 BMBRACIN6, IN THE SECOND PART, A CONCISE VIEW OF 
 THE EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 OF NATURAL RELIGION : 
 
 CONTAINING, 
 1st. THE EVIDENCES OF THE BEING OF GOD. 
 2d. THE PERFECTIONS OF GOD. 
 3d. THE PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN DUTY. 
 4th. THE PROBABLE EVIDENCES OF A FUTURE STATE. 
 
LECTURES, 
 
 Sic. 
 
 OF NATURAL THEOLOGY. 
 
 OF THE BEING OP GOD. 
 
 Natural Theology consists in the knowledge of those 
 truths concerning the being and attributes of God ; the prin- 
 ciples of human duty, and the probable expectations of a fu- 
 ture state of existence to give efficacy to those principles, 
 which are discoverable by reason alone. It commences with 
 the investigation of the evidences of the existence of God, 
 Almighty, and Eternal ; which are usually derived from two 
 sources — the necessary nature of our ideas — and the obvious 
 structure of the universe. Both these modes of proof, which 
 have been distinguished in the schools by scientific terras of 
 discrimination, rest on one common principle, or necessary- 
 idea — that every thing which begins to be, must have a cause 
 of its existence. Admitting this truth, which cannot well be 
 controverted by reason, it results as a necessary consequence, 
 either that the universe consists of an eternal succession of 
 causes, dependent one upon another ; or we must look for its 
 existence in some first principle, eternal, unproduced, the 
 source of all motion and power in the operations of nature, 
 
ri 
 
 the cause of whose being is to be found onlj in itself, and (he 
 necessity of its own nature. The idea of an eternal succes- 
 sion of events, each frail and imperfect, and all dependent, 
 one upon another, involves loo evident an absurdity to be 
 admitted by the rational mind. We are obliged therefore 
 to adopt the only alternative — the existence of an original 
 and independent source of being, from which all things else 
 have been (derived. Whence, then, exists this first cause ? 
 Original and underived we can find no reason of its existence 
 but in the necessity of its own nature. A being existing by 
 the necessity of its own nature, can never begin to be ; it 
 must be eternal. On the same principle, it rawst be un- 
 changeable. If any change could take place, it would in- 
 volve some constituent of its nature which was not neces- 
 sary. Infinity must be equally predicable of the original 
 cause : for how should it be limited when nothing previous 
 exists to bound it ? or how should necessary existence be 
 confined to a circumscribed space ? The unity of the di- 
 vine^essence is no less a certain consequence of this original 
 principle. Two equally neccessary and infinite beings could 
 serve no useful purpose, which could not be equally fulfilled 
 by one. There being no reason, therefore, for the existence 
 of a second, the idea, on all the rules of sound reasoning in 
 science ought to be rejected. Two essences, equally infi- 
 nite, must necessarily occupy the same place ; being equally 
 the cause of ail things which exist, they must possess the 
 same perfection *, they must be, to every purpose of exigtencc, 
 
13 
 
 the same being. This first, and sole cause of all things iq 
 the universe, must also be Almighty ; for whatever can ex- 
 ist, can exist only by him. And finally, he must be all-wise, 
 as knowing the natures and powers of all things possible ; for 
 nothing is possible, but by him, and every thing is possible 
 that he wills. 
 
 This is a very brief and partial sketch of the scientific 
 mode of reasoning, or reasoning a priori, as the schoolmen 
 call it on this subject. The most profound and masterly 
 example of it, which exists, perhaps in any language, is to be 
 found in the demonstration of the being and attributes of 
 God, by Dr. Samuel Clarke, of England. But, I confess, 
 these subtle arguments of a. very refined speculation, are little 
 calculated to produce any deep and permanent conviction on 
 the mind. The extreme abstraction of the ideas, although 
 they do great credit to the ingenuity of that celebrated au- 
 thor, can be comprehended only by a few reflecting men ; 
 and the most speculative philosopher finds the effort to grasp 
 them, exhaust the sensibility of the heart, and weaken upoa 
 it the practical impressions of virtue and piety. 
 
 The second, or popular mode of reasoning, is infinitely 
 more simple and obvious. And consists of a species of ar- 
 gument which naturally offers itself to every man, as soon as 
 he opens his eyes with intelligence upon the world. A kind 
 of evidence here suggests itself which reaches the simples! 
 
 i 
 
14 
 
 understandiogy and becomes more luminous and interesting 
 in propoiiion as we extend our observation and inquiries in- 
 to the system of nature. When we heboid its#rcler, varie- 
 ty, and beauty, the proportion, and correspondence of all 
 its parts, the manifest demonstrations of wistiom and design, 
 especially, in Ihe animal and vegetable worlds, in the struc- 
 ture of the earth, in the planetary system, and, as far as we 
 can judge, throughout the universe, can we forbear to ac- 
 knowledge a wise and intelligent cause, whxh has planned 
 and arranged the whole ? an omnipotent cause, which has 
 giver existence to this immense, and vai/oii^ structure ? and 
 an infinite providence, which every where presides over its 
 opprations ? The detail^ of this argument are too extensive 
 to be here minutely purbued. They are not necessary to 
 convince judicious readers of thai first of truths, of which all, 
 who have not speculated the heart into scepticism, are already 
 deeply persuaded, and which meets our understanding at 
 every glance that we capt over the face of nature. Yet I 
 cannot too strongly recommend to those, who have the 
 means of cultivating the studies of polite literature, diligently 
 to pursue their . esearches into the natural history of the uni- 
 verse, expressly with this view, to assemble before the mind 
 the multiplied evidence which it contains, in every part, of 
 the existence, and universal operation of a most wise, and be- 
 neficent, and almighty power which pervades, and presides 
 over the whole. It is with this design that I would recom- 
 mend to every disciple of science a careful study of natural 
 
15 
 
 histor^i as the surest basis, when prudently investigated, of 
 natural theology, and an excellent introduction and support 
 to revelation. I reco'nmend it, likewise, as a study, which 
 contributes peculiarly to purify, exalt and delight the mind ; 
 and, along with the charming enthusiasm of piety, to strength- 
 en the most solid foundations of virtue, while, to use an ex- 
 pression of Malcbranche, " it sees all things in God, and God 
 in all things." 
 
 This argument we may see admirably illustrated by the 
 famous Genevan philosopher, Bonnet, and by those very re- 
 spectable English writers, Derham, and Ray. But perhaps 
 no writer has treated it with more closeness, perspicuity, 
 and irresistible evidence, than Dr. Paley, in his treatise on 
 natural theology. In those works may be seen that mechan- 
 ical contrivance, that correspondence of parts, that adapta- 
 tion of means to their respective ends, through all the pro- 
 ductions of nature, which are the must unequivocal indica- 
 tions of wisdom and desij^n, as well as of power and good- 
 ness, in its author. " Final cansesy says a very judicious 
 writer, may be considered as the language in which the ex- 
 istence of God is revealed to man. In this language, the sign 
 is natural, and the interpretation instinctive." Ferg. ins, 
 p. 3. ch. 1. s. 2. 
 
 Another argument to the same end has justly been derived 
 from tke universal concurrence of mamkiod in the asserti^tB 
 
 
16 
 
 and belief of this important principle. The general senti- 
 ments of human nature are always found to point to truth. 
 Thej are intuitive perceptions resulting immediately from 
 the bare inspection of their objects ; or conclusions which 
 force their evidence upon the mind, like the first truths of 
 science, necessarily springing out of the comparison of our 
 own ideas. The concurrence of all nations, in the belief of 
 the being of God, is a decisive proof, either, that it is a na- 
 tive sentiment of the human heart arising naturally from ori- 
 ginal structure of constitution, and entitled to the same im- 
 plicit credit as our other moral principles ; or it is an induc- 
 tion so clearly and necessarily flowing from the phenomena 
 of nature as to be obvious equally to the wisest, and the most 
 uncultivated mind ; the rapidity of the conclusion giving it 
 the appearance and effect of an instinctive principle. 
 
 To this argUQient it is not a sufficient objection, that manj 
 nations have acknowledged a multiplicity of Gods ; and that, 
 in all nations, the multitude have entertained unworthy con- 
 ceptions of the divine nature. The natural sentiments of 
 the human mind may be corrupted ; or, being left in their 
 original and uncultivated state, may be liable, through igno- 
 rance, to many errors. The principles of taste, may, in like 
 manner, notwithstanding their acknowledged foundation in 
 human nature, be rendered defective, or be grossly pervert- 
 ed, by erroneous culture ; yet their error, or corruption, in- 
 stead of demonstrating that there are no such principles, ob 
 
17 
 
 the other hand, a proof of their existence. Many nations, 
 misled by the analogy of the divine, to human governments, 
 conceiving that the administration of the Deity might, more 
 honourably, be conducted by subordinate agents, elevated 
 each local and imaginary divinity to the throne of divine 
 worship. But all mankind have ever acknowledged one Su- 
 preme God : and the multitude of subordinate officers, if 
 they may be called such, which error had attached to him 
 in his government, does not destroy the evidence of the prin- 
 cipal and original sentiment that God exists. Our object, 
 at present, is to establish this single truth. And this truth 
 is not destroyed by diversity of opinion, with regard to the 
 mode of his administration, or the nature of his perfections. 
 These ideas requiring greater precision of thought, and a 
 wider compass of reasoning, one man, or one nation, accord- 
 ing to the advances which they have respectively made in 
 the cultivation of science, may reasonably be supposed to 
 have formed more just, or more inadequate conceptions of 
 them than another.* 
 
 * A native, which perhaps may be justly deemed an instinctive sentiment of 
 Deity, or of that universal power which presides over all things, occupies and 
 takes deep possession of the human heart, in the earliest periods of society and 
 the most uncultivated states of human existence. Hence has originated that 
 multitude of objects which called forth the respect or veneration, or amused the 
 fancy of mankind in the heathen world ; and that vast assemblage of supernatural 
 or fantastic bemgs, which peopled the groves and the forests, the hills and the 
 fountains of antiquity. Men, unable to grasp the grand coniurehensive idea of the 
 Supreme Being, who fills the universe witli his presence, yet conscious of God ia 
 everyplace, invested all the interesting objects of nature with some attributes of 
 divinity. And every situation which tended to fill th* mind, on tb§ eot haod, 
 
 3 
 
18 f 
 
 The truth of the divine existence ia confirmed, if such 
 primary and palpable truths can receive additional confirma- 
 tion, by the absurdity of the causes to which atheists have 
 been obliged to resort in order to account for the origin of 
 things. One of their first principles is, that matter is eter- 
 nal, and, though senseless and inert, contains the essence of 
 all order and motion. Another, that the intelligence, which 
 evidently reigns in the universe, is the result of material or- 
 ganization necessarily arising from its original and essential 
 principles. And another still, not less extraordinary than 
 either of the preceding, that, from the accidental collision of 
 atoms, have been formed globes, which, from some interior, 
 and inexplicable impulse, have thrown themselves into or- 
 bits constructed with the most perfect mathematical exact- 
 ness, and governed by laws which ensure undeviating con- 
 stancy in their movements. From the same accidental col- 
 lision, roots and seeds have been generated, whence the 
 whole vegetable world has been evolved, and yearly repro- 
 duced. At this age of philosophy, one would think that 
 
 with pensive, or with gloomy thoughlfuiness, or, on the other, with pleasing fan- 
 cies, gave scope to the creative powers of imagination, and replenished each dis- 
 trict of the earth with wild imaginary forms, congenial with the present state of 
 its fancies, or its fears. Sages and philosophers themselves contributed to aug- 
 ment the mass of superstition, while they studied to add respectability and splen- 
 dor to their temples, by personifying the principal attributes of the divine mind^ 
 his wisdom, his truth and his justice ; and the principal operations of a benignant 
 providence, in imparting its vegetative powers to the earth, or exalting the geniuf 
 of mankind by resplendent fictions, and embodying every idea that was supposed 
 useful to human society, or ornamental to the arts. 
 
19 
 
 such principles must carry their ovrn refutation in the very 
 terms of their statement. Observe any mass, or congeries 
 of matter, and let the plainest, or the most improved under- 
 standing decide, if any arrangement of atoms, according to 
 any known laws of material action, could sublimate it, so as 
 to produce sensation and reason. Or is it possible, that, if 
 one lucky cast, or collision among infinite millions, should 
 have formed an animal or vegetable, it should have been so 
 framed as to be capable of throwing from itself continually a 
 similar assemblage of organized atoms, while not another 
 cast, of the same kind, should ever succeed in forming anew 
 species of being. 
 
 If an atheist ask us, why, since we admit the existence of 
 a wise intelligent cause, only t ^ ||Kclude the ideas of disor- 
 der and chance from the world, tl^we see so many unseem- 
 ly examples of both, in the structure of things, and in the re- 
 volutions of what we call providence ? It is, I conceive, a suf- 
 ficient answer, to deny the existence of either, and to chal- 
 lenge an antagonist to produce that instance. — For, what 13 
 chance ? — Only a name to cover our ignorance of the cause 
 of an event. Nothing can happen by accident in the gov- 
 ernment of an in6nilely wise, and powerful being. Al! 
 events depend upon a certain concatenation of causes. The 
 cast of a die is as certainly governed by the laws of matter 
 and motion, as the greater movements of the planets. Dis- 
 order in the works of nature exists only in the imperfection 
 
2© 
 
 of our own understanding. This is certain, with regard to 
 all the arrangements of nature, that, in proportion as her 
 laws have been more clearly developed, and her operations 
 more distinctly understood, those phenomena, which for- 
 merly yrere esteemed to be irregularities, are now discover- 
 ed to be directed by ihe most wise, certain, and permanent 
 laws. — One conclusion will obtrude itself on every reflect- 
 ing mind ; that, since nature, as far as we can discern her 
 operations, contains, even to our imperfect reason, the most 
 obvious indications of intelligence, design, and goodness, if 
 there be any parts of it, which we are unable to interpret, in 
 perfect coincidence with the general system, this ought to 
 be ascribed solely to the narrow sphere to which our intel- 
 lectual vision is circumscribed. We cannot doubt, but that 
 the same wisdom, which Wt perceive in that portion which 
 we do comprehend, prevades all the works of the same 
 author. 
 
 It has been frequently and justly remarked, that the uni- 
 verse is governed by general laws, which never change their 
 operation according to the desires of men, or the conven- 
 ience of particular parts of the system, and, therefore, they 
 sometimes appear to be productive of partial and accidental 
 ills. A tempest here, a drought there, a contagion, or ap 
 earthquake, may involve individuals in distress ; — but the 
 fixed and invariable laws of the physical world are among 
 the greatest blessings to mankind. Among other benefits, 
 
21 
 
 (hey lay a foundation for the existence of the most useful 
 sciences and arts, which could have no principles, on which 
 to rest, in a providence of expedients, and accommodationi 
 to individual convenience. They serve to awaken inquiry, 
 to exercise ingenuity, to encourage industry, to aflford prin- 
 ciples on which to ground a prudent foresight and precaution, 
 and to promote the exercise of all the virtues which are as- 
 sisted by the stability of nature. For a clear and lumin- 
 ous illustration of the utility of general laws, and for a judi- 
 cious explanation, and justification of the apparent and par- 
 tial ills which result from them, you will again have peculiar 
 satisfaction in consulting Dr. Paley's work on natural the- 
 ology. 
 
 II. OF THE ATTRIBUTES OF THE DEITY. 
 
 The divine attributes, as discoverable by the powers of 
 natural reason, will not require an extensive illustration ; for, 
 when once the existence of God is acknowledged, they re- 
 commend themselves so obviously to the common sense of 
 mankind, as to admit of little controversy, except with re- 
 gard to those natural events which, in their first aspect, seem 
 contrary to our apprehensions of his infinite goodness. 
 
 The attributes, then, of the Divine Mind may be arrange 
 ed under two heads — the natural, and the moral. — Under 
 the former, are comprehended his spirituality, unity, eterni- 
 
22 
 
 tj, omnipresence, power and wisdom i — under the latter, 
 his holiness, justice, and goodness. 
 
 The spirituality of the divine nature is a property oppos- 
 ed to every form, or refinement of matter ; and may be re- 
 garded as distinguishing the essence of the Supreme Mind, 
 from that fine, but powerful influence, the result of the mate- 
 rial organizatioD of the universe, which some philosophers 
 have substituted in the room of the Deity, and made the im- 
 medb^e cause of a universal necessity, or fate. It is oppos- 
 ed, likewise, to the opinion of those, who hold the Deity to 
 be the soul of the world ; that is, a certain power which, 
 though intelligent, is still only a refinement of matter — a kind 
 of spirit, or gas thrown oflf from the infinite system of its mo- 
 tions, or its original fermentations. 
 
 All just philosophy has considered matter as essentially 
 inert, and incapable of beginning motion. Spirit, as we 
 learn from our own experience, possesses a self-motive pow- 
 er, and the power of giving motion to other things. The 
 existence and the movements of the universe, therefore, are 
 proofs of an original Spirit, who formed it, and gave it that 
 impulse, and that system of combined motion by which its 
 order is still preserved. 
 
 The only knowledge, which we have of spirit, is derived 
 from reflection on our own minds, the essence of which we 
 
23 
 
 conceive to lie in thought and volition. But it would be im- 
 pious to imagine, that we can thence frame any adequate cou- 
 ' ception of the Divine and Infinite Spirit from whom all things 
 proceed. By this term, therefore, applied to the Deity, we 
 can mean only to express a substance wholly diflferent from 
 matter, simple, uncompounded, essentially active and in- 
 telligent. 
 
 ^ The Unity of the divine nature is deducible from this re- 
 flection, that we see evident proofs of the existence of one 
 God, and we see no evidence of more than one. And it is 
 contrary to every principle of just reasoning, in that caf5e, to 
 admit a pluraHty. This conclusion is strengthened by that 
 unity of design apparent in all the parts of nature. It indicates 
 one author, one purpose, one end. How far he may com- 
 mit the government of particular districts of the universe to 
 subordinate agents, in order to employ their activity, and ex- 
 ercise their virtues, we have no grounds on which we can 
 form a rational judgment. Even conjecture, therefore, ought 
 to be silent concerning it, lest we should unawares awaken a 
 degrading spirit of superstition. On subjects so remote from 
 the sphere of human intellect and observation, in no depart- 
 ment of science, has conjecture or hypothesis ever led phi- 
 losophy one step nearer to truth. It is even doubtful if the 
 erring lights of false science do not lead the mind farther 
 astray from the true principles of nature, than the torpid dull- 
 ness of absolute ignorance. 
 
24 
 
 Of (he almighty power, and iofinite wisdom of the Deity, 
 there can exist no doubt in the minds of those who ac- 
 knowledge his being. No more can we doubt of his eternal 
 existence, and universal presence, although we are not able 
 to form distinct and definite ideas concerning his relations to 
 infinite duration and space. I shall, therefore, not consume 
 your time in attempting to solve the many abstruse and proba- 
 bly useless, and, to human intellect, inexplicable questions, 
 which have been raised on these subjects by ingenious 
 men ; — but proceed io consider his moral attributes, holi- 
 ness, goodness, and justice. 
 
 Holiness is a term used chiefly by divines, and borrowed 
 from the sacred scriptures, to express the purity of the di- 
 vine nature, and its infinite distance from all moral imper- 
 fection. It is, perhaps, the best and strongest word in our 
 language to convey the idea of his unchangeable love of the 
 eternal and essential rectitude of the moral law, which he 
 has prescribed to his rational creatures, the outlines of which 
 he has traced upon the human conscience, but its perfect 
 rule, is to be found only in his revealed' word. And it 
 seems further to carry in its meaning, not only a pure and 
 immutable love of rectitude, but an infinite abhorrence of 
 vice ; that is, of the omission, or the violation of the duties of 
 the moral law. But, besides this peculiar meaning of the 
 term, as expressing a single attribute of the divine mind, it is 
 •ften used in a more comprehensive sense, to express the 
 
25 
 
 aggregate, and the most complete idea of all his moral per- 
 fections. — Perhaps the philosophy of Paganism may never 
 have perfectly reached these just conceptions of the divine 
 character, but, certainly, they are the dictates of enlight- 
 ened reason. And whatever absurdities are discoverable 
 in the vulgar superstition, concerning (he inferior deities of 
 the heathen; yet, among their wiser sages, their supreme 
 God was invested with all the moral virtues and perfections 
 ' indicated by natural conscience. 
 
 By the attribute of goodness is meant to be expressed 
 the disposition or tendency of the Divine Nature to impart 
 happiness to the creatures he has formed, in a way accom- 
 modated to their respective states of being. This attribute 
 we ascribe to the Deity from the tendencies to benevolent 
 affection, which he has implanted in the human breast ; and 
 from that order, harmony, and beauty, which exist in the 
 whole structure of the universe, and which, so naturally and 
 strongly, associate themselves with the ideas of beneficence 
 in their author. It is farther confirmed by the existence of 
 so many tribes of creatures capable in a high degree of 
 pleasurable sensation, and actually enjoying it in different 
 ways. All these facts contribute to impress on the mind an 
 irresistible conviction of the benevolence of the Creator. 
 When we contemplate an individual animal, what an im- 
 mense complexity of parts do we observe combined in one 
 
 system, all contributing to the preservation and enjoyment 
 
 4 
 
526 
 
 of the creature, which manifestly indicate the m\\ and in* 
 tention of the author ; and show the pains and contrivance, 
 sf these terms may be applied to the Deity, which he has used 
 to render that creature comfortable and happy. But, when we 
 behold creation filled with innumerable species of being, and, 
 under each species, innumerable individuals, down to the 
 meanest insect tribes, in which we discern th^same multi- 
 plicity of organs, and the same systematic combination and 
 subserviency to the purposes of enjoyment, how does the 
 evidence of the divine benignity and goodness rise in our 
 view ? The air, the earth, the sea, are full of animated and 
 happy being. Men often overlook these examples of be- 
 nevolent design, sometimes, from not perceiving the immedi- 
 ate utility of the creatures in the system of creation, and 
 Sometimes, from their extreme minuteness. But the minutest 
 insect, is, equally with the largest or most rational animal, 
 susceptible of the most exquisite sensations of happy ex- 
 istence. And, in the eye of the infinite being, there is 
 much less difference between an insect and a man, than our 
 vanity inclines us to conceive. Every creature, in its re- 
 spective sphere, is destined to some useful purpose in the 
 universal system^ 
 
 It is well remarked by natural historians, that the benigni- 
 ty of the Deity is visible, not only in the structure of animal 
 nature, subserving so admirably the purposes of preserva- 
 tion, comfort, and defence j but in annexing such agreeable 
 
27 
 
 and pleasant sensations, beyond what mere necessity requii'- 
 ed for subsistence, to the gratification of all the apetites, 
 and even the exercise of all the powers of animal nature. 
 Hunger alone would have been sufficient to prompt men to 
 eat, an operation requisite for the sustenance of life. But 
 the Creator has added to our food a relish, which seems to 
 have had no other purpose, but to increase the pleasure of 
 existence. The objects around us, in the structure of the 
 world, might have been applied to all the purposes of utility? 
 although they had not possesessed that beauty, fragrance, or 
 harmony, which affords such charms to the senses and the 
 imagination. There, certainly, never could have existed 
 8uch exquisite adaptations of objects to the senses, and of the 
 senses to their objects, if the Creator had not intended them 
 for the ends of animal, and especially of human felicitj^ 
 Not to mention in man his superior powers of moral, intel- 
 lectual, and social enjoyment, which open a much wider 
 and nobler field of happiness to human nature. 
 
 But it is scarcely requisite to spend your time in proving 
 the reality of the divine goodness, which is borne in so many 
 examples on the whole face of nature, as to account for 
 some appearances, and to remove some objections, which 
 have been thought to contradict it in the order of divine 
 providence. These consist in the numerous evils evidently 
 mingled with good in the economy of the world. 
 
28 
 
 The preponderance of good over evil, in the general or- 
 der of things, is acknowledged to be manifest and great. But 
 the objectors reply, that if God were perfectly benevolent, 
 and, at the same time, omnipotent, he would not have per- 
 mitted the existence of partial evil. This is pronouncing on 
 an infinite system from our contracted views. — Can we say, 
 that, in a universe benevolently constructed, there ought to 
 be no gradation of being ? Or, if gradation be admitted in 
 perfect consistency with the infinite benignity of the Crea- 
 tor, is it not conceivable that a creature of superior powers, 
 of intelligence and enjoyment, may, by a certain admixture 
 of pain, be brought, in the scale of happiness, to the grade 
 of one of inferior powers, but exempt from suffering, and 
 who shall have no complaint to prefer against the benevo- 
 lence of providence? The reflection may apply to a na- 
 tion, to a species of being, to a world. How far superior, 
 then, may this world be, with all its sufierings, to other 
 Bysteras — which have no such evils to allay a happiness, 
 which, however, may be constituted on an inferior standard 
 of sensibility, or of intellect ? Would a man of high sensi- 
 bilities, or of high intellectual powers, though they may often 
 be the occasion of many errors, or of keen anguish, be wil- 
 ling to forego their pleasures, in order that he might be re- 
 duced to an apathy that would render him insensible to suf- 
 fering ? Let us balance our goods against our evils, our saf- 
 ferings against our enjoyments, and consider ourselves as 
 completely happy in that grade of felicity, which is marked 
 
29 
 
 by the surplus of the one above the other. By such a cal- 
 culation, how might mankind extinguish every complaint of 
 the evils of life, and justify perfectly the benignity of the 
 Creator. The conclusion, therefore, which each individual 
 ought, in this way, to frame with respect to himself, a true 
 philosopher may justly infer for the whole species; unless 
 any man should be so foolish as to imagine, that existence 
 alone gives him a claim on the beneficence of his Maker for 
 the highest grade of felicity. 
 
 But, why, it may be asked, should we be left to estimate 
 our grade in the scale of happy being by the surplusage of 
 pleasure above pain ? or why should pain exist at all in the 
 system of a purely benevolent being? — Satisfactorily to an- 
 swer these, and a thousand other inquiries, which might be 
 instituted on this subject, would, probably, require a knowledge 
 of the nature, and the infinite relations of the universe, which 
 none but the Deity hiuiself can possess. We can, there- 
 fore, expect only from revelation the information which we 
 desire, as far as he is pleased to impart it. But while we 
 are compelled to resort to the feeble lights of our own reason 
 alone, for a solution of the difficulties which spring out of the 
 combinations of an infinite system, we must be contented with 
 such probabilities only as it can yield us.* If, in the scale 
 
 * Rejoicing, however, that when we have explored reason to the utmost, we, 
 as christians, still enjoy the superior illumination of the sacred scriptures, whence, 
 if we cannot derive such lights as will satisfy every inquiry of an ambitious curi- 
 
30 
 
 of existence, then, there be a place for such a being as man, 
 with just such a measure of intellect, and sensibility, and with 
 just such princijjles of action, continually requiring excite- 
 ment, and correction ; and, especially, if it be conceived 
 that he is placed in the present world, in a state of discipline, 
 and probation, for a future period, and a higher condition of 
 existence, a supposition which, to philosophy, is as proba- 
 ble, as, to religion, it is certain, may not all the pains which 
 enter into the moral culture of this life, be regarded as the 
 discipline of a wise and gracious parent, and, therefore, as 
 essential parts of a most benevolent system ? Let us con- 
 template the relation which the pains necessarily incident to 
 human nature, as it is now constituted, have to the improve- 
 ment of its powers, and, consequently, to its happiness. 
 The wants of man contribute to rouse the industry, and ha- 
 bitual exertion of all his faculties of body, and mind, on 
 which their vigor, and perfection principally depend. A pa- 
 radise, in which all his wants should be spontaneously sup- 
 plied from the abundance of the soil, and all his senses grat- 
 ified by it!3 fragrance, its beauty, and luxuriant sweets, 
 would deteriorate the human character, and sink the noblest 
 creature in the world into a lazy, torpid, and vicious animal. 
 ^ The happinesiS, no less than the improvement of our nature. 
 
 03ity, we may, at least, draw competent satisfaction for an humble and rational 
 piety ; particularly, with regard to this question, why human nature exist? in its 
 present state of imperfection, requiring tlie corrections and discipline of the paifts 
 and, Bufferings, which in thij state are attached to it? 
 
31 
 
 lies chiefly in constant, and useful employment, stimulated 
 by these necessary wants. Enjoyment seldom yields plea- 
 sures equal to those, which arise out of the activity requisite 
 to procure it. The very efforts excited by pain, or want, in 
 all ordinary cases, or by the apprehension of them, oflen 
 produce a satisfaction, or diversion to the mind, which far 
 overbalance their evils. Want whets ingenuity ; danger 
 and suffering call into operation the virtues of courage and 
 fortitude, which communicate a character of grandeur, and 
 nobleness to the mind, which often raise it superior to the ills 
 of life. And labour, however it might be the curse of man 
 fallen from the perfection of a superior nature, is, beyond a 
 doubt, the blessing of his present existence. Reflections of 
 a similar nature might arise from an attentive consideration of 
 every particular evil to which human life is exposed. And, 
 in a moral point of view, how much more justly may we re- 
 gard them as a part of the benevolent discipline of our 
 heavenly Father? They are the correctors of the pas- 
 sions — they assist the habits of reflection — and often recall 
 the mind from pursuits injurious to its virtue, and its true 
 interests. 
 
 But, instead of examining the various evils of life, and shew- 
 ing how the goodness of God is affected in permitting their 
 existence, I shall select only a few ; believing that, if, in 
 these, the benevolence of the divine administration can be 
 justified, even to our limited understanding, a hint may be 
 
32 
 
 suggested, or a clue given, by which ils vindication may be 
 pursued in other cases. — For example, take the circumstan- 
 ces attending our entrance into the world, and our departure 
 from it, which have been thought to involve serious objec- 
 tions against the benignity of the Creator. With regard to 
 the former, it may be fairly maintained, that the pains of 
 bearing, nursing, and educating children, with the diseases 
 and dangers of infancy, which seem, at first view, to be pe- 
 culiar afflictions on the human race, will be found, on ex- 
 amining their connexions, and all their relations, to be among 
 the chief causes of the existence of society, and the felicity 
 of social life. If children, like the young of other animals, 
 were able to run as soon as born, and procure their own sub- 
 sistence, with almost no dependence on the care of a parent, 
 the powerful ties, and sweet endearments of parental affec- 
 tion, and of filial duty, would be, in a great measure, un- 
 known. The union and happiness of domestic society 
 would be dissolved ; and civil society, of which domestic is 
 the germ, and the principal support, could not exist. Man 
 would be a solitary and ferocious savage. The facility of 
 rearing children, and their early independence on a parent's 
 care, would give the strongest encouragement to a vagrant, 
 and licentious concubinage, destructive of all the virtues, 
 and of the dearest interests of human nature. Besides, the 
 diseases of pregnancy, as human nature is now constituted, 
 and the pains and dangers of child-birth, serve to endear 
 the parents to each other, by the weakness, tenderness, and 
 
33 
 
 dependence, of the mother ; by the honor, generosity, and 
 sympathy, of (he father ; and, a hundred fold, to endear 
 the child to the parent. And it is an acknowledged princi- 
 ple in human nature, that (he troubles and con(inual solici- 
 tudes of nursing, and of education, together with the neces- 
 sary diseases, and hazards of infancy, greatly augment the 
 strength of parental attachments, and lay the most firm, and 
 lasting foundation of the unions, subordinations, and harmo- 
 nious affections, first, of domestic, and afterwards, of civil 
 society. In these pains, then, which have been selected as 
 specious objections against the benignity of the divine ad- 
 ministration of the government of the world, we find some of 
 the principal sources of human happiness. 
 
 As to the manner of terminating the present state of ex- 
 istence by death, the necessity of this order arises out of 
 the structure of our nature. Death is only the way of giving 
 to successive generations, the opportunity and the means of 
 existence. If this part of the plan of divine providence 
 must be changed, the whole order of life must be changed 
 with it. There could be no such creature as man in the 
 scale of being. The institution of the sexes must be de- 
 stroyed ; the fnultiplication of the species must cease. The 
 modes of subsistence, on the products of the earth, which 
 can sustain only a definite number, must be done away. 
 And, with these, as the whole state of human life, is con- 
 nected together by a close unbroken chain, must cease (he 
 
34 
 
 operations of agiicuHure, and the entire system of the pre- 
 sent occupations and pursuits of men. Man, himself, would 
 be the first to object to such a new order of things. — If 
 death, then, be a necessary part of the human economy, 
 and, to man himself, it would be undesirable to change it, if 
 it must be accompanied wilh so many other changes, still 
 more unfriendly to the comfort, and wishes of mankind, the 
 only question which remains is, in what manner it may be 
 best accomplished, so as to attain the most useful ends of 
 its institution? — If even the whole of human existence were 
 to be terminated by death, this last act of our being, so justly 
 formidable to our frailty and imperfection, is but a momenta- 
 ry pang, which has been far overpaid by the pleasures of 
 life ; but if, as religion assures us, and philosophy renders 
 probable, this life is only a period of discipline and probation 
 for another state of being, and death is the avenue through 
 which we must pass to it, certainly no method of approach- 
 ing that decisive crisis could be imagined more beneficial, 
 than that which exists, of attaining every good moral end 
 connected wilh it : — that is, of making the descent to the 
 grave easy to the virtuous~of impressing a salutary, but 
 not oppressive fear on all, as a useful restraint from vice— . 
 of preserving the mind, by its extreme uncertainty, always 
 vigilant and attentive to the discharge of every duty, which 
 is the best preparation for a tranquil exit from life — and 
 finally, of inducing it to hold its present pleasures in a con- 
 tinual state of obedient resignation to the will of God, in the 
 
34^ 
 
 hope of exchanging them for such as are higher and more 
 perfect. 
 
 To pursue the vindication of the divine goodness in the 
 introduction of other physical evils into the general adminis- 
 tration of the government of this world, would, to the reflect- 
 ing reader, I trust, be wholly unnecessary.* Of the moral 
 evils which afflict the world, their origin, and their cure ; 
 and how they are made to illustrate the benignity, and mer- 
 cy of God to mankind, the only true and satisfactory account 
 is to be derived from revelation- They arise from an abuse 
 of the passions, and the moral liberty of man ; but reason^ 
 would be deplorably at a loss to find her way, in the maze of 
 doubts, and perplexities, which attend their existence, in the 
 economy of a benevolent Deity, if revelation did not put a 
 filament in her hand, or extend a taper before her footsteps, 
 to conduct her through the labyrinth. The elucidation of 
 this subject belongs to the second part of this treatise, and 
 will receive all the lights, which we can shed upon it from the 
 holy scriptures, under the heads of the covenant of works^ 
 and the covenant of grace. 
 
 The only attribute which remains to be considered is that 
 of justice. It is an invariable determination in the Divine 
 
 * On the physical evils incident to the animal creation, and particularly on that 
 •rder of nature, which has destined the weaker part as the prey of the more pow- 
 erful, see many judicious re6ections in Dr. Paley's natural theology, near the 
 •ODcIueioD. 
 
36 
 
 Mind, to render to all his creatures according to their 
 works — to tlie virtuous, reward— -to the vicious, punish- 
 ment. This attribute we ascribe to God from the dictates 
 of conscience, and the sentiments of justice in our own 
 breasts. — As philosophy delights to trace the most compli- 
 cated causes and effects to the simplest principles, justice 
 may, perhaps, be considered as only one expression of infi- 
 nite benevolence, in which, by proper correctives, restraints, 
 and examples, the injurious consequences of the passions 
 may be prevented, and individuals deterred from seeking 
 their own enjoyments, by the sacrifice of a greater good, in 
 violating the general laws of order and happiness. 
 
 Justice has, by divines, been distinguished into two 
 kinds — distributive, and \indictive. The former has been, 
 already' defined, and may be applied for the reformation, as 
 well as punishment of the offender ; the latter is conceived to 
 be the infliction of punishuient on vice, simply for its own 
 intrinsic demerit, without any respect to the reformation of 
 the individual, or any ulterior regard to a farther good end, 
 except the general good of the universe. Conscience, in 
 the nature of its reprehensions, makes us perceive that guilt 
 deserves such infliction ; and in its anticipations, in conse- 
 quence of some atrocious acts of iniquity, often leads the 
 criminal despairingly to fear it. These facts appear to indi- 
 cate, ;hat the distinction has a real foundation in nature.-— 
 And in these apprehensions, probably, we discern the 
 
37 
 
 source of tlioge bloody rites of superstition, which, on so ma- 
 ny pagan altars, have dishonoured the name of religion. 
 
 On this subject, a theological que<?tion has been raised of 
 great importance to religion — whether, in consistency with 
 the justice and holiness of the Divine Nature, the violation 
 of the moral law, by any creature, be pardonable without a 
 complete atonement, or a full execution of its penalty ? If 
 justice be an essential attribute of God, and its claims, in 
 consequence be as necessary as his existence, the forgive- 
 ness of an offender, can never be a gratuitous exercise of 
 mere mercy. From this principle, results an inference, 
 which is deeply laid at the foundation of the christian reli- 
 gion ; — the necessity of complete atonement to the violated 
 law, and vindication of the perfections of God, in the person 
 of a mediator, perfectly adequate to render this satisfaction, 
 in order to the exercise of mercy and forgiveness to the hu- 
 man sinner. The discussion of this question also, belongs 
 to the second branch of this treatise, and will find its place 
 under the head of the covenant of grace. 
 
 III. OF THE PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN DUTV. 
 
 In the science of Natural Religion, the first subject of in- 
 vestigation is the existence and perfections of Almighty 
 God (he Creator ; whence we may learn the duties of human 
 nature, as they relate to the various beings with whom we 
 
38 
 
 are connected. Virtue is the subject of supreme concern 
 to mankind. It is the performance of all our duties from 
 proper principles, and with right affections. The detail of 
 these duties and affections, as far as nature simply is our 
 guide, is beautifully pursjied in the two celebrated treatises 
 of the Roman orator, concerning the divine nature and human 
 duty.=^ They would be too tedious to be detailed in the 
 present system. All I shall aim at, in this place, therefore 
 will be to reduce them under proper classes, in such a manner 
 as to exhibit a distinct and systematic view of their general 
 principles, and very briefly to present the ground and rea- 
 sons of each. 
 
 The duties of morality may be divided in different ways, 
 either, according to the principles from which they spring, 
 and which govern their exercise, or according to the objects 
 on which they terminate. The former division was general- 
 ly adopted by the ancient philosophers, who classed them 
 imder the heads of justice, prudence, temperance, and for- 
 titude. The latter is more commonly employed by chris- 
 tian writers, who arrange them under the heads of the duties 
 which we owe to God, to our fellow men, and to ourselves. 
 Under the distribution of the virtues made by the ancients, 
 all the practical duties of life were embraced with all the 
 speculative questions, which philosophers have raised on the 
 
 ^\f. T.[Cicer© de natara deorum,— et de officii*. 
 
39 
 
 subject of duty. But the more modern division, introduced 
 chiefly by christian writers, containing a more obvious, and 
 convenient distribution, I shall follow in our present disqui- 
 sition. 
 
 OF OUR DUTIES TO GOD. 
 
 The duties which we owe to God, and which ought to oc- 
 cupy our first attention, may be distributed into those which 
 are external, and those which are internal ; or into those 
 which are general and those which are particular. Our gen- 
 eral duties embrace the whole compass of piety and virtue ; 
 and because they constitute the moral law of the universe, 
 prescribed by God himself, in the very structure of human 
 nature, conformity to their dictates is justly regarded as obe- 
 dience to him- The particular duties terminate immediate- 
 ly on God as their object, and include both the devout af- 
 fections of the heart, and all the natural and external ex- 
 pressions of those affections. — The devout affections from 
 which, as from their natural source, flow all the streams of 
 pious obedience to our Creator in this life, are love, rever- 
 ence, and resignation. And, of such profound and universal 
 obedience, the active spring is love ; which, to be sincere, 
 ought to be supreme. It is, perhaps, belter expressed in 
 the sacred scriptures than in any other writina;s ; Thou 
 Shalt love the Lord thi/ God with all thy hearty with all thy 
 9oul^ with all thy strength, and with all thy mind. This 
 
40 
 
 affection in the pious mind, has respect to all the attributes of 
 the De'iiy ; but chiefly to his moral perfections, and especial- 
 ly, to that infinite goodness on which we, and all things do 
 constantly depend. 
 
 Reverence is less an active, than a restraining principle, 
 and is calculated to impose a salutary check on the passions 
 of mankind, surrounded and stimulated, as they constantly 
 are, by powerful temptations to vice. This affection res- 
 pects, principally, the infinite greatness, wisdom, power, and 
 holiness of God. It is a principle essential to the existence 
 of piety and virtue, in creatures so imperfect and prone to 
 evil as mankind. From the profound degree in which it 
 prevails in the pious mind, and ought ever to prevail in the 
 human soul, it is justly in the sacred scriptures, styled the 
 fear of God, This virtue was held in peculiar honour in the 
 early ages of the Roman cojnmonwealth, by that wise peo- 
 ple. And their most distinguished writers inform us, that 
 they regarded the fear of the gods, and reverence for the sa- 
 cred offices of religion, as the basis of the public virtue, and 
 of the prosperity of the republic. How much more truth 
 and importance should be attached to this principle in an en- 
 lightened christian country ! 
 
 Absolute resignation to the will of God, and the wise ar» 
 rangements of his providence, I have rneniioned, in the last 
 place, as belonging to our internal duties. It implies entire 
 
41 
 
 confidence in the wisdom, justice, and goodness, of the infinite 
 Mind ; and a deep conviction of the narrowness of our own 
 understanding, and the imperfection of our own views, as to 
 what is good or ill for us. Resignation, resting on these 
 principles, begets not only a grateful acknowledgment of the 
 manifold blessings of divine providence, but a submissive ac- 
 quiescence in the will of Heaven under its most aflflictive 
 dispensations ; believing, that, although we may not be able 
 to discern their ultimate relations to any beneficent end, 
 either to ourselves, or others, yet are they all reasonable and 
 just, and good ; and necessarily springing out of the all-wise 
 arrangements of the universal system under the government 
 of God. This disposition of mind is equally opposed to all 
 discontent and repining at the course of providence, and to 
 all vain reliance upon its aids, while we presumptuously neg- 
 lect our own duties. It tends to produce that placid sereni- 
 ty of soul, so becoming the character of resigned piety, and 
 to awaken the active and prudent exertions, which virtue re- 
 quires of every good man, in dependence on God, to improve 
 the felicity of his condition, and his honourable standing 
 
 in life. 
 
 V 
 
 OP OUR EXTERNAL DUTIES. 
 
 The external duties, which we owe to God, comprise 
 every decent outward expression of the pious sentiments of 
 the heart. They are all embraced under the general name 
 
of divme worship, for which, however, natural reason ha« 
 not prescribed any precise and definite form. 
 
 Different nations, and different sects of religion, have each 
 adopted a peculiar ceremonial. No sanctity ought to be as- 
 cribed to rites, exclusively of the affections which they are 
 desicrned to assist ; or any further than they are proper ex- 
 pressions of the devout dispositions of the soul. But all 
 rites deserve to be regarded with re^^pect, which custom has 
 sanctified by their sacred use, among any people, or so asso- 
 ciated with their religious ideas, as to be to them the most se- 
 rious, and affecting expression of their devotional exercises. 
 In considering the general question, of the utility of rites 
 and forms in religion, and how they may be applied in the 
 most effectual manner to answer the design of impressing the 
 heait in divine worship, and aiding its pious emotions, reason 
 will decide, that the ceremonial ought to be, neither too sim- 
 ple, nor too multifarious and splendid.. The mass of man- 
 kind are ao much governed by sensible impressions, as sel- 
 dom to be able to v^upport, with proper fervency, a religion 
 which aims to be wholly intellectual, and scorns any alliance 
 with the senses ; on the other hand, the senses are apt to be 
 so much amused with a ceremonial too splendid, or multifa- 
 rious, as, in time, to exclude the heart and understanding 
 from divine worship, and lo substitute, in its room, only a fri; 
 volous superstition. 
 
43 
 
 The essential parts of a rational worship, in whatever cer- 
 emonies it is clolhed, are adoration, thanksgiving, confes^jion, 
 and prayer. Adoration, relates to the infinite perfections of 
 the Deity, for which we ought, in our devotions, to feel, and 
 express the highest veneration. Thanksgiving, is employed 
 in giving utterance to our grateful acknowledgnjents, of those 
 innumerable mercies, which we continually receive from him. 
 Confession, respects our manifoUl offences and omissions of 
 duty. And finally, prayer regards those mercies of which 
 we have need, and which we ought humbly and submissive- 
 Jy to ask of him, either for ourselves, or for others. 
 
 These duties, being continually explained and inculcated 
 in the public institutions of religion, will not require any fur- 
 ther illustration in this place. Two objections, however, 
 have been so plausibly urged against the duty of divine wor- 
 ship in general, that they ought not, perhaps, to pass with- 
 out a particular answer. 
 
 It is said, in the first place, to convey an unworthy idea of 
 the Supreme Deity, to suppose that he derives pleasure from 
 hearing his perfections repeated, or his praises extolled by 
 mortals, in acts of adoration, as if, by such adulatory ad- 
 dresses, his displeasure could be averted, or his mercy brib- 
 ed. — It is equally unworthy the Divine Majesty, it is alleg- 
 ed, to believe that humiliating confessions from such imper- 
 fect beings can be acceptable to him who already knows and 
 
44 
 
 pities all their errors ; or that he can requhe of them formal 
 acknowledgments for the acts of beneficence, which it is 
 agreeable to his nature to bestow, and for which no acknowl- 
 edgments can make any requital. 
 
 To these unfair representations, it may be replied with 
 justice, that it is an essential law of our nature, that all high 
 sentiments, or strong afifections, naturally seek for some 
 means by which to express themselves. If therefore, we 
 feel, as virtuous, and pious men ought to feel, towards the 
 Author of our being, to check this dutiful expression of our 
 emotions, would be to stifle the most reasonable impulses of 
 the heart ; and not to feel them, would be the proof of a 
 cold and corrupted soul. 
 
 I add, that the most natural, and laudable afifections, when 
 they are suppressed, and entirely locked up within the heart, 
 necessarily languish, and, at length, cease to be perceived. 
 The strong, and ingenuous emotions of unfeigned piety 
 will ever seek for some mode of external expression, and the 
 repeated exp^'^^s'on of them in the acts of a visible worship, 
 will reciprocally, give strength to the inward temper from 
 which they flow. An external worship, then, is founded on 
 principles of the soundest reason, and most conformable to 
 the laws of our moral nature. It cannot, by any person, who 
 thinks wisely of the Deity, be supposed to be enjoined for 
 any gratification which he receives from the praises, or pros- 
 
45 
 
 (rations of a being so imperfect as man. It can be demand- 
 ed only from that infinite wisdom and benevolence which re- 
 quires our worship for its own essential rectitude, and for its 
 beneficial influence in cultivating the affections and habits of 
 pietj, for which it is so admirably fitted. For adoration of 
 the divine perfections, while it impresses the pious mind 
 with an awful reverence of the Deity, tends to elevate tlie 
 tone of its moral feelings, and to assimilate them to the pu- 
 rity of the object of its worship. — The grateful recollection 
 of the divine mercies, in the immediate presence of God, 
 serves to confirm the affectionate purposes of duty, and obe~ 
 dience to him. — On the contrary, the penitent confession of 
 the sins and errors of life, helps to arm the soul against its 
 own weakness, and its impure passions. And finally, the 
 supplications which we address to the Father of mercies for 
 the blessings which we need, either for the present life, or in 
 the hope of a future and higher existence, remind us, contin- 
 ually, of our dependence on him for all things ; and awaken, 
 by that remembrance, the profoundest sentiments of piety. 
 Can there be more proper means of cultivating in human 
 nature the best and noblest affections of the heart? 
 
 The second objection, which perhaps, is more plausible, 
 and seems supported on stronger metaphysical ground, is di- 
 rected against the efficacy, and consequently the utility of 
 prayer, employed as a mean of obtaining the divine favour, 
 either in our public, or private devotions,— The order of 
 
46 
 
 the universe, and the eternal train of causes and effects, 
 have, froQi tne beginning, been fixed b^' intini e wisuom. 
 And the laws which have been established by divine wis- 
 dom are as unchangeable as those which have been ascribed 
 to necessity, or fate. — ^^'hy, then, it is demanded, should 
 we pray ? If pre-established causes naturally co-operate to 
 the production of the event, it must take place independent- 
 ly of our prayers. If otherwise, we pray in vain. The 
 breath of mortals cannot change the eternal order of things. 
 — This is the objection placed in the strongest point of light. 
 — To obviate it, let it be observed that prayer can have on- 
 ly two ends in view ; either to cultivate the moral qualities 
 of the heart, and thereby obtain those spiritual blessings 
 which, in the order of providence are connected with them, 
 or to procure those external, and temporal goods which we 
 solicit in prayer. To obtain the former, we have seen that 
 prayer, with every other part of divine worship, possesses 
 an obvious and acknowledged influence. The stress of the 
 objection, therefore, presses on the latter; but admits of this 
 simple and unconstrained solution. — From the superiority of 
 intellect to matter, and of the moral to the physical order of 
 things, there is the highest probability that the latter has 
 been created wholly in subserviency to the former. If this 
 principle be admitted, will it not result as a natural conse- 
 quence that the Creator may have so adjusted the physical 
 to the moral order of things, that, foreseeing the sincere, and 
 reasonable desires of good men, who are his children, 
 
4r 
 
 the disposilion of causes, anil the train of events shall be 
 8uch as, at the proper time, and in the way most agrteable 
 to his inGnite wisdom, to correspond with their prayers, if it 
 be his will to bestow the blessing ? For so perfect is his fore- 
 knowledge, that, with regurd lo his infinite view, no event 
 may be considered as future, but all things are immetliately 
 present. 
 
 If this be regarded as? an hypothetical answer to the ob- 
 jection, there are, at least, innjiiaerable occasions on which 
 the same answer, derived from the relation of the two worlds, 
 appears to be founded on the plain and obvious course of 
 nature. How often do the events of the world manifestly 
 depend upon njoral springs ? How often do we see the for- 
 tunes of imlividuals greatly influenced by their moral charac- 
 ter ? And the univer;^al voice of history, has ahnost raised it 
 into a maxim, that the prosperity of nations is intimately link- 
 ed with their virtue, and their decline as certainly associated 
 with the corruption of morals, and the disorder of the public 
 manners. When we reflect, therefore, how much public and 
 individual manners are affected by the healthful stale of reli- 
 gion, and how much this is connected with the purity of the 
 public worship, and the sincerity of private devotion, we can 
 hardly avoid the conclusion, that on many events, prayers 
 •ffered up to almighty God, with humility, fervency and per- 
 leverance, have an influence not less powerful, and often, 
 much more successful than any other <iecond cause. So that 
 
48 
 
 whether we regard the wise and eternal arrangements of pro- 
 vidence, or fhe known and fixed order of natural and moral 
 events, the result still recurs that prayer, far from being an 
 unreasonable and hopeless service, not only has a natural 
 and important influence on human events, but may have, as 
 revelation assures us it has, a positive and divine efficacy. 
 And, indeed, can any institution be more just and equitable 
 in itself, than that God should make the conferring of the 
 blessings which we ask in prayer, to depend upon the exist- 
 ence and growth of those pious dispositions which are best 
 cultivated by these devotional exercises ? 
 
 OP OUR DUTIES TO OUR FELLOW-MEN. 
 
 These duties include a greater compass and variety than 
 those which terminate immediately upon God. They respect 
 the infinitely various relations which subsist among mankind, 
 and necessarily occupy much the largest portion of life. 
 There is scarcely one of our actions which does not affect 
 some of these relations. From the general information which 
 prevails in a country like ours, continually enlightened by the 
 pulpit, on the practical duties of society, it would be wholly 
 unnecessary to go into an extensive detail of our social offi- 
 ces. Sufficient, I presume, it will be to suggest a few sub- 
 divisions under which they may all be classed. 
 
49 
 
 The first and most general division of our duties may be 
 into those which are negative, consisting merely in abstinence 
 from injury, or the infliction of unnecessary pain — and such 
 as are positive, being employed chiefly in doing actual good. 
 Many subordinate classes of practical duty may admit of a 
 similar division. But when we speak of duty in general, it 
 seems peculiarly requisite, on account of fhe many and strong 
 passions in human nature, which so often impel men to mutu- 
 al injury. 
 
 The positive duties which we owe to our fellow-men may 
 all be comprised under the heads of justice and beneficence. 
 But though so simple in their principles, they are in prac- 
 tice, almost infinitely diversified in their details, according 
 to the relations which we sustain to our country — to our 
 family — to our vicinity — to our friends — to the objects of 
 our charity — to those who are invested with authority over 
 us — or who are subjected to our controul — or, finally, ac- 
 cording to our philanthropic relations to mankind. On these 
 duties volumes have been written ; libraries have been fill- 
 ed ; and still they are subjects which constantly demand our 
 attention, and on which we can never cease to be active and 
 to learn. 
 
^# 
 
 OS- OUR DUTIES TO OURSELVES. 
 
 This class of duties is as real, and in many respects, as im- 
 porfant, as those which we owe to God, or to our neigh- 
 bour. On these, as on the last, I shall content myself with 
 simply enumeraling the sub-divisions, under which all the 
 particular details may be embraced. They relate to self- 
 preservation— to self-enjoyment — to self-interest — and to 
 the general cr.Itivation and improvement of our nature. 
 
 Self-preservation includes the care of health, of liberty, 
 and life. He is culpable who neglects his health, which 
 ought to be diligently preserved only for the useful and vir- 
 tuous purposes of living. He is, perhaps, more culpable^ 
 who barters his liberty for any pretended convenience, or 
 conjpensalion, or who does not strenuously defend, when it 
 is attacked, this most noble, and precious prerogative of our 
 nature. And voluntarily to sacrifice life, or unnecessarily to 
 hazard it, in a cause that is not worthy the rational and moral 
 nature of man, if it does not flow from insanity, is an evidence 
 of a mind precipitate, and foolish, and utterly void of virtu- 
 ous fortitude. 
 
 A rational self-enjoyment, in the next place, every good 
 man is not only permitted, but required, to cultivate, in order 
 that he may be rendered more grateful to his Creator, and 
 
51 
 
 correspond more efTecfually with Lis beneficent design in our 
 creation, by prudently and temperately using the blessings 
 of his providence. This is evidently conformable to the 
 purpose of our Creator, and harmonizes with the apparent 
 structure and order of our nature. But in using this privi- 
 lege, peculiar caution is requisite, lest the force of self-love 
 should urge indulgence beyond that restricted and frugal 
 boundary, at which prudence and virtue should arrest it. 
 
 Self-interest, the cultivation of which belongs io this class 
 of our duties, relates to necessary provision, and comfortable 
 accommodation, which no good man, under any pretended 
 idea cf benevolence, or public spirit, ought to neglect ; and, 
 in a more extended view, it relates to the fevoiir of God, and 
 the felicity which reason teaches us to hope ibr in a future 
 world, which should be the first concern to every truly wise 
 man in the present. 
 
 The general cultivation and improvement of our nature, 
 which I enumerated last amozig the duties, that we owe to 
 ourselves, has for its objects, our bodily powers, the facul- 
 ties of the mind, and the affections of the heart. The most 
 important trust, which our Almighty Creator has committed 
 to man as a moral and accountable being, is himself. And 
 the first obligation, which such a gift imposes, is to carry his 
 nature to the ultimate perfection of which it is susceptible, 
 in our circumstances. 
 
58 
 
 Such is a very brief analysis of the general system of our 
 dut 69, but suflScient, pei haps, to present, to a reflecting 
 mind, a key to its minute and particular details. 
 
 I do not say that all men have been able to deduce the sys- 
 tem of their duties in a regular and scientific train of reason- 
 ing ; nor that they are not much more clearly discerned, un- 
 der the bright illumination of the gospel, than they were, by 
 the wisest men, under the dim twilight of paganism ; but such 
 they appear to be, when faithfully and dispassionately traced 
 out, under the guidance simply of a purified reason. 
 
 OF NATURAL RELIGION, AS IT RESPECTS, IN THE FOURTH 
 
 PLACE, THE MOTIVES OF DUTY, DRAWN FROxM THE 
 
 PROBAE^E HOPES OF A FUTURE EXISTENCE. 
 
 After stating the general principles of human duty, as it is 
 prescribed by the religion of nature, it is proper, in the last 
 place to turn our attention to the motives, from the same 
 source, by which it is enforced. Those drawn from a ra- 
 tional consideration of our uiteresfs, pleasure, and happiness, 
 in the p esent life, wili be the same in natural, as in revealed 
 religion Revelation presents us with the highest possible 
 inducenients, which can be derived from the hopes and fears 
 of futu ity, exhibited in the clearest and the strongest light. 
 Natural reason, likewise, presents to mankind its motives 
 drawn fiom the same source, and, though far from being eo 
 
S3 
 
 dear and powerful as those which address us from the reveal- 
 ed word of God, yet well deserving our consideration, as 
 those alone to which the great majority of mankind can have 
 recourse ; and which shew ns how far human reason, in its 
 most cullivafed state, may lead us, in the investigation of 
 this most important doctrine, unaided by any direct and im- 
 mediate light from Heaven. For this purpose, F shall propose 
 to you the chief of those general arguments, on which the phi- 
 losopher professes to found his belief, or rather his hope of 
 the immortality of the soul. The authority of the law of vir- 
 tue would be very feebly felt by the greater part of mankind, 
 if the expectations, or the apprehensions of existing after this 
 life, were not shewn to rest on, at least, probable foundations. 
 We must confess, however, that probability is the utmost 
 which reason, paying all due deference to its powers, has 
 been able to attain on this interesting subject. We must 
 look for that clear and full persuasion, on which the soul can 
 repose with assurance in the midst of affliction, and at the 
 approach of death, only in the sacred scriptures. But the 
 human mind, in its anxious longings after immortality, is in- 
 clined to make the most of thos^e feeble lights, which reason 
 holds out to encourage its hopes. And Cicero could only 
 say, but he says it with the enthusiasm natural to a virtuous 
 mind, that '* if he were deceived in cherishing the hope of 
 an immortal existence, he wished not to be awakened from so 
 agreeable a delusion." And Socrates, in his last conversa- 
 tion with his friends, just before drinking the fatal hemlock^ 
 
64 
 
 thus took his leave of them, — *' You go to your ordiuapy oc- 
 cupations, I to my fate : which of us shall enjoy the happier 
 lot is known only to the Gods." 
 
 The Christian religion has produced such a deep and gen- 
 eral persuasion of this doctrine, in the minds of its disciples, 
 as has induced a common belief, that the evidence which 
 reason yields in its support, is much more direct and clear, 
 than, on the most fair and candid examination, it will be found 
 to be. There are, however, such strong and rational prob- 
 abilifics, drawn both from the physical and moral order of 
 things, as merit the most serious attention of the philosopher. 
 Some of the principal moral reasons, which claim the assent 
 of an enlightened pagan to this truth, I proceed shortly io 
 lay before you. 
 
 In the first place, then, if the present were the only state 
 of human existence, the designs of the Creator, in the forma- 
 tion of man, would seem to be in a great measure frustrated ; 
 at least, they would not be conformable to the usual opera- 
 tions of his wisdom. We would behold the noblest being 
 with which we are acquainted, just begin to evolve faculties, 
 which are never permitted to arrive at their full vigor, or to 
 display their full beauty. Man is evidently possessed of tal- 
 ents, which are progressive to an indefinite degree of im- 
 provement. Yet no individual has ever carried any one tal- 
 ent, and much less, the whole system of his natural powers, 
 
(o ilie highest perfection of which they are susceptible : and 
 lesa slill, has the whole race approached near to that ultimate 
 point in the jcale of being, to which they are manifestly ca- 
 pable of arriving, and appear, in some period of their pro^ 
 gress, to be destined. To arrest them, then, in the midst, 
 or rather in the commencement of their career, when they 
 are only beginning to display those capacities, which they 
 shall never fully unfold, seems hardly conformable to cur 
 most reasonable ide^s of divine benevolence and wisdom. 
 All other things, which come under our cognizance in this 
 world, have a point of maturity that is the highest of which 
 their natures are susceptible. Arriving at this, tiiey begin 
 gradually to decay. Other animals increa'ie to acerlain de- 
 gree of strength, and sagacity, whii:h is, evidentiV, the ulti- 
 mate limit within which their natures are bountted. Their 
 several species appear to be equal in all ages. There is a 
 point, below which, they hardly ever fall, and above which 
 they cannot rise. Far otherwise is it with man. The greut- 
 •est portion of his powers would be lost, and he would ^eeni 
 to have been made in vain, if there were not another stuff; of 
 being, in which they may unfold themsehe?, and attain^liat 
 perfection of which they are capable. Hardly can we con- 
 ceive it to be consistent with the wisdom and goodness? of 
 God, to bestow on man so many incipient talents, only to be 
 checked, or cut o(F, in the very commencement of their pro- 
 gress — germs which are never suffered to come to their i.:»a- 
 turit J. Moral and religious sentiments, in particular, do not 
 
56 
 
 8CCD1 {0 have any reasonable objecf, if we are <o regard our- 
 selves, as being only particles of animated dust, destined to 
 perish almost as soon as we begin to exist ; and have not be- 
 yond this life, the hope of some nearer approach to the deity, 
 and the expectation of some reward from him, which shall 
 depend on the pnrity of our pious affections, and the integri- 
 ty of our virtuous conduct in this life. The sacrifices of vir- 
 tue, would be without remuneration ; and the noblest dispo- 
 sitions of the heart, cultivated with the most devout care, 
 would be like incense burnt and scattered by the winds, be- 
 fore a being who regards it not. 
 
 Another argument of no inconsiderable weight, in the es- 
 timation of the rational philosopher, for the doctrine of im- 
 mortality, is derived from the general belief of mankind. 
 Such a universal concurrence of opinion, indicates some ori- 
 ginal principle of nature on which it rests ; and which can be 
 only the operation of God himself in the human heart. It 
 has formed an article of belief in all religions. Ii has been 
 laid at the foundation of all the political institutions of anti- 
 quity, as well as of modern ages. And no nation has been 
 discovered so rude, and savage, who has not, along with the 
 idea of God, united that also, of the future existence of the 
 soul. — Some philosophers ascribe this interesting phenome- 
 non to imitation, and the influence of education. W here 
 principles have already a foundation in nature, education and 
 imitation readily concur to strengthen their influence. But 
 
57 
 
 when they are entirely arbitrary, although one principle may 
 fake root, and be propagated in one nation, and a different 
 one in another, yet, when have we seen such uniformity in 
 education, among all the inhabitants of the globe, if it has not 
 been employed to cultivate some natural principle ? 
 
 It has been boldly asserted, but I conceive with little 
 plausibility, that the doctrine has been introduced, and ob- 
 tained credit in the world, by the artifice of priests, in order 
 to establish their authority over the multitude, by the all 
 subduing charm of superstition ; or, by the craft of politicians, 
 and legislators, who found no better way to render their sub- 
 jects obedient, and to confirm the authority of their laws, 
 than by the power of religious fear. — In answer to insinua- 
 tions of this kind, we may well ask, when had a few priests 
 or politicians more cunning than all the rest of mankind ? 
 But, if it be true, that the order of human society cannot be 
 perfectly maintained without the belief of a state of future 
 retribution, and that, therefore, the whole force of political 
 power and intrigue has been employed to establish this sen- 
 timent among the people, this is surely an argument of no in- 
 considerable weight for the truth of the doctrine. Other- 
 wise, man must have been formed under the hard necessity 
 of being continually deceived, in order to promote his best 
 interests ; a consequence which we ought not to impute to 
 the infinite wisdom and goodness of the Crrafor. 
 
The universality of this belief, therefore, ought, I presuffie^ 
 to be ascribed to an original sentiment of our nature ; or, at 
 least, to a conclusion that so necessarily obtrudes itself upon 
 the mind, from the united reflections of reason and sentiments 
 of conscience, that it may justly be classed along with our 
 instinctive feelings. 
 
 It is certainly no proper or sufficient objection against the 
 universality of this opinion, and consequently, the truth of 
 this principle connected with it, that there have existed phi-^ 
 losophers who have denied il ; or whole nations who have 
 blended it with many superstitious notions. — A minute phi- 
 losophy, attempting to plunge too far into the subtleties of 
 speculation, is, often much less to be depended on as a guide 
 to truth, than the simplest dictates of the uncultivated under- 
 standing. It is not surprising then, if a few philosophers, in 
 the pride of speculation, or the vanity of affected singularity, 
 should have added to their other contradictions of the com- 
 mon opinions of mankind, the denial of a future existence and 
 the immortality of the soul. 
 
 The certainty of truth ought not to be questioned, or deni- 
 ed on account of the errors which either speculation or su- 
 perstition has mingled with it. Nature, on many subjects^ 
 particularly on those relating to morals and duty, points to 
 the general principle, or gives the general impression of the 
 trutfaj but leaves it to reason, experience and reflection, te 
 
give it its perfect shape and form. This each man will da^ 
 with more or less accuracy and precision of idea, according to 
 the strength of his intellectual faculties, united with his vir- 
 tue, or the prepossessions of his education.— The argument^, 
 therefore, for the immortality of the soul, drawn from the 
 natural feelings and expectations of mankind, remains strong, 
 notwithstanding the gloomy speculations of sceptical philos- 
 ophers, and the absurd admixtures of superstitious nation!?. 
 
 Another of the moral causes on which natural reason 
 founds its hope and belief of this doctrine, is the strong desire 
 of good men, and the apprehensions of the vicious ; which 
 are commonly found to increase in proportion as they appear 
 to be approaching to the period of their earthly existence. 
 The natural desire of immortality is, certainly, one of the 
 strongest affections of the human heart, at least, till the do- 
 minion of vicious passions have made it the interest of the 
 guilty to fear it. It is the most powerful motive of virtue, 
 and the greatest consolation of good men, under the various 
 trials of life. And on the violent and criminal passions of 
 the vicious there is hardly any restraint "'so effectual, as the 
 apprehension of a future existence, and of the retribution 
 with which conscience always accompanies that fear. The 
 hopes and fears of human nature, therefore, both concur to 
 strengthen the probability of a renewed existence after this 
 life. If this lively anticipation of a future being, in a happi* 
 e"r state, be implanted in the hearts of good men, by God 
 
60 
 
 himself, can we believe that his infinite benignity hath cre- 
 ated in them desires onlj to disappoint them, and inspire 
 them with hopes onl/ to tantalize them ? 
 
 The same conchision is confirmed by the apprehensions 
 of wicked men, especially under the stroke of any great ca- 
 lamity, or at the approach of death. The conscience of 
 guilt anticipates a retribution far exceeding any sufferings to 
 which it can be subjected in the present life. And very few 
 are the cases in which this salutary fear can be entirely ex- 
 tinguished by the hardihood of vice, or the perversion of 
 a misguided education. And, certainly, it would not be 
 serving the interests of society, or of human nature, to attempt 
 to remove from the minds of men, those useful restraints 
 which the wisdom of divine providence hath thought proper 
 to impose upon the passions, which would, otherwise, be 
 dangerous to the peace of society, and to the best interests 
 of virtue. — This argument is not a little strengthened by the 
 acknowledged eflfect which the disbelief of the immortality 
 of the soul, and the docii ine of a future life would have up- 
 on the state of public morals. The good could hardly find 
 in the general order, and distribution of providence, in the 
 present state, sufficient motives to sustain them in the con- 
 tinual conflicts ; or to encourage the incessant efforts of vir- 
 tue, which are often painful and laborious, and not rarely ex- 
 posed to extraordinary hazards. If the passions of men 
 were freed from the salutary restraints of religious fear, and 
 
61 
 
 secrecy were, as it then would be, the effectual protection of 
 crimes, the greatest infelicity and disorder would reign in 
 society. Some of the most eminent of the Roman writers as- 
 cribe the extreme corruption of the Roman manners, towards 
 the period of the republic, and under the empire in its first 
 ages, to the introduction and prevalence of the epicurean 
 philosophy, of which the final extinction of the soul at death 
 was one of the leading principles. If these reflections be 
 well founded, and the doctrine of immortality, and religious 
 reverence, which generally accompanies it, be necessary to 
 the peace and order of human society, and the prosperity 
 of nations, the truth of the principle is strongly implied in 
 this salutary eflfect. It is unreasonable to believe that God 
 has formed human nature in such a manner as to require that 
 it should be governed by falsehood. We ought to presume, 
 on the contrary, that all the plans of infinite wisdom do so 
 correspond, that virtue, and happiness, which appear to be 
 the end of the whole, must be established by truth alone. 
 
 There appears, in the next place, such a promiscuous and 
 unequal distribution of good and evil in the present state, as 
 gives strong ground to expect, in some future period of our 
 existence, a partition of the blessings and inflictions of divine 
 providence more conformable to our ideas of the goodness 
 and equity of the Supreme Ruler of the universe. If this 
 world were designed to exhibit the ultimate plan of his moral 
 government, it would be a most natural expectation to find 
 
02 
 
 Virlue placed in sucb favourable circumstances, that tranquil 
 Htj, comfort, and honour, should, at least, be within the com- 
 pass of its reasonable efforts ; and vice be subjected to de- 
 privations, and inflictions, that should bear some proportion 
 to the disorders and enormities occasioned by it. Contrary, 
 however, to that order of things which all our ideas of reason, 
 and of the goodness and equity of Ihe Deity would suggest, 
 we often behold virtue suffering under deep and unavoidable 
 afflictions ; and those afflictions, not unfrequently, induced 
 immediately by a 6rm and steady adherence to truth and 
 duty ; while vice triumphs in the rewarels of fraud and treach- 
 ery. Many writers, professing to put external circumstances 
 wholly out of the (juestion, have maintained, that happiness, 
 depending entirely upon the internal state of the mind, is 
 more equally distributed, according to the virtue and wisdom 
 of individuals, than appears to be implied in the objection : 
 and Diogenes, in his tub, it is said, was really no less happy 
 than Alexander on his throne. This vindication of the per- 
 fect equity of the present arrangements of providence, sup- 
 posing them to be final, is rather plausible than just. A few 
 men by religious enthusiasm, or philosophic speculation, may 
 reduce, or exalt their feelings to almost any standard. But, 
 when we speak generally of the happiness of human nature, 
 it is so much connected with the sensibilities of the body, 
 and so much with the relations of society, and with ideas re- 
 sulting from its customs, habits, and opinions, which neces* 
 earily incorporate themselves with ail our feelings, that the 
 
6,3 
 
 eixternal state, anJ visible condition of mea must afford us a 
 more accurate criterion by which to judge of the equalities, 
 or inequalities of divine providence, than any interior and in- 
 visible standard of mental feeling. And by this scale, sure- 
 ly, we do not perceive the rewards of virtue, or the chastise- 
 ments of vice bestowed, or inflicted in any equitftble degree 
 according to the respective characters of men. They fall, 
 rather according to the ingenuity, vigilance, and perseverance 
 of individuals, in their various pursuits, or the defect of those 
 talents ; or, according to some fortunate accident, rather 
 tiian according to merit. 
 
 This mixed and unequal distribution of good and evil, is 
 probably better adapted to a state of probation, where virtue 
 is exercised and tried, by being thrown into various circum- 
 stances of adversity and prosperity, than one which should 
 indicate a more exact discrimination of character would be. 
 But it is contrary to all our ideas of the divine beneficence 
 and wisdom to believe that these probationary sufferings are 
 to be the 6nal reward of virtue ; or that this mixture of pleaa- 
 are and pain, in which the pleasure evidently predominates, 
 is to be the final infliction of divine justice on vice which dis- 
 arranges the whole order and harmony of the moral world. 
 
 Prom these considerations, we have the justest reason to 
 oonclude, that this mixed condition of human life, and pro- 
 miscuous distribution of divine providence, indicates, only a 
 
64 
 
 preparatory stale of moral discipline, wbich has a reference 
 to another and higher condition of being. — 
 
 And this hope we have seen to be confirmed by the anal- 
 ogy of nature, which seems inclined not to leave any of 
 her works luaperfect, and will, therefore, not crush in the 
 germ, or arrest in their incipient state, so many noble facul- 
 ties of the human mind, which are evidently capable of at- 
 taining a degree of perfection which they never arrive at, 
 and of evolving powers which they never display in the pre« 
 sent life. — We have seen it confirmed by the general suf* 
 frage of human nature, resting, it would seem, on an instinct- 
 ive impression, or intuitive conviction of the mind, expressed 
 in the religious opinions of all nations. — It is further confirm- 
 ed by the hopes of virtue, and the fears of guilt, especially 
 at the approach of death.— -And it is confirmed, finally, by 
 the unequal distributions of good, and evil, according to the 
 moral qualities of men in the present life. — 
 
 These moral reasons when taken separately, may not be 
 calculated to produce entire conviction in a mind disposed 
 to weigh every argument with scrupulous distrust ; yet, 
 when assembled together under one view, they present such 
 a group of probabilities, as can hardly fail to cjarry with 
 them every candid and ingenuous mind ; and must make even 
 the cold scepticism of infidelity relent. But, I must repeat^ 
 that full, unwavering conviction, on this most interesting sub- 
 
6,> 
 
 jcct, can be obtained only from revelation, which, at the 
 same time; that it assures us of the fact of a future, and im- 
 mortal state of being, discloses to us, in some measure, 
 wherein it consists. ' 
 
 On the nature of our future existence, admitting what 
 reason I think demonstrates, that it is, in the highest degree 
 probable, we can form no precise and certain ideas ; that 
 state being too far removed beyond the range of our present 
 experience. We can speak of it only in the most general 
 terms. But, from the analogy of what actually comes under 
 our observation of the process of nature, we have just ground 
 to conclude, that the condition of human life, will be greatly 
 improved above its actual state in the present world, both in 
 personal form, if, according to the ideas of religion, we look 
 for a re-union of the body with the soul, and in the powers 
 of the mind. In those transmutations which pass under our 
 immediate review in the insect tribes, we never see them pass 
 from one state, to resume the same appearance in another, 
 but, iQ each gradation in their progress, they acquire augment- 
 ed powers, and are invested with new, and more beautiful 
 forms. It cannot, therefore, be unreasonable to expect a 
 vast augmentation in the active powers of our nature, both 
 corporeal, and mental ; in the quickness and vivacity of the 
 senses, in the beauty and excursive force of the imagination, 
 and the penetration and energies of the understanding. And 
 
 the same analogies incline ub to expect the addition or de- 
 
 9 
 
66 
 
 feiopement of many new faculties, of which, in the present 
 state, the imperfection of our reason cannot fori» any con- 
 ception. 
 
 Nor is it improbable that, in an immortal existence, the 
 renovated faculties of our nature will advance forward in ao 
 endless progression of improvements, whether reason incline 
 us more to the idea of one continued but improving form of 
 existence, or to the pylhagorean principle of successive 
 transmutations. And in the system of the universe, there 
 is, undoubtedly, an ample theatre for an interminable progress 
 both in knowledge and in virtue. Nor can we doubt but that 
 there, the wisdom, the power, the goodness, and equity of 
 the divine perfections will be more conspicuously, and illus- 
 triously displayed, than in the present introductory state of 
 being. 
 
 Such, without giving any unwarranted license to the ex= 
 cursions of imagination, and judging only from actual analo= 
 gies presented to our senses, and reason, may we presume 
 to be a just, as far as it is extended, though most imperfect 
 outline of that future existence to which virtue ardently as- 
 pires, and to the hope of which the most cool, and dispas- 
 sionate examination of reason deliberately affixes its seal. 
 
 That these doctrines, which have been proposed as prin- 
 ciples of the religion of nature, concerning the existence^ 
 
67 
 
 and perfections of the Supreme Creator, and the duties ot 
 huraan nature resulting from them, taay not be rejected from 
 the natural code, as partaking too much, of ideas which arc 
 exclusively Christian, I will appeal, for their verification, as 
 dictates simply of reason, bj^ a few references, to some of the, 
 best writers of heathen antiquity. They exhibit, indeed, the 
 results of reason in its most cultivated state ; still, however, 
 they are deduced solely from natural principles. The same 
 conclusion, likewise, is strongly affirmed by the great apostle 
 of the Gentiles. For, according to his unquestioned tes- 
 timony, ** The invisible things of God, from the cre- 
 ation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the 
 things which are made, even his eternal power and godhead. 
 When the Gentiles who have not the law, do, by nature, the 
 things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a 
 law unto themselves ; which shew the work of the law written 
 in their hearts." Accordingly all men possess from nature 
 many just notions concerning the existence of the Supreme 
 and Original mind. And those sages of paganism who have 
 cultivated these primary instincts and ideas, by a refined and 
 enlightened reason have been able to advance far in framing 
 adequate conceptions of the glorious attributes of the Deity. 
 With numerous principles and maxims, in proof of this asser- 
 tion, extracted from the writings of these authors, I might 
 easily fill the volume ; but, perhaps, it is eligible to restrict 
 my appeal to a few examples ; sufficient, however, to furnish 
 a general idea of the state of human science upon this sub- 
 
68 
 
 ject, in those great nations. — Cicero pronounces with assur- 
 ance, that there is no tribe of the human rare so barbarous, 
 and savage, as not to acknowledge the being of God. And 
 this wonderful consent of all people, he adds, is to be esteem- 
 ed the voice of nature, and an undoubted argument of truth. 
 Cic. de leg. Do. de nat. Deor. Senec. epist. 1 17. The same 
 celebrated author exclaims, where is the man so void of 
 reason, who, when he casts his eyes over the heavens, does 
 not perceive the evidence of a Deity ? Tusc. quest. 70, 
 de arusp. resp. }9. And, in his book de divin. and in that 
 de nat. Deor. 148. 15. 90. he adds ; The beauty of the uni- 
 verse, the order of the heavens, the revolutions of the sun, the 
 moon, and all the celestial bodies, sufficiently di^play, at the 
 first glance of the eye, that they are not the effect of chance ; 
 but that there exists a superior, and eternal being who claims 
 the homage, and admiration of mankind. — The better part of 
 human nature, say both Cicero and Seneca, is the soul ; but 
 God is all soul ; he is reason simply. He escapes from our 
 view, and is to be seen only in our thoughts. — Wherever 
 you turn your view, says the latter of these great writers, 
 there you have God meeting you ; no place is void of the di- 
 vine presence ; he fills all his own works. 
 
 The great orator and philosopher of Rome, in his treatise 
 concerning laws, lays it down as an incontrovertible maxim, 
 that religion is the very basis of a wise legislation. The first 
 principle of social order, says he, is the persuasion that the 
 
69 . 
 
 Gods are the lords, and governors of all things ; and that 
 whatever does take place in the universe, exists by their dei- 
 ty and wisdom. They direct human affairs, not only by 
 general laws, but by laws which reach to every individual per- 
 son, and to every particular event. De divin. 1 17. Valerius 
 informs us, that Thales, when asked, whether the actions of 
 men could ever be concealed from the gods ? replied, no, not 
 even their thoughts. Lib. 7. c. 2. 
 
 The duties which we owe to GoJ, as taught by the reli- 
 gion of nature, we learn from the same great masters of rea- 
 son. The noblest worship of the gods, says Seneca, ap. 
 Lactan. L. 6. is to worship them with a pure, upright, and un- 
 corrupted mind, for God hath no place upon earth more ac- 
 ceptable to him than a pure soul. Cicero in his book of du- 
 ties, pronounces this decision ; Let men ever approach the 
 gods with chaste, and pure spirits ; for piety and sanctity alone 
 render them propitious to mortals. L. 2. 11. Sextus, in his 
 sentences, has this remarkable sentiment ; Love God above 
 your own soul. For if you are void of supreme love to God, 
 to him you will never go ; and love him, as you ought, you 
 Dcver will, unless you have within you somewhat that resem- 
 bles him. — Let it be our first study, says Plato, to resemble 
 God, as far as is competent to human nature ; but man be- 
 comes like to God only by wisdom, justice, and sanctify: in 
 Theat. A sentiment of the same author approximates his 
 opinion, in no small degree, to the principles of revelation. 
 
Virtue, he affirms, does not come from nature, nor from edu- 
 cation, biJt solely from the divine Numen, or Deity. And, in 
 the same spirit, Bias, who was one of the seven wise men of 
 Oreece, prononnces, whatever good you have done, be assured 
 It has been received only from God. Diogen. Laer. in Biarn* 
 And Marcus Antoninus, under the conviction that all things 
 depend on God alone, renders thanks to him, in the history 
 of his lifey that he had frequently given him many excellent, 
 suggestions, and useful assistances towards forming his mind, 
 and his conduct aright, and that, both in youth and in advan- 
 cing life, he had frequentl}^ rescued him from many occasions 
 of transgressing the lav» s of virtue. He is further grateful for 
 his having bestowed on him good parents, good preceptors, 
 and excellent friends. — The great orator of Rome, in his trea- 
 fise denatnra deorum, asks, if reason, faith, virtue, concord, 
 exist in human nature, whence could they have descended to 
 the earth unless from the gods above ? 
 
 The religion of nature, not less that that of revelaticHj 
 though unacquainted with the infinite mercy of the Saviour, 
 equally requires from us, feeble and dependent creatures, con- 
 tinual ackowledgments of the goodness and beneficence of the 
 Infinite, and Divine, Mind. No attribute is so universally felt 
 and acknowledged by mankind as his goodness. We find in 
 the eloquent oration for Roscius this fine passage : — The 
 blessings which we use, the light which we enjoy, the air 
 which we breathe are granted, and bestowed by the Supreme 
 
Dei/y, The gods pour forth their gifts without intermission., 
 by night and by day. Their beneficence is sometimes of- 
 fered gratuitously ; sometimes it is conferred in consequence 
 of our prayers. There is no one who has not experienced 
 these celestial blessings ; not one to whom something has 
 not flowed from this most benignant fountain. 
 
 These few principles of natural religion have been drawn 
 from the first masters of eloquence and reason, who derived 
 all their moral and religious maxims simply from the lights of 
 their own minds ; which course I have pursued that I may 
 not be charged with the vain and theoretical ambition of as- 
 cribing more to the powers of nature than christian piety 
 ought to concede to them. On the subject of our holy re- 
 ligion, most certainly, we are indebted to revelation exclu- 
 sively for the peculiar, and distinguishing doctrines of the 
 Christian system. But the powers of reason which God 
 hath bestowed on human nature, are competent to enlighten 
 the mind on the general and practical duties of morality and 
 virtue. The spirit of inspiration dees, unquestionably, illus- 
 trate them more clearly, and confer additional evidence and 
 authority on the prescriptions of conscience, and on all the 
 motives of duly. But, it is useful, explicitly to understand 
 by such unquestioned examples, how far we are entitled t© 
 do honour lo the feeble lights of our natural reason. 
 
EVIDENCES 
 
 CHRISTIAN RELIGION 
 
 INTHODLCTION. THE NECESSITY OF R2VKLATI0.V. 
 
 Before proceeding to the consideration of the doctrines 
 of our holy religion, it is necessary in the first place to dis- 
 play its evidenceSf that our faith may not be merely an en- 
 thusiastic and visionary confidence, but a rational offering to 
 truth and reason. 
 
 And if I should propose little, or even nothing that is iiew 
 on this subject, I hope to be able to comprise the general 
 argument in favour of Christianity, in such a narrow compass, 
 and exhibit it in such an easy and perspicuous order, as not 
 only to afford conviction, but furnish a concise and ready an- 
 swer to those popular objections which are most frequently 
 urged against the holy scriptures. 
 
 But before proceeding directly to exhibit the proofs on 
 
 which our faith in the Christian system may rationally rest, I 
 
 shall, in the first place, offer to you several considerations 
 
 which afford a strong presumption of the necessity of some 
 
 10 
 
74 
 
 divine communication from heaven to instruct mankind in the 
 knowledge of their dutj, and of the hopes they may lawful- 
 ly entertain from the divine mercy. For, if revelation be 
 not necessary, and reason alone be sufficient to lead man to 
 his Creator, and to furnish him with all the principles, the 
 motives, and aids of duty which are requisite in his present 
 state, any examination into the truth of Christianity, is mani- 
 festly superfluous. But, if we see evils reigning over the 
 moral world, which reason and philosophy are unable to 
 cure, our confidence in the benignity of our heavenly Father 
 will naturally lead us to expect his interposition, in some ex- 
 traordinary way, in behalf of his erring, and afflicted, though 
 disobedient children. 
 
 The necessity of a revelation may be inferred from the ex- 
 treme ignorance, and even the monstrous errors with regard 
 to the being of God, and to the nature of the worship which 
 he requires, as well as with regard to a future existence, 
 which prevailed almost universally among mankind at the 
 period of the birth of Christ ; it may be inferred from the 
 extreme and universal depravation of morals, which the 
 lights of nature and the aids of reason had become utterly 
 impotent to remedy : And, finally, it may be inferred from 
 the incapacity of the unaided powers of the human mind, 
 satisfactorily to determine, if mercy will, or can, in consis- 
 tency with the justice of God, and the purity of the divine 
 nature, be extended to the guilty. 
 
75 
 
 At the period when Christianity first appeared in the 
 world, (he principles even of natural religion had nearly per- 
 ished from among men. Instead of those pure and sublime 
 conceptions which every reasonable and dependent creature 
 ought to entertain of the supreme and infinite Creator, man- 
 kind had degraded the objects of their worship below even 
 the vilest and most profligate of their worshippers. " The 
 glory of the incorniptible God they had changed into an 
 image made like, not only to corruptible man, but to four- 
 footed beasts and creeping things" They deified all the 
 passions, and served them with all the vices. What were 
 Saturn and Moloch, and Venus and Bacchus, but cruelty, 
 and lust, and intemperance personified ? And what were 
 their altars, their temples, and their groves, but scenes of 
 the grossest pollution, and often of the most horrid crimes ? 
 In many countries, and especially in India, in Egypt, and 
 Syria, they deified the obscenest parts of the human body, 
 and served these detestable idols wjth a correspondent 
 worship. 
 
 The ideas which they framed, and the hopes which they 
 conceived of a future state of existence, were so uncertain 
 and obscure ; and were at best, so gloomy and uncomforta- 
 ble, as to afford little encouragement and support to the 
 heart in those painful self-denials, and those arduous conflicts 
 which it must often undergo in aspiring to an elevated pitch 
 cf virtue. As little were they calculated to console it at 
 
the af>proach of death, wbicb, to them, was the loss of ev- 
 ery enjoyment, and of every hope ; and still less to elevate 
 it above the mere pleasures of sense, and to prepare it here- 
 after for a spiritual and celestial state of being. Reason, in- 
 deed, in its highest improvements, however it may accumu- 
 late probabilities, can afford no secure expectation, of the 
 immortality of the soul. But, in the hand of vice, it is used 
 rather as a weapon to destroy this precious hope ; for, im- 
 mortality can be desirable only to virtue. And when this 
 expectation is destroyed, the broadest encouragement is laid 
 open to every sensual and criminal excess. For, if no high- 
 er and happier condition of being awaits the virtuous ; if the 
 vicious have no future retribution to apprehend, why should 
 Uiey impose any restraint upon their present pleasures? 
 Can any maxim be more natural to the misjudging mass of 
 mankind, the children of appetite and passion, than that of 
 the degenerate disciples of Epicurus : Let tis eat and drinkf 
 for tomorrow we die ? 
 
 From these, and other causes connected with them, the de- 
 pravation of morals had become extreme throughout all the 
 nations of antiquity before the advent of the Messiah. They 
 had long abandoned that simplicity of manners which reign- 
 ed in ihe primitive ages ; and which was, in part at least, to 
 be ascribed to those just and noble sentiments of the deity 
 which appear to have been entertained by the patriarchs of 
 the old world. Sentiments which were probably the re" 
 
77 
 
 mains of an original revelation imparted by God to the father 
 of the human race, and repeated to the second progenitor 
 of mankind after the deluge, and by him communicated to 
 the nations immediately springing from him. For, in pro- 
 portion as men descended farther from this source, and the 
 traces of this primitive tradition became obscure, and mix- 
 ed with the errors and fables which time incorporated with 
 it, we find the deepest ignorance and the grossest idolatry 
 prevailing, together with a correspondent corruption of mor- 
 als, which, in a course of ages, arrived, at length, to bid de- 
 fiance to all restraint and all decency. The apostle Paul, 
 in the first chapter of his epistle to the Romans,=^ has drawn 
 a dark and melancholy picture of the moral state of the hea- 
 then world; and, addressing converted Romans and Greeks, 
 he implicitly appeals for its verification to their own obser- 
 vation and experience. And some, even of their own wri- 
 ters, have given to us the same picture in colours hardly 
 less dark. No where, perhaps, can we find a portrait of the 
 moral state of men given in deeper shades than that which 
 Juvenal has drawn of the manners of Rome in his age. And 
 though some allowance is to be made for the colourings of 
 poetry, and especially of satire ; yet satire must be drawn 
 from real life, and present to us a strong resemblance of char- 
 acter, otherwise, it loses all its effect. 
 
 * Rom. chap. l.v. 24-31. 
 
It may be asked, perhaps, if reason, prudently and dili- 
 gently applied, might not have produced a reform of this 
 general corruption? I answer without hesitation that this 
 was an effect beyond its power. It cannot proraulge its 
 laws with sufficient clearness and certainty ; and these laws 
 are destitute of adequate sanctions. That it wants certain' 
 ty is evident from the eternal doubts, disputes, and contra-s' 
 dictions of its pretended lawgivers, the philosophers. It 
 may be still more evident to those observers of human na- 
 ture who have seen with what facility the heart is able to 
 bias or tincture every moral dictate of the understanding 
 when opposed to our self-love. But, in the next place, its 
 laws are destitute of adequate sanctions. The sanctions of 
 the law of reason and nature consist only in that self-appro^ 
 bation which springs from the love of truth and the per- 
 formance of our duty, and those inward reproaches of con- 
 science which follow an action that we feel and acknowledge 
 to be wrong. But what is the love of truth or duty in a heart 
 that is already corrupted ? And how feeble are the reproach- 
 es of conscience, when not enforced by the belief that we are 
 accountable to a supreme Judge, and by the expectation of 
 a future state of retribution ! Its faltering remonstrances are 
 easily appeased by the flatteries of self-love, or stifled in the 
 tumults of pleasure. No : a corrupt age, a degenerate world 
 never can be reformed by the influence of reason alone. 
 Its lights are too dubious and uncertain ; its sanctions are 
 too feeble. The mass of mankind are not capable of com- 
 
79 
 
 prebending the one, nor of treing rationally governed by (h» 
 force of the other. 
 
 The masters of science among the Greeks, fully persuad- 
 ed of this truth, never pretended to impart to the people any 
 of their moral or theological systems ; believing them incom- 
 petent to comprehend their first principles, and still more in- 
 capable of pursuing these principles, in a train of regular, 
 but often complicated deductions, to their legitimate conclu- 
 sions. Hopeless therefore of their reformation, they aban- 
 doned them to the powers of superstition, to practise its ab- 
 surd, and often licentious rites, without attempting to instruct 
 them. This it was that made Socrates say, as Plato has re- 
 corded the conversation, " You may resign all hope of re- 
 forming the manners of men, unless it please God to send 
 some person to instruct you." And made Plato himself 
 say, " Whatever is set right, in the present ill state of the 
 world, can be done only by the interposition of God."^ 
 These maxims of these great philosophers imply that, though 
 the people may be capable of receiving the most wise and 
 excellent principles of theology, or of morals, from authority/ 
 which is supposed to be divine; yet, if they were set to 
 work them out by the efforts of their own understanding, or 
 by the aid of merely human teachers, the moral state of the 
 world must be irremediable. Blind and arrogant, or scepti- 
 
 '^ Plato's treatise coTicprning; a r^TTibUc ; hof^kvi. 
 
80 
 
 lial, must be the (eachers ; dull, and incapable of learning, 
 or bewildered in fhe doubls of their masters, must be the 
 scholars. 
 
 Such was the necessity, felt and acknowledged by the 
 wisest men in the heathen world, of some revelation from 
 heaven to instruct mankind in the knowledge of the truth, 
 and to give it effectual operation on their hearts and lives. 
 If the great body, even of the populace, seem now to be 
 more susceptible of rational ideas on the subject of religion ; 
 if they entertain sublimer and purer apprehensions of the di- 
 vine nature, and of that spiritual worship which should be 
 paid to the supreme Creator ; and if we see the tone of pub- 
 lic morals raised to a higher pitch, and regulated by a higher 
 standard ; if every where we behold that very populace^ 
 who were denounced by the philosophers as incapable of a 
 rational system of religion, thinking more wisely and more 
 justly on the transcendent subjects of (he divine naturej of 
 human duty, and the immorlaliti/ of the soul, than those 
 philosophers themselves, are we not fairly entitled to ascribe 
 these effects to the influence of our holy religion ; since rea- 
 son had before tried, in vain, her full force upon the human 
 mind and the human character ? 
 
 But, the impotence of reason to instruct and reform man- 
 kind, is not to be seen only, or even chiefly, in the ignorance 
 and vices of the people. It is, perhaps, not less discernible 
 
SI 
 
 in the errors, the follie?, and corruptions of the philosophers 
 themselves, who cultivated it with the greatest assiduilj, and 
 who boasted having carried it to its highest improvement. 
 What do we find among them but eternal doubts and con- 
 tradictions : opinions ever varying, and settled on no certain 
 basis of truth ; which were, therefore, found utterly incompe- 
 tent to control the passions, or to regulate the conduct even 
 of the professed disciples of reason ? The lives of the philo- 
 sophers, with few exceptions, were not less dissolute than 
 those of the people whom they despised. And, on the real 
 nature of religion, and the true principles of duty, the sage, 
 as will be seen hereafter, was scarcely better informed than 
 the peasant. 
 
 But, lest these reproaches should seem to be the result 
 merely of the prejudices of religion, let me appeal to Cicero, 
 the greatest of philosophers, as well as of orators, who de- 
 nounces them in still stronger language : " Do you thinfc, 
 says he, that these precepts of morality had any influence, 
 except in a very few instances, upon the men who speculat- 
 ed, wrote, and disputed concerning them? No: who is 
 there of all the philosophers whose mind, life, and manners 
 were conformed to the dictates of right reason ? Which of 
 them ever made his philosophy the law and rule of his life, 
 and not merely an occasion of displaying his own ingenuity ? 
 Which of them has conformed himself to his own doctrines, 
 or lived in obedience to his own precepts ? On the contrary, 
 
 IT 
 
many of them have been slaves to the vilest iusts, to pride^ 
 to avarice, and to other similar vices.''* 
 
 Nor is this surprising to those who consider that the ex- 
 treme refinements of reason, which arise from the naturad 
 ambition of human pride, to extend its authority beyond its 
 proper sphere, always tend to dogmatical error in bold and 
 ardent minds, or to the cold indifference of scepticism, in 
 minds of an opposite character. What is really within the 
 reach of human reason lies near the surface, and is obvious 
 to a sincere and impartial love of truth. But when we 
 would penetrate deeper into the causes and the nature of 
 things, attempting to pass the limits prescribed to human 
 intellect, we are immediately bewildered in error and doubt. 
 Hence the existence of a Supreme and Intelligent Cause of 
 the universe, which to a plain and honest mind seems an in- 
 tuitive dictate of the understanding, has become doubtful, as 
 soon as ingenious men have made it a subject of speculation. 
 They have pretended to doubt of their own existence, of 
 the existence of the universe, and the reality of their own 
 sensations. At best, the most important principles of reli- 
 gion and morals are thrown out merely as subjects of inge- 
 nious disquisition, intended to exercise and display their wit 
 There existed accordingly, in the various schools of Greece, 
 such diversity and contradiction of sentiment, such subtlety 
 
 * Tusculan Questions j book ii. 
 
83 
 
 and refinement, and often such systematic scepticism, tliat 
 their theological and moral principles, thrown into the gene- 
 ral mass of the subtleties of science, about which they wexe 
 accustomed to dispute, lost all authority over human con* 
 duct. In a short period after the introduction of philoso- 
 phy, the greater part of its professors became both vicious 
 in their lives, and atheistical in their opinions. And these 
 masters of science, instead of proving the reformers of the 
 world, only hastened its corruption ; and, by weakening or 
 destroying the ideas of a Supreme Judge, and a future re- 
 tribution, opened a wider door to the licentious indulgence 
 of all the passions. 
 
 PROOF OF AN ORIGINAL REVELATION TO MAN. IMPO- 
 TENCE OF REASON. NECESSITY OF A 
 NEW REVELATION. 
 
 The impotence of reason alone to accomplish the refor- 
 mation of the world, in the midst of the darkness and cor- 
 ruption into which it was sunk, is manifest from this addi- 
 tional fact, that the longer men relied upon it, and cpmmit- 
 ted themselves to the guidance solely of its lights ; that is, 
 the farther we descend in history from the beginning of time, 
 the more absurd do we find the superstitions of the people/ 
 the more atheistical and impious the systems of the philoso- 
 phers, and the more degenerate the morals of both. 
 
84 
 
 Inasmuch, as mankind, at the coming of Christ, had near- 
 ly lost the knowledge of the true God, and his worship ; and, 
 as their moral depravity had kept pace with their religious 
 errors, and none of the ordinary powers of human reason 
 were found competent to remedy evils so extreme, it seems 
 consistent with all just ideas of the perfections of God, and 
 conformable to our reasonable hopes in his wisdom, good* 
 ness, and compassion, that he should interpose, by some ex- 
 traordinary communication of himself, to save religion from 
 utterly perishing, and to recal men to virtue and order by 
 the knowledge of divine truth. The lights of tradition 
 which had been gradually growing more dim for ages, were 
 now nearly extinguished under a mass of the most corrupt and 
 shameful superstitions that ever oppressed the world, and 
 degraded human nature. And the wisest sages, bewildered 
 in eternal doubt, and beholding around them vices in the ha- 
 bits of mankind which they knew not how to amend, and 
 mysteries in the order of nature and of providence which 
 they knew not how to unravel, began to despair of the cause 
 of truth, and of the reformation of the world. What the 
 simple and unaided powers of human understanding could 
 not discern any adequate and certain means of effecting, has 
 been accomplished by the luminous evidence, and the pow- 
 erful influence of divine revelation. Doctrines, at least 
 claiming to be derived from this source, have banished from 
 the greater portion of the earth the gross idolatry in which 
 the ancient nations were sunk ; and raised the general mor- 
 
85 
 
 als of llie world to a much Ligber and purer standard. No 
 where do we now behold ahars or consecrated groves, rear- 
 ed to such divinities as Moloch or Saturn, as Astarte, or the 
 Cjprian Venus. Every where we find purer and sublimer 
 ideas of the divine nature, and of that worship of the heart 
 which ought to be paid to God. Christianity has extended 
 a salutary influence even among many tribes of the human 
 race who have not yet embraced her holy doctrines, and 
 shed some rays of a divine light into the darkness which still 
 rests upon the pagan nations, which we trust, will gradually 
 increase, till at length the Sun of Righteousness shall illumi- 
 nate the whole earth. 
 
 The insufficieucy of reason (o correct the moral depravi. 
 iy of the world will appear with irresistible evidence to those 
 who duly consider its defect of certainti/, its defect of au- 
 thority, and its defect of motives. Its defect of cerlainiy. 
 Reason can proceed but a small distance with any certainty, 
 in investigating moral and divine truth, beyond those obvi- 
 ous, simple, and almost intuitive dictates of the mind which 
 are common to all mankind. And, in a corrupted state of 
 manners, experience demonstrates that even these plain and 
 natural dictates may easily be brought into doubt by the so- 
 phistry of the heart, when they oppose its inclinations and 
 pleasures. But if the principles and laws of duty, and of 
 divine truth, were much more clear and precise than they 
 are, stijl reason is wanting in the necessary authority to en- 
 
86 
 
 force them on the hearts of men, and give them effect in prac- 
 tice. This authority, in order to overcome the powerful 
 temptations to sinful indulgence which are every moment 
 acting with a dangerous influence on a heart already yield- 
 ing to thera, should be nothing less than the acknowledged 
 command of the supreme Legislator and Judge of the uni- 
 verse which would preclude cavil and doubt, sanctioned by 
 a power to which no resistance can be opposed, and direct- 
 ed by a justice which cannot be turned aside from its sure 
 and awful course. When a man is accountable only to him- 
 self, feeble indeed is the voice of conscience, or of reason 
 on one side, when his self-love, or his passions plead on the 
 other. And finally, the motives to virtue which reason has 
 it in her power to propose, the rewards for its self-denials, 
 the encouragements in its conflicts, the supports under its 
 various trials and temptations, are weak and inefficient. 
 Does she propose the pure pleasures of virtue ? But in order 
 to relish them, you must be already virtuous. Can their 
 calm and innocent delights be set against the ardent and tur- 
 bulent enjoyments of vice ? Can reason demonstrate that 
 virtue would be eventually its own reward even in this 
 world ? Yet you arrive at this conclusion by such a tedious 
 circuit, and it is incumbered by so many modifications and 
 exceptions, that seldom can this refined speculation combat 
 the force of a present and importunate passion. But if vir- 
 tue is unfortunate, as it often is, if it must often forego in- 
 terest, power, favour, in its adherence to duty ; what reward 
 
87 
 
 is there (o indemnify it for its sacrifices ? What authority to 
 overawe, and restrain it from yielding to the profitable temp- 
 tation ? No : the awful majesty of God, the apprehensions 
 of his supreme judgment, the eternal retributions of virtue 
 and of vice in a future state of existence, which religion sets 
 before the mind, will ever be found necessary, and are no 
 more than suflScient to combat the corrupt influence of the 
 heart, and of the world. The impotence of reason, therefore, 
 to cure the infinite errors of the human mind, the idolatries, 
 the superstitions, the vices of mankind, appears from every 
 aspect in which the subject presents itself to our view, and 
 justifies the conclusion we have inferred from it : the neces- 
 sity of a new revelation to pestore to the earth the truth 
 which it had lost, and to redeem it from evils which the or- 
 dinary poweis of human reason had become unable to correct. 
 
 This conclusion ^s justified by another most important and 
 interesting fact. Man is evidently a guilty being ; he has 
 violated the moral law of his nature, and incurred the right- 
 eous displeasure of his Creator, and the infliction of all the 
 dreadful penalties with which the supreme lawgiver has 
 thought it necessary to guard his law. These penalties, 
 which are not arbitrary in their nature, but are the decrees of 
 infinite wisdom and justice, do not depend merely on the 
 will of the legislator, probably they do not depend even on 
 infinite goodness, to inflict or dispense with them si its plea- 
 
88 
 
 sure. Every attribute of the deiij is as necessary in its na- 
 ture and its claims as the divine existence. Eternal justice, 
 therefore, cannot as far we can judge, forego the punishment 
 of guilt. This is the ardent and terrible dictate of a 
 convinced conscience, not less than the calm and deliber- 
 ate conclusion of reason. But, how shall the claims of infi- 
 nite justice be reconciled with the claims of infinite mer- 
 cy? How shall the inviolable justice of the law of 
 eternal truth and holiness be satisfied, in consistency with 
 the forgiveness and salvation of the sinner ? In what way 
 may a sinful mortal reasonably hope to approach his offend- 
 ed Maker ? How shall the heirs of death regain eternal life ? 
 These are inquiries to which the weakness of human under- 
 standing can return no satisfactory answer ; and the dying 
 sinner, under the guidance of reason only, must be over- 
 whelmed with the most distressing perplexities and doubts, 
 or abandoned to the most horrible despair. These are 
 doubts which God only can resolve; fears which the spirit 
 of inspiration only can calm, by drawing aside the deep veil 
 which conceals eternity from our view, and exhibiting to our 
 faith a complete oblation for the sins of the world. Here we 
 behold new proofs of the necessity of a divine revelation, new 
 causes to invite, an^justify the interposition of our heavenly 
 Father, in behalf of his miserable, though offending children. 
 
 And is not the gospel such a remedy as we needed, such 
 a revelation as is calculated to solve all the doubts, and tran- 
 
CD 
 
 quilize all the apprehensions of penitent guilt ? Tn it you be- 
 hold the divine justice, and the divine mercy harmoniously 
 combined. In it you behold the divine law magnified and 
 made honourable, by an all-availing atonement for the offen- 
 ces of the whole world. In it you behold life and immor- 
 talily brought to light, and a glorious channel opened in 
 which the boundless current of divine mercy can freely flow 
 to mankind. Where reason and philosophy were silent, or 
 constrained to confess their impotence, we behold revelation 
 announcing her glad tidings, and triumphing in the happiness 
 of her children, and of the world. 
 
 EVIDENCES OF REVELATIOIT. NECESSITY OF MIRACLES. 
 
 MR. Hume's celebrated objection to miracles. 
 
 If the necessity of some interposition by heaven, in order 
 to recal mankind from the monstrous errors of idolatry, io 
 make known to them the perfect law of their duty, and to 
 enforce it by adequate sanctions, is so evident, as has been 
 shown in the preceding reflections, this necessity affords a 
 presumption in favour of revelation. And if any revelation 
 be admitted to be either necessary or probable, no doubt can 
 be entertained of the superior claims of Christianity above 
 every pretence which has ever been set in opposition io it 
 This is admitted by its enemies themselves ; and must be 
 admitted by every candid and reflecting inquirer who con- 
 siders the purity of its doctrines, the spirituality of its wor- 
 
 12 
 
90 
 
 sBip, the simplicity and excellence of the principle which it 
 lays at the foundation of its moral system,* its tendency to 
 universal happiness, the grandeur of the prospects which it 
 opens into the eternal world, and the sublime conceptions 
 which it every where imparts of the divine nature. 
 
 But the truth of Christianity does not rest on the absolute 
 perfection o^ lis doctrines, of which the frailty of human rea^ 
 son is very incompetent to judge ; nor on our conclusions 
 concerning what ought reasonably to be expected of the in- 
 finite benignity and goodness of our heavenly Father, in be- 
 half of his erring and miserable creatures: conclusions in 
 which we often depart widely from the actual rule of the di- 
 vine government ; but it rests on such evidences as every 
 man of a sound mind who honestly applies his understand- 
 ing to the subject, is capable to judge of; evidences which 
 propose themselves directly to the senses, or arise out of the 
 known and immutable laws of human nature. 
 
 Accordingly they may be arranged under two heads : the 
 positive and direct, which are addressed immediately to the 
 senses ; and the collateral, or presumptive, which arise out 
 of a just consideration of the laws of human nature relative- 
 ly to this subject. Of the former kind are miracles and the 
 fulfihnent of prophecy. Of the latter, are those conclusions 
 
 * The love of God and the love of man. 
 
91 
 
 which are justly drawn from the excellence and peculiarity 
 of character of the author of Christianity, from the humility 
 of the instruments employed to promulgate the gospel to man- 
 kind, compared with the sublimity and perfection of the 
 doctrines which they preached ; from its rapid and exten- 
 sive progress, and the important moral changes which it has 
 produced in the world ; and from many other similar facts 
 which cannot be satisfactorily accounted for on the ordinary 
 principles of human nature, or of human action ; and which, 
 therefore, imply a divine agency and direction. The for- 
 mer, when fairly attended to, do, in each particular case, 
 carry with them entire conviction of the immediate interposi- 
 tion of God ; for none but God can operate a miracle, or foretell 
 with minute accuracy, future and distant events. The latter 
 though, singly taken, they do not aitiount to absolute proof, 
 yet collectively, produce the highest degree of probability. 
 
 By certain writers every pretence to miracles becomes im- 
 mediately suspected, and is deemed a sufficient reason for 
 not ei)' "ing farther into an examination of the evidences of 
 revelation. This is, in effect, declaring it to be impossible 
 for God to communicate himself by any revelation of his 
 will to mankind. For if he ever deigns to make such' com- 
 munication, it can only be made immediately by himself, or 
 by inspired men, who speak as the organs of his Holy Spi- 
 rit. If it be made immediately by himself, either by means 
 of a divine voice from heaven, or by any supernatural im» 
 
92, 
 
 presBion on the senses, such a revelation must be itself one 
 of the greatest of miracles. If holy men speak as they are 
 inspired by the Holy Ghost, can their testimony be received 
 with a rational faith, unless it be accompanied by such works, 
 or such clear predictions of future events, above the power, 
 and beyond the foresight of man, as will demonstrate that it 
 is God who speaks by them ? In no other way can a divine 
 mission be authenticated. I repeat it then, if it is reasona- 
 ble to expect a revelation from God in any circumstances of 
 the world ; if a revelation is not impossible, or in the 
 highest degree, improbable; miracles are not only not in- 
 credible, but necessary. No revelation can found any just 
 claim to the belief of mankind, on any other ground in the 
 first instance, than such supernatural and miraculous opera- 
 tions as the power of God only can effect ; or such clear 
 predictions, as none but an omniscient spirit, who foresees 
 the end from the beginning, and has laid the whole train of 
 causes and events in the universe, could impart to the hu- 
 man mind. If then, the christian system contains a real 
 communication to mankind from the infinite fountain of truth, 
 it must have been announced under the seal of great and nu- 
 merous miracles, for prophecy itself is a species of miracle. 
 On the other hand, if we possess satisfactory evidence that 
 such miracles were wrought at the promulgation of the gos- 
 pel, we ought to entertain no doubt of its being the word of 
 God ; since it comes to as vouched by the seal of God. For 
 what is a miracle ? A proper understanding of this term 
 
93 
 
 should lie iit the foundation of our present inquiry. It is 
 such an inversion, or suspension of the ordinary laws of na- 
 ture as can be reasonably ascribed only to bim by whom 
 those laws were originally ordained. And whenever he con- 
 descends to work a miracle, the operation of his almighty 
 power must be regarded, by every rational mind, as the 
 sanction and seal of truth. 
 
 In exhibifing the direct and positive evidence of christi- 
 anity, I shall, in the first plac454*'eat of the evidence of mi- 
 racles ; and afterwards of that derived from prophecy. 
 
 To the apostles, the miracles of our blessed Lord were 
 immediate objects of sense : to us, they come through the 
 medium of human testimony ; but testimony of such a kind, 
 and confirmed by so many, and such extraordinary circum- 
 stances accompanying, or following the miracles themselves, 
 and dependent upon them, that no facts, perhaps, in the his- 
 tory of the world have ever descended to posterity vouched 
 by such a weight of moral evidence. They arc attested by 
 numerous witnesses of the soundest judgment, and the most 
 unsuspected integrity : by men whose writings evidently de- 
 monstrate that they were at the greatest distance from that 
 weakness of mind on the one hand, which would render them 
 liable to be deceived themselves ; and, on the other, from 
 that ardent enthusiasm, or that knavery of character, which 
 would incline them to pass a deception upon others for th^ 
 
94 
 
 «ake of obtaining credit to their own visions : by men who 
 without any motives of interest or of honour, and even in 
 the certain prospect of disgrace and poverty, of arduous and 
 incessant labours, of continual dangers and persecutions, 
 and at length of death itself in the most formidable shapes, 
 devoted themselves to announce this miraculous history to 
 the v.orld : by men, I add, whose original prepossessions 
 were all opposed to the character which their Master assum- 
 ed, and the doctrines which he taught, and who, after a long 
 time, yielded those prejudices only to the force of convic- 
 tion operated by repeated miracles ; and, finally, by men 
 who, in ihe end, conquered the world, and overturned afl 
 its ancient ideas, manners, institutions, all the pride of 
 its philosophy, and all the self-sufficiency of human rea- 
 son, by the power with which they themselves were en- 
 dued of operating miracles similar to those which had 
 subdued their own assent. These facts, afford, it seems to 
 me, the strongest confirmation of the miraculous history of 
 the gospel, and of the wisdom, the integrity, and credibili- 
 ty of those holy and chosen witnesses by whom God has 
 been pleased to convey it down to us. 
 
 But we are met at our very entrance upon this subject 
 with a formidable objection, which it is necessary in the first 
 place to remove, before the most credible testimony in 
 favour of the reality of the miracles of our Saviour, will be 
 admitted by those who have undertaken to deny the authori- 
 
95 
 
 ty of revelutiou. The objection may be considered in a 
 speculative, and in a practical view. In the former, the sum 
 of it is : that the plans of infinite wisdom are immutable ; for 
 otherwise, they would not be perfect. God himself, there- 
 fore, cannot change the order of nature, still less can he allow 
 a feeble mortal, for any purposes whatever, to change it, in- 
 asmuch as it has been established by his own most perfect 
 wisdom. I answer, that the plans of divine intelligence must 
 be immutable, as long as the reasons on which they were 
 originally arranged remain the same. But if those reasons 
 are changed, may they not induce a proportionable change 
 in the order of providence ? Inasmuch then, as the existence 
 and the whole system of this world, bear a relation to the 
 moral state of man, if man has criminally changed his original 
 state, and although created in innocence, has fallen into sin, 
 although created immortal has become liable to death, can 
 we pronounce it unworthy the gooodness, or the wisdom of 
 God, to afford his creature, humbled and conscious of guilt, 
 the hope of mercy, and to confirm that precious hope by 
 such visible interpositions of divine power as leave the peni- 
 tent sinner no room to doubt but that it is God himself who 
 is the author of his consolation ? 
 
 The second view in which this objection has been present- 
 ed is less speculative. It is the celebrated argument ascribed 
 to the ingenuity of Mr. Hume, although, it is probable of 
 much earlier origin, and which has exercised the talents of 
 
96 
 
 several able anJ judicious writers to refute its sophistry.-'^' I 
 tliinfc I shall weaken nothing of its force by the following 
 statement; All our knowledge of natural things we derive 
 solely from experience. And the only rational ground of 
 our belief of what has ever happened, or what can happen in 
 the world, is our own experience of the regular and constant 
 course ef nature. Men may impose upon us by false testi" 
 mony, or they may be deceived themselves ; but nature never 
 changes. Inasmuch then, as we have had no experience of 
 any miraculous changes in the order of the world, it is un- 
 reasonable to believe that any such have ever taken place, 
 'whatever may be the number, or the character of the wit- 
 nesses by whom tJiey have been attested. If the principle 
 of this objection is found to be false, the whole objection 
 must fall to the ground with it. If it will not hold in its ap- 
 plication universally to other subjects, it is contrary to all 
 just reasoning to admit its validity only against the miracles 
 of the gospel. Let lis then try its application in other 
 cases ; let us follow it to its ultimate consequences ; these 
 will be found suflScient to destroy it. It leads to atheism ; 
 acted upon in its full extent it would resist all improvements 
 in science ; it will be found, in opposing the moral to the 
 physical phenomena of nature, to refute itself. At least the 
 
 -^ Particularly Dr. Campbell in his treatise on miracles. Bishop Watson in his 
 tHird letter to Mr. Gibbon, having introduced the subject, appears to me to have? 
 'in a few sentences, effectually overturned the principle on which the whole objec- 
 tion rests. 
 
9? 
 
 taoral phenomena will conclude as strongly in favour of the 
 miracles of the gospel as the physical, admitting the justness 
 of the principle, would seem to contradict them. 
 
 I return back on these ideas. And in the first place, it 
 leads to atheism. For, if our own experience is the sole 
 and exclusive ground of judging of whatever is credible in 
 the physical history of the world, it is unreasonable to be- 
 lieve that this globe ever had a beginning, or that it will ever 
 perish. It must always have existed, and must always con- 
 tinue to exist in the same state in which we now behold it. 
 There can be no future condition of existence for human na- 
 ture, no future judgment, no future retribution to the righ- 
 teous and the wicked. For each of these states implies a 
 condition of things, such as has never come under our ob- 
 servation, or been the subject of our experience. There 
 is, on this supposition, no foundation for religion. The or- 
 der of the world must be eternal, immutable, necessary ; and 
 can have no dependence on a creating and intelligent cause. 
 We must embrace the philosophical absurdity of an eternal 
 SHccession of mutable and perishing beings ; and are driven 
 to the impious alternative of believing that there is no God ; 
 or, that the universe itself is God.* 
 
 ® This tenet of the Aristotelian philosophy has always beCS regarded^by ebrii- 
 *iati3 as only a modificatioa of atheism. 
 
 13 
 
S8 
 
 These consequences are deduced so obviously from the 
 principle of Mr. Hume, that it is not a little surprising that 
 they have not been more frequently remarked. Scarcely, 
 indeed, have they been observed by any writer who has 
 fallen in my way, except the learned and ingenious Dr. Al- 
 lix, in his reflections on the books of the sacred scriptures,'^ 
 Yet if they are fairly and legitimately drawn, they must be 
 decisive against the principle in the opinion of every pious 
 and virtuous man. 
 
 Another consequence of this doctrine, though not charge- 
 able with impiety like the former, equally demonstrates its ab- 
 surdity. It would arrest all great improvements in science. 
 When the effects of the electric or magnetic influence, for 
 example, were first discovered, how ought all philosophers, 
 according to this principle, to have treated the history of 
 their phenomena? Precisely as infidels have treated the 
 miraculous history of the gospel ; rejected it without exam- 
 ination, as absurd and impossible, because contrary to their 
 experience. Do you say, they have it their power to 
 repeat the experiments by which those new properties in 
 nature were originally discoverd. But if the principle 
 which we combat iiB just, what motive could a philosopher 
 
 * Tins work of Dr. Allix, a celebrated French refusee, was published in London 
 in the year 1688, which sufBciently demonstrates that the objection of Mr. Hume 
 to the miracles of the gospel is not novel ; but has only been set in a new light, 
 and urged with more plausibility by that ingenious wiiter. 
 
99 
 
 have for repeating these experimentf?, since his own past ex- 
 perieuce of (he course of nature is (he sole ciilerion of what- 
 ever is credible. And whence should the greater portion 
 of mankind derive their knowledge who possess neither the 
 skill, nor the means requisite to make the necessary expeii- 
 ments, if thej are not to rely for the truth of new facts in 
 science, and facts the most remote from the analogy of their 
 own experience, upon the testimony of others? Must not 
 the progress rf science be arrested almost at its commence- 
 ment ? 
 
 Let us take another example in which no experiment can 
 possibly be applied to verify the testimony of the narrators 
 with regard to facts the most certain in nature. The inha- 
 bitants of a torrid climate never can have (he effects of frost 
 presented to their senses. Congelation is as great a myste- 
 ry to them, as any mystery or miracle of the christian reli- 
 gion. According to this favourite maxim of infide!ity, then, 
 they ought to refuse all credit to the fact : and the king" of 
 Siam acted according io the principles of sound wisdom 'ir 
 punishing the Dutch nayigator for insulting his understand- 
 ing by incredible stories, who assured him, that, in Holland, 
 water had became so hard during part of the year, that it bore 
 horses and carriages upon its surface. If testimony were, 
 under no circumstances, sufficient to vouch to us facts which 
 not only are not conformable, but which, in many instances, 
 are contrary, to all our past experience, science must be 
 
100 
 
 circumscribed within a very narrow sphere. This conse^- 
 qiienre was certainly not adverted to by the ingenious author 
 who invented, or who gave its present form to the principle 
 against which we contend. It was aimed solely against the 
 miracles of the sacred scriptures. But when we are testing 
 the merit of a principle, if it is not found to hold universally, 
 or coextensively with the latitude of its terms, it cannot fur- 
 nish the ground of any certain conclusions. For, by what 
 rule shall we apply it only to the facts of religion, when it is 
 false in its application to the facts of science ? Miracles then, 
 as well as other extraordinary facts in nature, are suscepti- 
 ble of proof from testimony. The only subject of inquiry is, 
 the competence and integrity of the witnesses : the sound- 
 ness of their judgment, the accuracy of their observation, 
 the fidelity of their narration. In all these respects the dis- 
 ciples of our blessed Saviour, the witnesses of his miracles 
 will be found to possess a decided superiority over the wit- 
 nesses of any other facts recorded in historys Their wri- 
 tings demonstrate their wisdom ; their long intimacy with 
 their Master is sufficient to give us confidence in the accu- 
 racy of their observation ; their labours, their sacrifices, 
 their deaths, attest their sincerity, and the fidelity of theb 
 narration.* 
 
 I maintain, in the last place, that this celebrated argu- 
 ment, drawn from our experience of the uniformity of natute 
 
 * These topics will hereafter be more amply illustrated. 
 
101 
 
 refutes itself. For, if the physical course of nature, oh 
 which the argument rests, is found to be stable and uniform, 
 the moral order of things appears to be not less steady and 
 regular. If the former of these facts opposes, upon Mr. 
 Hume's principle, our reception of the miraculous history of 
 the gospel; the latter, upon the same ground, forbids the re- 
 jection of that history, if, by rejecting it, we must contradict 
 all the moral phenomena of human nature. Admitting then, 
 what can hardly be denied by the bitterest enemies of Chris- 
 tianity, that the apostles and evangelists were men of the 
 soundest understandings,* and the most upright hearts, it is 
 contrary to all that we know of the motives of human con- 
 duct, that, for the sake of propagating a most improbable, 
 and to them, unprofitable imposture, they should voluntari- 
 ly submit to incessant toils and extreme sufferings ; they 
 should abandon all that is usually accounted most dear to the 
 human heart, and march with intrepidity through perpetual 
 persecutions to certain death inflicted in the most excruciat- 
 ing and dreadful forms. Their writings, which are always 
 rational in their doctrines, simple in their style, and calm and 
 judicious in their manner of address, exempt them from eve- 
 ry charge of enthusiasm ; yetj renouncing all the early pre- 
 judices of their nation, in which they had been educated 
 
 * The perfection of that system of piety and morals published by these humble 
 Mshermen, so far excelling the philosophy of their age, demonstrates that if they 
 were not inspired from above, they must have possessed a df^jree of wisdom and 
 •iliderstauding far surpassing whaterer antiquity has produced besides. 
 
102 
 
 and all the hopes which they had originally conceived from 
 a royal and triumphant Messiah, which might have inflam- 
 ed the zeal of enthusiastic minds, do we not see them, for a 
 suffering Master, encounter every actual evil, and every 
 possible hazard ? If then, we should suppose, according to 
 the spirit of this objection, that the apostles, who expected 
 no recompense in this world, could have acted from any 
 other motive than a deep conviction of the miraculous pow- 
 er, and the divine mission of Jesus Christ, would we not 
 be involved in contradictions to the moral order of things ; 
 that is, to all the ordinary principles of conduct among men 
 which have ever occurred to our experience, not less won- 
 derful, and out of the course of nature, than were the mira- 
 cles themselves in the attestation of which these wise and pi- 
 ous men, the companions and witnesses of his life, made such 
 astonishing and almost incredible sacrifices ? 
 
 Thus does this so much vaunted objection against the mi- 
 racles of the gospel refute itself; inasmuch as, in its appli- 
 cation to the moral order of things, it contradicts the conclu- 
 sion which the enemies of religion have drawn from their 
 physical order. And this consequence t)ught to be ad- 
 mitted by those especially who have most earnestly urg- 
 ed this objection against the evangelic history, since, 
 according to their philosophic system, they subject the 
 natural and the moral world equally to the laws of neces- 
 sity. I repeat, then, that it is not by the nature of the works 
 
103 
 
 ascribed to Christ as being conformable, or contrary to our 
 experience, but by the character and competence of the wit- 
 nesses, together wilh all (he preparatory and attending cir- 
 cumstances of these miracles, and their consequences upon 
 the world, that the question of their truth is to be decided. 
 
 THE CREDIBILITY OF THE WITNESSES OF THE MIR.tCLES 
 AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 
 
 Let US then enter a liltle more particularly into the char- 
 acter of the witnesses of the gospel, the circumstances under 
 which its miraculous history was published to the world, and 
 has been transmitted to us, and the wonderful consequences 
 which followed its publication. A brief review of these to- 
 pics, while it will confirm ihe answer which has been given 
 to the objection of Mr. Hume, particularly in the last vie\;r 
 which we have taken of it, will serve, at the same time, to 
 strengthen our faith in the evangelic history, both by the 
 support which we will find it possesses in the clearest and 
 most unequivocal laws of moral evidence, and by the extra- 
 ordinary effects which have resulted from it, which plainly 
 required the power of a divine cause to produce them. 
 
 As it has been shewn that there is no insuperable objec- 
 tion, arising from the nature of miracles, against their exist- 
 ence, when alleged in favour of a divine revelation ; and 
 a? they have been demonstrated even to be necessary proof* 
 
104 
 
 of a divine mission, if God should ever deign to reveal hk 
 will in anj extraordinary manner to the world, the credit of 
 the miracles which are said to have been wrought in confir- 
 mation of the gospel must depend primarily on the credibili- 
 ty of the witnesses who have attested them. And, when this 
 subject is fairly and candidly examined, not only will these 
 witnesses be found entided to the highest credit, but their 
 testimony will appear calculated almost irresistibly to com- 
 mand our assent ; with so many circumstances of authority 
 and certainty is it attended, which place it far before the 
 evidence by which any other facts in the compass of univer- 
 sal history have been vouched. 
 
 The witnesses of extraordinary facts ought to be men of 
 unblemished integrity, and of clear and penetrating discern- 
 ment ; unbiassed by any motives of interest which might be 
 liable to blind them to the truth, or to corrupt the purity of 
 their testimony. And certainly the apostles and evangelists 
 of 0ur blessed Lord have left us, in their writings, their dis- 
 courses, and their conduct, the most indubitable proofs of 
 the soundest understanding, of the sincerest piety, and the 
 most disinterested devotedness to the best interests of man- 
 kind, which would render it impossible, in a long course of 
 intimacy with their Master, to be deceived by any fictitious 
 demonstrations of a divine power, and should free them from 
 every suspicion of fabricating a history to impose upon the 
 world. 
 
105 
 
 They were, indeed, plain, unlettered men, called froQi 
 3ome of the humblest occupations in life to follow Christ 
 and to be the heralds of his grace to mankind. But this cir- 
 cumstance, instead of detracting from their merit as 'wilness- 
 eiB of the miracles of our Lord, will, when rightly consider- 
 ed, give additional weight to their testimony. For, when 
 we take into view that admirable and profound wisdom, that 
 perfect moral code, and that pure and sublime theologyj, 
 which their writings contain, so far superior to what was to 
 be expected from their education and rank in life, and ex- 
 celling whatever has appeared on these subjects in the sys- 
 tems of the most venerated sages of the pagan world ; may 
 we not well ask, as the astonished fellow citizens of Jesus 
 did with respect to him, whence had these men this wisdom^ 
 unless it were given them from above ? If we admit that this 
 wisdom was imparted to them immediately by God, it de- 
 cides the question of their divine mission. If we say it was 
 simply the effect of native genius, it decides their competen- 
 cy, in point of understanding and judgment, to be the wit- 
 nesses of the wonderful history of our Lord, and their per- 
 fect title to our fullest credit, as far as depends on accuracy 
 of observation, and the judicious discrimination of truth from 
 ull false pretences to miraculous powers. 
 
 But in the next place, their writings exhibit also the 
 
 strongest characters of sincerity and integrity. We discern 
 
 '"^ ihf^m no appearance of that art which is necessary t* 
 
 14 
 
sovi^r the pretences of imposture, but an uodesigning Sins-« 
 plicity which speaks powerfully to the heart. Hardly ever 
 can impostors effectually conceal the faults of their own 
 character behind the disguises of hypocrisy. But in the 
 New-Testament, we discern only the purest precepts of mo- 
 rality, and the noblest sentiments of a genuine and rational 
 piety. If the apostles speak from their hearts, as there is 
 every appearance that they do, the purity of their doctrines, 
 as well as the simplicity of the manner in which they are 
 conveyed to us, are calculated to impress us with a deep con- 
 viction of their integrity and uprightness, not less than of 
 their wisdom. 
 
 Piety and sincerity have a language peculiar to them- 
 selves ; simple and unaffected, equally distant from the tor- 
 tuous art of imposture, and the extravagances of enthusiasm. 
 There is a naivete' which runs through the whole narration 
 of the evangelists, and bears all the impressions of truth, in- 
 finitely remote from the style of an artificial tale made up by 
 cunning and designing men. 
 
 This conviction will be greatly strengthened when we 
 lake into our view the circumstances under which the follow- 
 ers of our blessed Lord published the gospel, and its mira- 
 culous history to the world. Their disinterested labours, suf- 
 ferings, and sacrifices, demonstrate in the strongest manner 
 their sincerity, and their profound persuasion of the truth 
 
X 107 
 
 and the importance of those holy doctrines which they 
 taught, and those astonishing facts which they published 
 to the universe. And the perfect sinceriiy and persuasion 
 of men, at once so pious and so wise, who were so capable 
 of discriminating reahty from pretence, and who had so 
 many opportunities of intimately observing the works whicii 
 they attest, afford to the candid and serious inquirer, the 
 most satisfactory grounds of belief. 
 
 Let us contemplate the disinterestedness and sufferings of 
 the first mini^rs of Christianity, and witnesses of the mira- 
 cles of our Saviour. They speak a powerful language to 
 the heart, and leave us no room to question the sincerity and 
 the perfect veracity of these faithful men. It is true that 
 men, impelled by a bold and ardent ambition, or inflamed by 
 the hope of fortune, or of glory, may sometimes endure wi(h 
 fortitude the greatest sufferings, or encounter with firmness 
 the most formidable dangers. But without the prospects cf 
 honour or emolument, and in the face of poverty and dis- 
 grace, of universal obloquy and hatred, of the fiercest perse- 
 cutions and the mo^ cruel deaths, voluntarily to undertake 
 to propagate a known and deliberate imposture, merely for 
 the glory of a Master who had already perished by an igno- 
 minious death, and from whom, of consequence, no farther 
 expectations could be entertained ; and, with a patience and 
 heroism worthy only of the highest virtue and the noblest 
 ends, to consent io be the ministers of falsehood, deceit and 
 
30$ 
 
 yillany, is contrary to all the known principles of human ac- 
 tion, and, in such men as (he apostles, is utterl^r incredible* 
 Jesus Christ profwised to his disciples no rewards in the exe- 
 cution of their arduous mission but such as should take place 
 in a future state of existence ; of which they cpuld have no 
 other^ assurance than his own miracles. If then they made 
 such astonishing sacrifices, as it is known they did make, 
 from no rational motive, with no prospect of recompense, it 
 was a solitary phenomenon, altogether inexplicable on any of 
 the ordinary principles of conduct among men. On the oth- 
 er hand, if they were governed by the hope of future and ce- 
 lestial rewards, their belief of which could rest only on their 
 perfect conviclion of the truth of the miracles and resurrec- 
 tion of the Saviour, what stronger evidence could we demand 
 of the reality of these facts ? 
 
 Their Master not only promised them no rewards, but 
 forewarned them that they should suffer in his cause every 
 evil that could be inflicted by the hatred, the malice, and the 
 power of men. And they were accordingly exposed to 
 «Tcry form of contumely, pain and death. They were load- 
 ed with chains, thrust into dungeons, lacerated with scourging, 
 crucified, sawn asunder, clothed with the skins of wild beasts 
 and exposed to be hunted by dogs, burnt at the stake, in- 
 vested with pitched shirts, to which when fire was applied, 
 they were used as torches in the night to light the barbaroag 
 
U9 
 
 ;sports of the popu]ace.*= These terrors were sufficient, one 
 would think, to shake the constancy of integrity itself ; but 
 certainly, more than sufficient to appal hypocrisy and false- 
 hood, or even the least doubtfulness of the cause in which Jj 
 they were embarked. But by no fear of suffering, nor by 
 any hope of reprieve could these good men be moved to re- 
 tract, or to mutilate or disguise, any part of the history of 
 a Master who was dearer to them than their own lives. If 
 they would only have denied the resurrection of Christ, they 
 could have delivered themselves out of the most cruel suf- 
 ferings, which were often such that we can hardly conceive 
 how human nature could support them. Yet their dying 
 breath, their last accents were still used to confirm their un- 
 wavering testimony. And among such numbers, not one 
 was found to falter. What can mark in the minds of men a 
 deeper conviction of truth ? 
 
 A consideration which gives no small additional weight 
 to the argument is, that all the original prejudices of their ed- 
 ucation, and of national pride and glory, were strongly op- 
 
 * A variety of passages in the epistles of the apostles, and in the history of their 
 acts by Saint Luke, gire us this representation of their extreme suflFerings, which 
 18 confirmed by almost all the Roman writers of that period who have come down 
 to us J particularly by Suetonius, Pliny, Juvenal, Martial, Epictetus, Marcus 
 Aurelius, and Tacitus. "Their sufferings at their execution, says Tacitus, were 
 aggravated by insult and mockery ; for some were disguised in the skius of wild 
 beasts, and worried to death by dogs ; some were crucified, and others were 
 wrapt in pitched shirts, and set on fire when the day was closed, that theymi^ht 
 nerve as lights to illunuQate the aiglit.*' 
 
119 
 
 posed to the character in which their Master appeared, andf 
 to the doctrines which they were afterwards constrained to 
 preach. They, with the whole nation of Israel, expected 
 
 tin the Messiah a mighty temporal prince, invested with the 
 E'plendonrs of empire, who was to restore the kingdom of 
 Dra id, and extend its dominion over all the kingdoms of the 
 world, in which his followers and disciples were to arrive at 
 the highest honouis and distinctions. When, therefore, they 
 found all the pre-possessions, in which they had been nurs- 
 ed, and which had been cherished by their country for ages, 
 overthrown ; when Jesus informed them that his kingdom 
 was not of this world, a doctrine wJiich they could hardly 
 be made to understand, and thus disappointed all their most 
 flattering hopes ; when, instead of the magnificent prospects 
 which they Lad pictured to themselves, he set before them 
 only his own bumble fortunes, and his approaching death ; 
 only the persecutions to which they should be exposed in 
 preaching in the name of a despised Master ; what could 
 have continued to attach them to a cause so diflferent in ev» 
 ery respect from what they had conceived, and one appa- 
 rently so desperate, but the manifest proofs of divinity 
 which attended him, but those wonderful facts before their 
 eyes, which conquered their prejudices, and compelled their 
 conviction? They could not believe that he was to die till 
 they saw him expire ; they neither believed, nor understood 
 the resurrection of the dead till they saw him restored from 
 the tomb. Even then, it was long, through the astonisli- 
 
Ill 
 
 mcnt of their minds, before they could give full credit 1« 
 tlieir own senses. They conversed with him, they touched 
 hiui, they thrust their hands into his wounded side. They 
 could yield such powerful prejudices, supported by all the 
 strongest passions of human nature, only to the most sensible 
 demonstrations. But when their conviction was once con- 
 quered by the illustrious displays of a divine power, and 
 nothing but the most illustrious displays of such a power 
 could have conquered it, in opposition to every interest and 
 every prejudice hitherto cherished by them with the great- 
 est fondness, then they, who had before been so reluctant, so 
 unbelieving, so timid in the cause of a suffering Master, were 
 ready to encounter every form of danger, of suffering, and of 
 death, in proclaiming the resurrection, and ihe miraculous 
 history of their Lord. Such a revolution in their ideas and 
 their conduct must have proceeded, as they declared it did, 
 only from the irresistible manifestations of 3. divine power 
 with which he contirmed his doctrine, and demonstrated his 
 title to a spiritual and heavenly kingdom. 
 
 It may be said that fortitude and patience in enduring suf- 
 ferings, is no certain proof of the truth of any system of prin- 
 ciples ; because an enthusiastic mind may be so wound up, 
 as to dare any danger, or to support any pain, in defence of 
 its favourite opinions. I confess that voluntary suffering in 
 any cause, is not an infallible test of truth, but it is a test of 
 sincerity. It demonstrates the full persuasioa of the soul of 
 
112 
 
 ihe truth of the facts for which it suffers. This is all that i^ 
 necessary to command our assent in the present case. The 
 disciples of our Lord have demonstrated, by this infallible 
 criterion, their full conviction of the reality of his resurrec- 
 tion, and of his miraculous operalioHS. These were objectis 
 of the senses in which they could not be mistaken. They 
 were men, as appears from their writings, of the soundest un- 
 derstandings, who could not, therefore, be imposed upon in 
 cases so palpable. No tincture of enthusiasm, which could 
 warp their imagination, appears in their conduct, or in that 
 history which they have left us of the life and actions of 
 Christ. Men as they were, of sound understandings and of 
 rational piety, a conviction in our minds of the sincerity of 
 their declarations is all that is necessary to gain for them full 
 credence to the miraculous facts which they relate. There 
 is a wide difference between dying in attestation of a fact;, 
 and to prove our adherence to an opinion. In our opinions 
 we may err, and an enthusiastic mind may maintain its er- 
 rors at the stake with no less ardour than it would adhere to 
 truth. But in facts, such as those related by the apostles 
 and disciples of our Lord, subjected as they were to the ex- 
 amination of all the senses, and for so long a time, it was im- 
 possible for men so judicious, so honest, and so faithful, to 
 be deceived. Their sincerity is all that we need to assure 
 us of the miracles contained in the evangelic history. And 
 their constant readiness to seal their testimony with their 
 blood affords the strongest proof that not the smallest doub; 
 
113 
 
 mingled itself with their perfect knowledge and belief of the 
 resurrection, and of all Ihe miraculous works of their Saviour, 
 on which their faith of his divine mission, and of the doc- 
 trine of salvation which they proclaimed to the world, was 
 founded. 
 
 If the preceding reflections are just, the miracles of Christ 
 are coniirmed to us by an evidence which ought to command 
 our fullest assent. And if his miracles are established, the 
 divinity of his mission and of his gospel, follows as a neces- 
 sary consequence.* 
 
 Having then, in the first place, demonstrated this princi- 
 ple, that our experience cf the uniformity of nature does not 
 afford any solid objection against miracles performed in a 
 cause worthy of God ; we have seen, in the next place, that 
 if any supernatural event is capable of being confirmed by 
 human testimony, there can exist no reasonable doubt with 
 regard to the reality of the miracles of the gospel. And I 
 must again repeat, that no facts in the compass of universal 
 history have come down to us confirmed by such variety, 
 and such strength of evidence. 
 
 * Celsus, the most ingenious and perhaps the bitterest enemy of the christiam 
 among the philosophers of that age, does not pretend to deny the miracles ascrib- 
 td to Jesus Christ, but seems disposed to impute ihem to the powers of magic. 
 The science of modern times will never admit such a solution of niracttioMs pk»- 
 :iomena. 
 
 u 
 
This conclusion will be strengthened when we proceed 
 to consider the rapid extension of the gospel over the most 
 enlightened nations of the world, who were, from their pride, 
 their prejudices, their learning, their civil and religious in- 
 stitutions, and from all their ideas and habits, most hostile 
 to the spirit of our holy religion. It will be farther confirm- 
 ed hereafter, when we proceed to explain the excellence of 
 the gospel itself, and to show bow worthy it is of the origia 
 which it claims, and how far superior its doctrines are to any 
 powers of invention which can reasonably be ascribed to 
 men, of the education and rank in life of Christ and the 
 apostles, supposing them not to be inspired, and illuminated 
 by a divine spirit. 
 
 THS RAPID EXTENSION OF THE GOSPEL AN INFALLIBLE 
 PROOF OF THE REALITY OF ITS MIRACLES. 
 
 The sudden and wide diffusion of the christian religion 
 throughout the principal nations of the world, although it is 
 usually placed among the collateral and presumptive eviden* 
 ces of the truth of the gospel history, may reasonably be 
 considered as furnishing a strong and direct proof of the re- 
 ality of the miracles of our Saviour, and of the miraculous 
 powers with which the apostles themselves were endued. 
 This astonishing, and, indeed, this unparalleled effect was 
 accomplished by publishing the miraculous history of Christ, 
 by a few fishermea of Judea, and by pretences, at least, to 
 
the same miraculous powers imparted to tbem by their Mas- 
 ter. And can it reasonably be believed thaf (he story of 
 miracles performed in Judea, a remote and : espised corner 
 of the world, should have been received by the greatesi as 
 well as the most barbarous nalions, in the circunislances in 
 which it was received, and followed by the mighty conse- 
 quences which actually resulted from it, unless the heralds 
 who published it had been able to confirai their testimony 
 by the most palpable deriionstrations of a divine power ac- 
 companying their preaching ? On no other ground do I think 
 we can propose any rational solution of this great moral phe- 
 nomenon. 
 
 Let us then examine the greatness of the effect, and com- 
 pare it with the circumstances of the world at that period, 
 and with the apparent impotence of the instruments by 
 which it was produced, and, I doubt not, this conviction will 
 meet us with almost irresistible force. 
 
 We learn from the history of the acts of the apostles, 
 which contains, however, but a very brief and partial narra- 
 tion of their transactions, and from various intimations either 
 more direct or incidental, given in the epistles, especially of 
 Saint Paul, that the gospel had spread, within a very few 
 years after the death of the Saviour, to all the regions of the 
 known world, and in every country had made numerous con* 
 verts. This representation is confirmed by the Roman wri- 
 
116 
 
 tcrs Trhen any occasion leads them to mention tbe numbers 
 of Christians in particular districts of the empire.* Tacitus, 
 speaking of the cruehies exercised by Nero upon the Chris- 
 tians, under the pretence of their having set fire to the city, 
 says, *' at first, those only were apprehended who confessed 
 themselves to be of that sect, but, through their means, a 
 vast multitude were afterwards discovered." This imperial 
 villany took place about the thirtieth year of tbe crucifixion ; 
 in which short period the gospel had extended from the ex- 
 tremities to the heart of the Roman empire, and a vast mul- 
 iitude of lis disciples were alreadj' found in the capital. — 
 About forty years posterior to this event, Pliny, writing to 
 the e/nperor Trajan for instiuctions in what manner to treat 
 the Christians, who had, in time past, been mercilessly drag- 
 ged before the tribunals, and cruelly puniahed, represents to 
 liim that so prevalent had Christianity become in his province, 
 which consisted of Pontus and Bithynia in the Lesser Asia, 
 that the superstitiont as he calls it, had seized not only the 
 cities, but the smaller towns, and the open country. The 
 temples, he adds, were for a time, almost deserted, the sa- 
 cred solemnities intermitted, and victims had nearly ceased 
 
 * It is tme that the early Roman writers do not make frequent or very particu- 
 lar mention of the affairs of the christians. For Christianity springing up in Ju- 
 dea, it was natural for foreigners to regard them as a sect of the Jews, on which 
 account their history, in its origin, would be little understood, and attract small 
 attention at Rome. But wherever their external circumstances are noticed by 
 Roman authors, they are found to correspond with the accounts given of them in 
 christian records. 
 
117 
 
 being purchased.* Justin Martyr, who wrote only a few 
 years af(er Pliny, declares, " there is not a nation either of 
 Greek, or Barbarian, or any other name, even of those who 
 wander in tribes and live in tents, among whom prayers and 
 thanksgivings are not offered to the Father and Creator of 
 the universe in the name of the crucified Jesus.'* And 
 Tertullian, who flourished half a century later, after appeal- 
 ing to the rulers of the Rotuan empire for the diflusion of the 
 christian religion at that epoch throughout its immense ex- 
 tent, enumerates many nations beyond its limits, as the 
 Moors, the Getulians, the Sarmatians, the Dacians, the Ger- 
 mans, and the vScythians, who had become converts to the 
 truth. " And, saith he, although we are so great a multitude 
 that, in almost every city, we form the majority of the in- 
 habitants, we pass our time modestly and in silence." To 
 these nations St. Jerom adds the Indians, the Persians, the 
 Goths and the Egyptians. But, not to multiply quotations, 
 it is well known that, in less than three centuries, the whole 
 Roman world had become christian. 
 
 Having, in this cursory manner, presented to your view 
 the wide and rapid extension of the christian doctrine in the 
 first age, let us, in the next place, compare it with the feeble 
 instruments employed in this great work, and with the diffi- 
 tulties which they had to encounter, and, I persuade myself, 
 
 * C. Plin. Traj. imp. lib. 10. epist. 97. 
 
118 
 
 ii will appear to you to be an effect altogefher ont of the or- 
 dinary Jaws, and beyond the ordinary powers of human na- 
 ture. 
 
 Our blessed Saviourj in order more clearly to demonstrate 
 his own immediate agency, and almigh'y power, in ihe hpir- 
 ituai conqueists achieved by the doctrines of the cross, as well 
 as to manifest his infinite grace in proclaiming the glad tid' 
 ings of salvation to the poor, chose for the instruments of so 
 gueat a work twelve humble fishermen. Circumscribed by 
 their occupation in the sphere of their ideas, little acquainted 
 with human nature, ignorant of the arts and manners of culti- 
 vated society, and destitute of the learning and talents neces- 
 sary to command the attention and respect of mankind, in an 
 age so polished and enlightened as that in which they lived, 
 they seemed the most incompetent of all men to effect such 
 an Extraordinary revolution in the whole moral state of the 
 world. Exposed to contempt on account of their original 
 employment, this was not a little increased by the hatred in 
 which their country was held. For the Jews were regard- 
 ed with extreme aversion by the rest of mankind, chiefly for 
 the abhorrence which they manifested of the customs, reli- 
 gions, and gods of all other nations. And of all parts of Ju- 
 dea, the district of Galilee from which they sprung, and the 
 town of Nazareth esteemed the native place of their Master, 
 were viewed with the greatest disdain. A Galilean and a 
 Nazarcne were names of reproach even at Jerusalem. Yet, 
 
119 
 
 with such feeble insfrnments, and in so short a period of 
 time, did the ascended Saviour, jus< after he had exhibited 
 before the view of mankind the most discouraging proofs of 
 his own assumed weakness in the death to which he submit- 
 tal, subdue the wor!d to the obedience of the gospel, over- 
 turn the altars and the temples of paganism, banish from their 
 shrines the idols with their priests, change the moral and re- 
 ligious systems of the universe ; in one word, overthrow, and 
 utterly eradicate from the hearts of men, whatever the revo- 
 Jution of ages had rendered most venerable and sacreJ ia 
 their esteem : whatever had been most firmly incorporated 
 with their interests and their pleasures, or most deeply in- 
 trenched among their prejudices. This astonishing revolu- 
 tion, which not all the wisdom of their sages, combined with 
 all the power of their princes, could have effected, was the 
 work of a few Galilean fishermen, aided only by one man of 
 eloquence and cultivated talents. And how was it effected! 
 By the most improbable of all means : preaching the mira- 
 culous history of a crucified man, together with the doctrines 
 of repentance and self-denial so revolting to the corrupted 
 tastes of human nature. May I not, then confidently de- 
 mand if the rapid extension of the religion of Christ under 
 the agency of such instruments, by the preachinc^ of such 
 doctrines, through countries so various and distant, and so 
 opposite in manners, in language, in political interests, in re- 
 ligious customs and ideas, and in all those distinctive pecu- 
 )iariti«« which divide aud alienate nations from one another. 
 
120 
 
 does not contain, in the greatness and the extraordinary 
 nature of the effect, a demonstration of the reality of the 
 miracles by which it was accomplished ? Could obscure 
 and despised strangers have carried the triumphs of the 
 humble cross to the ends of the earth, and fixed the 
 hopes of the world on a dying Saviour, unless they had 
 borne in their hands the credentials of Heaven, and dis- 
 played to the senses, and the inmost convictions of mankind, 
 the seal of their heavenly mission in the constant operations 
 of a divine and omnipotent power attending their ministry? 
 Their success could not have flowed from their powers of 
 persuasion, nor the force of their reasonings ; for they were 
 not themselves masters of eloquence or of science. But if 
 they had been instructed in all the wisdom of the schools, 
 the sages of the pagan world had long since found that the 
 mass of mankind are incapable of entering into the specula- 
 tions of philosophy. By philosophic reasoning they had 
 never been able to do any thing effectual for the reformation 
 of the world. The apostles simply propounded the moral 
 maxims, and divine dogmas of their great Teacher, confirm- 
 ing them by the supernatural evidence of the works which 
 he enabled them to perform. Thus their doctrines rested 
 on the same proofs with those principles of natural religion, 
 which the Creator has inscribed with his own hand, and im- 
 pressed by his own power on the face of nature, I mean the 
 characters which it bears of his omnipotence. No other 
 even plausible account can be given of a phenomenon unpar- 
 
121 
 
 alleled in the annals of the world. For, however reluctant 
 reason may be to admit miracles, no miracle was ever so 
 great as such a revolution would be, effected by twelve illit- 
 erate fishermen, without the immediate co-operation and 
 aids of the Holy Spirit* 
 
 If we consider the difficulties and the apparently insur- 
 mountable obstacles which opposed the success of the apos- 
 tles, they will furnish strong additional proofs that these hum- 
 ble ministers of the Redeemer must have been endued with 
 miraculous powers. 
 
 I will not repSat here those impediments which naturally 
 arose out of the obscurity of their own station ; the hatred or 
 contempt with which their nation was viewed ; and their ut- 
 ter destitution of all those talents of learning and eloquencel 
 which are calculated to command the respect and admiration 
 of the world. Under all these disadvantages, which were 
 more than sufficient to ruin the success of men who were not 
 inspired from Heaven, without patronage, without friends^ 
 without respect for their personal attributes, or influence 
 from the character of their nation, were they obliged to pass 
 with the gospel in their hands into the remotest countries, 
 among unknown people, ever prone to receive strangers with 
 jealousy, or to look down upon them with contemptuous dis- 
 dain. In this case, their contempt of these poor and for- 
 eign 6shermen would be very greatly increased by their 
 
 bringing to them what, to their apprehension, would be onl^ 
 
 16 
 
122 
 
 a Eiiraculoiis story of a crucified man. And their indigsa- 
 lion would be raised to the highest pitch, when they fount^ 
 themselves required, at the recital of such a story, to aban- 
 don their religion and their gods, all the principles of their 
 education and their habits of living ; and whatever the usage 
 of their ancestors, for so many ages, had rendered sacred to 
 them, and incorporated with their domestic manners, their 
 religious institutions, and their national customs. 
 
 What nation ever willingly changes its gods ? However 
 contemptible the idols of paganism appear to us, the vulgar 
 mind w hich seldom reasons, but usually takes all its impres- 
 sions from education, or from its natural sympathy with pub- 
 lic opinion, then regarded them with that reverence, and 
 embraced them with that full belief with which we always 
 see the ign3rant receive the traditionary fables of their coun- 
 try. Perhaps the objects of superstition, making their im- 
 pression in the tenderest period of life, and being therefore, 
 more perfectly mingled with the earliest habits of feeling, 
 take a deeper hold upon the minds of the common mass of 
 mankind, than the principles of a more pure and rational pi- 
 ety. But if the prejudices of the populace presented almost 
 insuperable difficulties to the apostles, (be interest of the ru- 
 lers presented others, perhaps, still more formidable. The 
 religion of all those nations was incorporated with the policy 
 of the state. Their magistrates were their priests. Its cer= 
 ^^Qwnies were blended with ail the offices of the civil go 
 
i23 
 
 vcrnment. So ihat the gospel was obliged to combat, at the 
 same time, with the blind superstition and furious bigotry of 
 the multitude, with the wealth and power of the temples, 
 and with the pride and jealousy of tyrannical rulers armed 
 with the sword, who were afraid of nothing so much as of 
 innovation. We may safely appeal to the common sense o£ 
 mankind if obstacles like these must not have been utterly* 
 insuperable to such men as the apostles, going out to the 
 world solely in their own powers of reasoning and persuasion^ 
 without the supernatural aid and the accompanying testimony 
 of the Holy Spirit of Truth. 
 
 The natural diflSculties of this great undertaking were al- 
 most incalculably increased by the fate of their Master, 
 whose miraculous history, whose life, death, and resur- 
 rection they were commanded to publish, and in whose name 
 (hey were commissioned to preach. Crucifixion was the 
 most ignominious punishment among the Romans, reserved 
 only for the most detested criminals. Nothing could shock 
 the ideas of such a people more than to elevate io the rank 
 of a divinity a crucified many the native of a remote, depen- 
 dent, and despised province, who had suffered like a male- 
 factor and slave for alleged crimes against the dominant state. 
 This circumstance alone was sufficient, according to the 
 common apprehensions of the world, to blast entirely their 
 hopes of success. Of the magnitude of this difficulty we 
 may frame some conception by putting an analogous case. 
 
124 
 
 Suppose that a man of the lowest extraction, and the obscur" 
 est country of Europe, had, for imputed treasons, been sus* 
 pended on a gibbet, or hung in chains : and that his accom- 
 phces, ignorant men, without talents, and without character, 
 should presume to defj the government by declaring that he 
 was risen from the dead, and that they were come in his 
 name, and in contradiction to the civil authority, to over- 
 turn all the religious institutions, and all the objects of wor- 
 ship and veneration in the christian world, and such is the 
 light in which the disciples must have appeared to those 
 proud nations, and that polished age, with what reception 
 would they now meet ? 
 
 Combining together then, all these reflections, and com-» 
 puting the result, may I not confidently demand of all rea- 
 sonable and candid men, who will fairly estimate the magni- 
 tude and difficulty of (he work of converting a world in the 
 Bame of a crucified man, who will consider the weakness, 
 and unpromising character of the instruments by which it 
 was effected, and unite with both the astonishing rapidity of 
 their success, if the apostles must not have been aided by a 
 power infinitely superior to their own ? If they must not have 
 carried to the hearts and senses of their hearers the strong- 
 est conviction of the truth of the miracles of Jesus Christ? 
 and if they must not have supported the wonderful history 
 of their Master by miracles which they were themselves en-? 
 abled to perform : miracles of no doubtful aspect, but obTi-? 
 
125 
 
 oils and palpable, capable of standing the most rigorous scru- 
 tiny of envy, of hatred, of interest, of every wounded pre- 
 judice, and of all the ingenuity which a learned and enlight- 
 ened age could bring to the investigation. Nothing less can 
 account for the vast and surprising effect which the simplici- 
 ty of the christian doctrine, and of the primitive ministers of 
 Christianity, has been seen to produce. As miracles appear 
 to be the only power which could have given such a (igpid 
 extension to the religion of Christ, in that enlightened and 
 inquisitive period, throughout such various, proud, and hos- 
 tile nations ; so the rapidity of its extension in the face of 
 infinite diflficulties, furnishes one of the most irresistible evi^ 
 dences of the reality of the miracles. 
 
 In order to account for the rapid propagation of the chris- 
 tian religion without having recourse to the ass-stance of mira- 
 cles, some writers have supposed (hat the superior reason- 
 ablensss of the moral system of the gospel above that of any 
 of the popular institutions of paganism facilitated the success 
 of the apostles. For, with all their objections against the 
 mysteries of Christianity, they are obliged to acknowledge 
 the excellence of its moral code. On the other hand, I have 
 no hesitancy in pronouncing that merely the reasonableness 
 of a religion, or of any moral system, never procured it, in 
 the first instance, an easy and general reception among the 
 mass of mankind. If it has not been incorporated by educa- 
 tion with their earliest habits of thinking, it must claim their 
 
126 
 
 obedience and belief on some higher authority than merely 
 the conclusions of their own reason, in which they can repose 
 iitlle confidence. Of this all the ancient legislators and re- 
 formers of nations were so deeply convinced, that, where 
 they had not visible and real miracles on which to establish 
 the public religion, or to found those civil institutions by 
 which they atteoipted to reduce a barbarous people to order, 
 the^ were obliged to have recourse to a pretended inter- 
 course with heaven. If reason alone were a competent in« 
 structor of the people, why had not the genuine principles 
 of natural religion a more extensive diffusion among the popu- 
 lace of Greece ? Why did the philosophers pronounce the 
 people incapable of reasoning T And why were not the doc- 
 trines of their schools able to extirpate idolatry, or even tc 
 throw a plausible and decent veil over its absurdities and inde^ 
 cencies T If Christianity prevailed in the first age by the force 
 of its own reasonableness, why do we not see the same 
 effects produced by it since miracles have ceased ? Does it 
 not still possess the same superiority over the dismal idolatry 
 of Greenland, and the indecent rites of India, which it did 
 over the gay and licentious superstitions of Greece and Rome ? 
 
 Other writers have thought that they have found a reason 
 of this extraordinary phenomenon in the general discredit in- 
 to which the objects, and the rites of the pagan worship had 
 fallen in that age. Their auguries, their oracles, their shame- 
 ful and immoral deities, it is said, were despised^by their men 
 
127 
 
 of learning, and had begun to be a subject of ridicule \o the 
 common people ; and Christianity only came in to occupy the 
 room which they had left vacant. A less happy conjecture^ 
 perhaps, could hardly have been framed. Incredulity, sure- 
 ly, is not a favourable soil for the reception and growth of r, 
 new religion. On the contrary, when men, in the progress 
 of a sceptical philosophy, and of the dissolution of the public 
 morals, come to disbelieve, and hold in contempt the religion 
 in which Ifaey have been educated, they are then prone to 
 confound all religions, and, along with their country's godSj 
 to reject, even without examination, every new doctrine 
 which pretends to be derived from heaven. 
 
 There are authors who think they have made a shrewd 
 observation on human nature, and the liberal genius of ancient 
 manners, were they ascribe the easy introduction of chrisll- 
 ani(y into the Roman empire, to what has been, quaintly 
 enough, called the sociable spirit of paganism. 
 
 The Greeks and Romans believing in the existence o: 
 local deities who presided over particular districts and re- 
 gions of (he earth, easily granted to foreigners the privilege 
 •f introducing their country gods into Alhens and Rome, 
 and performing towards them their country's rites, because 
 it was icnagined they would not be pleased with any other. 
 It was never intended that these stranger gods should sup" 
 J>lant the native deities of Greece and Italy. It was never 
 
123 
 
 conceived that ihe one could interfere with the other. ThiSr' 
 however, could not be the ground of any favour shown to 
 Christianity. Its worship was exclusive. It could make no 
 compromise with idolatry. The doctrine of Christ, where- 
 ever it came, soon overthrew all the altars and temples of pa- 
 ganism, and expelled from their shrines all the shameful ob- 
 jects of an impure and monstrous worship. This, which is 
 the natural genius, and the necessary tendency of the gospel. 
 far from opening the way for its reception in those idolatrous 
 nations, would at once arm against it all the power of the ma- 
 gistrates, all the interest of the priests, and all the fury of a 
 bigoted and deluded people. 
 
 The causes, therefore, which have been assembled with 
 so much pains in order to account, on natural principles, fo*: 
 the superior success of the apostles and first ministers ofchris' 
 tianity above its modern missionaries, are evidently not suffi- 
 cient to support the conclusions which have been attempted 
 to be built upon them. The true cause of their astonishing 
 Success is, that, while the missionaries can appeal only to the 
 testimony of history, and the reasonableness and excellence 
 of the doctrines which they preach, the apostles could appeal 
 also to their own miracles, to the heavenly powers with which 
 they were invested, and which spoke so strongly to the senses 
 of mankind. These are the weapons with which the disci- 
 ples of the Saviour subdued the earth to the dominion of the 
 feith. Although destitute of the advantages of science, and 
 
It29 
 
 of fbat high and commanding eloquence which attracts the ad- 
 miration of the world. Although inferior in these respects 
 to the Nations among whom they travelled preaching Ihe gos- 
 pel ; and although they derived no influence from the splen* 
 dour or power of their country, yet every thing yielded be- 
 fore them. How far superior to them in every human advan- 
 tage are the present missionaries of our holy religion. Do they 
 not possess incomparably higher degrees of science than the 
 people to whom they are sent ? And do they not go under 
 the patronage of nations regarded in those distant countries 
 with the greatest veneration for their vast ascendancy over 
 the rest of mankind in arts, and in arms ? But they ar^ com- 
 paratively unsuccessful, because they do not carry with 
 them, like the apostles, the ensigns of heaven, that is, the de-* 
 monsiralion of the Spirit in his miraculous power.^ 
 
 Experience then, and reason, both concur to demonstrate 
 that, without the co-operation of miracles, the christian doc- 
 trine could not have made such rapid and extensive progress, 
 as we have seen it do, through nations so various, so distant, 
 and so opposite in their characters : and this astonishing 
 progress, as has been before asserted, affords a strong con- 
 firmation of the reality of the miracles on which Christ found- 
 ed his claim to be acknowledged as the Son of God, and the 
 
 * 1 Cor. ji. 4, 5. For my speech and my preachiog was not with enticing wordfl 
 f man*s wisdom, but in demonstralion of the Spirit and of power. Thai your faith 
 nuld not. stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. 
 
 17 
 
150 
 
 tposlles to be received as messengers from heaven. Believe 
 jne, saith the Saviour, /or the works'* sake. Many of the 
 most wise and judicious men esfeem the argument drawn 
 from this fact absolutely decisive of the question concerning 
 the truth of Christianity ; and the inust incredulous must con- 
 fess that it creaies a very powerful presumption in favour of 
 the gospel history. 
 
 The writers, who suppose that the progress of Christianity 
 in the first age may be accounted for from natural causes 
 alone, affect to compare it with the rapid extension of the 
 Mahometan imposture. But if we enter into a fair and caii- 
 did comparison of the two cases, the apparent parellelism be- 
 tween them will be found no longer to exist. We have al- 
 ready seen the mild and pacific means by which Christiani- 
 ty extended her gentle sway over the world. The estab- 
 lishment of Mahometanism was effected entirely by the pow- 
 er of the sword ; and its rapid extension and its furious 
 course is no more surprising than the conquests of Zenghis, 
 or of Timur, or than any of those sudden and violent revolu- 
 tions which have so often changed, the face of Asia, in dif- 
 ferent ages. The progress of Christianity has no parallel in 
 universal history ; that of the koran has, unfortunately, too 
 many examples. For it is as easy to carry a new religion 
 among an ignorant people on the point of the sword, as a 
 mw code of civil and pohticai legislation^ 
 
131 
 
 THE PRETENCE OP CREDULITY ALLEGED AGAINST THOBS 
 
 WHO E3IBRACED THE GOSPEL. EMBRACKD 8^ 
 
 THE LEARNED AS WELL AS THE VDLGAR. 
 
 IMPOSTORS AMONG THE HEATHEN. 
 
 It is often alleged by those who are unfriendly to the 
 christian revelation, that the credulity of mankind, and their 
 love of the raarveUous, is suflScient to account for the pro" 
 gress of the gospel, and the general belief of its miraciea, 
 " The weakness of illiterate followers, they say, would gree- 
 dily swallow the pretended wonders of their Master. They 
 could easily riise the wonder-loving spirit of their hearera, 
 who would be ready, without inquiry, either to adroit their 
 own pretences to a miraculous power, or to believe the fa- 
 bled miracles of Christ." By a few such general sneers 
 they save themselves the trouble of examining the evidences 
 of the christian revelation, and cast off from theii' consciences 
 the irksome authority of the christian law. 
 
 It is true the ignorant in all countries are credulous ; and, 
 in consequence of this tendency of mind, they abound in 
 narrations of silly wonders. But is there, therefore, nothing 
 really wonderful in the providence of God over the world, 
 or in the dispensation of his mercy to mankind ? Certainly, 
 every candid reader will confess that Jhe miracles of the 
 gospel ought not to be compared with those ridiculous and 
 local prodigies recited in every district of every country by 
 
132 
 
 the vulgar ; and which are evidently the effecf of siipersti* 
 tious weakness, or an enthusiastic fervour of mind. The wri- 
 tings of the evangelists and apostles exhibit no marks of that 
 imbecility in their mental powers which would render them 
 liable to be easily imposed upon by lying wonders, and false 
 appearances. If we do not admit that they were enlightened 
 by the Spirit of God, in which case no deception could be 
 suspected, the excellence of their moral system, the sublim- 
 ity of their theological doctrines, so superior to the philoso- 
 phy of their age, and the grandeur of the views which they 
 have opened on the universe, so far above whatever had been 
 before conceived by the human mind in any age, demon- 
 strate that they must have been men of the soundest judg- 
 ments, and the strongest intellectual faculties, on which no 
 fraud could have been practised, no attempted imposition 
 could have succeeded. 
 
 That they were not parties to any scheme of imposture, 
 their wisdom, their piety, their self-denials, their arduous la- 
 bours, their continual sufferings, and, finally, their painful, 
 various, and voluntary deaths in the cause of Christ, declare 
 with a conviction which, I think, must be irresistible to a 
 mind that considers the subject with fairness and im- 
 partiality. 
 
 I observe, in the next place, that their writings exhibit as 
 few characters of enthusiasm as of weakness. Their histor- 
 
133 
 
 ical narrations are given wlfh a dignified simplicity, their mor- 
 al instructions, in a clear and judicious train of reasoning en- 
 forced with temperate warmth. We find in them none of 
 those wild fervours, and riduculous extravagancies which seem 
 inseparable from the spirit of enthusiasm. They exhibit all 
 the proofs, which writing and conduct can manifest, of the 
 most undesigning sincerity ; and speak of the most astonish- 
 ing displays of divine power in the miracles of their Master, 
 and their own, in a strain of calm and temperate narration 
 which surprises us not less than the actions themselves. 
 They speak like men who were not only witnesses of the 
 miracles of Jesus, but were conscious of the same powers in 
 themselves, and were familiar with the works of omnipo- 
 ience. Neither enthusiasm, then, which deceives itself, nor 
 imposture, which endeavours to deceive others, nor a weak 
 facility of believing without evidence, can justly be imputed 
 to the apostles. Can we then find a more satisfactory rea- 
 son of the universal belief of the miracles of the gospel in the 
 credulity of the world ? 
 
 The populace are prone to listen with a certain idle curi- 
 osity, and to circulate with eagerness among themselves 
 marvellous tales when they produce no other eflfect than 
 agitating, and giving play to their natural love of wonder. 
 But, when they are to affect any great interest ; when the 
 belief of them is conjoined with the sacrifice of their pas- 
 sions, their pleasures, their national customs, their honour. 
 
134 
 
 or their forfiine, the case is entirely reversecl ; then they are 
 rereived Hith distrust, and scrutinized with rigour. If, in 
 dark and ignorant ages, (he people are disposed to listen to 
 fable^ which seem to spring out of the genius of their reli- 
 gion, and are intended only to stien^^then their favourite su- 
 perstition, they wo(»ld not surely lend the same easy faith 
 to prodi;i;ies, real or pretended, which should be alleged 
 only to overti-irn whatever was held toost sacred a nong them. 
 Besides, wherever the gospel name, the native superstitions 
 of the people had pre-occupied their minds. All their cre- 
 dulity was aheady enlisted in opposition to the doctrine, the 
 history, and the miracles of Christ. And in proportion to 
 their ignorance, was the violence with which they were at- 
 tached to silly and incongruous fables, which were more 
 adapted to the grossness of their minds than the pure and 
 spiritual theology and morality of the gospel. 
 
 But, whatever declamations men may think proper to 
 make on the credulity of the vulgar, the belief ot the chris- 
 tian revelation was not confined to this class of society. It 
 early numbered aaiong its disciples magistrates, senators, ora- 
 tors, and philosophers of the highest distinction for learn- 
 ing and eloquence ; men who examined the claims of the 
 religion with the most painful diligence, and the most accurate 
 scrutiny ; men who reluctantly yielded the haughtiness of 
 office, the vanity of national superiority, the pride of talents 
 and of learning, to the force of truth, and the demonstrations 
 
135 
 
 of a divine power accompanying Christ and his aposllct. 
 ISot to speak of Joseph of Arimathea, one of the sanhedrioa 
 of the Jews, on whose history some obscnrify rests, it is cer- 
 tain that Dionysius, a member of the celebrated Areopagus 
 of Athena, and Flavins Clemens, a senator of Rome, suffer- 
 ed martyrdom for Christ in the very fiist age. Arnoblns, 
 an early historian of the church, assures us that men of the 
 finest talents and the greatest learning, orators, grammarians, 
 rhetoricians, lawyers, physicians, philosophers, abandoning 
 their former opinions, and the systems to which they had 
 been attached by education, and the habits of a philosophical 
 life, now reposed their minds only on the truth of the gospel. 
 The writings, and even the names of great numbers of men 
 of letters have not come down to us. A few only, out of 
 multitudes, who, we are assured, were no way inferior to 
 them, and not inferior to the wisest men of the period in 
 which they lived, have survived to our age.* And if we 
 were to select a philosopher of that time, most distinguished 
 for the splendour of his talents, the acuteness of his genius, 
 and the vast extent of his erudition, it would be Origen, with 
 
 * It will bcsufficIpnttonaTTK^tb? two Dionvsii. one ^f «*hens, the other of Al- 
 exandria, Quadratus, Aristidrs, Atiieria^o.-if., Ch nifns, Anatnliiis, without men- 
 tioning thp crowd ol the fathers wlio, redeemrd om pnjani-m and 'he errois of 
 the heathen philosophy, einhr^.ced the doctrine of Chri?" vrith zeal, a the repose 
 and hope of their ?ouls Ha ino; the strongest motives to examine in o the fo:in- 
 dations of that new :ind di'.-ine :«hiln«'\ liv, thf ir neani^s- to the evn - pffo'-ded 
 In the sacred history afforded them the amplest means of ascertaiaing their troth. 
 
i3S 
 
 whom none of the learned men of his time deserves to be 
 named as a rival. 
 
 Is it to be presumed, then, that men of their character, and 
 attainments in science, enjoying, as they did, the means of 
 the most minute and accurate inquiry, would receive on 
 slight evidence, or, indeed, would embrace, without the most 
 rigorous examination, a new religion which overturned, and 
 treated as folly all their ancient principles of philosophy ? Is 
 there a shadow of probability that such men would enlist 
 themselves as disciples, and champions of this religion, with- 
 out the most satisfactory evidence of the divine authority^ 
 on which it rested, and the deepest convictiqn of its infinite 
 importance to mankind, when its first effect was to humble 
 the pride of human science, on which they had promised 
 themselves to build their glory ; when instead of being the 
 proud teachers of a proud philosophy, it turned them back 
 to be the self-denied pupils of unlearned Jews, and a cruci- 
 fied Saviour ; and above all, when it exposed them to such 
 extreme sufferings as no partial conviction, no doubtful faith, 
 and no hasty and immature opinions, could ever have ena- 
 bled them to endure ? Not credulity, surely, but conviction 
 established upon the most solid basis could have sustained 
 them under the operation of those severe and fiery teats 
 of their faith to which it was constantly subjected. That I 
 may place this point in as strong a light as possible, let me 
 
137 
 
 quote here a passage from the pious and elegant Addison, in 
 which it is presented to iis with equal force ot thouglil and 
 beauty of expression : " I cannot help regarding as a stand- 
 ing miracle, says he, that amazing, and supernatural cour- 
 age, or patience, shown by innumerable multitudes of mar- 
 tyrs in those slow and painful torments that were inflicted on 
 them. I cannot conceive a man placed in the burning chair 
 at Lyons, amid the insults and mockeries of a crowded am- 
 ph. theatre, and still keeping his seat ; or stretched upon a 
 grate of iron over coals of fire, and breathing out his soul 
 among the exquisite sufFerings of such a tedions execution, 
 rather than renounce his religion, or blaspheme his Saviour. 
 Such trials seem to me above the strength of human nature, 
 and able to overbear duty, reason, faith, conviction, nay, 
 and the most absolute certainty of a futu e state. Humani' 
 ty, unassisted in an extraordinary manner, must have shaken 
 oflf the present pressure, and delivered itself out of such a 
 dreadful distress by any means which could have been sug- 
 gested to it. We can easily imagine that many persons, in 
 so good a cause might have laid down their lives at the gi6- 
 bet, the stake, or the block : but, to expire leisurely among 
 the most exquisite tortures, when they might come out of 
 them even by a mental reservation, or a hypocrisy which 
 was not without the possibility of being followed by repen- 
 tance and forgiveness, has something in it so far beyond the 
 Xbrce and natural strength of mortals, that one cannot but 
 
 18 
 
liiink there was some miraculous power to support the sut* 
 ferer." Although we should not think with Mr. Addison, 
 thai any divine aid which might be strictly called miraculous, 
 was communicated to these pious sufferers, yet must we ad- 
 mit that nothing short of the clearest and strongest convic- 
 tion of the truth of the gospel and its miracles ; nothing but 
 the firmest per&uasion that Christ alone had the words of 
 eternal life^ could have induced them to expose themselves 
 to such dangers, or supported them in enduring sach excru- 
 ciating torments. Is it possible that philosophic men, what- 
 ever may be supposed of the vulgar class of martyrs, could 
 bave voluntarily gone to death surrounded with so many ter- 
 rors, if iheir minds had not been encouraged, animated, and 
 supported by the most complete conviction, founded on the 
 strongest and most rational evidence, that the doctrines 
 which they had embraced, and the miracles which they be- 
 held, were the wisdom of God, and the power of God f 
 The least doubtfulness, the smallest apprehension that they 
 bad not thoroughly examined the proofs of that holy religion, 
 to which they were about to offer up their lives amidst such 
 a complication of horrors, must have shaken the constancy 
 of their souls. But, when we see that no dangers can move 
 them, and that, in the midst of their sufferings, they preserve 
 their serenity and firmness unaltered, except when it rises to 
 exultation and triumph, such matchless and divine heroism 
 can, surely, never be the result of a weak credulity. Jb 
 
id9 
 
 wch tremendous conflicts, integrity and fruth alone can Btis- 
 tain the heart. 
 
 One important consideration in the change of those learn 
 €d men, who embraced chrislianilj in the primitive age, de- 
 serves to be particularly remarked : they declare that ii wai 
 Hot merely the purity and perfection of the christian faith, 
 which originally produced Iheir conversion from pazai ism 
 and philosophy, but the miracles which they saw pertonued 
 by the apostles and apostolic men, which carried with them 
 Unequivocal deraonstration3 of a divine power attending their 
 doctrine, and without which they would probably never have 
 turned their minds to an examination of its excellence. 
 
 Some writers have unaccountably pretended that the tes- 
 timony of the christian fathers to the miracles of the gospel 
 ought not to be regiirdcd as possessing an>' weight in the 
 scale of evidence by which we estimate its truth, because it 
 is the testimony of friends in favour of their own system* 
 But what made them christians ? What created their attach- 
 ment to the christian doctrine ? Was it not the miracles 
 they beheld? They were before ignorant of its true nature; 
 they were hostile to its spirit, to the name of its Author, and 
 to his nation. But they sacrificed their prejudices, but they 
 became disciples of a religion they had hated and despised, 
 and for the profession of it they exposed themselves to the 
 
140 
 
 Most terrible deaths. Their conversion, then, is precise!/ 
 that which gives the greatest force to their tesliaiony. 
 
 To support the objection against the reality of miracles, 
 which is founded on the credulity of mankind, we are re- 
 ferred to various impostures which, at different periods, have 
 obtained a temporary credit and success in the world. On 
 a few of those which have been most con6dently opposed to 
 the miirhttf works performed by our Saviour and his apos- 
 tles, J shall, after offering to your consideration two prelimi- 
 nary reii.arJLS, make several observations with the view of 
 discriminating them from the real operations of a divine pow- 
 er. The first remark which I offer is, that, if pretences to 
 a peculiar intercourse with Heaven have been atlempted to 
 be maintained by the additional pretence to miraculous pow- 
 ers, it is, at least, a proof of the general persuasion of man- 
 kind, that miracles form the proper evidence of a divine 
 mission. If, therefore, a real messenger from Heaven should 
 ever appear in the world, it is a most natural and reasonable 
 expertutiun that he should be invested with an extraordina- 
 ry control over the cornmon operations of nature as the seal 
 of his prophetic character. But because there have been 
 religious iuspostors, are theie, therefore, no true prophets ? 
 Because there are empirics in every liberal profession, are 
 there no certain principles of science? This can be the 
 conclusion only of ignorance or prejudice. Empiricism io 
 
141 
 
 religion, or in art, should not make us deny the existence of 
 truth in both, but only render us more careful and scrupu- 
 lous in examining the pretensions of those who come to us an 
 instructors in either. 
 
 I remark, in the next place, that, between the miracles 
 of the holy scriptures, and those mysterious incantations, 
 and ambiguous wonders, performed by the priests, and ma- 
 gicians of paganism, which certain writers have affected to 
 bring into competition with them, there are strong and mark- 
 ed distinctions which ought to be particularly observed, and 
 which are sufficient to demonstrate the one to be from Heav- 
 en, the other to be only the spurious growth of human arti- 
 fice and corruption. 
 
 These pretended prodigies were commonly exhibited io 
 some sequestered place where the operators had the oppor- 
 tunity of preparing whatever means of deception were neces- 
 sary for imposing on the senses. Often they were exhibited 
 in the recesses of their temples in the midst of glooms ren- 
 dered awful by superstition, and of fearful images presented 
 to an imagination aheady almost crazed by terror, which de- 
 prived the miserable subject of their art of all power of 
 judging rationally of the scenes before him. Nothing was 
 done openly and in public, and exposed to the fair and dis- 
 passionate examination of the senies of all men. Their pro- 
 
142 
 
 digics were works of darkness, secluded from the observa- 
 tion of llie world, performed only on rare occasions, and af- 
 ter much artful preparation.* The miracles of our blessed 
 Saviour, on the other hand, were the ordinary and familiar 
 actions of hia Ufe. Nothing, as he says himself, was done 
 in secret. But all his wonderful works were performed on 
 such subjects as no slight of hand, no apparatus for deceiv- 
 ing the senses could reach : such as healing the sick, open- 
 ing the eyes of the blind, restoring the paralytic to (heir na- 
 tural powers, assuaging the winds and the waves, and rais- 
 ing the dead. Their wonders were employed lo amuse the 
 popular credulity, and to confirm among the ignorant an old 
 Buperstilion by the strange narrations which the dupes oJ the 
 imposture afterwards disseminated among the people. They 
 were followed by no other consequence. But the works of 
 Jesus Christ, by powerfully seizing on the human mind, have 
 been followed by the most important revolution which has 
 ever taken place in the moral world, 
 
 OF SUPPOSITITIOUS SUPERNATURAL POWERS. 
 
 The pretended powers which, in various countries, have 
 been exhibited by magicians, and sorcerers, and other men 
 
 * This was the case in several places in Greece, but particularly in the tera- 
 'pie and cave of Trophonius, An interesting account of somp of the scenes of im- 
 mature exhibited in that celebrated cavern of superstition will be found in the 
 travels of Anaeharsis the younger through Greeee, by the AbbS Barthelemy, 
 
143 
 
 of ih&t class, have, by (he enemies of the christian revela^ 
 tiuri, liinii) 8e( in oppusiiion to the miracles ot our Saviour^ 
 a« JieiDg eiiiiiied to equal authority. By this arlifice, plac- 
 ing luipiwture and tnilh on the same ground, they endeav- 
 our lo weiken, and, at length, to desti oy the influence of 
 the lalierover ihe human mind. Tiie scriptures, ihey say, 
 pbce them on an equal footing, by ascribing the works of 
 borh to supernatural causes; or making both equally the ef- 
 fects of sojiie siecret art. If they are derived from supernat- 
 ural influence, by what criterion, let me ask, shall we distin- 
 guish the demoniacal from the divine ? A just subject of 
 regret it i^, that many christian writers have given too much 
 countenance to thi^ species of objection, by attributing to 
 demons, and malignant spirits, occasionally, certain mijacu- 
 lous puwers, and the prescient faculty of predicting future 
 events. In order to remove the foundation of this objection 
 in which unbelievers have triumphed, I would lay it down 
 as a maxim necessary, to the support of true religion, that 
 miracles are exclusively reserved to be the proofs of divine 
 revelation, and can never be performed by any but the best 
 of beings, and for the most wise, and beneficent ends. The 
 ascription of supernatural powers over the established order 
 of the universe, to infernal or demoniacal agents is equally 
 contrary to reason, to experience, and to the sacred scrip- 
 tures, which last, however, have been unhappily misinter- 
 preted to support thin daogeroua error. 
 
144 
 
 This subject I have already treated in another work* to 
 which 1 beg leave to refer the reader who may think the 
 question worthy their further investigation. The decision of 
 our Saviour upon it appears to me definitive when he thus ap- 
 peals to the evidence of his own divine mission. — The works 
 which the Father hath given me to finish^ the same works 
 that I do bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent mc* 
 If I do not the works of my Fnther, believe me not. 
 
 The next source of the direct evidence for our holy rell» 
 gion is that derived from the fulfilment of prophecy. But, 
 as I have omitted a discussion concerning demoniacal pow- 
 ers, and the false miracles supposed to be drawn from that 
 principle, that I might avoid swelling this volume to too large 
 a size, I shall, for the same reason, omitting the extensive de- 
 tails which would naturally arise out of the accomphshment 
 of all the predictions of the sacred scriptures, confine my- 
 self only to two subjects, the destruction of the Jewish na- 
 tion, — and the appearance and character of the Messiah^ the 
 predictions concerning which are so astonishing, and their ac- 
 complishment so particular and complete, that they may 
 reasonably be esteemed in the room of all for producing en- 
 tire conviction in the inquisitive, candid, and pious mind. 
 
 * Lectures on the evidences of religion to the Senior Class in the College of 
 New-Jersey. 
 
145 
 
 Sufl[°er me, then, to direct the attention of the reader, in 
 the first place, to that most wonderful prediction concerning 
 the fate and destinies of the nation of Israel, uttered by Mo- 
 ses, their divine legislator, near the close of his life. 
 
 THE PROPHECY OF MOSES CONCERNING THE FINAL DE- 
 STRUCTION OF THE JEWISH NATION. 
 
 At that period when the devout and pious mind often be- 
 comes prophetic, the illapse of the divine Spirit on him ap- 
 pears to have been unusually clear and strong. After pro- 
 posing to this people the highest motives to duty, and mul- 
 tiplying to them the most gracious promises of prosperity if 
 they should continue obedient to the laws which God had 
 given them by him, he carries his view far forward into fu- 
 ture ages, and, foreseeing the general defection of the nation 
 from the true spirit of their religion, he denounces the most 
 fearful judgments of heaven upon their disobedience and im- 
 piety. And then, tracing their destinies to the end of time, 
 he delineates them with such clearness and circumstantial ex- 
 actness, that, if we may judge of the future by the past for 
 mope than three thousand years, he seems to present a his- 
 tory rather than a prophecy. So terrible are these denun- 
 ciations that nothing but the strongest sense of duty, and the 
 most submissive obedience to the command of God, could 
 have extorted them from the legislator, and father of his peo^ 
 
 pie : and so peculiar are these destines that nothing but that 
 19 
 
14-6 
 
 bfinife prescience, which embraces all things, from the be- 
 ginning to the end, under one view, could have declared 
 them so many ages before they existed. 
 
 The prophecy to which I refer is contained in the twenty- 
 eighth and thirtieth chapters of the book of Deuteronomy* 
 I shall recite only such portions of it as are necessary to the 
 object of the present lecture, which is to point out the final 
 extinction of the civil government, and national existence of 
 the Jews ; the miseries which accompanied their political 
 death ; and their consequent, and confinued dispersion among 
 all the nations of the world. " The Lord shall bring a na- 
 tion against thee from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift 
 as the eagle that ilieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not 
 understand ; a nation of fierce countenance, which shall not 
 regard the person of the old, nor show favour to the young.^ 
 And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high 
 and fenced walls come down wherein thou trustedst, through- 
 out all thy land. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own 
 body, the flesh of thy sons, and of thy daughters in the siege^ 
 and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall distress 
 thee ; so that the man who is tender among you, and very 
 delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward 
 the wife of his bosom, and toward the reninant of the chil- 
 dren that he shall leave ; so that he shall not give to any of 
 
 * &c. Gh. 23. V. 52, 
 
ur 
 
 them of the flesli of his children which he shall eat ; because 
 he shall have nothing left him in the siege, and in the strait* 
 ness wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy 
 gates. The tender and delicate woman among you, who 
 Would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the 
 .ground for delicafeness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil 
 toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and 
 toward her daughter, and toward her young int\»nt, even to- 
 ward her children which she shall bear : for she shall eat 
 them for want of all things, secretly, in the siege and strait- 
 ness wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy 
 gates.* And it shall come to pass that ye shall be plucked 
 from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. And the 
 Lord shall scatter thee among all people from one end of 
 the earth, even to tlie otiier. And among these nations shalt 
 Ihou find no ease ; neither shall the sole of thy foot have 
 rest.f And it shall come to pass, when all these things are 
 come upon thee, the blessing, and the curse, which I have 
 Bet before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all 
 the nations whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee, and 
 shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice 
 according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy 
 children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul ; that 
 then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and hav« 
 
 * Ch. 28. V. 63. ^c. t Cb. 30. v. 1-3, 
 
/ 
 
 148 
 
 (Compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from 
 all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath scattered 
 thee.'* 
 
 Every thing in this prophecy is astonishing ; and if we 
 seriously and attentively consider it in all its parts, it carries 
 with it irrefragable evidence of its having been dictated by 
 the omniscient Spirit of God. The miniiteGess and accu- 
 racy of the detail is hardly exceeded by the history of the 
 events. The events themselves are so singular and unex- 
 ampled, that a pretended prophet, vending only probable 
 conjectures, or ambiguous oracles, for prophecy, never 
 would have conceived, or ventured to utter them. And if 
 he had been so bold, there are infinite chances against one 
 that words thrown out in random gii^sses should never coin- 
 cide with the current of future history. That a nation, in 
 a course of time, should degenerate from her primitive man- 
 ners, and, at length, be subjugated by some powerful con- 
 queror, is an event so much in the order of nature, that it 
 requires no great portion of political sagacity to predict it 
 in general terms. But who could foresee at so great a dis- 
 tance, that the Jews would perish precisely in such a man- 
 ner; that their sieges would be so dreadful ; that the rem- 
 nant, who should escape the famine and the sword, should 
 be dispersed through all nations, where, renewing their num- 
 bers, they should still continue, a distinct people, and capa- 
 ble, on their repentance, of being again restored to a national 
 
14« 
 
 and independent state in their own land ? This is surelj the 
 foresight of inspiration. 
 
 The people of Israel were under a peculiar providence. 
 While they continued obedient to the law of God given them 
 by Moses, they enjoyed distinguished temporal happiness 
 and prosperity. But their departures from the law of their 
 God, their idolatries, and their general defection to immoral- 
 ity and impiety were always punished with marked and severe 
 chastisements. And it was announced to them that, when 
 these temporary inflictions should fail to produce the feflfectual 
 correction and reformation of their manners, the judgments of 
 heaven should fall upon them with more dreadful severity; 
 that, after suffering all the most grievous calamities of war, the 
 miserable remnants of the sword should be exiled from their 
 desolated country, and scattered as vagabonds over the whole 
 earth, being subjected to every privation and indignity, till 
 the appointed period, for the expiation of their sins, should 
 bring them to repentance, and open the way for their resto- 
 ration to their own land. 
 
 Let us now see how literally these denunciations have been 
 verified ; especially, at two great epochas, the Babylonish 
 captivity ; and the destruction of Jerusalem, and dispersion 
 of the Jews, under the Roman emperor Vespasian. In the 
 siege which preceded both the one captivity, and the other, 
 this people suffered almost unheard of calamities. As their 
 
150 
 
 privilesfes had been greater than those of other nations, their 
 iniquities seeru to have risen in the same proportion. Having 
 rejected with scorn the warnings of those divine messen- 
 gers sent to them by God, they appear to have been aban- 
 doned by \um to an infatuated mind, agitated l3y the most fe- 
 rocious passions. Their miseries, instead of hnn>bling their 
 pride, or cahning their madness, ren(iered Ihem only more fu- 
 rious ; and their enemies them elves, in the midst of fire and 
 •slaughter, sometimes loolied on theui with commiseration and 
 astonishment as a people marked out for the peculiar ven- 
 geance of heaven. And (he recital of their sufferings, parti- 
 cularly in the destruction of their city by the Romans,* which 
 geeras to have been chiefly in the view of their prophetic 
 legislator, is perhaps witliout a parallel in the history of hu- 
 man misery. 
 
 And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, continues the 
 prophecy, until thy high and fenced walls come down 
 wherein thou tnistedst, througliout all thy land. And it de- 
 serves to be remarked of the Jewish nation, more, perhaps, 
 than of any other, that their calamities have been the conse* 
 
 * The description of the conquering nation carries in it a striking application 
 to the Romans. The Lord xhall bring a nation against Oiee from afar, from the 
 END OF TH e EARTH, OS swift OS ail eugU tkatflieth ; a nation rvhose tongce thou shall 
 not' UNDERSTAND, &c. The language of Chaldea was not so unintellible to the 
 Hebrews as that of the Romans j nor was Babylon so distant from Jerusalem as 
 Rome. 
 
151 
 
 qaencf^, not so much of unfortunate conflicts in the open field, 
 as of desj)eiale and disastrous sieges, in which, the greater 
 portion of the people, being shut up within their walls, suf- 
 fercil whatever famine and civil discord, inflamed by the 
 most furious and fanatical passions, not less than the sword of 
 the enemy, could inflict upon the most miserable of mankind. 
 The history of the miseries which they suffered in the re- 
 spective sieges is calculated to inspire us with horror, and 
 perfectly accords with the strong painting of the prophecy. 
 Passing over the destruction of their city, and the captivity 
 of their nation 1)y Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, I shall 
 only present you with a brief sketch of their last overthrow, 
 the most fearful scene of their calamities, in the famous siege 
 of Jerusalem by Titus, the son, and lieutenant of Vespasian. 
 The materials of this representation I draw entirely from 
 Josephus, himself a Jew, and cotemporary with the transac- 
 tions which he relates, who could have no motive to exagger- 
 ate the madness, and the atrocious passions of his own coun^- 
 try men. 
 
 In the various towns of Judea besieged and taken by 
 the Romans during this desolating and exterminating war, 
 theii furious and exasperated soldiers cut ofT the whole pop- 
 ulation without respecting either age or sex. They show- 
 ed themselves, in the words of Moses, to be a nation of a 
 fierce countenanre, rendered more ferocious by the fury with 
 which they were opposed, who regarded not the person of 
 
152 
 
 the oldy nor showed favour to the young. But it was in the 
 siege of Jerusalem itself that the uieasure of the calamities of 
 the Jews became full Pressed from without by all the arts 
 of war, and cut off entirely from supplies of provisions, it was 
 difficult to say whether hunger, or the sword destroyed the 
 greater numbers. Their distresses were doubly aggravated 
 by their own internal dissentions. Divided into most violent 
 factions by ambitious or enthusiastic leaders, they often fill- 
 ed the streets of Jerusalem with mutual slaughter. Often 
 they only suspended their own conflicts for a short season to 
 run to their walls to resist the assaults of the common enemy , 
 and returned from repulsing them to butcher one another. 
 It seemed as i^ heaven had smitten the murderers of the Sa- 
 viour of the world with a desperate phrenzy, and given them 
 up to the dominion of the most diabolical passions. In the 
 midst of all these horrors, famine presents us with a spectacle 
 still more horrible, when we see them, driven by the rage of 
 hunger, with cannibal appetite, to devour one another, and 
 the living feeding on those who had died of disease, or of 
 wounds. Even mothers, quenching all the sentiments of na- 
 ture, devoured their own children, and grudging to their 
 husbands, and their other children a share in this dreadful 
 repast, they endeavoured, after having satisfied the present 
 cravings of their own hunger, to conceal the remaining frag- 
 ments from the voracious rapacity of the rest of the family, 
 reserving them as a precious morsel against another time. 
 With what fearful accuracy has the prediction of Moses been 
 
153 
 
 fulfilled ! " And thou slialt eat the fruit of thine own body, 
 the flesh of thy sons, and thy daughters, in the siege, and in 
 the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall distress Ihee ; 
 so that the man who is tender among you and very delicate,*' 
 his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife 
 of his bosom, and toward the remnant of the children that 
 he shall leave, so that he shall not give to any of tliem of 
 the flesh of his children which he shall eat. The tender 
 and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to 
 set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness, and 
 tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her 
 bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, and 
 toward her young infant, even toward her children that she 
 shall bear ; for she shall eat them for want of all things, se- 
 cretly, in the siege." 
 
 One example, out of many of the same kind, let me pro- 
 duce to show the frantic despair with which this devoted 
 people hastened their own destruction. After the storming 
 of Jerusalem, a wretched remnant of the citizens sought ref- 
 uge in the castle of Massada : but being pressed by the Ro- 
 mans, they, at the instigation of one of their leaders, first 
 murdered their wives and children : they then chose by lot 
 
 * That is, who has been most softly and luxuriously bred, and accustomed to 
 the choicest viands, he shall now be reduced to these wretched and horrible 
 meals. And even of these he shall grudge the smallest share to those who were 
 ince most dear to hitn, when the furious raj^e of hnnjer had not perverted all his 
 ^ertions. 
 
 20 
 
154 
 
 ten who should murder all the rest ; after which one of the 
 ten was chosen to murder the other nine ; who, when he had 
 executed this dreadful oflSce, slabbed himself. In this man- 
 ner perished nine hundred and sixty persons in this single 
 fortress.*' And, in the whole war there were destroyed by 
 the Romans, by famine, and by their own hands, upwards 
 of twelve hundred thousand persons, besides nearly one hun- 
 dred thousand who were taken prisoners and sold for slaves,^ 
 Of these prisoners so little care was taken, that eleven thou- 
 sand was literally starved to death ; and, of the reraaindei-j 
 the greater portion were sent as slaves to Egypt, agreeably 
 to another part of the same prophecy : " And the Lord shall 
 bring thee into Egypt with ships^ and there ye shall be sold 
 to 3'our enemies for bond men, and band women ; and no 
 man shall buy you. "J In such numbers shall you be brought 
 to the market, that purchasers, at length, will no longer be 
 found. 
 
 * Jos. de. bell. Jud. lib. 7. cap. 8, 9. 
 
 f Accurately, according to Josephus, the dead were 1,240,490 ; and the prisoa- 
 ers 99,200. 
 
 X Ch. 28. V. 63. The Lord shall bring thee into Egypt nith ships. The people 
 cf Israel came out of Egypt by the isthmus of Suez, and the desert. And by that 
 route they usually travelled and traded to that country. But it was more conve- 
 nient for the Romans to put their numerous slaves on board the ships belonging tc 
 their fleet, or on board Pheniciau meichant vessel:?, to transport them into Egypt. 
 As this was a mode of communication rot practised in the time of Moses, and 
 commerce was in a great measure interdicted to the Israelites by their institutions^, 
 this circumstance renders this part of the propecy tlie more surprising, and worthy 
 c\ir attention .- that tkey should come, into Egypt in ihips. 
 
155 
 
 So conformable was this disastrous termination of the 
 Jewish state, and destruction of the holy city, to the pre- 
 dictions both of Moses, and of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ : For, then, there shall be great tribulation, saith 
 Christ, " such as was not from the beginning of the world to 
 (his time, no nor ever shall be ; and except those days should 
 be shortened, there should no flesh be saved,"* 
 
 Let us pursue the prophecy farther : " And it shall come 
 to pass that ye shall be plucked from off the land whither 
 thou goest to possess it. And the Lord shall scatter thee 
 among all people, from one end of the earth even to the 
 other. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, 
 neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest. Here is a new 
 series of wonders. That a nation should be conquered, 
 that it should be reduced to subjection, that it should be 
 wholly exterminated by some barbarous conqueror, would 
 Bot be so extraordinary ; because the history of the world 
 affords numerous examples of similar events. But, that a 
 whole people should be plucked from off their land, should 
 be dispersed in broken fragments through all the nations of 
 the world, and yet neither be blended with those nations, 
 iwr become extinct, is a catastrophe so singular, a state so 
 unprecedented, that a prophet who was not uttering a pre- 
 
 * Mat. xxu- 21 , 22. See the pradiction of our Saviour beautifully illuBtrated hp 
 fcisbop Porieas in his lecture upon this chapter. 
 
lott 
 
 diction dictated by the divine Spirit, an historian who 
 should have been only hazarding a conjecture or a random 
 oracle, never would have thought of one which no fact in 
 history ever could have suggested, which no experience of 
 the revolutions of nations ever could have warranted. If, in 
 the infinite combinations of the operations of providence, an 
 oracle, in a long course of time, might accidentally hit upon 
 one corresponding event, is it within the compass of possi- 
 bility that either random conjecture, or the most sagacious 
 buman foresight, should be able to foretel, and accurately to 
 point out, such a united series of facts, continued down 
 through such a long succession of ages ? The man, who can 
 receive this as either probable or possible, must have a great 
 facility of believing indeed. Do we not, then, see the Jew- 
 ish nation plucked from off their own land ? Do we not see 
 them scattered among all people from one end of the earth 
 even unto the other .^ And is it not true that, among all these 
 nations they find no ease ; neither is there rest for the sole 
 of their foot ? Perpetually they have been persecuted, in- 
 sulted, pillaged, and refused all the common privileges of 
 citizenship. In every country we have seen them alter- 
 nately banished and recalled ; and recalled only to be pillag- 
 ed, or banished again. The whole history of that afflicted 
 people since their dispersion confirms the words of their 
 great prophet : that they should become an astonishment^ 
 a proverb, and a byeword among all nations J'^' Thai their 
 
 ^ Deut xxviii. 37. 
 
157 
 
 plagues should he wonderful, even great j)?a^i/£.s' and of 
 long continuance.'^ 
 
 A circumstance not a little singular, which has contribut- 
 ed more than all others both to their dispersion, and to the 
 injuries which they have suffered, is that, in almost all coun- 
 tries, thej have been denied the privilege of holding landed 
 property. This has induced a necessity, contrary to the 
 original habits of the nation, to turn their attention to com- 
 merce, and to the discount, and exchange of money in differ- 
 ent forms. Hence has resulted the further necessity of dis- 
 tributing them as traders, and brokers or bankers, into vari- 
 ous nations. Their wealth, accumulated by these means, 
 excited both the envy of the people, and the avarice of their 
 rulers, and pointed tliem out as an easy prey to violent and 
 arbitrary princes, whenever the public coffers were empty. 
 The extreme uncertainty of their state tempted them to de- 
 mand usurious interest in their contracts for money lending. 
 Hence the public hatred, in every country was inflamed 
 against them, and justified, in the public esteem, the rapaci- 
 ty and violence of the princes who oppressed them. A thou- 
 sand wicked and malicious tales were fabricated against 
 them. A thousand crimes were imputed to them ; and 
 they were often given up to the fanatical rage of the popu- 
 lace. Thus has their character been in a great measure for- 
 med by their state, and their persecutions have often sprung 
 
 * Deut. Y. 69, 
 
158 
 
 out of iheir character. This, together with the barbarous su- 
 perstitions and the barbarous forms of civil government which, 
 for many ages disgraced Europe, completed their misery. 
 
 On a review of this history, may I not justly demand 
 r^^'ain, who could have foreseen national characteristics, and 
 situations so uncommon, so singular : circuaistances so vari- 
 ous and complicated, destined to take place in snch remote 
 ages, but the Spirit of God alone ? In order to evade the al- 
 most irresistible evidence of this conclusion, we have seen 
 infidel writers resort lo the ridiculous subterfuge of saying 
 (hat the verification of the prediction is (o be ascribed to the 
 christians who have ingeniously contrived to give authentici- 
 ty to their o.vn scriptures, by promoting the fulfilment of 
 their prophecies. But have not these prophecies been ful- 
 filled under the dominion of pagan and mahometan nations, 
 as well as of the christian ? If the allegation, however, were 
 well founded, whence could Moses have foreseen the exis- 
 tence of the christian religion, and the interest which the 
 christians, as a sect, would have in giving effect to his own 
 prophecy ? Whence could he have foreseen those commer- 
 cial, polilical, moral, and religious institutions, which, by 
 their influence on the character of the nations who should 
 embrace Christianity, would thus cruelly affect the condition 
 of the Jews ? Surely, if men were not blinded by their pre- 
 judices, they would see that the wonder here, is not in the 
 least diminished by this absurd suppositiono 
 
159 
 
 With equal folly and ignorance it has been alleged that 
 this prediction was composed by Ezra, or some of his coun- 
 trymen, after the return of the Jews from the Babylonish 
 captivity ; that it has a relation solely to that event ; and 
 that hence alone we must account for the very circumsfan* 
 tial narration of several particulars during the siege, and the 
 exact dehneation of the consequent state of the action. 
 
 Men who undertake to write and pronounce upon the sub- 
 ject of religion, without the trouble of candidly inquiring in- 
 to its truth, seem to think themselves entitled to make, with- 
 out shame or compunction, the most extravagant and improb- 
 able assertions. This allegation is demonstrated to be utter- 
 ly impossible by reference only to the Samaritan copy of the 
 pentateuch.* This ancient book, which contains the whole 
 
 * Ten tribes of the people of Israel withdrew themselves from the govern- 
 ment of the house of Solomon under the reign of Rehoboam In their sepa- 
 ration they still professed to adhere to the law of Moses, which had been 
 common to the whole nation. The five books, therefore, which were written 
 by him, and which contained his wliole law, they preserved with no less veo- 
 cration than did the Jews. When tlie ten tribes were led into captivity by 
 the kings of Babylon, they were replaced by a new and mixed race called 
 Samaritans, from the name of their capital city Samaria. These people re- 
 Bidint; in the land of Israel, and mixing with the remnant of it^ former in- 
 habitants, still received the law of Moses as Uicir civil and reli ious code; 
 but admitted none of the writings of the Jewish prophets. Perpetual hatreds, 
 and a most hostile spirit, always existed between the revolted trib s first, and 
 afterwards the Samaritans, and the people of the Jews. Both nations pre- 
 served the law of Moses with the same sacredness. The langiiage is the same. 
 But the Jewish copy of the law is written in the Clialdee character, which 
 became familiar to the Jews during their captivity at Babylon ; the Samaritan 
 i? written in the old Hebrew, or Pheuician letter, which was comuion to ibt. 
 
160 
 
 law of Moses, was continually read in the religions assem- 
 blies of that people, so hostile to the Jews, during a period 
 of four hundred jears anterior to the capture of Jerusalem 
 by the king of Babylon, and still longer before the age of 
 Ezra, and the copy of the scriptures collected by that emi- 
 nent scribe. Here, then, is a copy of the iMosaic Law, re- 
 tained in the hands of rivals and of enemies, which renders 
 it of the more unsuspected credit, that demonstrates the ex- 
 istence of the prophecy several centuries before the era of 
 the Babylonish captivity. But the prophecy contains the 
 evidence within itself that its principal reference is to the Ro- 
 man conquest, and to the state of the Jews since that period, 
 it is a miracle, then, continually presented to your eyes : it 
 is a prophecy every day fulfilling in your sight after a lapse 
 of more than three thousand years. 
 
 PROPHECIES CONCERNING THE MESSIAH. 
 
 No evidence for the truth of the Christian revelation, de- 
 rived from the predictions of the holy scriptures, appears to 
 me more clear and strong than that which results from that 
 stream of prophecy concerning a future Messiah ; which. 
 
 ahole nation before the captivity. This is that which is called the Samari- 
 ♦aa pentateuch. And this old letter, in which the law is preserved by them, 
 is another proof of the antiquity of the Samaritan copy. It is doubtless the 
 letter which Moses himself used, and communicated to the people of Israel. 
 And the Jews changed it, in their copies of the law after the captivity, for 
 the Chaldee, only because the latter, by a long residence in Babylon, had 
 become more familiar to them. 
 
161 
 
 eoramencing with the earliest pencils of time, terminates, at 
 length, in Jesus Christ. We trace it from Adam, in that 
 mystical promise, the seed of the woman shall bruise the set' 
 penVs heady down through the line of patriarchs and prophets 
 to the time o( Christ himself, in whom all the prophecies, and 
 types of the ancient dispensations have been completed, and 
 the expectations of the whole world fulfilled. For, it is a 
 circumstance particularly deserving your attention, that there 
 was no ci\ilized nation of antiquity, in which were not found 
 traditions concerning a divine personage who should appear 
 upon earth to teach men the true knowledge of God, their 
 duties, and their hopes, and to restore the reign of righteous- 
 ness and peace to the world afflicted with miseries and 
 crimes. This was a natural consequence of the piety and 
 prophetic character of the father of the race after the deluge. 
 Instructing his children, who were destined to be the found- 
 ers of the future nations of the world, in the principles of 
 piety and virtue, he would be especially solicitous to instil 
 into their minds this sublime and blessed hope, which was 
 given by God as the consolation of man in the depth of hi3 
 affliction after the fall. If the Mosaic history of the world 
 be true, if Adam, after his fall, received this consolatory 
 promise ; and if Noah were a good man, and a prophet ;* 
 
 *" From t^ie pious and prophetic character ascrihod to Noah in the sacrod writ* 
 ings, we ought to expect among his nsar descendants, the founderf; of the variow 
 nations of the world, many good men, well instructed in the principles of religion 
 3.S far as they were kaown to bim, aud io those traditionary jpredictious wbi<A 
 
 31 
 
16 J 
 
 then ought we to expect to find this original prediction and 
 promise, wilh more or less clearness, among the traditions of 
 all the primitive nations of mankind ; and, finding it among 
 all nations, as we do, it may justly be considered as an abso- 
 lute verification of the account of Moses, and of the existence 
 of this prophecy from the beginning ; for we can hardly con- 
 ceive of any other mode in which it could have been so uni- 
 rersally diffused. It received further elucidation and exten- 
 sion, in the progress of time, by succeeding patriarchs and 
 prophets. The knowledge of it became more definite by 
 the dispersion of the Jewish nation, who carried their sacred 
 writings wrth them in all their wanderings. At length the 
 precise period, at which the Messiah should appear, became 
 fixed and settled in prophecy. And, at the moment that his 
 birth was announced, the world was waiting for the exeni 
 with anxious and universal expectation. The harmonious 
 
 had been imparted either to himself, or to antecedent patriarchs and prophets^ 
 These, of course, would be transmitted to their posterity, and, for several gene- 
 rations, perhaps, in a considerable degree of purity. But, at length, becoming 
 corrupted, and blended wi-thraany fables, and having descended i^oiarfrom their 
 source that tlreir true origin was in a great measure forgotten, or in danger of be- 
 ing so, it is reasonable to beliei'ethat some good men, in different nations, in or- 
 der to prevent them from utterly falling into oblivion ; or some cunning and am- 
 bitious men, that they might themselves pa?s for prophets, or be acknowledged as 
 lawgivers divinely instructed, would commit them to writing, mixing with theiu 
 other matter connected with civil policy, or religion, and giving them a form ac- 
 cording to the genius and views of the authors. Hence, perhaps, the origin of the 
 sibylline verses, or oracles at Rome, and of other similar works to which a sacred 
 veneration was paid in various countries of antiquity. And hence the resemblance 
 of these traditions in many respects to one another, and to the sacred scriptures. 
 It is Dot improbable that these traditions might have afterwards received greater 
 clearness and precision from the sacred writings, which were dispersed, along witfe 
 
163 
 
 aause of Virgil has presented to us the character of the cv 
 pected Prince and Saviour, drawn from tradition, and has ex- 
 hibited the general hope and solicitude of the nations for his 
 appearance at tftat time,* in an exquisite poem, and almost 
 in prophetic numbers. f " The last age, says he, is at lenjj^th 
 arrived, predicfed by the prophetess of Cumse. The mighty 
 order of ages begins to circle anew. Justice returns to the 
 earth, and (he happy reign of Saturn ; and from heaven de- 
 scends a new, and divine offspring. Soon shall the great 
 months begin to revolve ; and every vestige of our former 
 ctimes shall be effaced : thus shall the earth be redeemed 
 from (he distressing causes of perpetual fear. He shall par- 
 
 tVe people of Israel and Judea, after their respective captivities, tlircuc^h all the 
 nations of the East. To tfie lioly records tiie name of Daniel would naturally 
 give great authority, wlio, during many years, directed all the principal operations 
 of the vast empires of Babylon, and Persia, which extended over the greater part 
 of the Asiatic continent. 
 
 * T!ip time at which this great poet wrote was but a few years before the 
 birth of Christ. 
 
 f Ultima Cumaei venit jam carminis aetas; 
 
 Magnus abintegro seclorum na^citur ordo. 
 
 Jem redit et V^irgoj redeunt Saturnia regna; ^ 
 
 Jam nova progenies ccelo dimittitur alto. 
 
 Incipient ma2;ni procedere menses, 
 
 Te duce, siqui maneut sceleris vestigia nostri, 
 Irrita perpetua solvent formidine terras. 
 
 Ille deum vitara accipiet, 
 
 Pacatumque reget patriis virtutibus orbera. 
 Aggredere O magnos, aderit jam tempus honoree, 
 Cara deQm soholes ! magnum Jovis incrementum ! 
 
 The whole eclouge is well known to have been intended as a complimeiit 
 to PoUio'^ son, but it ig equally well known to be borrowed from a prevalent opin- 
 . on or tradition. 
 
164 
 
 take of the life of gods. And he shall rule the peaceful world 
 with his Father's virtues. The time is now at hand. Enter 
 on thy mighty honours, dear offspring of the gods ! O son 
 of supreme Jove !'* What a resemblance do we perceive in 
 these strains of the Roman poet, to those of a Hebrew pro- 
 phet ! In the same spirit proceeds the whole of this admi- 
 rable poem, which might be esteemed an almost Jiteral trans- 
 lation of many of the most beautiful passages in the prophet 
 Isaiah. And it is, indeed, far from being improbable that 
 Virgil was acquainted with the prophetic scriptures, as they 
 had, long before this period, been translated into the polite 
 and universal language of the Greeks. Thus much, at least, 
 appears to be certain, that an acquaintance with the writings 
 of the Jews, seems to have excited, or renewed the attention 
 of mankind to this great event as being near at hand, a vague 
 expectation of which had been long nourished by the ancient 
 traditions of their respective countries. Suetonius and Taci- 
 tus, whose historical accuracy and judgment have placed 
 them in the very first rank of historians, both inform us, " that 
 there prevailed over the whole East, an ancient and fixed 
 opinion, that there should, at that time, arise a person out of 
 Judea, who should obtain the dominion of the world."* They 
 
 * Neither the Pagans, nor the great body even of the Jewish nation, could 
 easily form just conceptions of the nature of that spiritual kingdom which the 
 Son of God was coining to establish among men; they therefore interpreted 
 the figurative language in which it was described in their traditions, and pro- 
 phecies, and by their respective poets, of such temporal power, glory, and 
 
165 
 
 say, indeed, that popular flallery, or credulity, applied these 
 traditionary oracles to the Roman emperor Vespasian, who 
 had been raised to the euipire by the eastern legions, about 
 the time that he engaged in the Jewish wars. But common 
 sense must convince every thinking man, that expectations so 
 universal, founded on predictions which had been transmit- 
 ted down through ages, always pointing to the same period, 
 and to a divine personage of the most sublime character, who 
 should appear upon earth for the destruction of vice, and the 
 establishment of righteousness, must have had a different ori- 
 gin from an accidental rumour generated, one knows not how, 
 and passing away with the events of the day ; and a very 
 different object from Vespasian, who had nothing to distin- 
 guish him from so many other soldiers of fortune who had 
 been raised from the ranks to the imperial purple. 
 
 Recent researches into the history and antiquities of most 
 of the eastern nations, and particularly of Persia, India, and 
 China, have proved that similar traditions, to those which 
 Virgil has shown us to have prevailed in the Roman empire, 
 have existed among them from immemorial time. 
 
 In these facts we have an extraordinary moral phenome- 
 non presented to our reflections, which carries in itself no 
 
 empire, as were adapted to the grossness of their imaginations. The imagery, 
 however, which they employed, ought to have led their minds to purer aod 
 sublimer views. 
 
166 
 
 Stnail degree of evidence, that the traditions relative to a fu* 
 tyre divine teacher, and legislator to come info the wo: Id 
 were founded in original prophecj ; and that all the prophe- 
 cies of the holy scriptures relating to this object were actual 
 inspirations from Heaven, and had their full completion in our 
 Lord Jesus Christ. For before the birth of Christ all na- 
 tions had their traditions, and their predictions concerning 
 such a divine messenger as the scriptures have described, 
 and held out to the hopes of mankind, through all the line of 
 their patriarchs and prophets, from the beginning of the 
 world. These prophecies, and these traditions all pointed 
 nearly to the same country, and to the same period. Accord- 
 ingly at that period, and in that country, when expectation, 
 nursed by the belief of ages, was all alive, arose a man claim- 
 ing his birth from Heaven, who united in himself all the char- 
 acters ascribed in ancient prophecy to the future Messiah. 
 He has^ taught mankind the purest, and sublimest notions of 
 *God ; he has established among his disciples the most holy 
 and rational worship of the Supreme Being, instead of those 
 grovelling and corrupted superstitions which had before en- 
 slaved the greater portion of the world ; he has proclaimed 
 to the universe the most perfect law of morals ; he has 
 brought life and immortality to light, confirming it by his own 
 resurrection, after having submitted to death, as he declared, 
 for the sins of the world : and, certainly, his doctrines have 
 produced the greatest and happiest revolution which has 
 ever taken place in the moral ideas, and the manners of man- 
 
167 
 
 kind. And, since his appearance, we see that those expec- 
 tations, which before were so ardent and so universal, have 
 every where ceased ; for, to believers, they have been com- 
 pletely realized, and, to all others, if Jesus Christ is not the 
 divine messenger and prince who was to come, there is no 
 longer any foundation on which they could be supported. 
 Here then is a mighfy stream of prophecy commencing with 
 the history of the world itself, and continued down through 
 sccessive ages tQ the era of Christ, which carries in its 
 commencement, its extent, its progress, and its termination, 
 shall 1 not say, infallible signatures of divine truth. Here 
 we behold an emanation of prophetic light darting its distant 
 rays upon this glorious object from the beginning of time. 
 At first, indeed, it appears faint and feeble like the dawn 
 when it begins to break upon the darkness of the night ; but, 
 as the sun of righteousness approaches to his rising, we see 
 it continually becoming more luminous and distinct. At 
 length, we behold this spiritual sun appearing in all his glory in 
 the heavens, and divine truth beaming in its full lustre on the 
 nations. 
 
 The holy prophets have not only announced a future Mes- 
 siah to the world, who should derive his birth immediately 
 from Heaven, but, in the progress of that illuminatirn which 
 gradually arose with increasing brightness upon the ancient 
 church, they were enabled at last to delineate his character, 
 as well as to foretel the time of his appearance upon the 
 
168 
 
 earth, with such exactness, and with such dlsllnguishing 
 traits, as necessarilj to add great, not to saj invincible au- 
 thority to their predictions. It is not my design to trace out 
 the progressive stages of prophetic light, under the ancient 
 dispensations of grace, in the figurative promise given to 
 Adam ; in the symbolic and practical revelation made to 
 Abraham in the command to sacrifice his son on Mount Mo- 
 riah ; or in the analogy by which Moses instructed the 
 church of Israel : A prophet shall the Lord your God raise 
 up to you, like unto me ; him shall ye hear. These, and a 
 thousand other gradual developments of his character, and 
 offices, I shall pass over, to come at once to that ultimate de- 
 gree of illumination which God was pleased to afiford the an- 
 cient church, when the Mosaic dispensation was approaching 
 towards a close. Then we find, especially in the prophet 
 Isaiah, such striking delineations of the mediatorial character 
 of Christ, so extraordinary, and yet so accurate and just, as 
 must affect with mingled wonder and devotion, every reflect- 
 ing, and candid inquirer after truth. In the Messiah, as he 
 appears exhibited by the Spirit which animated the prophets, 
 are united such opposite extremes of grandeur and humility, 
 of omnipotence and weakness, of celestial perfection and hu- 
 man infirmity, as men, writing from the impulse merely of 
 their own minds, whether we suppose them inflamed with en- 
 thusiasm, or acting under the direction of the cold and calcu- 
 lating genius of imposture, would never have brought togeth- 
 er. A heavenly messenger sent on the most important er- 
 
169 
 
 rand to mortala, a prince claiming his descent from Heaven 
 who was to extend the empire of peace, and rishteousnes*, 
 over the universe, to compose its disorders, and put an end 
 to its crimes, if the picture were drawn merely from the ima- 
 gination of the writer, would be invested only with those no- 
 ble and divine attributes which would become his relation to 
 God. It never would have entered into a reasonable mind, 
 judging on the common principles of human nature, to com- 
 bine with these celestial properties and powers, poverty and 
 weakness, insult and disgrace, humiliation and suffering. 
 But God, who was preparing, at once, an instructor and a 
 sacrifice, a king and a victim, for a fallen, and redeemed 
 race, and who, for this end, united in the same person the 
 most distant extremes of heavenly glory and of human infir- 
 mity, so overruled the miuds of the pr phets that they 
 have drawn a character which they themselves could not 
 comprehend, or explain ; which, left to themselves, they 
 never would have conceived, and which could be under- 
 stood only by the coming of the great Archetype himself. 
 
 Let us contemplate the various, and apparently contradic- 
 tory lights in which he is represented to us by the spirit of 
 prophecy. Unto us saith the prophet Isaiah, a child is 
 horn ; unto us a son is given ; and the government shall 
 be upon his shoulders ; and his name shall be called Won* 
 derftdy Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Fa- 
 
 ther, the Prince of Peace. And of the increase of his gov- 
 
 22 
 
U9 
 
 eminent and peace there shall be no end.^^ And in othes 
 j)^r(s of that sublime and wonderful book, he is exhibited in 
 such circumstances of humiliation and affliction that it would 
 be difficult, without the guidance of that divine Spirit who 
 ins i red the prophet, to conceive how they should be appli- 
 ed to the same person. " He is despised," says he, " and 
 rejected of men ; a man of sorrows and acquainted with 
 grief. Surely, he hath borne our griefs, and carried our 
 sorrows: yei we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, 
 and atfiicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions ; 
 he was bruised for our iniquities ; and the Lord hath laid up- 
 on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he 
 was afflicted : he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and, 
 as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not 
 his mouth. ' He was taken off by an oppressive judgment :'f 
 and who shall declare his generation ? It pleased the Lord 
 to bruise him : he hath put him to grief. When thou shalt 
 make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he 
 shall prolong his days ; and the pleasure of the Lord shall 
 prosper in his hands." J The actual coming of the Saviour 
 alone has been able to reconcile all these apparent prophetic 
 contradictions, and to vindicate the inspiration of the holy 
 prophets, fn his birth announced by angels, and his death 
 amon'^ malefactors ; in the miraculous and omnipotent pow- 
 
 * Isaiah ix. 6tb, 7th. f Bishop Lowtli'a translation, v. 8, 
 
 \ Isaiah liii. 3d~10th. 
 
171 
 
 era by which he atfesfed his Heavenly miasion, and the 
 weakness which subjected him to the power of sinful men ; 
 in his yielding <o dealli in its most ignominious form, and his 
 resurrection and triumph over it; in his descent from Heav- 
 en to invest himself with the infirmities of human nature, and 
 again, in his ascension to his primitive glory which he had 
 with his Father before the world wa?, we see extremes 
 which God only could unite ; we behold a character wiiich 
 the Spirit of God alone could have suggested to the minds of 
 the prophets ; we discern the justitieation of the prop?;ets, 
 and their truth triumphantly confirmed : and, in the confir- 
 mation of their truth, we see the infallible verification of our 
 holy religion. For the Messiah, as he appears in the strains 
 of the prophets, and Jesus Christ, as he appears in the gos- 
 pel, are characters so entirely out of nature, so utterly be- 
 yond human conception and contrivance, that tie corres* 
 pondence of the prophecy to the history, and of the history, 
 to the prophecy, ought to be regarded as an irrefragable de- 
 monstration of the truth of both. 
 
 Having pointed out to you llie early prophecy of a Mes- 
 siah in the first promise made to man after his fall ; the grad- 
 ual and increasing light which was shed on this primary pre- 
 diction, in the progressive dispensations of divine provi- 
 dence ; the universal expectation which was entertained of 
 the appearance of such a divine personage upon earth, found- 
 •ed probably on an original revriation made to the father of 
 
172 
 
 the race, and revived, and rendered more definite and clear 
 by Ihe dispersion of the Jewish nation, and the Jewish scrip- 
 tures, into the various regions of the East. 
 
 The patriarch Jacob, just before his death, taking, under 
 the influence of the Spirit of God, a prospective view of the 
 destinies of his respective chikhen, and their posterity, de- 
 livers to Judah, his oldest son, this remarkable prediction, 
 •with regard to the permanence cf his dominion, and the de- 
 scent of the Messiah from him. " The sceptre shall not de- 
 part from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his ieei, un- 
 til Shiloh come, and to him shall the gathering of the peo- 
 ple be.* 
 
 The most accurate and learned criticism applied to the 
 terms in this passage translated sceptre and lawgiver leaves 
 little room to doubt but that they imply the powers of civil 
 government in the Jewish nation. And the interpretation 
 universally given by the ancient Jewish church, and by the 
 whole nation of Israel, to the name o^ Shiloh, (for they con- 
 stantly interpreted it of the Messiah who was to come) is a 
 proof that our application of it to the ever blessed Saviour, 
 
 * Dcut. xxviii. 57th. The term Shiloh, according to the root from -R-hichit is 
 derived, may signify either the prepared, the sent, or Vie giver of peace, any or 
 all of which, evidently referring to the cbaracter and oflSce of the expected Mes- 
 siah Till his coming, the tribe of Judah should enjoy hereditary and sovereign 
 poNver within itself; tlje plirase/roTu bcttveenkis feet, being a modest Hebraism, 
 for a natural descendant of his family. 
 
our Lord Jesus Christ, is not, according to the assertions, or 
 insiniiations of many infidels, merely a recent, and conveni- 
 ent adaptation of a dubious term by christian writers to the 
 purposes of their faith. No term has had a more precise, 
 and less doubtful signification given to it by the uniforQi voice 
 of all antiquity. 
 
 The import of this prediction, therefore, is, that the tribe 
 of Judah should preserve a national existence, and continue 
 to exercise the essential powers of civil government, till the 
 advent of that great deliverer expected from the beginning 
 of the world. This peculiar distinction of Judah, arising 
 from the possession and exercise of the powers of govern- 
 ment, seems indirectly to imply that this prerogative should 
 be lost by the other tribes before the coming of the Mes- 
 siah. And has not this prophecy, both in its direct, and its 
 implied meaning, been completely fulfilled ? All the tribes of 
 Israel except that of Judah had lost their national existence, 
 and even the distinction of their tribes, long before the birth 
 of Christ ; having been either blended with the tribe of Ju- 
 dah, or dispersed and lost among the various nations compo- 
 sing the Babylonian empire.^ Judah retained both the 
 
 * Some colonies of people possessing the law of Moses, and professing to gov- 
 ern themselves bj' its moral and religious rites and institutions, as far as their 
 present situation will permit, have been discovered in the interior of India, and 
 on tlie borders of China, who are evidently descendants of the ten trihes who 
 were carried away into captivity by the kings of Babylon, before the destruction 
 of Jerusalem in the reign of Zedekiah, and the captivity of the tribe of Judah. 
 
174 
 
 gcepfre of execuf Ive power, and the prerogative of internret- 
 ing, and administering their own kw till Ihe advent ot the 
 Saviour. Christ was born in the reign of Herod, the last 
 prince who swayed the sceptre of Jiidah, and but a lew 
 years before the final extinction of the supreme judical, le- 
 gislative, and religious authority of the nation ; and even of 
 the nation itself as a distinct civil community. For, after 
 Herod, the government of the Jews was for a short tiuie di- 
 vided among several petty princes, who possessed only the 
 semblance of authority, under the supreme power of the Ro- 
 mans ; and, on the destruction of Jerusalem, which followed 
 in a few years, the miserable remnants of that people, whom 
 a foreign sword, and the most frightful civil discord, had 
 spared, were dispersed into all nations under heaven. And 
 in this state of dispersion they remain, the visible monuments 
 of the divine judgments, to this day. 
 
 Let me, then, express the spirit of this prophecy in the 
 following reflections. The typical church and kingdom of 
 the Messiah shall exist, till his advent, in the nation of Israel, 
 and particularly in the tribe of Judah ; in which tribe shall be 
 vested and continued, for this purpose, all the powers of go- 
 
 They possess none of the prophetic writings after the age of David. And their 
 copies of the pentateuch are plainly of the most remote antiquity ; as appears 
 from the kind of skins on which tliey arc written, and from the circumstance of 
 the letters, in many places, not being distinguishable, except by traces left in 
 the skins, which have been made by the corrosion of the liquid with which they 
 were originally traced. 
 
ir5 
 
 Vernment both civil and religious. But when the Messiaib 
 sbali have couie, Uie reusuns, for which this people is chosen 
 by Goiljund.aepaiatecl as a church to himself from all the 
 Cihernatious of the earth, shall cease; and then shall termi- 
 nate their national, and typical existence. The spirilual em- 
 piiC of the Redeemer shall, after this period, embrace all na- 
 tions without distinction, or preference ; and to him sliLtll the 
 gathering of I he people^ be. With v/hat wonderful exact- 
 ucMSj then, have we seen this venerable patriarch and pro- 
 phet detern)ine the era of this great event ; trace out the 
 destinies of his several sons, and restrict to Judah, the pecu- 
 liar benediction of Abraham, which consisted in this promise : 
 in thy seed shall all thejamilies of the earth be blessed. 
 
 About the period of the birth of Christ, the visible de- 
 cline of the Jewish state, and its rapid tendency to dissolu- 
 tion, indicated, by manifest and unequivocal symptoms, to ob- 
 serving and reflecting minds, the approach of the great era 
 fixed for the coming of the Messiah. Therefore Simeon, 
 and many other pious Jews, were rvaiting, at this time, with 
 anxious expectation, /o?- the hope of Israel. But the body 
 of that nalion, now become worldly, and sensual in their 
 minds, and ambitious in their views, mistook the true charaC' 
 ter of their deliverer, and the spiritual nature of his kingdom. 
 They, therefore, did not recognize him when he stood in the 
 
 * The people, in this placp, as in numeroBg ©tUer pasiagci ©f the facred wrilingi 
 evidently relen to liie Gentile mti«ns. 
 
176 
 
 midst of theui ; baf, ungratified in their vain hopes, they put 
 him to death in the rag;e of disappointment, and thereby ac- 
 complished another, and not the least glorious part of the 
 prophecies concerning him. While flattering themselves 
 with the illusion of a martial and victorious prince who should 
 extend the empire of Jerusalem over the whole earth, their 
 impatience of foreign domination daily increased, and precip- 
 itated them into disorders and revolts, which only hastened 
 their destruction, and gave them the last fatal proof that the 
 Messiah was already come, and that they had doneunto him 
 whatsoever they listed,^ 
 
 And now, in the conclusion, let me ask, have we not seen 
 a most extraordinary person appear in Judea according to 
 the predictions of the sacred scriptures ? And has he not 
 appeared at the precise time which they had marked out^ 
 and when, in consequence, he was expected, not by the Jews 
 only, but by almost all nations ? Since his coming, have not 
 expectations, which before were so constant and universal;, 
 entirely ceased ? Has not the Jewish nation, according to 
 the prophecy, rejected him who came to them as the Mes- 
 siah ? And have not the gentiles gathered themselves under 
 his wings, while the guilty Jews have been exiled from their 
 country and scattered through all nations under heaven? 
 Have we not seen the greatest moral revolution effected by 
 
 *Mat. xvii. I2th. 
 
177 
 
 fais doctrines which has ever taken place in the world ? And 
 are not all these astonishing events evidently connected as 
 parts of a vast plan which takes its beginning with time it- 
 self, which we have seen gradually unfolding in the sacred 
 oracles for a long series of ages, and to the consummation of 
 which when they ceased to speak, they still continue to con* 
 duct us by the lights of prophecy ? 
 
 What, then, is the conclusion to which candid and impar- 
 tial reason must lead us from all these premises? Is it not, 
 that the prophecies have been inspired by God ? that the 
 plan which they develop is the work of God ? and that it 
 has been conducted to its wonderful issue by his own imme- 
 diate hand ? 
 
 I have here presented to you a very partial review of the 
 evidence for our holy religion which may be derived fromi 
 prophecy. It is an ample field ; I have led you to contem- 
 plate only a single angle of it. Yet, I trust, I have opened 
 to you enough to convince every serious and ingenuous mind 
 that is solicitous to obtain full satisfaction on a subject so in- 
 teresting to the happiness, the duty, and the hopes of man, 
 of the importance of exploring it more extensively. The ar- 
 gument, however, as far as we have pursued it, appears t» 
 
 me satisfactory and conclusive. 
 
 23 
 
COLLATERAL OR PRESUMPTIVE PROOFS OP CHRISTIAKlTt. 
 OF THE SUBLIMITY OF THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 Having presented to you a concise view of the direct evi- 
 dences of the (ruth of our holy religion, I proceed to exhi- 
 bif some collateral and presumptive considerations which 
 ■will be found of importance in giving strength to the general 
 argument. Of this species of evidence it is the character, 
 that the various presumptions, or probabilities, taken sepa- 
 rately, do not carry to the mind that complete conviction on 
 which it can entirely rest independently of other proof; but 
 the whole viewed together forms an accumulation of evidence 
 which is not easy to resist ; and they greatly strengthen 
 the impression of those proofs which are more immediate 
 and positive. 
 
 These presumptions arise, in the first place, out of the 
 scriptures themselves : their sublimily, their purity, their 
 plainness, their efficacy on the hearts of men, and their con* 
 sistency with the state of the world, and with themselves, 
 though penned by writers of such various characters, and so 
 far removed from one another in point of time, through a long 
 series of ages : in the next place, out of the character of the 
 Saviour, and of those humble instruments which he employ- 
 ed to promulgate his doctrines ; and lastly, out of the conse- 
 quences which have flowed from the promulgation of the 
 gospeL 
 
179 
 
 One of the first of the internal characters of the scriptures 
 which strikes us, is the grandeur both of sentiment and lan- 
 guage which pervades the poelic and prophetic parts of them 
 in general, and especially that astonishing sublimity into 
 which they rise whenever they speak of the Deity, who is, 
 indeed, their principal subject. They frequently present to 
 us very noble views of the actions and sentiments of illustri- 
 ous men, as well as magnificent descriptions of natural scenes; 
 but whenever they speak of the perfection, or the operations 
 of the Supreme Being, as if full of God, they seem rapt 
 above themselves. They break out into strains to which 
 there is no parallel, the enemies of Christianity themselves 
 being judges in the productions of ancient or modern genius. 
 This was to be expected of men writing, or speaking under 
 the influence of genuine inspiration ; and the existence of the 
 fact, that they have thus spoken and written, affords a pre- 
 sumption, of no inconsiderable force, that they were truly 
 the subjects of that divine inspiration to which they laid 
 claim. Whence, if not from this cause, was it that a few 
 devout men in an obscure nation, and in a remote age, far 
 beyond the birth of arts in Greece or Rome, formed such 
 sublime, or rather, such divine conceptions of Deity, and 
 have conveyed them in such elevated strains as there is no- 
 thing to equal in the noblest works of those celebrated nations 
 even in the most refined periods of their improvement. Let 
 me select only one example of the appearance of the Al- 
 mighty. Then the earth shook and trembled. He bowed 
 
180 
 
 the heavens also and came down, and darkness was under 
 his feet. And he rode upon a cherub and did fly ; yea, he 
 did fly upon the wings of the wind. The Lord thundered 
 in the heavens: then were the beds of the ocean laid bare ; 
 mid the foundations of the world were disclosed.^ But 
 where shall we find an idea so sublime and expressed in such 
 a noble simplicity of language, as thai of the creation, as it 
 is represented by Moses : In the beginning, God created 
 the heavens and the earth ; and God said, let light be, and 
 the light was.-f Perhaps words cannot better express the 
 facility with which omnipotence gave existence to the uni- 
 verse. 
 
 Even the name by which the Supreme Being was pleas- 
 ed to reveal himself to Moses, exceeds in grandeur and sub- 
 limity whatever the religion or philosophy of paganism ever 
 taught on the subject of God. It comprehends ideas more 
 elevated, and worthy the divine nature than had ever be- 
 fore entered the conception of man. All the pagan nations, 
 even those who had made the greatest advances in science, 
 if they did not adopt an atheistical philosophy, had, too near- 
 ly, approximated the divine to the human nature. We find 
 worthy ideas of the Creator only in the sacred scriptures. 
 
 * Psal. I8th. 
 
 T Gen. i. I. This passage has been quoted as a noble example of sublimity 
 and simplicity onited, by that illustrious critic Longinus ; and the quotation has 
 beea repeated after him by almost every critic eince his age. 
 
181 
 
 Jehovah, which is interpreted / am expresses essential life, 
 eternal existence, universal presence. It implies that all 
 things existing in him, and by him, and depending absolute- 
 ly on his will for the origin of their Being, and their continu- 
 ed existence, are to be regarded as nothing in comparison with 
 him, and that he is all in all. He is the only proper being ; 
 the universe is full of him alone ; the rest are passing shades. 
 Where, then, among all the nations of the ancient world, ex- 
 cept in this circumscribed corner of the earth, favoured with 
 the peculiar illapses of the divine Spirit, to keep alive the 
 perpetual fire of truth, till the rising ot the sun of righteous- 
 9iess, do we 6nd such exalted and sublime notions of God ? 
 When this is fairly considered, may we not justly say, fa- 
 voured with the peculiar illapses of the divine Spirit, with- 
 out assuming for granted a principle not yet proved ? For 
 whence, but from this source, could arise those transcendent 
 discoveries which illuminated the mind of a Jewish prophet 
 concerning the divine nature ? that burst of inspiration, 
 whenever Jehovah is their subject, which so far excels the 
 pretended inspiration of all other poets? On any of the 
 ordinary principles or causes which assist to develop, and 
 bring to perfection the genius of nations, or to promote the 
 progress of science among them, this, surely, was not to 
 have been expected in the nation of Israel. In poetry noth- 
 ing has ever equalled the strains of the Hebrew prophets.* 
 
 * To be convinced of this, the reader of taste need only consult the translation 
 of Isaiah by bishop Lowth, with his critical notes and explanations, and bis dis- 
 sertation OQ the Hebrew poetry. 
 
m 
 
 Fom (hem Milton has assisted the noblest flights of his 
 muse. When thej introduce the majesty of God, the pious 
 mind is overwhelmed by the torrent and grandeur of iheir 
 thoughts, and struggles to expand itself to conceptions which 
 it can never embrace. This is the true effect of the reli- 
 gious sublime. In theology, Plato obtained the title of the 
 sublime philospher of Greece, only for approaching those 
 ideas of Deity which every where pervade the holy scrip- 
 tures. And his principles, he confessed he did not draw 
 from the resources of his own mind, or create by the efforts 
 of his own genius, but acquired by travelling and conversing 
 with the priests and literary men in those countries in which 
 the scriptures were best known, and in which were found 
 the purest remains of that original revelation, which I have 
 before proved to have been transmitted by the second father 
 of the race, after the deluge, to those nations in (he East 
 that immediately sprang from him. 
 
 To those sublime conceptions of the Deity which distin- 
 guish the sacred writings we may add the views which they 
 present to us of the government of divine providence over 
 every part of nature, from the highest sphere in the heavens, 
 to the atom which seems casually to float in the atmosphere ; 
 froQi an angel to an insect ; and if we add the doctrines which 
 they teach of the creation and dissolution of the universe, 
 and of the final judgment and everlasting destinies of man- 
 kind ; where, besides, in all the volumes of human wisdom do 
 
13S 
 We find ideag so grand, and so worthy of God ? We can 
 liat*ll) resist the conclusion, therefore, that they have been 
 inspiced l)y that divine and infinite Spirit whose nature, and 
 whose truth they profess to reveal to men. 
 
 It has been made a question whether or not the style of the 
 sacred scriptures be proporfionably elevated with the senti- 
 ments ; or whether, in the structure and composition of their 
 language, they are supported throughout according to the 
 principles and rules of true taste. Eminent writers have ap- 
 peared on both sides of this question ; some contending foe 
 the affirmative, and endeavouring to maintain their opinion by 
 a minute comparison of the diction of »he scriptur with that 
 of the classic writers of Greece and Rome * others assert- 
 ing that there is no standard of taste which can be fairly ap- 
 plied to the writings of all ages, and of all countries. f Hu- 
 man nature, they say, undergoes very material changes, not 
 only in external form and appearance, but in the faculties of 
 the mind, and the habits of thinking, from climate, from the 
 state of society, from the form of government, from the physi- 
 cal character ut the country, from the progress of arts, and 
 from various other causes, which contribute, at the same 
 time, to create a correspondent variety in the ideas of beauty 
 
 * A, remarkable example of this mode of conducting the argument we hare ia 
 SlackweWs Sacred Classics. 
 
 + Of this opinion the celebrated WarburtoB is the princiBal d«fcader ia hii Di- 
 vine Legation of Moges. 
 
184 
 
 and taste wbich prevail in different nations. Hence, in all 
 ages, a lofty and enigmatical manner of writing has obtained 
 in Asia, which, in Europe, is considered as swoln and bom- 
 bastic ; and, on the other hand, the correct precision of the 
 Attic style, which is admired in Europe, is regarded in Asia 
 as low and frigid. We are not, therefore, to look, say these 
 critics, for any standard of excellence and perfection in writ- 
 ing, which is invariably to govern the decisions of mankind 
 with regard to the merit of works of genius and taste. 
 
 Such contrariety of opinion between men of perhaps near- 
 ly equal daims to learning and critical judgment, is one proof, 
 among nf^y others, that the question is not of great import- 
 ance. J^^^ 3bi«*r* ^^ divine revelation is to teach men di" 
 vine truths under the inspiration of the holy Spirit, leaving 
 the expression of it to each writer, according to his own gen- 
 ius and taste, formed and modelled, as it will be in some de- 
 gree, by the genius and taste of the age in which he lives. 
 If these should not always be exactly conformed to the reign- 
 ing taste of the period in which we live, this will not form any 
 reasonable objection to the style of the holy scriptures, as 
 not properly expressing the majesty and sublimity which 
 ought to be expected in the word of God. 
 
 Every man of true taste feels and acknowledges the sub- 
 limity of Shakespeare's genius, although we perceive in his 
 strains many harsh and unharmonious numbers, and some de- 
 
185 
 
 partures from the rigorous exactness of critical rules. These 
 are in some instances to be ascribed to the character of the 
 age in which he Hved. But frequently the noble flights of 
 his muse bear him above all rule, and give him a complete 
 empire over the mind, and over the critic's art. So the sub- 
 limity of inspiration may sometimes disdain to be measured 
 by the little niceties of artificial rules. But I make no apolo- 
 gy for the prophets. Elevated and transported with the 
 grandeur of their subject, whenever they speak of God, oi' 
 his works, or rapt with the fervour of their own devout feel- 
 ings beyond the ordinary limits of human nature, they always 
 express themselves nobly, and often with a transcendent 
 glow and majesty of diction. 
 
 But in treating of the sublimity of the holy scriptures, and 
 applying to them the rules of a just criticism, it is necessary 
 to use the same fairness and candour in judging of them, as of 
 all other works of genius. The design of the writer should 
 be kept in view as well as the nature of his subject, that we 
 may not look for the high ornaments of style in simple chro- 
 nicles, nor for the sublime of poetry or eloquence in didactic 
 precepts. Every part even of holy writ is not to be judged 
 by the same rule. 
 
 Besides, as inspiration was designed only, or principally, 
 
 to discover truth, but does not seem in any other way to have 
 
 controled the faculties of the human mind, except by the ar- 
 
 24 
 
186 
 
 dour mih which it seized them and the strong impressioDS 
 which it made upon them, a variety of style is to be expect- 
 ed among the sacred writers, arising from diversity of nat- 
 ural talents, and acquired improvements, or from the manners 
 and genius of the respective ages in which they lived. 
 
 In estimating the true character of the scripture style we 
 ought to be able to have recourse to the original. Great al- 
 lowances ought to be made for the impertections of a literal 
 translation in prose, such as ours is, of compositions, many of 
 them written in the highest spirit of poetry. Take the finest 
 passages of the most admired classics of Greece or Rome, 
 and render them in a translation equally simple and literal ; 
 take, for example, the translation of Virgil by Watson, and 
 compare it with our English version of the scriptures, and 
 you must be forcibly struck with the superior majesty of the 
 prophets and psalmists of Israel, above that of the prince of 
 Ro:iian poets, when exhibited before you in the same dress. 
 The scriptures of the Old Testament, then, read with these 
 views, and under these precautions, will, I doubt not, fully 
 support their claim to a divine original, not only by the sub= 
 lirnity of their sentiments, but by the nobleness of their 
 diction. 
 
 The New Testament, indeed, is written with the utmost 
 siniplicitj^^ of tiie narrative and epistolary style ; but it con- 
 tains the sublimesl system of theology and of morals ever of- 
 
isr 
 
 fered to the faith, or the reason of mankuid. Here we be- 
 hold the threefold existence of the Deity without destroying 
 the perfect simpHcity of the divine essence. Here we be- 
 hold the astonishing assumption of the human nature into an 
 intimate union with the divine. Here all the types and cere- 
 monies of the ancient dispensation are seen to terminate in the 
 Messiah ; all its altars are extinguished, and their innumera- 
 ble victims are comprised, and forever end, in one divine ob- 
 lation for the sins of the whole world. Here we are taught 
 lo look forward to the dissolution of the universe, and the re- 
 surrection of the dead ; and all nations of men from the be- 
 ginning to the end of time are presented to our view assem- 
 bled before the tribunal of God. Here are decided the eter- 
 nal destinies of men and angels. And after the great catas- 
 trophe of nature, we are taught to expect new heavens and a 
 new earth, with the introduction of a new and everlasting or- 
 der of ages. Whether the truth of Christianity be admitted 
 to be demonstrated or not, surely infidelity itself must be con- 
 strained to confess, that these are the most grand and sublime 
 ideas which have ever entered the human mind. And most 
 worthy they appear to be of that infinite wisdom, and holi- 
 ness, and benignity, and power, to which they are ascribed. 
 
188 
 
 OF THE MORALITY, AND EFFICACY OP THE SCRIPTURES 
 
 AS A PRINCIPLE OF VIRTUE AND A HOLY LIFE. OF 
 
 ITS PRINCIPLE, JTS EXTENT, AND ITS AIDS. 
 
 The purity and excellence of the moral doctrines of the 
 holy scriptures, and especially of those immediately taught 
 by our Saviour himself, and the blessed apostles, afford a pre- 
 sumptive argument, of no inconsiderable weight, for their di- 
 vine authority. The principles of morals, and the rules of 
 virtue, have always been subjects of the most diligent and 
 curious inquiry among the sages of the ancient world, ever 
 since civil society was first established under the influence 
 of regular laws, or philosophy began to be cultivated. But 
 no where else do we find such a pure, and excellent, and 
 perfect system of morals as in the sacred writings. And this 
 has been acknowledged by many of the most ingenious and 
 candid enemies of the christian religion, while they ascribe 
 it, however, to a cause which we can by no means admit ; 
 the natural progress of science, and the gradual advances 
 which have been made in the improvement of the human 
 mind by adding the experience of following ages, to the wis- 
 dom of the past. No such superior improvements in moral 
 science were found, at the commencement of the christian 
 era, in the doctrines of the schools ;* and it is inconceivable 
 
 * Of this every classic reader may easily be convinced by consulting Cicero 
 dc nalura deorum. 
 
189 
 
 Ihat they should have first taken their origin among the fish- 
 erraen and mechanics of Judea. The argument would have 
 had more plausibility applied to the learned men of modern 
 ages, if we had not the most certain evidence that the superi- 
 ority of their moral and theological doctrines to those of the 
 ancient schools, ought to be ascribed solely to the illumina* 
 tion shed by the scriptures on the christian world.* 
 
 True it is, that any pretence to revelation must come re- 
 commended by some general system of good morals, other- 
 wise it will soon fall to the ground. But when an impostor 
 has set up a fictitious claim to inspiration, we may ever ex- 
 pect to find some traits of human weakness and depravity 
 mingled with his religious doctrines. It is almost impossible 
 that an impious, or immoral man should not transfuse, in 
 some degree, the colour of his own character into his work. 
 Hence, amidst the general precepts of justice, temperance, 
 and chastity, w^ithout which civil society cannot exist, and 
 which enter into all the religions of the world, still we find, 
 in the temples of paganism, free permission given to the in- 
 dulgence of the most licentious passions of the heart. It is 
 in the koran itself, in the vicious license which it grants its 
 disciples, and the sensual paradise which it confers on its 
 military saints, that we might learn the lust, and violence of 
 
 * Whatever is excellent in the theological and moral principles of the koran of 
 Mahomet, we have likewise reason to believe was drawn from the knowledge 
 which that impostor had both of the writings of the Old and the New Testament. 
 
190 
 
 its author if we were not acquainted with the history of his 
 life. But, in the holy scriptures, you not only discern a 
 general system of good morals, many excellent precepts of 
 piety and virtue, but you have presented to you a perfect 
 body of doctrine in which the most faithful and candid scru- 
 tiny can find nothing of an opposite character or tendency. 
 In them you perceive the principles and examples of the 
 purest devotion, equally removed from the injudicious fer- 
 vors of enthusiasm, and the cold and burdensome ceremonial 
 of superstition : in them you see personal puriiy carried to 
 the highest degree of perfection ; and those virtues which 
 most effectually promote the harmony, and the happiness of 
 society placed on their only true and stable foundation ; char- 
 ity which loves our neighbour as ourselves; meekness 
 which is not prompt to revenge an injury ; forgiveness 
 which is ready to forget it ; the whole animated by the love 
 of God, and guarded against the disorders of the injurious 
 passions by the holy influence of his fear. 
 
 On this subject the following considerations particularly 
 merit your attention : the spirit of the morality of the gospel : 
 its extent : the principles which it lays down as the summa- 
 ry, and the only true and efficient spring of all our duties : 
 and finally, the discriminating test which it proposes of the 
 sincerity of our obedience. 
 
191 
 
 It has been justly remarked by Dr. Paley, after the ceie 
 biated Soaiiie Jeiuiyns, fhat ihe spirit of the moralify taught 
 by our blessed Saviour is entirely opposed to those splendid 
 and ostentatious qualities which too generally pass in the 
 world for virtues of a superior order, and which history so 
 often ambitiously displays to decorate her style, and to cap- 
 tivate the unthinking admiration of mankind for her principal 
 heroes. The gospel gives no praise to that pride which ex- 
 alts itself over our fellow men, and is easily provoked at in- 
 juries real or imaginary ; it has no indulgence for that jealous 
 honour which is ever ready to suspect, and revenge insults, 
 or that lofty ambition of power and command, which the mis- 
 take of the world is apt to extol as a pioof of elevation and 
 nobleness of mind. On the other hand, next to the love and 
 fear of God, it bestows all its approbation on meekness of 
 spirit, on candour, on humility, on charity and kindness of 
 heart, in a word, on those mild, innocent, unassuming, and 
 benevolent dispositions, which give birth to the sweetest in- 
 tercourse among mankind, and form the strongest and happi- 
 est cement of society. This is a morality entirely different 
 in its genius from that which would be dictated by the spirit 
 of the world. It is peculiar to the gospel. And allhough, 
 at the first view, it may seem, to those who have received 
 their education in the world, to be tame and pusillanimous, 
 it will be found, on a fair and just examination, to discover a 
 more profound estimate of moral worth than was ever betore 
 
192 
 
 made ; either in the schools of philosophy, or in that of the 
 world. 
 
 It is judiciously observed by both the distinguished wri- 
 ters to whom I have referred, that the heroic virtues, as they 
 are called, are calculated only to disturb the peace and hap- 
 piness of human society, and have, indeed, been the chief 
 sources of the disorders, the wars, and revolutions which, in 
 every period of time, have afflicted all nations. On the con- 
 trary, if all men were governed by the christian virtues of 
 humility, of meekness, of candour, of forgiveness, of charity, 
 the earth, which has hitherto been the theatre of violent, 
 conflicting, and cruel passions, would become the residence 
 of tranquillity and peace. 
 
 Do you ask if the general prevalence of these meek and 
 pacific principles in a nation would not expose it to insults 
 and injustice from its powerful neighbours, and render it, at 
 length, an easy prey to their ambition ? I answer that the 
 maxims of the gospel do not oppose the natural duties which 
 every citizen owes to his country for its defence. It is 
 among the prioiary obligations which the gospel imposes on 
 its disciples, to honour and obey the magistrate^ as well as 
 to fear God. And the supreme magistracy of a state owes 
 duties to the nation under its protection very different from 
 those which subsist between man and man in society. It is 
 the latter, chiefly, which the evangelic rules of meekness. 
 
193 
 
 humility, charity, and forgiveness are intended to reguiait. 
 And they promote peace and union by cultivating the spirit 
 of mutual love ; they prevent discords, by extinguishing, or 
 correcting the passions which are the principles of contention 
 and division. The civil laws of most countries aim at the 
 same end ; but feebly,, because they impose their restraints 
 only on the outward actions ; whereas the gospel enters into 
 the heart to correct the evil in its source. It is folly there- 
 fore to accuse of taraeness and pusillanimity, that spirit which, 
 by changing the dispositions of the heart, promotes the 
 peace of society in the most perfect manner ; an object 
 which it is the supreme end of a wise legislation even imper- 
 fectly to attain, by operating with its compulsory power on 
 the external conduct. It is the error of the world to bestow 
 its admiration on that bold and ardent character of mind 
 which is quick in its sensibilities to injury, violent in its re- 
 sentments, jealous of its honour, proud of its darings, and 
 ever ready, in order to avenge itself of real or imaginary 
 wrongs, to break through both the prescriptions of law, and 
 the dictates of justice. Such is commonly the heroic char- 
 acter whose achievements blazon the pages of history. Far 
 different are the virtues of the gospel. Silent, yielding, and 
 benevolent, they contribute to promote and seciuc the hap- 
 piness of mankind, which the former tend to destroy. 
 
 "When we consider, then, the perfect and unmixed purity 
 
 ^f the morality of the gospel, and the indications which it 
 
 25 
 
 [ 
 
1»4 
 
 exhffaita of a most holy and spotless mind in its author ; when 
 we consider with what admirable wisdom he rejects the false 
 and imposing virtues which have chiefly commanded the ap- 
 plause of the world, and even the approbation of the sage, 
 and placed virtue, which is the mean of promoting human 
 happiness, upon its true and only solid basis ; when we re- 
 flect, further, how peculiar these excellencies are to the gos- 
 pel of Christ, and how far they are above the wisdom, how 
 contrary to the spirit of the world, we might well be sur- 
 prised if any of the sages of Greece, rising above the genius 
 and improvements of their age, bad been the authors of such 
 a system ; but when we take into view the country, the edu- 
 cation, and rank in life, of Christ, and his apostlea, we must 
 be astonished at the wisdom with which they have spoken* 
 Considering them as mere men, bred up amidst the tools of 
 the mechanic, or the nets of the fishermen, it must be utter- 
 ly incredible. Surely, exclaims Dr. Paley, Jesus must 
 have been like no other carpenter, the apostles like no other 
 fishermen I Read the discourses, the parables, the history 
 of the transactions of our blessed Saviour ; read the mural 
 precepts with which the epistles of the apostles every where 
 abound, and I confess they appear to me to bear the evident 
 and deep inscriptions of divine wisdom. The mission of the 
 Saviour, and the doctrines of the gospel were confirmed by 
 great and numerous miracles ; but, in my esteem, the greatest 
 of all miracles would be the gospel itself, if we could suppose 
 such a traBscendent systemof theology and morals, so sublime. 
 
195 
 
 so pure, so superior to the wisdom of the age, to have beejLi 
 the uninspired work of the unlettered fishermen of Judea. 
 
 The excellence oC^the christian morality may be estimat- 
 ed, in the next place, from its extent. The gospel does not 
 limit its views to regulating the external conduct and inter- 
 course of mankind with one another, to which civil laws are 
 obliged to bound their influence. It goes to rectify the 
 thoughts and desires of the heart, and thereby to purify the 
 fountains of conduct : it places its restraints upon the first 
 movements and springs of action. This is a point of the ut- 
 most importance in considering the true value of the morality 
 of the gospel, which sets it far above the influence of civil 
 laws, or the discipline of the schools. For, however regu- 
 lar the exterior deportment may be, if the imagination, and 
 the affections remain impure, the soul must be unfit to ap- 
 pear in the immediate presence of God most holy, or to be 
 joined to the society of perfect spirits in heaven ; and there 
 is no security for the rectitude of the conduct whenever 
 temptation invites, and opportunity favours indulgence. Fan- 
 cy, if it is permitted without restraint to amUse itself with 
 the plans, or to enjoy the pleasures of avarice, revenge, or # 
 lust ; if it is allowed to present images of impurity to the 
 mind, and range at will through ideal scenes of voluptuous 
 enjoyment, taints the purity, while it inflames the passions, 
 of the heart, and corrupts it no less eff*ectually in its princi- 
 ples of action, than could be done by grosser gratifies^ 
 
196 
 
 lions.* The great Teacher, who shows in all his precepts 
 how perfectlj he understands human nature, as well as the 
 eternal principles of right and wrong, lays the check of every 
 sinful propensity, and every vicious actiop on the only spring 
 on which it can be laid with effect : on the thoughts, on the 
 fancy, on the heart. Out of the heart, saith he, proceed evil 
 thoughts, murders, adidteries, ^c. and these are the things 
 which defile a man.^ And he who sees the end and con- 
 summation of the act in X\\q principle from which it springs, 
 and regards as already done whatever is completed in the 
 desire, purpose, and determination of the soul, condemns ev- 
 ery one who even looks on the sex with a lustful eye.X What 
 impostor, conscious of his own imperfections, would be wil- 
 ling to create so high and severe a standard of morals by 
 which he must be judged himself ? What crafty founder of 
 a sect would not be more complaisant to the tastes, or the 
 frailties of those v/hom he wished to allure to the party of 
 his followers ?11 
 
 * This is a rrraark founded on the strictest principles of reason, as well as of the 
 gospel, which strongly condemns the readers, as well as writers of licentious poe- 
 try; and universally, all those who encourage, by their presence, any licentious 
 exhibitions, or by purchasing any licentious productions of tlie arts, 
 
 f Mat. XV. 19. 
 
 iMat.v, 23. 
 
 II I am aware that retreat from the world, abstemiousness and rigid penances of- 
 ten have an air of sanctity in the eyes, of a superstitious people ; and these morti- 
 fications have been introduced, as among the pharisees, tlie Roman Catholics, and 
 the Mahometans, to gain a certain degree of popular respect for their respective 
 systems. But in such impostures you always find, at the same time, some facili- 
 ties permitted to the wealthy and the powerful to evade the rigors of penance j or 
 «orQe indulgences granted in other articles to compensate these privations. 
 
i9r 
 
 The summary of duty, In the next place laid down in the. 
 holy scriptures, as comprehending the whole spirit and sub- 
 stance of the morality of the gospel, serves to demonstrate 
 its excellence and perfection. 
 
 All our duties may be divided into two great classes : 
 those TThich we owe immediately to God : those which ter- 
 minate directly on our fellow men. And of both these clas- 
 ses our blessed Saviour has, after Moses, who received it 
 from God himself to be prefixed to the tables of the ten com- 
 mandments, given the moat admirable and perfect epitome : 
 " thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with 
 all thy soul, and with all thy mind ; this is the first and 
 great commandment ; and the second is like unto if, thou 
 shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."^ By this concise view 
 of the great and commanding principles of morals, we see 
 that the gospel, which places the restraint of all vicious and 
 sinful actions in a renewed heart, the only efficient point in 
 which it can be fixed, places there also the true spring of all 
 duty. And, is it not evident that the worship of God in 
 spirit and in truth, veneration for his holy name, resignation 
 to the dispositions of his providence, and universal obedience 
 to whatever bears the stamp of his authority, will flow from 
 supreme love to him as from its native fountain ? And, on 
 the other hand, is it not equally evident that justice, bene- 
 
 *^Mat.xiii. 35, 40. 
 
198 
 
 Volence, candour, sincerity, meekness, forgiveness, and all 
 those virtues which fulfil the multiplied relations which we 
 bear to our fellow men, will be the natural and necessary con- 
 sequence of sincere and undissembled love ? But do you ask> 
 if these principles are peculiar to the gospel ? If we do not 
 also find them inculcated by heathen moralists? We find 
 reverence, and thankfulness to the gods frequently recom- 
 men'Jed by some of the philosophers ; but in none of their 
 writings do we see the supreme love of God stated as the 
 fundamental principle of virtue and duty. In none, is the 
 "will of God stated as the sole, creating, preserving, and regu- 
 lating power of the universe, to which, therefore, our most 
 profound veneration and submission, our most constant 
 and fervent gratitude are due. Indeed, they had ex- 
 tremely imperfect, or rather no just views at all either of 
 creation or of providence. And in the catalogue of virtues 
 which connect us with mankind, although some of their 
 schools require justice, truth, chastity, and recommend 
 friendship, gratitude, and beneficence ; yet we find not in 
 any of them, the love of enemies, the forgiveness of injuries, 
 nor any thing which may properly be called charity, as it is 
 understood by christians, and inculcated in the gospel. 
 
 I am warranted, then, by the concurrent sentiments of the 
 
 wisest, most candid, and pious christian writers, in pronounc- 
 
 / ing that never has a basis of duty, equally clear, compre- 
 
 bensive, and complete, been laid in the works of any of the 
 
sages of paganism, as that wliicb has been laid in the gospel 
 of Chiist ; and never has such a moral superstructure been 
 reared on any basis ; so admirable, for its purity, for its sim- 
 plicity, for its adaptation to every grade of human under- 
 standing, for its fulness, and its applicalion to every case 
 which can arise to a fair and candid mind in the conduct of 
 life. If, then, these principles, and this system which ap- 
 pear so perfect, would have been wonderful, proceeding from 
 the genius and the pen of a Plato, or a Marcus Antoninus ; if, 
 indeed, we see nothing parallel in the schools of Greece or 
 Rome ; how much more wonderful are they if we consider 
 them merely as the productions of unlettered peasants be- 
 longing to a country which Greek and Roman pride regard- 
 ed as barbarian ? 
 
 Having been nursed and educated amidst that light whicli 
 the gospel diffuses wherever it is received, we are apt to re- 
 gard its moral doctrines as containing only the simple and ob- 
 vious dictates of natural reason ; because they have entered 
 into our earliest education, they have mingled with our first 
 ideas, and been incorporated from iij^ncy with all our habits 
 of thinking. But to be justly impressed with the full force 
 of the claiai which it possesses to a divine original, we should 
 return back to the periods which preceded the christian era, 
 and to those countries which did not enjoy the light of reve- 
 lation, and see what the wisdom of the wisest men has dis- 
 covered upon the subject ©f duty and morals. This will af- 
 
'260 
 
 ford an argument founded on fact and experience, the onijT 
 ground on which we can rest a just and satisfactory conclu- 
 sion on this subject. And when we see what the sages of 
 the most enlightened nations have not done, and, on the oth- 
 er hand, what has been done by the simple fishermen of Ju- 
 dea, under the instructions of a master as little indebted as 
 themselves to human science, will it not afford a strong, and 
 almost irresistible presumption of the reality of that divine 
 inspiration from which they professed to have derived this 
 extraordinary wisdom ? We know not how men in that agCj 
 in that country, and in their station of life could have attained 
 to such superior knowledge on these sublime subjects, unless 
 they had been divinely assisted. And, surely, if inspiration 
 has ever spoken to the v/orld, we cannot conceive of any 
 thing more pure, more excellent, more perfect, which could 
 have been dictated by heaven itself. 
 
 Another characteristic of the evangelic morality is the un- 
 mixed purity of the principle which it requires in order to 
 constitute any action good, and acceptable to God. Take 
 hecdj says our blessed Saviour, " that ye do not your alms 
 before men to be seen of them. When Ihou prayest, enter 
 into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to 
 thy Father who is in secret. When thou doest alms, let 
 not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth."* Of 
 
 ^JMat. vl. ;= 
 
201 
 
 wLich precepts the evident import is, that we ought to o5ec 
 our devotions to our heavenly Father, not as a mere form, 
 not through ostentation, but purely for the love of God ; and 
 that we should fulfil every office of benevolence and cuiiity 
 to our fellow men siinply from the love of doing good. No 
 regard merely to our own credit and reputation among men, 
 and no considerations of honour or interest arising from the 
 publicity of our good deeds, ought exclusively to influence 
 us in their performance : they ought ever to be the natural 
 and spontaneous effusions of the pious and virtuous disposi- 
 tions of the heart. 
 
 Many very amiable and benevolent persons have greatly 
 mistaken the meaning of these precepts, as if they implied 
 that the chief merit of charitable deeds consists in their being 
 entirely withdrawn from the knowledge and observation of 
 the world. So far is this from being true that, not unfre- 
 quently^ their publicity may form part of their good desert, 
 by the encouragement which it will afford to the alms of oth- 
 ers. It is not the mode of doing a benevolent action that 
 our Saviour designed to regulate, but the principles from 
 which it should spring. In this view, what an amiable proof 
 do these precepts contain of the excellence of the evangelic 
 doctrine, and the celestial purity of its spirit ! 
 
 Another character of the sacred scriptures which has gen- 
 erally been relied on as affording a presumptive indication of 
 
 26 
 
202 
 
 their being derived from God is their simplicity and plainness, 
 notwithstanding the sublimity of the subjects of which they 
 treat, and the extent of the system of truth and morals which 
 they embrace. Any religion, which comes from God, must, 
 from its very design, be adapted for the instruction of the 
 mass of mankind. And it was the glory of the gosjiel, in its 
 commencement, that it was preached to the poor. In ful- 
 filling this great and necessary end of popular edification, 
 therefore, nothing would have been more preposterous than 
 to propose to them abstruse and speculative principles of sci- 
 ence, or to discuss before them such abstract questions as 
 were agitated by the philosophers in the presence of their 
 disciples. It was requisite that religion should propound 
 the objects, the laws, and the motives of duty, in the most 
 plain and intelligible form, that they might be easily compre- 
 hended by the most unimproved understanding, while they 
 should afford high matter to employ the sublimest, and most 
 cultivated reason. Most remarkably do we see these char- 
 acters meet in the gospel. And perhaps no fact can better 
 demonstrate how admirably it is fitted to be the instructor of 
 the people, than the clear and general knowledge which we 
 now find among all ranks of men, on the subjects of our mor- 
 al duties, and our religious hopes. A common labourer, in- 
 structed, as the church requires for the poorest of her sons, 
 would have been esteemed a philosopher among philosophers 
 themselves, judging only from the reasonableness and excel- 
 lence of his moral and theological doctrines. But, if they 
 
295 
 
 were to enter with him into such disquisitions on the princi- 
 ples of these doctrines as were common in iheir schools ; if 
 they were to endeavour to trace them to their primary ele- 
 ments, and again to pursue them through regular deductions 
 to their ultimate conclusions, guarding against objections and 
 doubts at every step, and parrying, or sol\ iug a thousand 
 knotty questions in their progress, would not this plain man 
 be confounded ? He would be lost in the intricacy of their 
 speculations, and would not be able at last to recognise his 
 own principles. Such reflections add no small value to the 
 plainness of the gospel; and may, perhaps, justly be said to 
 afford a presumption of the divinity of that system which has 
 thus been able to bring down the sublimest subjects to the 
 level of ordinary minds. 
 
 I subjoin here, that the efficacy of the holy scriptures, by 
 which is meant their tendency, and powerful influence to pro- 
 duce holiness of life in those who truly believe them, is otten 
 adduced by pious writers as an internal character, and pre- 
 sumptive argument of their divine original. This argument 
 is supported partly from reason and partly from experience. 
 In the former view, we should consider the motives and as- 
 sistances of duty afforded by the gospel, and the awful and 
 commanding authority by which it is enjoined. The mo- 
 tives presented to the view, and urged upon the conscience 
 of a believer in the gospel, are of so transcendent and inter- 
 esting a nature, as evidently to give it an operation, and ef- 
 
204 
 
 feet upon the hearf, which can never be perceived from any 
 system of mere reason and philosophy. Feeble are the mo- 
 tives of reason alone to combat the force of the passions. Bat 
 the gospel, by bringing life and immortality to lighty by 
 proposing to mankind the glorious and awful retributions of 
 eternity, by the doctrine of a divine providence, of a univer- 
 sal wilness and judge of human actions, and even of the 
 thoughts of the heart, has given a force and effect to the laws- 
 of duty and holiness, which couid not be derived from any 
 representations of the present convenience and satisfactions 
 of a virtuous life, however eloquently they might be depict- 
 ed in the discourses of the learned, but which the heart is so 
 often able to set aside, or to render doubtful in the moments 
 of temptation and of action. 
 
 Consider, in the next place, the authority with which the 
 gospel speaks to the heart of a true believer, who receives 
 it as the immediate and infallible word of God. Reason, 
 when it would prescribe a law of duty to mankind, must often 
 speak in the breast with a very faint and doubtful voice 
 amidst the prejudices and prepossessions of self-love, and the 
 importunities of appetite and passion, and amidst the dubious 
 and circuitous deductions by which it is obliged to arrive at 
 its conclusions. And it can never prescribe to the people a 
 rule which, in this uncertainty, can clearly reach to every 
 case in the practice of life. But the authority of God gives 
 to his law a clearness which cannot be mistaken, and a power 
 
i!05 
 
 and conlrol which come home to every thought and purpose 
 of the son!. Before the majesty of his authority, the turbu- 
 lence of appetite, and the deceilfulness of the heart are over- 
 awed, and brought to submission. And the authority of God 
 is exhibited in the gospel as possessing claims to our obedi- 
 ence, and a power to command it, which reason alone cannot 
 exert. He enforces his law by all the rights of creation ; by 
 all the obligations of his love in the redemption of the world ; 
 and by all the terrors of his justice, which shall, at last, de- 
 cide, by this law, the eternal destinies of mankind. 
 
 Among the most effectual means of holiness, pious writers 
 have ever considered the promised aids of the Holy Spirit : 
 they are, therefore, to be classed under that head of presump- 
 tive proof of which I am now treating : the efficacy of the 
 scriptures. 
 
 To a nature corrupted as ours is, the difficulty of conquer- 
 ing its sinful tendencies and habits, and turning its whole 
 force and activity into an habitual love of virtue, of holiness, 
 and of God, that is, of regenerating and new creating it, might 
 justly be regarded as insuperable without supernatural, and 
 divine assistance. At least, convinced sinners who feel only 
 the diflficuities of religion, and who, in repeated efforts per- 
 fectly to obey the law of God, and to overcome the power 
 of sin in their hearts, must be sensible only of their o«vn 
 weakness, would be ready to sink into despondency, or re- 
 
Q06 
 
 bpse into tbeir natural indolence, and love of indulgence, UD» 
 less they could find some hope in the promised aid of the 
 holy Spirit. If, then, in maintaining the efficacy of the gos- 
 pel, to promote holiness of life, against unbelievers, we should 
 not be at liberty to assume the reality of the influence of the 
 Spirit, which would completely decide the question; yet 
 the promise, and hope of his gracious and effectual assistance 
 is calculated to encourage the perseverance, and reanimate 
 the diligent and faithful endeavours of every believer, and 
 may, therefore, be justly reckoned among the efficient means 
 which the gospel possesses of promoting true holiness, and 
 reproducing on the heart of man the image of his Creator. 
 
 Finally, this argument is supported by experience. I 
 might here mention, in the first place, the great and manifest 
 effect which the gospel has ever had in producing holiness. 
 of life wherever it has been received with a sincere faith — 
 But I have chiefly in view that proof of its divinity which it 
 carries to the heart of every real christian by his own expe- 
 rience of its sanctifying influence. This is a proof indeed 
 that is entirely personal, and does not belong to the general 
 evidences of the truth of Christianity. Yet, to a sincere be- 
 liever, who has experienced this holy and renovating power, 
 and thus may be said to have the testimony in himself, and 
 this is the principal view in which the pious writers I have 
 mentioned propose this argument, there is, perhaps, no other 
 proof which cones home with such life, and force, and per^ 
 
307 
 
 auasion to his heart. The argument, however, which I take 
 to be in its nature very solid and just, is calculated, and in- 
 tended rather for the confirmation of the faith of the believer, 
 than the conviction of the unbeliever. 
 
 OF THE CONSISTENCV OF THE SCRIPTURES WITH THEM- 
 SELVES, AND WITH THE STATE OF THE WORLD. 
 
 Another internal character of the sacred scriptures, which 
 affords a presumptive argument of their truth, is their COU' 
 sisiency. This may be considered under two views : their 
 consistency with themselves, and their consistency with the 
 state of the world. 
 
 That any work, the production of one author, and embrac- 
 ing a code of legislation, or system of morals, how extensive 
 soever, founded on his peculiar opinions, should be regularly 
 deduced from definite principles, should aim at one end, and 
 be found coherent in all its parts, would have in it nothing 
 surprising. It woiiM be a natural consequence of genius, and 
 sound judgment in the writer. But, in the scriptures we per- 
 ceive, not the work of one author, nor of one age, but the 
 gradual development of a grand scheme of providence, and 
 of divine grace towards mankind, commencing with the ori- 
 gin, and carried on through the whole series of time, till the 
 close of the canon of the New Testament, in the accomplish- 
 went and illustration of which animaiense number of person*; 
 
20 ii 
 
 must have co-operated throughout successive ages, not con- 
 nected with one another, and not acting, as far as appears to 
 human view, under any common direction. One dispensa- 
 tion follows and is built upon another. The same spirit, the 
 same principles of thei>Iogy, of pielj, and morals pervade the 
 whole ; the same spiritual promises and hopes are gradually 
 unfolded through thousands of years, and conducted to their 
 ultimate accomplishment. Here is a vast concatenation of 
 events intimately linked together, and depending upon one 
 another ; here is a unity of plan in this great system contin- 
 ued down through different dispensations of the mercy of God 
 lo the world, tending to fulfil one great design, the salvation 
 of mankind through a Redeemer ; of the astonishing deve- 
 lopment of which design, continued through such a long pe- 
 riod, no reasonable account can be given, unless we suppose 
 the whole to be under the immediate guidance and direction 
 of heaven. Plans laid by human contrivance are not so per- 
 manent, and, if I may use the term so continuous. There is 
 no example, in human affairs, of successive generations tak- 
 ing up one design, unfolding it by degre^ in a long course of 
 ages, and carrying it, at length, to its ultimate completion. 
 From the character and state of human nature, its limited, 
 and discordant views, this is perhaps impossible. We do 
 not perceive the various schools of philosophy concurring 
 long in the same systems of physics, or of morals. One lead- 
 er of a sect differs from another ; the disciple differs from his 
 master ; the principles on which their respective theories are 
 
built are continually changing. But in the holy scripiures 
 we find one uniform consistent design pursued from genera- 
 tion to generation. Amidst all the variations which in a long 
 succession of ages must have occurred in the state of society, 
 in the manners of men, in their habits of thinking, and in the 
 external forms and usages of the church itself, we still per- 
 ceive the same doctrines concerning the nature of God, and 
 the duties of man ; wc still discern the same principles of mo- 
 rals, the same worship of the heart required in true religion, 
 the same high and eternal motives of duty urged upon the 
 Conscience, the same promised Saviour exhibited to our faith, 
 the same plan of divine grace, distinguished only by the ad- 
 ditional lights from time to time thrown upon it as it aj)proacli- 
 ed its final accomplishment. In this consistency, then, we 
 behold a moral phenomenon so different from whatever takes 
 place, in the plans and designs of men, as to afford no slight 
 presumption that the whole, from its commencement to its 
 consummation, has been under the wise and gracious direc- 
 tion of the Spirit of God. The same Spirit seems to have 
 inspired the holy patriarchs, the great legislator of Israel, the 
 long succession of the Hebrew prophets, and the evangelists 
 and apostles of our blessed Lord. 
 
 There is another light in which the consistency of the 
 scriptures may be considered, which merits a more extended 
 illustration : it is their conformity with the actual state of the 
 world. Truth is always consistent with itself, and with all 
 
21C 
 
 other truths. Error, though it may be disguised, and to su= 
 perficial observation, may seem to bear a semblance of truth ; 
 yet in such a wide field of moral, historical, and natural sci>- 
 ence, as is embraced in the holy scriptures, it is extremely 
 improbable that any scheme of falsehood and imposture, fab- 
 ricated especially in such an early age, should not contain 
 many discrepancies with the actual system, moral or physi- 
 cal, of the world, which would be made more and more man- 
 ifest by the improvements of science. But improvements in 
 genuine science have hitherto only more clearly elucidated 
 and confirmed the doctrines of the scriptures, and especially 
 the facts of the sacred history. Here we see the depravity 
 of human nature, the existence of which is demonstrated by 
 a most melancholy experience, not only asserted, but ac- 
 counted for, and referred to a most natural source. Here we 
 ssee a remedy provided for this universal corruption, confor- 
 mable to the hopes of virlue, adequate to the fears of guilt, 
 agreeing with the soundest principles of reason, yet such as 
 reason could never have discovered. Here you trace the 
 orii2;in of nations in the immediate descendants of the great 
 postdiluvian father of the race ; and here the different my- 
 thologies of so many people, and their varying traditions, re- 
 ceive a reasonable interpretation, and are reunited as in a 
 cooimoa centre. 
 
$11 
 
 THE CHARACTER OF THE AUTHOR OP OUR RELIGION: THE 
 INSTRUMENTS HE EMPLOYED TO PROMOTE IT: THE 
 BENEFICIAL CONSEQUENCES WHICH HAVE RE- 
 SULTED FROM ITS PUBLICATION AND 
 RECEPTION IN THE WORLD. 
 
 Among the presumptive evidences of tlie truth of the 
 christian religion, none perhaps, are stronger than that which 
 arises from the character of its blessed Author. No other 
 man has ever existed, who, in his intercourse with the world, 
 was so blameless, so amiable, and, in every attribute which 
 deserves the esteem of mankind, so worthy our veneration 
 and love. Such a character would very ill accord with the 
 duplicity and hypocrisy of imposture. As the union of ihe 
 divine with the human nature in the person of the Redeemer 
 is a doctrine purely of revelation, we are not at liberty, while 
 only establishing the proofs of the gospel, to assume that prin- 
 ciple in order to exalt the virtues and perfections of Jesus 
 Christ. We must consider him merely as he appeared to 
 the view of men, claiming to be the founder of a new religion 
 derived immediately from God, that we may judge how far 
 his character corresponded with his high pretensions, and 
 bow far these pretensions were supported by such eminent 
 virtues, and such freedom from error and imperfection in con- 
 duct, as ought to be expected in a messenger of iieaven, the 
 <2xample and instructor of mankind. That he appeared, in 
 
212 
 
 the eyes of Lis disciplea, after their long and intimate inter- 
 couise with him, and their dailj observation of his life and 
 manners, worthy of their highest love and veneration, and 
 worthy of the heavenly original which he claimed, is strongly 
 expressed in the following declaration of Saint John : And 
 the Word was made fleshy and dwelt among us ; and we be- 
 held his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, 
 full of grace and truth.^ This whole passage, I presume, 
 refers, not to his transfiguration, nor to any of those appear- 
 ances in which he exhibited himself to his disciples immedi- 
 ately before his ascension, but to that beaidy of holiness, 
 that glorious display of virtue and perfection which shone 
 through hia whole life, and which, in every part of it, was/wO 
 of grace and truth : that is, conspicuously distinguished by 
 the most amiable condescension, and benignity of disposition 
 and manners,! ^"^ ^Y *^^ '^^^* undissembled and inviolable 
 sincerity. 
 
 Among the most distinguishing, as well as the most vene- 
 rable characteristics of Jesus Christ, was his piety towards 
 God. The universal government of divine providence he 
 devoutly acknowledged in every event of his life. And, in 
 the immediate prospect of his most painful death, and, after- 
 wards in the midst of those excruciating sufTerings, so studi- 
 
 * John i. 14. 
 
 f This is frequently the meaning of the original term /C^pii, and, perhaps, 
 always when applied, as it is here, in tbedescriptioaof character. 
 
21S 
 
 ouslj" aggravafed by the ingenuity and malice of wicked men, 
 you perceive no other emotions but those of compassion, and 
 forgiveness to his enemies, but the most perfect meekness, 
 submission, and resignation to the will of God. Often you 
 see him retire apart from the admiration, or the curiosity of 
 (he multitude, and the company of his disciples, for the pur- 
 poses of secret devotion, and, on the sabbath day, he is care- 
 ful to exhibit an instructive example of devout attendance on 
 the pubhc institutions of religion in the assemblies of the syn- 
 agogue. Ever warm, humble, and affectionate in his devo- 
 tional exercises, you perceive in them, however, nothing of 
 those ecstacies, nor of those bold familiarities with heaven, 
 which distinguish the spirit of enthusiasm. And in that 
 model of prayer which he gave his disciples, which, for com- 
 prehension of thought, for a just selection of the objects of 
 prayer, and for the true spirit of devotion has never been 
 equalled, you find the genuine fervours of piety united with 
 the most calm, dignified, and rational expression of the de- 
 vout feelings of the heart. 
 
 When we descend to that part of his character, which was 
 exhibited in his intercourse with mankind, it is, in the high- 
 est degree amiable and interesting, and worthy our admira- 
 tion and imitation. The spirit of meekness and humility 
 breathed through his whole life and manners ; and his be- 
 nevolence and charity knew no bounds. Always engaged 
 in instructing the ignorant and comforting the afflicted, you 
 
214 
 
 bebold liim continually surrounded with multitudes of poor, 
 of maimed, of blind, of diseased, listening to his instructions 
 and consolations, and seeking relief from that benevolent 
 power which he was ever ready to exercise in their behalf. 
 His love of sincerity and Iriilh would never suffer him to dis- 
 guise his designs, even wiien he knew that his enemies were 
 only waiting for his declaration to wreak upon him their most 
 cruel and murderous rage. Yet, it was in the midsl of the 
 Bufferings inflicted by their cruelly and rage that the united 
 virtues of his character shone with the brightest lustre ; sub- 
 mission to the will of God ; zeal for the happiness and salva- 
 tion of mankind, the great object for which he laboured up- 
 on earth ; the unruffled meekness of his nature under the in- 
 juries and indignilies of his persecutors ; compassion and 
 forgiveness towards his enemies in the midst of the tortures 
 which he endured from their hands ; (he dutiful affection and 
 care of a son towards a destitute and afl9icted mother stand- 
 ing at the foot of his cross, which no bodily torment could 
 suspend in his heart for a moment ; the whole crowned by 
 that last fervent act of benevolence and devotion, in which 
 he expired ; Father forgive them, for tftet/ know not what 
 they do. How unlike an impostor ! How far superior to 
 the life, and the death of heroes, or philosophers ! Rous- 
 seau in lone of those moments of warm and generous admira- 
 tion of virtue which he sometimes felt, comparing the death 
 of Jesus Christ with that of Socrates, gives to the founder of 
 Christianity an infinite preference to the Athenian sage. 
 
215 
 
 This character of Jesus Christ, indeed, is drawn froth the 
 memoirs of his life written by disciples, who may be aiip« 
 posed to have coloured it with a pencil tinctured by their 
 partiality for a beloved master. But let it be remembered 
 that the gospels, were evidently not written with any direct 
 view of Qiaking the eulogy of Christ, but merely to present 
 to us a narrative of liis actions and discourses, which is done 
 with the most undesigning simplicity. The character we de- 
 rive from the facts as they have presented them. 
 
 To draw a uniform, consistent, and noble character, from 
 imagination, which shall be entirely new in its principal fea- 
 tures, is one of the most difficult works of genius, and not 
 to be expected from men in that spiiere of life in which the 
 disciples moved. But it is still more difficult to invent a 
 consistent, yet diversified series of actions from which the 
 character, strongly and dislinclly marked, shall naturally 
 arise to the view of the reader. Besides, we have four se- 
 parate, memoirs, evidently written without any concert of 
 their authors, which still, however, present to us the same 
 picture of life and manners. "^ A biographical picture, thus 
 
 * JVritten without any concert of their authors ; • for although they present to ua 
 nearly the same transactions, and discourse.", yet it is not done with Mia» it'entity 
 either in the suhstance of tlie narration, or the order of time which would indi- 
 cate preconcert, or design. On the other hand, we perceive such differences as 
 would naturally occur in the narratives of intelligent and hone.^t men <:ivin:, af- 
 ter 1 certain interval of time, the history of tlie smin « vent*;, without an\ know- 
 ledge of each other's testimony, or any study to make thcw accord j and yet mi\\ 
 
216 
 
 depicleJ sitaply by actions, drawn by iiiea whose plain and 
 sound understandings enabled them only to exhibit without 
 embellishment what they actually saw and heard, but who 
 vrere utterly incapable of dramatic fiction, carries in itself 
 the strongest claims to be received as genuine. It is, be- 
 sides, so peculiar, so utterly unlike whatever had before 
 been exhibited among men either in the history of real life, 
 or in fiction, that it can never be conceived to be the mere 
 creation of writers who were wholly incompetent to such es- 
 says of genius and fancy. In every view, it bears the irre- 
 sistible impressions of truth and nature. A character, how- 
 worthy the messenger of peace, and salvation to mankind, 
 who claimed the high and holy relation of being the Son of 
 God ! 
 
 One peculiarity in the life of Jesus Christ especially mer- 
 its our most serious consideration, as it demonstrates that he 
 could not have acted on any suggestions of human policy or 
 wisdom. In order to place it in its just light, it is necessary 
 again to carry back our view to the state of public opinion in 
 the Jewish nation at that period. The belief that the com- 
 ing of the Messiah was just at hand was then strong and uni- 
 versal. The Jews, proud of their exclusive relation to God as 
 
 such uniformit}' , and such consistency in the whole character, even when one in- 
 troduces new facts, of which the others have not spoken, as clearly demonstrates 
 that they are drawing from life, and that they all hare the same original before 
 them. 
 
217 
 
 his chosen people, and impallentof (he yoke which haJ lali 
 ly been imposed upon (heoi by Ihe Romans, expected In 
 iheir Messiah a martial prince and a conqueror, wlio should 
 deliver (hem from (lie power of (heir enemies, and enable 
 (hem (o conquer in (heir (urn. In such a state of (he public 
 sentiment and feeling, impatient, agita(ed, anxious, momen(- 
 Ij waiting for (he appearance of some grea( deliverer, many 
 daring spiri(s would naturally arise (o offer themselves as lead- 
 ers in (he honourable and popular en(erprise of rescuing (he 
 na(ion from ita abjec( humilladon, and raising i( (o (ha( splen- 
 dor and glory bo eagerly an(!cipa(ed by every Jew. Minds 
 of a fanadcal and enthusiastic turn, inflamed to a degree of 
 insanity by sympathy with (he general fervor, would imagine 
 Ihonselvcs to be the ins(rument3 destined by heaven (o ac- 
 complish (his glorious purpose. Whereas others, of a cold 
 impiety, but of a bold and resolu(e temper, calculating on 
 (he possibility of (urning the nadonal ardor (o (heir own ag- 
 grandizement, would cherish the daring ambition of usurping 
 the government by force of arms, and placing themselves oa 
 the throne of Judea. But, whether actuated by a spirit of 
 fanaticism, or imposture, and under one or other of these 
 classes all pretenders must be ranged, they would equally 
 move under the impulse of the public sentiment, and be dl- 
 lected by it in their choice of the means to accomnllsli (heir 
 end. They would, (herefore, always appear at (he head of 
 armed bands. And such was the fact, according to (he tcstl- 
 mony of the cotemporary historian .Tosephui?. For, of all 
 
2J8 
 
 the nimieroiis imposfors, who sprung up in Jndea prefend» 
 iug to be Messiah, a liille before fhe ministry of our SaviouFy 
 and, from that period, till the final destruction of Jerusaleaij 
 Ihere was not one who did not attempt to support his claim 
 by arms. Not so the Lord Jesus Christ. He deviated en- 
 iiiely from this course, which nature and human policy would 
 Lave pointed out to him, and chose one in every respect op- 
 posite. The vain and proud expectations of the Jews he 
 refused to gratify. He openly declared that his kingdom is 
 not of this world. Instead of affecting the splendour of roy- 
 ally, or the authority of command, he renounced all worldly 
 pomp and grandeur. Instead of the weapons of force and 
 compulsion, he employed only the meekness of instruction 
 and persuasion. Instead of conciliating the favour of the 
 Jewish nation by courting their prejudices, he boldly and 
 openly declared to them (bat their national policy, and even 
 their national exislence as the peculiar people of God, should 
 goon come to a period. Be did not allure his disciples to 
 liis party by the prospects of honour, emolument, or com- 
 mand, but by inculcating humility and self-denial, and pro- 
 posing to them, in his service, only arduous trials, incessant 
 persecutions, and unrewarded kbours. This is a course 
 which not only nature, and human wisdom would not have 
 pointed out, in the circumstances in which he chose it, but 
 which judging on all the acknowledged principles of proba- 
 bility, could only have tended to ruin his hopes. The bum- 
 ble, peaceful, patient, and self-denied character which he as- 
 
219 
 
 fsiimcd, so \vide1y different from that to whlcb the spirit of 
 that age and nation would have urged him, aifords ample proof 
 that he was not governed by any maxims of worldly policy. 
 And his success, notwithstanding the entire detect of all the 
 measures, or precautions which human wisdom would liave 
 prescribed, and in opposition to the contempt, the indignation, 
 and power of a whole nation, whose wounded prid€, and dis- 
 appointed hopes, had inQamed their passions to a degree of fu- 
 ry which threatened to crush him, and all his designs in an in- 
 stant, supplies the strongest presumption that tue work was 
 not of men but of God, who, with a silent, but irresistible op- 
 eration, often confounds the counsels of the wise, and defeats 
 the power of the mighty, and conducts the designs of his own 
 providence, by secret, and inscrutable springs, to the most 
 wonderful and unexpected issues. 
 
 Conformable to the character which the Saviour assumed 
 were the instruments which he employed to propagate his re- 
 ligion. He chose men from the humblest walks of life, w ith- 
 out power, without influence, without science, without elo- 
 quence ; and yet, strictly forbidding every attempt to extend 
 his doctrines by compulsion and force, he commanded them 
 to rely for success in their mission simply on their plain un- 
 varnished exposition of the truth, under the guidance of that 
 divine Spirit which he promised them to co-operate with 
 iheir preaching. What could be expected, on every ground 
 of human calculation, from the choice of such instruments for 
 
a vroik of this peculiar nature, and of such infinite magnitude 
 and difficulty, but failure and disgrace ? Could men in their 
 rank of life, and possessing only their talents, have raised their 
 minds to such a mighty enterprise as that of changing the moral 
 state of the whole world ? If they had been bold enough to ad- 
 mit the thought, was there any example in the history of human 
 events which could have encourged the smallest hope of suc- 
 cess ? Yet, we have seen them, in obedience to the command of 
 their master, although with reluctance at first, under the con- 
 sciousness of their impotence, enter on this astonishing en- 
 terprise ; and we have seen it, contrary to every principle of 
 probable reasoning, gloriously accomplished in their hands. 
 Well may we ask, then, if the choice of such instruments is 
 not a new proof that our blessed Saviour did not take counr 
 sel of human wisdom, nor act on any plan that the cunning 
 spirit of imposture would have dictated ? And, when we con- 
 template the wonderful revolution which they have effected, 
 does not the conclusion, almost irresistibly, force itself upon 
 the mind, that they must have acted under a divine direc- 
 tion r 
 
 But, omitting all other arguments of the presumptive class, 
 I shall only further offer to your consideration that strong 
 presumption which arises from the effects which the christian 
 religion has had on the interests, and happiness, the religious 
 opinions, morals and manners of society. That the publica- 
 tion of the gospel has produced an important revolution in 
 
221 
 
 the moral and religious state of the woiUl, is obvious to all 
 who have sufficient acquaintance with the history of nations, 
 and of human nature, to be able to compare the past with tin- 
 present : and that this revolution has, upon the whole, been 
 salutary, and has contributed, in no small degree, to the hap- 
 piness of mankind, can hardly be denied by any well inform- 
 ed, and candid unbeliever. 
 
 The beneficial elTects of the christian revelation may be 
 considered under two views ; the great and visible improve- 
 Qient of the world in religious and divine knowledge in conse- 
 quence of the prevalence of Christianity ; and the practical 
 improvement, especially of the christian nations, in morals 
 and manners. 
 
 Much has been said already, on the great superiority of 
 the theological and moral system of the sacred scriptures, 
 above all that philosophy ever taught among the disciples of 
 human wisdom, or superstition ever substituted for religion 
 among the vulgar. But the beneficial influence of the gos- 
 pel is not to be looked for chiefly among men of science, who 
 form but a small portion of any nation, nor to be measured 
 principally by the excellence of its doctrines compared with 
 the institutions of philosophy, but by the illumination which 
 it has shed through the great mass of the people. In this 
 class, who were once thought to be incapable of any rational 
 consideration of those sublims subjects, do we not now find 
 
truer notions of God, purer conceptions of the worship due 
 (o hira, juster principles of duty, a more perfect system of 
 the rules of moral conduct, and higher and nobler motives to 
 enforce those rules in practice, than were ever known even 
 to the few sages who appeared here and there like stars ia 
 the dark night of paganism ? This is certainly the greatest 
 and sublimest effect which has ever been produced by naoral 
 instruction. No where do we now behold such objects of 
 woi-shipas Jupiter or Juno, as Mars or Apollo, whose Tices 
 would have been an additional stain on the reputation of the 
 most immoral of their worshippers. Still less do we see tem- 
 ples erected to such deities as Bacchus or Venus ; or such 
 ridiculous, lewd, and beastly sprites as Fauns and Satyrs, as 
 Priapus and Pan. We no longer witness the revels of a holi- 
 day substituted for the pure worship of Almighty God, 
 vhich should consist in solemn acts of homage and venera- 
 .tion : in penitent acknowledgments of our sins, in devout med- 
 itations on the works and perfections of the Creator, in grate- 
 ful recollections of his innumerable mercies, and in the pious 
 anticipation of those heavenly and immortal hopes which of- 
 fer the most powerful motives to the true believer to live vir- 
 tuously, and form his best preparation to die peacefully. 
 The offices of religion, that were performed in the pagan 
 temples did not, in any country, embrace the moral instruc- 
 tion of the people. The functions of the priesthood were all 
 fulBlled in the regular discharge of a ritual of unmeaning, or 
 fantastic ceremonies. Piety or good morals were not eS" 
 
223 
 
 teemed requisite even to the sacerdotal character. How 
 different are those pious offices which are performed in our 
 christian temples ! What a school are they become to the 
 people of that knowledge most important to the interests and 
 happiness of mankind ! With what advantages in the church, 
 that is, under the immediate inspection and authority of Al- 
 mighty God, are they initiated in that most perfect discipline 
 which embraces the whole compass of their duties to God 
 and man, and provides most certainly for the happiness both 
 of their present, and their future being ! Idolatry, with its 
 impious and immoral train, has been banished from all its an- 
 cient seats in the civilized world. For Christianity has in 
 this, and in many other respects, extended a salutary influ- 
 ence far beyond the nations embraced within its actual pale. 
 
 If Christianity has introduced into the great mass of socie- 
 ty a more perfect knowledge, than they enjoyed before, of 
 those moral and divine principles most useful and important (o 
 the practical understanding and discharge of all their duties^ 
 it has, in the same proportion, opened the true sources of 
 enjoy Qient to all who sincerely embrace and believe its doc- 
 trines. Their happy influence will be perceived by a good 
 man in every situation wherein he can be placed, in the com- 
 posure of his spirit, in the sense of the continual presence, 
 favour, and protection of Almighty God, in that 6!lal affec- 
 tion and trust with which he confides in the divine mercy, 
 and that security with which the spirit of faith reposes on 
 
224 
 
 the friie foundation of our eternal hopes. Bui tlie gracious 
 and beneficent power of the gospel, and the precioiisness of 
 its consolations, will be pcculiarlj felt under the various af- 
 flictions which God hath found it necessary or useful to in- 
 troduce into the discipline of our present state of probation* 
 There are comforts in religion which can enable the pious 
 heart to throw oflf the pressure of all its sorrows. But, that 
 I may not enter too far into disquisitions which would bet- 
 ter become the pulpit, I will confine myself briefly to point 
 out the consolation and support it affords the soul at the ap- 
 proach of death. The weakness of human nature, if it is 
 not supported by religious hope, commonly meets this awful 
 term of our earthly existence with extreme solicitude. And 
 the consciousness of guilt, which is apt to be awakened in the 
 heart when we are approaching the presence of the Supreme 
 Judge, and when all the illusions of the passions and the 
 world, which had diverted reflection, are passed away, 
 greatly aggravates to most men the distress of dying. Their 
 utter ignorance of all that is beyond this life, and the fearful 
 apprehensions natural to weakness and guilt, of what may 
 take place hereafter, must often agitate with terror, or hang 
 with peculiar heaviness, on the departing spirit which is not 
 enlightened by revelation. The polite and learned nations 
 of antiquity, although they had some notions of the existence of 
 the soul after the dissolution of the body, and some appre- 
 hensions of a future retribution to virtue, and to vice, yet had 
 framed no clear and satisfactory ideas on these subjects on 
 
225 
 
 which reason could rely: all their representations of the 
 state of departed souls, therefore, were melancholy and 
 gloomy in the extreme. What ineffable consolation, then, 
 has the gospel brought to countless millions of the human 
 race ? What comfort has it shed upon the hour of death ? 
 what illumination on the darkness of the tomb, by bring- 
 ing life and immortalily to light ! It has pointed out, 
 through Jesus Christ, the way, at once, to a happy death, 
 and to the certain hope of a blessed and eternal existence. 
 To the real christian, who believes its promises, and confides 
 in its hopes, the comforts which it sheds on this most inter- 
 esting crisis of our being are beyond every estimate which 
 can be formed of their value, and must greatly strengthen in 
 his heart that faith which has been created and nourished 
 there by its holy doctrines. 
 
 Suffer me now to conclude these evidences with an obser- 
 Talion which is of great importance in order to a just view of 
 the influence of the christian system on the general happiness 
 of the world. Although the knowledge of its divine truths 
 has not been actually communicated to all nations ; yet it 
 teaches us to believe that the whole human race do, in a very 
 great degree, participate in its blessings. From the moment 
 of the fall of our original parent, and the merciful promise of 
 that heavenly seed who, from the beginning was destined to 
 repair the evils of his transgression, tiie world has been placed 
 
 under an administration of grace in tin hands of ('-' ^^ ■ 'v 
 
 29 
 
326 
 
 lor, siiiled \o its degenerate condition. And now, in conse- 
 quence of Ihe atonement made by the Lamb slain from the 
 foundation of the worlds and of the assistance of the holy- 
 Spirit, which through the one oblation offered on the cross, 
 has been imparted to all men to direct and strengthen the dic- 
 tates of conscience in their breasts, salvation has been render- 
 ed possible to sincere repentance, and regeneration of heart 
 in every age, and in every nation, even where the name of 
 Jesus Christ has not been explicitly revealed.* For the ho- 
 ly apostle Peter hath taught us, what a heavenly vision re- 
 vealed to him ; that, through the death and mediation of the 
 ever blessed Saviour, in every nation, he that feareth God, 
 
 * The pious nien in the patriarchal ages, and generally in the ancient world^ 
 could have had no definite, and evangelical apprehensions of t!ie character of the 
 Saviour, notwithstanding it was through the efficacy of his atonement that they 
 had access to God, and by his Spirit they were sanctified. The same Spirit is im- 
 partid, in a degree, to the heathen world, ia every age, who, applying with a di- 
 vine efficacy the law of nature to the consciences of men, becomes, to many among 
 them a principle of sincere repentance and regeneration of heart. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Braiuerd in the journal of his mission among the Indians, relates 
 a striking anecdote, very much to the present point, of an aged man whom he met 
 with, who, in his original state of healhenism, had gained, from his own reflec- 
 tions, and the exercises of his own heart, under the influence of that divine Spirit 
 which he acknowledged, an acquaintance witli the most important practical princi- 
 ples of real piety, as far, probably, as, without the explicit knowledge of the Me- 
 idiator, and the atonement, they were generally attained even by the best men in 
 the ancient and patriarchal world. Mr, Brainerd, after free and repeated con- 
 versations with liim on the most practical subjects of religion, declares that if he 
 thou;iht it possible for a heathen to be a truly pious man, without the direct know- 
 ledge of Jesus Christ, he would have concluded this Indian to be such. In this 
 remark, indeed, we perceive a certain illiberality of opinion, which, considering 
 the powerful effect, on many minds, of (he prejudices of education, is, perhaps, 
 rather to be lamented than severely censured. This pious missionary forgot the 
 reasoning of Saint Paul in the third chapter of his eiiistle lo the Roman?, 
 
22r 
 
 and ivorketh righfeoiisnesSf is accepted with him. This h 
 the foundation of our hope with regard to the pious men of 
 the ancient world: and on the same grounds may we still 
 build a reasonable hope, that thQ3e distant corners of the 
 earth, which seem covered with the profoundest darkness^ 
 preserve, at all times, many of the chosen vessels of mercy. 
 And, although the sun of righteousness has not yet lifted hia 
 beams on all nations, we have reason to believe that he is in 
 his glorious progress ; and that as the plans of divine provi- 
 dence are hastening to their full development, the gospel will 
 shortly be extended along with the improvements of civili- 
 zation and science, over the whole earth, and involve all na- 
 
 Will it be asked, what advantages then, If the principle which has bacn statcf^ 
 above be just, iiavc the christian nations over those who enjoy only the faint glini- 
 merings of the light of nature? I answer, tliat, although noen, who enjoy only the 
 imperfect lights of nature, together witli those gleams of original truth whicii 
 have been preserved by a tradition that is not yet entirely extinct among any 
 people, may, through repentance and saoctification of the Spirit, be saved by a 
 Redeemer whom they have not distinctly known, yet mast they be subject, through 
 life, to many, and distressing doubts and anxieties which the native weakness of 
 human reason is unable to resolve. Besides the nations who enjoy the blessed 
 light of the gospel possess much clearer and more ample means of knowledge and 
 of grace, more efficient motives of duty, more consoling hopes, than those who are 
 left to the obscure teachings of reason unenlightened by revelation. And, it 
 such means and motives have in their own nature, and independently on the more 
 abundant influences of the divine Spirit, which accompany them under the chris- 
 tian dispensation, a powerful tendency to promote the spirit, and to advance th? 
 interests of piety and virtue, how greatly must the numbers of pious men be mul- 
 tiplied under the full illumination of the Sun of righteousness ? 
 
 To these reflections it may be added, that if higher degrees of purity, and sanc- 
 tity of heart and life be the natural result of the clearer lights, and nobler privi- 
 leges of the gospel, a principle most reasonable in itself, will it not follow likewise, 
 that prOi)Ortionably richer and more glorious rewards siiall crown the obedience- 
 ci" the sincere christian in the everlasting presence of his Redeerncrp 
 
228 
 
 lions in (he splendour of his rays. When this blessed era 
 shall arrive, shall we not find an abundant compensation for 
 the partial darkness, or the feeble dawn, which has so long 
 overspread the world, not only in the superior duration, but 
 in the superior glory of that period, when, to use the beautiful 
 and expressive figure of the prophet, the light of the moon 
 ihall be as the ligrht of the sun. and the light of the sun shall 
 he sevenfold, as the light of seven days. 
 
THE TRINITY 
 
 OR 
 
 THREEFOLD EXISTENCE OF THE DEITY« 
 
 In enlering on the investigation of the peculiar doctrines of 
 revelation, the first object which meets our attention is the 
 Trinity, or Threefold Existence of the Deity. 
 
 The existence of God is equally the foundation of natu- 
 ral and revealed Religion. But in the sacred scriptures 
 it assumes an aspect new and peculiar. The Holy Spirit 
 has revealed in them a modification of the divine essence un- 
 known to tlie lights of nature. Its unity indeed, is not im- 
 paired ; but we are taught to believe in the coexistence of 
 three infinite, eternal and equal natures or persons in one 
 most holy and undivided Godhead. As this is a doctrine 
 entirely beyond the discoveries of human reason, it is our du- 
 ty to receive it simply as a revealed /ad, without attempting 
 too curiously to pry into the inscrutable mode of this~^ divine 
 union, which must transcend the comprehension of our 
 minds. Perhaps, however, it is not farther bej ond our intel- 
 lectual capacities to form distinct conceptions of a Trinity in 
 tmioD, than it is clearly to conceive of God himself as pre- 
 
230 
 
 sented to our thoughts by natural religion. Each of his per- 
 fections offers to the mind impenetrable difficulties, and, in 
 many of their circumstances, apparent contradictions. The 
 christian system embraces three infinite subsistences, or per- 
 sons, equally the objects of divine worship ; and all included 
 in one self-existent and eternal essence, only sustaining dif- 
 ferent relations to mankind. This doctrine justly excites 
 our wonder, and confounds the imbecility of our minds. 
 But we are not without an analogy in our own nature to facil- 
 itate our conception of the possibility of the fad. 1 he un- 
 derstanding, the will, and the affections, often enter equally 
 into the acts of the soul ; yet, so that we do not discern ia 
 each operation of the intellect, volition, or affection only a 
 third part of its force ; but we perceive that the whole soul is 
 exerted in the act, and the power of each principle is as the 
 entire energy of the soul. It would, indeed, be impious to 
 imagine that the human mind affords any adequate type of 
 the Supreme and Infinite Spirit, but it certainly yields an 
 analogy by which our conceptions may be aided of three 
 distinct and equal powers in one simple and undivided es- 
 sence in which the energy of the whole is exerted in the 
 operations of each. 
 
 Those who are unfriendly to the evangelic system often 
 reproach believers on this subject, as receiving a doctrme 
 that is unreasonable only because it is above the investiga- 
 tion of reason. This is a distinction which cannot fail to 
 
 i# 
 
231 
 
 meet the thinking mind in the contemplation of innurnerablt; 
 subjects in nature. We see tlie fact, but we cannot under- 
 stand the manner of its existence, nor free it from inexplica- 
 ble difficulties which equally embarrass the wise and the ig- 
 norant. Who can explain the ubiquity of God, without ex- 
 tension or division of parts ? Who can reconcile his immu- 
 tability, and the steadfastness of nature with the promises of 
 his protection to good men ? Or who render free from the 
 most embarrassing perplexities two of the most evident 
 truths, the perfect liberty of human action, and the infallible 
 foreknowledge, and preordination of events, the one, the 
 most obvious dictate of experience, the other, among the 
 most certain principles of science ? In any revelation from 
 God concerning himself, have we not the justest grounds to 
 expect many discoveries which would otherwise, have far 
 transcended the discoveries, and, perhaps, the distinct con- 
 ceptions of our reason. We must judge with infinite imper- 
 fection or absurdity of the divine nature, if we receive no 
 revelation concerning it but what we can measure by the fee- 
 ble powers of the human intellect. — On such transcendant 
 subjects when convinced that God has spoken, it is the first 
 duty of a christian to receive implicitly the declarations of 
 his holy word, without any attempt to bring them down to the 
 level of our own minds. 
 
 It is a natural inquiry, which has been often made, whence 
 can arise any moral benefit from the revelation of a TnV 
 
232 
 
 ity, when it is confessed that human reason is incapable of 
 conceiving the mode of the divine existence ? I answer that 
 the utility of this revelation is precisely similar to that which 
 is derived from the knowledge of the being of God. The 
 belief presents to our ideas a Legislator and a Judge, an ob- 
 ject of worship and of holy fear, a law of duty, and the most 
 powerful sanction of that law. For, although we cannot dis- 
 tinctly conceive of the divine nature, nor expand the mind to 
 the comprehension of infinite perfection ; yet as far as is 
 competent to all the purposes of piety and virtue, we are 
 able to understand the relations of his justice, his power, his 
 wisdom, and his goodness, to us as moral beings. In like 
 manner, although the threefold existence of the Deity is most 
 mysterious and inscrutable, yet the belief of this doctrine, as 
 it is revealed, offers God to the understanding and the heart, 
 in the threefold relation of our Creator, our Saviour, and the 
 Illuminator and Banctifier of our nature ; — in one word, as the 
 Moral Governor of the world in reference to our redemption. 
 These relations can be clearly understood by man, and arc 
 infinitely important to him, as an offending creature, to be 
 known. In them lies all his consolation, and the foundatioa 
 of his hope for eternal life. 
 
232 
 
 VESTIGES OF THIS DOCTRINE HANDED DOWN BI 
 
 TRADITION AMONG ALL THE CIVILIZED 
 
 NATIONS OF ANTI'viOITY^. 
 
 When God had formed the father of our race with rational 
 and moral powers which filled hiii) to be tlic iiintnictor and 
 governor of tlie world, it is a reasonable presumption thai lie 
 should, at Ihe same time, impart such a knowledge of hiaiself 
 as should be requisite to the discharge of every duty which 
 he owed to Heaven. And certain it is, that, as a pious parent, 
 he would affectionately and zealously communicate the pre- 
 cious treasure to his immediate offspring. For the same reason, 
 information so important to religion, and to society, would be 
 disseminated by the great ancestor of luii' kind after the del- 
 uge among Ihe various nations springing from him; the know- 
 ledge, indeed, communicated by tradition, however important 
 it may be to human happiness or duly, loses, in the lapse of 
 time, much of its precision and accuracy, and becomes mixed 
 with fable. Yet in the multiplied changes of mankljid, if the 
 principle, which has just been stated, be well founded, we 
 may expect to find many traces of a doctrine so infimatel/ 
 blended with the first principles of piety ; especially in those 
 countries whose moral history reaches nearest to the era of 
 the deluge. — And we do accordingly discern, in the records 
 of ancient learning, vestiges of this doctrine which are sur- 
 prisingly clear, and more uiifum among people so remotely 
 
 30 
 
234 
 
 dispersed from each other, than could have been derived 
 from any other source, than the common parent of the race. 
 Orpheus, whose name is apt to be mingled, in our ideas, only 
 trith fat)le8, but who was a great legislator, and the oldest of 
 the Grecian poets, as well as the civilizer of all the north of 
 Greece, speaks agreeably to the accurate researches of the 
 Chevalier Ramsay, of the highest of all beings under the de- 
 nominations of light, understanding, and life, which were said 
 to express the powers of the same Deity, the Maker of all. 
 And Cudworth, quoting Timotheus, informs us, [Intellect. 
 Sjyst. ch. 4.] that Orpheus denominated the three powers of 
 the divine nature Ouranos, Ciuonos, and Phanes, the two for- 
 mer names of Greek origin, the latter an Egyptian word signi- 
 fying Love ; and the whole not widely diflfering in the force 
 of the terms from those already j,roduced from the Chevalier 
 Ramsay. Pythagoras is known by all acquainted with Grecian 
 lileralure, to have mainlained a Trhiity of divine persons. 
 His philosophy he derived from Egypt, Chaldea, Persia and 
 India, where similar doctrines prevailed. And we learn from 
 Moderatus, who was a disciple of his school, that a fundamen- 
 tal maxim of his theology was " that God is one, and from 
 him proceed two infinite beings :" which maxim he explains 
 and expands in the following words—" Thejirst one is above 
 all beings, the Second contains all ideas, tlie Third, which 
 he call- ;fc;v5cv or Soul, parlaketh of both." Jamblichus, the 
 %mous aiiitt^oaist of the christians says ** that, like thewy there 
 
were three Gods praised by (he Pythas^oreans. And one* 
 of the philosophers of this school denoininales the second of 
 these deiries " Ihe Heavenly and Sensible God." — The 
 Trinity of Plato is slill better known, the different persons of 
 which he styled ''ro Agathon or Heno Nous or Logos and 
 He Psuche or Hevos, interprete(J, the Good or the One — the 
 Mind or Reason, and the Soul or Love. 
 
 Fro/n the philosopher, already quoted, we learn that the 
 traditions of the ancient Egyptians acknowledge Eineph as 
 the author of truth, and creator of the world ; but before 
 Eineph they place the first Intelligent and Intelligible Being, 
 who can be adored only in silence, denominated Eiklon; but 
 after both is Ptha, or that Spirit which animates all things by 
 its vivifying flame. Eusebius remarks, that the hieroglyphic 
 of the Deity in that nation was a winged globe, with a serpent 
 emerging from its orb. Of which symbol Sanchoniatho, \tt 
 the fragments preserved by that author, gives the following 
 explanation; — "The globe signifies the first self-existent 
 Being, without beginning, and without end ; — The serpent is 
 the einblem of divine wisdom and creative power ; and the 
 wings, of that active spirit which animates the universe." la 
 corroboration of this tradition, it was the received interpreta- 
 tion of their priests that the triangular obelisks erected at the 
 entrance of all their temples were symbols of the divine 
 nature. 
 
 ♦ HicrocIcFi 
 
236 
 
 P^«5!^ino" to o^her nations, Plutarch lias preserved a fracli- 
 lion ol ihe Peibian theology, that their supreme Deity Oro- 
 ma «les thrice augiriented himself; and he records a ceiebra- 
 te.l festival of the Magian priests in honor of the threefold 
 Mvthras; the names of whom were Oromasdes, Mythras, 
 and Mythra. Since the presidency of Sir William Jones in 
 India the exislence of a supreme Trinity in the Mythology 
 of the Braniins is plainly discerned in the midst of their in- 
 numerable Gods, and symbols, the belief of which has been 
 preserved among them from the most remote antiquity. 
 And the European missionaries to China have discovered 
 Tisible traces of the sanie doctrine existing among that an- 
 cient peofile. — Such a striking coincidence in this important 
 principle of religion among various nations, so remotely sit- 
 uated from each other, ce tainly points to some common ori- 
 gin, which can hardly be presumed to be any other than that 
 which has already been suggested. 
 
 These reflections will be considered, I presume, to derive 
 no inconsiderable countenance and support from similar ones 
 made by that eminent divine and scholar, Dr. Horsley, 
 Bi?*hop of St. Asaph, in a charge to the clergy of the arch- 
 deaconry of St. Albans. Speaking of the similitude, in ma- 
 ny points, of the Trinity of the platonic school to the chris- 
 tian doctrine : The resemblance, says he, may seem indeed 
 a wonderful fact, which may justly draw the attention of the 
 serious and inquisitive; and it becomes more importantj 
 
when it is discovered that these notions were by no means 
 pecuhar lo the pbioiiic school ; that the platonists preiend- 
 ed to be no more (han the expositors of a more ancient doc- 
 trine, which is traced from Plato to Parriienides ; froin Par- 
 menides to his masters of the Pythagorean sect ; from ihe 
 Pythagoreans lo Orpheus, (he earhest of the Grecian Mya- 
 tagogues; from Orpheus to the secret lore of the Egyptian 
 priests, in which the foundafions of the Orphic theology- 
 were laid. Similar notions of a triple principle pievailed in 
 the Persian and Chaldean theology ; and vestiges even of the 
 worship of a Trinity, were discernible in the Roman super- 
 stition io a very late age. This worship the Romans re- 
 ceived from their Trojan ancestors ; for the Tiojans brought 
 it with them into Ilaly from Phrygia. In Phrygia it 
 Was introduced by Dardanus so early as the ninth Centu 
 ry after Noah's flood. Dardanus carried it with him 
 from Samothrace ; where the personages that were the 
 objects of it were worshipped under the Blebrew name 
 of Cabirim. Who these Cabirim might be, has been 
 matter of unsuccessful inquiry to many learned men. The 
 Utmost that is known with certainty is, that they were ori- 
 ginally three, and were called by way of eminence the Great 
 or Mighty ones ; for that is the import of the Hebrew name* 
 And of the like import is their latin appellation PenateSy &c. 
 Thus the joint worship of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, the 
 Triad of the Roman Capitol, is traced to that of the Three 
 Mifrhty Ones in Samothrace ; which was established in that 
 island, at what precipe time it is ioipossibie to determine, but 
 
Qariier, if Euscbiua is (o be credited, than the days of 
 Abraham. 
 
 The notion, therefore, of a Trinity more or less removed 
 from the purity of the christian faith, is found to be a leading 
 principle in all the ancient schools of philosophy, and in ihe 
 reliscions of almost all nations ; and traces of an early popular 
 belief of it appear even in the abominable rites of idolatrous 
 worship. If reason was insufficient for this great discovery, 
 what could be the means of information, but what the pla- 
 tonists themselves assign, ^sonet^ccSoIci esoXoyia — A theology 
 delivered from the Gods, i e. a revelation. This is the 
 account which the platonists, who were no christians, have 
 given of the origin of their master's doctrine. But from 
 wh it revelation could they derive their infor nation, who lir* 
 ed before the christian, and had no light from the mosaic ? 
 For, whatever some of the early fathers may have imagined, 
 there is no evidence that Plato or Pythagoras were at all ac- 
 quainted with the mosaic writings: not io insist, that the 
 worship of a Trinity is traced to an earlier age than that of 
 Plato or Pythagoras, or even of Moses. Their information 
 could only be drawn from traditions founded upon earlier 
 revelations ; from scattered fragments of the ancient patriar- 
 chal creed ; that creed which was universal before the de- 
 fection of the first idolaters ; which the corruptions of idola- 
 try, gross and enormous as they were, could never totally ob- 
 fiterate* Thus the doctrine of the Trinity h rather cojf* 
 
239 
 
 firmed than discredifetl by the suffrage of the heathen sages; 
 sinre the resemblance of the Christian faiih, and ihc Pagan 
 philosophy in tlii? article, when fairly infrrpteted, appears to 
 be nothing less than the consent of the earliest, and the latest 
 revelations. 
 
 An objection has been raised against this presumptive evi- 
 dence, as it may be called in favour of the doctrine, and not 
 without much appearance of plausibility, arising from the 
 supposed silence of the scriptures of the Old Testauient. 
 This silence, however, is more apparent than real, as will ea- 
 sily be discerned by the attentive reader, in the revelations 
 made to the ancient patriarchs. That celebrated and ingen* 
 ious critic who has been already quoted more than once, but 
 who perhaps has pushed this opinion beyond the truth of 
 fact, thinks he discovers the different persons of the adorable 
 Trinity as distinctly designated in Ihe writings of Moses as 
 in those of the apostles. Of the living and true God this great 
 legislator of Israel speaks under the peculiar appellation of Je- 
 hovah; but he exhibits him to that nation under the thieetold 
 denoininations of Jehovah — Ab, — the self-existent Father; 
 Jehovah — El, — the self existent Teacher or IIlumin;itor ; and 
 Jehovah-^ Ruach, or the self-existent Spirit. And Elohira^ 
 tinder which denomination the Eternal is so often spoken of, 
 by Moses, is the plural of Eloah, and indicates plurality of ex- 
 istence. You cannot serve Jehovah, says the author of the 
 book of Joshua, for he is the holy Elohim ; which literally 
 
246 
 
 translated if?, you cannot serve the Self- Existent, for he is 
 the holy Gods* And this is only one example out of many 
 throughout the sacred writings. Hence the Jews, as ap« 
 pears, by the oldest commentators on their law, seem at all 
 periods io have entertained this principle. And in the time of 
 our Saviour, they were evidently not offended at his doctrine 
 of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; but at the pre- 
 sumption, as they supposed, of his making himself the Son 
 ef God ; thereby, making himself equal with God, 
 
 Such have been the doctrines, or traditions concerning the 
 divine existence cherished in the most distinguished nations of 
 the ancient world. And it is far from being an improbable 
 conjecture that they contributed in no small degree, to prepare 
 the minds of mankind for the favourable reception of the true 
 doctrine on this subject, when it was revealed by our blessed 
 Saviour. 
 
 But so various is the human mind in the strength of its 
 powers, and the diversity of its fancies, or prepossessions, that 
 it tioon became divided into different systems in interpreting 
 the sacred standard transmitted to us by Christ, and his 
 apostles. Many crude notions seemed to rise and fall almost 
 at the same moment, in the primitive church, being only the 
 transient ebullitions of a fanatical fancy, arising from the 
 fermentation of ancient opinions with the new principles im- 
 perfectly understood. A multitude of these errors are en- 
 
241 
 
 uumerafed by ail the ecclesiastical historians, who merely re- 
 cord Iheir existence ami their extinction. But not having 
 been embraced by any permanent sect in the church, they 
 merit httle rec;ard ; and are hardly entitled even to be men- 
 tioned in a system like the present. A few only ol" (hose 
 whose leaders have been moie distinguished by their talents, 
 or have made more extended divisions ansong the body of 
 christians I will recall to the notice of my readers, merely 
 stating their peculiar and discriminating ideas upon this sub- 
 ject, with such conciseness as the brevity of this work re- 
 quires. 
 
 The Sabellians, who take their denomination from a mail 
 respectable for his learning and talents, maintain the unity of 
 God in the strictest sense ; and interpret ilie titles of the Fa- 
 ther, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, as expressive only of the 
 different relations of Creator, Redeemer, and Moral Govera- 
 or, which he sustains to mankind in the economy of their re- 
 demption. Considering the extreme obscurity of our ideas 
 upon this infinite subject, their error, acknowledging as they 
 do, the Deity of our Saviour, cannot be regarded as one that 
 deeply affects the system of our hol^ religion. The Tri- 
 theists, conceiving that they would do gi eater honour to the 
 respective persons of the Trinity, by adopting a contrary 
 opinion, have assigned to each a separate, equal, and inde- 
 pendent existence, making their union in one Supreme God- 
 head consist, not in any natuml and neceasaiy participation 
 
 31 
 
242 
 
 of the same essence, but in a perfect concurrence of wiily 
 and co-operation of action in all their designs. — The Arians, 
 on the other hand, borrowing their title from the celebrated 
 presbyter of Alexandria, maintain that Christ is not proper- 
 ly God, but only the first and highest of all creatures, who 
 has been taken into the most intimate union with the Deity, 
 that he might thereby become the Saviour of the world ; 
 conjoining the merit arising from the grandeur of this divine 
 relation, with that of the obedient and suffering condition of 
 human nature in him. Out of these, another class has arisen^ 
 who most nearly approach the orthodox principle, making 
 Christ, not properly a creature, nor in the high and indepen- 
 dent sense of the Father, God. The most noted of the mo- 
 dern Arians appear to have adopted the ideas of the celebra- 
 ted Samuel Clark, who stands among the first metaphysicians 
 of any age, that the Filial is an eternal, and necessary ema- 
 nation from the Paternal Deity ; which may be illustrated, 
 if such an infinite subject be capable of any illustration from 
 created nature, by the procession of light from the body of 
 the sun, coexistent, and of the same essence with the body 
 from which it proceeds ; yety being derived, though a ne- 
 cessary effect from a necessary cause, it is to be regarded 
 as dependent. Such does this great man suppose to be the 
 dependence of the Son upon the Father. — Opposed to all 
 these forms of Trinitarian existence are the Pelagians or Soci- 
 nians, who, notwithstanding their rejection of the fundamen- 
 tal principle of the atonement, and its related doctrines, still 
 
243 
 
 elaim the title of christians, because they enibraced the raor 
 ral code of Jesus Christ. Their distinguishing tenet is, (hat 
 Christ is simply a man, and in no other way connected with 
 the vSupreme Deity, than as being inspired by him, and sent 
 by him into the world to be the chief of the prophets and ii> 
 atructors of mankind. — This sect is hardly entitled to the 
 honour of the name which they assume. 
 
 On this great and essential doctrine of Christianity, the 
 opinions which have now been briefly stated are the chief 
 which deserve to be mentioned, exclusive of that which only 
 we conceive to be warranted by a just interpretalion of the 
 holy scriptures. This presents to the mind the Falher, the 
 Son, and (he Holy Spirit, as being equal in power and glory ; 
 — equally necessary and independent in (heir existence ; — 
 perfectly one in their essence, but different in personality ; — 
 The objects of equal, and undivided worship. In the econ- 
 omy of human redemption, however, the Paternal Deity, is to 
 be considered as actually exercising the rights of divine au- 
 thority. — The Filial Deity as being the immediate minister 
 of the divine mercy by his atonement aill in'crcession ; — and 
 the Holy Spirit as applying the revelation of the divine mercy 
 for the sanctification of the heart, and qualifying the disciples 
 of the faith, by his gracious influence for the possession and 
 enjoyment of eternal life. In all acts of worship it is the 
 principle of Christianity, that we address the Father, through 
 the Son, by the agency of the Holy Spirit. 
 
244 
 
 PROOF OF THE TRINITY. 
 
 Having stated, as concisely and distinctly as possible, 
 the christian principle upon this subject, I proceed to estab- 
 lish the evidence of the doctrine solely frona the sacred scrip- 
 tures. And, being, by every party, acknowledged to be a 
 doctrine purely of revelation, I reject every modification of 
 human reason on a subject on which reason is utterly incom- 
 petent to judge, and could, therefore, only mislead. 1 equal- 
 ly reject from this demonstration, every part of the sacred 
 text on which any doubt can be raised of the genuineness of 
 the copy, the scriptures being full and abundant on the sub- 
 ject, after every deduction that the most scrupulous enemy 
 can require. And this concession is made, not from any 
 hesitancy which can justly be enteriained concerning the au- 
 thenticity of those few disputed passages, which have been 
 selected for objection, out of our commonly acknowledged 
 version, but that, in an elementary treatise intended for the 
 youngest divines and for the comfort, instruction, and estab- 
 lishment of the common Ci ristian, no proof may be presented 
 to them but what shall be seen to rest only on the most se- 
 cure foundation. And no discussions introduced concerning 
 the subject, the result merely of human reason, but the naked 
 language of scripture. 
 
245 I 
 
 These proofs may be arrans^ed into such as are general, 
 relating equally to the whole Godhead, and such as are par- 
 ticular, establishing Ihe Deity of each person. The former 
 are presented to us in the forms of baptism, and of benedic- 
 tion, both which are administered in the name of the Father, 
 the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and shew us that the object of 
 worship", and of trust to the whole church, can be perfectly 
 exhibited to our faith, only under these three united titles. 
 And they are so united that equal power, honour, blessing, 
 and homage is ascribed to each. To that divine Trinity 
 equally we are consecrated on our entrance into the church ; 
 from that Trinity equally all the blessings of the gospel de- 
 scend to the faithful. 
 
 In examining the divinity of the respective persons of the 
 Godhead, it is requisite chiefly to attend to those proofs which 
 establish the proper Deity of the Son ; for, when this point 
 is once admitted there is no further objection to the full ac- 
 knowledgment of the doctrine. The declaration usually 
 quoted from St. Paul in the second chapter of the epistle to 
 the Philippians^ I omit, for the reasons already assigned, 
 and rely, at present, on two positive and explicit attestations 
 contained in the first chapter of the gospel of the apostle 
 John, and the fifth chapter of his first epistle. — " In the be- 
 Slinning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the 
 
 Phil. il. 6. 
 
246 
 
 Word was God. — And we know that the Son of God is come, 
 and hath given U9 an understanding, that we may know him 
 that is true, and we are in him that is true, in his Son Jesus 
 Christ, — this is the true God, and eternal life." If it had 
 been the purpose of our Hearenly Father to teach this doc- 
 trine to the world so that no mistake or error could be com- 
 mitted with respect to it, we cannot easily conceive how it 
 coiild be taught in stronger and more explicit lang!iage. Con- 
 1 inced of this, as one would think that every man of candour 
 and fairness must be, we see those who deny the principle 
 obliged io take refuge in the utmost ingenuity, and even so- 
 phistry of crilicism, to elude the force of the evidence which 
 arises from the obvious construction of the sacred writings. 
 If these terms are explained to a different and more circuitous 
 meaning, all certainty is taken from the scriptures, and human 
 ingenuity may equally bend them to the support of the most 
 opposite opinions. 
 
 This argument ib, m no small degree, confirmed by the 
 frequent and pointed references made by the apostles to the 
 prophetic and mosaic writings, in which Christ is spoken of as 
 the Angelof the covenant, and addressed as Jehovah, that glo- 
 rious being to whom the highest characters of divinity belong, 
 and for whom the profoundest worship of mankind is claim- 
 ed. By comparing the New Testament with the Old, it be- 
 Gomes evident that the Son was God, adored by the patri- 
 archs, and is the Author and Subject of all those divine ap« 
 
247 
 
 pearances exhibltetl to these eniinent Sainta recorded in the 
 ancient scriptures. It strengthens the proof already pro- 
 duced of this doctrine being always acknowledged by the He- 
 brew nation, and the primitive church, from the beginning ol" 
 the worhj. It renders probable likewise the opinion of those 
 great men, equally conspicuous for learning and piety, who 
 believe that this world was created principally to illustrate the 
 glory of God in the redemption of man ; and that it was, for 
 that pKfpose, from the beginning, put under the immediate 
 dominion and administration of the Son of God. These 
 ideas must forcibly impress the pious inquirer who candidly 
 studies the sacred writings, and compares the christian ers 
 with the most ancient periods of the mosaic economy. The 
 declaration of the apostle in the seventh chapter of the Acts; 
 " This is he who was in the church in the wilderness, with 
 the angel who spoke to him in the mount Sina, and with our 
 fathers," most evidently refers to the history of the Exodus 
 in the third chapter. " And the Angel ofthe Lord appeared 
 to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush, and he 
 looked, and behold the bush burned with fire ; and the bush 
 was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside 
 and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And 
 when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God 
 called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said Moaes, 
 Moses. And he said, here am I. And be said, draw not 
 nijih hitherto : put off thy shoes from off thy feei ; for the place 
 whereon thou standest is holy ground. Mweover, he said I 
 
248 
 
 am the God of ihy father, ihe God of Abraham, the God of 
 Isaac and the God of Jacob." Behold then, Jesus Christ 
 presiding as Jehovah in the ancient church, and acknowl- 
 edged to be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. — Many 
 passages contribute to shew that Christ was the supreme 
 Ruler and Guide of Israel in their progress through the wilder- 
 ness to the land of promise. And for the perfect Deity of 
 Jesus Christ acknowledged in both branches of the church, 
 a proof more precise and strong can hardly be adduced, than 
 that of the apostle in the beginning of his epistle to the He- 
 brews, quoting the forty fifth Psalm, where the prophet un- 
 der the full spirit of inspiration, saith of the Son, thy throne 
 O God is forever and ever, a sceptre of righteousness is the 
 sceptre of thy kingdom. And the evangelist John, in the 
 twelfth chapter of his gospel, applies to Christ one of the most 
 sublime descriptions of Jehovah recorded in the sacred writ- 
 ings ; " In the year, that king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord 
 sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, above it stood the Ser- 
 aphim ; each one had six wings ; with twain he covered his 
 feet, with twain he covered his face, and with twain he did 
 fly ; and one cried to another and said ; holy, holy, holy, is 
 the Lord of hosts ; the whole earth is full of his glory," Is. vi. 
 1. These things, adds the evangelist, said Esaias, when 
 he saw his glory, that is, the glory of Christ, of whom he 
 was at that time writing, and spake of him. 
 
249 
 
 Another proof, perhaps not less forcible, of the Deity of 
 the Son, is (he frequent ascription to him of all ihe peculiar 
 and incommunicable attribute;^ of the Godhead ; eternity, irri- 
 miitability, omniscience, omnipresence, and creation.—'* And 
 thou Befhlehem Ephralah (hough thou be liKle among (he 
 thousands of Judah, jet, out of thee shall he come forth un- 
 to me that is to be ruler in Israel ; whose goings forth have 
 been of old, from everlasting;" saith the very explicit pre- 
 diction of the prophet Micah. Jesus himself declares,— 
 " before Abraham was, 1 am." And by his Spirit he an- 
 nounces to his favourite disciple John,-—** I am Alpha and 
 Omega, the beginning and the ending, which is, whi».b wag, 
 and which is to come, the Alaiighfy." Listen to the strong 
 and unequivocal language of the epistle to the Hebrews.— 
 " To the Son he saith, thou Lord in the ' eginning hast laid 
 the foundation of the earth, and (he heavens are the work of 
 thy hands ; they shall perish, but thou remainest ; they shall 
 wax old as doth a garment ; but thou art the same, and thy 
 years shall not fail." The s^rae author in the following sen- 
 tence unites, in the most positive terms, the eternity and im- 
 mutability of the Saviour, *' Jesus Christ the same yester- 
 day, to day, and forever." And he himself testifies his owa 
 omnipreserice — ** where two or three are gathered together 
 in my name, there am I in the midst of them, IVlat. 1 8. And 
 io ! I am with you always to the en»l of Ihe world," iMat. 28. 
 1 add, in the last place, that all divine altribnresare embraced 
 in the work of creation, wbich is explicitly ascribed to the 
 
250 
 
 Son : " for by him, all things were created, that are in hear- 
 en, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they 
 be thrones, or dominions or principalities, or powers: all 
 things were created by him and for him, and be is before all 
 things; and by him all things consist:" Col. 1. 16. Crea' 
 tion forms the supreme relation between the Creator and the 
 creature. It is the true foundation of worship, and consti^ 
 tutes exclusively that perfect right claimed by the Eternal 
 to our duty and obedience. All things were made by him, 
 saith the evangelist John : and therefore the Father hath 
 committed all judsment^ that is, the entire government of 
 this world, to the Son, that all men should honour the Son 
 even as they lionour the Father. 
 
 These proofs, although consisting of a very small number 
 selected out of the great mass of the scriptures proportioned 
 to the brevity which I contemplate, afford ample confirma- 
 tion of the true and proper Deity of the Son ; and, in that, 
 they establish beyond reasonable doubt the doctrine of the 
 Trinity. No small degree of strength arises to the argument 
 from the constrained reasonings by which its enemies study 
 to combat the force of this evidence. Some of the highest 
 titles of divinity, it is alleged, are not bestowed on the Son, 
 which are ascribed to the Father, such as the Almighty, the 
 Most-High. Can any objection more obviously demonstrate 
 the weakness of the cause which is obliged to have recourse 
 tb such evasion!, when other titles, equally characteristic cf 
 
251 
 
 the divine nature, are, wllh greater frequency, applietl to 
 hini ? Be'sides, a part of those titles which are supposed to 
 be exclusively appropriated to the Almighty Father, arc, 
 niosl obviously, used, not as marking any superiority of na- 
 ture, but, along with others, as distinctive characters of the 
 different persons of the Trinity. To give only one exam- 
 ple ; There is one God the Fathevy of rvlium are all things, 
 and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom arc all thin<rs. 
 Will it not require some peculiar deplli of understanding to 
 assign the superiority oi of to bi/, and in the act of creation, 
 to say which is expressive of the greater power, or the great- 
 er dignity ? 
 
 The objectors presume, that the terms expressive of the 
 highest powers of divinity are applied to Christ, as belong- 
 ing to him only in an inferior degree. And presuming io- 
 deed it is, to attempt to graduate the divine perfections, or 
 his creative operations, by our limited standard. What 
 measure have the scriptures given us to fix the import of 
 these phrases except the olnious meaning and connexion of 
 the terms? What gradations can be fixed in the powers of 
 creation, omnipotence, and omnipresence ? Such objections 
 never could be suggested but by a fallacious reason which 
 presumes to measure the divine nature by its own narrow 
 views; and under the powerful influence of a prejudice 
 which, having fixed its philosophico theological system inde- 
 pendently of that sacred regard to the simple dictates of the 
 
252 
 
 word of God which ought lo govern the ideas of every chris-^ 
 tiai), studies (o bend the rule of faith to its preconceived 
 opinions. 
 
 The force of the argument derived from the powers of 
 creation ascribed to Christ these writers think to weaken by 
 changing in some instances the import of the word translated 
 worlds. By whom also, saith the apostle to the Hebrews, 
 he made the worlds ; which phraseology they render ; by 
 whom also he constituted the ages ; meaning the different 
 dispensations of the church, the patriarchal, the mosaic, and 
 the christian. Litlle advantage, however, can be gained to 
 their cause by this change, when the full import of the terms 
 is fairly considered. Less they cannot imply, if we give 
 them any meaning worthy the solemnity of the divine ora- 
 cles, than that the whole moral order of the universe has been 
 originally constitued, and, at all times, arranged and govern- 
 ed exclusively by the providence of the Son. — But is this 
 less the property of divine power, or less the work of divine 
 wisdom than is the physical constitution and order of the 
 universe ? — The most ingenious evasions, therefore, or 
 colourings of the strong language of scripture, leave en- 
 tire the evidence of the full and perfect Godhead of the 
 Son. 
 
 The particular proofs of the Deity of the Holy Spirit in 
 the next place, demand our attention ; in which it is necesss- 
 
253 
 
 iy, first, to egtabllsb bis dislinct personalify, and tbat he ii 
 not spoken of merely as a quality, expressive of the holiness 
 of the divine nature. Tlie import of the word spirit is un- 
 derstood as far as the term can be explained, only by the ac- 
 tion of our own minds. What is most obscure and difficult 
 in our conceptions, when tre attempt to apply it to the Eter- 
 nal Spirit, arises from the infinity of the subject. Here we 
 must rest contented and submissive from the consciousness 
 of our onn imperfection. But that the Holy Ghost is spoken 
 of as a distinct person, no less than the Father and the Son, 
 is evident from the forms of benediction and of baptism, as 
 well as from other passages in which the expression adnaits of 
 no ambiguity. — " i will pray the Father, and he shall give 
 you another comforter, that may abide with you forever ; 
 even the Spirit of truth,'* John xiv. 16, \7, " When he the 
 Spirit of truth is come, he shall guide you into all truth," 
 John xvi. 13. " There are diversities of gifts, but the same 
 Spirit," 1 Cor. 12. 
 
 When the personality of the Holy Spirit is established, 
 little is requisite for the proof of his Deity. The evidence 
 of the one is involved in that of the other. We see, in the 
 holy scriptures, the same divine attributes ascribed to him as 
 to the other persons of the ever blessed Trinity. We have, 
 indeed, no further controversy on this important doctrine. 
 
254 
 No queslion now remains, which merila, in any tlegree; 
 the attention of the student of theology, except that which, 
 for a long time, imprudently agitated the eastern and the 
 western christians, concerning the procession of the Son and 
 Holy Spirit, and that chiefly as a subject of history. A 
 question on this high and inscrutable doctrine it is which is 
 impossible to be clearly and intelligibly decided ; nor do we 
 perceive any important moral consequence that could result 
 from the decision. The Greek church maintained that both 
 (he Son and the Holy Ghost proceed from the Father only. 
 The Latin church contended that the Son proceeds from 
 (he Father, but the Holy Spirit equally from the Father and 
 the Son. — On a controversy of this nature we ought to speak 
 with extreme reservCj and to assert with posiliveness nothing 
 but what is clearly warranted by the scriptures them- 
 selves ; permitting no modification of the language or ideas 
 to our own fancy. When we listed solely to the sacred writ- 
 ers, the evangelist John declares that the Spirit proceedeih 
 from the Father f^ but he is also called by the apostle Paul, 
 writing to the Romans and other churches, the Spirit of the 
 Son.f When we would conceive or explain this doctrine 
 farther than the strict terms of revelation import, the mind 
 is immediately lost in an attempt entirely beyond the powers 
 of the human intellect. And although the terms of scrip- 
 
 ^ JchR XV. 26. f Romaas viii. 9. Sal. xir. 8. Phil. 5. 19 
 
253 
 
 ture, and the opinion of the highest christian antiquity ap- 
 pear to favour the doctrine of the Roman church, yet the 
 violence of the disputes which appear, in the progress of thia 
 controversy, between them and their Grecian brethren is a 
 i^eep reproach t*> b^th parties. 
 
OF THE 
 
 DECREES OF GOD, 
 
 Having treated of the being of God, and of that idea of 
 the divine nature and perfectioa presented to us in Holy 
 Scripture, the subject which next occurs to our considera- 
 tion is his immediate agency and control over all the works 
 of his hand, usually styled, in our theological systems, his 
 Decrees* By this term is intended the sovereign and holy 
 will of Gdd concerning all things that exist, not only in their 
 being, but in all their changes and acti' ns from the greatest 
 to the most minute. They embrace the entire system of the 
 universe, both physical, and moral, corporeal and spiritual, 
 and, in the language of philosophy, constitute the universal 
 laws both of matter and of mind ; which are so ordained, in, 
 their original structure, as, by their natural operation, to at- 
 tain every purpose of the all-wise Creator. But divines with 
 justice, perhaps, entertaining a suspicion of the language of 
 philosophy, as if it kept the immediate agency of God too 
 much out of view, by interposing the natural law between 
 him and the event, and willing to present him always to the 
 mind, in all the changes of the universe, have chosen to em- 
 ploy the terms ordination, and predestination as exhibiting 
 
 33 
 
2UB 
 
 the ultimate cause of whatever takes place in heaven or ou 
 earth. No event can happen but in consequence of the laws 
 which he has established, and estabhshed with a full, imme- 
 diate and present view of every result which should spring 
 from them. And as the whole creation was, at all times, pre- 
 sent before him, from the beginning, and nothing, strictly 
 speaking, can be considered as either past, or to come in the 
 view of omniscience, his preordination or decree is justly re- 
 regarded as embracing every event, and all events are seen 
 as being immediately obvious to his view, and arising natural- 
 ly out of the train of causes which he has ordained. 
 
 This term, as it has been adopted by theologians, h 
 merely technical, and has an appropriate meaning, being 
 used to signify the divine purposes with respect to the whole 
 order of nature, but chiefly with respect to the moral states 
 and destinies of mankind. It is evidently borrowed from an 
 analogy supposed to exist between the divine and human 
 governments, and is consequently employed to express the 
 will of Almighty God as the supreme legislator and gover» 
 nor of the universe. 
 
 Few words, in the Old Testament, hfive been translated 
 by this term, and m every place where they are employed 
 they might, with equal propriety, have been rendered by 
 the terms statute, law,* or purpose. In the version of the 
 New Testament it is no where found, although {he equiva- 
 
259 
 
 lent terms coiinselt purpose, foreknowledge, predtstinatiortf 
 frequently occur; which language, especially when it relate! 
 to (he moral states, and conditions of men, evidently imply all 
 that is intended by decree, as it has been introduced hilo the 
 systems of theology. 
 
 To many, who appear not to have justly reflected on the 
 subject, this term carries in it somewhat gloomy and austere, 
 as implying that all the actions, and the final states of man- 
 kind have been fixed by an arbitrary will, and that theif 
 whole moral government turns on principles of necessityj 
 equally with (hose which govern the material world. But 
 when we identify his decrees with the laivs of universal be- 
 ing, producing their effects, with certainty, indeed, but free- 
 ly or necessarily, according to the nature of each subject, this 
 apparent harshness ceases to exist. No reasonable doubt can 
 be entertained by any reflecting man, but that all things, from 
 the beginning have been determined by the Creator in a cer- 
 tain order, which order must arise out of the laws of their re- 
 spective natures, and the combinations of each subject with 
 all other things. And these all having been framed by their 
 glorious Author with the most perfect foresight, their infinitelj- 
 various results must have been present from the beginning, to 
 his all comprehensive view. On the most obvious principles 
 of reason, therefore, the divine foreknowledge of events, must 
 have been founded on the divine will in framing the universal 
 structure of things, and impressing upon them respectively 
 
260 
 
 the laws of their action. The results being, in consequence, 
 peiiei ly foreknown, the whole must have been conceived in 
 one consecutive and consistent plan according to the designs 
 of his infinite wisdom ; physical events arising out of the ne- 
 cessary laws of matter and motion, and moral consequences 
 springing from the free laws of motive and volition. 
 
 These consequences so clearly deduced from the princi- 
 ples of reason, are conformable to the whole strain of the sa- 
 cred writings, in which is asserted, in the most explicit and 
 unequivocal terms, the universal preordination of events, 
 however minutely they descend to the most trivial circum- 
 stan« es, or however strongly they imply the merit, or the 
 guih of individual acts. Let me appeal to a single exam- 
 ple which may be in the room of niany. Him, saith the 
 apostle speaking of Christ, being delivered by the deter^ 
 minate counsel^ and forekn> rvledire of God^ ye have taken, 
 and by wicked hands, have crucified and slain. \\ hen we 
 assign (o this declaration of the sacred writer its full extent ; 
 couhl the delerfiiination of this great event take place, with- 
 out iiivohinu; in it the pie etermination of all the acts by 
 Tvhich it was gradually, prepared, and finally accomplished ? 
 Yet, 'vas no! every purpose so connected with the nature of 
 man, and the freedoai of human action, that, in this impious 
 deed, though predelerfuined, the agents were justly subject 
 to the lijihteoijs condemnation of Hea\en. But it were un- 
 necessary, I presume, lo refer you singly to the muUiplied 
 
261 
 
 evidences of this truth which speak in every pa8;e of the holy 
 scriptures. Of those who sincerely lo\e God the uposlle 
 speaks as bein^ "called according to his purpose ; for whom 
 he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be confornaed to 
 the image of his Son." And the whole of this ninth chap- 
 ter of his epistle to the Romans appears to have been writ- 
 ten with the most palpable intention to remove all ambiguity 
 from this subject. Suffer me to quote only the eleventh 
 verse : " The children, being not yet born, neither having 
 done any good, or evil, that the purpose of God, according 
 to election, might stand, not of works, but of him that call- 
 eth, it was said, the greater shall serve the younger ; as it is 
 written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." 
 
 Can words proclaim, with more decisive evidence, the 
 preordination of events, and of those events particularly, I 
 mean the moral states of mankind, which have given rise to 
 the most formidable objections to the truth on this interesting 
 question. Attend to the pointed language of the sacred wri' 
 ter—- the election of one to honour is not made of any antece- 
 dent view of his cood works ; for il is not of workSy but of 
 him that calleth, founded only on reasons in his own infinite 
 and inscrutable wisdom. Not that any one is chosen with- 
 out, or wholly independent of his good works, but his works 
 are themselves the object of the decree, and are embraced 
 in ilie same act with the election of the believer; and this 
 without the smallest infringement on the perfect freedom of 
 
262 
 
 iiie individual agent. For as has before been observed, the 
 laws of the moral world have been so framed as, by their na- 
 tural and free developmenf, to attain all the purposes of the 
 divine wisdom, in full consistency with human liberty, with 
 as great certainly as can arise from the laws of the physical 
 creation. 
 
 It is in vain to attempt to evade the force of this conclusion 
 by the hypothesis, that the election or reprobation of Jacob 
 or of Esau, regarded only the national interests and preroga- 
 tives of the people respectively descended from these patri- 
 archs. For in the election of a nation to temporal or to spi- 
 ritual privileges, are there not innumerable moral results inti- 
 mately involved in the^act? In the preference given to Ja- 
 cob, was it not the election of the whole ancient church to 
 mercies, privileges, graces, resting only in the gift of Hea- 
 ven, with all the sanctifying consequences growing out of 
 them to great numbers in that chosen nation ? 
 
 If then the preordination of events is established by the 
 clearest decisions of the holy scriptures, as it has already 
 been shown to be, by the plainest conclusions of reason, and 
 in that point which has been thought to form the principal ob- 
 jection against the doctrine, we see, in this conseqiience, one 
 of the strongest arguments for the universality of the divine 
 decrees. 
 
263 
 
 The conclusion, Iicwever, has been opposed by some spe- 
 cious reasonings, an explicit answer to which will serve to 
 add strength to the general argument. They arise chiefly 
 from moral considerations. For the government of the na- 
 tural world is resigned by these writers, without controver- 
 sy, to the dominion of fixed, necessary, and immutable laws. 
 The doctrine of preordination, they affirm, stands in direct 
 contradiction (o the moral liberty of man ; and to the essen- 
 tia! benignity of the divine nature. — Of each let ns take 3 
 very brief review. 
 
 The former inference evidently springs out of those false 
 metaphysics which confound the voluntary and moral action 
 of the mind, with the physical and mechanical laws of body. 
 A confusion which has been greatly promoted by the com- 
 mon error of recurring, in all our reasonings concerning the 
 one, to analogies and illustrations borrowed from the other; 
 as if the suasion of motive bore a perfect analogy to the im.» 
 pulsive force of matter, which is always followed by a ne- 
 cessary effect, that can be calculated with mathematical pre- 
 cision, when the acting force is known, and the direction 
 given in which it is impressed. For the influence of motive, 
 on the other hand, no sure and general measure can be form- 
 ed, its power of excitement depending on the nature of the 
 motive as relative to the character and temperament of the 
 individual, varied as it may be by education, custom, the 
 influence of general opinion, and innumerable rirrumstanceR 
 
264 
 
 which arc reducible to no certain rule. Where necessily 
 acts there is no room for deliberation and choice ; but where 
 the influence of suasion only operates, addressed to the mo- 
 ral principles of our nature, we are conscious of a power with- 
 in ourselves of voluntarily comparing and balancing motives, 
 and, according to our pleasure, yielding to one or another. 
 
 If we attend to the operations of our own minds, uninflu- 
 enced by any theory, we perceive a total difference in their 
 nature and action respectively, between matter and mind. 
 In the moral actions of the latter, especially, except when 
 under the control of some pernicibus habit, wbith has be- 
 come inveterately fixed, we are conscious of perfect liberty. 
 A sensation which may be clearly understood by every per- 
 son who distinctly reflects upon himself, and analyzes the ac- 
 tions of his mind, but is difficult to be defined on account of 
 the simplicity of the ideas. And on these subjects, let it be 
 borne in mind, our own sensations form the only proper tests 
 of truth and nature. 
 
 In the strongest exciieraent to act, for example, we are 
 sensible of the power of resistance, and of being able, at any 
 moment, to arrest the action, though not always, and imme- 
 diately of a power to act in a contrary direction ; for this 
 may depend on education, and the moral and religious culti- 
 vation of the mind. This liberty in acting, however, such 
 are the laws of the spiritual world, is perfectly consistent 
 
with the most absolute certainty in the event, which, indet;*], 
 is the only foundation of foreknowledge in God himself. 
 And in the Divine Mind, foreknowledge and preordinaliott 
 are the same ; for it rests on the certain laws v.hich he has 
 ordained for all being, in both the great departments of the 
 universe. Therefore, are they often promiscuously used in 
 the sacred scriptures. To illustrate these reflections by au 
 humble example drawn from our own experience Even 
 with our imperfect knowledge of mankind, and of the usual 
 relations which subsist between motive and conduct, how of- 
 ten can we predict with assurance the tenor of a man's ac- 
 tions, in given circumstances, and frame upon them our own 
 plans, without any hazard of mistake ? How often may a pa- 
 rent who has long observed the influence of his Instructions 
 upon a child, predict, with the utmost assurance, at the same 
 time, without the smallest apprehension of the existence of 
 any necessary influence in the case, the act of his son in any 
 definite situation ? If the human intellect can proceed with 
 safety thus far, cannot the all-creating and omniscient Power, 
 who is fully possessed of the characters, temperamer.t, incli- 
 nations, habitudes, and the ten thousand minute views and 
 interests which go to influence the actions of individuals, 
 foreknow, and, therefore, if he please ordain and decree the 
 part which each shall bear in the most complicated moral 
 system, and in the whole drama of life, t\'ithout the smallest 
 infringement on the liberty of the mind in her volilions ? 
 
The pbilosoplicrs and divines of the necessarian school, 
 who confound moral with physical action, sec infinite diffi- 
 culties in reconciling the certain influence of motive with the 
 freedom of volition: on the other hand, they find equal dif- 
 ficulty in conceiving the certainty of events, if, at the same 
 time, those events are to depend on the will of Jree agents. 
 Embarrassed by the contending difficulties, they have de- 
 termined, against all experience, to maintain that moral causes 
 act with the same kind of absolute and irresistible necessi- 
 ty as physical. Many writers have erred as far on the op- 
 posite extreme ; and, for the sake of preserving the liberti/ 
 of man, have thought it requisite utterly to deny the certain- 
 ty of events, depending, in any degree, on the purposes of 
 free minds. Freedom, in their opinion, implies absolute 
 contingency in its effects. Theologians, as well as philoso- 
 phers of this class, are absurd enough (o deny prescience, as 
 well as preordination. The connexion of motive with cer- 
 tainty, so as, on the one hand, to exclude necessity, and, on 
 the other, contingency, is a subject of feeling. And, to a 
 man who is capable of observing the motions of his own 
 mind, the perceptions which this feeling affords are as clear 
 as any principles of science. Science rests on no other 
 foundation, for its axioms, than internal feeling or sensation : 
 which are therefore justly denominated its first irntks. 
 
 On this subject we distinctly perceive the following facts, 
 that motives, according to the infinite diversities of human 
 
26r 
 
 character, possess a perceptible iDiluence on action's—that this 
 influence, in most instances at least, is not irresistible ; but 
 that, in acting, we are perfectly free ; and this sensation is 
 not a delusive feeling, but carries with it complete conviction 
 of its truth, which ought never to be overthrown by any 
 hypothetical speculation. Yet such connexion between mo- 
 tives and actions exists, according to the states and charac- 
 ters of men, that, where these, in all their relations and cir- 
 cumstances are completely known, certainty accompanies 
 moral as well as natural causes and effects. By the Al- 
 mighty and Omniscient Creator, then, all the thoughts and 
 purposes of mankind, all the circumstances and motives 
 which can in any way influence their actions, were, from 
 eternity most distinctly known. Yet his foreknowledge does, 
 in no way, ne(;e3sitate the events connected with it, although 
 it proves his preordination ; that is, their certain existence, 
 according to, and resulting from the order of nature, whether 
 physical or moral, established by him. 
 
 That the moral liberty of man and the preordination of 
 God, do not militate against one another, is susceptible of 
 demonstration even on the principles of those who most 
 strenuously oppose our doctrine. Let us suppose, for the 
 sake of the argument, the present state of human nature to be 
 a state of moral liberty, as perfect as the greatest enemies of 
 divine preordination can imagine ; suppose that there is no 
 preordination in the system of the universe, but that all things 
 
268 
 
 bappen wiliiont any purpose, on the part of the Creator, 
 yet inist these philosuphers conless that they take place hi a 
 cerlan train of caui^es and effer's; or if, with Mi. Hume, 
 they expunge from the vocabulary of nature the name of 
 cause, and only say that all things happen in a certain tle- 
 lerminate concatenation ol preceding and consequent events ; 
 suppose, further, this train of causes, or succession of events, 
 accompanied with the existing state of virtue and of vice, 
 and that it could by any means be foreseen by the Infinite 
 ]>lind, then merely creating those powers of nature, and es- 
 tablishing those relations of thing?, which in their ordinary 
 course, and by their mutual action, should produce precisely 
 the same moral condition of the world, ought not to be con- 
 sidered as subjecting ihe whole to the laws of mechanical 
 necessity. And, I add, tha< creating them with design that 
 this natural succession shouid take place — that effects, just 
 as we see ihem exist, should arise out of the established or- 
 der of (he universe, this desi^cn, and this order would not sure- 
 ly constitute a systeai of fatality. 
 
 If, (hen, freedom of mor 1 action can, by any possibility, 
 exist in ti,e rational system — if all things, even the Deity 
 hifiiself, be not snbjer.ted in an inflexible fate, it has been ren- 
 dered evident, I presume, that the most universal preordi- 
 na'ion miy be consistent with the n)ost complete liberty of 
 the mind in all her actions. The objection, therefore, which 
 has been just staled, is futile, in a high degree, and argues an 
 
260 
 
 Inconshlerate, or most prejiuiiced disregard of the genuine 
 structure and operations of our moral nature. 
 
 OF MISERY AND VICE, AS OBJECTS OF THE DIVINE DE- 
 CREES. 
 
 The existence of vice and misery in the works of God, 
 is esteemed by those who deny the divine preordination of 
 all events, to form an insuperable objection, equally with the 
 former, against the admission of the doctrine, involving, as 
 they conceive it does, the deepest imputation on his good- 
 ness and his holiness. Small reflection, it should seem, 
 would be requisite to demonstrate, that a cavil of this kind 
 could never be resorted to, where the subject had been duly 
 considered. The very existence of these evils forms an 
 irrefutable answer to the objection ; or we must embrace a 
 principle most unworthy the divine wisdom and power. I 
 have no hesitation to admit that their existence, by whatever 
 means they were introduced, or for whatever end they were 
 permitted, entered originally into the designs of heaven, for 
 the administration of this world. Their being is as great a 
 mystery (o reason as their being ofdained. To say that they 
 have been merely permitted^ without any interference, or 
 concern of Almighty God in the actions of men, is only at- 
 tempting, by the illu'^ion of a word, to throw the difficulty 
 out of si'xht, not to solve it. If he has permitted the intro- 
 duction of evil, has it not arisen out of the constitution of his 
 
MO 
 
 own work f oi' in other words, had its birth in those very 
 laws of our physical and moral nature which he has establish* 
 ed in the universal system of things ? Let the friends of this 
 phraseology reconcile the event to the divine perfections, and 
 the friends of the doctrine of universal preordination will be 
 able, on the same grounds, to demonstrate the consistency of 
 these perfections, with the decree by which sin freely exists 
 through the perverted will of the creature, and its punishment 
 necessarily follows. That this may be accomplished without 
 any infringement on the rational liberty of the mind, our own 
 experience suiSciently attests. If it be esteemed more diffi- 
 cult to reconcile the misery and guilt of our nature with the 
 benignant perfections of the Deity, this difficulty is at least 
 equal on all systems. 
 
 In examining the principles of Natural Religion, I have 
 already endeavoured to vindicate the goodness of God in the 
 existence of the manifold evils of human life, either as cor- 
 rectors of its errors, and assistants towards regaining its ori- 
 ginal perfection, or laying the foundation, ultimately for its 
 social and intellectual improvement and happiness. Here- 
 after, I shall contemplate them in the light of revelation, and 
 shew how the infinite benignity and wisdom of the Eternal is 
 justified and illustrated in the sacred writings, in all the mise- 
 ries which have overwhelmed this his greatest and best work. 
 
2n 
 
 ©F THE OBJECTS, THE ORDER, AND THE CHARA€TRR9 OF 
 THE DIVINE DECREES. 
 
 In the eliicitladon of Ihc general subject of the decrees, 
 several important questions have been offered to our consid- 
 eration by theological writers of different sects, which merit 
 our attentive reflection. They respect chiefly, the objects 
 of the decrees — the order in which they have been arranged 
 — the characters ascribed to them in the holy scriptures. 
 
 1. The objects of the decrees and purposes of God our 
 Creator are strictly the universe of things, with all their con- 
 ditions and changes ; and in moral agents particularly, their 
 thoughts, affections, and their whole conduct ; the advan- 
 tages and disadvantages of their situation, their virtues and 
 their vices. From eternity, these were all in the purview of 
 the Divine Mind, and, in time, embraced within the designSj 
 and subjected to the order of his i^rovidence, which is only 
 the operation of the Supreme Creator in the execution of hi? 
 eternal purposes. 
 
 2. The greater part of those writers who are friendly to 
 the system of divine decrees, afraid, at the same time, of seem- 
 ing to detract from the holiness of God, have, in order to 
 avoid this impioHS censequencCj thought it useful to conceive 
 
272 
 
 of the divine purposes in a certain order, which has, there- 
 fore, been styled the order of tke decrees. E\ery scheme, 
 however, for arranging them, labours under the same essential 
 defect ; that of seeming to represent a succession in the Di- 
 vine Mind, similar to what must necessarily take place in the 
 designs and plans of men. In the purposes of God there can 
 be no succession. The entire system of nature, wi(h all iis 
 changes, is at once present to his view, and the purpose of 
 giving them existence is one act, and co eternal with his be- 
 ing. He sees the end in the means, and the means in the end. 
 So that any order applied to his eternal counsels is only an 
 error in our own conceptions. An order, indeed, must be ob- 
 served in their execution. And this perhaps it is, which has 
 been attempted to be marked in this expression by the au- 
 thors of the various systems, though by some inaccuracy of 
 language, transferred to the decrees themselves. As this tech- 
 nical phraseology, however, has been adopted by many emi- 
 nent divines of diiierent sentiments, and modified according 
 to their respective systems, in order to obviate, or evade the 
 difficulties arising out of the introduction of sin into the works 
 of God, I shall briefly stale the manner in which the subject 
 has been attempted to be explained, by the three prim ipal 
 sects; the Socinians, the Arminians, and the Calvinists. If 
 we should not perfectl}^ accord with any one of these great 
 parties in religion, and utterly reject many of the principles 
 of others, still it is useful for the theological studeni, and the 
 judicious christian, to be informed of the peculiar tenets of 
 
each, with as much precision as such a compendious sjstem 
 will adaiit. 
 
 1. The followers of Socinus deny the decrees of God as 
 they'impiy, ultima<ely, anj eternal purpose of illustrating the 
 glorj of his mercy, or his justice, in the salvation, or the con- 
 demnation of men. Their general principle upon this sub- 
 * ject may be expressed in the following summarj.^ — The Su- 
 preme Creator decreeing, from the beginning, to form man a 
 moral agent, capable equally of virtue, or of vice, determined 
 to commit him solely to Ihe direction of his own powers, sub- 
 ject only to those rewards of virtue, or chastisements of vice, 
 which naturally arise out of the regular and fixed course of 
 divine providence. The penalties, or remunerations, of the 
 one or of the oiher, are, according to thoT ideas, those only 
 which are caused by the wiisdom, or folly, the discretion or 
 improvidence of men themselves. But in this, and in all 
 things else, the ordination and immediate agency of God in 
 giving effect to his own laws in the system of nature, are. In 
 a great measure, overlooked, and left, it is to be feared, 
 equally out of their scheme of doctrine, and the minds of 
 their disciples. 
 
 But they object, especially, against considering either the 
 
 fall or the recovery of mankind, as forming any object of the 
 
 divine decrees, farther than the general purpose of sending 
 
 a prophet to enlighten and instruct the world. As meiu 
 
 ?,5 
 
2^4 
 
 however, arc free agents, their virtue, or Iheir vice, their pi- 
 ous use, or their unholy rejection of bis revelation, cannot 
 properly be regarded, even as subjects of foreknowledge, and 
 StiJl less of any divine decree. The general purpose, there- 
 fore, of Ihe Eternal, to punish or reward them, according to 
 iheir deserts, is suspended solely on the actual existence, in 
 time, of the contingent facts which constitute their merit, or 
 demerit. This system appears in a worse form in many of 
 its recent disciples than it did in the founder of the sect. As 
 it has been embraced by a great portion of them, it can 
 hardly be regarded in any other light than as a modified the- 
 ory of Natural Religion. 
 
 2. The Arminians admitting, in general terms, the decrees 
 of God, study to arrange them in such order as shall be most 
 favourable to their peculiar system, fixing a few principal 
 points of christian doctrine, but omitting, at every step in 
 their progress, some portion of the entire chain which con- 
 nects the beginning with the end. The outlines of their the- 
 ory may be traced out in the following proposilious. — God, 
 in his wise decrees, originally determined to create man in 
 perfect innocence, but fallible — foreseeing his fall, but with- 
 out any regard to the mode of its accomplishment in their 
 decree or to that train of seductions which led to the fatal 
 catastrophe. — The next object of the decree, was, consider- 
 ing man as fallen, to send a Saviour into the world as the 
 Tnedium of his restoration and recovery— for this purpose, he 
 
^7$ 
 
 defermined lo impart (o all men sufficient grace, if properly 
 improved, (o bring the sinner to repentance, and to assist 
 the penifent to fulfil all righteousness ; but without clearlj 
 marking the distinction between, what is called sufficient 
 grace, and that which is effectual ; or ratlier tnaking no dis« 
 tinction between them, exce;)t the superior means, and op- 
 portunities enjoyed by one above another — finally, it wai 
 decreed, that those who improve their means and opportuni- 
 ties to bincere repentance, shall be brought to eternal salva- 
 tion, whereas those who wilfully continue in their sins, shall 
 be consigned to just perdition. 6ut here those innumerable 
 open, or secret, and often indiscernible causes which con- 
 duce, in different minds, to sincere repentance, are wholly 
 left out of the purview of the decree. And in all the sy steal 
 of these good men, neither the fall of man, nor the repent- 
 ance of any of his posterity, nor, in one word, any act of a 
 free agent, is admitted to be a proper object of divine de- 
 cree. 
 
 Here we see only a few points fixed in the purposes of 
 Heaven ; and, in the wide intervals between them, which 
 embrace the greater portion of human life, we see not the 
 actions of the mind, and ihe immense circumference of mo- 
 tives, occasions, and means which are combined for the pro- 
 duction of any event, and particularly, for bringing the sin- 
 ner to repentance, at all contemplated in the decrees of God. 
 
27 f; 
 
 By the iacguage employed by the writers of this clasa these 
 causes seem to be thrown entirely without the control of his 
 providence. 
 
 The creation of man in innocence, is the first point fixed 
 in this system. Afterwards we find nothing in which the 
 state of human nature, and the general plan of redemption is 
 concerned, before the promise of the Saviour. The Fall, 
 and all the great events on which the present moral condi- 
 tion of the world depeads, enter not, in their view, for any 
 place in the divine counsels; because any decree on those 
 subjects, would involve the voluntary actions of men. — Could 
 then, let me ask ; could the loss of human innocence, and 
 the corruption of the whole human race be an event 
 that might, or might not have come to pass, having no founda- 
 tion of certainty in the constitution of things, but thrown by 
 the principles of these writers, among the mass of doubtful 
 actions, or the caprices of accident ? Or could the Om- 
 niscient have foreseen the transgression of man, without the 
 foreknowledge of all the means which led to the unhappy 
 event, and by which it was effected ? Could those means have 
 existed by chance? or have they not arisen in the natural 
 operation of the laws established by God himself in the mor- 
 al world ? And must not all these events, even to the min- 
 utest circumstances attending them, have been in the pur- 
 view of the Diviae Mind, in the original constitution of things. 
 
27? 
 
 AjLid what further can be intended m the decrees of God, by 
 *fae warmest friends of this phraseology ? 
 
 Almigbly God, in sending a Saviour, has further gra- 
 ciously decreed, according to tlieir system, to impart to all 
 men grace siifficienr, if wisely improved, for all the purposes 
 of repentance and nev! obedience ; but the improvement of 
 that grace, they add, forms no object of the decree, but is 
 resigned simply and entirely to the will of man himself.— 
 But these principles will naturally fall to be more particular- 
 ly considered, hereafter, in treating of the Covenant of 
 Grace. 
 
 3. Calvinists, on this subject, are thrown into two great 
 divisions of Supralapsarians, and Sublapsarians, taking their 
 denominations from that point on which they are found prin- 
 cipally to difter. The latter, although they do not hesitate 
 to apply the decrees of God universally to the present states 
 and actions of men, whether good, or bad, yet, like the Ar- 
 minians, study to exclude the Fall from the counsels, and 
 purposes of Jehovah, and commence their decretal system, 
 only after man has already become mortal, and involved in 
 sin. Before that period, their language, at least, appears to 
 represent the Deity, the benignant parent of the universe, in 
 a kind of inactive state, waiting till man himself, by his own 
 independent and sinful act, fix the unhappy destinies of his 
 race. The cautious timidity with which these writers ap- 
 
proach this snbjecf, betrays their secret apprehenaion that 
 the decrees of God, to which, on other occasions, they free- 
 ly appeal, have, in the production of sin, some sinister influ- 
 ence on the moral hberty of man. If these apprehensions 
 were well founded, they ought to abandon their system al- 
 together. They do not appear to reflect that the freedom 
 of the moral agent is no more impaired by the fall of the sin- 
 ner, than by the regeneration of the believer ; which last, 
 however, they strenuously maintain to be an object of divine 
 decree. The one is descending from a state of innocence, 
 into a state of sin, the other is precisely the reverse, return- 
 ing from sin to holiness. The latter easily comports with 
 their general theory ; from the former they inconsistently 
 shrink, as revolting their moral feelings. Their view of the 
 decrees applies to mankind only since the Fall ; and is confin- 
 ed, almost solely, to those who are chosen, out of the mass 
 of the human race, to eternal life ; the rest being left to per- 
 ish in the corruption of their natural state. — In all other parts 
 of their scheme it coincides with that of their Supralapsari- 
 an brethren. 
 
 On this subject, which has been rendered difficult, princi- 
 pally by an unguarded, and perhaps by an inadequately de- 
 fined use of the term decree ; for it is merely the will of God 
 operatins: in the laws of nature to the accomplishrdent of their 
 proper ends, whether in the catural or moral world, the Sa- 
 
279 
 
 pralapsarians hold, at least, the most consistent Ianp;uae:e. To 
 the order of Ihe decress, Ihey argue that the end proposed to 
 be attained must, as in every wise system, have had the pri- 
 ority in the contemplation of its author. After that the means 
 conducing to its accomplishment will, with propriety follow. 
 These principles may appear more distinctly in the outline 
 of thi3 scheme which is exhibited in the folloninc; series of 
 propositions. — Almighty God having purposed in the econ- 
 omy of this world, io illustrate the union of his mercy, and 
 his justice, and in the prosecution of this end, to display the 
 glory of his Son, decreed to create man holy, but free— and 
 in the progress of his ultimate design, he decreed the fall of 
 our first parents ; that is, that the state in which they should 
 be placed, and the whole combination of motives operating on 
 the natural principles of action, should most freely lead to 
 the accomplishment of that event, so distressing in itself, but 
 so necessary to the illustration of the glory of his grace — he 
 decreed in consequence, to send the Saviour, with whom he 
 deposited the whole economy of this merciful dispensation, 
 placing it under his immediate administration. He decreed, 
 moreover, the salvation of a rhosen number of the human 
 race, preparing those means which would certainly lead, un- 
 der the direction of the Holy Spirit, to the fulfilment of his 
 gracious purpose; leaving in the same act, those who should 
 be disobedient and unholy, to the guilt and infelicity of their 
 natural state. The intention of the divines who employ this 
 language, is simply to assert the universal agency of God, In 
 
280 
 
 both the moral and physical systems of nature ; at the same 
 time, to preserve entire the freedom of the human mind, and 
 to free Almighty God, most holy, just, and good, from the 
 blasphemous imputation of being the author of sin. 
 
 Are not the universal laws of nature so ordained as to at- 
 tain, by their natural operation, every end for \vhich they 
 were evidently designed by the Creator ? It is the inquiry 
 of a Supralapsarian — Can any event spring into existence 
 but in exact conformity with those laws, the nature and the 
 ends of which have been designed by God ? Admitting this 
 conclusion, what are denominated his decrees can be nothing 
 more than the development of the laws of nature both moral 
 and physical, according to his will, and to the constitution of 
 the agent, and the subject of their action ; free where morals 
 and accountability are concerned ; necessary where the ma- 
 teriality of the subject requires it — and certain in all. For 
 to an omniscient Being, who is perfectly acquainted with the 
 nature and influence of every motive, its combination, and co- 
 action, with all other means, and with the peculiar tempera- 
 ment of each Individual agent, moral efifects are as certain, in 
 their order, as the results of any physical causes whatever. 
 Apply these reflections to the fall ; though it has taken place 
 in conformity with the divine decree, it was as much the free 
 effect of motive on an intelligent being capable of being sway- 
 ed by his apetites and passions, as an} of the ordinary ac- 
 tions of human life. It is true, the agency of the serpent is 
 
281 
 
 represented as the medium through which the fatal choice 
 was produced. But as no miraculous power is alleged in (he 
 case, it was entirely effected bv the suasion of motives freely 
 addressed to the natural and yet uncorrupted principles of 
 the soul. If, then, we can suppose circumstances to exist, 
 in the correspondence of the dispositions, still innocent of 
 human nature, with the temptations, addressed to them, 
 which, by their free and natural action, would be followed by 
 a dereliction of duty, would the will of God giving existence 
 to these circumstances, in conformity to his ultimate designs, 
 call it decree, or by whatever less offensive name you please, 
 impose any fatal necessity upon the act, or render the divine 
 agency in the existence of those circumstances, in the smal- 
 lest degree more arbitrary or unjust, than their existence by 
 any other cause? This justification of the principles of the 
 Supralapsarian, who takes it as an acknowledged fact, that 
 the decrees of God embrace the whole system of the uni- 
 verse, appears perfectly conformable to the dictates of the 
 soundest reason. 
 
 If his antagonists demand, do not these ideas impute the 
 sin of man to his Creator, as being, if not immediately, yet 
 ultimately and indirectly its author? He confidently replies, 
 not more than those of the most strenuous defenders of our 
 moral liberty. For it has formerly been shewn, that we al- 
 ways act with the most perfect consciousness of freedom ic 
 
 every choice, and the most entire control over our own ac- 
 
 36 
 
285 
 
 tions. If again they demand, does not this language exhibit 
 a hard and cruel representation of the Supreme Being? he 
 frankly answers, not more than the principles of those who ad- 
 mit that the Almighty and Omniscient Being, who created 
 all things, must have foreseen, yet permitted the evil which 
 he could have prevented, and formed a sjstem out of which 
 it would, freely indeed, but infallibly spring ; nay, which was 
 necessary to. accomplish the ultimate designs of his goodness 
 and mercy. If he is farther pressed with the difficulty of 
 accounting for the fact, that a wise and benevolent Deity 
 should give existence to a world subject, by his decree, to 
 sin and its consequent miseries, though intended, ultimately, 
 as a conspicuous theatre of his benignity ;— he calmly rests 
 upon the justness of this principle, that, what might or might 
 not have been done by God infinitely powerful and wise, is 
 not within the range of human intellect to decide. With sub- 
 mission therefore, to the Divine Wisdom, he resolves the 
 whole into the sovereigntif, that is, the unsearchable counsel 
 of Heaven ; comprising designs, and ends, and means, utter- 
 ly beyond the comprehension of minds so limited as oura. 
 And this is a solution to which every sect in religion, or phi- 
 losophy, must ultiuiately have recourse, in their reasonings 
 concerning the introduction of shi into the works of God 
 
28^ 
 
 THE CHARACTERS OF THE DECREES ASCRIBED TO THEJjl 
 IN THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 
 
 Some distinguishing characters of the divine decrees, either 
 directlj, or by obvious implication, ascribed to them in the 
 hoi J scriptures, will contribute to elucidate the general sub- 
 ject, and assist in the explanation of many important ques- 
 tions connected with them. Those which chiefly merit the 
 attention of the metaphysician, or the divine, are, their eter- 
 nity, their freedom, their sovereignty, their wisdom, their 
 holiness, their absoluteness, and immutability. 
 
 1. That which primarily merits our consideration is* their 
 eternify. Nothing which implies succession, or change, is 
 to be imputed to the Infinite Mind ; so that all his purposes 
 are coeternal with himself. Therefore the apostle charac- 
 terizes his decree, as his eternal jmrpose ; and speaking of 
 believers, he says, they have been chosen in Christ before 
 the foundation of the world ; for all is eternity which is art* 
 tecedent to the commencement of time. 
 
 A metaphysical, and probably improper question, as cer- 
 lainly it is useless, has been raised upon this subject by a 
 i^ain curiosity — Whether the existence of the Sovereign 
 Mind ought to be considered as antecedent to his decrees! 
 Obvious it ig, that, in contemplating, or speaking of theq?, 
 
284 
 
 there must be a precedence of order in their arrangement ; 
 but in their existence, Ihere can be no priority of time : a?, 
 in contemplating the sun, we regard the body, before Ihe 
 light which issues from it, although, in strictness of concep- 
 tion, the effect is simultaneous with the cause. Perhaps we 
 may say of this, as of many other metaphysical questions ; 
 that it is a vain and fruitless effort of the mind, and uselessly 
 wasting its strength, to attempt to frame ideas on subjects 
 that are too fine and subtle to be embraced by the human in- 
 tellect. Every thing in our ideas, relating to duration, is unit- 
 ed with succession. Eternity, in its proper nature, tran- 
 scends the ingenuity of the mind to conceive. And disqui- 
 sitions on questions of such extreme subtlety, generally indi- 
 cate only feeble and unsatisfactory efforts to apply the nar- 
 rowness of our understanding to subjects which, from their 
 nature must forever baffle its inquiries. Subjects so sub- 
 lime and so far exalted above our reach, tend, in our endeav- 
 ours to embrace them, only to humble and overwhelm the 
 soul. But as far as our conceptions can comprehend the 
 subject, we may pronounce, that the decrees of God, which 
 are the purposes and prescriptions of his infinite wisdom, are 
 coeternal with his existence. 
 
 2. The next characteristic of the decrees which we have 
 remarked, is their freedom. An obvious consequence of the 
 perfect moral freedom of the Divine Being in all his coun- 
 sels ; which excludes the idea of any necessity in his acts 
 
285 
 
 resembling that under which the physical world is helil. It 
 is declared in all Ihe symbols of the o Ihoaox ietci;i eil 
 churches, that God, from eiernity^ did most wisely, moM 
 justly, and most Jreely, decree whatsoever comes tu pass. — 
 The only objection which has been plausibly urged against 
 (his principle, is (hat wliich has been uiainl-iined by the fa- 
 mous German philosopher Leibnitz, in his Theodice', in so 
 superior a manner, that he may justly be esteemed (he father 
 of it. His maxim is, that infinite perfection implies necessity 
 in all its acts. And the Eternal, being infinitely wise and 
 good, must, from the unchangeable rectitude of his nature, 
 choose on all subjects, only and necessarily that which is 
 best. The conclusion which he infers from this principle is, 
 that the system which God hath created, and the order of 
 things which he hath established in it, must, of all possible 
 systems be thebest ; that is, in its nature, order, and arrange* 
 ments, be the most perfect. This doctrine, on a transient 
 inspection, is captivating to a speculative mind ; yet wlien 
 closely examined, will be seen to be liable to unanswerable 
 objections. It proceeds on the supposition that there are 
 ideas of good, and of best antecedent, in the order of con- 
 ception, to the idea of God, and independent of him, out of 
 which he might make a selection, according to his pleasure, 
 in organizing a created system, as an artist may select out of 
 forms already existing, such as may best correspond with his 
 present designs. Whereas nothing can exist without, or in- 
 dependent of God. He formed the ideas of the things, with 
 
I 
 
 286 
 
 Ihe fhings themselves. Nothing is better or best in nature 
 but as he halh created it, and fixed its relations. Besides, 
 these are deiinile terms of comparison among things, of the 
 same kind actually existing. Bui, with regard to plans pos- 
 sible to infinite wisdom, it is, perhaps, an error in our concep- 
 tions, (o suppose that there is any one which can be pro- 
 nounced the best. To a finite subject it were absurd to as- 
 cribe this superlative quality. And if the subject be infinite, 
 must not the possible combinations in an infinite system, be 
 infinite and endless ?*' 
 
 I must further observe on the idea of the best possible sys- 
 tem, and the necessary nature of the divine decrees which, 
 as a natural consequence, has been deduced from it, that it 
 is pressed with two difficulties which have never yet been sa- 
 tisfactorily resolved ; in the first place, the unreasonableness 
 of presuming that Almighty God should have exhausted 
 himself in the production of the universe, or should ever 
 have exerted any ultimate effort of omnipotence ; in the next 
 place, the proximity of this idea to the fate of the Stoics ; 
 to which certainly it is, in language at least, too nearly allied, 
 which svas maintained by them, to be antecedent, and supe- 
 rior to the Deity. — The conclusion, therefore, still remains, 
 that the decrees of God are most free, and that they are not 
 either arrested or controled by the laws of necessity, 
 
 * Witherspoon's Lectures. 
 
287 
 
 3. Their Wisdom, and their Sovereignty in the next 
 place, are usually joined together, by divines, in order to limit 
 the conclusions on each side, which men are prone rashly 
 to frame concerning them. God, as sovereign of the uni- 
 verse, has the most perfect right to ordain whatever seemeth 
 good to him. And though all his acts are ever most just and 
 equitable, yet, often, wrapped, as they are, in the profound 
 depths of his wisdom, they appear, to our feeble vision, to 
 be covered with clouds and darkness. His rights, as an in- 
 finite sovereign, ought, at all times, to command our unmur- 
 muring obedience ; and our conviction that all his commands 
 are founded in equity and wisdom, are sufficient to engage 
 our submissive acquiescence, although the reasons on which 
 they move, are often concealed from our view. In the whole 
 order of nature, and of providence, what we cannot explain, 
 we resolve into the sovereignty of God. Not that any or- 
 der, or arrangement of his may ever be esteemed arbitrary, 
 and without reason ; but, when we cannot fathom its wisdom, 
 his authority, which is only another term by which to ex- 
 press his sovereign will, and his rightful dominion, ought 
 ever to be deemed a sufficient reason for the obedience and 
 duty of children to their heavenly Father. Frequently, the 
 feebleness of the human mind is called to submission on this 
 ground, arising from innumerable events occurring to our ob- 
 servation and experience, which baffle reason to account for 
 them, which elude conjecture, and in many instances, seem 
 even to contradict our ideas of divine goodness and justice. 
 
i>8S 
 
 In every event, it is a sufficient reason to a pious man that the 
 Lord hath done it. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do 
 right ? There are divines who extend much farther their 
 ideas ot the sovereignty of God. Nothing, they say, is either 
 good or wise in itself j but only as it is made so by the 
 divine wilL According to this principle the will of God is 
 the sole reason why one action is superior in goodness and 
 excellence, to another, and, in one word, why virtue is pre- 
 ferable to vice. Perhaps these writers have a better meaning 
 than, to us, their terms seem to convey ; but, apparently, 
 they destroy the very foundation of the moral attributes of 
 the Deity, and resolve the whole of his perfection into pow- 
 er and will. 
 
 The holy scriptures are full of the most explicit testimo- 
 nies, both to the wisdom and sovereignty of the divine de- 
 crees. *' O the depth of the riches iunh of the wisdom 
 and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judg- 
 ments, and hi?; ways past finding oat ! Even so. Father ! 
 for so it seemed good in thy sight !" But, with the most po- 
 etic and striking imagery is the sovereignty of the divine 
 government, in the dominion of providence, represented in the 
 close of the book of Job. That sublirne composiiiun is ac- 
 knowledged, by the best writers, to contain a dramatic ex- 
 hibition of the difficulties arising to reason from the atH'.c*ioas 
 of good men, and the pro.-^perity of the wir'-.c;;l in the world. 
 After the friends of Job had wearied themselYes with vain 
 
289 
 
 discussions on this embarrassing subject ; when the Almigh- 
 ty is introduced, speaking out of the whirlwind to decide the 
 question, instead of reasoning on the wisdom and equity of 
 his proceedings, he simply displays the majesty of his pow- 
 er in the works of nature. The humiliating inference from 
 which was, — your intellects are too feeble to comprehend 
 the wisdom of the principles on which my government moves. 
 Vain it is, to attempt to unfold them to your darkened minds. 
 I display before your senses the majesty of ray power, that 
 it may arrest your cavils against my inscrutable purposes, 
 and leave on your hearts the deep conviction, that all the 
 dispensations of the omnipotent Jehovah must be e(juitable 
 and just. 
 
 Submission to the sovereignty of the divine administra- 
 tion, or the habitual acknowledgment of this principle, in 
 all the events that befall ourselves, is deeply humbling to the 
 self-confidence of human vanity. The mind is apt to revolt 
 at a doctrine asserting even divine power in a tone apparent- 
 ly so arbitrary, and at acts the reasons of which lie far 
 above its comprehension. It is only after repeated trials of 
 its own powers in vain reasonings, and abortive conjectures, 
 to explain the ways of God, that, lost in the complicatiooj 
 and depth of its inquiries, it is constrained at length to con- 
 fess its Impotence, and to acquiesce in the appointments of 
 Heaven, simply sajing it is the Lord, let him do what seem- 
 
 eth him good. — In its first struggles with the ideas of the 
 
 ST 
 
230 
 
 sovereignty, and the uusearchable counsels of God, it resem' 
 bles a realive steed chaffing and fretting himself with his own 
 spirit, before he has learned to yield to the control of the 
 bit. But when he has been trained to proceed submissive- 
 ly along his prescribed path, he moves with ease and satisfac- 
 tion to himself, guided by the wisdom of the mind that di- 
 rects him. So, when the christian, humbled by many fruit- 
 less and disappointed efforts, to push his inquiries on these 
 obscure subjects beyond the powers of the human mind, has 
 learned, at length, justly to estimate his own force, he per- 
 ceives an unspeakable tranquillity of heart, in piously sub- 
 mitting, on all those questions which he cannot explain, to 
 the will and the wisdom of Almighty God. The difficulties, 
 however, which have embarrassed this subject to certain 
 writers, have arisen, chiefly, from the falsity of theii own 
 conceptions, and improperly confounding the ideas of sove- 
 reigniy, and of arhxirary will. None of the acts of the di- 
 vine go\ ernment are ever arbitrary in their principle, or take 
 place without the most perfect reason ; but the reasons on 
 which they move are often far removed beyond the ken and 
 elude the penetration of our minds. And this is all that is 
 intended by a wise man in speaking of the sovereignty of th? 
 divine counsels. 
 
 From a similar error in conception proceeds the offence 
 which some, otherwise worthy and good men, have conceiv- 
 ed against the doctrine of divine preordination applied to the 
 
201 
 
 tverlasling states of the human race, as if it ioipiied that 
 some sinners are chosen (o the inheritance of eternal life, by 
 an unreasonable predilection. This is never the meaning of 
 any writer who thinks respectfully of the divine economy. 
 Let us compare the preordinations of Heaven with regard 
 lo the present, and the future world. There is, in many 
 respects, a manifest analogy between them. And the same 
 reasonings which demonstrate the divine decrees with rela- 
 tion to the various conditions of the present life to exist with- 
 out any infringement on the moral liberty of man, or impiach- 
 ment of the justice of God, apply equally to the destinations 
 of eternity. The states and conditions of men to which 
 they are severally appointed in this world, are never sepa- 
 rated in (he decr€e of God, from the industry, the pru- 
 dence, the talents, and all the means which, in the order of 
 nature, contribute lo the effect. And it is equally true that, 
 wherever those means are properly applied, it is the usual 
 course of providence that they accomplish their end ; they 
 gain and fix that state in life for the individual which is the 
 will of God. — Let us transfer this analogy to the future state 
 of each man. This state cannot be presumed to be the ob- 
 ject of the divine decree, independent of the moral qualifi- 
 cations which prepare him for its possession, nor those quali- 
 fications independent of the means of divine culture which 
 he enjoys, and the pious improvement which he makes of 
 them. And, let it be remembered, that the aids which we 
 possess of enlarging our knowledge in divine truth, and cul- 
 
29:2 
 
 tivating in the heart a divine taste, are as certain in their ope- 
 ration, and, under the guidance and influence of the Holy 
 Spirir, as effectual to their end, according to their extent, 
 and application, as any train of causes in the natural world. 
 Included in the decree of election, therefore, are all those 
 means of instruction, and motives of holiness essentially con- 
 nected with salvation, — those opportunities of divine infor- 
 mation, those advantages of situation, — of example — of ex- 
 ternal circumstances — of providential dispensations — and all 
 those infinite, and almost imperceptible aids, and motives 
 tvhich under the influences of that divine teacher, are calcu- 
 lated to enlighten the understanding, to touch, and trans- 
 form, and mould the heart. — The sovereignty of the de- 
 cree, therefore, respects not more the end, or the eternal 
 life of the elected sinner, than the various means of moral cul- 
 ture, which have the effect, under the teaching of the Di- 
 vine Spirit, to prepare the soul for her final destination. 
 For, in the view of God, the means, and the end, are essen- 
 tially, and most intimately conjoined, and both embraced in 
 the same act. 
 
 In this consideration of the subject, individual election is* 
 analogous to the elevation of particular nations, as of Israel, 
 to a state of peculiar favour with God : a species of election 
 "with which all parties profess to be perfectly reconciled. 
 Analogous I say ; for the obvious effect of this preference^ 
 is the enjoyment of special privilege)?, instructions, and re- 
 
293 
 
 ligious orilinances, designed to form the understanding and 
 the heart, to the love and obedience of di\iiu; :iuih, by 
 which we have seen the ancient church cherished in the bo- 
 som of that favoured nation, not so much by any direct and 
 miraculous operation on the hearts of the people, as by the 
 excellence of her sacred instifntions. So likewise is (ormed 
 the believer, nnder the grace of the gospel, by the due im- 
 provement of his spiritual and precious privileges, accompa- 
 nied by the blessing of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Against the sovereignty of the divine decrees, in the elec- 
 tion of nations, communities, families, and even individuals 
 to peculiar means of moral cultivation, leading to the ultimate 
 ends of religion, in the sanctificallon of the heart, the great- 
 est assertors of human liberty, or revilers of divine decrees, 
 find nothing to object ; for the fact is before their eyes. 
 And in the formation of a believer into the image of Christ, 
 there is nothing different in the means, or motives employed, 
 from those which operate in the whole church ; unless that in 
 particular instances, they may be applied, by the blessed Spi- 
 rit, with greater energy, or a finer adaptation to the charac- 
 ter and state of different minds. For the lights, and instruc- 
 tions, and motives to conversion, given to the church at large, 
 are those only which operate on each individual, and are 
 abundant for all the purposes of piety, in the hands of that 
 omniscient, and all-potverful spirit, who knows how to reach 
 the heart, through them, with the finest insinuation, to move 
 
294 
 
 it by the moat affecting touches, and to form it ultimately 
 ioto the image of his own holiness, by continual, and almost 
 insensible impressions. 
 
 We behold here the sovereignty of the divine decrees 
 placed upon an intelligible and liberal footing. We behold 
 likewise the perfect correspondence of human liberty, and 
 the natural relation of means and end, with the powerful will, 
 and all-presiding wisdom of Almighty Goc*. 
 
 4. The holiness and justice of the decrees have created 
 KO controversy among those who acknowledge their exist- 
 ence ; nor can there remain a doubt concerning them in the 
 minds of any who believe in the being of God most holy and 
 most wise. 
 
 5. Much more disputation has been awakened with regard 
 to the attributes of absoluteness and immidahilityy ascribed 
 to them by the orthodox. And certainly no subjects seem 
 more to have embarrassed metaphysicians, and divines, or to 
 have excited among them a greater variety of absurd specu- 
 lations. Some writers you have seen maintaining the posi- 
 tion, that there can be no certainty in free actions antece- 
 dent to their existence. And, to preserve the consistency 
 of their principles, they are obliged to deny the prescience 
 of God ; or, with the ancient Stoics, and a great portion of 
 modern philosophers, to subject the whole universe io the 
 
29.') 
 
 cheerless laws of necessity. Others, constrained by their 
 reason to a(iQiit the universal foreknowledge of God, have, in 
 order to account for the divine prescience, had recourse to 
 an absurd principle of the school-men, called by them sci- 
 entia mediae which implies an antecedent apprehension of all 
 things in the Divine Mind, in their proper nature, time, and 
 place, resemblini; fhe immediate vision of all objects as in 
 perspective ; as if present ; but abstracted from all consid- 
 eration of their mutual relations as cause and effect, whence 
 any rational inference could be formed concerning their ex- 
 istence. It is the contemplation of the universe throughout 
 its whole duration and extent as a present object ; it is the 
 knowledge simply of the facts, independent of every other 
 consideration, by a mysterious power in the divine nature, 
 DO similitude to which has ever been imparted to any of his 
 creatures. It is, I presume, a mere absurdity in ocir concep- 
 tions. 
 
 But the opinion which many pious and worthy men have 
 embraced, of a necessity in our actions, which does not re- 
 move their guilt, deserves a more particular consideration. — 
 It is said to be a necessity arising out of the natural inclina- 
 tions of the mind, and, as the action entirely concurs with our 
 will, it creates a feeling of liberty in pursuing our own pleas- 
 ure, while governing our conduct with a force not only cer- 
 tain in the event, but irresistible in its cause. I am willing 
 to believe that these good men, many of whom are distin- 
 
296 
 
 guiahed by their pious and excellent writings, mean no more 
 by this phraseology, than I have studied to express by that 
 eertainty which I have shewn may, and to the Divine Mind, 
 does ever accompany moral, as well as physical causes. But 
 1 conceive their language to be exceplionable, and liable to 
 dangerous abuse. Their reasonings in many of their princi- 
 ples, too evidently coincide with the doctrines of the Hobbe- 
 sian school. 
 
 The certainly of all the purposes of God, is the chief 
 ground on which these writers maintain the doctrine of neces- 
 sily. The one they presume to be involved in <he other. 
 On the contrary, I conceive, that there is a clear and intelli- 
 gible distinction between the ideas of necessity and of cer- 
 tainty, which as happens in many clher moral and intellect- 
 ual truths, can be more easily conceived, or understood, by 
 an internal feeling, than explained in precise and definite 
 terms, which must convey ideas too fine and simple to be 
 analyzed in language. All men can easily understand the 
 difference between a thing certainly done by a free cause, 
 and the same thing accomplished by an internal but unper- 
 ceived force, so that it could not be otherwise than it is. 
 
 3Iany excellent men who profess to be the patrons of this 
 system of necessity, but whose language, I am persuaded, is 
 more in error than their hearts, lay it down as an axiom in 
 their metaphysics, that the will is irresistibly determined by 
 
297 
 
 the strongest motive at the time before the minJ, and can- 
 not act otherwise than it does ; not sufficienlly attending to 
 the entire difference between the nature and movements of 
 mind and of matter, of motive, and of physical impulse. How 
 can it be known that it is the strongest motive which, in every 
 instance, governs our choice ? Do you say, as is commonly 
 done, because it does govern ? This circle is obviously beg- 
 ging the principle in question — it governs our choice because 
 it is the strongest motive ; and it is the strongest motive be- 
 cause it governs our choice. In opposition to this pretended 
 maxim, the soundest metaphysicians, and the most accurate 
 observers of the operations of the mind, agree with the learn- 
 ed and profound Dr. Reid of Glasgow, that we often act ac- 
 cording to the direction of a weaker motive ; and sometimes 
 act without any perceptible motive at all. 
 
 Although the mind seldom acts without motive ; yet it is 
 not motive which exclusively determines its volitions ; or is 
 the sole cause of action. This would be reducing action to 
 a mechanical operation, and justify those material analogies, 
 in explaining its nature, which I have before condemned.-*- 
 The proper effect of motive is to solicit and excite the mind, 
 and to put it into a state of action. But I have a power with- 
 in me which determines my choice, ou a view more deliberate, 
 or more rapid, of the motives before it. If you asli aie to 
 explain that power — I feel it — I am senijible that I exercise 
 it — and, in the feeling and exercise I understand the act. 
 
•298 
 
 Every man may, in the same manner, feel and understand ll 
 by attending to the operations of his own mind. But I an> 
 no more capable of explaining it in terms, than I can explain 
 the sensation of seeing. The perception is too simple. It 
 IS understood by Ihe mind, only in the act of perceiving, or 
 exerting its power of volition. This does not lessen the 
 clearness and certainty of the idea. It is, perhaps, the rea- 
 son why this idea is peculiarly clear. It is among the pri- 
 mary sensations of our nature. And in no other way, than 
 these original sensations, are those ideas that are emphatically 
 and happily called first truths, or axioms in science, which 
 » are the elements, and clearest materials of all our knowledge, 
 conveyed to the intellect. They are the impressions of the 
 Land of God upon the mind ; convictions resulting from the 
 very constitution of our nature. Thus am I conscious of 
 my liberty, or power over my own acts, in the acts them- 
 selves. 
 
 Upon the whole view of this subject, the result is, that I 
 act with the most perfect freedom. Motive, though it influ- 
 ences, does not necessarily determine my choice. Yet such 
 certainty there is in the actions of rational and moral beings, 
 according to their dispositions, education, habits, and the 
 whole atmosphere of motives which encompasses them, as 
 lays as a foundation, among men themselves, in their social 
 relations, for the most useful general knowledge of one an-.. 
 other, and in God for the most perfect foreknowledge of all 
 
209 
 
 the actions of life, he having formed the various tempera- 
 ment of individuals, and disposed, in his providence, the whole 
 train of motives, to the most minute, and often imperceptible, 
 which continual!/ operate upon all the springs and principles 
 of action ; both which, the temperament of the individual, 
 and the succession and combination of motives he has con- 
 stituted, and ordained, and governs, in such a manner, in his 
 church, under the all-wise direction of his Holy Spirit, as 
 most effectually, yei most freely, to accomplish ail his most 
 wise and holy purposes. 
 
 Thus have I unfolded the ideas involved in the technical 
 and systematic phrase — the Decrees of God ; which, being 
 interpreted by the obvious and philosophic language of the 
 Laws of Nature, or its various powers and tendencies of ac- 
 tion, from which proceed, under God, as his organs of opera- 
 tion, all events, whether natural or moral in the universe, 
 these decrees, which appear, to certain writers, with such a 
 formidable aspect, stand on plain and intelligible ground, ac- 
 knowledged, when rightly understood, by all the best friends 
 of science and religion. 
 
 From the whole of these reflections it results, that the de- 
 crees of God are eternal, like his will and purposes in the laws 
 of nature ; — they are most certain in their consequences, 
 that is, they are absolutely ordained, a term equivalent to the 
 former, except that it seems to carry in it more of the author^ 
 
301) 
 
 ity on which ail depends ; and, finally, like the same lawg, 
 Ihev are immutable. This is, obviously, the amount of the 
 proposition in our confession, and catechisms, that the de- 
 crees of God are ahsolutd and unchangeable, which to some 
 sects of christians, has given great, and, I presume, unneces- 
 sarj offence. 
 
 From the interpretation which has been given to this im- 
 portant proposition, we perceive the coincidence of reason, 
 with religion ; and the support which science, justly explain 
 ed, may often render to revelation. 
 
OF THE 
 
 COVENANT OF WORKf«i 
 
 AND THE 
 
 FALL OF MAN. 
 
 I PROCEED, in the next place, to the consideration of the 
 Covenant of Works, and the fall of Man. This Covenant, 
 as it is contemplated in our systems, is the transaction repre- 
 sented to have taken place between man and his Creator at 
 his first foroiation, wherein a law of' duty was prescribed to 
 him, under the explicit threatening of death, in case of trans- 
 gression, and the implied promise of life, on the condition of 
 obedience. His whole duty, however, in this covenant, was 
 collected in a single prohibition as its test. It is proper to 
 observe, that the term covenant is not employed in the his- 
 tory of this transaction by the sacred writer. But it is not 
 the object of the holy scriptures to arrange for us systems, 
 with scientific precision and method. They simply express 
 things in a free and narrative order, so as to be most easily 
 conceived, and applied to use by the plainest readers ; and 
 this diffusive style has been collected, by divines, into spe- 
 cia* propositions, and disposed, according to the order and 
 dependence of ideas, into a scientific form, which, for the con- 
 
302 
 
 venieace of arrangement, and conciseness of expression, re- 
 quires, frequently, a peculiar and technical phraseology. Of 
 this we have an example in this term. In the strictness of 
 meaning usually annexed to it, a covenant could not take 
 place between the Supreme Jehovah, and the insect man. 
 For it properly signifies a stipulation between persons who 
 are, in some degree, equal and free. Yet, as far as such an 
 agreement can be supposed to exist between parties of such 
 infinite disparity as (he Creator and the creature, it will be 
 found to be contained in this precept to Adam. In it a duty 
 is to be performed — a reward is proposed for obedience— and 
 a penalty denounced in case of transgression. For, although 
 the reward is not explicitly stated in terms, it is manifestly 
 involved in the threatening. If death was the forfeiture for 
 disobedience, the necessary implication was, that'life was the 
 alternative for obedience. 
 
 Having justified the technical denomination which this 
 transaction has received among divines, it is only necessary, 
 fiarther, to suggest that it is spoken of, in our systems, under 
 two different appellations, being sometimes styled, from its 
 condition, the Covenant of Works, and sometimes, from its 
 implied reward, the Covenant of Life. 
 
 Various circumstances in the constitution, administration, 
 and appendages of the covenant, demand our most serious in- 
 quiries. 1. In the first place, the peculiar selection of a com- 
 
"803 
 
 xnand or prohibition for the trial of Adam's obedience. 2. In 
 the second place, the full implication of the promise and the 
 threatening. 3. Thirdly, the representative character of our 
 first father in this transaction. 4. And lastly, the significa- 
 tion of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and of the 
 tree of life. 
 
 1. on the selection of an object for the trial of 
 man's obedience. 
 
 When we consider the natural imbecility of the human 
 mind, and the limited sphere to which the range of its ideas 
 is confined, it cannot be surprising, if, in the revelation of tho 
 divine will, in the holy scriptures, as well as in that natural 
 revelation inscribed on the face of the universe, we should 
 find many facts which it is difficult, and some which tran- 
 scend the utmost powers of reason to explain. The enemies 
 of revealed religion examine, with scrupulous ingenuity, eve- 
 ry part of that sacred volume which contains its history ; and 
 if its friends are not able to solve to the satisfaction of a cap- 
 tious philosophy, all the questions which, either the obliquity 
 of ignorance, or the peiversity of genius can raise upon it, 
 they are inclined to reject the whole as a fable. No part of 
 the whole system, perhaps, has been exposed to bolder in- 
 quiries than the Mosaic account of the fall of man, or been 
 treated with more indecent levity than the test of his obe- 
 dience proposed by divine wisdom in the fruit of the for- 
 bidden tree. 
 
304 
 
 From the earliest dawn of science, the speculations of phi- 
 losophy have been employed, without being able to arrive at 
 any satisfactory conclusions on the subject, to account for 
 the introduction of evil into the works of an all-powerful, 
 wise, and benevolent Deity. Revelation has proposed only 
 a few simple facts relative to it, without explicitly unfolding 
 the inscrutable relations which it holds to the purity and ho- 
 liness of the divine nature ; or pointing out the operations of 
 the human mind in its progress from innocence to guilt. The 
 first parents of the human race, had, already, the law of na- 
 ture written on their hearts. It pleased the Creator, how- 
 ever to make proof of their constancy and perseverance in 
 practical holiness, by an appeal to the great principle of all 
 duty, which consists in obedience simply to the will o( God, 
 For this purpose it was requisite to impose upon the con- 
 science some positive injunction ; that is, one to which no 
 natural morality, or immorality is attached, but the obligation 
 to which rested solely upon the divine command ; without 
 any other moral consideration. From an action naturally 
 immoral, a holy nature would instinctively shrink ; so that no 
 temptation from that quarter could be made to reach it. But 
 the act being originally indifferent, the mind could approach 
 it near enough to contemplate it on every side whence an in- 
 sidious suggestion could be thrown in to induce, for a mo- 
 ment, an oblivion of the authority of Heaven. Here would 
 be opened a field in which the tempter, the great enemy of 
 
305 
 
 God and man, might please himself with the hope of operat- 
 ing, not wholly without success. 
 
 x^ccordingly, the subject which Divine Wisdom selected 
 for this probation, was the fruit of a single tree, of specious 
 appearance, which alone was prohibited to man, of all the en- 
 joyments furnished by the whole range of nature, and with 
 this solitary exception, freely indulged to his use. This se- 
 lection has afforded abundant matter of objection to igno- 
 rance, and of sarcasm to wit. Why was the proof of human 
 virtue, it is asked, and, with it, the most important conse- 
 quence to the whole family of mankind suspended on an ac- 
 tion so trivial, if not contemptible, to use their own phrase, 
 as the eating of an apple ? Why was it not rested on some 
 prominent precept, at least, of the moral code 1 To these 
 inquiries let me answer, that we cannot, in all cases, and that 
 we can, perhaps, in very {^y^^ enter into the reasons of the 
 divine conduct, either in the structure, or the government of 
 the nniverse. In the present instance, however, we have it 
 in our power to propose some plausible conjectures, which 
 may furnish sufficient grounds for the vindication, if not the 
 perfect explanation of this portion of the divine economy, so 
 little capable of illustration by any analogies drawn from the 
 dflfairs of men. 
 
 This subject requires that we should not pass over it with 
 
 a slight attention, inasmuch as every answer which can be 
 
 39 
 
306 
 
 clearly given (o the minutest, as well as the more important 
 objections of unbelievers, is shedding some light on the cause 
 of divine truth, and giving additional stability to its founda- 
 tions. 
 
 In the first place, I hope to demonstrate, that the prohibi- 
 tion made to the parents of the human race, for the probation 
 of their innocence, instead of being, in the language of the 
 objection, of a mean and trivial nature, was drawn from a sub- 
 ject which, in that age, held the highest place in the econ- 
 omy of human life. 
 
 In the next place, I shall shew that, at that time, a subject 
 on which to rest this trial could hardly have been taken from 
 a different class of objects. 
 
 Those who affect to be very wise, or very witty, are pleas- 
 ed to say, with all the contemptuousness which the terms, in 
 the present age, obviously imply, that Moses, by his narra- 
 tion, has suspended the destinies of the whole human race 
 upon the eating of an apple. Let us seriously examine the 
 truth of this sneering allegation, and inquire into the nature 
 of that act by which Adam forfeited his primitive condition 
 of happiness in Paradise. 
 
 It is uncertain what was the kind of this fruit, or the nature 
 of the tree which bore it. It is probable that it was a tree 
 
3or 
 
 entirely singular in its nature, bearing a fruit of exquisite 
 Leautj to the eye, antl of delightful fragrance and flavour to 
 the taste and smell. It received its denomination of the tree 
 of knowledge of good and evil, only to indicate the conse- 
 quences of tasting its fruit ; that, as the first pair had hitherto 
 known only good, they would, by that act, become practi- 
 cally acquainted with evil. But, in order to a proper con- 
 sideration of this action, it is necessary to understand that the 
 only sustenance of human life, in the beginning, was derived 
 from the spontaneous fruits of the garden, and its principal re- 
 freshments from their cooling and enlivening juices. The 
 culture of grain was not yet practised, nor were sacrifices, at 
 that period, drawn from the fold. The virtue of temperance 
 then, which constituted the chief of the practical virtues of 
 that state, must have had respect only to the quantity, or the 
 kinds of the fruits which were then permitted, and used for 
 nourishment ; particularly, as there might have been, in the 
 collections of that primitive garden, some species possessing 
 highly exhilarating qualities, requiring caution in their use.— 
 And it is far from being an improbable supposition, that the 
 interdicted tree contained a liquor of intoxicating strength, 
 calculated to throw all the fluids of the human body into un- 
 natural tumults, immediately inciting to vice, and awaking im- 
 pure and indecent passions ; as we learn from the shame 
 which affected our great ancestors, as soon as the influence of 
 the first draught had somewhat subsided. And it is no less 
 probable that it possessed properties of a most deleterious 
 
nature, vliich infused into the veins an insidious poison, in- 
 ducing that mortal tendency to corruption in the whole franae, 
 to which it fell at length an irremediable victim. 
 
 In these reflections we may perceive, I presume, a founda- 
 tion laid for making a just estimate of the importance of the 
 subject which was chosen as the original test of man's obedi- 
 ence. The fruits of the garden furnished the whole subsist- 
 ence of human life. In them were found all the means of tem- 
 perate enjoyment ; and, in the forbidden tree, at least, we dis- 
 cern what was equivalent to the most pernicious viands of lux- 
 ury and intemperance. No subject could exist, at that pe- 
 riod, of greater moment, for the trial of man's integrity and 
 perseverance in the principle of all duly ; which consists, as 
 has before been said, in obedience simply to the will of God. 
 
 I proposed, in the next place, to shew the probability that 
 divine wisdom could hardly have selected a subject from a 
 different class of objects, on which this trial could have been 
 rested. It has already been suggested, that any act which 
 should have involved direct impiety of aim, or indicated 
 impurity of disposition, would have been so immediately re- 
 volting to a holy mind, that a temptation to the commission 
 of it, could hardly, for a single moment, have entered the 
 mind, or been entertained there with favour. And, it is ob- 
 vious, that none of the precepts of the decalogue, could have 
 afforded any grounds for being made, at this time, a test of 
 
309 
 
 this sublime duty. None of the moral relations of social v 
 which we now see established among mankind, could Iheji 
 have yielded any possible occasion to transgression. — Let u:- 
 examine them singly. Could man, for example, have deni- 
 ed the existence of God, or have profaned his holy name, or 
 debased his nature by any of the images of idolatry, who 
 daily held delightful commerce wi(h him in the gardens of 
 Paradise, and whose works were shining in all the freshness 
 of their glory before his eyes, in the recent creation ? Could 
 the duty of children to their parents be violated by him who 
 had no parent but God ? How could murder, adultery, or 
 falsehood in rendering testimony exist, where no subjects 
 were found, on which these crimes could be practised ? Or 
 how should he covet, or trespass on the property of another, 
 who was already lord of the whole creation ? — It is evident, 
 from these inquiries, that none of the moral precepts of the 
 law could have been selected for this peculiar trial. It 
 must be found only in some object addressing,, exclusive- 
 ly the corporeal appetites, the indulgence of which, not in- 
 volving any transgression of the laws of nature, would not 
 of course, awaken any suspicion, or call up any extraordi 
 nary vigilance, or guard against the access of temptation ^ 
 The restraint, of consequence, which this comjaand imposed 
 upon Adam, and his watchfulness against its approach, and 
 the whole virtue of this act, was obedience simply to the di- 
 vine rvill. — The prohibition, therefore, could aflect onh 
 certain fruits of the garden. Within the compass of thia 
 
310 
 
 were included all the objects R-hich could minister any temp"- 
 fation to man's sensual appetite?. From it alone could be 
 drawn any trial of his virtue, in the circumstances in which 
 he was placed. And among all its fruits, it is manifest that 
 none was more proper than that which applied so strongly to 
 the principle of curiosity as well as of tasle, and promised, 
 at the same time, to open to their mistaken imaginations, a 
 new and boundless field of knowledge. A new field it was, 
 both various and extensive, to those who had hitherto known 
 only good : but, ah ! how miserable when their fond fancies 
 came to be blasted by the fatal experiment ! 
 
 Of these circumstances, the great enemy of God, and of . 
 liuman happiness made his advantage to accomplish his evil 
 designs, and, by insidious steps, to approach the innocent 
 mind of our first mother. Direct guilt could not touch her 
 imtainted soul. The tempter, therefore, artfully covered 
 the crime in the apparent indifference of the object ; and by 
 his specious, reasonings, and his dangerous example, in eat- 
 ing before her eyes of the same fruit without injury, led her 
 confused and conflicting thoughts to the utmost verge of in- 
 iiocence. At last, her ardent thirst of knowledge, when she 
 recollected that it was a fruit to be desired to make one wise, 
 urged her, in the tumults of her mind, to yield herself up to 
 the wiles of the tempter, and, in an unhappy moment, to pass 
 the now imperceptible limit between her and vice. She was 
 wsurprised by the artful snares which bad been laid for her ; 
 
311 
 
 and, without being conscious of her sfate at first, she fell. — 
 Intoxicated by the imaginary success of her experiment;, 
 and, at the same time perhaps, by the powerful juice of the 
 fruit which she had just eaten, she brought a portion of it io 
 her husband, and adding the irresistible force of her persua- 
 sions to the fascinating charms of her person, he yielded to 
 the multiplied temptation, and befell with her. 
 
 Will it be said that, if this picture should have any cre- 
 dence attached to it, our first parents appear to have been 
 the victims of inadvertence rather than of guilt ; their vigi- 
 lance was surprized, and it would be a hard measure in the 
 Creator to involve them in such fatal consequences for the 
 inadvertence of a moment ? Let it be remembered, that no 
 inadvertence, or surprize can form a just apology for violat- 
 ing the positive command of God. Let us further reflect, 
 that it is the certain and awful order of the moral world, that 
 an imprudence, an intermission of our virtuous vigilance, an 
 act of inconsiderate folly, is often the cause of irreparable 
 calamities. Perhaps, men more frequently precipitate them- 
 selves into ruin, by what may be deemed imprudence, in 
 the beginning, than by open crime, and hardened impiety. 
 
 The great ancestors of our race, inexperienced in the wiles 
 of sin, had now arrived at the consummation of that fatal 
 act which involved themselves and their whole race in irre- 
 trievable perdition. And, when the delirium, created by 
 
ai2 
 
 that mortal juice, had subsided, they became conscious, for 
 the first time, that they had forever lost the favour of God 
 their Heavenly Father. They dreaded the approach of 
 him whom ihey had so often met with confidence and joy, 
 pouring at bis feet the gratefdl homage of their hearts. 
 When thej^ heard the accustomed sign of his drawing near, 
 they fled trembling from his presence, vainly thinking to con- 
 ceal themselves among the trees of the garden. In the view 
 of one another, as well as before the divine majesty they 
 perceived that shame which is the disgraceful effect of sin, 
 and in their confusion, they attempted to cover themselves 
 with fig leaves. — This remarkable fact merits particular at- 
 tention, as conveying a striking indication of the moral state 
 of their minds, and perhaps also of the phj^sical influence of 
 the fruit which they had eaten. 
 
 The nakedness of their persons, which, in the period of 
 their innocence, had never affected Ihem with any emotions 
 but such as were pure, now began to cover them with con- 
 scious blushes. Was it that the glow of beauty, and, per- 
 haps, of a celestial radiance, which surrounded the priftii- 
 tive body of man, was now lost, and the deformity of a fal- 
 len nature began to appear ? Or, was it that, formerly, the 
 sentiments of devotion, of friendship, of a virtuous tender- 
 ness, of a sublime sympathy, of a high, noble, and intelligi- 
 gent conversation which reigned between them, so occupied 
 their whole souls when together, that every pleasure of the 
 
313 
 
 ssnseg gave only a gentle heightening lo the most pure and 
 refined feelings of the mind ; but now, the tumults of a gross 
 passion alone filled their hearts, always shameful, and, in 
 their situation, incapable of being concealed, or subjected 
 to the control of reason. Perhaps both these causes con- 
 curred to produce this singular incident in the history of the 
 Fall. Their nature which had made a near approach to the 
 angelic, was now sunk into a near resemblance of the brutal ; 
 and as yet no Saviour had been announced to them, to trai- 
 quilize the tumults of their frame, or to correct the violence 
 of their passions. 
 
 2. THE IMPORT OF THE THREATENING. 
 
 I am, in the next place, to consider the full implication of 
 the threatening ; — In Ihe day thou eaiest thereof thou shalt 
 surely die ; whence we may deduce, by the most legitimate 
 inference, the Life which, by contrast is involved in the con- 
 dition of obedience. 
 
 This denunciation may justly be supposed to pronounce 
 the immediate dissolution of the transgressor. And this is 
 the meaning, perhaps, which most obviously obtrudes itself 
 upon the mind of the reader. But it may express, merely, 
 the sentence of the law, pronounced by the judge, in con- 
 sequence of which the criminal is considered as dead to so- 
 ciety, and thenceforth, held in rigorous custody till the pp- 
 
 10 
 
314 
 
 liod of execution appointed by the supreme authority, arrive; 
 If the latter be the interpretation of this awful sentence, 
 which is supposed by the greater number of divines, still 
 such a change must have immediately passed upon the bo- 
 dies of the condemned, that the powers of immortal life be- 
 came instantly extinguished, and the seeds of death began 
 to work in their living members. And the corporeal princi- 
 ples, among which are those powerful agents, the appetites 
 aiid passions, must, from the intimate alliance which sub- 
 sists between the diflferent parts of our nature, have extend- 
 ed their taint through the whole system, mental as well as 
 bodily. The terms of this sentence, therefore, include the 
 moral death of the soul, which, without the provision of the 
 gospel, must adhere to it while its being endures. In these 
 reflections we recognize the extent of that death temporal, 
 spiritual, and eternal, which, according to our standards, was 
 included in the denunciation on our first parents. 
 
 OF THE ORIGINAL IMMORTALITV OF OUR FIRST PARENTS* 
 
 The opinion of those who would subject Adam to imme- 
 diate death, in consequence of his transgression, I will pre- 
 sent to you, after having taken a view of his representative 
 character. In the mean time, it is obvious to remark, that 
 this denunciation must imply that, in a contrary event, man 
 would have existed forever in a state of holiness and happi- 
 ness, nor have been liable to the corruptions of a mortal bo- 
 
315 
 
 dy, and the pains of dissolution. A question has arisen, in 
 consequence, among divines ; whether man would have con- 
 tinued his immortal being upon the earth, or have been trans- 
 lated, without pain, and, perhaps, with some high improve- 
 ment of his nature, (o a superior state of existence ? But, 93 
 God has not been pleased lo make any revelation of his will 
 upon this subject, the inquiry would be fruitless; and, to 
 propose any conjectures concerning it would indicate an un- 
 licensed boldness of fancy, equally arrogant and vain. The 
 enemies of revelation, indeed, have denied the possibility of 
 the fact, that man should be immortal. The human consti- 
 tution is said necessarily to tend to decay. The nerves by 
 their very structure, although no disease should attack them, 
 become rigid by age, and lose that elasticity which is requi- 
 site to carry on the functions of animal life. — This is judg- 
 ing of man before the fall, by the ruins of his nature since 
 that fatal event. There are diflferent species of organized 
 matter, which seem calculated to endure forever, if not at- 
 tacked by extraneous violence ; to instance only in the dia- 
 mond; — And why might not the substance of the human 
 frame have been so modified as to be fitted for eternal dura- 
 tion, or that its changes should lead only to still increasing 
 perfection? Some great and essential change has evidently 
 taken place, not only in man, but in all animals, and in the 
 whole system of nature, intended, to demonstrate the dis- 
 pleasure of Almighty God at that sin which has spread \U 
 baleful effects over the entire face of the world. The beastji 
 
316 
 
 wliicb at first, only innocently cropped the green herbage, 
 became, in raanj cases, the devourers of one aiiother. 
 And the soil, which, in the beginning was fertile and beauti- 
 ful, and yielded a copious harvest of fruits to an easy and 
 delightful culture, became sterile and deformed, and hardly 
 afforded a scanty subsistence to the sweat and labour of itn 
 guilty possessor. 
 
 OF THE REPRESENTATIVE CHARACTER OF ADAM. 
 
 Upon this history a natural, and important inquiry arises, 
 whether the trial imposed upon Adam, respected his own 
 Stability in this holy state exclusively, according to the opin- 
 ion of some writers, or whether, according to the better 
 opinion of the great majority of christians, his posterity were 
 involved with him in its consequences ; and whether we do 
 not see, in his defection, the true source, not only of the 
 mortality, but of all the calamities which have overwhelmed 
 human nature? On this subject the sacred scriptures in- 
 struct us in the most explicit terms. "In Adam all die. 
 By one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin ; 
 so dp.ith passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." In 
 this last expression there seems to be a small inaccuracy in 
 the translation, which is calculated to lead the incautious 
 reader mlo the opinion that death is the penal consequence of 
 the individual act of every sinner ; thereby transferring the 
 cause of our mortality, contrary to the doctrine of the scrip- 
 
sir 
 
 tures, from the crime of the Covenant-Head of the race to 
 each man's personal transgression. The immediate and 
 proxioiate canse of this fatal and universal catastrophe to 
 Adaw, and all his descendants, was the depravation of Lie 
 nature, by the first act of sin, thereby impairing, and tend- 
 ing finally to destroy all the principles of life. This order 
 of things is essentially connected with the established, and 
 imniuJable laws of the universe, in consequence of which a 
 depraved and perishing offspring necessarily springs from a 
 corrupted stock. The version of this passage, therefore, 
 would be better amended, — " so death passed upon all men, 
 because that all in him have become subject to the effects of 
 Lis sin ;" that is, to that depravation of nature which renders 
 them liable to death, and utterly incapable of eternal life ; 
 except through the Second Adam, who, by his death, Lag 
 opened to the transgressor the way for repentance, and the 
 obedience of a New-Covenant. 
 
 OF THE JUSTICE OF THIS INSTITUTIOPT- 
 
 If the enemies of our holy religion demand the justice of 
 this order which subjects a rational, and moral being to an 
 hereditary depravity ? I answer, that this is not an objection 
 which peculiarly affects revelation. It is a diflSculty equal- 
 ly in the religion of nature, and the philosophy of the uni- 
 verse. We cannot be fairly required to explain the secret 
 operations of the laws of nature, which are known only to 
 
318 
 
 God, and to account for their wisdom, and their equity- 
 Thus far the fact is open to our inspection ; that man, who 
 has become mortal, can transmit only a mortal constitution 
 to his offspring. By the same laws, if his appetites, and 
 passions have become disordered by sin, the same tenden- 
 cies exhibit themselves in all those who spring from his loins. 
 The corporeal temperament of the parent, and, frequently, 
 the faculties of his mind, we see renewed in his posterity. 
 It is in vain to remonstrate against the injustice of this order. 
 The fact exists. And shall not the Judge of all the earth 
 do right ? In reasoning from facts we must confess that the 
 corruption of human nature must infallibly grow out of the 
 established laws for the propagation of animal existence. 
 No impeachruent, therefore, can justly be moved against the 
 holy scriptures which, having exhibited the transaclion with 
 our primitive parent under the form of a covenant, have plac- 
 ed him at the head of his race, as their natural and moral 
 representative. For, according to this eternal constitution , 
 conformably with his virtue, or his vice, that is, his standings 
 or his fall, must have been the consequences on his posteri^ 
 iy. " By one man sin entered into the world, and death 
 by sin ; so death passed upon all men, because in him ali 
 have sinned," and become subject to his depraved, and mor- 
 tal nature. 
 
819 
 
 OF THE IJENIGNITT OF THIS ORDINANCE. 
 
 Those who are unfriendly to our doctrine demand, where 
 would be the benignity of the Creator, in calling into exis- 
 tence a whole race of beings, and, at the same time, sub- 
 jecting their eternal destiny to the voluntary act of a frail, 
 though innocent creature? And an appearance of severity 
 it certainly would have, if it had not been his most merciful 
 purpose, annulling the condition of the first covenant, now 
 rendered impracticable by the Fall, to dispose the humbled 
 and lost father of the race, and his whole oflfepring, immedi- 
 ately under the protection and grace of the Second Adam, 
 and the blessings of a new covenant, established on better 
 promises, enriched with more glorious hopes, and resting on 
 a more perfect security in the righteousness of Christ. And 
 it is not an improbable opinion of many wise and good men, 
 that the condition of the human family, under this dispensa- 
 tion, is much to be preferred to that which would have ex- 
 isted under the most favourable operation of the first. The 
 displays of the divine nature have been more glorious, the 
 riches and consolations of the divine mercy have been more 
 precious, the joys of eternal life more exalted, and trium- 
 phant. Yet, to this illustrious exhibition of divine grace 
 the fall of human nature, in the unsearchab!'^ > -sdom of God, 
 became the necessary introduction. Its richest glory arises 
 out of its deepest humiliation. 
 
OF THE Ol'INION THAT DEATH WAS DENOUNCE© TO TAKE 
 PLACE ON THE DAY OF THE FALL. 
 
 Another interpretation of this awful sanction, — In the day 
 thou eatest thereof thou shall surely die, which is more lite- 
 ral than the former, and which limits the execution of the sen- 
 tence to the day of the transgression, merits our particular 
 consideration, at once, from its simplicity, and its obvious 
 conformity to the letter of the law. On this interpretation, 
 Adam, under his original covenant, could not possibly have 
 had posterity. Nor is it probable that, if he had been per- 
 mitted to live for a season, he could,^ without a new covenant^ 
 giving him the hope of life, have had any offspring, while 
 precariously existing under the momentary, and overwhelm- 
 ing apprehensions of death. But the whole scene was chang- 
 ed by the promise of a Saviour, in these mysterious words, 
 the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head, which 
 hold out to our afflicted father the final destruction of the 
 power of evil, and offer to his hopes the most illustrious dis- 
 plays of divine mercy and grace. Immediately we perceive 
 the first fruits of this gracious promise upon our first pa- 
 rents; and Adam, in the hope of a numerous progeny, 
 which was extinguished with the loss of his own existence, 
 -called the name of his wife, in the moment of his exulta- 
 tion, Evcy in the Hebrew language, Chavah ; because 
 now he was assured that she was to become the mother of 
 
321 
 
 a livings race. — Though raised to better hopes, yet pos- 
 sessing only a depraved and fallen nature, he could im- 
 part no other to bi;3 oflTspring. All, therefore, are born under 
 sin. But inasmuch as, without a IMediator, and a new cove- 
 nant, none would have received existence, all who now are 
 permitted to come into the world, enter it under the protec- 
 tion of this glorious Saviour ; and, accordingly we see them 
 in the seals of this gracious covenant, in the church, met 
 with the offered blessings of the righteousness of faith .^ 
 Hence life and immortality are proposed to alL not, as un- 
 der the original covenant with Adam, to perfect obedience ; 
 but, through a Mediator, to sincere repentance, and evange- 
 lic obedience. 
 
 OF THE IMPORT OF THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE, AND 
 THE TREE OF LIFE. 
 
 The last inquiry, proposed under this head, was to ascer- 
 tain the purpose and meaning of the tree of the knowledge 
 of good and evil, and the tree of life. Of the former, little 
 question can exist. The fruit of that tree was designed to 
 form the teat of the obedience of man. And its denomination 
 was manifestly derived from its destination : for, Adam, who, 
 at first, had been acquainted only with goody became, from 
 tasting its fruit, most fatally sensible of evil. The act in- 
 
 Sec this principk more explicitly statPtl under the article of baptism. 
 41 
 
322 
 
 troduced into his soul the afflicting consciousness ot guiit, 
 and the fatal daring of disobedience, once become familiar, 
 perverted all his powers, and emboldened his sinful passions 
 to farther transgressions. It threw the principles of duty 
 headlong from their throne, and raised to the forsaken seat, 
 all the irregular affections, and violent impulses of a deprav- 
 ed nature. This moral death of the soul was, at the same 
 time, conjoined with the decay of all the powers of the bo- 
 dy, and the corruption of the principles of animal life. On 
 the other hand, it is by no means an improbable conjecture, 
 that the tree of life possessed a health giving, and renovating 
 quality, which added a vital stimulus to the corporeal powers ; 
 but that the forbidden fruit, besides its intoxicating power, 
 which has before been suggested, contained, likewise, a dele- 
 terious spirit which instantly diffused a slow consuming poison 
 through all the veins, and introduced the principles of disease 
 and death into the human frame. 
 
 Many respectable writers have believed that this life giv- 
 ing tree was placed in the garden as the symbol of immor- 
 tality to this innocent pair, as long as they should persevere 
 in their duty ; and probably a sacramental sign of the stead- 
 fastness of the covepant, to be ever before their eyes, to en- 
 courage their joyful hopes, and to awaken their ardent de- 
 votion. 
 
323 
 
 OF THE INTRODUCTION OF SIN INTO THE WORKS OF »0D. 
 
 Before I proceed to treat of the consequences of the Fall, 
 either upon the parents, or the entire family of the human 
 race, it will not, I hope, be deemed improper to introduce 
 a speculative question which, has been found to occupy 
 with much solicitude, the minds of men ; and is often, by 
 the enemies of revelation, made the occasion of casting re- 
 proach upon its doctrines. I introduce it, however, not with 
 the presumption of being able satisfactorily to resolve to the 
 minds of all, the difficulties with which it is embarrassed ; 
 but with the humbler hope of inducing unmurmuring sub- 
 mission to the will of God, whose decrees transcend the in- 
 vestigations of reason. — Why did the fnfinite Creator, whose 
 power and wisdom, can accomplish all his will, without en- 
 croaching on the peculiar prerogatives of human nature, per- 
 mit the introduction of sin into his works ? Why should 
 moral and natural evil form a part of the system, conceived 
 by the Infinite Mind, for the administration of this world? 
 Or how could sin exist in the universe, in which we confess 
 that all things depend solely upon his will, without imputing 
 to him such an agency in the event as to palliate, at least, if 
 not entirely excuse the transgression of the sinner ? — It is 
 doubtless gross impiety to ascribe iniquity to God, as its au- 
 thor, or to impute any indirect influence over the hr.man 
 mind to the Most Holy, inconsistent with the purity of his 
 
3U 
 
 nature. For, througiioiit the holy scriptures, his extreme 
 abhorrence of sin, and his inflexible detennination to punish 
 it, is expressed in the strongest terms ; but candour must 
 compel every wise man to confess the difficulty of account- 
 ing for its permission ; and above all, for its entering for so 
 Iar;!;e a portion into the plans of the Sovereign Wisdom. 
 
 -Some writers maintain the principle, that the existence of 
 sin is a necessary consequence of the freedom of action. The 
 Principle is at least incautiously expressed. No inevitable 
 connexion surely exists between liberty smd criminality ^ 
 otherwise, our freedom would be a pernicious gift.: — It would 
 be a more certain proposition, but would contribute httle to^ 
 satisfy the inquisitive^ mind, that the possibility of crime 
 must be connected wi|h perfect freedom of vohtion and ac- 
 tion : it is not, therefore, surprising that, in any one instance 
 'i' ' :>'> 
 
 the possibility should be converted into fact. A solution 
 
 this which is abundantly sufficient to those who deny the 
 decrees of God ; but to those who believe that the decrees 
 extend to every part of nature, and embrace the minutest 
 actions of the mind, silence and submission is the truest 
 wisdom. 
 
 OP THE OPINION OF LEIBNITZ. 
 
 Some German metaphysicians, especially the disciples of 
 the, school of Leibnitz, have adopted a theory peculiar to 
 
325 
 
 themselves ; that evil is necessary to the perfection of the 
 universe; as necessary, to use their pwn similitude, as 
 shades to the beauty of a picture. This fine maxim of the 
 imagination, is certainly dependent on a theory of very que8. 
 tionable truth ; or rather is contradicted by the soundest dic- 
 tates of .Reason. — Their great dozipa, which solves to them 
 all diiScultieSj'in physics,, and in morals, is, that all the good 
 which can possibly exist in the universe, and the whole per- 
 fection, in both orders of being, which can possibly proceed 
 from the wisdom and the power of the Omnipotent is to be 
 seen in his works. What does not exist is impossible. — > 
 This principle is bringing back the absurd Fate of the Sto- 
 ics, and subjecting the Deity himself to the chains of ne- 
 cessity. — I must be permitted to observe on this whole ques- 
 tion, that it presents to our reason one of those inscrutable 
 subjects, on which it is wise, in the present state, to repose 
 submissively on the wisdom of God; resolving what we can- 
 not explain, into Jiis sovereign will, and the unsearchable 
 counsels of his understanding. Revelation, however, in- 
 forms us that he will turn this disastrous event to subserve 
 the noblest ends in the universe, — -the illustration of his good- 
 ness, his mercy, and his justice, in the exaltation of his Son, 
 so as to render the new creation more glorious than Eden. 
 
326^ 
 
 OF THE SERPENT AND THE TEMPTATION. 
 
 Of the duration of the state of innocence, no facts are pre- 
 sented to us from which any certain estimate can be formed. 
 Nor have we anj means of judging in what manner the temp- 
 tation was addressed by the serpent, to our primitive mother. 
 Many frivolous fancies have been uttered concerning the 
 species of serpent, whose form the tempter assumed ; all of 
 them, probably, without sufficiently adverting to the effects 
 of the curse on the whole creation, and on the change, par- 
 ticularly, which must have passed on the forms and qualities 
 of the animal tribes. 
 
 That the whole history of this most important of human 
 transactions, is according to the opinion of some respectable 
 writers, a mere allegorical fable, depicting in figure this truth, 
 that the fascinations of vice deceived and seduced our first 
 parents, appears to have no support in the language in which 
 the narration is conveyed to us. The images of hieroglyphic, 
 out of which this divine fable is supposed to be constructed, 
 could originally have been drawn only from actual types, 
 that is, from historical facts. And the serpentine hiero- 
 glyphic of eloquence, wit, and cunning, used at first, by the 
 Egyptian priests, and supposed to be here employed, has 
 every appearance of being itself borrowed from the fact which 
 took place in Paradise. From the same fact, the prince of 
 
327 
 
 evil spirits, has received, in the holy scriptures, his figura. 
 live denomination of the Old Serpent ; and, among the hea- 
 then, the emblematic wand of Mercury seems to have had a 
 similar origin. The denunciation pronounced upon that rep- 
 tile, upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat, 
 has, obviously, a reference to some transmutation passed up« 
 on his form, and his manner of moving and subsistence, de- 
 signed by God to be emblematic of the humiliation, and the 
 degraded state into which his arts had reduced the parents, 
 and the whole race of man. 
 
 FRAGMENTS OP THIS HISTORY FOUND IN THE TRADITIONS 
 AND FABLES OP ALL THE EARLIEST NA- 
 TIONS OF ANTIQUITY. 
 
 It is an inquiry which will naturally suggest itself both to 
 the friends, and the enemies of revelation — have any vestiges 
 of a fact so unspeakably important to human kind, been 
 found among the historical or mythological monuments of the 
 most ancient pagan nations ? If true, would not some tradi- 
 tion of it have naturally been preserved in the fables of every 
 people so lately descended from the common head of the 
 race ? And several eminent and learned writers have be- 
 stowed no small pains in comparing the traditions and my- 
 thological fables of antiquity with the mosaic history, whence 
 they have been thought to have derived a testimony of no 
 inconsiderable authority to the authenticity and truth of the 
 
328 
 
 sacred record. All who are in the least conversant with an- 
 cient learning, are familiar with the fables of the golxien and 
 the iron age, which are nothinj^ raore than the allegorical dress 
 in which the poets have chosen to clothe the earliest history 
 of mankind. The doctrine of the primitive innocence, and 
 fall of man, the travellers, and philosophers of Greece, receiv- 
 ed from Egypt, and the East, along with their arts and scien- 
 ces almost with the first existence of the nation. In the 
 Egyptian mythology, particularly, we recognize the original 
 innocence of man in the happy reign of Osiris over the 
 world. His fall is depicted in the ravages of Typhon, their 
 great and wicked Demon, or principle of Evil. And, last- 
 ly, we discover the promise of a Saviour, in the prediction 
 of the resurrection and eternal life of Osiris, when he will 
 triumph over the power of evil, and restore universal peace 
 and happiness to the world.^^ 
 
 The Magians of Persia believed in their enigmatical sys- 
 tem of the egg of the world, which, at first, was shining and 
 transparent, till broken by Ahriman, the Power of Evil, 
 when happiness became every where confounded with mise- 
 ry. I have formerly spoken of the doctrine of the ancient 
 Bramins of India, and its striking similarity, in this particular, 
 to the history of Moses. I have there also referred to the 
 representations of the catholic missionaries, so long resident 
 
 * The travels of Cyrus, by the Chevalier Ramsay. 
 
8^9 
 
 in the empire of China.* And it merits particular observa- 
 tion, that the traditions of the most ancient nations, the high- 
 er they go up towards the origin of time, bear the stronger 
 resemblance to the facia of the sacred history. Nor ought 
 this to appear surprising, since all nations, as the scriptures 
 assure us, have sprung from one common parent after the 
 deluge. The nearer, therefore, they carry their history to 
 its source, the more ought we to expect, what we actually 
 find, some coincidence in its facts with those recorded in 
 Moses. And those holy writings evidently lead us to the 
 genuine fountain whence all their mythological streams 
 have flowed, more or less pure or adulterated, in proportion 
 as they approach, or recede from, the beginning of time. 
 And so many striking, and undesigned resemblances afford a 
 testimony of no slight value to the authenticity of the divine 
 Listojiian. 
 
 THE IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF THE FALL ON OUR FIRST 
 PARENTS. 
 
 Before concluding this article, it will be requisite to con- 
 sider the immediate effects of the Fall upon our first parents, 
 as well as its consequent influence upon their whole posteri- 
 ty. On the former, it is manifest, from the testimony of the 
 
 ' On the evidences of religion. The coincldetices of the IraditiOTlt! of fUfl aa- 
 cicnt nations ^vith the sacred history. 
 
 42 
 
380 
 
 holy scilptures, ihdt the judgments of God became almost 
 iustantaneously visible. They lost the image of God in 
 which they had been created. — In their persons they suffer- 
 ed a lamentable change, by which their native beauty was 
 deformed ; and their nature, which had been constituted im- 
 mortal, became liable to pain, disease, and the gradual ap- 
 proaches of death. They were condemned to leave the gar- 
 den of their original pleasures, in which they had so happi- 
 ly lived on the spontaneous fruits of the soil, and to labour 
 in the earth rendered hard and sterile by the curse. — For the 
 first time, they perceived the fears, and compunctions of a 
 guilty conscience ; and, instead of the pure and tranquil de^ 
 lights of virtue and piety, they became sensible only of the 
 turbulence of sinful passions. One example of these pre- 
 sents to us a picture of some singularity. " The eyes of 
 them both,*' it is said, " were opened, and they kne w that 
 they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and 
 made themselves aprons." From these facts it appears-i that 
 they were then first sensible of that shame which naturally 
 arises in the mind conscious of improper and corrupt eaio- 
 tions, in viewing the nakedness of the person. Perhaps i n 
 the change which passed upon them, they perceived a de- 
 formity in their bodies which before had never struck their 
 eyes, which probably, in their original condition, had not ex- 
 isted. Bat this sudden and mortifying sentiment of shame, 
 as I have before suggested, may have taken its origin chiefly 
 from their beina; then first conscious of the emotions of Imt 
 
 .^. 
 
331 
 
 aLiid being in such a state, that they could not, at all time?; 
 conceal the disgraceful effect, except by such an artifice as 
 that to which they now had recourse. The sense of shame, 
 in consequence of lustful emotion, where it is not utterly ex- 
 tinguished by the violence of desire, or the force of deprav- 
 ed habit, involuntarily arises at all the visible indications of 
 this gross passion, and at every object, exciting to it, pre- 
 sented to the senses, or the fancy. And in this, as in other 
 subjects, we recognise the force of nature in the new fallen 
 . pair. 
 
 OF THE REPENTANCE OF OUR FIRST PAREIfTfi. 
 
 Of the repentance of this unhappy pair after their lamen- 
 table fall, nothing is distinctly transmitted to us in the con- 
 cise narration of Moses. Bat there is the strongest reason 
 to presume that their penitence followed the promise given 
 by God to console them in their affliction ; that the seed of 
 the woman should bruise the serpent^ s headj and thus destroy 
 the Power of Evil ; delivering her offspring by this act, 
 from the dominion of sin, and death. And, in the highest 
 degree probable it is, that the God, and Father of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, who, in the midst of his righteous judg- 
 ments on their transgression, still bestowed on them the most 
 gracious and paternal care, in his provisions for their tempo- 
 ral comfort, and who, in their humbled state, still deigned 
 to them his heavenly communication in the field, or at the 
 
 
332 
 
 altar, would uot be deaf to the cries of their misery, and 
 their penitential sorrows. 
 
 Hardly, however, do these gloomy writers, who have dar- 
 ed to presume that these afflicted parents, in the midst of 
 the wreck, and the rescue of their race, themselves perish- 
 ed without the mercy of that Saviour who had been recent- 
 ly promised to them, merit even this notice of an uncharita- 
 ble opinion, which is not supported by any authority from 
 the holy scriptures. 
 
 OF THE EFFECTS OF THE FALL ON THE WHOLE 
 POSTERITY OF ADAM. 
 
 The plain and explicit testimony of the sacred writings 
 teaches, that the state of sinfulness and misery, in which it 
 is visible that human nature exists, is at once the fruit, and 
 the punishment of the transgression of the great head, and 
 representative of the human family. No testimony can be 
 more clear and decisive on the subject than the declaration 
 of the apostle Paul in his epistle to the Romans. — " By one 
 man, sin entered into the world ; and death by sin, so death 
 passed upon all men, inasmuch as all in him have partaken 
 of the same depraved and sinful nature." The principal 
 evil, and the source of all the other evils which result io 
 mankind from the original transgression of our father is, not 
 only the tendency of our bodies to decay, but the " moral 
 
333 
 
 corruption with which all men are now born into the world." 
 — The existence of a depraved nature in man has been made 
 the subject of ardent, and too often acrimonious controver- 
 sies in the christian church. The Socinians and even the 
 Arminians, probably mistaking the true meaning and extent 
 of the proposition which asserts the original sinfulness and 
 depravity of human nature, deny that we inherit from Adara 
 any evil except that of pain and death. These writers, in- 
 deed, confess the tendency of mankind to mnrnl wrong in 
 many of their earliest acts. Yet, they refuse to admit the 
 federal, or representative character of our primitive parent 
 in the covenant of works. But all the orthodox symbols 
 and confessions, from the first ages, maintain that ** the co- 
 venant was made with him, not only for himself, but for all 
 his posterity, who, consequenllv, sinned in him, and fell 
 with him in his first transgression."* I must remark here, 
 that those who believe that the penalty of the covenant was 
 ordained to be inflicted on the day of the Fall, must use a 
 language somewhat different, but the consequence becomes 
 eventually the same, the inheritance by his offspring, after 
 the promise, of a constitution corrupted by the principles of 
 death and sin. For this, as we have before seen, is an uni- 
 versal law of nature affecting the descent of posterity ; — the 
 8cion must partake of the stock. 
 
 * Every thing deserving attention on this subject, will be found in President 
 Edwards on Original Sin, and his antagonist Dr. Taylor. 
 
 Jk ■*- "'ii 
 
a34 
 
 To mea who have wot a favourite theory lo support, de- 
 rived from an erring reason, rather than the word of God, 
 the holy scriptures teach, in the most unequivocal language, 
 the doctrine of original sin ; that is, that, by derivation 
 from an unholy original, we are born prone to sin, and ali- 
 enated from the " life of God, through the ignorance that is 
 in us, because of the blindness of our hearts." " Behold, I 
 was shapen in iniquity," saith the psalmist, " and in sin did 
 my mother conceive me." " That which is born of the flesh," 
 saith our Saviour, " is flesh. Marvel not that I said unto 
 you, you must be born again." And the apostle, in the 
 strongest terms, declares, — " The carnal mind is enmity 
 against God, it is not subject to the law of God, neither, in- 
 deed, can be." But the scriptures arc replete with testimo- 
 nies to the same efiect, which, to those who habitually, and 
 devoutly read them, it would be superfluous to recite. 
 
 THE GOSPEL UNITED WITH THE LAW, IN THE MOMENT 
 OF THE FALL. 
 
 Here we may contemplate for a moment, the benignity of 
 the gospel, grafted upon the severity of the law, in the first 
 moments of the calamity of our great ancestors, and its un- 
 speakable mercy consoling them, and covering to them, and 
 their posterity, the evils of the Fall. By our union with 
 our natural head and representative, we inherit tbe depravity 
 of his nature, both in body and in mind : but the Saviour be- 
 
335 
 
 ing revealed to Adam, he, with his whole race were, at that 
 instant, placed under the dispensation of mediatorial grace. 
 And now, every infant is introduced into being, not on the 
 terms which our degenerate father had forfeited, of hfe to the 
 perfect ; but of pardon and grace to the penitent, bestowed 
 though the Mediator. And, inasmuch as (he most merciful 
 Redeemer, immediately, on the promise being made to 
 Adam, took the world under his protection and government, 
 the gracious aids of his Holy Spirit, are now in various de- 
 grees, extended to all men ; but more especially to his chosen 
 people of old, and since to his church, under both which dis- 
 pensations, the precious seal of his covenant is appointed to 
 be administered to all their infant seed, to assure tbora of 
 this great salvation, promised through the atonement of the 
 ever blessed Redeemer.* 
 
 This, however, does not present to us the whole blessing 
 of that form of the New Covenant confirmed to Adam in the 
 mysterious promise, The Seed of the woman shall bjuise 
 the SerpenVs heady shall destroy his power, and defeof his 
 machinations. To our imperfect nature, it has converted 
 the curse, as far as relates to the evils of this life, its labours 
 and its pains, into a merciful dispensation; a corrector of its 
 calamities, still more than their punishment. The aches, the 
 pains, and diseases incurred by the Fall, become salutary 
 monitors of our guilty original, and serve to lead the soul to 
 
 * Se<? Ihis principU farther illn-.trateil . under tlie lip^.t^ of tlifi scaU of the covennni. 
 
336 
 
 the pious contemplation of its end. Tiie industry, and in« 
 genuity which, in a state of innocence, might have been drawn 
 forth, by virtuous principle, to the improvement of the arts', 
 the ornaments, and comforts of life, are now stimulated by its 
 multiplied wants ; the necessity of labor is productive of the 
 greatest blessings of society. The dependence, the re- 
 straints, the corrections, the painful application of childhood, 
 and lyouth, are requisite for the early cultivation of the rea- 
 son and virtue of mankind. Children, amidst all their imbe- 
 cilities, are first protected, and then made wise for their own 
 protection, by the wisdom of their parents. By the labours 
 of the mind, and of the body, human nature is carried for- 
 ward towards its highest improvement ; and the world itself 
 is created anew in beauty, and rendered subservient, in ten 
 thousand ways, to the use of man. The curse denounced on 
 the woman, that in pain she should bring forth her children, 
 and be the party chiefly subjected to the anxieties and toils of 
 nursing and rearing them, is made, under this grace, the chief 
 source of the endearments of domestic life. If children, 
 from their earliest infancy, were, like the young of many 
 other animals, independent of the protection, and the nurtur- 
 ing care of their parents ; if labor, and vigilance, and mutual 
 assistance, were not generally requisite for the support, res- 
 pectability, and comfort of families, the principal ties of paren- 
 tal affection, and filial duty would be dissolved. The habits 
 would be destroyed, or never formed, which in the highest 
 degree contribute to the happiness, increase, and beneficial 
 
337 
 
 intercourse and improvement of nalions. Every pain which 
 the child suffers, every risk to whicii it is exposed, endears, 
 it more (o the parent ; evejy anxiefy, expense, and sacrifice 
 devoted to its interest, more attaches the parciit. Parents 
 themselves, from these causes, become more tenderly united 
 to one another ; the mother by her pains, her sicknesses, her 
 constant need of some kind support ; the father by the man* 
 }y protection and superior assiduities which he is able to af- 
 ford to her delicate weaknesses. The mutual wants of indi- 
 viduals and of families, teach them to sympathise with one 
 another, and aid their easy transition into national sympathies, 
 and the coalescing of mankind into great communities. 
 
 Under the Saviour, therefore, who has taken the world 
 under his protection and grace, the curse of the Fall, how- 
 ever much to be lamented in its original cause, has been ren- 
 dered, in many respects, a blessing to our fallen and imper- 
 fect nature. 
 
 f HE GENERAL STRAIN OF THE SACRED WRITINGS, A STRONG- 
 ER PROOF OF THE DEPRAVITY OF HUMAN NATURE, 
 THAN SINGLE AND DETACHED PASSAGES. 
 
 The sinfulness of human nature, is depicted in the strong- 
 est colours, in many positive declarations throughout the sa- 
 cred scriptures ; but in addition to the direct and unequivo- 
 cal evidence of many detached and particular passages^ ppr- 
 
 43 ' 
 
338 
 
 haps a more couYincIng proof of this important doctrine, so 
 humbling to tiie pride t)f man, results from the general strain 
 of fhc whole system of revealed truth. It is a fundamental 
 point in the entire fabric, and is involved in all its principal 
 doctrines. If a Saviour has been sent into the world, is it 
 not to deliver mankind fallen and perishing^ from their state 
 of sinfuhiesSy and its consequent miseries ? Is it not to the 
 unholy that the purchased Spirit is given to assist their re- 
 pentance ? Was it not to those whose reason had been ob- 
 scured by the power of sin, that the light of divine truth 
 had become necessary ? Was not this also the language of 
 the sacrifices of atonement under the ancient dispensation ? 
 Is not this the interpretation of the doctrines of repentance, 
 of sanctifi^cation, of the renovation of the heart under the 
 new ? Are not the seals -of the covenant, under both dis- 
 pensations, emblems of 'd necessary purification.^ And do 
 not the whole furnish such an accumulation of evidence on 
 this subject, as can hardly fail to carry with it, to the candid 
 mind, complete conviction that man is a fallen and sinful 
 being ? 
 
 THE TESTIMONY OF EXPERIENCE. 
 
 If any evidence of this unhappy fact could be added to 
 the clear and uniform testimony of the sacred writings, we 
 might derive it from the whole history and experience of man« 
 ^ind. Do we not observe the malevolent passions of humas 
 
S39 
 
 nature displaying an unhappy force from the earliest years 
 of childhood and infancy ? Have we not, from our most re- 
 mote remembrance, perceived within our hearts, the working 
 of many impure desires and unhallowed passions ? Is not 
 ihe history of man, in a great measure, the history of his 
 crimes ? Does not the world present to us rather a prisou 
 destined for the punishment of the guilty, than a paradise, 
 the delightful habitation of innocence ? Does not the infant 
 feel the pangs, and utter the cries of pain, from the moment 
 of its birth ? Do not pain and disease, though now sanctified 
 to the penitent by the Redeemer, still pursue him, till they 
 lay him in the grave? Do all these calamities indicate the 
 etate of an innocent being, under the government of a most 
 merciful Creator ? Or does not a strong impression again 
 result from the whole, that man is fallen and guilty ? 
 
 OF THE EXTENT OP ORIGINAL SIN, AND THE MODE OF ITS 
 TRANSMISSION. 
 
 Two questions yet remain upon this subject, which merit 
 the attention of the theological student. In the lirst place, 
 to what extent is human nature corrupted ? 
 
 Secondly, how is that sinful nature communicated, so as 
 not to subject God most holy, to the impious charge of being 
 the author of sin ? 
 
ti40 
 
 1. On Ihe first, it is the decision of the word of God, and 
 of the church, that the depravity of human nature pervades 
 it in its whole extent. Its rational powers are perverse in 
 their application, or rendered impotent through sinful ten- 
 dency ; and all its moral faculties, in their habitual action, 
 have become criminal, by excess in their pursuits, by de- 
 fect in their principles, or their motives, or by misapplication 
 in their objects. The first moments of existence are cer- 
 tainly *not chargeable with actual crimes, but with such per- 
 version of nature from its original rectitude, that its earliest 
 propensities, emotions, and affections, are directed to wrong 
 ends, or to those that are lawful in a vicious degree. And, 
 however the conduct of mankind may, in many parts of it, 
 be beneficial to their fellow men, and, in so far, worthy of ap- 
 probation, yet, in the sight of God, all acts are unholy in 
 which the supreme desire of the soul in pursuing, and its su- 
 preme end in performing Ihem, is not to render obedience, 
 and glory to him from whom all existence is derived. 
 
 2. With regard to the second question, if we mean to ask 
 bow an impure and depraved nature may be imparted to the 
 posterity of Adam without involving a deep reproach on the 
 Author of our being? It is sufficient to answer, as the suc- 
 cession of all animals is continued. The whole nature of the 
 parent is imparted to the offspring. But in whajt manner this, 
 or any of the works of creation is produced, is utterly beyond 
 our knowledge. The tnodiis operandi is the secret of God. 
 
341 
 
 But to say, as some ^eak men have done, in the hope of 
 avoiding rhe iaipiety of making God the auttior of a dinful 
 act, that God formed (he soul pure, but uniting it to a sinful, 
 disordered, or merely animal body, it has, by this junction, 
 become necessarily infected with sin, is certainly an errant 
 absurdity of pious folly. As if it were less contrary to the 
 purity of the divine nature to form a being innocent, and im- 
 mediately subject it to a state of necessary infection, than to 
 suffer the laws of the universe freely to operate, by which an 
 impure effect must proceed from an impure cause — a sinful 
 progeny from sinful parents. Of much more moment is it to 
 us, saith Saint Augustine, to understand how we are <!eliv- 
 ered from sin by Jesus Christ, than to be able to explain in ' 
 what manner we have derived it from Adam. 
 
OF THE 
 
 COVENANT OF GRACE, 
 
 1. OP VICARIOUS SUBSTITUTION, AlfD ATONEMENT. 
 
 From the declarations of holy scripture it appears that, 
 immediately after the Fall, our condemned and unhappy pa- 
 rent, together with his whole race were, in the infinite mercy 
 of God, transferrecl from the Covenant of Works, now brok- 
 fen, and cancelled as the condition of life, and placed under 
 the protection of the Covenant of Grace, organized and ad- 
 ministered under a Mediator, through whom their repentance 
 might be accepted with their heavenly Father, and the Ho- 
 ly Spirit imparted to sanctify and restore their fallen nature. 
 In treating of this covenant to which I now proceed, the first 
 consideration which requires our attention, and that, indeed, 
 which is fundamental to its existence, is the necessity of full 
 and complete satisfaction for the sin of man. On no other 
 condition could the holiness and justice of God receive the 
 repentance of the sinner, and admit him to a new probation, 
 on a new covenant, for eternal life. In discussing this sub- 
 ject, three preliminary questions present themselves to our 
 inquiry. 1. In the first place, was satisfaction, or atone- 
 ment for the sin of man indispensable to the existence of any 
 
344 
 
 new covenant in his favour ? 2. As man is utterly unable to 
 offe^ an atonement adequate to the demerit of sin, is vica- 
 rious satisfaction, in the person of another, either possible, 
 or just in itself, or useful in the administration of the divine 
 government over mankind ? 3. Could satisfaction oflfered by 
 any being less than a divine person, be accepted in the room 
 of the sinner ? 
 
 OF THE NECESSITY OF ATONEMENT. 
 
 There are writers who affirm that Almighty God might 
 by an act of sovereignty, have mercifully dispensed with 
 an J satisfaction for sin, and freely forgiven the offender, on 
 his sincere repentance. — What God might, in sovereignty, 
 have done, or could not, in consistency with the laws of eter- 
 nal justice, do, seems impossible to be wisely and safely de- 
 termined by us, and cannot be decided without presumption. 
 We are infinitely more concerned to understand what God 
 hath actually done, and, from the fact, to pronounce upoQ 
 its justice, and utility. I may, however, be permitted to ob- 
 serve, that this opinion seems to be founded on very inade- 
 quate apprehensions of the necessary nature, and the inflexi- 
 ble claims of his holiness. And there are many important 
 considerations which render it reasonable to believe that the 
 punishment of the sinner, or a vicarious satisfaction to the 
 justice of the law, in the person of a mediator, in all res- 
 pects coiupeteot to this offering, was an indispensable require* 
 
 A.: 
 
345 
 
 ioacnt in the government of God. Indeed the fact, tLat it 
 has been made, 13 decisive proof that it is holi/i just, and 
 good. The apostle, in contemplating this subject, devout- 
 ly exclaims ; — '« O the depth of the riches both of the wis- 
 dom and knowledge of God ! How unsearchable is his wis- 
 dom I and his ways past finding out !" Now " to principal- 
 ities and powers in heaVenly places, is known by the church 
 the manifold wisdom ofiGod." All iLe moral attributes ot the 
 Eternal are represented, in the holy scriptures, as havino" 
 their most harmonious, and illustrious display in the death of 
 Christ. In no other way, it is reasonable to believe, could 
 the holiness, the purity, the justice, and the mercy of the 
 divine nature have been demonstrated to mankind with such 
 profound and impressive effect. The accumulated testimo- 
 ny of his holy word leads to the conclusion, that, in consis- 
 tency with his perfections " he can by no means clear the 
 guilty. He is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. Ami 
 he cannot look upon sin but with abhorrence." 
 
 When we bring this subject to the rigorous test of reasoa, 
 reason pronounces the holiness and justice of the divine na- 
 ture to be not less essential to his being, and his glory, than 
 goodness and mercy. The requisitions of justice, therefore, 
 must be acknowledged to be equally necessary in their nature 
 with the demands of his most benevolent attributes. Many 
 writers, indeed, we have seen contend for this principle that 
 
 justice differs from other divine perfections, in this respect, 
 
 44 
 
ihat its lights may al;vaj3 be lelinquisheil without wrong- 
 Admitting this maxim to be true in matters of private right 
 between man and man ; yet, even in human transactions, it 
 does not hold with regard to its exercise in persons invested 
 with a public character, and in cases in which the public 
 good is essutiallj concerned. The rnagistralc cannot dis- 
 pense with the execution of the law. 
 
 OF THE JUSTICE AND CTILITT OF VICARIOUS SATISFACTION, 
 
 As man is incapable, by his obedience, or his sufferings, 
 of rendering complete satisfaction to the violated law, the jus- 
 tice and propriety of vicarious substitution has grown up in 
 {he church into an occasion of warm and uncharitable con- 
 troversy. The Socinians strenuously deny the equity of 
 substituting the innocent in the room of the guilty, and the 
 utility of accepting the obedience, or the sufferings of one in- 
 stead of those of another. This objection could not easily be 
 answered if the substitute were obtruded, by any constraint, in 
 the room of the sufferer, or, if, from any deficiency of power, 
 or of dignity, he were incompetent to the high and arduous 
 duty. To form a fair and equitable decision on this subject, 
 It would be requisite to be well informed concerning the fol- 
 lowing facts :— in the first place, whether the substitution be 
 perfectly voluntary in him who assumes the part of the suf- 
 ferer ; in the next place, whether he be free and independent^ 
 and have the entire right to dispose of his own life, without 
 
34r 
 
 being accountable to any superior ; likewise, whether he be 
 perfeclly coaipetent to the undertaking, so that, from the in- 
 trinsic merit and dignify of his act, it may subserve all the 
 wise and benevolent purposes of the law ; whether, also, ia 
 assuming this part, he be not lost to the universal interests 
 of society, so that no gain to the great public of nature accrue 
 from the substitution ; and, finally, whether the party, chiefly 
 offended, be pleased and willing to accept the substitute in 
 the room of the original offender.* 
 
 If all these facts are fullj' ascertained, and these conditions 
 strictly exacted, vicarious satisfaction appears to be entirely- 
 consistent with the principles of the soundest reason. If the 
 substitute be free to dispose of his own person, and willing 
 lo undertake this benevolent office, the rights of justice can- 
 not be impaired, nor the general interest injured by the ex- 
 change. Perhaps the sanction of the law appears more awful, 
 and is rendered more effectual, when the penalty ig, without 
 abatement, exacted of the surety, than when claimed of the 
 principal hiaiself. An example in ancient history has been 
 often appealed to, as illustrating this point with particular 
 force. The legislator of the Locrlans had enacted a law that 
 any man convicted of adultery, should be punished with the 
 loss of both his eyes. His own son happened to be ihe first 
 criniiaal condemned on this statute. The father, mingling 
 
 ■■ Pr. Witlierepoon^s Lectures on the Covecant of Grace. 
 
34a 
 
 the righteous severity of the judge with the compassion of 
 the jtarent, decreed that his son should lose one of hie eyes, 
 and hat, for the other which justice required, he himself 
 would lose one, in order perfectly to satisfy the requisition 
 of the law. Every man, who is acquainted with the feelings 
 of a parent, and the self-love of human nature, must pronounce 
 this act the strongest proof that could be given to the nation, 
 of the inexorable justice of the legislator. It is obvious that 
 such a vicarious substitution must have had a mere useful in- 
 fluence on the public morals, than the suffering of the full 
 penalty by the culprit in his own person. On the same clear 
 and acknowledged sentiment in the human breast, the substi- 
 tution of the Son of God, in the room of our sinful nature, 
 was the most effectual sanction of the divine law which could 
 have been exhibited to the universe. 
 
 Besides the obvinns consistency of this doctrine with the 
 principles of reason and of public justice, it is explicitly de- 
 clared throughout the sacred scriptures, in the strongest and 
 most unequivocal terms, to be, at once, the truth of God, and 
 the only hope of man. The term satisfactiont indeed, is 
 technical, and employed chiefly by modern divines, for the 
 convenience of their systematic arrangements. But every 
 idea included in the full and most comprehensive meaning of 
 the word, is taught in the scriptures in the plainest language, 
 and illustrated by the most affecting images. Under the an- 
 cient institution, on the great day of atonement, and ercD at 
 
 m 
 
^49 
 
 the dally sacrifices, certain mpii were appointed to represent 
 the people of Israel, and to lay their hands upon the head of 
 (he victim, confessing the sins of the nation. This grave 
 and serious action can have no reasonable interpretation but 
 as a vicarious substitution of the sacrifice in the room of the 
 offender, and a typical transfer of guilt from him to the vic- 
 tim. The same idea is connected with that office of religion 
 wherein the priests of Israel sprinkled the blood of the sacri* 
 fice upon the horns of the altar, sanctifying, by that act, both 
 the sacrifice and the altar ; in allusion to which holy rite the 
 blood of Christ is called the blood of sprinkling, purifying 
 all things covered by its sacred efficacy. The language of 
 the prophet is peculiarly forcible. " He was wounded for 
 our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The 
 chastisement of our peace was upon him ; a^d with his stripes 
 we are healed. When he shall give his soul an offering for 
 ain, he shall see his seed — he shall prolong his days — and 
 the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hands. If, 
 however, there were any obscurity in the type, and the fig- 
 ured language of the prophecy, the same truth is taught un- 
 der the simplicity of the evangelic dispensation, in a style 
 that can hardly leave any doubt in a fair and candid mind. 
 Let me appeal to a few passages only, as an example of a 
 great part of the sacred volume. Of the church, and of eve- 
 ry individual believer, it is said, " they have been bought 
 with a price. Redeemed not with corruptible things, such 
 as silver, and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, 
 
359 
 
 " This is my blood," saith Christ of himself, " slied for many, 
 for the remission of sins. He gave himself a ransom for all.'* 
 And the triumphant ascription of the whole church is, " unto 
 him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own 
 blood !" The arts of criticism have been employed, with 
 great industry, to give these and similar expressions a remote, 
 and feeble, and circuitous interpretation. But every reader 
 must be sensible of the efibrt that appears to accommodate 
 the language to a favourite theory, and Ihe little resemblance 
 which, under this disguise, it bears to the plainness and sim- 
 plicity of the gospel. The obvious meaning of the terms, on 
 the other hand, presents to the mind, on their first impression^ 
 the doctrine of the atonement. From the preceding illustra- 
 tions and reflections, we evidently perceive the principle of 
 vicarious satisfaction established by the explicit and unequiv- 
 ocal testimony of the word of God, as it had before been vin- 
 dicated by the clear decisions of reason. 
 
 THAT IT IS REQUISITE THAT SATISFACTION BE MADE BY 
 A DIVINE PERSON. 
 
 A third question still remains upon this subject, which, 
 from its nature, and its consequences, is of the highest im- 
 portance : — Could any satisfaction for the sin of human na- 
 ture, less than that offered by a divine person, be accepted by 
 the justice of God ? From the whole tenor of the sacred 
 
writiugs, it appears that an atoniDg sacrifice of infinite value is 
 the indispensable requisition of eternal justice. 
 
 But there is something so awful, and so profoundly hum- 
 bling to the soul in this consideration, that various evasions 
 have been resorted to for the purpose of weakening its im- 
 pression. It is asked whether some superior order of created 
 spirits may not be so far exalted above human nature, as to 
 be able by obedience and suflTering to offer ample satisfaction 
 to the righteousness of (he offended law. To this inquiry it 
 may most justly be replied, that no created being can be so 
 far raised in nature as to make the smallest approximation to 
 Deity ; or to be capable of offering an atonement for sin that 
 shall cover, in any degree, the demerit of its guilt. Any 
 finite being must, for this purpose, be liable to the suffering 
 of eternal pains ; a sacrifice that could contribute nothing to 
 4hc illustration of the mercy of our heavenly Father. Be- 
 sides, is not every created being under the highest natural 
 obligations to do, or suffer whatever he shall understand the 
 glory of God, and the general interests of charity and benevo- 
 lence require ; and if it were possible that the most exalted 
 creature could have redeemed mankind, and glorified God, 
 by any temporary sufferings, this sacrifice would, in the na- 
 ture of things have been an original and indispensable duty ; 
 and the antecedent obligation would have deprived the offer- 
 ing of all imputable merit, which can reside only in the act 
 of a free and independent being. But the fact of the appoint 
 
 ^1^ 
 
55-2 
 
 meat of the Son of God to this propitiatory office, whose na- 
 ture has before been proved to be divine, is itself demonstra- 
 tion that no inferior victim could have been accepted. For, 
 is it possible to believe that the eternal Jehovah would have 
 made such a useless expenditure, if I may speak so, of divine 
 perfection, when the same end might have been attained by 
 means so far inferior ? 
 
 It has been urged with a triumph in the force of the objec- 
 tion, and with a confidence far from being warranted by the 
 strength of the argument, that the supposition of satisfaction 
 being exhibited by a person, in his nature divine, involves the 
 absurdity of the Supreme Being making satisfaction to him- 
 self. To repel this suggestion, let it be recollected, that sin 
 is not so much an offence against Almighty God, personally 
 considered, if it is lawful to use this form of expression with 
 regard to the Deity, as a violation of the principles of eternal 
 justice, and, if we may speak so, of the public law of the uni- 
 verse. And there are not wanting many examples wherein a 
 magistrate may so far lay aside his public character as, in his 
 own person, to satisfy the requisitions of the law, 
 
 OP THE COVENANT OP GRACE* 
 
 The Covenant of Grace is defined by many eminent and 
 pious divines to be a stipulation or agreement between God, 
 and the believing sinner, to bestow on him freely, through 
 
25^ 
 
 Christ, the forgiveness of sins that are jjctstj iQipaitlng, at the 
 same time, the spirit of sanctification to renew and periect his 
 nature, and finally, to bring him to the possession of elernal 
 life ; which mercies the believer accepting wilh an humble 
 and sincere faith, that purifies the heart, the act assumes the 
 character and form of a covenant. But as there is an infinite 
 distance between God most holy, and a sinful worm of the 
 dust ; and as the whole transaction is a free gift, entirely 
 gratuitous on the part of God, to style it a covenant is the 
 language of divine condescension. Yet this is the gracious 
 form of words employed by God himself. In the sacred 
 scriptures it is denominated a covenant of peace ; and mer- 
 cifully announced as a new covenant, to distinguish it from 
 the covenant of works, and the covenant of Sinai. And, 
 finally, it is declared to be an everlasting covenant, as the 
 characteristic distinction between it and every temporary in- 
 stitution establfshed by God with his people. 
 
 On the preceding considerations, I prefer another defini- 
 tion, warranted by the best writers, more appropriate and 
 descriptive of the genuine nature of this covenant. It is that 
 of a free and gratuitous promise from the Father of Mercies, 
 to all who receive the blessing with penitent faith, of the par- 
 don of sin through the atonement of the Redeemer, accom- 
 panied with the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit, to 
 lead them by the grace of holy living, to life and immortaU 
 
 i/?/, all which merciful propositions the belierer sincerely ac-' 
 
 45 
 
^5i 
 
 cepting, it is lliereby constituted an actual and formal cove- 
 nant. This definition is conformable to the language of the 
 sacred word, in which this gracious transaction is called 
 the pro7nise, and the promise made of old unto the fathers^ 
 And, indeed, when this whole system of grace is atten- 
 tivelj considered, it is to be regarded chiefly as a pro- 
 mise made to sinners through Christ, to invite them to re- 
 pentance and ncjv obedience by the blessed and glorious 
 hopes of the gospel ; when it assumes the form of that spe- 
 cies of covenant distinguished in our moral and civil codes 
 by the title of gratuitous. 
 
 Every covenant, however, is, from its nature, invested with 
 certain conditions which give it an air of reciprocity. The 
 condition of acceptance^ at least, is indispensable in the most 
 gi^atuitous promise; and although salvation is an effect of 
 the freest grace, yet, in order to the application of the merits 
 of the Lord Jesus Christfor this ernif faith, as it has already 
 been explained, may be regarded as a pre-requisite condi- 
 tion ; and holiness of heart, which is necessary to the actual 
 possession of the final reward of the covenant ; eternal life, 
 may be considered as an xdterior condition. But these con- 
 ditions are not to be viewed as constituting the meritorious 
 causes of the blessing, or forming a real reciprocity in the 
 covenant, but simply as terms of qualification necessary to 
 prepare the believer, by the renovation of his nature, and of 
 all his moral tastes, for the enjoyment of his heavenly inhecit? 
 
Ance. The vrhole phrase, however, of the covenant ofgraci, 
 though amply justified by the language of scripture, is tech- 
 nical, and invented, as many others have been, for the cott- 
 venience of systematic arrangement. 
 
 A MISTAKEN VIEW OF THE COVENANT OP GRACE* 
 
 From the imbecility of the human mind, and the different 
 conceptions often entertained by men of the same subject, we 
 are frequently, and unhappily met by controversy in theolo- 
 gy, as well as in other sciences. Those writers who, from their 
 disinclination to considering the observance of the moral law 
 as forming any condition of the covenant of our salvation, 
 are stiled Antinomians, maintain this peculiar opinion, that 
 the Covenant of Grace is not made with believers through 
 the mediation of Christ ; but has been established, from eter- 
 nity, with Christ in the name of all believers. The paternal 
 Deity, before the foundation of the world, entered into cove- 
 nant with the Son, to give him a certain number out of the 
 fallen human race, to be called, sanctified and saved by him, 
 upon his consenting to assume human nature, and make 
 atonement for their sins by his death. Founded on this sup- 
 posed transaction between the eternal persons of the God- 
 head, they affirm the sole condition of the Covenant of Grace 
 to be, not the obedience and faith of the believer, but the 
 righteousness of Christ, making the believer a mere passive 
 subject of mercy, and not responsible for any of hi^ sins past, 
 
356 
 
 or lo come. Chrisf, the sole agent and representative of his 
 people in this e!crnal transaction has, according to their prin- 
 cip; s, assumed all responsibility upon himself with regard 
 to this chosen number, leaving the rest of mankind, without 
 an> provision lor their salvation, to perish among those hope- 
 less spirits who kept not their first estate. — Good men, I 
 doubt not, have embraced this extravagant system as there is 
 Ko absurdity of which the human mind, on some occasions, 
 is not susceptible. But to me it appears fraught with pre- 
 sumption in pretending to unfold the transactions of the De- 
 ity with himself; and with extreme folly, leading to the 
 most immoral consequences among enthusiastic men. This 
 imaginary transaction has been called the Covenant of Re- 
 demfitimii and although so fanciful, has, under certain modi- 
 fications, been embraced by some grave and profound calvi- 
 nislic writers. In its unmodified extent, it presents to us ma- 
 ny dogmas which, in their obvious import, must shock the 
 common sense of mankind. To justify the severity of this 
 aniniadversion, the following examples will be more than suf- 
 ficient. Believers^ they say, are justified from all eternity. 
 ^^In thetn God sees no sin for Christ^ s sake, — I'he merits 
 of the Second Adam are as certainly and essentially 
 transferredy from their birth, to his elect seedy as the default 
 of the first Adam to his naluraUoff spring. — The elect cannot 
 throw themselves out of the covenants but their justification 
 tqvcdly remains rvhether ihcy fulfil the law of righteousness, 
 or, through the fraiity of their nature, fall into any st?i. 
 
357 
 
 Christ having assumed all responsibility ^ and perfectly sai- 
 isfed the law for them- Many other absuidilies, not less 
 gross and palpable, nakirally growing out of their principles, 
 are found in their writings, which some ingenious men have 
 thought they find means of explaining in consistency with 
 good morals. For this bold irreverence of the imagination 
 some expressions of the sacred writings have given a very 
 slender pretence indeed. *' I have set ray king,'* saith the 
 Psalmist, " upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the 
 decree : the Lord said unto me, thou art my Son, this day 
 have I begotten thee. Ask of me and I will give thee the 
 heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the 
 earth for thy possession, Ps. ii. 6. sacrifice and offering thou 
 didst not desire. Then said I, lo ! I come ;. in the volume 
 of the book it is written of aie; I delight to do thy will, O 
 my God," Ps. xl. 6. And Isaiah, in a fine poetic rhapsody, 
 has sung in the following strains ; — " Behold my servant 
 whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth ! I 
 have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judg- 
 ment to the Gentiles. 1 the Lord have called thee in right- 
 eousness ; I will hold thine hand, and keep thee, and give 
 thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles 
 — to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the 
 prison, and those that sit in darkness out of the prison house." 
 Surely a man must have strong attachments to a system, and 
 a most oblique facility of interpreting the scriptures, who can 
 6nd the Covenant of Redemption in such poetical and 
 
^58 
 
 dramatic representations as these of the counsels, and de- 
 sif^ns of Heaven, which exhibit Christ as the Illuminator of 
 the world, and that Great Prophet destined to extend his 
 church to the remotest ends of the earth. But when these 
 writers can interpret, in this manner, a political convention— 
 The counsel of peace shall be between them both — Zech. vi. 
 13. it assumes an appearance little less than ludicrous. I per- 
 fectly accord with the opinion expressed on this subject, by 
 Dr. Witherspoon. " For my own part," says he, " 1 fear 
 to attempt to explain what is called the Covenant of Redemp- 
 tion, or to admit its existence. I fear it is humanizing too 
 much our ideas of the divine nature, and presuming too far on 
 our understanding the nature of the Trinity, and the trans- 
 actions between its persons, if I may use that human phrase 
 thus to give form to their counsels, thus to apply to them 
 what, perhaps can only be proper when applied to the aflfairs 
 of men. Besides, if we give scope to our fancy, and endeav- 
 our to embarrass with such technical forms of expression, the 
 science of divine things, we might find a covenant in almost 
 every act of God. But the being of God is unsearchable : 
 and I apprehend, there is more of presumption and folly, than 
 of piety and wisdom in a worm of dust attempting to modify 
 his eternal counsels with himself."* 
 
 * Taken down verbatim by the, author from a discourse delivered by Dr. W. 
 before his Theological class. 
 
359 
 
 OF THE CONSTlTUTIOff OP THE COVENANT OF GRACE 1> 
 ITS PROMISES AND CONDITIONS. 
 
 In the constidition of the Covenant of Grace the primary 
 and essential principle which distinguishes it from the abroga- 
 ted covenant with Adam is, that all its blessings are the 
 effects of the free and unmerited mercy of fleaven. Man, 
 having incurred, from the justice of his offended Creator, ab- 
 solute and eteriial condemnation, the whole plan of his re- 
 covery — his present mercies, and his eternal hopes are sim- 
 ply and entirely of grace ; not the effect of obedience to the 
 prescriptions of a law, but the result of the mere favour of 
 God. For this end the system of redemption was instituted 
 by Jehovah liimself, through the mediation of Jesus Christ, 
 who should, by his obedience, satisfy the holy requisitions of 
 his law, and by his sufferings, vindicate the righteous claims 
 of his justice. On this foundation of obedience and suffer- 
 ing, Christ becomes the author of eternal life to all who be- 
 lieve in his name. And the whole redemption of mankind is 
 exhibited to us in the sacred writings, as the fruit of the freest 
 mercy, and the effect simply of the benignity of God most ho- 
 ly, to the offending race of man. ft is of faiths saith Are apos- 
 tle, </iaft7 might be of grace, Rom. iv. 16. And the Evangel- 
 ist affirms that God so loved the world, that he gave hisonli^ 
 begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not 
 perish, but have everlasting life. — This covenant is establish- 
 
360 
 
 ed, not with man innocent as was that with our original parent, 
 but with man fallen and guilty, through a Mediator ; so that 
 now, every blessing is derived to believers through Jesus 
 Christ, who, ofGody is made unto us tvisdonit and righteous- 
 ness, and sand ijicat ion, and redemption. 
 
 One definition of the Covenant of Grace, already presented 
 to the reader, styles it siuiply a proldse, and states it to con- 
 sist of a system of gracious promises given as the consola- 
 tion of human nature in its fallen and unhappy condition. 
 These promises have been arranged, in different orders, but 
 all embracing, in the result, the same comprehensive field. In 
 order to their more distinct illustration, and omitting, for the 
 sake of brevity, the detailed exhibition made of them by ma- 
 ny writers, I shall dispose them in tte following series, as be- 
 ing most accommodated for convenience and use in preaching 
 the gospel. I. In the first place, the promises .of a Saviwir. 
 — II. Next, as the free pardon of sin through him. — III. 
 Thirdly, of the Spirit of sanctification. — IV. In the fourth 
 place, of the favour of God, and all its happy fruits in the 
 present state.^ — V. And finally, of everlasting life in a future 
 world.* 
 
 * The analysis of the covenaDt considered in this vie^r, by Dr. W. presented 
 lo his class. 
 
361 
 
 1. OF THE PROMISE OF A SAVIOUR. 
 
 In the arrangement of the blessings of the covenant, the 
 promise of a Saviour justly stands in the first place ; because 
 it was the first made to our afflicted father, after his fatal de- 
 linquency. It is likewise that primary gift on which all the 
 rest depend. And it aff^jrds the first ray of consolation and 
 Lope to a soul under the conviction of sin. This distinguish- 
 ed and leading promise, therefore, embraces the complete 
 atonement of sin by the sacrifice of Christ. It points to 
 Christ as the fountain of every mercy to mankind, and the 
 channel through which they are conveyed to his people. 
 He is the great and comprehensive promise made of God mi* 
 to thefalherSf embracing all the blessings of the gospel. He 
 is the hope which the ancient church of Israel waited for ; 
 and, a still more glorious distinction — He is the desire of all 
 nations ; for his propitiatory sacrifice, even when unknown, 
 is the foundation of acceptance to every true penitent among 
 the Gentiles, as it was to the saints anterior to the age of the 
 patriarch Abraham. He is, in one word, the salvation of God. 
 
 2. OF THE FREE AND FULL PARDON OF BIN. 
 
 The second promise of the covenant, as they have been 
 
 just arranged, is the free and full pardon of sin to those who 
 
 humbly and penitently seek this mercy through Jesuf' 
 4R 
 
362 
 
 Christ. It is consolatorj to mankind, under the view of 
 their sins, lo perceive, in the benevolent purposes of God a 
 Saviour ordained for the sincere penitent. But frequently, 
 beneath tlic deep and overwhelming compunctions of gailt, 
 the humbled spirit of the sinner trembles at the thought of dar- 
 ing to appropriate the merits of that Saviour, the blessings of 
 that promise, to itself. It requires the most clear and explicit 
 assurance of the gospel for its encouragement in making this 
 particular application of the general offer of divine mercy. A 
 consideration which renders the free and gracious promise of 
 pardon through the Redeemer so precious to the convinced 
 soul. The fears of guilt require the supporting hand of divine 
 grace to save it from utterly despairing. For this reason, the 
 Holy Spirit in his sacred oracles, pitying the infirmity of our 
 nature, crushed under the terrors of the law, seems to have 
 exhausted the powers of language for consolations and en- 
 couragements to the repentant sinner. Ho ! every one that 
 ihhsteth, come ye to the waters ; and he that hath no money ! 
 come; buy wine and milkj without money ^ and without 
 mice. It was the special command of Christ to his disci- 
 ples, to 'preach thejorgiveness of sins to all nations, begin- 
 7iing at Jenisaltm. And, that no penitent may be discour- 
 aged on the consideration of his personal unworthiness, or the 
 aggravations of his former sins, the invitation is extended to 
 all men, in terms the most universal. — Come unto me, all ye 
 who labor and are heavy laden, and, I will give you rest, — 
 Him that cometh to me I will, in no wlscj cast out. 
 
 M» 
 
On this subject an injudicious controversy has been raised 
 on the following question, as men, like gladiators, to shew their 
 intellectual siiill, are often prone to contention on the slightest 
 occasion of difference ; whether Christ has died for all men? 
 or only for an elected number ? Those who arrange them- 
 selves in the ranks of the latter insist that, if, on the princi- 
 ples of their antagonists, we say that Christ has died/orall 
 men, we make his death in vain to the greater number of 
 those for whom it was offered. The former, with, perhaps, 
 greater justice, affirm, that, if he hath died only for a select- 
 ed number, the rest of mankind are necessarily excluded 
 from the possibility of salvation, and, therefore the offer of 
 the gospel to them is impiously imputing to God a duplicity 
 in his transactions with the weakness of human nature, so 
 much the more unworthy of his infinite goodness that it would 
 be insulting the miserable, with ostensible but fallacious offers 
 of mercy. Neither of these parties intend the consequences 
 imputed to them by their rivals, and which their own terms 
 literally taken, seem to imply. The forms of expression, on 
 both sides, are imperfectly calculated to convey accurate con- 
 ceptions of their respective principles. And it would be more 
 consistent with the spirit of the gospel, and wilh common 
 sense, and, probably, with their own intentions to say, that 
 the death of Christ was designed generally to make atone- 
 ment/or sin to the justice of God, so that God might be jusfy 
 and the justifier of him that believeih, and that an indiscrimi- 
 sate offer of pardon to sinners might be fairly and ingenuously 
 
founded upon bis death. — And fhis mode of expression is 
 
 Ihe more reasonable, because the same merit in the sacrifice 
 whic . is sufficient for the expiation of one ofifence, is suffi- 
 cient for the offences of the whole race. And the secret 
 counsels of God, which are inscrutable, ought, in no case, to 
 influence the duty of men. 
 
 3. OF THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT OF SANCTIFICATION. 
 
 The forgiveness of sin lays a foundation for access to God, 
 and communion with him by the spirit of devotion. Under 
 the dispensation of the New Covenant, the whole system of 
 nature, and of providence is subjected to the directing power 
 of Ihe Holy Spirit by Jesus Christ, in subserviency to the 
 great ends of the moral, and spiritual world. And that celes- 
 tial influence which was first employed to convince the soul 
 ofsiUf of righleousnesSy and of jiidgmentf is now imparted 
 to the believer to assist the renovation of his nature — to con- 
 firm and increase his habits of holiness— to enable him to 
 discharge all his duties with a proper temper of mind— and 
 to ripen his qualifications for the kingdom of Heaven* Al- 
 most innumerable are the particular promises to this effect, 
 included under the general title of the Covenant in the sacred 
 writings. "Behold, ihe days come, saith the Lord, that I 
 will 'make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and the 
 house of Judah. And this is the covenant that I wifl make; 
 I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their 
 
365 
 
 hearts ; and I will be tbeir God, and they shall be my peo- 
 ple," Jer. xxxi. 31, 33. And in Ezek. xxxvi. 25. 2r, *' Then 
 will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean. 
 From all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse 
 you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will 
 I put within you : and I will take away the stony heart out 
 of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." But, 
 it is the constant testimony of the holy scriptures, not only 
 that repentance and laith, but that every pious disposition in 
 the believer proceeds from the operation of the Holy Spirit. 
 Therefore it is, that all the graces of the christian life are de- 
 nominated the fruits of the Spirit* 
 
 The chief question which remains on this part of the sub- 
 ject, and which, indeed, affects the whole doctrine of the 
 agency of the Spirit, is, whether at any time he operates by 
 immediate influx on the heart, as in creation, independently 
 of the divine word, the ordinances of the church, or those 
 means continually occurring in the course of providence, or 
 in the transient reflexions, and glancings of the mind, calculat- 
 ed to awaken pious thought, to inflame holy desire, or 
 touch the devout sensibilities of the soul .' or whether he 
 does not always, and exclusivel}^, operate by those scriptural, 
 rational, natural, or appointed means of instruction and grace, 
 or those secret suggestions arising out of them, which are fit- 
 ted to inform the reason, and aflect the heart ? I am dis- 
 posed to believe that he always works by natural means, and 
 
366 
 
 never, in the ordinary exercises of the christian life, by im- 
 mediate impulse, or direct influx, without them. The doc- 
 trine, or fancy of immediate and direct or independent influx 
 is liable to great abuse ; especially in men of a vivid imagina- 
 tion, and morbid sensibility, or of a gloomy complexion of 
 soul, who are subject, in consequence, to frequent, strong, 
 and irregular impressions. And when ignorance, or inatten- 
 tion cannot trace the origin of their thoughts, or assign the 
 causes often secret or forgotten, of their sudden emotions, 
 they are prone» on one hand, to ascribe them to the influences 
 of the Holy Spirit, or, on the other, to the suggestions of in- 
 fernal agency. Hence we see naen often disturbed by super- 
 stitious terrors, or enthusiastic visions. One of the most 
 common and injurious effects of this tendency of mind in per- 
 son:- f weak judgments, and warm sensibilities, is a prone- 
 ness to decide on their spiritual state entirely by momentary 
 feelings, instead of the general tenor of their aflfections, and 
 their lives, compared with the only standard of truth in the 
 word of God. " To the law, and to the testimony, if they speak 
 not according to these, it is because there is no light in 
 them." On the subject, on which 1 have been speaking, there 
 is a strong analogy between the natural, and the spiritual 
 world. — In the former, all its movements, the case of mira- 
 cles only excepted, proceed, uniformly, according to the es- 
 tablished laws of nature ; in the latter, its laws operate with 
 equal certainty, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 
 There arc no devious movements, no eccentric impulses 
 
3«r 
 
 which start aside from this order, according to the dreams of 
 enthusiasts ; and although we cannot always trace the fine 
 relations of actions with their motives, of ends with the means 
 which lead to them, yety in every case the moral means are 
 intimately conjoined with their proper end. And, in no in- 
 stance, does the Holy Spirit, more than the Sovereign Au- 
 thor of nature, act upon the human mind, or produce any ef- 
 fect independently of the means naturally connected wilh it, 
 and fitted in the moral structure of the universe to influence 
 its movements. 
 
 4. OF THE PROMISE OF THE FAVOUR OF GOD, AND ITS 
 HAPPY FRUITS IN THIS LIFE. 
 
 In the series of promises entering into this gracious trans- 
 action, I have mentioned, in the next place, the favour of 
 God, with all its happy fruits in the present life ; including 
 the constant protection and care of his holy providence over 
 those who place their undivided trust in him, and his bene- 
 diction upon them as his children and people in covenant. I 
 shall not proceed to particular details under this promise • 
 they will be obvious to those immediately concerned in its 
 accomplishment ; it will be sufficient to refer the serious mind 
 to the general grounds of the believer's confidence. " Where- 
 fore, come out from among them and be ye separate; and I 
 will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daugh- 
 ters, saith the Lord Almighty," — 2 Cor. vi. 17. Here is the 
 sure foundation of their support under the various afflictions 
 
368 
 
 of lil'e ana the stedfast ground of (heir hope that, in the issue, 
 all their trials will be rendered blessings to them, and be sanc- 
 tified to their use. " All things shall work together for good 
 to them that love God, to them who are the called, accord- 
 ing to his purpose. For all things arc yours, whether Paul, 
 or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or 
 things present or things to come ; all are your's, and you arc 
 Christ's, and Christ is God's." 
 
 5. OF THE FINAL BLESSING AND PROMISE OF THE 
 COVENANT. 
 
 The conclusion and consummation of all the gracious pur- 
 poses of God, secured by the New Covenant, to his believ- 
 ing and obedient children, is eternal life. It is the peculiar 
 glory of the gospel that, in it, life and iwmortaliiy are 
 brought to light to those who, by their relation to their ori- 
 ginal parent, were the hopeless heirs of death. It is impos- 
 sible to know what would have been the felicity of life, or the 
 perfection to which human nature would have attained in it, 
 in consequence of the obedience of Adam. But it is justly 
 to be presumed that the immortality obtained by Christ, for 
 all who are redeemed from the earth by his blood, exalts the 
 believer to a m^ch higher degree of glory and of happiness. 
 For, "when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we 
 shall see him as he is ; this corruptible shall put on incorrup- 
 lion, and this mortal shall put on immortality," 
 
^69 
 
 Having thus shortly unfolded this comprehensive concate- 
 nation of promises constituting the Covenant of Grace, it may 
 perhaps be demanded, if it be useful in the public instruc- 
 tions of the church, to observe this order of arrangement ?«— 
 I regard it, certainly as not without its bene6t, for the clear- 
 er illustration of the gracious system of the gospel ; and for 
 communicating precision and distinctness to the conceptions 
 of the christian in contemplating that institution of mercy un- 
 der which we now exist. It is that order in which its bles- 
 sings naturally offer themselves to the heart of the believer 
 for the encouragement and consolation of his faith, and to the 
 mind of the convinced sinner, to invite his confidence in sup- 
 plicating the throne of grace for the pardon of sin ; and to 
 confirm his trust in building his eternal hopes on the foundaw 
 tion of Christ. Under the deep sense of his misery, and of 
 the utter impotence of nature to impart any relief to his trou- 
 bled mind, the promise of the Saviour must yield his first 
 consolation, and offer his first refuge. Under the convic- 
 tions of guilt, and of the just displeasure of Almighty God 
 the promise of the free and full forgiveness of sin, nnist first 
 administer peace to his anxious thoughts. And when per- 
 suaded to embrace the gospel in faith, he will experience the 
 necessity of having continual recourse to the promises and 
 aids of the Holy Spirit, for the sanctification of his nature, 
 and his growth in grace. Without this precious resource, 
 he would find himself too weak to contend against the cor- 
 ruptions of his heart, and the seductions of the world. In 
 
 4r 
 
370 
 
 ihe progress of the divine life be will experience the benefit 
 of continiially resorting to the promises of the covenant for 
 his encouragement in duty, his comfort in trials, and, at 
 length, his support in the great conflict of death. Finally, 
 in the promise of eternal life we behold the glorious reward 
 of his faithful labours, and the blessed consummation of all 
 his- pious hopes. In this order, therefore, a sincere belifever 
 will most reasonably be led to contemplate the precious pro- 
 mises of the new covenant. 
 
 OF THE CONDITION OF THE COVENANT OF GRACE. 
 
 Having treated of the constituent promises of the cove- 
 jiant, it falls next in order to state its conditions. Those who 
 confound the Covenant of Grace, and the Covenant of Re- 
 demption, pronounce the righteousness of Christ to be its sole 
 and exclusive condition. And if we inquire after the meri- 
 torious tiile of the redeemed sinner to eternal life, it is, be- 
 yond all questicn, to be found only in the Redeemer's right- 
 eousness. Those, on the other hand, who adopt the princi- 
 ple — that the covenant is made with the believer through 
 Christ, affirm that /ai7/i is its proper condition ; — th^t is, hk 
 explicit acceptance of the gracious propositions of the cove- 
 nant, with full understanding and heaKy acquiescence in their 
 terms. This sincere, intelligent, and affectionate act of the 
 soul, gives him, according to the promise, an interest in the 
 merits of the Redeemer, and lays the foundation of that holi^ 
 
371 
 
 iiess of heart which introduces hioi to the possession, and 
 qualifies him for the enjoyment of eternal life. 
 
 A proper decision on this subject depends, in a great de- 
 gree, on the implication of the term condition. If it intend 
 any act of obedience on the merit of- which the blessing is 
 bestowed, it is evident that the believer possessing no such 
 merit in himself, and the covenant, in relation to him, 
 being wholly of grace, it must, in this view of it, be without 
 any condition, there can be no covenant with the believer. 
 But if, by this term, be intended the qualifications which 
 prepare the soul to receive and enjoy the ultimate blessings 
 of this most gracious institution, and in consequence of which 
 the blessing is received through Christ ; it comprehends all 
 the virtues and graces of the divine life, springing from faith 
 as their root. With strict propriety, indeed, they cannot be 
 denominated conditions of the covenant ; but ought justly 
 to be ranked among its promised blessings. They are the 
 gifts of God through the Spirit. 
 
 Ih order to give to this subject as much simplicity and 
 plainness as possible, agreeably to the system hitherto pur- 
 sued, it is necessary to bear in mind, what has been before 
 suggested, that the new covenant is to be ranged under that 
 species of contracts whieh are denominated gratuitous. In 
 this class the condition requires only the explicit acceptance 
 of the favour, with proper dispositions, and a hearty acqui- 
 
3/2 
 
 escence in the object, and concurrence in the designs of tlie 
 benefactor. 
 
 « 
 The dispositions, then, with which we ought to receive 
 the blessings of the covenant arise out of a just sense of the 
 wants, imperfections and miseries of our natural state, for 
 which the covenant is designed to provide a gracious reme- 
 dy, and a due appreciation of the inGoite mercy of God, 
 through Christ. A profound conviction of sin serves to ex- 
 alt the condescension, and grace of God in this great salva- 
 tion. And a pious, and believing estimate of the freeness, the 
 richness, and completeness of the redemption that is in Christ 
 Jesus, must have (he effect to awaken the gratitude of the 
 saint, to inflame his love, and to produce a fervent devotion of 
 heart to the service of God. Such are the fruits of a cordial 
 reception of the covenant ; and they are the natural offspring 
 of a sincere belief in the gospel. Faith in Christ may, there- 
 fore, with propriety, be esteemed the condition of this cove- 
 nant. It prepares the believer to accept its blessings with 
 proper and humble dispositions. And this is the testimony 
 of the evangelists, and of all the apostles — *' thy faith hath 
 saved thee, — by grace ye are saved, through faith, and that 
 not of } ourselves, it is the gift of God." The mercy of 
 God requires only a willing mind, and a well disposed reci- 
 pient to bestow on it all the plenitude of his grace, through 
 Ihe merits of the ever blessed Redeemer. 
 
373 
 
 Another requisite in compacts of this kind, is a hearty ac- 
 quiescence in the object, and views of the benefactor. Of 
 this whole dispensation of grace then the acknowledged ob- 
 ject i3 the restoration of human nature (o its lost holiness, as 
 the only way to perfect happiness, and to immortal life. In 
 the desire of happiness all men will earnestly concur, but 
 not all, of a happiness through sanctification of their nature ; 
 the acquiescence of the heart in this object, implies the love 
 of universal holiness. Of this affection, the eflacient princi- 
 ple is a cordial belief in the gospel of our salvation, and in 
 Jesus Christ, the great sum of the gospel. Therefore, in this 
 view also, faith is to be regarded as the condition of the cove- 
 nant. But it must ever be remembered that it is a condition 
 simply of qualification, not of merit. Merit in man would de- 
 stroy the idea of mercy in God. How, indeed, can our be- 
 lief of the most pure and excellent truths, although ultimately 
 preparing the soul for her heavenly inheritance, be the 
 ground on which we can meritoriously claim the possession of 
 the blessing ? Faith, therefore, is only the gracious condi- 
 tion of a most gracious covenant. 
 
OV 
 
 SANCTIFICATION 
 
 The principle which next claims our attention is the saiic- 
 lification of our fallen nature, and its continual advancement 
 In the habits of the divine life. Sanctification is an effect of 
 the gracious operation of the Holy Spirit, enlightening the 
 mind in the knowledge of divine truth, and deeply affecting 
 the heart with the perception, and love of divine things. It 
 is begun in regeneration, and advances constantly and often 
 almost imperceptibly, in the stsdfastness of italirliious prin- 
 ciples, and the strength of its holy afTeclions, till it attains 
 at length the consummation of holiness in the kingdom of 
 heaven. 
 
 The principal questions arising on this subject respect — 
 the nature of the change effected in regeneration- — the agen- 
 cy of the Holy Spirit in producing this change — the means 
 of cultivating genuine sanctity of heart — and lastly, the obli- 
 gation of practical holiness, which is not superseded but \n- 
 "-^reased by the doctrine of salvation by free grace. 
 
'^TQ 
 
 Ob' REGENERATION. 
 
 Regeneration is a term entirely of figurative meaning, and 
 ba3 respect to the new principles of life and action introduc- 
 ed into the soul by the faith of the gospel. The same term 
 was anciently employed by the schools of philosophy, to in- 
 dicate the change produced on ignorance, and vice in their 
 pupils by the force of instruction, and the well conducted 
 influence of education. The man becomes, in a great mea- 
 sure, a new man, through the illumination of his understand- 
 ing, the correction of his passions, the regulation of his af- 
 fections, and the amelioration of all his principles of action. 
 In the school of Christ it assumes a purer and sublimer mean- 
 ing, and designates that new and spiritual state of life to 
 which the believer is introduced by the doctrines, and the 
 spirit of his Saviour. It is distinguished by new feelings, 
 new ideas, new dispositions, tendencies, and habits of the 
 soul. The heart, which had existed like the embryo be- 
 fore birth, in a state of darkness and blindness, only feebly 
 warmed with the principles of life, now emerges into light. 
 The world presents to it a new face — the heavens disclose 
 wonders of creating power which it had never discerned — it 
 feels itself a new being. This change, in its immediate effects, 
 consists in a just discernment of the moral glories and per- 
 fections of the supreme, self existent, and omnipresent Je- 
 hovah ; in a profound abhorrence of sin ; in a strong and 
 
S77 
 lively perception of the beauty of holiness; In an ardent tie 
 votion and obedience (o its laws; in an overwhelming sense 
 of gratitude for the mercies of redemption ; and, under the 
 deep and atTecting impressions of the whole, in a warm, ex- 
 tended, and increasing benevolence to mankind. 
 
 J^ THE AUTHOR OF REGENERATIOrf. 
 
 The holy scriptures in speaking of this blessed change^ 
 ever represent the Holy Spirit as its immediate Author, by 
 his illuminating influence on the understanding, and the heart. 
 A peculiar clearness of perception, is imparted to the be- 
 liever's apprehension of divine things, and all the moral sen- 
 sations of the soul, if this language may be employed, are 
 exalted to a much higher tone of sensibilily. In this under- 
 standing the mind is enlightened, not so much through the 
 intellect, as the heart ; but in the whole there is an ineffa- 
 ble perception of divine truth, in proportion to the natu- 
 ral vigour of the mind, combined with a warmth and glow 
 of devout affection unknown to the natural man. They 
 mutually communicate their light and heat, till the whole sou! 
 is dissolved in an enlightened and holy love. Human culti- 
 vation is capable of accomplishing much in the amelioration 
 of the manners and dispositions of the young ; so that every 
 good man, beholding them with the eyes with which our 
 Saviour regarded the amiable youth in the gospel, shall love 
 them ; but it is utterly incompetent to producing that mighty 
 
3T8 
 
 moral change implied in rcgeneralion. The most ingenious 
 powers ot huaian nature, raised to their highest refinement 
 by the force of the most judicious culture, still fall far short 
 of the genuine charily of the gospel. " That which is born 
 of the flesh, saith our Saviour, "is flesh; but that which 
 is born of llie spirit is spirit. Marvel not that 1 said unto 
 you, you must be born again." And the apostle Peter pro- 
 nounces believers "elect, according to the foreknowledge 
 of God the Father, and sanctification of the Spirit." St. 
 Paul also uses the following impressive language — " but ye 
 are sanctified, but ye are justified, in the name of the Lord 
 Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." The Spirit of God 
 is indeed the primary and effectual agent in the regeneration 
 of the soul ; not properly by a creative act, or any immediate 
 operation exerted upon it independent of the appointed 
 means of grace, as the language of some writers would lead 
 us to conceive ; but by means, which, under his influence 
 and direction, are peculiarly adapted to the end ; especially 
 by his holy word, and the instituted ordinances of his grace. 
 The Holy Spirit, in the ordinary government of the church, 
 never works, except by the instrumentality and co-action of 
 instructions, or providential dispensations which are natural- 
 ly calculated, in the moral structure of our nature, to inform 
 the reason, and to touch the heart. For this purpose, he 
 has instituted the reading and preaching of his word, the ad- 
 ministration of his most holy sacraments, and the habitual 
 use of humble and fervent prayer to the Father of all mercy 
 a;ij grace ; and, in subserviency to the same design, he di- 
 
3r9 
 
 rects Ihe movements of his almigbty providence over the 
 world. 
 
 TWO ERRORS ON THIS SUBJECT. 
 
 Two errors exist on this subject, equally distant from the 
 truth ; one which ascribes the regeneration, or rather as they 
 would say the moral cultivation of the heart, and the whole 
 progress of our improvement in virtue and sanctity of life, 
 merely to the reasonings and reflections of our own minds, 
 aided, perhaps, by the word of Godo And supposes the 
 moral eiTects which, in iioly scripture, are ascribed to the 
 Divine Spirit, to be attributed to him, solely, because he 
 has illuminated the understandings of the sacred writers, and 
 dictated to them those truths intended to enlighten, and re- 
 form the world. Whence, by a natural and common figure 
 of speech, the Author is substituted in the place of his 
 work. 
 
 The other is to impute so much to the immediate, and ex- 
 clusive operation of the Holy Spirit, that the instrumentali- 
 ty of the word, or, indeed, of any of the ordinary means 
 of grace, seems to be, in a great measure, superseded* 
 Their language conveys this idea, that the change upon the 
 soul is strictly an act of creation, which is necessary to pass 
 upon the state and dispositions of the heart, before the mo- 
 tives of the gospel can have any operative and sanctifying 
 
^8(1 
 
 iotiliience upon it. To support this principle they mainfaio 
 that the p^aciiciii motives of duty arising out of the system 
 of divine trutli cannot be discerned in their proper nature, 
 and their spiritual beauty, and must consequently remain in- 
 operative, till the heart is assimilated by the power of God, 
 to the spirit of the gospel. For motives drawn from the 
 beauty of holiness cannot touch (he soul till its native dark- 
 ness, and defect of a divine taste be removed. Can an eye 
 whicli is obscured by a film, they demand, discern the light 
 which shines around it, till the cause which obstructs its vi- 
 sion be taken out of the way ? Can the heart perceive the 
 truths of the gospel in their holy nature, and feel them in their 
 divine effiacy, till its inherent depravity be changed ? — Illus- 
 trations drawn from material analogies seldom apply wilh en- 
 tire accuracy to spiritual subjects ; and then, by pursuing the 
 resemblance too minutely, they tend only to mislead. In the 
 present instance, the effect is, obviously, made to precede 
 the cause. In the moral changes of the heart, the blindness 
 which hinders its discernment of the light of divine truth is 
 cured by the light itself. As in cultivating a taste for the 
 beauties of science and the arts, or the moral tastes of virtue, 
 the mind, however obscured by ignorance or error at first, is 
 gradually improved and approaches ultimately intellectual 
 perfection by presenting to it the most beautiful objects in 
 the arts, and suggesting continually only the justest maxims 
 of scientific truth. The analogy in this case is infinitely more 
 exact than in the former. Spiritual darkness is cured by the 
 
881 
 
 spiritual light, as addressed to the soul by that heavenly 
 teacher, the Holy Spirit of truth. Powers still reside in reason 
 and conscience, notwithstanding the deep corruption of the fall, 
 capable of discerning in a degree, though it were as the twilight 
 before the dawn, the illumination of divine truth shining around 
 them in the word of God, which may be perceived by every 
 diligent inquirer through the concurrent aids of the Holy Spir- 
 it, which are now, by the grace of Christ, universally diflfus- 
 ed in the church. For as miracles exist, at present, in the 
 spiritual more than in the natural order of things. The sparks 
 of light will, at first indeed, be small and feeble, but each ad- 
 vance renders them susceptible of still farther increase, til! 
 they become the principle of a new life. 
 
 What is the peculiar nature of the agency of the divine 
 Spirit, distinct from, and superior to the ordinary influence 
 of education ; or what is his internal operation on the mind 
 must, like all the works of God, be inscrutable. But the re- 
 ality of his concurrent influence in illuminating the under- 
 standing, in rectifying the action of the will, in regenerating 
 and sanctifying the heart, are truths most explicitly taught 
 in the holy scriptures. The agency of this divine principle 
 in the moral world, bears a resemblance to the operations of 
 providential agency in the system of nature : being in all 
 things, perfectly concurrent with the established laws of ma- 
 terial action in the universe. The movements of the Spirit 
 of God, where no miracle ia intended, arc ever conducted 
 
a82 
 
 according to the laws of tbe ralional system, the laws of hu- 
 man liberty, and the moral laws of the heart. In accom- 
 plishing the regeneration of the believer, the blessed Spirit is 
 able, bj the finest lights, imperceptibly to instruct the intel- 
 lect in divine things— by the finest insinuations, secretly to 
 touch the heart ; but there is, in no instance, any violation of 
 the laws of the moral world. Nor is there any end accom- 
 plished, even in the regeneration and sanctification of the 
 soul, except by means which, under his most wise and holy 
 direction, naturally contribute to produce the effect. In 
 moral effects, the means are instruction, and correction ; in- 
 struction by the word of God, and correction by the power 
 of conscience, assisted by the dispensations of divine provi- 
 dence. And one office of the Holy Spirit seems to be to 
 assemble and combine those various means in the way best 
 adapted to subserve the gracious and sovereign designs of 
 Heaven, with regard to the spiritual and eternal state of each 
 {fldiyidual. 
 
 SANCTIFICATION IN THIS LIFE IN A STATE OF PROGRES- 
 SIVE IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 The sanctification of the believer commences in regenera- 
 tion ; but, through the whole of the present life, is continued 
 in a condition of gradual approximation towards a state of per- 
 fect holiness. Some christians use a language upon this sub- 
 ject, which, I must ^charitably presume, does not express 
 
383 
 
 their cenuine sentiments ; as if the behever may attain a 
 state of perfect holiness, while residing in this world of ne- 
 cessary imperfection. The principles of corruption are so 
 deeply rooted in our nature, that they never can be com- 
 pletely eradicated. While we remain in the garden of God 
 upon earth, a corrupted stock must still send forth degenerate 
 scions. Giadually to be subduing them without arriving'' 
 at complete victory over their luxuriant growth, is the ut- 
 most that the humble christian can hope. And the condi- 
 tion of the real disciple in the present life, is only a condi- 
 tion of constant and progressive improvement. Grow in, 
 grace, sailh the apostle, and in the knowledge of our Lord 
 and Saviour Jesus Christ. That there are always many 
 defects mixed with the virtues and graces of the most emi- 
 nent saints, is manifest from the whole tenor of the sacred 
 writings ; and appears continually in the confessions, and 
 records of the experience of the saints. " There is not a just 
 man upon earth, that doelh good and sinneth not. In many 
 things, we all offend." And the most devout and affection- 
 ale of the whole college of the disciples pronounces — If we 
 say we have no sin^ we deceive ourselves, and the truth is 
 not in us. 
 
 At the first view, this idea seems to contradict the language 
 of our symbols which assert that the believer is renewed in 
 the whole man^ after the ima^e of God. But between these 
 propositions, when righlly explamed, there is no opposition. 
 
384 
 
 This symbolic language, far from signifying (he holy perfec- 
 tion of the believer, simply implies that the predominant ac- 
 tion of the powers of human nature in him is habitually di- 
 rected by the principles of the gospel ; and the supreme aim 
 of all his affeclions is, to fulSl the will of his Creator, and to 
 advance the interests, and the glory of his Redeemer's king- 
 dom. The flesh may lust against the spirit ; and, in some 
 critical circumstances of temptation, the principle of grace 
 may find it difficult to preserve its ascendency against the 
 sinful propensities of corrupted nature. But wherever the 
 character truly exists, there will be found also the predomi- 
 nance of the habits of holiness. Every principle of nature, 
 every tendency of the heart, all the actions of the life, will, 
 in its general tenor be subject to the commanding influence 
 of the spirit of divine grace. But, according to the temper- 
 ament of different natures, it may appear in some in a highefy 
 and in others in a lower tone of fervent piety. It is the ha- 
 bitual ascendency of the principles of duty which character- 
 izes that state of holiness which may be called the renovation 
 of the whole man* 
 
 THE HOLINESS OF THE BELIEVER IMPERFECT IN THIS LIFE, 
 
 Some christians have injudiciously boasted of having arriv- 
 ed at a state of perfect holiness. And a few expressions in 
 the sacred scriptures are appealed to as justifying this arro- 
 gant claim. Noah is said to have been " a just man, and 
 
3,85 
 
 p€rfect in bis generation." " Be ye perfect," saith Chrisf, " as 
 your Father who is in heaven is perfect. Whom we preach," 
 saith the apostle, " that we may present every man perfect in 
 Clifist Jesus." " Whosoever is born of God," sailh John, 
 " doth not commit sin, for his seed reraaineth in him, and he 
 cannot sin, because he is born of God," — John iii. 9. Many 
 expressions there are which speak a similar language. But it 
 obviously appears from their whole strain, and the connexions 
 in which they stand, that the perfection which the scriptures 
 ascribe to believers, implies something very different from that 
 state of holiness which is exempted from all sin, error, and 
 frailty. — This term in our language, as well as the correspond- 
 ing terms in the Greek and Hebrew, has obtained a figurative 
 signification, even in common usage, by which it is made to ex- 
 press that state of objects in which they possess all the ne- 
 cessary parts, and the usual properties of the species to which 
 they belong. We say of a child which is complete in all its 
 limbs and organs, that it is a perfect child. And of one who 
 Las rendered himself competently master of all the requisite 
 branches of liberal art to qualify himself for public life, that 
 his education is perfect. The same term is familiarly appli- 
 ed to plants and animals, and generally, as already indicated^ 
 to all objects which possess the genuine properties of their 
 species. — If, then, we suppose the dispositions, affections, and 
 principles, which distinguish sincere believers, to form the 
 characteristics of a moral species, that state of the soul which 
 '^Tnbraces all these properties, may justly be styled a state Cf 
 
386 
 
 christian perfection. Tiiia perhaps, is simply the idea aa- 
 nexed to that form of expression by the sacred writers. 
 The christians were sometimes pronounced perfect by the 
 apostles, when, with unshaken firmness they endured labours, 
 and sufferings in the cause of Christ, in allusion to the athletiS 
 among the Greeks, from whom these holy writers borrow ma- 
 ny images, and who were said to have attained perfection 
 TeMiohlu, in their discipline, not only when they were well 
 practised in the tactics of their art ; but, especially, when 
 they could endure fatigue, and pain without shrinking, oc 
 complaint. Let patience, says St. James, have her perfect 
 work, that ye may he perfect and entire. 
 
 That expressions which, in their literal import, signify 
 perfection, are applied to diflferent degrees of maturity in the 
 divine life, and, therefore, cannot be intended to mark it3 
 consummation in the present world, is rendered evident by 
 the language of St. Paul himself: for that great apostle pro- 
 nounces concerning his own state and experience*— "not that 
 I have already apprehended, either am already perfect ; but 
 I follow after, that I may apprehend that for which also I am 
 apprehended by Christ Jesus." This declaration by St. 
 Paul must be the annihilation of any claim to absolute per- 
 fection in other believers. And I unhesitatingly add, that 
 the experience of all sincere christians contradicts this proud 
 idea; and the professions of a few weak enthusiasts to the 
 cenlrary, who are little capable of forming a judgment of 
 
ihcir own liearts, can hardly be regarded as an exception (c 
 the general conclusion. 
 
 OF THE ORDINARY MEANS OF SANCTIFICATION. 
 
 The Holy Spirit is acknowledged by all devout and ra- 
 tional disciples to be the supreme efficient agent in the re* 
 generation and sanctification of Lis people : but as he acts 
 only through means instituted by God himself, it is a prac- 
 tical question of no small importance to every christian, io 
 what way he may best promote the holy culture of the heart, 
 and advance in the habits of the divine life. These subjects 
 are so constantly illustrated in the instructions of the pulpit, 
 and enter so largely into the scheme of all the practical wri- 
 ters on religion, that, in a general system of theological doc- 
 trine, they require only to be briefly suggested. They may 
 be embraced under the following heads : — the diligent study 
 of the holy scriptures, and of the writings of wise and pious 
 men, designed to illustrate and enforce their sacred truths*— 
 fervent prayer to the Father of Spirits ; frequent and pro- 
 found meditation on divine things ; pious association, and 
 conference with judicious christians; faithful attendance on 
 all the public and private institutions of religion ; and strength- 
 ening, by constant exercise, the habits of a holy life. 
 
a$& 
 
 THE NECESSITr OF GOOD WORKS COK81STENT WITH THfii 
 DOCTRINE OF SALVATION BY FREE GRACE. 
 
 Those who are unfrlendlj to this principle demand — why 
 fihould good works be required of the believer, if it be 
 indeed the doctrine of the holy scriptures that salvation is of 
 grace, without the works of the law ? In order to answer 
 this inquiry satisfaclorilj, it is to be remembered that our 
 salvation consists not oi>lj of deliverance from the curse of 
 the violated law, which is effected through Christ, paying 
 the forfeit, or bearing the punishment of our sins, and is ac* 
 linowledged to be purely the fruit of the unmerited mercy 
 and love of God ; but of the restoration of the holiness and 
 perfection, and consequently, the happiness of our fallen na- 
 tCire. The latter must, in a nature degenerate and corrupted 
 like that of man, be equally with the former, the fruit of di- 
 vine favour. For without the merciful aids of the Holy 
 Spirit, an iaipure nature cannot be restored ; nor without 
 the grace of holy living, can either its perfection, or its hap- 
 piness be rendered complete. The sanctity of the life, 
 therefore, manifested by its good works, is indispensably 
 requisite in the christian, not, indeed, as the cause, in any 
 degree, of his salvation, but as the certain indication of 
 his nature being renewed, sanctified, and restored to its 
 original moral principles, and to the power of enjoying its 
 original happiness. This is the proper idea of Balvation, 
 
add 
 
 Heaven consists less in local silualiop, tban in the diBpos]- 
 tions of the soul which qualify it for the enjoyment of God, 
 and of that supreme felicity which is to be possessed only 
 in his immediate presence. And these dispositions are, 
 above all things, to be cultivated upon earth in the acts and 
 habits of a holy life, in the prospect of our future, and eter- 
 nal existence. 
 
 OF THE nOLINEBS ANP PERFECTION OF A MORAL AND BE- 
 LIGIOCS ACT. 
 
 It is, in this place, perhaps, proper to inquire what con- 
 stitutes the rectitude of a moral act, and procures it accep* 
 (ance with God ? Every morally perfect act proceeds ia 
 the first place, from a good motive ; that is, from the desire 
 of glorifying God, or of promoting the happiness of man, and 
 from both these intentions, where they can be combined ia 
 the same action. One ruling and habitual principle governs 
 the whole conduct, and presides in each individual act of a 
 believer's life ; — I mean the profound sentiment of obedience 
 to God, and of Gratitude to the Redeemer of the world, 
 which strengthens and animates the principle of every par* 
 ticular duty. The next requisite is, that the substance of 
 the act in itself be good ; that is, calculated to promote some 
 proper, useful, or benevolent end ; embracing, within the 
 range of these objects, the glory of God, and the felicity of 
 human nature. Which condition excludes, of consequence, 
 
390 
 
 all the acts of a fanatical zeal, or a gloomy superstition, which 
 is equally the sacrifice of human happiness, and of the rights 
 of human nature, to a mistaken rage for the pretended honour 
 of the Deity, or glory of the most merciful Saviour. An- 
 other requisite to constitute an action good, is, that the form 
 and manner of it be also right. If there be any mode pre- 
 scribed by the laws of society for fulfilling human duties, or 
 of God for fulfilling those that are divine, it becomes a chris- 
 tian most scrupulously to conform to the instituted rite.— 
 There is some fault attached even to the worship of God, if 
 in any material act, it contradicts, or departs from the rules 
 or exaciples of holy writ. And, above all, if it either omits, 
 or adds to the forms prescribed by the sacred writers, as far 
 as they are explicitly defined, or we can, by the faithful ex- 
 ercise of our own reason, discern them. If there be no form 
 prescribed, the mode which we adopt should be such as we 
 conscientiously believe will best subserve every valuable pur- 
 pose of piety ; leaving to our fellow christians the equal right 
 of judging for themselves. The last requisite is, that it should 
 stand in its proper place, and be performed in its proper time, 
 so as to be consistent with the whole system of our duties, 
 and with all the laws of prudence and propriety. If an ac- 
 tion be defective in any of these particulars, it is in the same 
 proportion removed from perfection as an act of virtue. 
 
 Many other questions, connected with this subject, but of 
 a speculative rather than practical nature, have been agitated 
 
by different writers, which it would be unnecessarily tedious 
 to discuss in this place, and the disquisition of which is of the 
 less importance, as they will often occur in the course of your 
 reading. I proceed, therefore, to the consideration of the 
 last blessing usually enumerated by Calvinistic writers as 
 flowing, in this life, from the Covenant of Grace, which is 
 
 THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS. 
 
 The idea annexed to this principle is, that those who have 
 once been regenerated, and sanctified by the Spirit of God^ 
 shall never lose the seed effectually implanted by that Di- 
 vine Teacher, but be able always to preserve it, and perse- 
 vere in the discharge of every duty to eternal life, amid&t 
 partial fluctuations, however, arising from the imbecility ct 
 human nature. Many writers of distinguished naaie in the 
 church deny this doctrine entirely. For, not acknowledging 
 the predestinating decrees of God, and ascribing little to the 
 extraordinary influences of the Holy Spirit, they pronounce 
 that the sanctity of the believer, like every moral quality in 
 man, must partake of the mutability of human nature. To 
 render the perseverance of the believer certain, they affirm, 
 requires the operation of some necessary cause incompatible 
 with the moral freedom of the mind. This objection has alrea- 
 ready been considered, and obviated, when treating of the de- 
 crees of God ; when it was, I hope, clearly shewn that the 
 iflfluence of the Divine Spirit over human actions may be ex- 
 
Si92 
 
 erted, so us to attain the most infallible effects, without im- 
 pairing, in the smalleBt degree, their moral freedom. 
 
 The follotFing, therefore, is the only question on this sub- 
 ject, which requires your careful investigation, and which, 
 with regard to the doctrine, must be decisive. Has God 
 given to the believer, in his holy word, such direct and ex- 
 plicit promises, as to be a Sufficient ground of trust, that he 
 will always grant him such a measure of grace, and of his 
 holy influence, as will dispose and enable him to continue 
 faithful till death ? A few, even of Calvinistic writers, be- 
 lieve that the holy scriptures do not contain such promises, 
 but that the grace which he hath bestowed at his pleasure, he 
 may, at his pleasure, or when the precious gift is negligently 
 improved, withhold. The great majority of these writers, 
 however, think it reasonable to believe that Almighty God 
 doth never bestow his grace in vain, but that the seed 
 tvhich he hath once implanted he will cherish to perfection. 
 Besides the apparent reasonableness of this opinion, they 
 support the principle by many proofs of holy writ which, 
 they suppose, do either directly, or by necessary implication, 
 assert it. And this, indeed, is the only foundation on which 
 it can safely be rested. All other reasoning is mere the- 
 ory, and must depend on the accuracy with which principles 
 are laid down, and conclusions legitimately drawn, concern- 
 ing which the minds of men are seldom in perfect accord,-*^ 
 The fallowing are a few of the passages which always have 
 
393 
 
 been quoted on this occasion ; and which I repeat wllhouf 
 comment, as being more than sufficient, I presume, to sup- 
 port the general truth, in the mind of every candid interpreter 
 of scripture. " And there shall arise false Christs, and false 
 prophets, and shall do great signs and wonders, so as to draw 
 away, if it were possible, even the elect,** — 31atL xxiv. 24. 
 " This is the will of my Father who hath sent me, that of all 
 which he hath given me I should lose none ; but I shall raise 
 it up at the last day," — John vi. 39. " And I give to them 
 eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any 
 pluck them out of my hands. My Father who gave them to 
 me is greater than all, and none shall pluck them oat of my 
 Father's hand,"— Jo/ui x. 23, 29. *' For we know that to 
 those who love God, all things work together for good, to 
 those who are the called according to his purpose. For 
 whom he did foreknow, those he foreordained to be con- 
 formed to the image of his Son, that he should be the first 
 born among many brethren. For whom he did foreknow, 
 those he also called ; and whom he called those he also jus- 
 tified, and whom he justified those he also glorified," — John 
 viii. 28.. ..30. « Now he that establisheth us with you in 
 Christ, and hath anointed us is God : who also hath sealed 
 us, and given us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts," — 
 2 Cor, i. 21, 22. "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God 
 whereby ye have been sealed unto the day of redemption," — 
 Eph, iv. 30. " For us who are kept by the power of God 
 
 through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last 
 
 -in 
 
394 
 
 time," — 1 Pet, I. 5. These declarallons seem evidently in- 
 tended, and certainly are abundantly forcible, to support the 
 conclusion, that those who have once been brought to sin- 
 cere repentance, and to true obedience, shall never lose the 
 habits of grace, so as, in the language of the sj stems, finally 
 and totally to fall away, 
 
 OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS DOCTRINE. 
 
 If it be demanded, of what utility can the belief of this 
 doctrine prove to a sincere christian ? This is an inquiry to 
 be answered only by the experience of the saints. And ma- 
 ny of the most pious christians have given to it their humble 
 and fervent testimony, that it has contributed to preserve 
 them continually mindful of their entire dependance on the 
 gracious aids of the Spirit of God, the true source of their 
 ability for every duty. And the doctrine may afford a live- 
 ly consolation to the believer in those moments when his 
 faith is strong, and his holy aflfections are most animated, and 
 fervent, to be assured by the promise of God, of being at all 
 times sustained against the weakness of human nature, and 
 rendered secure of the ultimate possession of eternal life. 
 Yet, confessed it must be, that it can afford small consolation 
 to the most experienced saint when his graces are feeble and 
 languishing, and his mind, in consequence, often in a state of 
 perplexity and doubt. Its enemies stigmatize it with being 
 an indolent docti ine, as if the security of happiness, whatever 
 
a95 
 
 effect it might have upon the hypocrite, would ever dispose 
 a pious and generous mind to the neglect of any duty ; and 
 would not rather stimulate it to augmented diligence in the di- 
 vine life, by the powerful excitement of gratitude. This ob- 
 jection must arise from inattention to the genuine principles 
 of human nature; and to the scriptural grounds on which the 
 doctrine rests. As to the first, the assurance of possessing 
 a felicity which we greatly value, and have long earnestly- 
 sought to acquire, often redoubles our exertions, and always, 
 in a generous mind, raises its powers to a higher tone of ac- 
 tion. With regard to the second, the grounds on which this 
 doctrine rests in the holy scriptures is, the merciful constitu- 
 tion of the Covenant of Grace, and the promised influences of 
 the Holy Spirit. These principles, as they have been al- 
 ready explained, far from nourishing an indolent temper, are 
 connected with the highest exertions of the human faculties 
 and the most faithful use of all the appointed means of sanc- 
 tification. Upon the whole, however, this doctrine, in the 
 discussions it has undergone, and the manner in which it 
 has often been treated, has unhappily been connected 
 more with the truth of speculation, and contended for more 
 earnestly on that ground, than for its influence on practical 
 holiness. Speculative truth, however, is intimately con- 
 joined with practical utility. But many of the truths in- 
 volved in the disquisitions which have taken place on this 
 subject, rest upon principles so sublime, or of so refined a 
 aature, as hardly to be obvious to the greater part of those 
 
3pd 
 
 for whom the gospel was chiefly designed, and are found, in 
 experience, easily liable, in ignorant minds, to mistake and 
 perversion. 
 
 The Calvinistic writers appear to me generally to form 
 their conclusions on grounds of the soundest reason, and most 
 according to the spirit of the sacred writings. But, from mu- 
 tual prejudice, and mistake, the discussions on this, and seve- 
 ral related subjects, have been managed, on all sides, with 
 kss temper and forbearance than become the professors of a 
 mild and humble religion. Consequences have been mu- 
 tually imputed which no party would acknowledge. Differ- 
 ences have been studiously magnified. And a writer is lia- 
 ble to incur the censure of all, for presuming to judge can- 
 didly between them. But let me entreat you to rcmembci> 
 that, into the pulpit, speculations too abstruse, and passions 
 too warm, should never enter. All these doctrines, so ne- 
 cessary for preserving the unity and harmony of the system 
 of christian theology, may, by a meek and charitable mind, 
 be treated without acrimony, and with a calmness and benev- 
 olence of discussion which (he humility of true piety re- 
 quires, and which, indeed, is best adapted to general edifica- 
 tion. 
 
 It ought ever io be remembered, however, that the most 
 pious and judicious assertors of this doctrine do never repose 
 themselves in indolent security upon their faith in the final 
 
 / 
 
39? 
 
 stability, and safety of their spiritual state. None are gen- 
 crally more assiduous to make their calling and election sure> 
 They rest their hope, it is true, on the faithfulness of a di- 
 vine promise, but, like all the promises in the word of God, 
 it is intimately connected with the co-action of the believer's 
 mind, which is always and equally embraced in the divine 
 purpose. Their stedfastness in holiness here, or in happi- 
 ness hereafter, is not the consequence of any physical neces 
 sity of nature imposed by the decrees of God ; but is effect 
 ed entirely by practical motives adapted to the rational and 
 moral principles of a holy and sanctified mind. The decrees 
 of Heaven cannot be certainly known, but, whatever they 
 are, they are the concern only of the Supreme and Infinite 
 Mind. They are not designed to affect the duties of human 
 J^ature, which are regulated wholly by another law. 
 
OP 
 
 JUSTIFICATION 
 
 JrsTiFiCATioN 19 the immediate consequence, on the 
 part of God, of a sincere faith ; and is defined, in the ortho- 
 dox symbols, to be an act of God's free grace, by which the 
 penitent and believing sinner is acquitted from the guilt and 
 condemnation of his sins, and accepted, and treated as right- 
 eous, only for the sake of the merits of Jesus Christ ; receiv- 
 ed by faith, and imputed to him, according to the tenor of the 
 New Covenant. Justification is a forensic term taken from 
 a process in law, in which the criminal is acquitted of the 
 charges exhibited against him, so as to be absolved from the 
 penalties pronounced by the law, and he restored, and again 
 entitled to the privileges of citizenship. This is a peculiar 
 case in which the criminal, though culpable with respect io 
 every charge, is absolved through the mediation of another, 
 who has satisfied the demands of justice and the law in his 
 room. The reasonableness and equity of vicarious substitu- 
 tion, and consequently, of the imputation of the merits of one 
 to another in certain cases, has been already considered, im- 
 der the Covenant of Grace, 
 
400 
 
 Justiticalion is iiot a grace of the heart, but solely an act oi 
 God's free mercy, absolving the penitent sinner from the pen- 
 ahy due to his transgressions, and entitling him, according to 
 the promise of the covenant, to the inheritance of eternal 
 life. I need hardly appeal to particular passages in support 
 of these ideas, they are so uniformly borne on the face of the 
 '.vhole scriptures, and, especially, of the writings of the great 
 apostle of the Gentiles. 
 
 Some writers conceive an opposition, amounting almost to 
 contradiction, between the ideas of free grace, and the impu- 
 tation of the perfect righteousness of the Redeemer. If the 
 law is completely satisfied, they ask, what can be demanded 
 more of the penitent believer ? In this objection they must 
 certainly forget, or their prejudices must be unwilling to ad- 
 mit, that it is the effect merely of divine mercy, that such a 
 satisfaction has been made for offending man ; and, when 
 made, it is equally of free grace, in consequence of the mer- 
 ciful constitution of the covenant, that it is applied to the be- 
 liever. " For it is not through works of righteousness which 
 we have done, but by grace we are saved through faith ; and 
 that, not of ourselves, it is the gift of God." It is the quali- 
 iication of faith alone which prepares and enables the believer 
 to receive and enjoy the blessings of salvation. 
 
LOi 
 
 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE APOSTLES ST. PAUL ANi 
 ST. JAMES ON THIS SUBJECT. 
 
 It is frequenllj objected to us, that the apostle James as- 
 cribes the justification of the believer, not to his faith, but to 
 his good works. To understand St. James, in this place, 
 it is necessary carefully to attend to his object in writing this 
 epistle. He wished to turn the attention of the church to 
 that criterion by which the disciples of Christ should most 
 effectually demonstrate the sincerity of their faith, and their 
 attachment to their Redeemer. There were in that age, as 
 there are in every period, many who presumed to recommend 
 themselves to their fellow-christians by a boastful ostentation 
 of religious zeal, while they were destitute of those works of 
 piety and virtue which alone could adorn their holy profes- 
 sion, in the esteem of mankind. Such false and hollow pre- 
 tences occasioned great reproach to the nascent cause of 
 Christianity. The apostle, therefore, was solicitous to purge 
 the church of these blots on the Christian name ; and c6 con- 
 vince the world that the faith of Christ, instead of being a 
 cover for indolence and vice, is the most effectual principle of 
 good morals and sanctity of life. In his epistle, therefore, 
 he earnestly teaches that, in the actual circumstances of the 
 church, it was of primary importance, that the disciples of 
 Christ should exhibit, in their example, the virtuous and holy 
 influence of their doctrine. And, as faith was publicly knowri 
 
402 
 to be the fundamental principle of their practical system, he 
 was anxious to redeem it from the aiisrepresentation and re- 
 proach of infidelity, as partaking only of the spirit of a weak 
 credulity, without any of the useful energies of viitue and 
 charity, which would render it a blessing to the world. 
 Hence he was so much concerned that the gentiles should be 
 impressed with the conviction that the disciples had not made 
 a vain boast of the efficacy of the vital principle of their re- 
 ligion; but, that before the world, they should justify by 
 their good works, the sanctifying power of that faith which 
 they had so highly extolled. This would bring real glory to 
 the gospel of Christ. Therefore, whatever false disciples 
 may pretend about a visionary, unproductive faith, to the dis- 
 credit of their Saviour, a sincere believer will always be stu- 
 dious to demonstrate his faith by his works of charity and 
 righteousness. So that the design of the blessed apostle ap- 
 pears to be, not to make the justification of the sinner before 
 God to depend upon his good works ; but to make the good 
 works of the believer to be the justification of the sincerity 
 of hiaf.!aith before the church, and before the world. Thus 
 was Abraham's fctith J justified by his works. For, as the 
 body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is 
 dead also. 
 
 By some divines of respectable name, this is called a second 
 justification ; thereby meaning a justification to ourselves, to 
 the church, and to the world, of the integrity of our profej- 
 
403 
 
 sion of the name of Christ, and of the purify of that holy 
 principle of faith which governs in the heart of a true 
 disciple. And this practical manifestation of a pure and sin- 
 cere faith, is, indeed, the genuine source of the pious conso- 
 lation of a believer, and the only stable ground on which he 
 can apply to himself the gracious promises of the New Cov- 
 enant. For, although the integrity of his faith is known to 
 the Omniscient Jehovah, in the first moments of its existence, 
 as well as at any future period ; and his justification passes 
 immediately with God, before any practical proofs exhibited 
 to men of its pious and charitable works ; yet, by its fruits 
 alone can we certainly demonstrate our title to rejoice in our 
 Interest in the redemption that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 
 
 THE BELIEVER, NOTWITHSTANDING HIS JUSTIFICATION, 
 STILL SUBJECT TO THE CALAMITIES OF THIS LIFE. 
 
 The believer, notwithstanding his deliverance from the do- 
 minion of sin, and his being made an heir of eternal life by 
 the imputation of the righteousness of Christ, must continue, 
 in this world, subject to the manifold evils resulting from the 
 frailties of a mortal body, and frequently from a disordered 
 mind. By the introduction of the New Covenant, establish- 
 ed in the power and grace of the Mediator, provision is made 
 for his ultimate redemption from eternal death, when he shall 
 have laid in the grave the corruptions of the flesh. In the 
 mean time, the moral depravation of the soul is gradually de^ 
 
404 
 
 iU'oyed by the spirit of sanctification, and all his temporal 
 evil Ihoiigh not removed, while the body remains, are, 
 throiigh the covenant, converted into blessings, and become 
 a salutary discipline, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, 
 to cultirate the heart for heaven. And highly useful they 
 are to elevate the soul above all undue attachments to the 
 present world, and to break vrithin it the strength and power 
 of sin. It is among the laws of our nature that, in our edu- 
 cation for eternity, no less than in our education for dis- 
 charging usefully and honourably the offices of this life, we 
 ahould grow wise by our errors, and that correction should 
 often be necessary to preserve the mind attentive io its duties. 
 
 The Romish cliurcb taught the extraordinary and unscrip- 
 iural doctrine, that the sufferings of our blessed Saviour did 
 aot accomplish a complete atonement for the sins of man- 
 kind ; but that the afflictions imposed on believers in the ar- 
 rangements of providence, arc to be regarded as part of the 
 Tienalty of the divine law ; and if the destined measure of 
 their pains should not be entirely inflicted in the present life, 
 they are to be fulfilled in a future and purgatorial state. On 
 the sauic ground they have built the still more absurd doc- 
 trine, of the efficacy of voluntary mortifications to complete 
 the requisite proportion of the sufferings of Christ in them, 
 and to deliver them from a correspondent part of the pains of 
 purgatory. But the doctrine most obnoxious to common 
 sense, and fartliest removed from the humble spirit of the 
 
405 
 
 gospel, is, that eminent saints, for whom the demands of the 
 law have been aheady satisfied by the sufferings of Christ, 
 together with their own, may, by voluntary and extraordinary 
 duties, inflictions, and sacrifices, lay up a store of merit, to 
 be imputed, along with that of the Saviour, to believers less 
 advanced in (he road of perfection. On this wretched foun- 
 dation was built that shameful trafic of indulgences, and 
 purgatorial exemptions, which grew to such enormity, as to 
 become, at length, one of the principal causes of the reforma- 
 tion in the sixteenth century. A single passage in the epistle 
 to the Collossians, and that grossly misinterpreted, by the 
 knavery of the Popes, and the ignorance of the jVIonks, was 
 the sole support of this monstrous fabric. It is contained in * 
 the following words : — Who now rejoice in my sufferings for 
 yoUy and Jill up that which is behind of the afflictions of 
 Christ, in my flesh, for his body^s sake, which is the churchy 
 — ch. i. ver. 24. The expression my sufferings for you 
 evidently refers to the pains which he endured in their ser- 
 vice ; and that which follows, on which the principal stress 
 is laid, the afflictions of Christ 6xi^m ^e^m, is a Grecism 
 which signifies the afflictions borne by him for the sake of 
 Christ ; and is similar, in the structure of the phrase, to other 
 expressions, TrccOfii^xIcc m Xptin — vc^cp&crtT Kvpia iijc-s — ovu^to-fMi 
 ra Xfi^a, the import of which has never created any diflScul- 
 ty, because there is no sinister purpose to be answered by 
 a false interpretation. The full force of these phrases may 
 be given in the following words : Who now rejoice in the 
 
406 
 
 mjferings that I hear for youy 7vhich are necessary to fill up 
 that measure of afflictions in the service of Christ which pro- 
 vidence has still destined for me in my assiduous endeavours 
 to promote the interest of his church. 
 
 Before dismissing these brief remarks on the justification 
 of the sinner, through faith in the righteousness of the ever 
 blessed Redeemer, it deserves our particular notice that this 
 doctrine, contrary to the misrepresentations of its enemies, 
 far from being unfriendly to morals, is peculiarly favourable 
 to the interests of practical virtue and piety. And as far as 
 human observation extends, it has ever been found that the 
 •friends of this system of truth have been distinguished as the 
 warmest advocates, and the most eminent examples of sanc- 
 tity of life. It is particularly worthy the attention of the de- 
 vout and rational christian, that, not only is this true as an 
 historical fact, but it is the natural result of the principle. 
 Resting, as it does, on the full and perfect atonement accom- 
 plished by the Lord Jesus Christ, instead of affording any 
 indulgence or protection in sin, it is the most eflfectual mean 
 of destroying its power in the life, and utterly exterminating 
 its root from (he heart. To establish this truth on the sur- 
 est foundations, let us consider the whole structure of the 
 gospel of our salvation, whence the consequence will arise 
 with conspicuous evidence to our view. Its foundation it 
 deeply lays in the humiliating doctrine of the entire depravi- 
 ty of human nature, and our consequent subjection to the 
 
40 r 
 
 righteous condemnation of eternal death. From this fearful 
 sentence the humbled soul finds no relief, but in the rich re- 
 demption that is In Jesus Christ, by faith in his name. A 
 profound persuasion of these interesting facts, attested 
 equally by the gospel and his own aj91)|||ip| experience, ren- 
 ders the salvation of the cross so indispensably necessary to 
 the peace, and so infinitely precious to the hopes of 
 the guilty offender. But, in the astonishing humiliation 
 of the Son of God, on which this system ^f divine grace is built, 
 and his sufferings, under the imputed guilt of human nature, 
 the believing penitent is led to discern, and strongly to feel 
 how obnoxious he is to the righteous displeasure of Almighty 
 God. Hence naturally arises in his heart an overwhelming 
 sentiment of the evil of his sins, and a profound and fixed ab- 
 horrence of their defilement and their power. These princi- 
 ples are intimately involved in one another, and almost ne • 
 eessarily spring from the united view of himself as a sinner, 
 and of Christ as his Redeemer. 
 
 With them are essentially conjoined an ulterior discovery 
 and most intimate persuasion of the impossibility of the for- 
 giveness of sin, without a complete atonement for the viola- 
 tion of the divine law, the grandeur of which, while it dis- 
 plays the malignity of our offences, exhibits, at the same 
 time, and in the same hi£;h colours, the inBnite compassions 
 and love of the Redeemer to the human sinner ; a sublime 
 
403 
 
 idea, which recipiocaiiy tends to exalt the love of the belier 
 er to him who is the glorious author of all mercy and grace. 
 
 When all these views are taken in at once, as they must 
 be by those who^«j*erely receive this self-abasing but con- 
 solatory doctrine, what a profound and sanctifying effect is it 
 fiited to produce on the heart ! What an efficient principle 
 does it become of the purest morals and virtue in the life ! I 
 do not say, indeed, tjiat these happy consequences will arise 
 from any speculative conviction of these principles, however 
 clearly they may be conceived by the understanding ; but to 
 the warm and affectionate believer, they spring almost neces- 
 sarily out of the united views of the justice and the mercy 
 of Jehovah our Saviour. 
 
 This doctrine of justification by grace through the atone- 
 ment of a divine Redeemer, by presenting to the mind the 
 most sublime discoveries of the holiness of the divine naturCj 
 suggests by a reflex act, the perfect purity of soul which 
 should reign in all our approaches to the Deity, in his holy 
 ordinances, in his church on earth, and should pervade the 
 entire intercourse of mankind with one another. That is, in 
 one word, which should regulate the whole system of their 
 moral conduct, both with regard to Almighty God their Cre- 
 ator, and to the great fraternity of their brethren ; — Their 
 piety, their justice, their truth, their amiable charity, and UDi- 
 Tersal beneroleHce. 
 
409 
 
 I add; that it contributes, in no inferior degree, to promote 
 the practical holiness of the believer, by the powerful motive 
 of gratitude for the redeeming mercy of Heaven. For, no 
 where else can the condescension of Almighty God to the 
 imperfection of the creature, and his grace to the un worthi- 
 ness of the sinner, be discerned in so resplendent and im- 
 pressive a light ; no where else, do the perfections, and love 
 of the Creator, and Redeemer of mankind, shine with such 
 conspicuous evidence, and calculated to raise the devout af- 
 fections of Qie soul to so transcendent an elevation. Here in- 
 finite justice is contemplated as combined with infinite mercy? 
 and mercy appears more glorious, when it is seen emerging, 
 for the salvation of the sinner, from beneath the heavy clouds 
 of a consuming justice. No view of the mercy of God most 
 holy, and of the infinite love of the Redeemer is fitted so 
 completely to absorb all the powers of the soul. We love 
 him tecause he first loved its. 
 
 Let us now consider the aspect which the love of God, so 
 
 powerfully promoted by this doctrine bears on the general 
 
 morals of Christianity, It is the supreme principle of all 
 
 genuine religion, whether it be the religion of nature, or of 
 
 revelation. Wherein, then, does it consist? Not, surely, in 
 
 the love, or even the conception of his essential nature. 
 
 For of that no idea can be framed by the human intellect. 
 
 It is the love only of his perfections, by which alone he can 
 
 be conceived of by ns; and espcci^Uy of his moral :iff:'' 
 
 52 
 
410 
 
 bules, his holiness, his justice, his boundless goodness, his 
 universal love, so illustriously displayed in the salvation of 
 the sinner through the cross of Christ. 
 
 * Here, then, O Christian ! we discern the genuine root of 
 a holy life, in the supreme love of perfections which form 
 the most efficient principles of christian morals ; and which, 
 operating on all the springs of action in the soul, create the 
 nearest resemblance on earth, to the image of God, which is 
 the perfection of holiness and virtue. 
 
 OF ADOPTION. 
 
 In the order of systematic arrangement. Adoption is usu- 
 ally considered as immediately following, and intimately con- 
 nected with the doctrine of justification. Few words are 
 necessary for stating or explaining this subject, it being ra' 
 Iher expressive of that external relation, in which it pleases 
 God to place the believer to himself, than descriptive of the 
 moral state of the mind. The spirit of adoptioUy indeed, 
 spoken of by the apostle, embraces all those dutiful senti- 
 ments, and pious dispositions, which become so great a mer- 
 cy and so intimate a relation : b^it adoption simply is expres- 
 sive of the relation itself which the justified believer holds to 
 his Heavenly Father. It is a forensic term taken from the 
 modes prescribed in the laws of most nations, by which a 
 child, not born in a certain family, is legally received into >t^ 
 
411 
 
 and becomes entitled to its privileges, honours, and inheritan- 
 ces. As applied to believers it is a figure which designates, 
 with no small propriety and force, the blessings to which 
 Ihey are advanced in consequence of their justification. 
 They are assimilated to the image of their heavenly Father 
 « — they partake of ]iis paternal protection and care — and, 
 according to his gracious promise, and the constitution of 
 the New Testament confirmed in the blood of Christ, they 
 are made heirs of an eternal inheritance. Taken from 
 a state of hostile estrangement, they are introduced into his 
 family- 
 
 This figure was peculiarly expressive and obvious, at the 
 time when the evangelists and apostles wrote, and within the 
 limits of the Roman empire ; because the necessity and the 
 practice of adoption, was in that nation, and in that age, 
 more prevalent than at any other period of history, or in 
 any other portion of the globe. There are many passages in 
 the sacred writings which justify the introduction of this 
 term into our systems to express this relation of the believ- 
 er to God under the Covenant of Grace. " As many as re- 
 ceived him," saith the evangelist John, "to them gave he 
 power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe 
 sn his name." And the apostle Paul; "As many as are 
 led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God, for ye 
 liave not received the spirit of bondage again to fear ; but ye 
 Jliave received the spirit of adoption, by which we cry Ab- 
 
4lii 
 
 ba ! Father ! The Spirit itself testifieth with our spirit that 
 we ?re the sons of God ; and, if sons, then heirs— heirs of 
 God, and joint heirs with Christ," — Rom. viii. 14... .17. 
 To the Ephesians he writes ; " Having foreordained us unto 
 adoption through Jesus Christ, unto himself, according io 
 the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his 
 grace," — Eph. i. 5, 6. 
 
 Adoption is an act of the free grace of God towards the 
 onworlhy, and the guilty ; and, along with justification is the 
 immediate effect of faith, and one of the promised blessings 
 of the covenant of grace. 
 
 Before concluding this article, I will briefly, and in a single 
 word, state the happy consequences of this blessed relation 
 to his Creator and Redeemer into which the believer is tak- 
 en. In the first place, peace with God, through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, the cause of his displeasure being removed, 
 and there being no longer any obstruction to that intimacy of 
 union which should connect the soul with God, and that full- 
 ness and freedom of affection which should fill the heart of a 
 dutiful son towards his Heavenly Father. — In the next place, 
 peace of conscience, which is asiongst the sweetest enjoy- 
 ments of which the renewed soul, formed after the image of 
 God, is capable. — Thirdly, the profound and delightfnl sen- 
 timent of the Love of God for his unspeakable mercy, in^ 
 spiring the continual desire of acting worthy of that high re- 
 
413 
 
 lation into wkich the believer is received by the spirit of 
 Adoption. — And, finally, habitual and increasing sanctifica- 
 tion of heart and life, and growing preparation for that " in- 
 heritance uncornipted, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, 
 reserved in heaven for those, who"^ are kept by the power of 
 God, through faith, unto salvation, ready to be revealed in 
 the last lime," I Pet. I 4,5, 
 
OF THE 
 
 JVATURE OF FAITH ; 
 
 ITS EFFICACr AJTD EXCELLENCE A3 A PRACTICAL PRINCI. 
 PLE OF HOLINESS, AND CONSEQ.UENTLY THE REASON- 
 ABLENESS OF ITS POSSESSING SUCH A DISTIN- 
 GUISHED PLACE IN THE CHRIS/- 
 T5AN SYSTEM* 
 
 Having already pronounced faith to be the condition of 
 the Covenant of Grace, and briefly spoken of the justifica- 
 tion, adoption, and sanctification of the believer, as among the 
 precious fruits of this covenant, I have, however, thought it 
 necessary, on account of the high importance of the doctrines 
 of faith in the christian system, to treat of it with somewhat 
 greater extent and precision. As it is the fundamental arti- 
 cle of the gospel, it has accordingly been attacked by the ene- 
 mies of Christianity with peculiar virulence, and with the 
 most disingenuous sarcasm ; insultingly presuming that 
 the gospel needs the support of faith, only in proportion 
 as it is destitute of reason. The evidences on which 
 our faith is sustained have been already discussed, as far as 
 this compendious system would admit. And, on the most 
 rigouroua investigation, it will be found to. rest on secure 
 
416 
 
 and solid foundations. Its enemies, taking advantage of as 
 obvious prejudice against the name of faith, find an occasion, 
 either through ignorance or enmity, to impeach the whole 
 system as an appeal to the credulity of mankind. On the 
 contrary, this doctrine, when calmly and dispassionately con- 
 sidered, will be found, notwithstanding the objecfions of its 
 enemies, not less conformable to the principles of reason, than 
 it isto the prescriptions of Christ. For it is equally true of 
 every moral institution, as of the gospel, that its doctrines^ 
 its laws, its sanctions, and the authority on which the whole 
 depends, must* be clearly comprehended, and heartily be- 
 lieved, before they can acquire an influence on manners and 
 conduct. Had Christianity been simply a philosophic insti- 
 tute, intended to regulate morals, and to persuade mankind to 
 a virtuous life, yet must its doctrines have been received as 
 truth, with a proper understanding of their nature, worth, and 
 importance, (and what else is faith?) before they could have 
 exerted any practical effect on the heart and affections. — - 
 Thus does the principle of faith become, not only a neces- 
 sary, but a most rational basisof the gospel, whether we con- 
 slder it as a code of doctrine addressed to the intellect, or a 
 system of precepts regulating the practice. And, inasmuch 
 as the mass of mankind are incapable of deducing the system 
 cf their duties from the fountains of reason alone ; still less 
 are the wisest of their sages capable of entering into (he un- 
 searchable counsels of God, so as explain to us en. what 
 terms the repentance of a sinner may be acoepted of him, in 
 
41? 
 
 order to bis reconciliation ; or of penetrating the darkness 
 which hangs over the everlasting destinies of mankind ; and 
 since truth, and comfortable hope, on these subjects, must be 
 purely the effect of revelation, faith is, with still more pro- 
 priety, made the fundamental principle of the christian sys- 
 tem. It is confessed that the peculiar and discriminating 
 doctrines of Christianity cannot rest on the discoveries of hu- 
 man reason. They must be received, if they are rationally 
 received at all, upon the evidence of those omnipotent works 
 performed by Jesus Christ, which identify him with the Au- 
 thor of all truth. We believe, not because he hath taught 
 like the leader of a philosophic sect, in a chain of the most 
 accurate and conclusive reasoning; but because he halh 
 made it evident, that, in hh words, God himseir, the Authoi: 
 of all truth, hath spoken. For, we can have no doubt of the 
 presence of God in the midst of those astonishing displays of 
 divine power, with wlilch the Saviour hath invited the atten- 
 tion of the world ; nor of the veracity of that testimony, the 
 truth of which the Almighty has deigned to confirm with his 
 own seal. As it is the privilege of children to receive the 
 lessons of duty and wisdom from the mouth of a wise parent, 
 which they ought to admit with implicit reverence, before 
 their minds are sufficiently mature to discern their founda- 
 tions in the eternal principles of reason, so the disciple of 
 Christ humbly learns, by faith, at the feet of his Redeemer, 
 those truths which he could not otherwise receive, till the 
 
 soul, ripened by the instructions of his grace and Spirit, shall 
 
 63 
 
4ia 
 
 be enabled to contemplate them, in Ibe light of heaven with 
 an angel's reason. — I proceed, therefore, to exhibit the na- 
 ture of Faith, which is our best reason, till the period arrive 
 of immediate vision. 
 
 DEFINITION OF EVANGELIC FAITH. 
 
 Evangelic Faith, in its most general import, consists in re- 
 ceiving the holy scriptures, with clear understanding, and 
 with inward and profound conviction of their truth, as con- 
 taining the infallible word of God ; and in embracing Jesus 
 Christ, who is the principal subject of them, as the Son of 
 God, and the Saviour of the world. Apostles, and prophets, 
 and inspired men are his organs to declare his will to man- 
 kind ; but, to the believer, it is God himself who speaks in 
 them. 
 
 On this definition several guards and explanations are to 
 be made, in order to the more distinct understanding of the 
 subject. The holy scriptures, besides the revelation of Je- 
 sus Christ, and of eternal life through him, contain a wide 
 compass of miscellaneous information, more or less directly 
 connected with their principal end, the publication of the 
 glad tidings of peace, to a guilty world. Faith, therefore, 
 besides- receiving these miscellanies as truths which highly 
 concern the church, respects the holy sciptures chiefly as 
 revealing a system of mercy to fallen man. And, amidst 
 
419 
 
 their various contents, those subjects are more peculiarly in- 
 corporated in the object of faith, which are most essentially 
 conjoined with this idea of divine mercy: For example; 
 the fallen and guiUy state of human nature ; the perfect 
 atonement for sin made by our Lord Jesus Christ ; the infi- 
 nite greatness, holiness, justice, goodness, sovereignty, and 
 truth of God; the beauty and excellence of the law of ho- 
 liness ; and the promise of eternal life to the penitent. On 
 other subjects opinions may be more various, ideas may be 
 more indefinite and obscure : but on these, belief ought to 
 be precise, clear, strong. 
 
 In stating the nature of faith, however, a distinction is to 
 be made between that belief which has a reference merely to 
 the integrity and veracity of the prophet, the apostle, or (he 
 messenger of Heaven, and that which respects also the na- 
 ture, importance, and excellence of the doctrines which 
 these divine instructors communicate. Let me illustrate my 
 meaning by a familiar example. We may possess perfect 
 confidence in the wisdom of an eminent moralist, or admire 
 the talents of a fine writer, who points out, with all the truth 
 of criticism, the beauties of any classic work ; but for want 
 of having the reason properly cultivated by education, we 
 may not perceive the soundness of his remarks, or the accu- 
 racy of his reflections ; or, through deficiency of taste, may 
 not be able to discern the beauty of his examples, nor the 
 delicacy of his illustrations. The principles and doctrines 
 
420 
 
 of the one, or Ihe delicate beauties of the other, cannot be 
 strict y said to be objects of our belief; because the former 
 are not justly apprehended, nor are the latter truly discern- 
 ed, requiring for this purpose, the delicacy of a refined 
 taste, and cultivated understanding. To apply these re- 
 marks. A genuine, practical, and operative faith in the gos- 
 pel, which is that alone after which we seek, consists, not 
 merely, in acknowledging the scriptures to be the word of 
 God, or in confessing the divine authority, and heavenly 
 mission of the apostles, the prophets, or of Christ himself, 
 all which may be nothing more than an hereditary opinion, 
 or pious prejudice derived from education : but it implies, as 
 still more essential to it, a clear perception of the spiritual 
 nature and discernment of the divine excellence and beau- 
 ty of the doctrines which they teach, especially as they re- 
 gard the glory of God, the system of our redemption, and 
 the duties and immortal hopes of man ; and I must add, still 
 further, a profound persuasion, which is a necessary conse- 
 quence of the former, not only of their truth, but of their 
 infinite importance to our everlasting peace and happiness. 
 These doctrines, therefore, are not received with genuine 
 faith, but in proportion as their true nature, as far as they 
 are within the comprehension of the human mind, is clearly 
 understood ; and clearly understood they cannot be but in 
 proportion as the heart discerns their spiritual excellence, 
 and, with a holy and divine taste, relishes their spiritual 
 lieau'y ; fo? the excellence of virtue, the beauty of holi- 
 
421 
 
 ness, IB part of its idea. Here then we begin to perceive 
 the moral and sanctifying influence of a sincere faith ; for 
 what the heart thus understands and loves, discerning its su- 
 preme excellence, must govern the practice. The believer 
 perceiving, by this gracious principle, the 'perfection of these 
 doctrines, or, in the language of the scriptures, the becmly 
 of holiness, is led, by the sweet attraction of a renewed 
 taste, to delight in the law of God after the inward man, 
 
 THE DEPENDENCE OF SAVING FAITH ON THE GOOD 
 DISPOSITIONS OF THE HEART. 
 
 Here also we discern, which is my next observation, the 
 dependence of faith upon, or its necessary connexion with 
 the good dispositions of the heart. — By the understanding we 
 judge of speculative truth. And many writers have main- 
 tained that this power of the mind alone is employed in a ra- 
 tional and consistent faith. But it ought always to be re- 
 membered that the convictions of the understanding are 
 greatly influenced, on all moral subjects, by the state of the 
 aflfections. It is the heart alone, profoundly touched by the 
 Spirit of grace, which creates those lively and affecting con- 
 ceptions of the beauty and excellence of divine things, 
 which together with the conclusions of reason, form the es- 
 sence of a practical faith the active and operative principle 
 of a holy life. Hence the apostle hath said ; " with the 
 heart man believeth unto righteousness." And Philip repli- 
 
422 
 
 ed to one asking the condition of baptism. — If thou believest 
 with all thy heart, thou mayest. 
 
 Will it be asked if we do not, by this representation, re- 
 quire the regeneration of the heart, or the formation m the 
 soul of a divine and holy taste of truth, as a prerequisite to 
 faith, of which, change, however, faith is acknowledged to be 
 the only genuine principle ? By no means. Degenerate as 
 human nature is, it so far possesses ideas of moral excellence, 
 and consents to the taw of God that it is good, as under the 
 gracious influences of the Divine Spirit, co-operating with 
 Lis holy word, to present to that heavenly Teacher a suffi- 
 cient foundation for an understanding faith in its incipient 
 state. And when once this holy illumination, this divine 
 taste exists in the weakest degree, it prepares the soul, un- 
 der the culture of the same word, and the continued influ- 
 ence of the same Spirit, to receive every doctrine of the 
 gospel with a fuller conviction, to perceive increasing beau- 
 ties in the isystem of grace, and to feel, with augmented 
 force the obligation of the whole law of holiness. There 
 exists a strong analogy between the progress, and effects of 
 education whether moral or scientific, and the influence of 
 this divine culture on the mind, under the teachings of the 
 Holy Spirit. The mind begins her course blind to the beau- 
 ties of truth, and averse to the constraints of a necessary 
 discipline ; but the light which is gradually shed into the 
 mtnd improves, both the judgment, and the taste, and con- 
 
42;^ 
 
 tributes, by a fine and almost impercepllble influence, to 
 ameiioi-afe the heart. We cannot pronounce that a happy 
 and formed taste must precede the power of perceiving the 
 beauty or the light of virtue, or of science in their incipient 
 state : nor can we say, on the other hand, that the percep- 
 tion of the beauty of virtue must precede the formation of a 
 virtuous taste. They are simultaneously cultivated, and, by 
 a mutual Influence, produce their effects on each other by 
 an insensible reciprocation of ideas and feelings, which is too 
 fine to be marked in language ; but does not fail to be per- 
 ceived by all who are accustomed to attend with precision 
 to the operations of their own minds. 
 
 THE RETRIBUTIONS OF ETERNITY INCLUDED IN THE IDEA 
 OF AN OPERATIVE AND EFt IflENT FAITH. 
 
 In speaking of faith as an efficient principle of sanctifies- 
 tion, it is requisite, besides the spiritual understanding of 
 the doctrines of the gospel, and the divine taste of their ex- 
 cellence and beauty which it implies, to include also in its 
 idea, those powerful motives of holiness and obedience 
 which it derives from celestial and eternal things. In the 
 language of the apostle, " it is the substance of things hop- 
 ed for, and the evidence of things not seen." It penetrates 
 the veil which conceals them from mortal eyes, and presents 
 them to the devout mind, as far as the human faculties are 
 sasceptible of these sublime ideas, with a transcendent, and 
 
424 
 
 ineffable seusallon. Among these heavenly objects we dis- 
 cern especially the glory of God, the infinite love of the Re- 
 deemer, the final judgment of the^universe, and the ever- 
 lasting retributions of the righteous, and the wicked ; — con- 
 siderations which add a mighty and practical force to the 
 delightful attractions of redeeming love. 
 
 ASSEMBLAGE OF THE PRECEEDING PRINCIPLES. 
 
 Let US review the principles which I have hitherto laid 
 down upon this subject. Faith consists in the first place, 
 and in its most general idea, in receiving the sacred scrip- 
 tures as containing the gracious revelation of the will of God 
 for our instruction in righteousness, and our eternal salvation. 
 ' — It consists in the next place, not only in the belief of the 
 divine authority and direction under which the scriptures 
 have been communicated to the world, but in a clear and 
 spiritual understanding of the nature, and a divine percep- 
 tion of the excellence and perfection of their holy doctrines, 
 — Thirdly, in a strong impression on the heart of those high 
 motives to practical piety and virtue, which religion has 
 drawn from the glory of God, from the redemption of the 
 cross, and the retributions of eternity. And, finally, in a 
 profound persuasion of the personal, and everlasting concern 
 which we have in those precious, those glorious, and those 
 awful truths. 
 
425 
 
 THE EFFICACr OF FAITH. 
 
 We conclude, therefore, with the justest reason, that no 
 moral system, or institute of religion, has ever laid such a 
 foundation for purity of heart, and sanctity of life, as the 
 christian economy, resting, as it does, on the doctrine of a 
 sincere faith in the Redeemer of the world. If we assemble 
 all the objects of faith in one view, and receive them as the 
 infallible truths of God, not with a vague, unmeaning assent, 
 the fruit merely of custom and example, but with a profound 
 conviction, ai'ising from reflection, from examination, from 
 the holy influence of prayer, aided by the concurrent illu- 
 mination of the Eternal Spirit, I may ask, with confidence, 
 what motives drawn from any other source, can be compared 
 with those derived from the gospel, for the purity of their 
 influence, and their persuasive power on the heart ? 
 
 THE EXCELLENCE OF THIS PRINCIPLE AB A PRACTICAI. 
 BASIS OF RELIGION. 
 
 The enemies of the gospel profess to be offended at its 
 resting so much on the doctrine of faith ; insinuating that the 
 whole is merely an address to the credulity of mankind, in 
 which believing its pretensions is made a substitute for piety 
 and morality. The evidences of our holy religion, propos- 
 ed in the introduction of this trealiie, are a sufficient reply 
 
 54 
 
42B 
 
 to the former insio nation. The gospel, instead of decliuicg 
 any fair scrutiny, requires of its disciples the most rigorous 
 investigation. And the illustration which has just been giv- 
 en of the doctrine, as a practical principle of morals, will 
 rescue it from the obloquy of the latter ; and will vindicate 
 the reasonableness of building the whole evangelic system 
 upon this foundation. The ground on which the sacred wri- 
 -ters extol this grace is, not that its merit is sufficient to sup- 
 ply the defect of every other virtue : but, that it is the prop- 
 er spring of all true virtue, and the most efficient principle 
 of a holy' life. Let us pursue this reflection a moment. 
 We may lay it down as an infallible maxim in morals, that 
 right principles truly understood, and firmly believed, will 
 ever be followed by right conduct, and that false principles, 
 on the other hand, tend to vitiate the fountains of virtue 
 and piety in the heart, and lead to many pernicious errors in 
 the habits of life. What then is evangelic faith, but em- 
 bracing on the authority of a divine and infallible teacher, 
 and on the renewed taste of a mind enlightened by the in- 
 spiration of truth, the purest principles of practical virtue, 
 the holiest law of universal duty, which has ever been pre- 
 scribed to mankind. It is subjecting the soul to the influence 
 of the most sublime and powerful motives of holiness which 
 the wisdom of God has ever published fo? the regeneratioyi 
 of the world. The laws of morals, as they have been pre- 
 scribed in the systems of the wisest men who have not drawn 
 them from the fountains of inspiration, are susceptible of 
 
 t 
 
42r 
 
 JK) much disputation, and are liable, in their application, to 
 30 many exceptions and modifications, in favour of each 
 man's inclinations or interests, that they form a most uncer- 
 tain and fallacious rule of duty. It is, besides, a rule as 
 feeble in its authority, as it is defective in its prescriptions, 
 being liable to be changed, or set aside, by every caprice of 
 self-love, or impulse of misguided passion. But every thing 
 in the discipline of Christ, is clear and luminous as the eter- 
 nal laws of truth from which it emanates. Here are no en- 
 feebling doubts, no uncertain reasonings which make the law 
 too often speak the language of a corrupted heart. Where, 
 then, can be found, in all the systems of human wisdom, 
 such a basis of morality as in that faith which is the practi- 
 cal principle of the gospel of Christ ? Has any philosophy, 
 the candid unbeliever himself being judge, ever taught so 
 pure and excellent a doctrine, derived it from so sublime a 
 source, enjoined it by sanctions so weighty and important, 
 or added to it the force of obligations, and the persuasion of 
 motives, so transcendent in their nature, and fitted to interest 
 all the best powers of the soul? — Such are the moral effects 
 of a genuine faith in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 which, in the esteem of every candid and pious mind, will 
 repel all the contemptuous sneers of infidelity, and vindicate 
 the high place which it holds in the christian dispensation. 
 It works by love, and purifies the heart. It is the com- 
 mencement of that pure and heavenly spirit, which, unfold- 
 
428 
 
 ed and cherished in (he regions of immortal love, will be the 
 consummation of that grace wherein we now stand. 
 
 OTHER DEFINITIONS OF FAITH. 
 
 Before dismissing this branch of the subject, let me take 
 notice of some defini(ions, or representations of this grace, 
 confessedly just, but the coincidence of which with the views 
 hitherto presented to you, may not immediately appear. 
 Sometimes it is characterised in the holy scriptures by 
 one of its principal acts. Abraham is said to have be- 
 lieved God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 
 This consequence could have flowed only from his having 
 trusted implicitly in the divine promise, in opposition to the 
 most untoward events, and to appearances that might have 
 discouraged the strongest hopes. Such confidence in the 
 covenanted promise of God could have existed only in a 
 heart prepared to receive, with submissive duty, every part 
 of his declared will. 
 
 Sometimes it is designated by one of its principal objects ; 
 as in the command of the apoille to the jailor, Believe on the 
 Lord Jesus Christ. In another circumstance, the same 
 great founder of the christian faith, descending to an idea 
 still more particular, says ; " If thou shalt confess with thy 
 mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that 
 God bath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved,'^ 
 
 fS^ 
 
 9 
 
429 
 
 The doctrine of the resurrection of Christ is so intimately 
 involved with the accomplishnient of the atonement, and 
 with the truth of all the promises and hopes of Christianity, 
 that sincerely to receive this glorious truth in all its relations 
 and consequences, is to embrace the whole gospel. 
 
 On the other hand, the pious and learned compilers 
 of the confession and catechism of the presbyterian church 
 have chosen to describe it by one of its essential and insepa- 
 rable consequences ; receiving and resting upon Christ 
 alone for salvation. Desiring to give some single criterion of 
 this grace which would be least liable to be mistaken by a be- 
 liever himself in judging of his own spiritual state, they have 
 fixed on this self-renunciation, and this absolute dependence 
 of the penitent sinner on the grace and merits of the Saviour, 
 as one that is most certain, because one to whicii the pride, 
 and self-complacency of man most reluctantly submits : one 
 to which he never does submit, till the sense of his own un- 
 worthiness and guilt, — of the purity, holiness, and justice of 
 the divine law,— of the grace of the Redeemer, and the 
 all-suflScieucy of his righteousness for the satisfaction of the 
 violated law, — in a word, till the whole gospel has taken full 
 possession of his soul. 
 
430 
 
 OF FALSE RESEMBLANCES OP FAITH. 
 
 Systematic writers on the subject of faith present to us 
 different counterfeit resemblances of this grace, which it is of 
 importance, in practice, to discriminate from the genuine 
 principle. Among them, those which chiefly require our no- 
 tice, have been called an historical faith, and a temporary 
 faith. By the former is intended that assent which is yield- 
 ed to the truth of the holy scriptures merely through custom, 
 education, and sympathy with general opinion and example. 
 Or it may embrace that which arises from the convictions of 
 the understanding yielded to a rational examination of the ev- 
 idences of our religion, but without producing that discern- 
 ment of the spiritual beauty, and that heartfelt perception of 
 the excellence of its moral and divine doctrines, which cre- 
 ates a fervent love of the truth, and begets a deep and per- 
 sonal application of it to the heart, for its sanctification and 
 instruction in righteousness. This is tha-t faith, if it deserve 
 the name, which fills our churches with formal, indeed, but 
 cold professors, destitute of the life and power of godliness. 
 Which occupies the garden of God with fair and sightly trees 
 that put forth leaves and flowers, but bring none of the gen- 
 uine fruits of holiness to perfection. The history of our Sa- 
 viour is, to them, like other credible narrations of ancient, or 
 of distant events, and generally creates as little interest in 
 the heart. 
 
 $ 
 
431 
 
 On tlie other hand, that which is improperly calleil a /«m- 
 porari/ failliy is usually nothing more than an occasional, and 
 sometimes constitutional susceptibility of heart on religious 
 subjects, excited by a variety of concurrent circumstances ; 
 and, like other transient emotions, passing away without fruit, 
 or any radical change of character. In those moments of 
 religious feeling, the gospel is regarded rather as a system of 
 beneficence to (he creature, than of mercy and grace to the 
 sinner. The sinner is prone to rejoice in the ideas of the di- 
 vine benignity ; and often aielts with the sympathetic recol- 
 tions of the Saviour's sufferings and love, without entering 
 deeply into the depravity of our nature, and, from the heart, 
 abhorring its corruptions. He perceives the triumphs, not 
 the humility of religion. The consequence is, that, not duly 
 sensible of the evil of sin, and penetrated with the sentiments 
 of repentance, be does not properly regard the righteousness 
 of Christ as forming the sole meritorious title of our accept- 
 ance with God. When the passions and temptations of sin 
 are from any cause suspended in their actions, mistaking this 
 temporary quiet for the change of heart required in the gospel, 
 he may perceive an elevated joy in the hopes of eternal life 
 and happinesss ; but, having no root of holiness in himself, 
 when persecution, or shame, or the sacrifice of interest or of 
 pleasure is to be encountered for the sake of the word, bye 
 and bi/e he is offended ; or, when the transient fit of religious 
 sensibility has passed off, it leaves nothing behind it but the 
 passions of the world. 
 
432 
 
 This great and practical principle of duly is aUempletl, by 
 different writers, to be analyzed into various acts concurring 
 to constitute its essence ; such as repentance for sin — a de- 
 sire to glorify God through Jesus Christ— a love of divine 
 things— hungering and thirsting after righteousness — receiv- 
 ing and resting upon Christ for justification, sanctification, 
 and complete redemption. These acts form an injudicious 
 analysis of the grace of faith. They are natural consequen- 
 ces resulting from the devout and humble state of the mind 
 in the exercise of faith ; but are not more peculiarly allied to 
 this grace than to other principles of the divine life. There 
 is, however, a discrimination in this act, according to its de- 
 grees of clearness and strength, into a weak faith diud a strong 
 faith, which has a real foundation in the experience of good 
 men. And the holy apostle evidently justifies the distinc- 
 tion, speaking of some of his converts as being yet only 
 babes in Christ. And, in his second epistle to the Thessa- 
 lonians, exulting in the faith of that church as growing ex- 
 ceedingly; by which language he strongly marks a progres- 
 sion in this grace. His followers at Rome he exhorts " not to 
 think more highly of themselves than they ought to think, 
 but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every 
 every man the measure of faith." 
 
4dd 
 
 IW THE FIRST PLACE, OF A WEAK FAITH. 
 
 This title implies a certain feebleness in the impressions 
 which divine truth makes upon the mind, so that it does not 
 habitually yield that clear apprehension of its nature, and firm 
 persuasion of its glorious reality, which raises the believer, 
 at all times, above the seductive influence of the world, and 
 gives him that lively sense of his interest in the atonement 
 and intercession of Christ which contributes, in the highest 
 degree, to his comfort in the divine hfe, and to the most use- 
 ful discharge of his various duties. This feeble habit of re- 
 ligious feeling, may arise from tlifferent causes, which will 
 naturally display themselves in proportionally ditlerent ef- 
 fects upon the character and manners. Sometimes it springs 
 from a natural imbecility of mind in conceiving its ideas ; and, 
 at other times, from possessing only narrow views, and very 
 limited opportunities of information. The consequence of 
 which, usually, is an unhappy mixture of low and super- 
 stitious ideas and practices with the better principles of re- 
 ligion. Not unfrequently, it is derived from certain errors in 
 principle, which occasion the forms, and the external dutie3 
 of religion to be too much, or too little regarded ; either ab- 
 sorbing the heart in its ceremonial, or, by a pretended supe- 
 riority to outward form, withdrawing from the weakness of 
 human nature the aids which have always been found neces- 
 sary for preserving alive the warmth and vigour of pious af- 
 
4«i4 
 
 tectiou. By suflfering certain habits of conformity to the 
 world to grow up in the heart unobserved, we soraelimes see 
 a state of manners gradually introduced, unfriendly to the 
 cultivation of the divine life, and of that strictness of walk, 
 and purity of conversation before God, which is most edi- 
 fying to the church, and becoming the gravity of the chris- 
 tian profession. Too often a weak faith may be occasioned 
 by peculiar temptations, against which a christian has not 
 been sufficiently on his guard ; or it may grow out of cei> 
 tain habitual situations in life wherein so many worldly en- 
 gagements and avocations press upon his attention, as un- 
 happily to occupy a great portion of that time which ought 
 to be devoted to the studies, meditations, and duties of piety. 
 The strength of his faith will, in this case, often be little su- 
 perior to the inSuence of the world, and will be a feeble prin- 
 ciple either of comfort to his own soul, or of advancement in 
 the habits of holy living. On particular occasions, sin may 
 have surprised the vigilance of the most sincere and humble 
 believer, and so distressed his conscience, that he cannot 
 discern in himself any satisfactory evidences of his peculiar 
 relation to Christ. In other instances, a constitutional glooms 
 iness of mind inclines some good men habitually to contem- 
 plate the spiritual state of their own souls in an unfavourable 
 light. They entertain no doubt, indeed, of the truths of the 
 gospel. They may regard them with the highest veneratioa 
 and affection. Firmly believing the general principle of the 
 power and grace of God, they cannot, however, in the afflicting 
 
435 
 
 darkness of their minds, discern their own privilege to ap- 
 propriate the gracious promise of the covenant to themselves. 
 It is not of the mercy, or the promise of God, that they en- 
 tertain any doubt ; but of themselves. They lose the coal- 
 forts of a composed and settled state of piety and devotion 5 
 and that time is often spent in gloomy retreat, and anxious 
 conflicts with their own hearts, which would be better em- 
 ployed in active duty. Active duty is the best mean of re- 
 moving the doubts of humble piety, by giving to the true be- 
 liever the best evidences of a regenerate and sanctified prin- 
 ciple of action. In retirement, the mind often broods over 
 its own evils, and increases the gloom which induces it to 
 court seclusion from the world. There are two acts, how- 
 ever, by which the sincerity of the weakesmiith may be de- 
 monstrated. The one is humility, under a deep sense of the 
 evil of sin, and of the imperfection of our own righteousness, 
 producing unceasing desire of an interest in the redemption 
 purchased by Christ Jesus. The other is an earnest en- 
 deavour to render that interest clear to the heart, by the faith- 
 ful discharge of every duty, and a constant study to glorify 
 God by holiness of living, and universal obedience to his 
 will. Where these characters exist in sincerity, faith, al- 
 though it may be feeble, is still genuine, and the believer 
 may be truly an heir of eternal life ; although, dubious and 
 uncertain of his relation to Christ, his mind may be often 
 covered with darkness and perplexity. 
 
436 
 
 OF A STRONG FAITH. 
 
 This exercise of the soul implies such a clear, deep, and 
 habitual persuasion of divine truth as easily overcomes the 
 undue and seductive influence of worldly things. And the 
 habitual warmth of its devotion, and its zeal in promoting, as 
 far as its power extends, the interests of the Redeemer's 
 kingdom, impart such internal evidence of sincerity, as leaves 
 no doubt or hesitancy, in the most humble believer, in ap- 
 propriating the free and gracious provisions of the gospel. 
 Confiding in the amplitude and riches of divine grace, and the 
 faithfulness of the divine promise, he enjoys such a serene 
 and stedfast assurance of faith, as frequently enables him, in 
 the language of the apostle, to rejoice with joy unspeakable 
 and full of glory. This calm and settled confidence in the 
 security of his spiritual state, and interest in the covenanted 
 mercy of God, forms one of the distinguishing characters of a 
 strong faith, and enables the believer to discharge his duty 
 with the greater comfort, and to fulfil its labours, and endure 
 its trials, with the greater constancy and fortitude. Job pre- 
 sents an interesting example of this faith, in his devout and fer- 
 vent exclamation, / know that my Redeemer liveth, and 
 though^ after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet, in my 
 flesh, I shall see God, This also is that degree of faith 
 testified by the apostle Paul in the following language : Iknom 
 in whom I have trusted, and am persuaded that fie is able 
 
43? 
 
 to keep that which I have committed to him against that day 
 It is the same which, in another place, he calls iliefuU as- 
 surance of faith. To it, likewise, the prophet Isaiah seems 
 to allude, in an expression that deserves to be explained— 
 Let liim take hold of my strength that he may make peace 
 Tvith me ,- alluding evidently to the privilege which certain 
 criminals enjoyed of fleeing, and taking hold of the horns, 
 which were the strength of the altar, in order to escape the 
 stroke of vengeance or of justice. The obvious interpreta- 
 tion of which language is — let him, with confidence, trust my 
 power to save, and therein enjoy the security of my protec- 
 tion. 
 
 There is, indeed, a confidence of salvation, and a joy aris- 
 ing out of this assurance which the hypocrite may taste as 
 well as the believer, and, sometimes, in a higher degree. 
 But these affections may be discriminated from each other, 
 by considering the necessary effects, and certain fruits, of a 
 genuine faith. Believing the entire corruption of our nature, 
 it produces the deepest humiliation before God. The joy 
 of the hypocrite, on the other hand, begets an exultation of 
 heart, in which little of the true humility of repentance is to 
 be found. To the believer, the goodness and mercy of God, 
 to a sinner so unworthy, occasions the profoundest self-abase- 
 ment ; in the hypocrite it creates an unreasonable estimation 
 of himself, and a pharisaic self-complacency in the idea that 
 fa€ is better than others. The one, although his own happi- 
 
438 
 
 ness contributes greatly to heighten his joy of faith, rejoices 
 chiefly in the beauty of holiness ; to the other, his own feli- 
 city is the principal consideration in those triumphs which 
 at some times occupy and elevate his soul. The one loves 
 God supremely for the holiness of his nature ; the other is 
 soothed by a flattering self-complacency, in being distinguish- 
 ed as a peculiar object of divine favour. 
 
 Br WHAT VIRTUE IN FAITH IS IT THAT IT CONFERS A 
 BIGHT TO THE BLESSINGS OF THE COVENANT. 
 
 Having before pointed faith out as the condition of the 
 covenant of grace, I will noW- consider a question which aris- 
 es in consequence, and is often asked, by what virtue in 
 that grace is it that all the rich and unmerited blessings of 
 the covenant are freely conferred on the unworthiness of the 
 believing sinner? — Several figurative expressions found in 
 the holy scriptures, or employed on this subject by various 
 divines, have been resorted to as suggesting the proper an* 
 swer. But all this kind of imagery, serves rather to amuse 
 the imagination, than to afford satisfaction to the judgment. 
 Faith has been said, for example, to act as the hand which, 
 by accepting the mercies freely proffered to the believing 
 sinner, constitutes, according to the tenor of the covenant, 
 his lawful title of possession. Other figures exhibit the be- 
 liever as taking refuge in Jesus Christ, as a harrassed pil- 
 grim, beneath a secure covert from the tempest, or a defence- 
 
439 
 
 less man, behind his shield, from the dart of an enemy. 
 These may term agreeable images in eloquent discourse, but 
 do not explain the subject to the understanding. The effi- 
 cacy of faith does not arise from any natura), or necessary 
 virtue in this act of the mind to merit, or procure the bless- 
 ing, but from the good pleasure of God, and the merciful 
 constitution of the covenant of grace. — To render the sub- 
 ject more obvious, I lay down the following proposilions. 
 God infinitely merciful delights not in the misei-y of the of-, 
 fender. ^ His supreme felicity consists in imparting happi- 
 ness to all who can be made to enjoy it in consistency with 
 the holy perfections of his nature, or, in other words, with 
 the eternal and necessary laws of the moral universe. Hav- 
 ing been pleased that the indispensible claims of his justice 
 should be satisfied by the sacrifice of the cross, he now on- 
 ly wants a fit subject of his mercy, most freely to bestow it. 
 Faith possesses this virtue, that, by the belief of the gra- 
 cious truths, and promises of the gospel, it becomes, the 
 most efficient principle of the regeneration and sanctification 
 of our nature. The proper efficacy of faith then is, that it 
 prepares the aoul to be a fit recipient of those blessings 
 which the infinite benevolence of the Deity is ever willing to 
 confer on those who know how to value them, and are quali- 
 fied to enjoy them. All the mercies of the gospel are 
 transferred to the believer through Jesus Christ, through 
 whom il has become just in God to justify the sinner. 
 Such being the constitution of the covenant of grace. 
 
440 
 
 faith hath been made the principle of a moral and legal union 
 with Christ, so that all his merits are imputed to the believ- 
 er, and become his title with divine justice, as if he were 
 one with the Redeemer. This union is represented in the 
 holy scriptures under different images which indicate it to be 
 of the most intimate kind. It is the union of the members 
 with the head — the connexion of the branches with the vine 
 •—the junction of the whole building with the corner stone 
 upon which it rests. Expressions which convey, in lively- 
 figures, the relation of believers to Christ through, faith, and 
 the intimacy of union which subsists between them. — Such 
 is the virtue of the grace of faith, on which it becomes a ra- 
 tional, as it is acknowledged to be the scriptural ground of 
 bestowing on the believer all the blessings of the New Cove- 
 nant. 
 
OF THE 
 
 EXTERNAL SEALS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COVENANT OF GRACE 
 
 As God has been pleased to exhibit his grace to the world 
 iinder the idea of a covenant which he condescends to enter 
 Into with the penitent and believing sinner, and provisionally 
 offers to all who, by the gospel, are called from among our 
 fallen and corrupted race, to seek the inheritance of eternal 
 life, v»'e have just ground to expect that every ordinary form; 
 which usage has annexed to a transaction of this kind among 
 men, will be preserved in this appointment of God. There- 
 fore, to the gracious protnise of the covenant, which, as has 
 before been shewn, constitutes its essence, he has annexed 
 his seal, in order to add greater authenticity to this object 
 of our faith, and give it a more affecting impression on the 
 heart. 
 
 COVENANT OF GRACE. 
 
 A seal is usually, any emblemal.c symbol employed in 
 
 consequence of the agreemeni oi parties, or appomled by 
 
 56 
 
442 
 
 public authorily, to be a sign, and memorial of consent in 
 covenants, or an aulhenlic testimonial, that any transaction 
 into which we have entered, is our own act. For the same 
 purpose, in the early and rude ages, parties forming a 8ol« 
 emn compact frequently erected a pillar as a permanent me- 
 morial of the fact, or, more solemnly, built an altar, con6rm» 
 ing their paction by an act of religion. Often they gave a 
 small portion of the soil which was transferred by the con- , 
 tract, a penny of the sum which was to be paid, or some I 
 earnest or pledge of possession or fulfilment of the covenant. | 
 All these acts were of the nature of seals. In ages more re- 
 fined instead of these rude devices, some hieroglyphic or 
 symbolic representation was added to written contracts for 
 the same purpose. In the church God has instituted sym- 
 bolical actions, by which the Covenant of Grace is visibly 
 ratified, when he offers it to the acceptance of believers and 
 their offspring, as in the ordinance of baptism ; or by Avhich 
 they solemnly declare their acceptance of its terms, as in the 
 Lord's Supper. Baptism may be called the hieroglyphic, 
 or symbol of regeneration ; as the Lord's Supper is of the 
 sacrifice of our redemption, and of the charity which should 
 unite believers in love to their common Lord, and to one an* 
 other. These actions, therefore from their nature, and from 
 the uses to which they are applied, partake of the essence 
 of seals. 
 
 ■■:^% 
 
443 
 
 Their being appointed by Almighty God to be employed 
 as seals of the Covenant of Grace, may be further establish- 
 ed, from the express words of the apostle, by whom cir- 
 cumcision is styled, a seal of the righteousness which is by 
 faith ; Rom. iv. 1 1 : and from the analogy which subsists 
 between the ordinances of baptism and circumcision. Both 
 are emblems of purification ; bo(h administered on the con- 
 dition of believing the promise of God in the Messiah ; both 
 are the external sign and confirmation of this failh ; and both 
 are applied, as shall be shewn, hereafter, for attaining all the 
 gracious purposes of the covenant to believers, and to 
 their infant seed. And this style has been used, with respect 
 to baptism in particular, by the earliest writers in the chris- 
 tian church ; and by those who were cotemporary with, or 
 who immediately succeeded the apostles. 
 
 OTHER DENOMINATIONS APPLIED TO THEM* 
 
 Besides the denominations which these ordinances have 
 respectively received, arising from circumstances peculiar 
 (o each ; such as the regeneration of water applied to bap- 
 tism, and the eucharist, and communion applied to the Lord's 
 Supper, they have, from the earliest ages, been entitled 
 mysteries and sacraments. The former term was borrowed 
 from the pagan worship, and cherished by the converts from 
 that superstition, through a natural attachment to ancient 
 forms and usages, from which cause it was early introduced 
 
444 
 
 into the temples of Christianity. The sublime principles of 
 natural religion which were discovered by the philosophers, 
 or had been handed down by tradition from the remotest anti- 
 quity, and preserved in their temples by their priests, who 
 had mingled them, however, with the grossest superstitions 
 of the vulgar, were considered as too elevated for the popu- 
 lar understanding. They were separated, therefore, from the 
 common mass of pagan doctrines, and reserved to be commu- 
 nicated only to a few men whose rank gave them superior 
 means of information, or who had rendered themselves wort(hy 
 the distinctroQ by eminent virtue and prudence. When 
 men of this character offered themselves to the college which 
 presided over the public religion, they were, with great so- 
 lemnity introduced into the recesses of their temples, and 
 there instructed in those theological principles which it was 
 supposed the body of the people were not capable of under- 
 standing, or were not worthy to receive. Those who were 
 thus instructed were called the initiated^ and the rites ac- 
 companying these instructions, were named mysteries, from 
 a Greek term implying silence, because they respected doc- 
 trines which were not to be communicated to the people. 
 And the initiated were laid under the most sacred obligations 
 not to reveal aught, which passed on those occasions, within 
 their temples. Since the sacraments of the christian church 
 were designed, in like manner, to discriminate the faithful from 
 the profane, and were not to be imparted promiscuously, but 
 reserved for those only who had attained a spiritual, and sub-* 
 
limer knowledge of its principles, which the world did not 
 enjoj, they were, in allusion to the mysteries of their an- 
 cient temples, which had acquired their early reverence, 
 and were held in great veneration throughout the Roman 
 empire, called by the same name. 
 
 The denomination of sacrament has a different origin. It 
 was the military oath among the Romans, by which the sol- 
 diers plighted their allegiance to their general, or to the em- 
 peror. And as the christian life has been styled a warfare, 
 in which the believer contends not only against spiritual ene- 
 mies, but often, especially in that early age, was exposed 
 to the most formidable dangers, he is justly said to pledge 
 himself, in these ordinances, to the Lord Jesus Christ, as 
 the captain of his salvation ; to fight under his banner ; 
 to endure, in his service, every trial ; and to expose him- 
 self, if necessary, to danger, and to death. And the primi- 
 live christians, in the immediate prospect of great conflicts, 
 and of persecution, often renewed, by these holy rites, their 
 vows of fidelity to their Lord, and reanimated their courage 
 in suffering ; especially by the sacrament of the Lord's sup- 
 per. The term sacrament is not found among the writers of 
 the New Testament ; it was, however, very early adopted 
 by the first christians. The apostles having represented 
 the service of the cross under allusions borrowed from a state 
 of warfare, and their followers finding, in painful experience, 
 ^-he perils and sufferings they were compelled to endure, soon 
 
 •Ik 
 
446 
 
 applied to (he vows by which they devoted themselves to 
 their Redeemer, a title so familiar to them in the military life. 
 
 THE DESIGN OF THE EXTERNAL SEALS OF THE COVENANT. 
 
 It is of importance to every christian distinctly to understand 
 Uie import of his public use of the seals of the Covenant, and 
 of the obligations which he imposes on his soul by this solemn 
 act. Annexing our seal to the Covenant of Grace, or using 
 the seal which God has appointed, necessarily implies our full 
 belief of the precious doctrines involved in that covenant, and 
 a hearty acquiescence in all its conditions. It implies, at the 
 same time, a vow of consecration, by which he renews his 
 self-devotion to the service of God through Jesus Christ. 
 And, lastly, it implies, with regard to the believer himself, 
 a personal ratification of the Covenant, on his part, by a sen- 
 sible symbol calculated more strongly to authenticate the 
 transaction— to assist faith by the co-operation of sense — to 
 fix a deeper impression on the heart, thereby confirming the 
 purposes of duty, and leaving a more awful testimony for 
 God, if he should afterwards prove unfaithful to this most sa- 
 cred of our duties in the church, 
 
 THE DIFFERENT IMPORT OF THE TWO SEALS. 
 
 The ordinances of baptism, and the Lord's supper, being 
 both regarded as the seals of the Covenant of Grace, it is 
 
^47 
 
 accessary, with particular care, to attend to the proper dk- 
 tinciion existing between them. The former may be regard- 
 ed chiefly as the seal annexed immediately by God, through 
 his publir. servants in the church, to this covenant, to give it 
 authenticity, and to ratify it on his part to his people. The 
 latter may be considered principally as the seal annexed by 
 the believer to the same covenant, confirming his acceptance 
 of its terms, and laying his soul, by that act, under the most 
 sacred obligations of obedience. A covenant, being a mutual 
 stipulation, requires, in order to its completion, the seals of 
 the respective parties. God, by the ministry of his servants, 
 who are officers in his church, annexes his own seal in 
 baptism ; and in the communion of the body and blood of the 
 Lord, the believer personally affixes his seal to the same in- 
 strument. The veracity of God, indeed, needs no such ad- 
 ventitious confirmation. But as he has been pleased so far 
 to adapt himself to the weakness of human nature, which is 
 ever strongly moved by sensible impressions, he has not only 
 offered his grace to the world in the form which takes place 
 in covenant transactions among men, but confirmed it, accord- 
 ing to the same customs, by the legal and authoritative sanc- 
 tion of a seal. That baptism is to be viewed chiefly as the 
 seal of God affixed to his own covenant, may be concluded, 
 not only from the ordinary forms of this instrument, but from 
 its analogy to circumcision, in the room of which rite it has 
 manifestly been substituted. The apostle declares that Abra- 
 ham received, frooa God, circumcision, « seal of the right 
 
44g 
 
 eousness which is by faith; that is, a sign and assurance that, 
 through the Redeeoier, he would accept the righteousness of 
 faith instead of the perfect obedience of the original law of 
 works. You observe the style of the expression : — The 
 seal of circumcision he received from God confirming this 
 gracious privilege to the believing patriarch. It is not said 
 that he gave this rite or seal as a pledge of his own obedience. 
 
 The intention of the rite is justly argued from its being ap- 
 plied to the infant offspring of Abraham as it is now admin- 
 istered to the children of christian parents who are (he spir- 
 itual seed of Abraham. Infants, of this tender age, are not 
 capable of any covenant transaction by themselves, and in 
 their own name ; but they are susceptible of provisional and 
 covenanted blessings through their parents from the infinite 
 Author of all mercy and grace. And surely it is a blessing; 
 and an act of grace of the first magnitude, in God, to meet 
 us who were heirs of death, at our entrance into the world, 
 by the provisional propositions of salvation through Jesus 
 Christ, visibly ratified under the seal of that covenant which 
 cancels the condemnation of the violated law, and places us 
 by this act, publicly and solemnly under the dispensation of 
 mercy in the New Covenant established with the second 
 Adam. 
 
 I add, that, although baptism is to be regarded chiefly as 
 the seal of God, which he visibly and publicly annexes by 
 
449 
 
 the cliurcb, to his own proHTers of mercy ; yet^ as (he rites of 
 religion may, freqiienlly, be taken in a double sense, this or- 
 dinance as it respects the act of the parent, maV be viewed 
 also as liis own seal, by which he declares his belief, and ac- 
 ceptance of the covenant, i(s promises, conditions and duties 
 on his own behalf — his choice of its blessings as the portion 
 of his child — and his consecration of hiu.self, and his prC" 
 cious offspring, to the glory and service of Almighty God. 
 
 1. Baptism is our christian circumcision, a seal of the 
 righteousness which is by faith. But that we may have a 
 clearer view of the nature and importance of this ordinance, 
 we must go back to the origin of its type in the ancient 
 church. When religious truth was likely to perish from the 
 world, which, in a few ages after the deluge, was overwhelm- 
 ed in idolatry, and sunk in extreme dissolution of manners, 
 it pleased God, nearly in the beginning of that general dark- 
 ness and corruption, to establish a church in which he might 
 preserve the knowledge of his name, and deposit his holy 
 oracles with the future hopes of the universe. This church 
 consisted, in the beginning, of the single family of Abraham, 
 with whom he entered into a gracious covenant, accepting, 
 as his title to eternal life, the righteousness of faith in the fu- 
 ture Saviour,* who was to spring from his own loins ; engag- 
 
 ■*This is fr^Irly inferred from the expression of the apostle, \\ ho styles the ?rt1 
 of the Abraharaic Covenant the aeal of the rigkttffusness which is by/aith, 
 . 57 
 
450 
 
 iDg that " be would be a God to biai, and to bis seed aflcr 
 hiiii ;" and promising fbat, fmallj, in bim all the families of 
 the earth should be blessed by the Advent of tbe Messiah. 
 T bat this grace might be rendered the more sure, and that the 
 faith of this chosen friend of God might have the firmer 
 ground on which to rest, he added to bis promise his sacra- 
 mental seal or oath, that, by iivo immiUablc things in which 
 it was impossible for God to lie, Abraham^ and all Trho fol- 
 low the faith of Abraham, might have strong consolation, 
 who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before 
 them. For, saith the apostle, Abraham received circum' 
 cision a seal of the righteousness, that is, of the means of 
 justification and acceptance with God, rvhich is by faith. — 
 This covenant, with all its appendages of rites and forms, of 
 types and symbols, of prophets and priests, of altars and vic- 
 tims, with all its doctrines, its precepts, and its promises, was 
 placed in the keeping of the church, for its consolation, for 
 its instruction in righteousness, and for the quickening and 
 direction in the divine life of all true believers. If we ask, 
 then, with the apostle, what proBt is there of circumcision ? 
 the answer will yield some useful lights on this subject. It 
 is the seal which God has been pleased to annex to the pro- 
 positions of his mercy, by which anciently he confirmed to 
 the church the great charter of her spiritual privileges, and 
 whicTi, being impressed on every Israelite, continually re- 
 minded him of his obligations — continually placed before him 
 his duties, and his immortal hopes— -assured him of the gra- 
 
451 
 
 cious protection of Almighty God, anil designatet] bim as a 
 memJjer of that chosen community to whose pious custody 
 were committed his holy oracles, those precious treasures of 
 divine truth. While other nations were left to the obscure 
 teacJiings. of nature, and the errors of a depraved reason, ibis 
 Bealed nation were made the depositaries of clearer lights, 
 and the heirs of sublimer hopes. The emblems which were 
 engraven, if I may speak so, on that seal, I mean the blood 
 of circumcision, corresponding with the water of baptism, 
 pointed to that purity of heart which is the end of all true 
 religion ; and to that precious blood, which is, at once, the 
 purchase of our salvation, and the tbuntain in which all our 
 sins are cleansed. Such was the benefit of this ancient rite 
 to the church founded in Abraham, and afterwards embracing 
 all the posterity of Israel : to them were committed the ora- 
 cles of God with ail their lights, their hopes, their graces, their 
 means of holiness and of eternal life. 
 
 These brief expositions will afford some principles by 
 which to explain the nature and the benefits of that baptismal 
 rite which Christ has substituted in the room of the Abra- 
 hamic and Mosaic symbol of the promise. Baptism is our 
 christian circumcision ; the seal of a more pure and luminous 
 dispensation of the covenant than that either of Moses, or of 
 Abraham. And it is with the view of proposing, as far as I 
 am able, some precise and definite ideas on this initiating in* 
 stitution of the christian church, that I have made these pre- 
 
452 
 
 hiory observations ou the corresponding rite of the preced- 
 ing dispeusalion. 
 
 That I may give as much perypicuity and precision as pos- 
 sible to our ideas concerning this holy ordinance^ it will be 
 necessary to go into some details concerning its original in- 
 stitution and design, and its proper subjects ; because with 
 these its benefits are intimately connected, and from them its 
 duties and obligations immediately result. 
 
 1. The nature and design of baptism may be rendered ob- 
 vious from two sources of illustration ; one is the use and ap- 
 plication of a similar rite which was frequent in the ancient 
 Jewish and Greek nations, whence, probably, it was trans- 
 feri*ed into the christian church ; the other is the denomina- 
 tion, borrowed from the Abrahamic dispensation of the cove- 
 nant, which, from the very first ages, it has received among 
 christians, of a seed of the Covenant of Grace. 
 
 Many of the great and distinguished teachers, and founders 
 of sects among the Jews, applied baptism as a right of initia- 
 tion into their respective schools. It was a symbol of disci- 
 pleship, and regarded as an emblem of that purify of mind^ 
 ;and that virtuous simplicity of manners, which spring from 
 the love of truth, and are expected in all those who are en- 
 gaged in the pursuit of wisdom. Such was, probably, the 
 Cleaning of the baptism of John, the great forerunner of the 
 
453 
 
 ;Vlessiah.* He taught a new and more rigorous diaclpline 
 of repentance than was known to the Jews of that age. And 
 the disciples who followed him, ad^iiring the sanctity of his 
 doctrine and the abstemious purify of his manners, he ini- 
 tiated by baptism,t preparing them, in this manner, for that 
 still more pure and perfect discipline which was shortly to be 
 introduced by the Saviour of the world. It was, besides, re- 
 quired by the customs of that nation, that all proselytes from 
 among the Gentiles should be initiated into the church of Is- 
 rael and make their profession of the doctrines of Moses, and 
 the prophets, by baptism. 
 
 The ordinance of baptism, therefore, considered simply in 
 the view which has just been presented to you, contains a 
 pledge of our discipleship — a public avowal of Christ as our 
 great Master and Teacher — an explicit profession of our 
 faith in the doctrines taught by his Spirit in those holy ora- 
 cles committed to the custody of his church for its illumina- 
 tion and sanctification. 
 
 * The same rite of initiation into their sciiools, and with the same meaning, waj 
 frequently used by the philosophers of Greece, as well as of. many eastern nations, 
 from whom the Greeks borrowed it. 
 
 f This fact serves to explain a passage in the Acts of the Apostles. Paul meet- 
 ing with certain disciples in Asia who were very imperfectly instructed in the prin- 
 ciples of the gospel, demanded of them unto what they had been bapiiscd ? that is, 
 to what system of doctrines;' They answered, unto John'' 3 baptism. The}t were 
 disciples of John, and had embraced only the doctrine of repentance wl.iph he 
 had taught. This custom explains the meaning of St. Paul -when he t/ianlcs God 
 that he had baptised none of them but Cri.pus and Ciaius, lest any should say he 
 had bapti'sid in his onn nam*", the;eby putting himself at the head of a new sect; 
 
464: 
 
 Although a man, at the age of reason, may justly make 
 this profession for himself, it may be asked, perhaps, if a oa- 
 rent can rightfully make it in the name of his infant, so that 
 when that infant shall have arrived at maturity, it shall be le- 
 gally considered as his act ? Whatever dififerences of opin- 
 ion may exist with regard to this question, according to the 
 various lights in which the subject of it may be viewed, all 
 Trill agree in the following principle, that it is both the right, 
 and the duty of a parent to place his beloved offspring un- 
 der the best means to enlighten and cultivate their minds, to 
 form their hearts, to regulate their lives, and to prepare 
 them, if possible, for the highest happiness, both in this 
 world, and the world to come ; in one word, to initiate them 
 In the school of Christ.* This school is the church : these 
 means of education are the ordinances, the instructions, the 
 discipline, the watchful care, and prayers of the church. 
 And it is one, and not the least of the spiritual blessings re- 
 sulting from baptism in infancy, that, thereby, parents, in 
 addition to the tender constraints of natural duty, impose up- 
 on themselves the most solemn voluntary obligations to train 
 
 * Ujjon this Eubject, one would think that there could not exist any diversity 
 of opinion. It seems to be a manifest principle of justice, that a parent has a 
 right to enter into contract, or to make any engagement in the name of his child, 
 for his benefit, which it is the privilege of his child, when he arrives at mature 
 age, to accept ; although he is at liberty also, to his own detriment, to reject ; 
 and which, if it involves his duty, as well as his interest, as in the present case, 
 he ig under sacred obligations to fulfil. Such engagement is not imposing on our 
 nosterlty a hnrdtn, but gainiog for them a htwfit. 
 
455 
 
 Up their children in the nurture and admonHion of llir 
 Lord ; and that cliililien enjoy sflll further advantages by 
 being^ placed under the immediate and special care of that ho 
 ly community to whom are committed the oracles of God. 
 
 2. But there is another and more interesting h"ght in which 
 this ordinance is to be viewed. It is the seal by which God 
 has condescended visibly to confirm to the church the bles- 
 sings of the New Covenant which he has graciously estab- 
 lished in Christ for the redemption of the world. This was 
 the import of the correspondent rite of the church of Israel. 
 God gave to Abraham circumcision a seal of the righteous-' 
 ness which is by faith. "^ And this is one of the principal 
 denominations by which baptism has been designated io the 
 christian church from the earliest ages. But here it is ne- 
 cessary to remark and correct an error upon this subject 
 which has unhappily disturbed the ideas of many good and 
 excellent men. Baptism has been regarded by them as the 
 
 * A seal of the righteousness of the faith nhich he had, being zincircumcised. 
 This expression cannot reasonably be supposed to mean, as has been asserted by 
 ?orae writers, merely a declaration of the sincerity of Abraham's faith j for this 
 seal was administered to the cfTspring of Abraham at an age in which no such de- 
 claration could be expected from them. Besides the apostle, in the place is 
 ppeaking of circumcision, not merely as a sign given to Abraham in particular, 
 but as an ordinance of the church. In this general view it was desi{;ned as a seal 
 of the righteousness of faith ; that is, of that gracious covenant wbicli lias substi- 
 tuted the righteousncs" nhich comes by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the room 
 of the perfect and personal obedience required by the first covenant, and which 
 has DOW become impracticable to the frailty and corniplion of honnan watnrf. Vie 
 iBg possible only through a Mediator, and Surety. 
 
456 
 
 seal of the believing parent given, botli in his own name, and 
 in that of his child, as its natural proxj, testifying his entire 
 acquiescence in the tonditions of the covenant ; and, by the 
 same act, laying the child under an obligation of acquiescing 
 in them, and fulfilling them, as soon as it shall attain the age 
 of reason. And undoubtedly, the act of the parent, in of- 
 fering his child to receive the seal of baptism is, on his part, 
 a formal acknowledgment of the covenant and profession of 
 faith in- its gracious promises. It has, likewise, been admit- 
 ted, and has been before asserted, that a parent possesses 
 from nature, and fr^m religion, a right to enter into any right- 
 eous covenant in the name of his child, when the objects of 
 that covenant are only blessings, and privileges ; and espe- 
 cially when its conditlens or terms are antecedent duties. 
 
 Baptism, however, in the just and scriptural view of it. Is 
 chiefly to be considered as the outward and visible seal which 
 God has been pleased to annex to his own promise ; a pro- 
 mise which he has graciously given to the church under 
 the form of a covenant engagement ; by this seal ratifying, 
 and confirming to' her, and to all who are taken into her care, 
 the propositions of his grace and mercy, through Jesus 
 Christ. Abraham did not give to God the seal of circumcis- 
 ion as a pledge of his duty and obedience ; but the scrip- 
 ture declares, he received it from God for himself and his 
 offspring, in order to confirm that gracious covenant, or pro- 
 
457 
 
 mise which he had made to the father of the faithful ; I iviU 
 be a God to yon, and your seed after you.^ 
 
 Do you ask if it is not doing dishonour to the faithfulness of 
 Jehovah to suppose that his promise requires to be confirmed 
 by symbols and sacraments, by oaths and seals ? Is not his 
 word alone the firm, and immutable foundation of every believ-^ 
 er's trust and hope ? It is true the veracity of God needs no 
 support from outward forms ; and it is not for his sake, but for 
 ours, that he is sonietimes pleased to employ them, in order to 
 give the deeper impression to divine truth upon the heart. 
 Frail as we are, and receiving all our impressions through the 
 medium of the senses, ideas, merely intellectual, arc neither 
 
 * If we refer to the whole strain of the kietoiy, in the 17 th chapter of Genesis 
 which records the transactions of God with Abraham, Ihia interpretation will be 
 confirmed. It was a covenant entirely of Xh^'^ratuitom kind, on the part of God, 
 engaging b7*an expresiion of the most comprehensive meaoinj — [I will be a God to 
 yoii, ^c] to bestow the mo»t ainple spiiitual blessings on his chosen servant, and 
 on his posterity. In every covenant of this nature the forms of ratification are 
 used by him only, and are intended to oblige only him who bestows the favour. 
 The beneficiary simply receives the prumiie, or charter which, when confirmed by 
 the requisite legal forms, and ratified hy the seal of the benefactor, becomes his 
 title of inheritance, or possession, on the performance of whatever condition it 
 c6ntaiu3. 
 
 It was not an unusual thing for Almighty God thus to confirm his promises and 
 •covenants to patriarchs, and holy meo, by some external sign, or token. His pro- 
 mise to Noah he confirmed by his bow in the clouds. To Gideon he gave a sign, 
 or seal of his commission to be the deliverer of Israel, by consuming his sacrifice 
 upon the rock. To .ibraham he gave the sign of Circumcision. And, on another 
 occasion, he caused a burning lamp to pass between the parts of his sacrifice. To 
 Hczekiah the sign of the shadow reiurniug back upon the dial was added to the 
 promise of his recovery. And to the hou>t, of David, and of Israel, he give by 
 fhe prophet Isaiah, this onviiterioui sign, u, virgin shall conniviand btar a S9n. 
 
 58 
 
4d8 
 
 so clearly conceived, nor take such Grrn possession of the soul'; 
 as when they are embodied, if I may speak so, and conveyed 
 to us under sensible images. It is not, therefore, unworthy 
 of the glory and wisdom of God ; ort the other hand, it is a 
 proof of his infinite benignity and condescension, to confirm 
 to us the everlasting truth of his word, by such impressive 
 and external symbols as will unite the influence of sense with 
 (hat of intellect and faith, in giving the doctrine of his grace 
 their full effect upon the mind. Hence God has been pleas- 
 ed to exhibit the promises of his mercy to mankind through 
 Jesus Christ, under the gracious title of a covenant ; and, a& 
 ter the manner of such conventions among men ; and in or- 
 der more perfectly to adapt himself to that susceptibility of 
 sensible impressions which belongs to our nature, he has 
 condescended to confirm his truth in that transaction by pub- 
 licly and visibly annexing to it his own seal. Let me illus- 
 trate this idea by an analogy borrowed from civil transactions. 
 As charters conveying special privileges to corporations, or 
 to individuals are scaled, and authenticated by public offi- 
 cers duly appointed and commissioned for that purpose by 
 the sovereign power ; in like manner, is this precious char- 
 ter of our spiritual and immortal privileges, confirmed to us 
 by the seal of the Great Head of the church affixed to it, m 
 the name of God, by ministers solemnly set apart for this 
 end according to the order which he has established in his 
 spiritual kingdom ; so that whatever is rightfully performed 
 by them may be justly said to be done by him. Baptism,* 
 
459 
 
 Ibereforc, is the seal of God applied to his own covenant, 
 thereby con6rraing to those, to whom it is administered, ihe 
 propositions of his mercy through Jesus Christ, and visibly 
 testifying that they are taken from under the curse of the ori- 
 ginal and broken covenant, which admitted only of perfect 
 ohediencey and condemned the transgressor to eternal death, 
 and placed under the new dispensation of grace, which con- 
 fers forgiveness on repentance, and salvation on tiie obedi- 
 ence of faith. 
 
 As every public seal contains emblems expressive of the 
 nature, and security of the blessings it confers, we see in like 
 manner, this christian seal distinguished by emblems, the 
 most simple, indeed, but the most impressive and august. 
 We see in it the symbol of that precious blood which was 
 shed for our redemption, and of the Holy Spirit by whose 
 gracious influences the principles of a divine life are infused 
 into the soul, and cherished to perfection ; and, finally, the 
 symbol of that heavenly purity which should adorn and dis- 
 tinguish the disciples of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Thus have I presented to you this ordinance in its double 
 signification : as the rite by which we are initiated into the 
 school of Christ ; and as the seal by which God continually 
 repeats and confirms the gracious propositions and promises 
 of his covenant to the seed of the church. 
 
460 
 
 2. 1 shall, in the next place, proceed to point out the pro 
 per subjects of this ordinance. For on the right of our 
 chil iren to receive the seal of the covenant depends, in my 
 view, its principal benefits. This right, then, is demonstrat- 
 ed from analogy ; from scripture example ; and from thn 
 whole stream of the history of the primitive church. 
 
 1. From analogy, in the first place.-— If the father of the 
 faithful received from God the seal of the righteousness which 
 is by faith ; that is, of the covenant of grace, in which that 
 faith which unites us to Christ, making us partakers of his 
 merits, and acting as the principle of a holy life, is*" accepted 
 instead of the perfect righteousness of the law ; and if he was 
 permitted, as a precious privilege, to impress it on all his 
 oflfspring ; does not this right belong, with still stronger rea- 
 son to believing parents, under the dispensation of the gos- 
 pel ? For the coming of the Messiah, far from having abridg- 
 ed, has greatly extended ihe privileges of the faithful. 
 
 2. Let us hear in the next place, the clear and strong lan- 
 guage of the apostle Paul. " The promise," saith he, " was 
 not to Abraham or his seed through the law, but through the 
 righteousness of faith. And it is of faith that it might be by 
 grace ;" that is, of free favour, and not purchased by any 
 meritorious works of man, " to (he end, that the promise 
 might be sure to all \\\e seed, not to that only which is of the 
 law," or his natural ppsterily, composing the Jewish church. 
 
461 
 
 but to that also which Is of the faith of Abraham,— i?o>n. iv. 
 13 — 16 : meaning the believing Gcntilea who should be called 
 to a participation of his privileges. What, then, is ih^it pro- 
 mise made sure, by the seal of the covenant, to all the seed, 
 both under the law, and under the gospel ? If we look bacii 
 to the institution of this covenant with Abraham, and of the 
 holy seal by which it was confirmed, we there find the pro- 
 mise ; / 7vitl be a God to thee and to thy seed after thee. This 
 is what was emphatically called the promise by the ancient 
 Jewish writers ; and was, as I have formerly shewn, another 
 denomination for the covenant of grace. Under the same 
 denomination it is frequently referred to in the writings of the 
 apostles. And whenever this holy transaction is mentioned 
 by the sacred writers, under this form, it is manifest that they 
 intend the peculiar promise of the gospel, which is salvation 
 by Christ through the righteousness of faith, comprehending 
 all that is implied in the covenant of grace. Of this no other 
 proof need be adduced than its being so often put by thetn in 
 contrast with the law.* To receive the seal of this promise 
 
 * See particularly the Ep. to Gal. ch. iii. v. IG, 17, 18,— 21— 29.— 18, If tlic 
 Inheritance be by works of the law, it i:^ no more of promise. 2J, Is thf law, 
 then against the promise of God. 24—29, The law is our schoolmaster to bring u« 
 to Christ. If we he CkrisPs, then are we Jbraham^s seed, and heirs according to 
 the promise. 16, 17, Now to Abraham and hia seed were the promises made. 
 And this I say that the co\-enant, plainly implying the covenant contained in the 
 promises, which was conGrmed before of God in Christ, the law whicli was four 
 h.undred and thirty yearg after, cannot di.'^anmil, that it should make the promise 
 of none effect. The promise here is evidently equivalent to the covenant made 
 with Abraham: and what could that covenant hfr which rWMCon/injied e/'Gwfjn 
 Chr'^f, but the covenant of grace P 
 
4a2 
 
 was the precious privilege of the seed oF Abraham ; it uras 
 the privilege of his children's children to the remotest genera- 
 tions. And on the same ground, pursuing the apostle's rea- 
 soning, it is the privilege of the children of his faith, /or thei) 
 who are of faith are the children of Abraham. If ye be 
 Christ^ Sy then are ye Abraham^ s seed, and heirs according 
 to the fromise; the promise given to Abraham at the institu- 
 tion of the covenant — I will he a God to thee, and to thy seed 
 after thee. To confirm this conchision, no language can oe 
 stronger or more unequivocal than that of the apostle Peter 
 addressed to the vast assembly at Jerusalem touched by his 
 powerful discourse. " Repent, and be baptized every one of 
 you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, 
 and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the 
 promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are 
 afar offj even as many as the Lord our God shall call." As 
 soon as he enjoins it upon them to be baptized, he reminds 
 them of an ulterior duty, to have this holy rite administered 
 io their children, and their household after the example of 
 Abraham : quoting to them that covenanted promise with 
 which every Israelite was so well acquainted, and to which 
 every believer, as well as the patriarch Abraham, is entitled ; 
 — the promise of forgiveness, and acceptance with God 
 
 It deserves here to be remarked, that the very language which is used, the cov^- 
 7iGnt confirmed of God, corroborates, and places almost beyond doubt, the princi- 
 ple, that circumcision, under the ancient dispensation, and baptism under the 
 new, is the seal of God by which it was confirmed, and was added to strenglhen 
 our faith, and to give it deeper impression on the heart of the believeV. 
 
468 
 
 through the righteousness of faith. He adds, and not to yoil 
 only and to your children, who are naturally descendants of 
 Abraham, but to the Gentiles also, who are frequently desig- 
 nated in holy scripture by those who are afar off. Called 
 by Christ into the church, which was so long confined to the 
 posterity of Israel, they are now equally with Jews, entitled 
 to all its blessings, and its privileges, and among others, to 
 this precious seal of the covenant for themselves, and their 
 oflfspring. 
 
 It is in vain to allege, as has been done by certain writers, 
 that the promise here refers to the prediction of the prophet 
 Joel, who foretold that in the last days God tvoidd pour out 
 his Spirit upon all flesh. For what connexion has this proph- 
 ecy with the command to be baptised ? The apostle is answer- 
 ing the anxious inquiry of his hearers, who were pricked in 
 their heart ; men and brethren) what shall we do/* And in 
 his answer, directs them to the proper source of peace, and 
 consolation ; repent and be bapti::ed, and you shall receive 
 the Holy Ghost in his sanctifying power, and his comforting 
 influence : for the promise, through Christ whom I preach, is, 
 according to the tenor of the covenant with your father Abra- 
 ham, to you and to your children ; and not to you only, but to 
 the Gentiles, also, to those who are afar off, who, by faith shall 
 become children of Abraham, and heirs of his blessings. 
 
 Such is the clear and obvious conclusion resulting from the 
 apostle's words, The same consequence arises, with no 
 
464 
 
 less certainty, from the advice addressed by St. Pani td 
 a believing husband or wife, not to separate from the unbe- 
 lieving wife or husband with whom they may be respective- 
 ly connected. For, saith he, the unbeliever is sanctified by 
 the believer, else were your children unclean, but now are 
 they holy. What is the proper import of this term! 
 Throughout the sacred scriptures, it is applied only to such 
 persons or things as are peculiarly set apart, and consecrat- 
 ed to God. In the connexion in which it stands in this pas- 
 sage, it can imply nothing less than that children are quuiifi- 
 ed, by the profession of faith, or the church membership of 
 one of their parents, to be solemnly set apart from the world, 
 and devoted to God — a rite which can visibly take place only 
 in the ordinance of baptism.^ 
 
 If the right of infants to the ordinance of baptism evident- 
 ly results, as, by the preceding illustrations, it appears to 
 do, from the analogy of the christian with the Abrahamic, 
 seal of the covenant, it is still farther confirmed by the prac- 
 tice of the apostles. The passage to which reference has 
 
 * It is a prostitution of language, in this place to confound, as has been done by 
 one sect of christians, holiness with legitimacy of birth. The whole train of the 
 apostle's observations, and reasoning, translated according to this meaning of the 
 term, would be absurd or ridiculous. — For the unbelieving mft is sancHJied, that 
 is, made a legitimate subject of marriage, by the believing husbund, and the im- 
 beliering husband is sanctijiedt that is, made a legitimate subject of marriage, by 
 Ike believing nnfe, therefore, their marriage was lawful; else were your children 
 illegitimate, but now are they lawlully begotten. Besides other absurdities, this 
 would be proving the lawfulness of the marriage by the legitimacy of the children j 
 t'.nd again the legitimacy of the children by the lawfulness of the marriage. 
 
465 
 
 just been made, affords no slight attestation to the practice of 
 St. Paul. In addition to this, when Lydia declared her faith 
 in the Lord Jesus Christ, the i5ame apostle, along with her, 
 hapthed her household. With Jarius also, he baptized alt 
 who were in his house* It has been objected to the evi- 
 dence which he would derive from these facts, that those 
 who are referred to, by the sacred historian, in the house of 
 Jarius, and the hotisehold of Lydia, were only the adults 
 of the respective families, who were themselves believers. 
 What will not the prepossessions of party, or the pride of 
 theory maintain and defend ? For this pretence certainly, 
 the history affords no ground. It assigns no other reason for 
 baptizing these families than simply the faith of Lydia ancl 
 of jarius.* 
 
 3. I add that, if any apostolic usage can derive confirma- 
 tion from the uniform practice, and tradition of the church, 
 to modern, and very recent times, it is that of infant baptism. 
 It is attested by Justin Martyr, who lived only forty years 
 
 * This was perfectly conformable to the example of the Jewish church in recci\-- 
 ing proselytes either by circumcision, or by baptism, from the Gentile nations. 
 The pagan convert who professed his faith in the great legislator of Israel, and 
 the promises made to the fathers, at once incorporated his whole family along with 
 himself, into the body cf that cliosen people. 
 
 It ia eaid, indeed, by the writers who differ from us Ui)0n this subject, that, ii> 
 the history of the New Testament, baptism is never administered except to a per- 
 sonal profession of faith. But, let it be remembered that this history records on- 
 ly examples of proselytes from unbelieving nations. In a similar case, a pei-sonal 
 pnolession of faith fvould be required by the warmest friends of infant baptism. 
 In the few instances in which families have been mentioned, wp n^.e tbatth'^v a^ 
 ■"aj-s follow the faith rf the hcnd. 
 
aftcF the age of the apostles. And the evidences of (he 
 fact are conveyed down in a continued, and unsuspected 
 stream of history, to the time of St. Augustine, and Pela- 
 gius, who, though antagonists in the controversies which 
 were raised in that age, on some of the most important doc- 
 trines of religion, and both of them among the greatest scho- 
 lars, and most eloquent writers of the period in which they 
 lived, declare, " that they had never heard, that they had 
 never read of any, even the most heretical churches, who 
 denied the baptism of infants."^ 
 
 * But few of the writers of the earliest age of the church have escaped the rari- 
 ges of lime, anrl rome rlown to us entirp And no controversy existing at that pe- 
 riod, on the subject of baptism, few occasions occur of directly introducing any 
 precise opinions concerning it, or of explicitly stating the practice of the apostles, 
 and their immediate successors. But wherever this ordinance is mentioned, ei- 
 ther more or less directly, the testimony of the primitive writers is uniformly io 
 favour of tlie baptism of infants. In the second, and especially in the third and 
 following centuries, circumstances having more frequently called for explicit opin- 
 ions on questions relative to this subject, the practice of the primitive church be- 
 comes, from this time more and more evident. Justin Martyr, and Irenaeus, who 
 lived from forty to sixty seven years after the apostles, both speak of those " who 
 were made disciples, and regenerated to God in infancy," a figurative mode of ex- 
 pression familiar in that age, to signify baptism the symbol of discipleship and 
 regeneration Just. Mar. apol. 11. Iren, adv. haeres. lib. 3 chap. 39. 
 
 In the second century some doubts having arisen in the church concerning ori- 
 ginal sin, and the nature and degree of guilt which adheres to infants, we find in 
 the discussions which arose on these subjects, more frequent mention made of the 
 baptism of infants than in the former period. The illustrious Origan, who flour- 
 ished in the very beginning of the second century after the apostles, maintaining 
 tlie original corruption of human nature, derives one of his principal arguments- 
 from the universal practice of the church, of administering baptism to the young- 
 est children;—" If infants, says he, are not liable to original sin, why are they 
 then baptised*"' Homil. 8. in lev. chap. 12. 
 
 St. Gyprian bishop of Carthage, who wrote about one hundred and fifty years 
 after the apostolic age, establishes the general usage of infailt baptism by a qioat 
 convincing fact. He informs us that a council of sixty six bishops being assembled 
 at Carthage, a doubt was proposed by one of them, whose name was Fidus, whs- 
 
4:67 
 
 Having established the right of christian parents to have 
 their otfspring placed under the guardianship and care of the 
 church, in the ordinance of baptism, let ur examine, in the 
 next place, what privileges and blessings are conferred by 
 this act. 
 
 Whether we consider baptism ag the rite by which our 
 children are initiated into the church as the school of Christ, 
 er as the seal which God has been pleased to annex to his 
 covenant, in order to ratify, and more effectually, to con- 
 firm to our faith the promises of his grace, its privileges and 
 blessings, rightly understood, are manifold and great. For 
 t<5 Abraham and his seed, to the church, and the seed of the 
 church, are committed the oracles of God, with all their 
 lights, their comforts, their precious promises, their immor- 
 tal hopes. In order to give, at once, force and illustration io 
 
 ther baptism ought to be administered to infants before the eighth day after their 
 birth ; doubting whether or not the custom of the Jews in tliis respect ought to be 
 followed. The council unanimously decreed that baptism ought not to be post- 
 poned till the eighth day. After stating the grounds of their decree, they con- 
 clude in these words; — 'MVherefore dearly beloved, it is our opinion, that 
 from baptism and the grace of God who is benignant to all, none ought to be pnv 
 hibited by us ; and, as this is to be observed with regard to all, so especially is it 
 to be observed with respect to infants who are just born, and deserve our help, 
 and the divine mercy." — Cyp. ep. ad. FiJum, chap. C3. 
 
 Let me subjoin the very pertinent remark of a judicious writer ; *' Origcn was 
 born about eighty tive years after the apostolic age. His father and grandfather 
 were both christians, and as there can be no doubt of his being baptized in infan- 
 cy, from the manner in which he speaks of infant baptism, this fact verifies the 
 practice of the apostles ; and so carries up (he universal usage of the cliurcli to 
 vithin a very few years of those blessed companion? of our liOrd." 
 
468 
 
 ihis reflection, let us imagine our children born where the dis- 
 pensation of grace is not known, and to have been iefl under 
 the darkness of paganism, to the feeble glimmerings of na- 
 ture, to lead them to a knowledge of their Creator, their 
 Redeemer, and their duty ; imagine them, under all the ca- 
 lamities of life, to have been forsaken of the comforts of re- 
 ligious hope ; and, after their most anxious endeavours to 
 look into futurity, and to appease the forebodings of con- 
 science, unable to penetrate beyond this dark sphere, or to 
 discern any certain means of access to the holy and right- 
 eous Judge of the universe, and, at length, abandoned to 
 the cruel despair which, without the light of revelation, rests 
 upon the shadows of the> grave ; imagine all this, and then 
 judge of the inestimable value of that blessed sacrament 
 which, agreeably to the command of Christ, places us, from 
 the beginning of life, in the bosom of the church, where a 
 divine illumination continually shines ; where life and immor- 
 tality are brought to light ; where the veil which covers the- 
 eternal world is drawn aside ; where the way of peace is 
 clearly revealed to sinful and perishing men ; where the care 
 of parents, and the fidelity of the ministers of religion are 
 engaged under the most solemn obligations, for the discipline, 
 and instruction of the infant mind ; where the influences of 
 the Holy Spirit are promised to assist the effect of these in- 
 structions ; and where all the means and aids are enjoyed 
 which it has seemed good to infinite wisdom to afford to man- 
 kind, for the attainment of their everlastina; salvation. 
 
469 
 
 Such are the blessings connected with baptism, consider- 
 ed merely as an initialing symbol introducing us into the 
 church of Christ. We are placed by it under the happiest, 
 and most elTectual cultivation for Heaven. * 
 
 Let us now contemplate this symbol in another light, as 
 the seal which God has annexed to his covenant for the so- 
 lemn confirmation of his promises, and we shall discover in 
 (his view of it, a new treasure of spiritual blessings. 
 
 Every child of Adam, by his error, and fall, and by the 
 rigorous tenor of the violated covenant, has become an heir 
 of death. But God, in his infinite mercy, at the moment of 
 transgression, placed the frailty of man under a dispensation 
 of grace in Jesus Christ. Of this most benignant and mer- 
 ciful dispensation, which obviates, or remedies, the evils of 
 the broken law, circumcision anciently, and now baptism, is 
 the gracious assurance and seal. In the symbol of baptism, 
 therefore, you behold the visible pledge, and annunciation, 
 on the part of God, that the baptized infant is taken from un- 
 der the impracticable conditions, and the curse of the first 
 covenant, and placed under the grace of the second,* Yon 
 behold that precious infant, on its first entrance into exist- 
 
 * It is not intended by this to pay, that the act of baptism transfers us from the 
 one covenant to the other. That was done by the promise of the Suvmir imme- 
 diately after the Fall. But it is the solemn authentication of this truth on the 
 part of God, and the declaratory seal of this grace. 
 
4ro 
 
 ence, met with the covenant of peace, and the promises of 
 eternal life sealed in the blood of the Redeemer. 
 
 Is baptism, then, a certain title to eternal life ? I say not 
 that ; but it is a solemn and authentic proposition of the 
 covenant of grace, with all its privileges, blessings, and con- 
 ditions under the seal of God. It is, therefore, a visible and 
 sacramental confirmation of the provisional title of the bap* 
 tized to life and immortality on the terms of the gospel ; 
 that is, on sincere repentance, and a true faith in our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. Let me illustrate this principle by a familiar 
 example. By charter from the government of your country, 
 or bequest from a dying parent, you may become entitled to 
 ample privileges, or rich possessions, on the performance of 
 certain conditions. The seal annexed to that charter, or 
 that testament, by the proper authority, is the declaration of 
 the will of your parent, or your country, and consequently, 
 the formal authentication, and security of your title the mo- 
 ment the condition shall be fulfilled. This condition is, to 
 all who have grown to such mature age as to be capable of 
 actual sin, not perfect obedience, according to the tenor of 
 the first, and broken covenant, but according to the constitu- 
 tion of the covenant of grace, repentance towards God, and 
 faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ, which, however, leads 
 to perfection, and plants in the heart the seeds of holiness, 
 and of eternal life. But to every infant dying in infancy, it 
 is an unconditional assurance, of a glorious inheritance in the 
 
471 
 
 kingdom of heaven. The infant being placed under the 
 grace of the second covenant, is delivered from the curse of 
 the firsl, so far, that, being united by a new and blessed rela- 
 tion to the Secocd Adam, its original taint and impurity, de- 
 rived from its relation to the first, is covered by the blood of 
 the atonement. It is, therefore, through the mercy of Gpd 
 in Christ, made an heir of eternal life. Of these precious 
 truths baptism is the sacramental pledge, and seal of assurance 
 given by God. What a consolation does this view present 
 to the christian parent, who weeps over the dear remains of 
 the infant snatched untimely from his embrace ! What a 
 comfortable and extended prospect does it exhibit of the 
 grace of the gospel.^ 
 
 Having offered to your consideration, in a few plain and 
 obvious principles, the right of infants born within the church, 
 to the seal of the covenant, and pointed out the blessings of 
 which they become partakers by it ; I will next endeavour 
 to designate, more particularly, the limits of the visible 
 church, and exhibit the nature and extent of that profession 
 of the name of Christ which entitles a parent to offer, and the 
 
 * Ver>' far would I be from insiauatiug that tUose who die without bap- 
 tism do, therefore, fail of salvation. But between the baptized and unbaptized 
 infant dying in infancy, there is this difference— that, to the one, the inherit- 
 ance of eternal life is conveyed by covenant from God, under his appointed 
 seal ; ^he other is left to the free, indeed, but anauthenticated pledge of his mer- 
 cv in this ordinance. 
 
4?2 
 
 cbur ch to receive hi* infant offspring to a participation o! 
 this holy ordinance. 
 
 The principal question which has been raised upon Ihi? 
 subject, turns on this single point, whether the church on 
 earth, consists only of those who are truly regenerated, and 
 hare added sincere and new obedience to their open profes- 
 sion of the name of their Redeemer ; or, on the other hand, 
 embraces ail those who have been baptized, and continuing 
 to profess the doctrines of the Saviour, submit themselves to 
 the counsels, admonitions, reproofs, and to the whole disci- 
 pline of that spiritual body whose head is Christ. 
 
 The constitution of the Jewish church, the type and coun- 
 terpart of the Christian, will assist us to determine this ques- 
 lion. All who believed in Moses, the great prophet of God, 
 and submitted to his law, were embraced in the external 
 bonds, and received tlie distinguishing seal of the covenant.. 
 But, thzy were not all Israel, who were of Israel. A dis- 
 tinction existed among them, which, must always exist upon 
 earth, among the professing disciples of Christ, between the 
 visible, and the invisible church. The latter is composed of 
 those only, who, by sincere piety, and an entire renovation 
 of heart, bear the inward image of their Lord and Master. 
 The former embraces all who are united together under the 
 profession of the same system of doctrines, who enjoy the 
 ?ame ordinances, and who submit to the same discipline for 
 
473 
 
 regulating the exterior order and manners of its members* 
 To the church of Israel, comprehending the entire iiution, 
 were the oracles of God committed. And the seal of that 
 gracious covenant, which was contained, and explained in 
 these oracles, and exhibited \o the ancient church under a 
 thousand typical rites, was impressed on all their offspring, 
 and on all who were born in their houses, and trained up ia 
 the knowledge of divine truth under their care. Analogy, 
 then, will lead us to extend the application of the christian 
 seal to the households^ and especially, to the children of all 
 who are members of the visible church ; that is, who have 
 been baptised themselves, who acknowledge the Lord Jesus 
 Christ as their Lord and Saviour, who profess to embrace 
 the huly scriptures as containing the only certain rule of du- 
 ty, and the only foundation of their immortal hopes, who 
 submit themselves and their households to the discipline and 
 instruction of the church, and who promise to concur with 
 her in the pious education and government of all those whom 
 nature hath given to their affection, or providence subjected 
 to their authority. 
 
 To the invisible church baptism cannot be confined, be- 
 cause men have no certain rule by which to discriminate it 
 from the mass of visible professors. Let me ask those who 
 suppose that somewhat more is necessary in the recipient to 
 the validity of this ordinance than regular morals, an open 
 profession of the faith, and submission to the discipline of the 
 
474 
 
 church, Is it because they esteem the actual sanctification 
 of the parent essential to the rightful administration of bap- 
 tism to the child ? Who, then, can know, with certainty, 
 that he is baptized ? Do they say that it is, at least, neces- 
 sary, that in the judgment of charity, a parent should be a 
 sincere believer ? Where is the scripture rule which rests 
 the benefit of baptism on our judgment of the internal state of 
 a man's heart? or makes it the standard by which we are to 
 admit his infant to the external privileges of the covenant of 
 grace ? Will not those judgments of charity vary in different 
 churches ? Will tbey not vary, perhaps, in diflferent pastors 
 in the same Church ? Too earnestly he cannot be admon- 
 ished, indeed, that vital and universal holiness of heart and 
 life is essential to salvation, and essential, likewise, to the 
 faithful and acceptable discharge of this, and of every duty 
 in the sight of God ; yet it cannot be essential to the validi- 
 ty of this ordinance, and its spiritual benefit to his infant 
 oJSspring. 
 
 Let us recur again to the proper meaning and design of 
 this ordinance, and this conclusion will not fail to strike us 
 with additional force. It is, in the first place, the rite of our 
 initiation into the school of Christ, in which we receive those 
 lessons of divine wisdom, which cannot be taught to man by 
 the wisdom of the world ; and in which we enjoy the happi- 
 est means of promoting our virtue and holiness, and the most 
 eflfectual aids for the attainment of our salvation. 
 
475 
 
 it is, in the next place, the seal which God hath annexed 
 to the external dispensation of his covenant, in order that he 
 might, by a rite, so solemn, though so simple, confirm the 
 propositions of his mercy to fallen man, through the atone- 
 ment and mediation of the ever blessed Redeemer. ThC 
 church openly annexes this seal to the covenant, in the name 
 and by the authority of God himself. The church takes the 
 infant under her protection and instruction. Most desirable 
 it is to have the co-operation and assistance of the parents 
 in this sacred and important duty : and they they are bound, 
 by every obligation, of nature and religion to afford it. But 
 it is still more the duty of the church to enlighten and direct 
 the infant's opening reason, to imbue it with holy and heav- 
 enly principles, to illustrate, to inculcate, to press upon it the 
 precious privileges, the gracious promises, the glorious hopes 
 of which she has given it the seal. The church when she 
 is faithful to her trust, adopts every infant, whom she re- 
 ceives by baptism, within the pale of her privileges. It is 
 her faith, her fidelity which is to be regarded in this ordi- 
 nance even more than that of the parent. 
 
 It is with the view chiefly to the pious education of the 
 seed of the church that this ordinance is administered to in- 
 fants. / know him, saith God of the father of the faithful, 
 at the institution of this rite, that he will train tip his chiU 
 dreUy and his household after him, to keep the way of the 
 Lord, In the primitive ages, when many parents were in- 
 
476 
 
 Capable themselves of fulfilling these holy duties, benevolent 
 and pious sponsors offered themselves to discharge theifl 
 in their VooDi. But the church was considered as sponsor for 
 all her children, and she is, certainly, the best, and most 
 faithful sponsor, when she considers her duty aright, for eve- 
 ry infant whom she receives to her protection and care by 
 this ordinance. On this ground it was that she required ex- 
 posed children, and children of whatever parents, with the 
 care of whose pious education she charged herself, to re- 
 ceive, under her direction, the holy rite of baptism. 
 
 ON THE FORM OF BAPTISM. 
 
 If the mode of administering this ordinance had been es- 
 sential to its validity we slionld justly have expected to see 
 it prescribed with as much particularity as any of the Leviti- 
 cal ceremonies. On the other hand, there is no de6nite 
 prescription on this subject, farther than that water is to be 
 applied as a symbol of that regeneration and purification of 
 our nature which all men need, and which a sincere faith in 
 the gospel is intended, and fitted to produce. Any applica- 
 tion, therefore, of this cleansing element, which is a natural 
 emblem of spiritual purity, especially, if it be justified by the 
 usage of the church, and the import of the terms employed 
 by the sacred writers, is iis proper and legitimate form. In 
 warm climates where daily bathing is the customary mode of 
 cleansing the person^ immersion may be used with the high- 
 
477 
 
 est propriety ; in other regions, where it is seldom necessary 
 for this purpose, to wash dailj^ more than a part of the body, 
 a partial appHcation of water may be made with equal rea- 
 son. An action of our Saviour recorded in the thirteenth 
 chapter of (he gospel of John, is full of instruction on this 
 subject. It was usual with (he Jews, before eating, to wash 
 their feet, a practice which had become necessary, both 
 from the fashion of their dress, and their manner of reclin- 
 ing upon couches at their meals. Christ, in order to give 
 his disciples a lesson, at once, of humillly, and purity, con- 
 descended himself to wash their (eet When Peter under- 
 stood the meaning of (his action, and that it was intended 
 as a symbol of his purification, and acceptance with his 
 Lord, he exclaimed in the fervour of his zeal, Lord ! not 
 my fed only, but also my handSi and my head. But, as 
 the action of the Saviour was merely symbolical, cleansing 
 that part of the body which it was customary to wash at that 
 time, was sufficient to answer the design ; therefore, he re- 
 pUes to Peter, he that is washed, needeth not save to wash 
 his feet y but it is every whit clean. 
 
 Having made these preliminary remarks, I observe that 
 the terra baptism, in the sacred writings, is applied indiffer- 
 ently, to signify either partial, or entire washing — either 
 sprinkling, or immersion, according to the situation of the 
 agent, or the object of the action. It is unnecessary to cite 
 all the passages in which this is demonstrated. To one or 
 
4r8 
 
 two only I shall refer. When Jesus went to eat with a cer* 
 tain pharisee, Ihe pharisee wondered that he had not first 
 washed ; referring to the Jewish custom of washing their 
 hands before meat. In the original it is, he wondered that 
 he had not first baptised. Many other things there be, 
 saifh the evangelist Mark, which they have received to hold, 
 as the washing (in the original, the baptism) of cups, of 
 pots, of brazen vesselsy and of tables. As the sacred wri- 
 ter is probably referring to the instruments of the temple ser- 
 vice, or to those domestic utensils which were religiously 
 purine d, according to the same forms, the whole Levitical 
 ritual proves that these purifications were effected by va- 
 rious sprinklings, or aspersions. As the term baptism, and 
 all those derived from the same root are employed to signify 
 sprinkling, and partial washing, no less than immersion, so it 
 is well known that the primitive church used indifferently, 
 and according to present convenience, the one, or the oiher 
 of these forms, in administering the baptismal rite ; particu- 
 larly in the case of clinici, or the sick, and those of great 
 delicacy of constitution, or of health. And in forming our 
 judgment of the validity of the mode by aspersion, it de- 
 serves to be particularly remarked, that sprinkling is, through- 
 out the sacred writings, used as one of the most common 
 and significant emblems of purity, of cleansing, of repent- 
 ance, of every thing that is implied in the waters of baptism. 
 Not to speak of the innumerable aspersions used, for this 
 
4T9 
 
 purpose, under the Levitical law, the blood of Ihe atonement 
 is expreh."ily called the blood of sprinkling. Isaiah, in an- 
 nouncing the oflice, and grace of l>lessiah, declares he shall 
 sprinkle many nations. The prophet Ezekiel, in proclaim- 
 ing the sanctifying influence of the gospel, does it by this 
 figure ; Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and. 
 you shall be clean. And when the apostle would express, 
 in the strongest terms, (hat purity of mind which, in our ap- 
 proaches to God, we ought to bring with us to the throne 
 of grace, he says ; Let us come to him, having our hearts 
 sprinkled from an evil cojiscience. — But I forbear to multi- 
 ply proofs. These are sufficient to demonstrate that either 
 mode, by immersion, or by sprinkling, will answer the whole 
 intention of the ordinance, as an emblem of that purity of 
 life which becomes a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 The principal evidence on which the advocates for immer- 
 sion, as essential to the rightful administration of this ordi- 
 nance, rest their opinion, is an expression used by the apos- 
 tle m his epistle to the Romans, and in that to the Collos- 
 sians ; buried with him by baptism. Whether this allu- 
 sion be made to the practice of immersion, borrowed from 
 the custom of bathing in warm clitnates, or not, it establish- 
 es no exclusive form for this ordinance. It is an expression 
 highly figurative ; and no argument can be safely rested on 
 a figure of speech. It affords, at the ntmost, only a collat- 
 
480 
 
 era!, and indirect support to other argumenfs, by its suppos- 
 ed reference to an existing custom. But, admitting that re- 
 ference to be real, in the present case ; and the inference es- 
 tablishing the existence of the custom to be ever so justly 
 drawn, still it could not impose immersion on the church as 
 the indispensable, and exclusive form of baptism. For, if 
 the custom were to create a rule which could not be depart- 
 ed from, that custom should be entirely and completely ad- 
 hered to. But I presume baptism with the person naked, 
 which was the practice, where plunging was used in those 
 warm climates, in imitation of bathing, would not now be de- 
 sired, or tolerated by any christian sect. The habits, 
 modes, and customary ideas of that age, took away that sense 
 of impropriety which would justly shock the delicacy of our 
 modern sentiments. Even on the ground, then, of this figure 
 containing a reference to an existing custom, that custom 
 would not infallibly bind men in every age, and in every 
 climate or state of society. 
 
 But, let us carry on this argument from figure into the 
 following verses, and see how it will operate ; For, saith the 
 apostle, " if we have been planted in the likeness of his death, 
 we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection ; knowing 
 this (hat our old man is crucified with him." Here then are 
 three figurative expressions, all referring to the same object, 
 the ordinance of baptism, and its symbolic signification of a 
 death unto sin ; viz. " buried with him by baptism unto death; 
 
481 
 
 planted in the likeness of his deadi ; and crucifying with him 
 our old man." According (o this reasoning, therefoic, bap- 
 tisra shouhl contain something in the mode of its administra- 
 tion corresponding to all these figures : so that, if the first 
 figure necessarily implies the justification of the mode of 
 baptizing exclusively by immersion : the last will, on the 
 same ground, justify, and require the form of the church of 
 Rome in baptizing with the sign of the cross. But as the 
 friends of immersion do not admit of the latter consequence, 
 those who conform to the practice of baptizing by sprink- 
 ling, with equal reason, do not think themselves bound by 
 the former. 
 
 Upon the whole view of this subject, I conclude, and, I 
 think, from the fairest reasoning, that the mode of adminis- 
 tering baptism, whether by sprinkling, or immersion, is not 
 essential to the validity of the ordinance, which requires only 
 that the emblem of its cleansmg and purifying virtue be sig- 
 nificantly preserved- 
 
 61 
 
OF THE 
 
 EXTERNAL SEALS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COVENANT OF GRACE. 
 
 The second seal attached to the covenant of grace, or the 
 second sacrament of the New Testament, is the Lord's sup- 
 per. This ordinance was instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 immediately before his final sufferings, in which he appoint- 
 ed bread and wine to be used as memorials of his death for 
 the sins of the world, and symbols of the union of his people to 
 him, and to one another. The apostle Paul, in his first 
 epistle to the Corinthians, ch. ii. v. 23 — 26 : has stated 
 the origin of this festival, and the manner in which it was 
 celebrated by our Lord himself, with his disciples, as an ex- 
 ample for the imitation of his church in all ages. Corres- 
 ponding with this exhibition, is the account recorded by the 
 evangelists Matthew and Luke. And, from the whole, it is 
 evident, that the broken bread was employed as an emblem 
 of the body of the Saviour broken in the room of sinners, 
 and the wine in like manner, was used as an emblein of his 
 
484 
 
 blood shed lor the remission of sins. These simple, but 
 lively images were ordained to call up to the memory of the 
 believer, the death and sufiferings of his Redeemer, with 
 greater vivacity and force than can be done by the preach- 
 ing of the gospel in our ordinary assemblies. — Do this, said 
 our Lord, while he broke the bread, and distributed the cup, 
 in remembrance of me. But the ordinance, as I have said, 
 Las another and secondary object, which is to represent the 
 union of believers with their great Head by faith and love, 
 and among themselves, by the spirit of charity. " The cup 
 of blessing which we bless," saith the apostle, " is it not 
 the communion of the blood of Christ ? and the bread 
 which we break, is it no' the communion of the body of 
 Christ ? For, we, being many, are one bread, and one bo- 
 dy ; for we are all partakers of that one bread." 
 
 The different ends which a christian may have in view in 
 this ordinance, have been marked in the various denomina- 
 tions which it has received in the primitive church, the chief 
 of which are continued down to the present age. The 
 hordes supper) and the table of the Lord^ are denomina- 
 tions nearly equivalent ; the one taken from the time in which 
 it was celebrated ; the other taken from the manner in which 
 It was eaten, wherein it resembled an ordinary meal. It has 
 been a practice in all countries to commemorate great, and 
 interesting events, and to testify mutual joy, and a&ectlon 
 r>n such occasions, by feasting together. These denomina- 
 
485 
 
 tions, therefore, imply, Ihat this ordinance is to be viewed as 
 a ieslival of coramemoralion, in which (he faithful meet at 
 the same table, to testify their common interest in the great 
 sacrifice of the cross, and their common faith, and hope, in 
 the redemption which is in Christ Jesus their Lord. 
 
 In reference to these objects, chiefly, it is, that these de* 
 votional acts have been styled the communion, the eucha- 
 rist, or the cup of blessings not only from the act of thanks- 
 giving by which it is consecrated, or blessed for the use of 
 the communicant, but from the praise and gratitude which 
 should fill the heart of the humble believer in this holy ser- 
 vice, and which is usually expressed with ardour by the 
 voice, while occupied in celebrating this memorial of (he in- 
 finite goodness and m6rcy of Almighty God, through our 
 Lord Jesus Christ. It is denominated, likewise, by the 
 apostle, the breaking of bread; and, to mention no more, 
 out of the many titles which it afterwards received in the 
 church, it is, in the holy scriptures, called our passover ; be- 
 cause it was, under the new economy, evidently instituted in 
 the room of that ancient sacrament under the antecedent dis- 
 pensation. There existed indeed, an obvious analogy between 
 the two ordinances. The paschal lamb was a type of Ch/iat, 
 That victim was oflfered in commemoration of the great deliv- 
 erance of Israel from the bondage of Egypt, which had a typi- 
 cal allusion to the infinitely greater salvation of the cross, in 
 which were consummated all the types of the altar. The 
 
4H6 
 
 principal difference between these ordinances, wliicli serves^ 
 however, to illustrate their analogy, is, that the one was the 
 memorial of a temporal, the other of an eternal salvation— 
 the one consisted of a bloody victim which prefigured the 
 great sacrifice of the gospel ; the other is the bloodless me- 
 morial of the last of victims, which hath finished our salva- 
 tion and accomplished an everlasting righteousness. — The 
 ceremonies of the one, were also borrowed from those of the 
 other. For, the victim apart, which can no longer be offer- 
 ed under the gospel, the bread was used in imitation of the 
 unleavened bread of the passover, which the Jews ate, af- 
 ter being blessed or consecrated by prayer and thanksgiving. 
 The cup, likewise, formed a considerable part of the paschal 
 festival, which they always blessed, before receiving it, by 
 a form of prayer, and action of thanks ; and the last cup, 
 which concluded the whole service, was succeeded by an 
 hymn ; which hymn, their learned men inform us, consisted 
 of the following psalms, 113 — 118; and is supposed, by 
 many writers, to have been the same which Christ, with his 
 disciples, sung at the conclusion of his last supper. 
 
 OF THE CEREMONIES WITH WHICH THE ADMINISTRATIOIJ 
 OF THIS ORDINANCE OUGHT TO BE ACCOMPANIED. 
 
 As the dispensation of the gospel entirely rejects the cum- 
 brous ritual of the law, and rejoices only in the simplicity and 
 purity of its spirit, the administration ef thia ordinance, al- 
 
48r 
 
 though the most solemn which is known, under the new co* 
 venanf, ought to be accompanied only with those simple cct- 
 emonies recorded by the evangelists in its original institution, 
 and recited by St. Paul in its repetition. They consist 
 merely in prayer and thanksgiving, by an administrator pro- 
 perly authorized to consecrate the elements, and separate 
 them from an ordinary to a sacred use — in the breaking of 
 the bread, and distribution of the cup, in the presence of 
 the communicants — in a declaration of the nature and design 
 of the ordinance, by the officiating priest, and of the proper 
 qualifications of those who may be admitted to partake of its 
 grace — in receiving it in both kinds in the usual posture of 
 feasting which obtains in each country — and, finally, conclud- 
 ing the whole with some proper form of thanksgiving, and 
 some devout hymn of praise. Our Saviour employed un- 
 leavened bread in this holy office, because no other was eat- 
 en at Jerusalem in the season of the passover ; — his posture 
 was, reclining on a couch, which, in that age, was the only 
 one in use at public feasts, and generally, also at private 
 meals. But, as there is no precept enjoining the use of un- 
 leavened bread, as in the Jewish festival, christians may use 
 their liberty as to the kind ; though the church of Rome^ 
 which is negligent of other parts of the divine example, is 
 scrupulous in using bread, or wafers without leaven. The 
 same church, as well as some of the protestant communion, 
 receive this sacrament in the posture of adoration, instead of 
 the ordinary attitude of feasting, which was used by out 
 
48a 
 
 Lord, and his disciples. But in determining what ceremo- 
 nies ought to be employed in conformity with the great ex- 
 ample which is to direct our conduct, and what punctilios 
 may be varied or dispensed with, it is necessary to bear in 
 mind the end of the institution, and the circumstances attend- 
 ing the time of its original celebration. Its double end, as 
 we have seen, was to be a memorial of the death of our 
 Lord, and a sj^mbol of the union of his people ; both which 
 were attained by the institution of a solemn festival. It is 
 conformable to reason, therefore, that the posture of feasting, 
 as it prevails in each country, ought to be preserved in this 
 religious act. But the species of bread, used in this ordi- 
 nance, or the time of the day devoted to it, at its original 
 administration, being intimately connected with the customs 
 of the Jewish passover, do not impose upon the christian 
 church any obligation of conformity in these respects. 
 
 The posture of adoration, and the denial of the cup to the 
 laity, having sprung, in the church of Rome, from supersti- 
 tious views of the ordinance, and false ideas of the miracu- 
 lous conversion of the bread and wine into the real body and 
 blood of Christ, ought to be rejected along with the supersti- 
 tious service. 
 
 The ceremonies accompanying this christian rite, appear 
 to have been copied, in general, from those which obtamed 
 in the Jewish passover. Among that people, the adminis- 
 
4a9 
 
 Orator alw^ays blessed the elements, or pronounced a prayer 
 of benediction and thanksgiving over them, and especially 
 over the cup, distributing it afterwards to all who were pre- 
 sent at the table. In r'eference to this act of de vol ion the 
 psalmist exclaims, Iivlll take the cup of salvation j and will 
 call upon the name of the Lord. And, in the christian 
 church the cup was given to the laity, as well as to the cler- 
 gy, till, a short time after the commencement of the thirteenth 
 century, a different custom began to prevail among the La- 
 tins. And, finally, in the council of Constance, in the year 
 1414, the laity were entirely prohibited from receiving the 
 cup, as if it actually contained the blood of (he Son of God. 
 " It would be impious," said those blind and superstitions 
 priests, "if any of the divine and heavenly drops should, 
 by any accident among the communicants, be spilled upon 
 the ground." For the same reason, those ignorant men or- 
 dered the bread to be formed into a wafer, and put into the 
 mouth of each communicant, least any crumb should be 
 lost, and that each might receive the whole hosty as it was 
 called, a superstitious term derived froai the Latin, and signi- 
 fying the sacrifice, or victim. The original custom, howev- 
 er, still prevailed throughout all (he East, among the Greeks, 
 the Russians, the Armenians, the Abyssinians, the Copts^ 
 and even the Nestorians, and Jacobins ; and has been re- 
 ceived in all the reformed churche3. 
 
490 
 
 Pure wine, wherever it can be obtained, ought to be em- 
 ployed not only because it is the best emblem of that pre- 
 cious blood which gives life and strength to those who use it, 
 but because it is strictly conformable to the example of the 
 Saviour in its original institution. Where wine cannot be 
 obtained, or where it remarkably disagrees with the stomachy 
 reason dictates that it must, or that it ought to be omitted. 
 But they are to be blamed who, like the hydroparastatae, 
 substitute water, or any other liquor in the room of wine. 
 The custom of substituting weaker liquors, void of spirit in 
 the room of wine, which was practised by certain small sects, 
 was, probably, introduced originally, by some weak, but pi- 
 ous men, as a preventative against intoxication, too many in- 
 stances of which, as we learn from the apostle, had taken 
 place, to the great reproach of their holy profession, in con- 
 sequence of too liberal a use of that strong liquor. For, in 
 that age, they literally feasted upon bread and wine, a diet 
 to which they had been accustomed from its plenty, and did 
 not use it in that sparing manner which has since been prac- 
 tised in our christian assemblies— 1 Cor, xi. 21. 
 
 A declaration of the nature, and design of the ordinance, 
 and of the requisite qualifications of those who may be ad- 
 mitted, by the officers of the church to receive it, along with 
 the faithful, is evidently a custom of great propriety, in or- 
 der to recal to mind, more forcibly, the import and solemni- 
 ty of that sacred transaclion, and to assist the ignorant in ex- 
 
491 
 
 amining themselves ; a serious duly which is incumbent up- 
 on all before they adventure to cat of that bread, anddrini: 
 of that ctq) — 1 Cor xi. 28. * 
 
 The only circumstance farther, which it is of importance 
 to remark in the administration of this ordinance, is, that, in 
 all ordinary cases, it ought to be performed only by a per- 
 son properly qualified, and ordained to the pastoral office 
 by the government of the church. It was, in the first in- 
 stance, dispensed by our Lord himself. Afterwards it fell 
 to be administered by the apostles, and those whom the}' 
 had set apart to preach the word, and dispense the sacra- 
 ments. And, generally, it is requisite, for the sake of or- 
 der, and common utility, that this holy office should be con- 
 fined to those, who are the regular successors of the apos- 
 tles, and ordained according to that form which the gospel 
 has prescribed, or the church esteems best calculated for 
 preserving purity of doctrine, and of manners. — Yet, where 
 any society of christians is, from the nature of their circum- 
 stances, deprived of those aids, perhaps they ought to as- 
 semble for the worship of God, and may, without violence 
 to the institutions of Christ, appoint men of prudence and 
 piety, from among themselves, to lead in their devotions, 
 and to preside in these sacred festivals of love. This is a 
 liberty, however, which ought always to be used with the 
 most profound caution, and only after the most serious cor. 
 ^iction of its absolute necessity. 
 
491 
 
 OP THE USE OF CEREMONIES, OR EXTERNAL SYMBOLS. 
 
 Since the gospel is a dispensation, and requires a worship 
 of the most pure and spiritual kind, it may well be made a 
 question, why any material elements, or symbols like these 
 should be employed in its religious services ? And 1 would 
 answer, that it appears to arise simply from a gracious con- 
 descension in Almighty God, and accommodation to the im- 
 perfection of our nature. While we remain in the body, we 
 are necessarily and strongly affected by certain striking and 
 sensible signs, on serious and interesting occasions. The 
 bloody robe of Cfesar displayed to the populace of Rome 
 was more eloquent than all the harangues of the assertors of 
 her liberty. On this principle of our nature, statues, and 
 altars have been erected, and festivals instituted to the me- 
 mory of great men by the gratitude of nationS; or employed 
 Id the celebration of illustrious events. On the same princi- 
 ple, we love ta wear some relic, or to adopt some symbol 
 of mourning, io recal the idea of our departed friends. On 
 the two gceatest occasioDSj herefore, in our christian course, 
 our initiation into the church of Christ, and giving our pub- 
 lic and explicit assent to our christian covenant, if appears to 
 he wise and good to require these solemn and interesting acts 
 tp be ronfirmed by upt, and significant symbols which are 
 calculated deeply to impress the inind by affecting the sen- 
 ses. On the other hand, it is equally good and wise in him^, 
 
493 
 
 Hot to have loaded bis worship with an unmeaning multitude 
 of ceremonies. For, it is not more certain, that, on all just, 
 and great occasions, sensible emblems properly cliosen, have 
 a powerful and useful eflfect, than that too great a multiplica- 
 tion of ceremonies, strongly inclines (he mind to a frivolous 
 superstition, substituting rites, and external forms in the 
 room of true devotion and holiness of life. 
 
 OF TRANSUBSTANTIATION. 
 
 In different parts of the church, some errors have been in- 
 troduced into this holy rite, but since the light which has so 
 abundantly been shed upon it by the protestant writers, they 
 are no longer in danger of producing any pernicious effect, 
 and the palpable absurdity of Transubstantiation, in partic- 
 ular, hardly requires a serious refutation. — By this term^ 
 which, for a long time, misled, with almost magical effect, 
 the church of Rome, was intended, the transmutation sup- 
 posed to pass on the elements of bread and wine, into the 
 reaj body and blood of Christ : an opinion, most evidently, 
 contrary to reason, and common sense; and which has no 
 support in the language of scripture, or the usages of the 
 primitive ages. This doctrine contradicts the evidence of 
 all our senses, by wtich alone we can form an accurate judg- 
 ment on the qualities of material subjects. If our senses 
 could'be so far misled that the essences of flesh and blood 
 could be covered under the sensible qualities of bread and 
 
4^4 
 
 wine, we could bave no criterion left by which to judge of 
 any miracle ; the whole rational evidence of religion would 
 be annihilated by this single position. Besides, it involves 
 the most palpable contradiction, which it is scarcely worthy 
 your time to point out, that the same body should be entire 
 in heaven, and upon earth ; in ten thousand pieces of bread, 
 or drops of wine ; and in ten thousand different places at the 
 same time. And a man, according to this monstrous absurdi- 
 ty, by living on the sacramental elements, might become 
 transmuted, vile as he is, into the real body of our blessed 
 Saviour. The follies of this doctrine were strongly combat- 
 ted by the protestant writers of the last age ; for, having re- 
 cently emerged from the bosom of popery, they were every 
 where mingled with numerous adherents to that superstition. 
 But in our age, and country, little need be said to guard pi- 
 ous men against such an irrational dogma. The disciples of 
 popery allege, in support of this strange opinion, the words 
 of our Lord himself; — This is my body which is broken for 
 you ; making him to be alive, and breaking, and distributing 
 his dead body at the same time. The expression which follows 
 might have cured, or prevented this mistake — do this in re- 
 membrance of me, as a standing memorial of my death. It 
 is a plain, and obvious figure of speech, familiar in the lan- 
 guage of all nations. A sentence of Cicero, which seems 
 as if written with a view to this occasion, might have been a 
 sufficient refutation of the absurd interpretation of this lan- 
 guage.—" Dum fruges Cererem, vinom Liber um dicimus^ 
 
495 
 
 genere no9 quidem serraonis utiraur usltato, setl ecquen tam 
 amentera esse putas, qui Illiid, quo vescalur Dcum credat es. 
 se V Cic. de nat. Deor. lib. 3. chap. IG. §. 41. 
 
 Transnbstantiation is a doctrine of which we find nolhinc 
 in the writers who flourished in the four, or five first centu- 
 ries of the church. In the sixth century, the elevation of 
 the host, as it began then figuratively to be called, was first 
 introduced ; not, however, for the purpose of adoration, but 
 that all might see it, and that it might the better represent 
 the elevation of Christ upon the cross. It was not, until the 
 extreme ignorance of the twelfth, and thirteenth centuries^ 
 that this idolatrous opinion and practice generally prevailed. 
 
 The consequences, and abuses of this doctrine we have 
 seen in the denial of the cup to the laity — the idolatrous ado- 
 ration of the host — sending it to the absent — keeping it in 
 their houses, and about their persons, as a charm — carrying 
 it through the streets on occasions of great public calamity- 
 giving it to the dead, by laying it on their breasts, especially 
 if they were priests, and evgn burying it with them as a pass- 
 port to heaven. 
 
 OF CON3UBSTANTIATIOX, 
 
 It is so difficult entirely to divest the mind of its prejudi- 
 ces, and to cast oflf errors which h-wn incorporafed fhem' 
 
499 
 
 selves deeply with our habits of thinking, that Luther, and 
 his followers, although convinced of the error and absurdity 
 of transubstanliation, were attracted, by the power of preju- 
 dice, into some unintelligible resemblance of their ancient 
 principle. They condemned the absurdity, if" not impietyj 
 of the actual transmutation of the bread and wine into the 
 real body and blood of the Son of God ; but, in a language 
 not much more clear and comprehensible, maintained that 
 this, precious sacrifice was wholly received in, with, and 
 tinder, the elements in the supper. I do not profess to ex- 
 plain these mysterious terms ; but, if they have any definite 
 meaning, they embrace one of the principal absurdities which 
 embarrass the other doctrine.- — They represent the same 
 body as present in many different places at the same time. 
 The great refgrmer impressed, by his education, with a su- 
 perstitious veneration for the symbols jised in this ordinance, 
 wished equally to avoid the error into which the Catholics 
 had been led, and to favour his own prejudices, and there- 
 fore embraced a form of expression, which imposed upon him- 
 self, while it was destitute of any clear and definite meaning, 
 
 OF THE REQUISITE QUALIFICATIONS IN THOSE WHO 
 
 WOULD WORTHILY PARTAKE OF THE 
 
 lord's SUPPER. 
 
 Many writers have alleged, and of these not a few in the 
 very first ages, that the constitution of the christian and vish 
 
hie church requires, that those who have been initiated by 
 baptism, should be introduced also to the participation of its 
 ultimate sacrament in the Lord's Supper. This opinion ari« 
 ses from a misconception of the nature and design of (he two 
 ordinances ; which may be learned from a small attention to 
 the origin of the church. Baptism was designed to make a 
 visible and public proposition of salvation on the terms of the 
 New Covenant, to those who, otherwise, were the heirs of 
 death, through the condemnation of the original covenant. 
 To every baptized infant this proposition of salvation is pro- 
 visionally made, on the conditions of repentance and faith in 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. So far, then, the infant is the pas- 
 sive subject, or recipient of the divine mercy in this ordi- 
 nance. And it is his visible warrant to embrace these gra- 
 cious terms of our redemption. The Lord's Supper, on the 
 other hand, is an active service; and contains an active 
 pledge of our having embraced the covenant, and of our 
 fidelity to all its conditions. This places a material diflfer- 
 ence between the two ordinances, and requires in particular, 
 of those who would worthily partake of the Lord's Supper, 
 " that they examine themselves of their knowledge to discern 
 the Lord's body, of their faith to feed upon him, of their re- 
 pentance, love, and new obedience." A condition which 
 cannot reasonably be required of infants. — Without a just 
 knowledge of the nature and design of the ordinance, we can- 
 not offer a rational, and acceptable service in it to Almighty 
 God. Faith is requisite to give importance to the ob|ect^of 
 
 fir? 
 
 ^ 
 
498 
 
 cur worship, and a proper interest in the duty. While we 
 celebrate the dying love of our Redeemer, it becomes us, 
 with profound humility, and repentance, to recollect the sins 
 for which he endured such sufferings, and with the most 
 lively gratitude and love, to recal him to mind who laid 
 down his life that nx might live. 
 
 I add, farther, that, as this ordinance is a feast of charity 
 and love, it is most highly requisite, that all who would wor- 
 thily partake of it should be in perfect peace with their breth- 
 ren ; be ever ready to forgive their enemies, and cherish no 
 hatred against any man. Charity among our fellow men is 
 the truest image of God our Heavenly Father. But in the 
 exercise of the discipline of (he rhnrr.h, we ran only examine 
 into the knowledge of the communicant ; receive the pro- 
 fession of his faith ; and see that his external deportment is 
 consistent with the doctrine and example of his Saviour. 
 
 OF THE BENEFITS OF A SERIOUS AND PIOUS USE OF THIg 
 HOLY ORDINANCE, AND THE DANGERS OF ITS ABUSE. 
 
 Before concluding these observations on the Lord's Sup- 
 per, suffer me very shortly to remark the benefits resulting 
 from a devout attendance on this holy ordinance ; and the 
 dangers of its abuse. Its evident tendency is to confirm our 
 resolutions of duty, and to awaken and strengthen all the gra- 
 ces of the christian life. But as every act of religion per- 
 
 
499 
 
 formed- in an irreverent manner, contributes to harden the 
 heart, and alienate it more from real and vital holiness, these 
 consequences, in a much higher degree, attend, or follow the 
 abuse of an institution so sacred and solemn. In the first age 
 of the church, raanj insincere disciples, only partially re- 
 claimed from paganism, misled by the ideas and habils ex- 
 isting in the festivals of the heathen gods, introduced a licen- 
 tiousness in i(s celebration, highly unbecoming the sanctity, 
 and purity of the christian church. In that miraculous pe- 
 riod, the disorder was consequently, followed by visible and 
 frequently instantaneous judgments from Almighty God. 
 For this cause, saith the apostle, many are weak and sick- 
 ly among yon, and many sleep. And, probably, to these 
 effects chiefly, the same aposlle had reference when he utters 
 the following denunciation — " He that eateth, and driuketh 
 unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not 
 discerning the Lord's body." 
 
 These terrible examples of divine displeasure, thus mira- 
 culously inflicted, seem to have contributed to throw the 
 christians of the following age into the opposite extreme of 
 excessive fear, and superstitious veneration of this holy ordi- 
 nance. Since miracles have ceased, the judgments which 
 follow the abuse of the Lord's Supper, appear to be rather 
 of a spiritual, than a temporal nature — lukewarmness in eve- 
 ry pious feeling, and hardness of heart, which gradually leads 
 to the total dereliction of the oflices of piety. This fearful 
 
DUO 
 
 state of abandonment by God, is, perhaps, more hastened by 
 an iii. proper use of this holy rife, than by all other deficien- 
 cies in religious duty, and, almost, by all other vices. 
 
 Other pretended sacraments, added to the ritual of the 
 holy scriptures by the church of Rome,^ it is unnecessary 
 to take up your time either to explain or refute. I proceed, 
 therefore, to a brief consideration of our future state of exis- 
 tence. 
 
 * Confirmation, Penance, Ordination, Marriage, Ejitreme Unction. 
 
 
ON 
 
 A FUTURE STATE. 
 
 The last doctrine of revelation which remains to be con- 
 sidered, is that of our future stale of being. The hope of ex- 
 isting after the present life was not utterly lost from among 
 mankind, even amidst the darkness and corruptions of pagan- 
 ism. But, to the vulgar mass, the prospect was so obscure, 
 and the hope so uncertain, that it could afford but small ex- 
 citement to duty in life, and to the timid, and miserable, but 
 little consolation in their last moments. It was so blended 
 with the melancholy phantoms of a superstitious imagination, 
 it served rather to oppress than shed any comfort on the hour 
 of death. We have seen in our disquisitions on natural reli- 
 gion, and its ultimate motives to virtue, that many of their 
 sages were able to create to themselves more reasonable, but 
 still dubious expectations of existing hereafter. But it is on- 
 ly in the word of God, and, especially, in the gospel of our 
 blessed Saviour, that the trembling hopes of nature are ren- 
 dered fixed and certain, and the obscurities of reason, are 
 enlightened. And to the doctrine of the immortality of the 
 soul it has added a principle which the human mind had nev- 
 er before dared to conceive -, I mean the resurrection of the 
 
body, and its future and eternal union with the soul, as res- 
 pects the pious, in a happy state of existence ; but the im- 
 pious in a state of misery. 
 
 This doctrine is peculiarly a doctrine of revelation. On 
 this authority simply our credence, or faith ought to be found- 
 ed. It is one of the chief glories of Christ, our Redeemer, 
 that he hath brought life andr immortality to light ; and so 
 hath rescued it from the blindness of sense, and the doubtful- 
 ness of reason. But in the sacred scriptures, the doctrine 
 of our future existence is so intimately blended with that of 
 the resnrreciion of the body, that we can hardly consider 
 them apart ; and it is this which renders the whole revela- 
 tion of this doctrine peculiarly precious to man, as it brings 
 our future being more within the comprehension of the mind, 
 and gives it a stronger interest in the heart which knows no 
 other condition of human existence but this compound state 
 of being. The immortahty of the soul would have been ea- 
 sily received by both the Jews and the Greeks. It already 
 formed part of the popular belief. It was the resurrection 
 which created among these people so much astonishment, and 
 was received wilh so much incredulity. To combat this in- 
 fidelity, and place our immortal life upon its true foundation, 
 the apostle sets himself in this part of his epistle to the Corin- 
 thians, where he informs us that " this corruptible shall put 
 on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality." 
 
 
iiQ3 
 
 That we shall continue lo exist from the moment of death, 
 till the final introduction of our immortal state, the scriptures 
 give us no reason to entertain a doubt, but wherein that inter- 
 mediate condition shall consist, as thej have not condescend- 
 ed to inform us, it would be presumptuous in us to frame an 
 opinion. On the subject of the resurrection, and of our in:\- 
 mortal life, they are as explicit as, perhaps, it is competent 
 to our present state of frailty, and mortality to comprehend. 
 
 Let us, therefore, with the sacred writer, employ a few 
 moments in contemplating the certainty and importance of 
 this doctrine, its practical uses, and its spiritual consola- 
 tions. — Its certainty can, to the christian, rest only on the 
 express declaration of the word of God ; although, when thus 
 communicated, many facts and analogies, drawn from the 
 course of nature, concur to facilitate our conceptions, and 
 strengthen our confidence in this precious hope. " The 
 time is coming," saith the infallible Spirit of truth, " when 
 all they who are in their graves shall hear the voice of the 
 Son of Man, and shall come forth, they that have done well 
 to the resurrection of life, and tliey that have done evil to 
 the resurrection of damnation." It has always been a sub- 
 ject of anxious inquiry to human reason ; with what bodies 
 do they come ? C ui these corporeal systems, after they 
 have been long dissolved into their original elements, and va- 
 riously dispersed in a thousand different directions, and af- 
 ter they have snccessively passed, perhaps, into a thou'^and 
 
504 
 
 other an'iDiated systems, be again collected and reorganized iti 
 the same body which perished at death ? If it were possi- 
 ble, would it be a reasonable object of desire in that spirit- 
 ual and immortal state, that the soul should be again united to 
 a sluggish mass which might be regarded as its former prison, 
 which impaired its active powers, and was perhaps the seat 
 of all the errors of reason, and of all the disorders of the 
 passions ? 
 
 The same objections have ever been presented as insolva- 
 ble difficulties to reason. But what christian can entertain a 
 doubt concerning the Almighty power, and the omniscient 
 wisdom of God, which is equally able to accomplish the re- 
 surrection, as the creation of human nature ? The apostl^ 
 meets the difficulty by a beautiful image taken from the grain 
 "which the husbandman casts into the earth. It seems to pe- 
 rish. It becomes a mass of putrefaction. But there is a 
 delicate, and almost imperceptible germ which survives, and 
 presently assumes a new, and much more beautiful form. 
 Can we doubt but that the whole vegetable, with all its appa- 
 ratus of fruits and flowers, was included in that minute and 
 invisible particle which receives a new life in the midst of 
 death ? On the resurrection another lesson is suggested to 
 as from the numerous transmutations of the insect tribes 
 which daily pass under our review. A deformed and slug- 
 ?54sh grub weaves a tomb for itself. It seems to become ex^ 
 
505 
 
 lincf. But, in a little time, we sec it mount into the air in a 
 new form, and adorned with the most beautiful colojiring. 
 
 Of spiritual and celestial objects, which are so far above 
 the reach of our present faculties, frequently, we are left to 
 collect our judgments only from analogy. And although 
 such analogies can never convey adequate images of things 
 which eye hath not seen, and of which it hath not entered in- 
 fo the heart of man to conceive, yet they seem to throw- 
 some feeble rays of light upon them, and to offer some foun- 
 dation on which the mind, exhausted by its own efforts, can 
 rest. In casting our view around, then, nature teaches us 
 important lessons, and presents to us many impressive ima- 
 ges of the future resurrection of the body. Some resem 
 blance of it we see in the new creation which every vernal 
 season produces, when all the glories of the year are seen 
 to spring, if I may speak so, from the tomb of Winter- 
 These images, indeed, are only imperfect representations, 
 adapted to the weakness of our nature, of that great object of 
 our faith. The only solid and immovable foundation of a 
 christian's hope, as I have already said, is the word of 
 God, but now is Christ risen, and become the first fruits of 
 them that steep. 
 
 Another objection against the doctrine of a resurrection is 
 drawn, from the ills and inconveniencies resulting to the soul 
 from its iVnion with the body iti the present life. This slug- 
 
gish and unwieldy mass of matter is supposed to be rather tlid 
 prison than the helpful companion of the soul ; to have a ten- 
 dency to cloud, and darken the clearness of its perceptionSj 
 and to oppress and enchain the activity of its powers. — Al- 
 though these evils should be justly objected to the present 
 gross and disordered bodies which we inhabit, yet such is 
 the nature and order of human spirits that it is only by being 
 united to some corporeal system that they can receive any 
 ideas at all. And, at the resurrection of the just, all that is 
 gross, all that is disordered, all that is impure, we are assur- 
 ed from revelation, shall be for ever separated from the bo- 
 dies of the saints raised in immortal life ; and, we are farther 
 taught to believe, that their powers, their activity, and glory 
 shall correspond with the exalted rank which the soul shall 
 hold in the scale of being in her celestial state. — If it be ask- 
 ed, whether these, can be the saoiC bodies that we inhabited 
 here, which shall assume such diflferent properties, and pre- 
 sent so much more glorious an appearance ? — Certainly this 
 cannot be incredible to a christian, or a philosopher, when 
 we are continually beholding the same elements receiving 
 from the hand of nature the most various forms. Do not the 
 same elements compose the unsightly clay which we trample 
 under our feet, and the resplendent diamond which imitates 
 the sun in the crowns of princes ? The lightning which, ia 
 its destructive course, rends oaks, and rocks to pieces, and 
 the mild and glorious rays of the orb that gives life, and 
 health, and beauty to the whole universe. Accordingly the 
 
apostle hath said, that all flesh is not the same iu its outvrard 
 for/n, and visible appearance ; but " there is one flesh of 
 men, and another of beasts," though nourished by the same 
 herbage ; " there is one giory of the sun, and anotLer glory 
 of the moon, and another of the stars ;" though all proceed- 
 ing from the same light. Not less difference may we expect 
 to find, between our present tenements of clay, which, at 
 death, return to their original dust, and those celestial tem- 
 ples, io which the glorified spirit shall dwell forever. Rais- 
 ed to heaven by the power and love of the Redeemer, to in- 
 habit the worlds of light above, this corporeal system will be 
 conform*»d in beauty and perfection to its imcnortal habitation. 
 — •** This mortal shall put on iiumortality. Sown in weak- 
 ness, it shall be raised in power ; sown in dishonour, it shall 
 be raised in glory ; sown a natural," that is, a gross and ani- 
 mal *' body, it shall be raised a spiritual body" — a body, in- 
 conceivably refined, and purified from the dregs of matter, 
 and possessing, at once, the rapid energy, and the imperish- 
 able nature of spirit. It shall be invested with new forms, 
 and be fitted with new organs, adapted to its celestial state ; 
 and having attained its highest perfection, we have the same 
 authority to declare that it shall for ever shine with undecay- 
 iog lustre in the kingdom of God. 
 
 In addition to the christian doctrine of the immortality of 
 the soul, which contains the most glorious hope of human 
 nature, the resurrection of the body and its hnmortal exis* 
 
508 
 
 tence in reunion with the soul, is peculiarly precious to man 
 hy the very constitution of his nature, meets, in the best 
 possible manner, his ideas, and hopes of happiness. 
 
 Spirits there may be of a superior order which have no 
 connexion with any material sjstem, and are not depen* 
 dent, for their knowledge, or their enjoyments on any sensi- 
 ble organs. But of their modes of existence, and their sour- 
 ces pf happiness, we can frame no conception. All our 
 ideas, and ali oar pleasures come to us through the medium 
 of sense. And our spirits are of such an order, as has been 
 before remarked, that their knowledge, their felicity, their per- 
 fection, depend on their connexion, in some way, with a corpo- 
 real system. Every thing connects us with the body, every 
 thing attaches us to the body. Hence the apostle has said ; 
 -f" We, who are iu this tabernacle, do groan, being burdened, 
 not that we would be unclolhed ;" not, that it is the object of 
 these anxious wishes to be disembodied, " but that we may 
 be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven ;" with 
 that celestial, and regenerated body which shall be freed 
 from all the pains and imperfections of this mortal flesh, and 
 which is only our present nature exalted to its ultimate per- 
 fection and glory. " The earnest expectation of the creature," 
 continues the same apostle, " waiteth for the manifestation of 
 the sons of God," at the resurrection of the just. " The 
 whole creation groanetb, even those who have received the 
 gifts of the Spiiit, groan within themselves, waiting for the 
 
 X 
 
509 
 
 It'^deniptiou of the body." — What, indeed, would be the 
 pleasure of existence to the soul, if we conld suppose it con- 
 scious of existence, deprived of the action, and ai'is of (he 
 senses, which are, at present, the only inlets of its know- 
 ledge, and Ihe chief sources of its enjoyments? 
 
 As the christian, and scriptural doctrine of the resurrection 
 corresponds, in this manner, wilh the dearest hopes, and 
 wishes of the human heart, it contributes likewise, to assist 
 the perceptions of faith. We are not left in total darkness 
 concerning the nature of our future being. Some ideas we 
 may frame with relation to this obscure subject, without the 
 hazard of being entirely lost in the unsubstantial regions of 
 fancy. The state of our future existence presents to us, no 
 longer an inscrutable mystery. Although it offers to our 
 hopes a condition of existence inconceivably improved and 
 raised above the present, still we can discern between them 
 some points of resemblance, which present to us ideas on 
 that subject, at once intelligible to our reason, and infinitely 
 precious to the heart. — In a future life, we have reason to 
 believe, our faculties will be employed, in some measure, as 
 here, but with an activity and vigour inconceivably augment- 
 ed, in searching into the wonderful works of God, io admir- 
 ing the order, the beauty, and harmony of the universal sya- 
 tem ; in adoring, and, with th? angel?, endeavouring to pen- 
 etrate the astonishing mysteries of divine grace to man. 
 Blessed, and eternal sources of knowledge, and felicity! 
 
 r 
 
The faculties which we now feebly exert, in the search of 
 truth, and in the service of our Creator and Redeemer, 
 will be new created in celestial vigour, and raised in a state of 
 undescribable perfection. All the obstacles to our advance- 
 ment in knowledge, at present, arising from the narrowness 
 of this corporeal sphere, the imperfection of these mortal 
 powers, the inactivity, and sluggishness of these gross and 
 earthly organs will be removed. That carnal and disorder- 
 ed mass which now renders the body the seat of impure pas- 
 sions, and impedes the holy aspirations of the soul, will be 
 refined and purified. A body of r.elestial light ; a spiritual 
 body, as it is styled by the apostle ; that is, a body active 
 and unembarrassed in its movements like spirit, rapid as im- 
 agination and thought, will,' in heaven, be the fit instrument 
 of the glorified scul, in its sublime, and blissful employments. 
 
 From the doctrine of the resurrection of the same person 
 results a consoling anticipation arising from the knowledge 
 of our pious friends with whom we have been connected up- 
 on earth ; the reunion, in the highest felicity, of the same 
 hearts which have been united here in the tenderest affections. 
 What ravishing pictures may imagination frame, without 
 being liable to the charge of a fallacious enthusiasm, of friend- 
 ships renewed in heaven ; of the mutual joys of pious friends 
 who meet on that happy and eternal shore, escaped from all 
 the ills and dangers of life ; of their sweet intercourse, puri- 
 fi^ed from all the passions, and weaknesses of the flesbj 
 
5U 
 
 iFhich diatiirb the harmony of (his world ; of the range tlie/ 
 may be peruaitted to enjoy, in society with one another, amid 
 the glories of the heavenly world, to nourish their celestial 
 devotions, and diversify their holy enjoyments ; of those 
 flights which Ihey may be allowed to take together into dis- 
 tant provinces of the universal empire of God to collect 
 knowledge, and to admire and adore him in the astonishing 
 operations of his hands ; or of the raptures with which every 
 ray of the Sun of righteousness will penetrate their hearts, 
 when they turn their faces towards the heavenly Zion, the 
 more immediate residence of the divine glory, to raise their 
 common ascriptions of praise to the Father of the universe, 
 and to recognize, at the foot of his throne, their boundless 
 obligations to redeeming love. — But restraining all unlicensed 
 excursions of fancy, exquisite, and now InetTable must be the 
 felicity, springing from a thousand different sources, that 
 shall arise froom meeting in those blissful habitations, the 
 friends who have been most tenderly and affectionately loved 
 upon earth. Oh ! how is the religion of our blessed Saviour 
 adapted to the finest feelings, and fitted to cherish the no- 
 blest sympathies of the human heart I — Away with that cold 
 philosophy, which, at death, would devote our existence to 
 eternal oblivion, and hopelessly rend asunder those delightfal 
 unions which form the dearest portion of ourselves ; the 
 chief joy of our being. — Jesus! Saviour! who art the first 
 fruit of the resurrection of the dead! who art thyself the 
 resurrection and the life I we adore and blnss thee who hast 
 
given this cousoladoii to suffering hunianitj .' What Sublim^; 
 and glorious prospects does our holy religion present to the 
 imaginafion ! what blessed hopes to the heart ! — But who 
 Can speak, as they deserve, of those scenes of everlasting 
 peace ; of those mansions ilhiminated by the eternal splen- 
 dours of the Sun of righteousness : those bodies of light ; 
 those souls of fire ! " t^ye hath not seen, nor hath ear heard, 
 neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive the 
 things which God hath prepared for those who love him." 
 
 OF THE FUTURE AITD ETERNAL PUNISHMENT OF THE 
 WICKED. 
 
 The doctrine of the resurrection, and of an eternal exists 
 ence beyond the grave relates to the whole race of man, 
 and embraces equally the righteous, and the wicked. For, 
 as the former shall rise to glory and immortality, the latter 
 also shall be raised to shame and everlasting contempt. 
 Under the Second Adam human nature recovers its immor- 
 tality, and it is, under his administration, ptit into a new- 
 state of trial. The whole doctrine of a future state, how- 
 ever, and of the manner of our existence there, not being (he 
 subject of sense, and being entirely beyond the range of hu- 
 man experience, all knowledge concerning it must be deriv- 
 ed solely from revelation. Reason can pronounce nothing 
 with certainty, on the subject. We must take it simply as 
 H is stated in the word of God. And here we find the ever- 
 
 ^ 
 
hsting punishmcDt of the wicked asserted in terras as expli- 
 cit and strong as the life, and felicity of the pious ; it ig, 
 Iherefore, equally entitled to our assciif, and most imperious- 
 ly commands our belief. Of the I'nrighleous it is said, 
 " they shall be cast into the lake that burneth with Ore and 
 brimstone ;" and it is added, " that the smoke of their tor- 
 ments ascendeth for ever and ever." In the final judgment 
 of the world, we are assured that the Judge shall pronounce 
 upon them this irrevocable senfence, dqmrt ye cursed into 
 everlasting fire jireparcd for the Devil and his angels. 
 These are strong figurative expressions intended (o convey 
 the certainty, and the fearful nature of the future sufferings 
 of guilt ; fire being employed as the hyeroglyphic emblem of 
 extreme torments of the body, or the mind ; and their eternal 
 duration is indicated in the strongest ter s that language can 
 use. Objections are brought against this conclusion so in- 
 teresting to human sympathy, not from scripture, as they 
 ought to be, if they were well founded, but from a pretended 
 reason, where reason is, and forever must be utterly silent. 
 
 Eternal punishments are pronounced to be contrary to the 
 natural perfection of the Deity which consists in universal 
 goodness. — It is said to be contrary to the design of his mo- 
 ral government, which is intended for reformation rather than 
 punishment; and aims finally, at theperpei'':y of happiness 
 to all virtuous minds. — In the Inst place it is strenuously ar- 
 gued, that eternal pains are tlisproportioncd to the frailty of 
 
 65 
 
 f 
 
ji4 
 
 offending man, and to the shorlnessof himiaa lite, in whicb 
 only otfences can be commit fed. — A simple an,d very brief 
 answer muat suffice on each of these topics ; for as we are 
 most incompetent judges of the infinite counsels of the Sove- 
 reign Mind, our supreme duty on these high questions is 
 silence and submission. 
 
 1 . When we say that the everlasting punishment of the 
 ivicked, is contrary to the natural and essential perfection of 
 Ood, which consists in universal goodness, and the love of 
 all being — this plea being introduced on the present occa- 
 sion, as a defence of the crimes of wicked men from the ri- 
 gours of the divine law, is treating the infinite benignity of Je- 
 Lovah, as consisting merely in an indulgent regard to the 
 frailties, appetites, and passions of mankind. These sins 
 must necessarily be the subjects of divine animadversion ; 
 and the essential perfection of the Deity, which includes 
 justice in its idea, requires the punishment of crime, not less 
 than his benignity embraces innocence with lo\e. And each 
 in strict conformity with the divine peifection, infinite in its 
 mature and operations. Justice therefore pursues crime with 
 punishment, as long as the subject in which it inheres exists, 
 — In the next place, if the essential perfection of the Deity- 
 be affirmed to consist in goodness, let us inquire wherein that 
 goodness consists. Is it not in the love of being ; and, ia 
 rational and moral beings, in virtue as essential to their high- 
 est happiness ? Every affisctioHp the higher and purer it is. 
 
515 
 
 implies its contrast. Opposite characters anil qualities, be- 
 come the objects of opposite purposes and feehngs. In pro- 
 portion to the love of goodness and virtue, must be llic ah- 
 liorrence of ini(juily, and crime. And these must be as per- 
 manent as their subjects on the one side, and on the other • 
 that is, they must be eternal. 
 
 2. When again, it is affirmed that eternal suffering, in any 
 part of the works of God, is contrary to tlie design and end 
 of his universal government, which is reformation, rather 
 than extermination, or the perpetual pains of any portion of 
 his creatures — Who, then, is competent to embrace in his 
 mind the boundless extent of the divine government ; its ob- 
 jects, its ends, or the measures of its administration? Or how 
 shall a worm of dust pronounce on questions so high, and ut- 
 terly beyond the ken of our limited faculties ? Take a sin- 
 gle example of the possible benefits which may result to the 
 righteous in their everlasting career of happy existence, 
 from the continual view of the painful and unceasing suffer- 
 ings inflicted upon hardened vice. The perpetuity of their 
 virtue may be greatly assisted, and consequently their sta- 
 bility in happiness be not a little promoted by occasional dis- 
 coveries of the issue of the most fortunate state of sin, 
 presented to them as most alHictive, hopeless, remediless. 
 We have the faithful promise of Almighty God for the cer- 
 tain preservation of the redeemed from falling. But surely 
 this stability in virtue and happiness is not the result of any 
 
516 
 
 physical necessKy of nature. It must be effected by prac- 
 tical motives adapted to the ratlozial and morui principles of a 
 TJrtuous and holy mind ; in the everlasting career of sanctifi- 
 cation and blessedness, the saints in glory will be moved, ex- 
 cited, reslrained, or stimulated by the same principles, and 
 motives, but highly exalted, and improved, which govern 
 the most holy souls in the present life. The final persever- 
 ance of the redeemed, though most securely fixed in the 
 promise of God, is for ever influenced by moral principles, 
 and motives. Who then can say that, in the universal gov- 
 ernment of God, this awful and eternal example of suffering 
 may not be useful, or even necessary to subserve the ends of 
 his infinite wisdom? But as this is a subject on which rea- 
 son cannot pronounce, being lost in the infinitude of the uni- 
 verse, and of the divine nature, it ceases to instruct, and re- 
 fers us to the simple declarations of the word of God. Here 
 must we resr, assured that as the righteous are received 
 into life eternal, so the wicked shOfll go away into ever- 
 lasting punishment. 
 
 The enemies of this doctrine, in the last place, rely, for 
 the support of their opinion, on the frailty of human nature, 
 which cannot with justice, -hey say, be subjected to eternal 
 sufferings : and to the shortness of human life, which cannot 
 have formed inveterate habits, or contracted a degree of 
 gtiilt in any proportion to such pains. 1 reply, that these 
 awiul denunciations affectmg our future existence, are not 
 
 \ 
 
517 
 
 made against the errors merely of frailty, but against obslp 
 nale and determined guilt, shewn, since the annunciation of 
 a Saviour, by the rejection of his grace. If the ^-in-* of man- 
 kind are the ofTences of a frail and feeble nature, their sufTer- 
 ings will, undoubtedly, be proportioned to the imbecility of 
 \i>Q offender ; but their sinfulness, inhering in their nature it- 
 self, their guilt must co-exist with their being ; and its pen- 
 alties, of consequence have the same duration. — To the se- 
 cond part of (his objection, respecting the shortness of life, 
 it is reasonable to reply, that eternity has no reference to 
 the length of this probatory slate, but to the inherent virtue 
 or vice of the subject of trial; for, if it were protracted ten 
 thousand times, it could not bear the smallest proportion to 
 our interminable existence. The wiidom of God has adapt- 
 ed the continuance of life, together with all its means of in- 
 struction, and grace, to our moral culture, and preparation 
 for our eternal being ; if, then, they fail of their proper object, 
 the cultivation of our nature, and the sinner continues in his 
 course of impiety, it can only be ascribed to the perversity 
 of his nature, which, having exhausted the day of grace and 
 mercy, leaves him thereafter, only to suffer the ri-*titeou3 
 retributions of eternity. Of these the duration must be ex- 
 clusively learned from the written word. No reason can be 
 assigned for the cessation of future punishment, unless it could 
 be shewn, contrary to all probability, that the actual inflic- 
 tion of extreme pains would produce a reformation which the 
 apprehension of them, aided by all the means of grace, un- 
 
 / 
 
518 
 
 der the direction of the Holy Spirit, aud the powerful assis- 
 tances of future hopes and fears, had been unable to effect. 
 The great and learned Origen believed that the actual en- 
 durance of punishment in the next life, will produce moral 
 effects to which the apprehensions of it only in the present 
 state, had been insufficient, and that it might terminate, af- 
 ter a long course of ages, in the reformation of the most 
 abandoned sinner. But, says the equally learned, and emi- 
 nent bishop Horsely ; "the principle that the effect is pos- 
 sible, that the heart may be reclaimed by force, is, at best, 
 precarious, and the only safe principle of human conduct is 
 the belief that unrepented sin will suffer endless punishment 
 hereafter." 
 
 In the conclusion of this interesting subject, let me ask -of 
 the professed disciples of our blessed Lord and Saviour ; 
 have you through Christ, the assured hope of thus glo- 
 riously rising to immortal life ? Let it prove to you the most 
 powerful motive to cultivate in your hearts those affections of 
 piety, and in your lives those habits of holiness, which will 
 prepare you for your eternal being in the heavens. — By tem- 
 perance, by purity, by the exercise of virtue, endeavour 
 moie and more to assimilate these perishing bodies, to that 
 pure and celestial nature in which you shall hereafter behold 
 the glory of God. Remember that the hope of rising again 
 to everlasting life, strips death of its greatest terrors. Death 
 is no longer what it appears to be, the destruction of our be- 
 
 \ 
 
^19 
 
 ing. It yields to the grave only the grosser parts of these 
 mortal bodies. The temporary dissolution of ihe body, and 
 the soul causes no intermission in the consciousness of hap- 
 py exisfence. Even if the soul itself, according to the opin- 
 ion of some good men, should sleep till the revivification of 
 universal nature, there is no peiception of lime in Ihe insen- 
 sibility of this mortal sleep. The moment of disi.olution 
 touches upon the moment of our restoration to life. The 
 grave, sanctified by the death, and triumphed over by the 
 resurrection of our blessed Saviour, is made to all his disciples 
 only the gate to a new, a glorious, and immortal existence. 
 "This corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal 
 shall put on immortality. O death! where is thy sting ? 
 O grave ! wl:ere is thy victory ? The sting of death is sin 3 
 but fhanks be to God who giveth us the victory through Je- 
 sus Christ our Lord !'^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 r 
 
\ 
 
A HEUiMO\, 
 
 i^uEACHED AT THE OPKNING OF TUlO GENERAL ASSKMIU » 
 OF THE PKESBYTERIAN CHURCH ; I\ THE VEAR 1 oOJ». 
 
 EpisHe 0/ Jndr, 3rfrcr.v»',— That you should contend earnestly for the fnilji 
 once delivered to the Hair.ts, 
 
 The physical order t>flhings i3 evidently intended by the 
 Creator to be subservient to (he benefit of the moral world. 
 And divine wisdom itself, in the arrangements of nature, and 
 the dispositions of providence, seems to be employed an- 
 premely in promoting the ends of divine goodness. In con- 
 formity with this order established in the universal system, 
 God has connected the knowledge of truth, with the prac- 
 tice of duty, and the duties with the happiness of human na- 
 ture. The connexion of truth with practical utility, is ac- 
 knowledged universally in science. In religion alone it has 
 been doubted, or denied, so far as to become even a fashion- 
 able maxim, — that it is of little importance to piety, or virtue, 
 what opinions, upon these subjects, are maintained by man- 
 kind, provided their conduct in society be peaceable and 
 honest. There are natural sentiments of right and wrong im- 
 planted in the human breast ; and, to whatever errors in ^pe• 
 culation the weakness of reason, or the preju»liccs of educa- 
 tion, may have given birth, the moral instincts of oitr nature. 
 
 i 
 
522 
 
 it is prcsumetl, in all ordinary cases, will correct their prac- 
 tical evils. Hence has resulted an unhappy indifference to 
 religious truth in those who embrace this maxim ; and, with 
 it an indifference to all the institutions of religion. 
 
 The apostle Jude, in this epistle, apparently from a deep 
 conviction, that erroneous principles in morals, are ever pro- 
 portionally connected with a lax virtue, condemns in a fer- 
 vent and indif^nant style, the efforts which were made, in that 
 early age, to corrupt the purity and simplicity of the gospel 
 oi Christ. In opposition to the insidious arts of these pre- 
 tended disciples, who studied to turn the grace of God into 
 lasciviousness, he exhorts his christian brethren to contend 
 earnestly for the faith, zealously to maintain the truth as it is 
 in Christ, which alone is able to redeem men from all ini- 
 quity, and make them wise to eternal life» 
 
 This injunction of the sacred writer rests for its foundation 
 on the inseparable union between sound principles in religion 
 and morals, and a pure and virtuous tenor of life. It strong- 
 ly implies, therefore, that every real christian, and especially 
 that every minister of Christ, is under sacred and indispen- 
 sable obligations to search for the truth in religion, with 
 faithfulness, to embrace it with sincerity, to maintain it with 
 firmness, and to promote it with zeaL 
 
 A 
 
523 
 
 If, indeed, evangelic truth had no peculiar lelalioii to 
 Sanctity of life, but any principles were equal to the ends of 
 religion, the knowledge of it would not merit either Ihe 
 labour bestowed on its acquisition, or the praise ascribed to 
 its possession ; Christianity itself would be deprived of its 
 chief glory ; and it would be indifferent to every purpose of 
 piety, or virtue, whether we were christians or pagans, be- 
 lievers or infidels. 
 
 In the following discourse, I purpose, under the divine 
 blessing, 
 
 I. In the first place, to illustrate the connexion that exists 
 between duty, and evangelic truth; or generally between 
 principles and conduct. 
 
 IF. And in the next place, to urge the exhortation of the 
 apostle, to contend earnestly for thefaithy the fountain, and 
 comprehensive sum of all good principles in religion. 
 
 I. Permit me, then, in the first pbce, to illustrate the cou- 
 ncxion that exists between duty, and evangelic truth, and in 
 general, between principles and conduct. 
 
 As the great springs of human action lie in the passions 
 and appetites, the desires and wants of men, so the contro! 
 and direction of these springs is to be found only in an un- 
 
 -^ 
 
tiers tanding, and a conscience enlightened by divine truth. 
 An it is a fact confirmed bj the general experience of the 
 church that, if the mind be early imbued with the principles 
 of piety and virtue, cultivated under a regular and prudent 
 dii5cipline, it usually ripens into a fixed and steady character 
 of virtue, and by the co-opctation of the Spirit of divine 
 grace, into habits of sincere and fational pletj^. On the oth- 
 er hand, if youth, at this early and forming period of life, are 
 sufifered to grow up without moral culture, and left to form 
 their principles under the influenoe of vicious companions, 
 among whom they are taught to vindicate the indulgence of 
 the passions, by the corrupt maxims of the world, there is 
 hardly any point of profligacy in thpir manners, at which we 
 should be surprised eventually to sey them arrive. The sys- 
 tem of truth, indeed, and the law of duly, have the same 
 common source in the perfections and the will of God. The 
 more perfectly therefore we can separate it from every im- 
 pure mixture, the more powerful are the motives which we 
 enjoy to universal holiness of living. 
 
 On the other band, is it not one of the plainest, and most 
 obvious conclusions of reason, that, if men embrace princi- 
 ples which favour the passions, and remove from the mind 
 the restraints of religion ; if they deny, for example, the ex- 
 istence, or the providence of Almiglljy God ; if they frame 
 false or imperfect conceptions of the divine attributes ; if 
 they invent maxims which, in a state of dissolute manners is 
 
 > 
 
iJ'lJ 
 
 always done, <o palliate iDsinceiHy, fraud, intemperance, or 
 lust, the ties of moral obli-j^alion arc thereby necessarily re- 
 laxed ? Could yon, on great and critical occasions, rely on 
 the integrity of a man who should avow such [)rinciple3 ? 
 Would vou be wilh'ng to entrust to hiiri the honour and virtue 
 of your families, where he could violate them with secrecy, 
 or with impunity ? Would not his passions, his interests, his 
 pleasures be thenceforward the supreme law of his conduct? 
 
 But does not dissoliition of manners frequently precede, 
 and itself become the cause of the general corruption of 
 principle, in individuals, and in nations ? It does. — And this 
 fact places the truth of*the proposition which I have assum- 
 ed to illustrate, in a new light. For so powerful is the force 
 of truth upon the heart, that men cannot preserve the peace 
 of their own bosoms, amidst the conflict of their prin< iples, 
 with their actions. They are obliged, therefore, if they do 
 act reject the law of Christ, to set themselves to corrupt and 
 modify it if possible, to the standard of their inclinations. If 
 the laiv of Christ has not been able effectually to constrain 
 their obedience, they must shut their eyes against its light, 
 or study, by every subtil artifice, to pervert its spirit. 
 
 The efficacy of divine truth early instilled into the mind, 
 and received with a ^ile temper, is conspicu-us, to a can- 
 did observer, in the excellent fruits which commonly pro- 
 ceed from a virtuous and pious education, conUucted with 
 
 r 
 
prudeoce, and persevered in with steady and consistent 
 trisdom. 
 
 Remark the youth who have been sedulously and pru- 
 dently instrocted in the principles of religion: compare 
 their sobriety, their temperance, their regular and exemplary 
 manners, with the character and conduct of such as have 
 grown up, like neglected weeds, without culture. Is it not 
 usually, among these that the church finds her future sup- 
 ports, and her future ornaments ? If, in the course of life, 
 they should be exposed to temptations which give too strong 
 an action to their passions, how long will their early princi- 
 ples resist the corrupting current? How often will con- 
 science, roused by that secret voice which they awaken in 
 the breast, recal them to their duty ? Or when, .for a season, 
 like David, or the young Solomon, they have been drawn 
 aside from its path, how often are these secret monitors, re- 
 covering force, by some interesting dispensation of divine 
 providence, made the means of bringing them back to their 
 duty, and to God, with humiliation and repentance ? Here 
 let me notice, only to condemn, the injustice of a frequent 
 remark, that the most serious and pious education is com- 
 monly followed by the greatest dissolution of manners. So 
 far is this from being verified by the fact, that it is, on the 
 other hand, the comparative rarity ol'^the example, and its 
 striking incongruity with our most reasonable expectations, 
 which has occasioned its being so much noticed, in a few in- 
 
527 
 
 slances, that the frequency of the reproach has been uiiatu 
 ken for the commonness of the effect. And the fact, where 
 it does exist, may usually be traced to some gross defect of 
 prudence, or of skill, in the conduct of their education. 
 
 I acknowledge, indeed, and it is only a confirmation of our 
 doctrine, that those who have finally broken through the re- 
 straints of a pious discipline, like those who have burst Ihe 
 bounds of modest and of decent manners, are usually more 
 profligate than other sinners ; harrassed in their evil courses 
 by their early principles, they are often tempted to run to 
 greater excesses than others, that they may, at once, if pos^ 
 sible, extinguish the distressing light of truth, and drown the 
 reproaches of their own consciences. 
 
 Against the preceding reasonings an objection has been 
 raised from two interesting facts — one that we not unfrequent- 
 ly see men of vicious manners professing the best principles *, 
 another, that we find good men among all sects of christians. 
 True it is, that orthodox opinions in religion may be osten- 
 sibly avowed by men of very exceptionable morals. They 
 may be merely modes of speaking received by inheritance, 
 or adopted as the distinction of a party ; while, at the same 
 time, they have not entered deeply into the convictions of 
 reason, nor taken possessiaaof the sentiments of the heart. 
 
 f 
 
The second fact I do not deny, but rather rejoice in its 
 existence, that there arc found pious men, who are ornaments 
 of their holy profession, among all denominations of chris- 
 tians. But does this prove that there is no distinction in 
 their moral effects between truth and falsehood ? or that all 
 principles are equally favourable,,* or indifferent to true reli- 
 gion, and sanctity of manners ? No, it is an interesting 
 proof, to the benevolent and candid mind, that every de- 
 nomination of christians embraces, in its system, an important 
 portion of evangelical truth. The great and central doctrines 
 of our salvation, from which all the practical principles of 
 piety and morals naturally radiate, are so clearly borne uposs 
 the whole face of the sacred scriptures, that they are receiv- 
 ed under one form of expression, or another, in the symbols, 
 confessions, and creeds of almost all who assume to wear the 
 name of christian. Yet, along witk* them, the frailty of the 
 human understanding, or some latent bias of the human heart, 
 has frequently mingled more or less of error, which propor- 
 tionally impairs their sanctifying influence. As every truth 
 is connected with some right disposition of the heart, and 
 contributes to promote it ; so every error, in a similar de- 
 gree, tends to strengthen some sinful propensity, or to weak- 
 en the obligation of some duty. Hence particular sections 
 of the church, according to the purity and extent in which 
 they embrace the truth as it is in Christ, are distinguished 
 above others, for the general sanctity of their manners; for 
 a zeal in religion, at once rational and fervent ; and for the 
 
529 
 
 numbers who adorn, by their practice, the 'locfrine of God 
 their Saviour. But among the truly pious of all ilenomina- 
 tions, there is a greater harmony of sentiment, and of faith, 
 than they themselves, in the jealousy of party, in the pride 
 of disputation, and even in the delicate apprehensions for the 
 truth, which some gooi! men, who have moulded all their 
 feelings in religion to certain set forms of words, arc willing 
 to allow. In terms they differ more than in spirit. 
 
 Unhappily, indeed, there are in our age, a« there were 
 in the age of the apostles, those who wear, and who glo- 
 ry in the christian name, who yet remove the basis of 
 Christianity, by denying the only Lord God, even our 
 Lord Jesus Christ. But as then they were, they still 
 are, known by the coldness of their piety, and the lax- 
 ness of their moral sysleai. Spots are they in the church, 
 in which should exist only the continual feast of christian 
 love ; unfructifying clouds without rain, borne about by the 
 winds o( human passions. It would be more honour to the 
 cause of Christ, or rather less dishonour, if they would re- 
 ijounce the name which they abuse. 
 
 Having thus far endeavoured to illustrate the connexion 
 between truth and duty ; that is, between faith, or the genu- 
 ine doctrines of the gospel, and holiness of living— 
 
 t)7 
 
530 
 
 II. I proceed, moie directly, to urge fhe exhortation of the 
 aposile, to contend earnestly for the faith, the fountain and 
 the sum of all good principles in religion. 
 
 If moral truth were of no importance, or if it were not es- 
 sentially connected with our duty, with our salvation, and 
 with the best interests of human nature, this exhortation 
 would be without reason. But related as they are by the 
 immutable constitution of heaven, this union imposes on us 
 inviolable obligations, to seek for the truth in religion with 
 fidelity, to maintain it with firmness, and to promote it with 
 zeal. The duty is incumbent on every christian, in propor- 
 tion to his means of information, and his opportunities of do- 
 ing good. It is, above all, incumbent on the church as a 
 community, the depositary of the oracles of the living God ; 
 and on those, in a peculiar manner, who are appointed to be 
 her watchmen, her instructors, her guardians, and examples. 
 
 Where, then, is to be found that precious truth which we 
 are required to maintain in the face of every open enemy, or 
 insidious friend, and earnestly to promote with a zeal worthy 
 of its high importance. In this, all sects concur with one 
 voice, that the pure evangelical truth is to be discerned only 
 in the holy scriptures. But when we attempt to collect it 
 from the loose style of parable and narrative, in which it is 
 frequently conveyed, or to divest it of that oratorical, or po- 
 etic dress in which the sacred writers have often clothed it, 
 and reduce it to plain and simple propositions, here, I con- 
 
 \ 
 
531 
 
 feas, is some room for uncertainty and doubt. Here it is 
 that men introducing their own speculations, and mingling 
 their own philosophic systems with the word of God, have 
 corrupted its simplicity, and made the christian church, like 
 the schools of Greece, a theatre for the conflict of contend- 
 ing opinions. Are the divii^ scriptures, then, of doubtful in- 
 terpretation ? Or do they afford any ground for this gladia- 
 torial play of intellect ? No, they are full of light ; hut like 
 all the manifestations of the will of God, in the works both of 
 creation and providence, they are liable to be misinterpreted 
 by ignorance, or perverted by some dishonesty of the heart, 
 >Dr by some mistaken bias of education. They are a fountain 
 of truth to thof=e who submit themselves with humilitv to the 
 wisdom of God, and who, with genuine simplicity of spirit, 
 have no other aim but to discern in them their own duty, 
 and no concern but to understand the will of their heavenly 
 Father, in order to obey it. If, with these dispositions, we 
 approach the siiudy of thd'holy scriptures, although some un- 
 avoidable errors should still adhere to the frailty of the hu- 
 man understanding, wq cannot materially swerve from that 
 system of truth whicl^as disciples of Christ, we are called 
 to defend. And in tha| field of human infirmity in w Inch we 
 may be permitted to err, we shall find ground for the mutual 
 exercise of charity with our fellow-christiana. 
 
 Are, then, all portions of scripture, all the tenets which 
 enter into the body of our creed, equally the objects of that 
 holy zeal required by the apostle ic tIelcLce of il.e faith 
 
532 
 
 Every ti'uth of the gospel is precious to a real believeh 
 Bu peculiarly precious are (hose fundamental doctrines on 
 wh.ch the whole fabric of Christianity rests. If I may be 
 permitted to make this selection, they are the doctrines of 
 the atonement — of the ageticjf of the Holy Spirit — of the re- 
 generation of the hear- — of the free grace of God in the sal- 
 vation of the world — of the final judgment— of the resurrec- 
 tion of the body — and the life everlasting. They are to 
 him, in the language of a great reformer, articiilce stantis nut 
 cadentis ecclesicp., articles by which ihe church must stand 
 or fall. ^ 
 
 To truth, a pure mind atlachess itself with a powerful at- 
 traction. It is the image of the divine wisdom. It is the 
 glory of God that he is the fountain ©f truth. To declare 
 the truth to the world the Saviour became incarnate. To 
 give it efficacy on the hearts of men, the Holy Spirit has 
 been shed upon his church. The pursuit and discovery of 
 (ruth, with wider and still wider eKtent, will be among the 
 most delightful employments of the redeemed in heaven. 
 With the progress of evangelic truth i^on earth, is connected 
 the glory of God, the honour of the Redeemer, the highest 
 and best interests of mankind, objects peculiarly dear to 
 every sincere disciple of Jesus Christ.- With fervour, there- 
 fore will he embrace it from the heart, and with unceasing 
 ??eal will he study to promote It 
 
533 
 
 A superior duty is imposed upon the ministers of religion 
 tvho are appointed as watchmen upon the walls of Ziun, and 
 as heralds to the world of the glad tidings of salvation. 
 They are sety in the language of the apostle, /or </ie defence 
 of the gospel. Among their first cares, it ought to be, as far 
 as possible, (o preserve the church from corruption of prin- 
 ciple, and to cultivate within it that unity of sentiment, and 
 harmony in interpreting the great doctrines of religion, so 
 necessary to the peace and order of the body oj Christ. 
 When conflicting doctrines are preached in the same church, 
 the principles of the people become unsettled. To tempo- 
 rary scepticism, succeeds indifference (o truth ; a state of 
 mind not much less dangerous than error itself. 
 / 
 
 I fear not to be charged with illiberality, though I assert 
 that, if among those who are otherwise agreed in the distin- 
 guishing doctrines of Christianity, there are such differences 
 of opinion, even upon minor points, as would disturb iho har- 
 mony of their devotions, let them worship God in separate 
 communions. The existence of various denominations may 
 even be attended wi^ some advantages ; and where their 
 members are found walking agreeably to the commandment 
 of Christ, they may embrace one another in the spirit of chris- 
 tian charity. But union in the same body ought sacredly to 
 be preserved. Division on the other hand, and on the other 
 that extreme of charity, which indicates an inditlereuce to 
 truth, are, in the iiigbest degree, pernicious. " iie of one 
 
634 
 
 mmi\. Endeavour to keep the umiy of the spirit, in the bond 
 of peace." 
 
 But the injunction of the sacred writer, in this passage, imr 
 plies an obligation not only to maintain the purity of the faithj 
 and, as far as possible, its unity ; but to defend it against 
 every enemy, and to promote with all our powers of persua- 
 sion and reason, its holy influence over the hearts of men. 
 
 The humble and benevolent religion of Jesus Christ, al- 
 ways obnoxious to the corruptions of the human heart, is 
 obliged incessantly to combat with open, or insidious enemies, 
 and to meet them in their ever new, ^nd ever varying modes 
 of attack. It is assailed by inveterate foes from without, or 
 betrayed by false and pretended frieniis within the bosom of 
 the church itself. In no age have enemies more numerous, 
 or more subtil, erected themselves against the standard of the 
 cross. Not, indeed, armed with power, and foUotred by 
 flames, as in ages past ; but more tol»e dreaded, perhaps, by 
 pure and undefiled religion, they come armed with all the 
 subtilty of a false and ostentatious sci^ce, and supported by 
 the dissolution of the public manners. 
 
 The press is often a good criterion of the state of the pub- 
 lic morals, and the public taste. Look over the list of new. 
 publications in Europe. Examine thp catalogues of those 
 writings which obtain the favour of the most numerous class 
 cf readers, both therC; and in our own country. What do 
 
you see in these writers but continual incentives thrown out 
 to «onMjpt the imagination, and inflame the passions of the 
 young ? What but a shameless sophistry designeil to eman- 
 cipate every hist of the heart from the remaining restraints of 
 religion ? VVh;»t but continual efforts to undermine the foun- 
 dations of the gospel, and boldly to tear down the walls and 
 the ramparts of our christian Zion ? Kvcn the lencei of 
 nalural religion are attempted to be overthrown. The ex- 
 istence of God has been called in question by a delirious phi- 
 losophy ; his providence over the world has been resolved 
 into contingency, or fate ; the appreliensions of futurity have 
 been derided as childish fears ; and human nature robbed of 
 its most precious treasure in the hopes of a happy and immor- 
 tal existence, only that religion may not derive from them any 
 efFectual control o\ er the consciences of men. All the pow- 
 ers of learning, wit, and perverted genius, have been assem- 
 bled against the glory of the Saviour. A kind of traditionary 
 respect, indeed, is still pretended to be paid to the name of 
 virtue : but a name it is, and nothing more. It does not pre- 
 vent the outrage of almost every duty which a creature owes 
 to his Creator. It does not impede the indulgence of the 
 most atrocious passions under the abused name of honour; 
 nor the violation of the most sacred ties of society, of friend- 
 ship, of humanity u^der the pretence of an innocent pursuit 
 of pleasure. A deluge of infidelity in the old world is sweep- 
 ing before it principles and morals, and has, long since, be- 
 gun to roll its fearful tide to the new. Along with ancient 
 corruptions in governoaent and religion, it threatens to d^ 
 
536 
 
 sfroy religion and government themselves ; and to over- 
 whelm, in undistinguishing ruin, whatever is rendered ven- 
 erable by time, and sacred by its relations to God, and the 
 felicity of human society. And the new clouds which are 
 gathering in our horizon at this moment, look dark and dis- 
 mal. In this day of trouble, of rebuke, and blasphemy, 
 what is the duty of the watchmen on the walls of Zion ? Arc 
 they not called to increasing diligence, to higher efforts of 
 faith and constancy, to more fervent zeal, to greater sacrifi- 
 ces in the cause of the Redeemer, more earnestly than ever 
 to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints ? Truth, 
 indeed, which is eternal, although it may seem, for a season, 
 to be vanquished by the powers of darkness, will eventually 
 prevail over all the variable forms of error ; but its weapons 
 require to be wielded by skilful, and by honest hands. 
 
 In order to fulfd the requisition of the text, therefore, 
 the ministry of the gospel, ought to possess both talents, 
 which will enable them to meet the foe upon equal ground ; 
 zud fidelity, which will never shrink from any labour, or any 
 danger, which it may be necessary to encounter in the Re- 
 deemer's cause. 
 
 Will it not then be esteemed reasonable to assert, that the 
 ministers of religion ought always to stand in the foremost 
 ranks of literature and science in their country. And it is 
 a fact which will hardly be disputed, that, hitherto, the 
 world has owed more to its religious orders for the cultivation, 
 
.r 
 
 537 
 
 and progress of letters, than to all other classes of sociely. 
 This is a general proposition which extends beyond the chria 
 tian church, to those in every nation who are supremely oc- 
 cupied in the studies and concerns of religion. The Ma- 
 gians and the Bramins, the priests of India and of Persia 
 were the scholars, and instructors of those great nations. 
 The schools of Ihe prophets were the seminaries of litera- 
 ture among the people of Israel. The sacerdotal colleges 
 of Egypt were the schools of Greece, whicii afterwards be- 
 came the school of the universe. After the overthrow of 
 the Roman empire by the northern tribes, nothing contrib- 
 uted so much to extend among those ignorant and rude bar- 
 barians, the influence of Christianity, and by degrees to ame- 
 liorate their savage planners, as the superior knowledge, as 
 well as piety of the great body of the ciiriatian clergy. In 
 the churches and monasteries, to whatever objections the 
 latter afterwards became liable, were preserved those sparks 
 of ancient learning wlfich served to re-kindle the flame of 
 modern science. To the clergy, almost exclusively, we 
 owe the brilliant resurrection of letters in the fifteenth, and 
 sixteenth centuries. And in their hands, ever since, baa 
 been deservedly placed the direction of learning ; and with 
 them it is likely to remain. Is this a language which ought to 
 create offence to anjy order of men T No ; it ought only to 
 awaken a generous emulation among the real friends of reli- 
 gion and learning of all professions. And I am willing to 
 urge this point the farther, at present, for the sake of so ma- 
 
538 
 
 uj young men who are here before you, with the view of dis 
 voting themselves to the holy ministry. 
 
 To (hem permit me to say, that true piety is first, and 
 above all things necessary in a minister of Christ. But, 
 next to this, and not much less important, is sound science, 
 and general literature, that he may be able to confirm the 
 truth, and convince gainsayers, and that, in delivering and 
 defending the gospel, he may be able to bring from his 
 treasures things new and old ; and acquire that ascendency 
 over the minds of men, which acknowledged virtue, a lumin- 
 ous eloquence, and extensive information alone can give. 
 That on trite subjects, he may be always new. That, hav- 
 ing fixed himself in the hearts of his people, by faithfulness 
 in every duty of the pastoral office, he may take possession of 
 their understandings also, by his ability to teach. Lamenta- 
 ble is the falling oflf when a young pastor, who has at first 
 been well received, exhausts his \\\\\e fund, in a few of his 
 early discourses. The repetition of the same truths, how- 
 ever important, in nearly the same language becomes insipid 
 even to a pious audience. To every candidate for this holy 
 oflSce, therefore, let me insist, that his preparations for ap- 
 pearing in it with dignify and usefulness, should be neither 
 superficial, nor hasty ; and to e\ery minister, may I be per- 
 mitted to add, that his studies never should end but with 
 his life. 
 
539 
 
 If those who publish the gospel to mankind ou{;ht to be 
 (Scribes well insiructed in (he law of Christ, for the edifica- 
 tion of the church, not less re*t[ui8ite is it that Ihey be fur- 
 nished with all the resources of human science, in order to 
 repel those enemies of the faith, who, by an abuse of learn- 
 ing, and a shameful misapplication of llie talents which God 
 has given them, are endeavouring to overturn, to their foun- 
 dations, his glorious city, and temple. The philosophers 
 arc setting themselves against the ministers of religion, the 
 schools against the altars. But wielding as you do, in this 
 spiritual conC-ict, the mighty force of truth, your encour- 
 agement is, that, you must prevail, if you are not reproach- 
 fully delinquent to the king of Zion. I am aware that fnany 
 pious men regard all considerations of this nature as pai tak- 
 ing too much of the spirit and poh'cy of the world. They 
 profess to place all their reliance, not on any human means^ 
 but solely on the omnipotence of divine grace ; and strangely 
 seek a refuge for their own indolence in the abused doctrine 
 of the operations of the Holy Spirit. Almighty God has es- 
 tablished, in the constitution of nature, a certain connexion 
 between the means and the end ; and never does Jie depart 
 from this order, which is his will, except where the occasion 
 demands a miracle. Shall we then faithlessly suffer the 
 temple of the LivmgGod to be levelled to the dust, by the 
 attacks of so many insidious adversaries as assail it on every 
 side, while we look on with a lazy and indifferent gaze, under 
 pretence of doing honour to the sovereignty of divine grace ? 
 Or since the church shall last while the Bun and the moon en- 
 
540 
 
 tjure, will not God wrest her interests out of our hands, and 
 commit ibem to hands more worthy to defend them? 
 
 Will it be said, what learning can do, has been done al- 
 ready ? That the learned and pious divines of the last, and 
 preceding century have furnished the churcb xrith the ablest 
 defences of revelation, with the most admirable elucidations 
 of the sacked writings, with the most victorious refutations of 
 the principles of infidelity ? It is true,- — and the praise of 
 these wise and holy men is in all th6 churches. But if we 
 have not ourselves skill and force for the combat, how shall 
 we be able to wield the armour of Saul? God most justly ex- 
 pects, that we should bring to the service of his altar every 
 human aid, as well as every divine g^ace. Be ye wise as 
 serpents, saith the Saviour, and liarmhss as doves. And 
 what doth the apostle, who possessed all the arts of Grfeece, 
 and all the divine learning of Israel, intend by these injunc- 
 tions to his son Timothy ; " Till 1 come, give attendance to 
 reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect not the gift 
 that is in thee. Meditate upon these things. Give thyself 
 wholly to them, that thy piofiting may appear unto all !*' Can 
 the divine author intend, according to the views of some weak 
 and enthusiastic sects, that, in devoutly reading the sacred 
 writings, God imparts some extraordinary influx of the Ho- 
 ly Spirit, to render their meaning clear ; thus making one in- 
 spiration necessary originally to communicate the scriptures 
 to the apostles and prophets of old, and another to the 
 church in the present day, to enable it to understand them? 
 
541 
 
 With prayer and pious meditation, indeed, every clirislian 
 ought devoutl/ to study them. The more nearly we can 
 laise (he soul to the tone of pioii5 fervour, and sublime devo- 
 tion, in which the prophets and apostles composed their sa- 
 cred hymns, their divine histories, and epistles, the more we 
 shall perceive the spiritual beauties of the word of God ; 
 the more clear, and impressive will its heavenly truths be to 
 the heart. But let all who are preparing to enter into this 
 holy office be assured that there is hardly an art, or branch 
 of knowledge, in the whole circle of science, or of literature, 
 from which some useful illustration of the sacred writings 
 may not be drawn. 
 
 Id earnestly contending for the failhy in the next place, 
 talents alone are not sufficient to acquit your high and holy 
 duties to God and the church. Fidelity in the discharge of 
 all the functions of the sacred ministry is not less necessary. 
 That is, plainness and integrity in declaring the whole coun- 
 sel of God, a spirit of warm and unaffected devotion, and un- 
 wearied diligence in the offices of your holy calling, arising 
 from a deep conviction of the value of immortal souls, and the 
 infinite importance of the sacred cause in which you are en- 
 gaged. Without genuine piety, and holy zeal, the labour of 
 preaching the gospel must be both unpleasant and unfruit- 
 ful. With what comfort, or etfect can a cold, fof;nal> or 
 worldly minded man preach the doctrines of repentan<e, of 
 self-denial, of purity of heart, of sanctity of life ? B:;^ di\ ine 
 truth illustrated with clearness, declared with iaiiaiuiness. 
 
542 
 
 anc! flowing from a heart deeply affected with the eternal ia- 
 tei'tJsJs of mankind, possesses a majesty and force, that sub- 
 due thef mind, an illumination and conviction <hat penetrate 
 the soul, a tenderness and persuasion that touch and move all 
 the springs of action in the heart. " It commends itself to 
 every man's conscience in the sight of God." 
 
 As there is every thing in the subject to awaken the zeal 
 of a sincere christian, and especially, of a faithful minister of 
 Jesus Christ, in publishing the glad tidings of salvation to a 
 guilty world, and carrying the standard of the cross through 
 the ranks of opposing enemies, so there is every thing in the 
 circumstances of the present time, to raise that zeal to an un- 
 usual fervor.— Impiety has broken in like a Sood upon the 
 nations, and is carrying before it, not the young and inexpe- 
 rienced alone or those who have made it their interest, by 
 Qnholy living, to embrace the principles of infidelity ; but we 
 see borne on the tide philosophers, legislators, magistrates, 
 those who should be the instructors of mankind, who should 
 be the guardians of the public morals, who, seated in the 
 throne of the laws, should be examples of virtue and obedi- 
 cnce to the people. It already threatens to bear with it 
 the mass of society, if Almighty God, to whose throne we 
 daily send our supplications to defend us from this calamity, 
 do not interpose to arrest the overwhelming flood, saying to 
 its rage " hitherto shalt thou come, and no farther ; and here 
 shall thy proud waves be stayed." From the prevalence of 
 corrupted manners, I see a fatal evil invade the church it- 
 
 M 
 
^43 
 
 self, ''Because iniquily abounds tlie love of many waxa» 
 cold." The wise and even the waUhtnen on the walls of 
 Zion, seem to be asleep along with the secure and unappre- 
 heosive crowd oi foolish virgins. The present seems to b« 
 the reign of evil ova- a great part of the world which ralla it- 
 self christian. And Christ may now say as he ilid to his 
 persecutors and murderers, "this is your hour, aiid the pow- 
 er of darkness." 
 
 If we see the blessed gospel openly and almost triumphant- 
 ly insulted by powerful enemies, is it not also in many parts 
 of the church, insidiously corrupted by false friends ? Where 
 it is still preached with a degree of evangelic purity, does it 
 not seem to fall powerless from the lips of those who are ap- 
 pointed to proclaim its grace to the world ? For many yeara 
 we have seen the columns of civil society, and the temples 
 of religion falling together. We have heard the horrible 
 crash at a distance. We have sometimes felt the earth trem- 
 ble under our feet, to warn us of our approaching danger. 
 Roused for a moment, we hav^ only sunk down again into 
 asleep like the sleep of death. — Can occasions more loudly 
 call, shall I say, on the ministers of religion ? Shall I not say 
 on all christians? 1 was going to say on all good citizens, ear- 
 nestly to contend for the faith, for the purity of those prin- 
 cif le- of morahty and piety, for the blessedness ot those im- 
 mortal hopes, once delivered to the saints? To stem the in- 
 creasing torrent of impiety— to arre-^t the di^solllll..n of the 
 public morali — to promote the designs of divine mercy to 
 
 r 
 
544 
 
 aiankind — to recal the departing glory to our churches — to 
 exalt the grace of the ever blessed Redeemer — to reanimate 
 the ahnost extinguished love of his disciples to him, and to 
 one another. My brethren in the holy ministry ! who is 
 sutlicient for these things ? Although we might justly trem- 
 ble when we contemplate the weakness of the human i«»atru- 
 ment, be encouraged, holy brethren ! by the example of the 
 apostle, who hath said through Christ we can do all things. 
 
 The political, the moral, and religious horizon looks dark 
 and gloomy. The tempest, which has shaken half the world, 
 threatens, as we have long foreseen, to extend its fury to us. 
 Yet, in the gathering cloud, I seem to see some luminous 
 spots which invite us not to despair. In every event, how- 
 ever, which may chequer the mysterious aspect of divine 
 providence, one truth is certain, one truth should console 
 you, my dear brethren, " be you faithful unto death, and 
 you shall receive a crown of life." 
 
 Now to the Father, to the >S^> f^^^d to the Holy Ghost, 
 be glory, as it ivas in the beginning, is now, and ever shall 
 be world without end ! — AMEN ! 
 
 THE END- M 
 
 
958.21 
 
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 S&^r 
 
 • in 
 
 BOUND 
 
 DEC 2 1 1954