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 EVIDENCES 
 
 OF 
 
 NATURAL AND REVEALED 
 RELIGION; 
 
 BEING THE 
 SUBSTANCE OF LECTURES 
 
 READ IN THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY AND KING’S COLLEGE OF ABERDEEN. 
 
 BY ALEXANDER AND GILBERT GERARD, D.D., 
 LATE PROFESSORS OF DIVINITY, 
 AND CHAPLAINS IN ORDINARY FOR SCOTLAND 
 TO HIS LATE MAJESTY. 
 
 Havre doximoalere To “oaLAOY KO TEX ETE. 
 1 THEss, vy. 21. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR C. & J. RIVINGTON, 
 ST PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD, 
 AND WATERLOO PLACE, PALL-MALL. 
 
 1828. 
 
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TO THE 
 
 RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 GEORGE EARL OF GLASGOW; 
 
 AS A MEMORIAL OF THE CONDESCENDING FRIENDSHIP, 
 WITH WHICH THE PRINCIPAL AUTHOR, 
 THE GRANDFATHER OF THE EDITOR, 
 WAS HONOURED 
 BY SEVERAL OF HIS LORDSHIP’S PREDECESSORS ; 
 AND IN TESTIMONY OF THE HIGHEST PERSONAL ESTEEM 
 
 AND CONSIDERATION ; 
 
 THE FOLLOWING PAGES 
 ARE RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, 
 BY 
 HIS LORDSHIP’S GREATLY OBLIGED, 
 
 MOST OBEDIENT, 
 
 AND MOST HUMBLE SERVANT, 
 
 WIL. GERARD. 
 
’ a 
 
 “ioe sete any 0 ne on 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 Tue following little Treatise formed a part of 
 the Course of Lectures on Theology, composed 
 by my late Grandfather and Father, in their 
 character of Professors of Divinity. By the 
 former it was left in an unfinished state, and 
 was completed by his Son and Successor, from 
 whose pen proceed the last three Chapters of 
 the Second Part; viz. those on the External 
 and Collateral Evidences of Christianity, and 
 on the Authenticity and Authority of the 
 Books of Scripture. It does not appear that 
 either of them entertained any design of ever 
 expanding these Notes into the form of regu- 
 
 lar Lectures; partly, no doubt, on account of 
 
8 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 the many excellent Treatises on the Subjects 
 upon which they touch that have long been 
 before the Public; partly, also, to avoid inter- 
 ference with their learned Colleagues in the 
 Marischal College,* who were accustomed to 
 discuss, fully and in detail, these Branches of 
 Theology. 
 
 As these Notes were written without any 
 view to Publication, they are submitted to the 
 public eye in a necessarily less perfect form 
 than if they had been prepared for the press 
 by the Authors themselves. They contain, 
 however, much that is new; and, though 
 brief, give a remarkably comprehensive, clear, 
 and well-digested view of the various subjects 
 of which they treat. It is therefore hoped 
 they may be found useful, not only in assisting 
 
 the Studies of young Candidates for the Minis- 
 
 ae ee SS 
 
 * The late Dr Campbell, and his worthy successor, Dr 
 Brown. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 9 
 
 try, for whose benefit they were originally com- 
 posed, but also in establishing the Religious 
 Principles of the Young in the seminaries of 
 general Education. 
 
 Should this Publication be favourably re- 
 ceived, it is probable that I may, at some fu- 
 ture period, give to the world,—either entire, 
 or in the form of an Abstract,—the Lectures 
 on the Christian System in my _ possession. 
 These Lectures, along with the present vo- 
 lume on the Grounds of Religion,—the In- 
 stitutes of Biblical Criticism,—and the Treat- 
 ise on the Pastoral Care, by the same Authors, 
 —would exhibit a Complete Body of Theo- 
 logy, as it was taught by them, with the 
 highest reputation and success, for a long 
 
 series of years. 
 
 WIL. GERARD. 
 
 -Oup ABERDEEN, February 11, 1826. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 Page 
 Of the Study of Theology in General,...............+...+ 17 
 Secor. I. Of the Preliminary Studies,................. 18 
 Il. Of the Nature and Extent of the Science 
 GE LIMCOLOD Verte te Mes ha teat conigs ovate 20 
 ‘III. Of the Character of a Student of Theo- 
 Ayia Py epee ae Te re ree MERE 24 
 1V. Of the Object and Design of Theological 
 TIC CUUN Gao cate Moss oa lain OO dost ee 28 
 PART I 
 Of Natural Theology,...........ccseeeeerteeeerseseceeenenenees 30 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Of the Being and Attributes of God,...... {ASR DUEL che 32 
 
12 CONTENTS. 
 Page 
 Sect. I. Of the Impossibility of Accounting for 
 the Existence of the World from Ne- 
 ROSSILY ja coset a eens eee aaah « cage e 34 
 II. Of the Impossibility of Accounting for 
 the Existence of the World from 
 CHaNG6 oe ee ces 2h eee 37 
 III. Of the Impossibility of Accounting for 
 the Existence of the World from 
 INAUITO, ssc tomer ia eke eee ered ee 39 
 IV. Of the Necessary Existence and Inde- 
 pendence vf ATOd. veces nite eee 4] 
 V. Of the Intelligence of God,................+ 43 
 VI. Of the Spirituality of God,.................. 45 
 VII. Of the Eternity and Immutability of God, 48 
 VIII. Of the Immensity and Omunipresence of 
 LE 2a7s PO, epteneee hep Reg ASME. Ree Sa: 51 
 TX. OP ther Unity, ob sod fon aaa tice, ohanek 53 
 X. Of the Omniscience of God.,..............00+ 55 
 AIS OF the Wisdoth Gt: Godse eee 58 
 XII. Of the Omnipotence of God,................ 60 
 XIII. Of the Goodness of God,...:..cccecceccsees 63 
 AIV. Of the Holiness of God, ..............2..000: 67 
 XV. Of the Justice and Truth of God,......... 68 
 XVI. Of the Patience and Mercy of God,....... 70 
 XVII. Of the Free Agency of God,................ 72 
 XVIII. Of the Infinity and Perfection of God,... 74 
 XIX. Of the Incomprehensibility of God,...... 76 
 XX. Of the Universal Acknowledgment of 
 SOR 5655 foresee dunn tenn CUAL, JURY 78 
 CHAP. Of. 
 Of the Operations .and Laws of Ged,......000...0c0ccc i BG. 
 
CONTENTS. 13 
 Page 
 Sect. I. Of the Operations of God, in General,... 86 
 II. Of the Decrees of Ged,...................... 89 
 EE. “Of -Greation2::.3: SRE SOR Lee tan > 92 
 £V OP Providertees fo. ee ei {0 IM. 96 
 V. Of the Free Agency of Man, ............... 102 
 VI. Man formed for Virtue,...................... 116 
 VII. Virtue, the Will of God,..................... 119 
 VIII. Virtue, our Interest,................0.......... 123 
 IX. Virtue, the General Good,.................. 126 
 X%. The General Nature of Virtue,............ 128 
 XI. The Particulars of Virtue,.................. 132 
 XII. The Corruptibility of Man,................, 134 
 XII. Man designed for Moral Culture,......... 136 
 XIV. Of Man’s Present State, ........ccccccc00.-. 140 
 XV. Of the Immateriality of the Soul, ......... 143 
 XVI. Of the Natural Immortality of the Soul,.145 
 XVII. Man designed for a Future State,......... 147 
 XVIII. Of Man’s Future State,....................... 151 
 
 XIX. Of the Connexion between Man’s Present 
 and. Future Btates,...........sc6.se0sec.... 156 
 XX. Of the Origin of Moral Evil,............... 157 
 CORDIUBIOME oot rca rei es oa 162 
 
 PART Cr 
 
 Of the Evidences of Revealed Religions! G(R Avon, 164 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 A Historical View of the Controversies concerning the 
 
 \ Rs 
 
 roth of Christianihys what vil. bso. .0<sesess...c, 166 
 
14 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Sror. I. Of the Controversy with the CWS, :svesaes 166 
 Il. Of the Controversy with the Ancient 
 
 Pagans, .... .-.cseseccesseseeneaeeeseene essen Ue) 
 
 III. Of the State of the Controversy with the 
 Pagans, in Consequence of Persecu- 
 LION. ..ascesacceorecereecesseeweresretcweeesees 182 
 
 IV. Of the State of the Controversy with Pa- 
 gans, in Consequence of Defences of 
 Paganism, and Objections to Christia- 
 
 TICY seve ejrnmces Wie Sevpa fogtae nee Qs eee sees 185 
 
 V. Of the Controversy with paNee in Mo- 
 dern Times,.......-sceceeeeeseete ones ee eenees 188 
 
 VI. Of the Controversy with the Mahome- 
 LATIS oc sey wee dedaew on th socdy a Ses Beas WR Meee es 191 
 VII. Of the Controversy with Deists,...........- 195 
 VIII. Of the Necessity of Revelation,............. 200 
 IX. Of the Possibility of Revelation,........-..: 208 
 
 X. Of the Multitude of Revelations, ...........213 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Of the Internal Evidences of Christianity,.....-ss:seee PAY; 
 Sxcr. I. The Excellence of the ee eae of Christi- 
 AMILY,...sscceenceonsereevseen sete senesceseadien 218 
 II. The Excellence of the Christian Pre- 
 COPtS, se heeceececercesecerceeeeenecensteertees 220 
 III. The Excellence of the Christian Doc- 
 trie, 50 0b oiler ccnngen acc tae Uplate ote eat aes 230 
 IV. Of the Relation between the Doctrines 
 and Precepts of Christianity, ...:.-. 1.238 
 V. How far the Excellence of Christianity 
 proves its Truth, ........s-.++-sessee es ++.-240 
 VI. The Excellence of the Religions pre-sup- 
 posed by Christianity,..:......+ vine. 244 
 
CONTENTS. 15 
 Page 
 Secor. VII. The Excellence of the Religion. revealed | 
 in Consequence of the Fall of Man,....246 
 VIII. The Excellence of the Patriarchal Reli- 
 
 GIONS. Hs oes eG Rodey aces: 249 
 IX. The Excellence of the Mosaical Reli- 
 fea ays ose PR BAe eens cS eal a ie 253 
 X. The Consistency and Connexion of the 
 several Revealed Religions, .............. 262 
 CHAP. III. 
 Of the External Evidences of Christianity,............... 267 
 Secr. I. Of the Evidence from Miracles,............ ib. 
 II. Of the Evidence from Prophecy,.......... 279 
 CHAP. IV. 
 Of the Collateral Evidences of Christianity, .............. 287 
 
 Sect. I. Of the Internal Collateral Evidences, .....288 
 II. Of the External Collateral Evidences, ....296 
 
 III. Of the General Collateral Evidences,......301 
 
 IV. Of the Presumptive Evidences,............ 304 
 
 OR APY. 
 
 Of the Authenticity and Authority of Scripture,.........310 
 Srcr. I. Of the Direct Evidences of the Authen- 
 ' ticity of the New Testament,............ 31] 
 II. Of the Indirect Evidences of the Au- 
 thenticity of the New Testament,.. ... 315 
 III. Of the Inspiration of the New Testa- 
 
16 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Srer. IV. Of the Authority of the Old Testament,.326 
 V. The Scriptures not changed, ............... 329 
 
 VI. The Scriptures not corrupted,............... 332 
 
 Conclusion, o.ccieeeeeveeseces Pee stares 334 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 OF THE STUDY OF THEOLOGY IN GENERAL. 
 
 1. Ir is peculiarly proper that every person 
 who intends to enter upon a Course of Theo- 
 logical Study, should be aware at the outset,— 
 What knowledge is necessary previous to the 
 study of this important science ;—what are the 
 things included in it;—what is the character 
 becoming and requisite in a Student of Theo- 
 logy ;—and what are the object and design of 
 Theological Lectures. These are matters ob- 
 viously deserving attention ; and, therefore, I 
 shall, by way of introduction, make some ge- 
 
 neral remarks upon them. 
 
18 Introduction. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 OF THE STUDIES PRELIMINARY TO THEOLOGY. 
 
 9, Every part of real knowledge is useful to 
 a Divine; and the knowledge of many arts 
 and sciences is an absolute prerequisite to the 
 Study of Divinity. 
 
 3. The want of education and learning in 
 the Apostles and first teachers of Christianity, 
 was supplied by inspiration : but, since inspira- 
 tion ceased, men have been left to the use of 
 their natural powers; and can make progress 
 in theological knowledge, only by the exercise 
 of these powers, and in proportion to their in- 
 tellectual improvements. 
 
 4, Theology includes many subjects on which 
 reason can determine; and must, therefore, 
 have a connexion with the exercise of reason, 
 and with the sciences. 
 
 5. In fact, the purity of Christian Theology 
 
 has always been in proportion to the prevalence 
 
Preliminary Studies. 19 
 
 of learning and science; and will, doubtless, be 
 farther promoted by the cultivation of these. 
 
 6. Whatever advantages an ignorant person 
 may, in an enlightened age, derive for his 
 literary performances from the assistance of 
 others; yet his ignorance renders him incap- 
 able of judging for himself, and, by being con- 
 trasted with the general knowledge, becomes 
 the more disgraceful. 
 
 7. Knowledge of the ancient languages, 
 ornamental to others, is absolutely necessary to 
 the Divine, because the Scriptures, which it is 
 his business to explain, are written in Hebrew 
 and Greek. He must, therefore, be instructed 
 in these, and acquainted with the general prin- 
 ciples of criticism,—a subject connected with 
 language. 
 
 8. History, with its attendant studies, Chro- 
 nology and Geography, is of great importance 
 for perceiving the grounds of religion,—for 
 illustrating the Scriptures,x—and for under- 
 standing the rise and progress of opinions in 
 Theology ; and should be, with these views, 
 earefully studied by the Divine. 
 
20 Introduction. 
 
 9. However contemptible and pernicious 
 False Philosophy may be, yet all the parts of 
 True Philosophy are very much, and in many 
 ways, subservient to Theology, and a necessary 
 preparation for the study of it. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 OF THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF THE SCIENCE 
 OF THEOLOGY. 
 
 10. All that belongs to the Study of Theo- 
 logy, strictly considered, and as distinguished 
 from the above-mentioned preliminary studies, 
 may be reduced to four general heads. 
 
 11. The First considers the Grounds of Re- 
 ligion, and, premising Natural Theology, traces 
 the Evidences of Revelation, and particularly 
 of Christianity. 
 
 12. Though Natural Theology be a part of 
 Philosophy, and therefore taught in the philo- 
 sophical course, it is proper to recapitulate it 
 
 when entering on the theological course, both 
 ' £.2.,8 
 
Idea of Theologry. 21 
 
 on account of its own importance, and its in- 
 timate connexion with this course, of which it 
 is the immediate foundation. 
 
 13. The claims of those religions which pro- 
 fess to have been revealed by God, must be 
 next examined: The true must be distinguish- 
 ed from the false; and its evidences, both in- 
 ternal and external, considered. 
 
 14. The Second Division of Theology com- 
 prehends the Interpretation of those Books, 
 which contain the Revelation of the True Re- 
 ligion, or Scripture Criticism. 
 
 15. Scripture is the only standard of Chris- 
 tian Theology, and ought to be the principal, 
 the constant, and the careful study of the 
 Divine. 
 
 16. The knowledge of Scripture may be best 
 promoted by reducing sacred criticism to its 
 general principles,—all illustrated by examples. 
 
 17. ‘The Third Part delineates the Religion 
 which is revealed in Scripture, or exhibits the 
 Body of Christian Theology. 
 
 18. The several doctrines included in this 
 part may be considered, either systematically, 
 
Q2 Introduction, 
 
 or historically ; and these two views of the 
 subject, (the System of Divinity, and Ecclesias- 
 tical History,) may very properly be conjoined. 
 
 19. The occasional manner in which the 
 books of Scripture were written, naturally led 
 Christians to collect the doctrine contained in 
 them into a system, and to arrange its parts 
 according to their order and connexion. 
 
 20. Most systems, however, represent not 
 the Christian doctrine in its simplicity, but are 
 full of subtile questions and intricate contro- 
 versies ; some acquaintance with which, never- 
 theless, the variety of opinions among the dif- 
 ferent sects renders necessary ; and the rise and 
 progress of these opinions and controversies are 
 to be learned from history. 
 
 21. In studying the system, the origin, the 
 occasion, and the revolutions of the several con- 
 troversies, should be attended to; questions 
 about words should be distinguished from such 
 as regard real things; questions of moment, 
 from such as are trivial ; and questions merely 
 philosophical, from such as are properly theo- 
 
 logical: In every theological question of mo- 
 
Idea of Theology. 23 
 
 ment, the state of the case ought to be ascer- 
 tained, and the arguments on both sides fairly 
 weighed. 
 
 22. But it is not of so great consequence to 
 understand all theological controversies, as to 
 perceive the influence of the several Christian 
 doctrines upon practice: This, therefore, ought 
 to be constantly kept in view; and, in this 
 light, every doctrine should be carefully con- 
 sidered. 
 
 23. The Fourth Part regards the Pastoral 
 Office, or the Application of ‘Theological Know- 
 ledge to the Instruction and Reformation of 
 mankind. 
 
 24. That a person may become fit for exe- 
 cuting this office, he ought to have a deep sense 
 of its importance and its difficulties, to under- 
 stand its several duties, both private and public ; 
 and to be employed in exercises suitable to 
 them ;—to know and to acquire the qualifica- 
 tions requisite for the discharge of these duties ; 
 and to study and employ the means by which 
 these qualifications may be acquired. 
 
24, Introduction. 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 OF THE CHARACTER OF A STUDENT OF 
 THEOLOGY. 
 
 25. It will not be improper or unnecessary, 
 in the next place, to take notice of the charac- 
 ter becoming and requisite in a Student of Di- 
 vinity, or the dispositions with which a person 
 ought to enter on the study of this science. 
 
 26. I—A sense of his own ignorance is an 
 essential requisite in the character of a Student 
 of Divinity. 
 
 27. “As ignorance of many things is insepa- 
 rable from youth, and, indeed, from human na- 
 ture ; so a sense of our ignorance is of great ad- 
 vantage, particularly as an incentive to dili- 
 gence, and a motive to that modesty which is 
 proper in all men, but peculiarly necessary and 
 becoming in a Divine. 
 
 28, II.—Akin to this sense of our ignorance 
 
The Character of a Student of Theology. 25 
 
 is a sense of our fallibility,—of our being very 
 liable to error. 
 
 29. The want of this produces bigotry and 
 obstinacy in our opinions ; whilst the cultiva- 
 tion of it will render us diligent in examining 
 every opinion before we embrace it, and mode- 
 rate in defending it after we have embraced it. 
 
 30. I1—Truth should be the object of 
 every investigation, and the love of truth the 
 actuating principle of every student, especially 
 in Theology, which is conversant about the 
 most sublime and important truths. 
 
 31. The love of truth is so far from consisting 
 in an invariable attachment to the opinions of 
 a particular sect, and a steady opposition to all 
 others (in which many place it), that nothing 
 can be more completely inconsistent with it. 
 
 32. The genuine love of truth will lead us to 
 examine every opinion fairly and without pre- 
 judice,—without any other concern than to dis- 
 cover whether it be agreeable to reason and 
 Scripture, or not; to embrace truth, on which- 
 ever side it appears to lie; to re-examine our 
 opinions, whenever we become dubious about 
 
26 Introduction. 
 
 them, and readily to abandon them, whenever 
 we are convinced of their falsity. 
 
 33. IV.—A Student of Divinity should be 
 possessed with a noble ardour to promote the 
 knowledge and influence of theological truth. 
 
 34, Ardour in every profession is the way to 
 excel in it; and Theology deserves, and is fitted, 
 to inspire the highest ardour. 
 
 35. V.—A mind capable of labour and ap- 
 plication is absolutely necessary in a Divine. 
 
 36. As labour and application are requisite 
 in every profession, so, both the studies includ- 
 ed in Theology itself, and those which are pre- 
 paratory and subservient to them, cannot be 
 accomplished in the degree which becomes a 
 teacher, without great labour of mind, and per- 
 severing application. 
 
 37. Those who are by nature dull and inca- 
 pable of acquiring knowledge, and those who 
 are light, desultory, and discouraged by every 
 obstacle, are alike unfit for a study of so great 
 extent and difficulty. 
 
 38. Those who devote themselves to this 
 study should have minds at once acute and se- 
 
The Character of a Student of Theology. = 27 
 
 date, capable of close attention and unwearied 
 diligence; they should cherish this turn of 
 mind by all possible means, and avoid whatever 
 can impair it; and they should exert it in a se- 
 rious, regular, and continued prosecution of all 
 that knowledge which belongs to their profes- 
 sion. 
 
 39. VI.—Aboveall, piety and purity of heart 
 are necessary to qualify us for the study of 
 Theology ; without them, the temper is “to- 
 tally repugnant to all the subjects of this 
 science; they alone can enable us to catch its 
 genuine spirit, and to direct it to its proper 
 end. 
 
 40. With these dispositions, we may success- 
 fully prosecute the plan of Theological Study 
 formerly traced out. 
 
28 Introduction 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 OF THE OBJECT AND DESIGN OF THEOLOGI- 
 CAL LECTURES. 
 
 41. In Theological Lectures, it is impossible, 
 and would be improper, to attempt to exhaust 
 the several subjects on which they are em- 
 ployed. 
 
 42. 'They are intended only to furnish hints, 
 which the student may prosecute by himself, 
 and to afford him assistance and direction in 
 reading what has been published on these sub- 
 jects. 
 
 43. For answering this intention, they should 
 give as compendious a view as possible of the 
 several doctrines and questions which occur in 
 Theology,—and, chiefly, in regard to the prin- 
 ciples on which they depend, or from which 
 they flow. 
 
 44, ‘To reap the full advantage of them, it is 
 necessary for the student to have some pre- 
 
Phe Object of Theological Lectures. 99 
 
 vious knowledge of the subject; to read upon 
 it while he is attending them; and to retain 
 them in his memory as a general plan, which 
 may give order to his future studies. 
 
30 Of Natural Theology. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 OF NATURAL THEOLOGY. 
 
 45. THE same God is the Author of Nature 
 and of the Christian Revelation; and he may 
 be, in some measure, known by each of these. 
 
 46. Natural Religion is the foundation of 
 that which is revealed: Revealed Religion 
 adds perfection to that which is Natural. 
 
 47. Natural Theology is a noble science: It 
 treats of the most sublime object; it collects 
 into a point the conclusions of the other sciences, 
 and applies them to the most important pur- 
 pose: Its truths strengthen all the obligations 
 of virtue, and superadd others, which, without — mn 
 
 4 é 
 
 them, could have no existence ; and they lay 
 
 amt a _*. © 
 
® 
 
 Tae 
 ~ and laws of God.. , a, 
 
 Of Natural Theology. 3A. 
 
 the only sure foundation for firmness, tranquil- 
 lity, cheerfulness, and hope. 
 
 48. In a confined sense, Natural Theology is 
 a speculative science, which treats of the Being, 
 Attributes, and Operations of God, so far as 
 they are discoverable by reason; but, in the 
 more extensive view in which it must be con- 
 sidered, as distinguished from Revealed Reli- 
 gion, it includes, also, an account of the Moral 
 Nature of Man, of the Divine Laws, and of the 
 Duties resulting from them. 
 
 49. Of the controversies which have arisen 
 in Natural Theology, some run out into Chris- 
 tian Theology, and are supposed to affect Re- 
 velation; and these may most conveniently be 
 referred to that part of the theological course 
 which treats of the Christian system. 
 
 50. Natural Theology, in the extent just now 
 mentioned, may be reduced to two general 
 parts; the First treating of God, considered in 
 his own nature, or of the Being and Attributes 
 of God; the Second treating of God, consider- 
 ed in relation to his works, or of the operations 
 
 * .* #¢ $ - 
 
32 Natural Theology. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 OF THE BEING AND ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. 
 
 51. In proving the Existence of God, it may 
 seem natural to begin with a definition of 
 Him: but this would be attended with diff- 
 culty, and even inconvenience. 
 
 52. A just definition of God must include 
 all his Attributes; and to set out with such a 
 definition, would reduce the whole speculative 
 part of Natural Theology to an inquiry con- 
 cerning the Existence of God. 
 
 53. Any other definition of Him must be 
 imperfect ; but with such an one we must set 
 out, if we would consider His Existence and 
 His Attributes separately. 
 
 54. This latter method has been generally 
 followed ; and, as many really believe the ex- 
 
Of the Being and Attributes of God. 33 
 
 istence of God, who have very false notions 
 concerning some of his attributes, it cannot be 
 improper, first taking the most simple notion 
 of God, to evince that there is a Being answer- 
 ing to that notion, and then to inquire what 
 other perfections belong to this Being. 
 
 55. But if, without laying down any defini- 
 tion of God in the beginning, and without 
 drawing a line between the proof of his exist- 
 ence and that of his attributes, we, by regular 
 steps, establish the several notions of his na- 
 ture, this method may, perhaps, have the 
 greatest simplicity and beauty, as the argu- 
 ments will form a proper climax, and the con- 
 clusions will unfold the several particulars of 
 the Divine character in a natural manner. 
 
 56. In order to prepare the way for this, it 
 is necessary to begin with a confutation of the 
 several schemes of atheism. 
 
34 Natural Theology- 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 THAT THE EXISTENCE OF THE WORLD CANNOT 
 BE ACCOUNTED FOR FROM NECESSITY. 
 
 57. Some atheists affirm, that the world ex- 
 ists by necessity, without any Intelligent Cause. 
 
 58. Weare said to have acted necessarily, 
 when we could not have done otherwise than 
 we did; but necessity, in this sense, would not 
 imply that the world is not an effect, nor even 
 exclude an Intelligent and Designing Cause ; it 
 would only imply that the Author of the world 
 acted necessarily in forming it, and could not 
 have made it different from what it is :—thus, 
 therefore, it would not answer the purpose of 
 atheists.* 
 
 59. As we call material things, which are in- 
 capable of intelligence and design, in a loose 
 
 * Butler’s Analogy, p. 1]. ch. 6. © 
 
Of Necessity. 35 
 
 and improper sense, causes; so we term what 
 proceeds from them necessary effects; but such 
 necessity can give no account of the origin of 
 the world.* ‘ 
 
 60. Though we should suppose such mate- 
 rial and mechanical causes prior to the world, 
 yet it could not proceed from them; for neces- 
 sity is uniform in its effects, while the world 
 contains great variety.+ 
 
 61. 'To ascribe the world to necessity, there- 
 fore, is merely to say, that it has existed from 
 eternity without any cause. 
 
 62. If so, then either (1st) the world in its 
 present form must have been from eternity ; 
 which cannot be admitted, because it would 
 imply an infinity of revolutions and successions 
 already past, as well as the impossibility of any 
 thing being different from what it is, and, also, 
 the independence of every part of nature : 
 
 63. Or (2dly) motion at least, on which 
 the form of the world depends, has been eter- 
 
 * Abernethy, Serm. 1. t+ Abernethy, ib. 
 
36 Natural Theology. 
 
 nal; which is inadmissible, because motion is 
 not essential to matter, but requires an exter- 
 nal cause; and because it could not, without a 
 directing cause, produce such a world as the 
 present. 
 
 64. Or (3dly) only the matter of the world 
 is necessary and eternal; but its known pro- 
 perties prove that it is not so; and, if it were 
 so, still no account could be given of the begin- 
 ning of motion, or of the present form of 
 things. 
 
 65. That the world has not necessarily exist- 
 ed from eternity, is confirmed by the late ori- 
 gin of arts, sciences, governments, and history, 
 and by an universal tradition that the world 
 had a beginning.* 
 
 * Bentley, Serm. 3, 4, 6,7. Gastrel’s Boyle’s Lect. 2. 
 Clarke’s Demonstr., prop. 3. cor. 4. Turretin. Diss. 2. 
 thes. 22—26. Grot. de Ver. 1. 1. Tillotson, Serm. 1. 
 Foster on Nat. Rel. ch. 1. Gurdon’s B. L. Serm. 6, 7, 
 10. Wilkin’s Nat. Rel. b. 1. ch. 5. Ray on- Creation, 
 p: 30. | 
 
Of Chance. 37 
 
 SECT. ILI. 
 
 THAT THE WORLD WAS NOT PRODUCED BY 
 CHANCE. 
 
 66. Other atheists affirm, that the world 
 was produced by chance, and endeavour to ex- 
 plain its origin by a fortuitous concourse of 
 atoms. 
 
 67. They account not for the existence, nor 
 for the motion, of these atoms; and, therefore, 
 are exposed to all the arguments which shew 
 that neither matter nor motion is necessary and 
 eternal. 
 
 68. Their hypothesis is, therefore, defective, 
 as it pretends to account only for the form of 
 the world; but even of that it really gives no 
 account, for chance is not a real being, and can- 
 not therefore be the efficient cause of any thing. 
 
38 Natural Theology. 
 
 69. Chance is sometimes opposed to design, 
 when an intelligent being produces an effect, 
 without intending that particular effect, or 
 employing contrivance about it; but it 1s 
 not to chance, in this sense, that atheists ascribe 
 the formation of the world; for, in this sense, 
 it supposes an Intelligent Author of Nature, 
 which is what they expressly deny. 
 
 70. It only implies, that this Intelligent Au- 
 thor acted without design or contrivance in 
 forming the world; but this is absolutely in- 
 consistent with the uniformity, order, and uti- 
 lity, which are found in things. 
 
 71. In another sense, chance signifies only 
 the production of an effect by causes unknown 
 to us, or with the laws and manner of whose 
 operation we are unacquainted ; but to ascribe 
 the world to chance, in this sense, is only to 
 assert, that there is nothing in the world from 
 which we can form any conclusion at all con- 
 cerning its Author; which is, indeed, the whole 
 amount of this hypothesis, so far as it is con- 
 sistent and intelligible; but this is contradictory 
 
 to the real appearance of the world, and it gives 
 
Of Nature. 39 
 
 no account at all of its production, while, never- 
 theless, it pretends to give a positive account 
 of it.* 
 
 SECT. ITI. 
 
 THAT THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD CANNOT 
 BE ASCRIBED TO NATURE, AND THAT WE 
 MUST INQUIRE CONCERNING GOD. 
 
 72. To avoid the absurdity of both the for- 
 mer atheistical hypotheses, some atheists do not 
 explicitly adopt either of them, but content 
 themselves with ascribing all things to nature. 
 
 73. But this hypothesis, when explained, 
 avoids not their absurdities; and it involves 
 the new absurdity of making the world to pro- 
 duce itself.+ 
 
 74. This system of atheism is, not improper- 
 
 * Bentley, Serm. 5, 7. Gastrel’s Boyle’s Lect. 2. Tur- 
 retin. Diss. 2. thes. 28—30. Abernethy, Serm. 1. Cud- 
 worth’s Int. Syst. ch. 2. § 2, &c. Ray on Creat. p. 31, 
 &e. + Cudworth, ch. 2. § 1, 3. 
 
40 Natural Theology. 
 
 ly, termed Pantheism ; because, as explained by 
 some, it makes the universe God. 
 
 75. Knowledge of the laws of nature is so 
 far from enabling us to account for the exist- 
 ence of the world without a God, (as atheists 
 have pretended), that, on the contrary, it con- 
 firms the impossibility of doing so. 
 
 76. If, then, we would obtain satisfaction, 
 we must inquire whether there is a God. 
 
 77. The evidence of the existence of a God 
 is either Internal, arising from direct arguments 
 a priori and a posteriori, or External, arising 
 from the general consent of mankind. 
 
 78. We form our notions of the several at- 
 tributes which we ascribe to God from those 
 qualities and powers which we find in our- 
 selves, enlarged as much as possible, and sepa- 
 rated from all the circumstances of imperfec- 
 tion which adhere to them in us. 
 
 79. By these means we form avery complex 
 notion of God, including many perfections, all 
 which may be proved to belong to him: But, 
 in evincing his existence, we set out with the 
 simplest notion of him. 
 
Of God. 41 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 THAT THERE IS A GOD, THE FIRST CAUSE OF 
 ALL THINGS, INDEPENDENT, AND NECES- 
 SARILY EXISTENT. 
 
 80. The simplest notion that we can form of 
 God, is that of the First Cause of all things,— 
 Himself caused by none. 
 
 81. That every thing which begins to exist 
 must have a cause of its existence, is a self-evi- 
 dent truth, ora principle from which we can- 
 not possibly withhold our assent. 
 
 82. Since, then, there are things existent at 
 present, something must have always existed ; 
 for, if not, the first thing must have arisen 
 without a cause,—which is impossible. 
 
 83. An infinite series of dependent causes 
 and effects is impossible: Therefore there must 
 have always been some independent and un- 
 caused Being, the First Cause of those things 
 
42 Natural Theology. 
 
 which now exist; and this Being is what we 
 call God.* 
 
 84. Though it be evident that some Inde- 
 pendent Being has always existed, yet, when 
 we come to unfold the notion of God’s inde- 
 pendence, we find it obscure. 
 
 85. Our notion of the absolute independence 
 of God is formed from what we observe of the 
 partial and relative independence of some things 
 upon others; and it is purely a negative no- 
 tion. 
 
 86. In like manner, self-existence and ne- 
 cessary existence do not imply a positive no- 
 tion; nor can they be explained as implying it, 
 without really assigning some cause of the Di- 
 vine existence,—which would be absurd : They 
 are only different ways of conceiving or ex- 
 pressing the attribute of Independence.+ 
 
 * Clarke’s Demonstr. pr. 1, 2. Cudworth, ch. 4. sect. 
 3,4. Ward’s Essay. Gastrel’s Boyle’s Lect. 2. Woolas- 
 ton’s Rel. of Nat. Sect. 5. prop. 1. Law’s Notes on King. 
 Turretin. Diss. 2. thes. 3—10. Burnet’s B. L. pr. 1. 
 
 + Clarke, prop. 3. Law, note 10, & obs. e. Turretin. 
 Diss. 3. thes. 3, 7, 8. Abernethy, Serm. 6. 
 
Of God, Intelligent. 43 
 
 SECT. V. 
 
 THAT THERE IS A GOD, THE INTELLIGENT 
 AND DESIGNING CAUSE OF THINGS. 
 
 87. It is not a sufficient confutation of athe- 
 ism, to prove that there is some First Cause, 
 independent and uncaused : It is also necessary 
 to evince that He is an intelligent and design- 
 ing Being; for it is this, chiefly, that atheists 
 are unwilling to allow.* 
 
 88. ‘There are certain characters of things, 
 from which we necessarily infer intelligence and 
 design in their cause ; and, as the world bears 
 these characters, we must infer that its cause is 
 a designing Being.t 
 
 89. Uniformity and similarity in an effect 
 
 * Cudworth’s Int. Syst. ch. 3. + Hutcheson on Beau- 
 ty, sect. 5. § 1—14. 
 
4,4. Natural Theology. 
 
 necessarily infer design in the cause; and these 
 characters belong to the whole of nature so emi- 
 nently as to render it certain that it could not 
 proceed but from a Designing Cause. 
 
 90. The most simple combination of parts 
 cannot be produced without intention and 
 design ; but, in the world, they are so complex, 
 so numerous, and so similar combinations, as 
 necessarily evince great design in its Cause. 
 
 91. A thing cannot be adapted to an end,— 
 much less to many ends at once,—nor many 
 things to the same end, without design and con- 
 trivance; and, therefore, the utility of things, 
 and their subservience to ends, so conspicuous 
 in every part of nature, is a full proof that it 
 proceeds from an Intelligent and Designing 
 Cause.* 
 
 92. There are, at present, thinking and de- 
 signing beings, who must have have had an 
 Intelligent and Designing Cause; therefore, 
 
 * Galen. de Usu Partium. Bentley, Serm. 3, 8. Aber- 
 nethy, Serm. I, 2. Turretin, Diss, 2. th. 35—46. Der- 
 ham. Ray. Nieuentyt. : 
 
 - i 
 
Of God, Intelligent. 45 
 
 there must have always been some Intelligent 
 Being: And, as an infinite succession of de- 
 pendent intelligent beings is impossible, there 
 must be some Independent Being of this na- 
 ture,—who is God.* 
 
 93. The proofs of a Designing Author of 
 Nature are greatly strengthened, by comparing 
 the system founded upon them with the hypo- 
 thesis of atheists. The last involve all things 
 in darkness and confusion, while the first gives 
 a consistent and rational account of things. 
 
 SECT. VI. 
 THAT GOD IS A PURE SPIRIT. 
 
 94. Our consciousness of our own souls sup- 
 plies us with the notion, or conception of a 
 Spirit; and, when we call God a Spirit, we 
 mean that he is immaterial, and: possessed of 
 
 Sd 
 
 7. 
 
 * Locke’s Essay, b. 4. a, 10. Bentley, Serm. 2. Clarke, 
 prop. 8. Turretin. Diss. 2. th. 1120. ae 
 
46 Natural Theology. 
 
 understanding and activity,—and that in the 
 highest degree ; and, also, that he is a pure 
 and unembodied Mind. 
 
 95. That God is a Spirit, or different from 
 matter, follows from his independence, because 
 the qualities of matter render it unfit for being 
 the First and Independent Being. 
 
 96. It may be concluded, also, from the ex- 
 istence of motion, to which inert matter could 
 not give a beginning. 
 
 97. It may be inferred, likewise, from that 
 gravitation which takes place in nature, and 
 which cannot be accounted for without an Im- 
 material Cause. 
 
 98. It may be farther concluded from his 
 being a Designing Being; for design belongs 
 not to matter, but to spirit. 
 
 99. Because there are spirits which are de- 
 pendent and had a beginning, therefore God, 
 the First Cause of these, must also be a spirit. 
 
 100. The connexion of spirit with matter, 
 not being necessary, must be the voluntary 
 constitution of a eause; ahd such a connexion 
 subjects it to imiperfeetions. On both these 
 
Of God, a Spirit. 47 
 
 accounts God must be a pure spirit, not united 
 to any body. 
 
 101. To represent God as the soul of the 
 world, though, in appearance, less unworthy of 
 him than ascribing to him a body in any other 
 way, is, nevertheless, a low and improper hy- 
 pothesis, because the soul is not the maker of 
 its own body; neither has God any depend- 
 ence on the world, nor can he receive impres- 
 sions of uneasiness from its disorders: Besides, 
 this supposition would make human souls parts 
 of God.* 
 
 102. When God is called the Living God, it 
 is in respect of his having perception and acti- 
 vity ; so that the notion of his life is not really 
 different from that of his spirituality. 
 
 * Bentley, Serm. 2. Gastrel. Harris, Serm. 4, 5. Aber- 
 nethy, Serm. 4, Turret. Diss. 3. thes. 30, 31. Foster, 
 ch. 2. Burnet, art. 1... Warburton, Div. Leg. b. 3.'s. 4. 
 Baxter’s Inquiry, sect. 2. 
 
 $s - g s " we 
 swe; 3 
 a apm Eee f 
 
 vee 
 
48 Natural Theology. 
 
 SECT. VII. 
 THAT GOD IS ETERNAL AND IMMUTABLE. 
 
 103. We form our conception of eternity, 
 by enlarging the notion of any part of dura- 
 tion, without a possibility of rendering it so 
 great, but a greater may be conceived. 
 
 104. Though the notion of eternity be una- 
 voidable and familiar to us, and though we 
 cannot but believe that something is eternal, 
 yet the notion of eternity, when accurately ex- 
 amined, is involved in considerable difficulty. 
 
 105. The difficulty lies in conceiving a du- 
 ration without beginning, and yet not suppos- 
 ing an infinite succession already past. 
 
 106. This difficulty presses hard upon those ' 
 who ascribe to God a successive duration, and 
 make his eternity to consist in the infinity of 
 
 9 
 
Of God, Eternal. 49 
 
 that duration ; though they show great subtilty 
 in endeavouring to avoid it.* 
 
 107. Others think that the existence of God 
 has no connexion with successive duration, and 
 that his eternity consists in an uniform and 
 invariable existence, without beginning, or end, 
 or parts, so that nothing is either past or future 
 to him; and that the impossibility of an eter- 
 nal successive duration is even a demonstra- 
 tion of the being of God unconnected with 
 succession. ‘This notion of eternity avoids the 
 difficulties of the other. We cannot form a 
 positive notion of it; but this may arise only 
 from the weakness of our powers.+ 
 
 108. If the scholastics meant to express this 
 notion of eternity, by calling it a Punctwm 
 Stans, or Perpetual Now, they very improperly 
 confined it to the least part of successive dura- 
 tion, instead of excluding all succession from it. 
 
 109. The eternity of God implies, that he is 
 
 ». * Clarke, prop. 6. t Cudworth’s Int. Syst. Bentley, 
 Serm. 6. Ward’s Phil. Essay. Spectator, No 590. Smith, 
 
 Sel. Tract. 5. ch. 2. Law, note 3, 10, and obs. ¢. ’ 
 D 
 
50 Natural Theology. 
 
 without beginning; which follows from the 
 present existence of things, and the impossibi- 
 lity of an infinite series of things, all of which 
 had a beginning: And it is implied, likewise, 
 in his being independent; for, if he had a be- 
 ginning, he must also have had a cause. 
 
 110. It implies, also, that he shall be without 
 end. This follows from his independence, 
 which implies that no cause can destroy his 
 existence ; and it is confirmed by the spiritual- 
 ity of his nature. 
 
 111. The difficulties which attend the con- 
 ception of eternity, are no objections against 
 the proofs of God’s eternity ; because they bear 
 more strongly against every other hypothesis, 
 and évén against the abstract notion of eterni- - 
 ty, which yet forces itself upon our minds.* 
 
 112. The immutability of God is strictly 
 connected with his eternity, and is, in some 
 measure, implied in the notion of it; and it 
 follows from his independence, on account of 
 
 * Abernethy, Serm. 5, 6. Turret. Diss. 3. th. 4, 5. 
 
Of God, Immense. 51 
 
 which there can be no cause which may pro- 
 
 duce any change in him.* 
 
 SECT. VIII. 
 THAT GOD IS IMMENSE AND OMNIPRESENT. 
 
 113. We form the notion of immensity by 
 adding extension to extension, without a pos- 
 sibility of ever conceiving an extension so 
 ereat, but there may be a greater. 
 
 114. A spirit does not fill space in the same 
 manner as matter, by being extended through 
 it; yet we conceive spirits as present in place ; 
 and we conceive God as present everywhere, or 
 in all places. 
 
 115. Some conceive spirits to be properly 
 connected with space, and God’s immensity to 
 consist in his filling imfinite space, which they 
 consider as existing in him,—an opinion which 
 
 _.* Clarke, prop. 3. Law, note 10. Cudworth. Aber- 
 nethy, Serm. 6. Turret. Diss. 3. th. 9. 
 
52 Natural Theology. 
 
 seems inconsistent with the simplicity of spirit, 
 and liable to great difficulties. 
 
 116. Though it be difficult to abstract from 
 the notion of space, yet there is reason to think, 
 that pure spirits have no connexion at all with 
 space; and that God is immense and omnipre- 
 sent, not by having his essence expanded 
 through infinite space, but by exercising his 
 perfections every where. 
 
 117. This manner of conceiving God’s im- 
 mensity, is totally different from the absurd 
 notion, that He is a point coextended with in- 
 finite space. 
 
 118. That God is omnipresent appears, be- 
 cause all things, everywhere, have those cha- 
 racters which indicate his presence ; because 
 gravitation, which is his action, prevails every- 
 where; because, without his energy, the pro- 
 cesses of vegetation and animal life cannot be 
 carried on; and because, being independent, 
 he cannot be limited to any place.* 
 
 CLS. GSR ails Ra ER. ROR ns | | 
 
 * Clarke, prop. 6. King’s Origin of Evil, ch. 1. s. 2. 
 Cudworth. Law, note 3, 6, 7, 8, 10. Abernethy, Serm. 
 47. Foster, ch. 2. Turretin. Diss. 3. th. 32. Smith, Sel. 
 Dise. 5. ch. 2. ; & 
 
Of the Unity of God. 53 
 
 SECT. IX. 
 
 THAT THERE IS ONE GOD. 
 
 119. That there is but one God is a ne- 
 gative proposition, of which, consequently, it 
 is not in reason necessary to bring positive 
 proofs ; but it is incumbent upon the polytheist 
 to produce positive evidence of the existence of 
 all the several gods whom he asserts. 
 
 120. Till this be done, which never has been 
 done, we ought to hold the unity of God; 
 much more ought we to hold it, when there is 
 positive evidence for it. 
 
 121. The unity of God has been, in several 
 different ways, inferred from his independence 
 
 or necessary existence, and from his absolute 
 perfection.* 
 
 _* Cudworth, ch. 4. § 10. Grot. de Ver. Rel. Chr. ]. ] 
 Clarke, prop. 7. Turret. Diss. 3. th. 38. 
 
54 Natural Theology. 
 
 122. But all the arguments, by which it has 
 been thus inferred, are obscure, and to many 
 appear to be fallacious : It is, however, clear 
 from arguments of a different kind.* 
 
 123. Nature teaches us to ascribe one effect, 
 all the parts of which are regularly connected, 
 to one cause, not to many ; except there be 
 real evidence that many were concerned in 
 producing it: But the world is such an effect, 
 and therefore indicates the unity of its Author. 
 
 124. All the parts of nature,—even the most 
 distant,—have a mutual dependence and influ- 
 ence upon one another, so as to form one sys- 
 tem; and thus proclaim unity of design in the 
 Cause. 
 
 125. The same natural causes operate in all 
 parts of the world, and operate according to 
 the same laws; and, therefore, the whole world 
 ‘s derived from one and the same Cause. 
 
 126. The human mind has the same charac- 
 
 ters of unity of design with the material world ; 
 
 DS Ee 
 
 * Letters to Clarke. Law, note 10. and obs. g. 
 
Of God, Omniscient. 55 
 
 and is itself a faint image of one God operating 
 on the whole system. 
 
 127. Though one connected system may 
 possibly proceed from the united designs of se- 
 veral causes; yet, that it actually did so, can- 
 not be inferred from that system itself, but the 
 existence of a plurality of causes must be 
 known by other means.* 
 
 128. Polytheism, therefore, as well as athe- 
 ism, is unreasonable, and is a gross corruption 
 
 of religion. 
 
 SECT. X. 
 THAT GOD IS OMNISCIENT. 
 
 129. That God is intelligent, is implied in 
 his being the Designing Cause of things, and, 
 likewise, in his being a Spirit; but he must 
 
 OL TT i 
 
 * Foster, ch. 2. Abernethy, Serm. 5. Turretin. Diss. 
 3. thes. 35, 36, 37, 41. Law, note 10. Cudworth, ch. 4. 
 § 12. 
 
56 Natural Theology. 
 
 farther be conceived as perfectly intelligent and 
 omniscient. 
 
 130. We form the notion of this attribute, 
 by ascribing to him the understanding and 
 knowledge of which we are conscious in our- 
 selves; and by removing from him those imper- 
 fections which adhere to them in us. 
 
 131. Perfect understanding and knowledge 
 is a complex notion: God’s knowledge is per- 
 fect, both in respect of the objects, and in 
 respect of the manner of it. 
 
 132. That God knows perfectly his own 
 nature and perfections, may be inferred from 
 our own self-consciousness, and from those 
 causes not having any place in him, which 
 render our knowledge of ourselves imperfect. 
 
 133. This knowledge implies a perfect 
 knowledge of all the possibilities of things ; for 
 these are determined by the perfections of the 
 Divine nature. 
 
 134. That God knows perfectly the whole 
 universe, follows from its being his own work ; 
 and that he knows all the actions and motions 
 
 of all beings, follows from their being only the 
 
Of God, Omniscient. 57 
 
 result of those powers which he himself has 
 given them. 
 
 135. From the same principle it follows, that 
 God knows all things, not only when they are 
 present, but also when they are past; and that 
 he knows all the future effects of necessary 
 causes,—which knowledge of the future is 
 called foreknowledge, or prescience. 
 
 136. God’s prescience of the free actions of 
 moral agents is attended with greater difficulty ; 
 it is connected with intricate questions concern- 
 ing liberty, on which men entertain opposite 
 opinions, and is explained differently according 
 to the opinion entertained: But, as the reality 
 of it is supported by direct evidence, so the 
 difficulty of accounting for it is to be ascribed 
 to the weakness of our understanding, and, 
 particularly, to our supposing things to appear 
 future to God, in the same manner as they 
 appear future to us. 
 
 137. The perfection of God’s knowledge, in 
 respect of its manner, consists in its being free 
 from all mixture of ignorance; in its being 
 intimate and adequate ; in its being infallible, 
 
58 Natural Theology. 
 
 and free from error; in its being certain, and 
 exempt from doubt; in its being immediate ; 
 in its being easy, and perfect at once; and 
 in its being simultaneous.* 
 
 SECT. XI. 
 THAT GOD IS PERFECTLY WISE. 
 
 138. Wisdom is another attribute belonging 
 to the Divine understanding: It supposes 
 knowledge, and it consists in the power of 
 applying that knowledge to the attainment 
 of some end; it supposes design, and it may 
 indeed be considered as the perfection of de- 
 sign,—as the power of pursuing ends by the 
 fittest means. 
 
 139. That God is perfectly wise, follows 
 from his omniscience ; for the knowledge of all 
 
 * Clarke, prop. 8,10. Abernethy, Serm. 9. Woolaston, 
 sect. 5. $18. 
 
Of God, Perfectly Wise. 59 
 
 things includes the knowledge of the fittest 
 means for every end. 
 
 140. It appears, also, from the skill with 
 which things are fitted to one another, means 
 adapted to ends, and causes proportioned to 
 effects, through all the parts of nature. 
 
 141. It appears from the world’s being so 
 contrived, that the same thing answers many 
 uses at once; that the same means are sub- 
 servient to a great variety of ends; and that a 
 multitude of dissimilar effects proceed from a 
 few simple causes and general laws. 
 
 142. It appears in God’s making important 
 effects to result from inconsiderable, and, seem- 
 ingly, inadequate causes ; in overruling things, 
 so as to make them promote ends, to which 
 they are, in appearance, repugnant; in sub- 
 stituting means equally effectual for an end, 
 when the ordinary means cannot, in particular 
 circumstances, be applied; in finding sufficient 
 means for accomplishing ends, which to us 
 appear of peculiar difficulty ; and in his having 
 made us capable of wisdom. | 
 
 143. That God’s wisdom is perfect, follows 
 
60 Natural Theology. 
 
 from his independence ; and the seeming defects 
 of contrivance in the world are to be ascribed 
 to our ignorance of the whole.* 
 
 SECT. XII. 
 THAT GOD IS OMNIPOTENT. 
 
 144. Power, in a proper. sense, is connected 
 with the notion of an agent, and is peculiar to 
 an active being: We derive the conception of 
 it from our consciousness that .we can begin 
 motion by volition : It is an. attribute: belong- 
 ing to the will. 
 
 145. As power is capable of a great variety 
 of degrees, so it is the greater, the more nu- 
 merous the effects to which it extends, and the 
 greater the ease with which it accomplishes 
 them. 
 
 »- 
 
 * Clarke, prop. ll. Abernethy, Serm. 10. Ray. 
 Derham. a Stes seh ay > 
 
Of God, Omnipotent. 61 
 
 146. ‘That God is powerful, is implied in his 
 being the cause of things; and the greatness 
 of his power appears from the greatness of his 
 works. 
 
 147. Of the power of giving being to things 
 which had none, our own power of beginning 
 new thoughts and new motions gives us some 
 faint conception ; and that God has that power, 
 appears from the present existence of things, 
 which must have had a beginning. 
 
 148. It aids our conception of the great 
 power of God, and gives us a very convincing 
 evidence of it, to consider it as having disposed 
 the whole universe into form and order, and as 
 constantly preserving and governing it. 
 
 149. His power is proved from his having 
 communicated power to other beings; and it 
 must be perfect, or the greatest possible, be- 
 cause all other power is derived from him, and 
 because there is no cause to limit the power of 
 the Independent Being. - 
 
 150. As knowledge fits for acting, God’s 
 power must be perfect; for it is the power of a 
 Being perfectly intelligent and wise. 
 
62 Natural Theology. 
 
 151. It is no limitation of God’s power, that 
 it extends not to what implies a contradiction, 
 or to what is inconsistent with any of the per- 
 fections of his nature: He is properly omnipo- 
 tent, as he can do all things possible and worthy 
 of him. 
 
 152. His power is perfect, as it not only has 
 produced all things, but also extends beyond 
 them, and can produce others without end; as 
 it effects things by his only willing them, with- 
 out needing the assistance of any means,— 
 without labour or difficulty,—at once, and in 
 all places: And, that it has these several per- 
 fections, is proved by the same sorts of reason- 
 ing which evince that God is powerful.* 
 
 * Clarke, prop. 10. Abernethy, Serm. 8. Cudworth, 
 Intel. Syst. ch. 4. § 8. 
 
 3 ee 
 
Of God, Perfectly Good. 63 
 
 SECT. XIIT. 
 
 THAT GOD IS PERFECTLY GOOD. 
 
 153. We derive our notions of the moral 
 attributes of God from those principles of action 
 in ourselves, which are the objects of our ap- 
 probation. 
 
 154. The simplest of these attributes is 
 goodness, or benevolence, which consists in a 
 fixed disposition to communicate happiness ; 
 and of which we form a conception by means 
 of that benevolent affection which belongs to 
 our own nature. 
 
 155. That God is good, may, in some mea- 
 sure, appear from this general consideration, 
 That his independence and perfection exempt 
 him from all those motives which produce in 
 us ill-will to others ; but the clearest proof of it 
 is, that happiness is the end designed in all 
 his works, - oy ERAS 
 
 156. There is evidence of it even in inani- 
 mate things, which are themselves incapable of 
 
64 Natural Theology. 
 
 happiness; for they are plainly made to pro- 
 mote the happiness of sentient and intelligent 
 beings ; and they are all useful to these in a 
 great variety of ways. 
 
 157. There is farther evidence of it in ani- 
 mals, which are all made capable of some 
 degree of happiness; endued with senses, in- 
 stinets, and powers, adapted to the attainment 
 of it; and placed in situations proper for them: 
 And the evidence rises in proportion to the 
 number of beings capable of happiness, and to 
 the degree of happiness of which any of them 
 are capable ; and, therefore, the constitution of 
 human nature is a strong proof of great good- 
 ness in its Author. 
 
 158. It is sufficient for proving the goodness 
 of God, that happiness is the primary design of 
 his works, though some things may, secondari- 
 ly, be productive of pain and misery ; and these 
 would appear less inconsistent with goodness 
 than they do, if we were acquainted with the 
 whole of things; for they would be found, in 
 various ways, conducive to an increase of hap- 
 piness. 
 
 159. Any degree of happiness, plainly in- 
 
Of God, Perfectly Good. 65 
 
 tended, is a proof of real goodness in God, 
 because it could proceed only from benevolence ; 
 but, in the condition of all orders of percipient 
 beings, there is a preponderance of happiness, 
 which clearly proves that the system of things 
 proceeds from a Benevolent Cause. 
 
 160. The great variety of percipient beings, 
 
 and the imperfection of some orders of them, 
 which is a necessary consequence of that variety, 
 is so far from being inconsistent with the good- 
 ness of God, that it is a proof of it, because it 
 contributes to the increase of happiness. 
 
 161. ‘The benevolent affections implanted in 
 our nature, which excite us to communicate 
 happiness, and on the exercise of which our own 
 happiness is made very much dependent, is a 
 direct evidence of benevolence in the Author 
 of our nature. 
 
 162. Our determination to approve benevo- 
 lence, shews that it belongs to God; because 
 we are so made, that, without it, He could not 
 ‘be an object of our approbation. 
 
 163. God’s goodness is perfect, as it is free 
 from all the weaknesses and _ partialities which 
 
 E 
 
66 Natural Theology. 
 
 attend our benevolence; as it extends uniform- 
 ly to all the proper objects of goodness; and as 
 it excites to the production of the greatest 
 possible happiness, on the whole: And, if the 
 First and Independent Being be really good, he 
 must be thus perfectly good; for his benevo- 
 lence cannot be limited by any cause, and it 
 must prefer greater to lesser happiness. 
 
 164. The Manichean supposition of Two 
 Independent Beings, one perfectly good, the 
 other perfectly evil, is so far from being coun- 
 tenanced by the mixture of happiness and 
 misery in the world, that, as it is destitute of 
 proof, and inconsistent with the Unity of God, 
 so it is, also, even inconsistent with that mix- 
 ture, and would infer systems primarily and 
 wholly designed for misery: It is, besides, ab- 
 solutely self-contradictory.* 
 
 * Abernethy, vol. ii. Serm. 2—4. Clarke, Orig. of Evil. 
 Hutcheson’s Mor. Phil. b. 1. p. 2. ch. 9. Foster. Cud- 
 worth, ch. 4, § 9. 
 
Of God, Perfectly Holy. 67 
 
 SECT. XIV. 
 THAT GOD IS PERFECTLY HOLY. 
 
 165. Our own power of approving and lov- 
 ing some actions and affections, and of disap- 
 proving and hating others, which renders us 
 moral agents, leads us to the conception of God 
 as a Moral Agent, and as Holy. 
 
 166. The holiness of God implies the perfect 
 rectitude of his own nature, placing him at an 
 infinite distance from all moral evil, and his 
 love and approbation of goodness, and disap- 
 probation and hatred of its contrary. 
 
 167. Our own moral nature proves, that this 
 attribute belongs to God, the Author of our 
 nature; for we necessarily regard it as our 
 highest perfection. 
 
 168. The proof is strengthened by consider- 
 ing, that, by the constitution of things, the 
 practice of morality is made of the greatest 
 
68 Natural Theology. 
 
 importance to our happiness ; for this is a 
 strong indication how much God wills us to 
 pursue it. 
 
 169. God’s approving good and disapproving 
 evil, implies the absolute rectitude of his own 
 nature; for it would be absurd, that a perfect 
 Being should not be the object of approbation 
 to himself.* : 
 
 SECT. XV. 
 THAT GOD IS PERFECTLY JUST AND TRUE. 
 
 170. Justice, as ascribed to God, is a disposi- 
 tion to regard the moral character of his crea- 
 tures in the distribution of happiness and 
 misery, or to reward virtue and punish vice. 
 
 171. Justice may be considered as a modifi- 
 cation of goodness; for, to enforce on moral 
 
 agents the practice of virtue, by rewards and 
 
 * Abernethy, vol. ii. Serm. 1. Orr’s Serm. © | 
 
 7 
 
Of God, Perfectly Just— True. 69 
 
 punishments, is extremely conducive to the 
 happiness of the world; and its being so, af- 
 fords an argument that God is Just. 
 
 172. Justice is implied in holiness ; it is act- 
 ing agreeably to God’s judgment of moral good 
 and evil: That it belongs to him, is therefore 
 supported by the very same evidence as his 
 attribute of holiness. 
 
 173. The justice of God appears, also, from 
 the natural tendency of virtue to happiness, and 
 of vice to misery, and from that tendency 
 actually taking effect in many instances: Nor 
 is it any proof of God’s not being just, that 
 this tendency is often defeated at present ; for 
 God’s being holy assures us, that it will some 
 time take effect, and our own experience shews 
 us, that it often does take effect, after it has 
 long seemed to be defeated. 
 
 174. When God is considered as discovering 
 any knowledge to his creatures, as promising 
 any good thing to them, or threatening any 
 evil against them, truth comes to be attributed 
 to him: And that it belongs to him, appears 
 
70 Natural Theology. 
 
 from our approbation of sincerity and faithful- 
 ness, and our disapprobation of their contraries.* 
 
 SECT. XVI. 
 THAT GOD IS PATIENT AND MERCIFUL. 
 
 175. All the other moral attributes of God 
 are only exertions of his goodness, suited to 
 the particular circumstances of those beings 
 who are the objects of them. 
 
 176. His patience is a disposition to suspend 
 for a time the punishment of vice, that his 
 creatures may have opportunity of preventing 
 their misery, by reformation. 
 
 177. His goodness leads us to conclude that 
 he is patient; and our experience, that punish- 
 ments do not always immediately follow crimes, 
 is a proof of it. 
 
 * Abernethy, vol. ii. Serm. 5. 
 
Of God, Patient—Merciful. 71 
 
 178. The mercy, or placability of God, is his 
 goodness disposing him to forgive moral agents, 
 who have been guilty, but have become peni- 
 tent, so far as it is consistent with his justice, 
 and with the good of the whole. 
 
 179. How far it is thus consistent, our 
 reason cannot discover ; but, that it is in some 
 cases really consistent, and, consequently, that 
 placability really belongs to God, we conclude 
 from his goodness; the penitent being fit ob- 
 jects of happiness, from their repentance an- 
 swering one at least of the principal ends of 
 punishment, and from our approbation of plac- 
 ability, and disapprobation of its opposite. 
 
 180. And, though repentance be not an 
 atonement for vice, it is a qualification for hap- 
 piness. It does not merit forgiveness; but 
 neither does innocence properly merit reward.* 
 
 * Abernethy, vol. ii. Serm. 5. 
 
72 Natural Theology. 
 
 SECT. XVII. 
 
 THAT GOD IS A FREE AND VOLUNTARY 
 AGENT. 
 
 181. It being a chief perfection of our na- 
 ture, that we have a power of volition, which 
 is what properly renders us agents, we must 
 ascribe will also to God. 
 
 182. Because his moral perfections are essen- 
 tial to his nature, he must always will and act 
 conformably to them; and the liberty of his 
 will cannot consist in the power of acting con- 
 trary to them, or in an indifference to what is 
 agreeable and to what is disagreeable to them. 
 
 183. The liberty of his will implies, that he 
 can choose as he pleases between such things 
 as are all agreeable to his moral perfection ; and 
 this liberty appears in the arbitrary disposition 
 of things. | 
 
Of God, a Free Agent. 73 
 
 184. It implies, that all his actions proceed 
 from his own volition or choice, as their imme- 
 diate principle; and he, being independent, 
 must be exempt from all constraint to do any 
 thing but what he wills. 
 
 185. If liberty be considered as the power of 
 acting as we will, the Divine liberty must be 
 perfect, and will coincide with Omnipotence. 
 
 186. The liberty of God’s will is variously 
 explained, according to men’s different opinions 
 on the question concerning liberty and neces- 
 sity ; but the few views of it just now pointed 
 out, are, perhaps, all that our faculties can 
 reach to.* 
 
 * Clarke, pr. 9, 12. Abernethy, vol. ii. Serm. 4. 
 
74 Natural Theology. 
 
 SECT. XVIII. 
 
 THAT GOD IS INFINITE AND ABSOLUTELY 
 PERFECT. 
 
 187. Our notion of infinity is derived from 
 quantity, which we can conceive to be enlarged 
 without any end: But this is only a negative 
 infinity ; no quantity can be positively infinite. 
 
 188. Positive and proper infinity consists in 
 a thing’s being the greatest possible. 
 
 189. If we could consider the infinity of God 
 in the former of these views, infinite space and 
 infinite duration would constitute his immen- 
 sity and eternity; and his other perfections 
 would be infinite, as no number of objects can 
 be conceived so great. but his perfections may 
 extend toa greater: But this is not the natural 
 
 and proper conception of God’s infinity. 
 
Of God, Infinite. 75 
 
 190. He is infinite, as his manner of exist- 
 ence is the most perfect possible ; and as all his 
 attributes are free from every defect, and the 
 greatest that can be. 
 
 191. Infinity is thus not so properly one at- 
 tribute of God, as a character belonging to all 
 his attributes: It coincides with the notion of 
 him as absolutely perfect. 
 
 192. The proof of his infinity, or that all his 
 attributes are absolutely perfect, arises from the 
 separate evidence of these several attributes, 
 joined to his being uncaused, and the cause of 
 all things. 
 
 193. From the absolute perfection of God’s 
 nature, it follows, that he must be perfectly 
 
 happy.* 
 
 * Woolaston, sect. 5. § 16. Burnet’s B. L. pr. 2. Grot. 
 1. 1. § 4, 5. 
 
76 Natural Theology. 
 
 SECT. XTX. 
 THAT GOD Is INCOMPREHENSIBLE. 
 
 194. It is plain that we have a conception 
 of many of God’s perfections; yet it may be 
 justly said, that his nature is, in many respects, 
 incomprehensible, or above our comprehension. 
 
 195. This implies, not that there is any con- 
 tradiction in the notion of a Perfect Being, but 
 that we do not fully understand his nature and 
 perfections. 
 
 196. This can no more affect the proof of 
 these perfections, than the fact that there is not 
 any one thing which we fully understand, can 
 affect the evidence which we have of the exist- 
 ence of those things. 
 
 197. We haveno notion at all of the essence 
 of God, nor, indeed, of the essence of any thing 
 
 whatever. 
 
 5 
 
are: 
 
 Of God, Incomprehensible. 77 
 
 198. We have no positive notion of God’s 
 manner of existence, and of the attributes be- 
 longing to it: This arises from our having ex- 
 perience only of beings who have been pro- 
 duced. 
 
 199. We have not adequate conceptions of 
 any of God’s attributes : This arises from our 
 having experience only of limited beings, and 
 our being but imperfectly acquainted even with 
 these. . 
 
 200. When we ascribe to God those attri- 
 butes which we can prove to belong to him, 
 we must not imagine, that these are all the 
 attributes of his nature: He may have many 
 others, of which we can form no notion, be- 
 cause they are different in kind from every 
 
 thing of which we are conscious in ourselves.* 
 
 * Abernethy, vol. ii. Serm. 6. 
 
78 Natural Theology. 
 
 SECT. XOX. 
 
 THAT THERE IS A GOD, CONFIRMED BY THE 
 GENERAL CONSENT OF MANKIND. 
 
 201. Besides the direct proofs hitherto 
 pointed out of the being of a God, and of his 
 several attributes, which form the internal 
 evidence of the principles of Natural Theology, 
 there is, hikewise, external evidence of these 
 principles, arising from the general consent of 
 mankind. | 
 
 202. Though men have formed very differ- 
 ent notions of God, and some have introduced 
 very improper and unworthy conceptions into 
 their notion of him, yet all mankind have 
 agreed in acknowledging some superior Being, 
 the object of worship. 
 
 203. It is absolutely certain, that almost all 
 
 ee 
 
Of God, Universally Acknowledged. my) 
 
 nations, in all ages, have had some God, and 
 some sort of religious worship. 
 
 204. Though some few tribes of savages 
 have been thought, by those who first visited 
 them, to have had no notion of God or of reli- 
 gion, yet farther acquaintance with them has 
 shewn that they really have such a notion: If 
 they had it not, still they would make but a 
 very few exceptions, notwithstanding which 
 the consent of mankind would be really gene- 
 ral; and the exceptions could have no force, 
 farther than to shew, that disbelief of a God is 
 attended with the greatest degeneracy of na- 
 ture, and may sometimes take place, as well as 
 other defects in the powers essential to man. 
 
 205. ‘The individuals who have professed 
 Atheism, are too few to hinder the consent of 
 mankind from being reckoned general, any 
 more than monsters in any kind disprove the 
 general characters of the kind: They have, in 
 fact, been fewer than is imagined; and their 
 opposition can have little weight, because it 
 may be easily accounted for from prejudice or 
 vice, and because, with all their pains and in- 
 
80 Natural Theology. 
 
 genuity, they have never been able to discover 
 any solid arguments against the Being of a 
 God. 
 
 206. This general and almost universal con- 
 sent of mankind in the belief of a God, is a re- 
 markable phenomenon ; sufficient, at least, to 
 excite attention, and to provoke us carefully to 
 inquire, whether this belief be agreeable to 
 reason or not? And from what cause it has 
 proceeded ? 
 
 207. It removes the prejudice of novelty, 
 that arises against every opinion, which is not 
 either a corollary from truths long ago known, 
 or of such difficulty as to account for the late- 
 ness of its discovery: It leads us to conclude, 
 that clear evidence, or some very powerful 
 cause, must have procured to this belief so very 
 general a reception. 
 
 208. Though some false opinions have been 
 long very generally embraced, they have differ- 
 ed essentially from the belief of a God; for, 
 either they have been secondary opinions, easily 
 formed by the corruption of principles pre- 
 
 viously universally received, or they have ap- 
 
Of God, Universally Acknowledged. 8] 
 
 peared to be supported by the obvious. testi- 
 mony of the senses; so that their prevalence, 
 notwithstanding their falsity, is easily account- | 
 ed for: But the being of a God is both a pri- 
 mary opinion, which could not arise from any 
 other opinion already universally received, and 
 it is also remote from all the suggestions of the 
 senses: Its universal reception, therefore, can- 
 not be accounted for, but onthe supposition of 
 its truth ;—especially as religion lays great re- 
 straints on men’s inclinations, and fills them 
 with fears if they submit not to them. 
 
 209. It has been asserted, that the belief of 
 a God took its rise from the artifice of politici- 
 ans, for keeping the bulk of mankind in awe: 
 Bui there is no historical evidence of this arti- 
 fice ever having been practised ; and the world 
 never was in such a state, that it could be uni- 
 versally attempted,—much less, that it could be 
 universally successful. - 
 
 210. When the belief of a God is ascribed to 
 the fears of men, the effect of that belief is mis- 
 taken for the cause of it; and the cause assion- 
 
 F 
 
$2 Natural Theology. 
 
 ed could account, not for the belief of a good 
 God, but for the belief of evil spirits. 
 
 211. If the universal belief of a God be as- 
 cribed to a tradition from the first ages of the 
 world, it will be as difficult to find a cause for 
 the beginning of this tradition, as for that uni- 
 versal belief.* 
 
 212. No cause can account for the one or the 
 other, but either that it has been revealed that 
 there is a God, or that our very nature leads 
 us, and reason directs us, to believe it: And 
 both these causes imply, that it is a truth. 
 
 213. ‘The argument then is, That there must 
 be a God; not merely because men have con- 
 sented in believing it, but because it is a prin- 
 ciple of such a nature, that, except it were true, 
 mankind could not possibly have consented in 
 believing it. 
 
 214, It is objected, that, though men have 
 agreed very generally in acknowledging a God 
 
 in words, yet they have entertained so different 
 
 * Harris, Serm. 3. Hume, Nat. Hist. of Rel. 
 
Of God, Universally Acknowledged. 83 
 
 and opposite notions of Him, that they cannot 
 be said to have really agreed in any thing. 
 
 215. But this shews, that the belief of a God 
 is so firm and deep-rooted, that they agree in 
 it, who can agree in nothing else. 
 
 216. Men, likewise, have, in fact, ascribed al- 
 most all the same perfections to God; though 
 their conceptions of some of them have been 
 confused, and though they have, at the same 
 time, entertained other opinions contradictory 
 to these perfections. 
 
 217. But false opinions concerning particular 
 attributes of God are secondary opinions, which 
 may readily arise from a corruption of the pri- 
 mary truth of his existence, once supposed to 
 be received, and into which the weakness of 
 our reason, the suggestions of our senses, and 
 our vicious passions, may naturally lead us. 
 Their prevalence, therefore, can be accounted 
 - for from sufficient causes, consistently with 
 their being false; so that, though they had the 
 general consent of mankind, it would not fol- 
 low that they are true: But, because no ac- 
 count could be given of their origin, except 
 
84 Natural Th cology. 
 
 there were a precedent belief of a God, they all 
 imply that belief.* 
 
 218. In concluding this part, we may ob- 
 serve, that some have thought that the exist- 
 ence of God may be proved from our having a 
 notion of an Infinitely Perfect Being, and from 
 the impossibility of conceiving certain perfec- 
 tions not to exist; but, to others, the argument 
 has appeared inconclusive. 
 
 219. Here, also, it may be proper to take 
 notice of the principal divisions of those attri- 
 butes which have been found to belong to God. 
 
 220. ‘The distinction of God’s attributes into 
 communicable and incommunicable, is impro- 
 per; for every divine attribute, of which we 
 can form any notion, is communicable in re- 
 spect of the quality itself; but incommunicable 
 
 * Gastrel. Grot. de Ver. Rel. Chr. 1. 1. Burnet, art, - J. 
 Turret. Diss. 2. thes. 57, 61. Leng’s B. L. Serm. 4—8. 
 Kames, b. 3. sk. 3. ch. 1. 
 
Of God, Universally Acknowledged. 85 
 
 in respect of the perfect degree in which God 
 possesses it. 
 
 221. All God’s attributes have been distin- 
 guished into such as regard his essence,—such 
 as regard his existence,—and such as regard his 
 will. 
 
 222. More simply, they may be distinguish- 
 ed into his natural,—his intellectual,—and his 
 moral attributes. 
 
 223. Some of his natural attributes may be 
 called Secondary, as being attributes of his other 
 attributes, as well as of his nature, viz. Eterni- 
 ty, Immensity, Immutability, Infinity, and In- 
 comprehensibleness : All the rest may be term- 
 ed Primary. 
 
 224. All God’s attributes are,—either such 
 as wholly regard himself and his manner of ex. 
 istence, and terminate in himself; or such as are 
 exerted in his works,—Moral Perfection, Wis- 
 dom, and Power.* 
 
 cee en ee se lt Be ts Ao ee Wl 
 
 * Des Cartes. Cudworth. Gastrel. Burnet, art. 1. 
 Clarke, prop. 3. cor. 3. 
 
86 Natural Theology. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 OF THE OPERATIONS AND LAWS OF GOD. 
 SECT. I. , 
 OF THE OPERATIONS OF GOD, IN GENERAL. 
 
 225. THE operations of God are the volun- 
 tary exertions of his several attributes. 
 
 296. As we know not perfectly the manner 
 in which our own powers are exerted, we must 
 much more be incapable of comprehending 
 fully the manner of the Divine operations. 
 
 927. But the perfection of God’s nature 
 proves, that all his operations are the most 
 perfect possible, and free from all the defects of 
 
 ours. 
 
Of the Operations of God. 87 
 
 228. His sphere of activity is infinite, so that 
 nothing is without the limits of it; but, every 
 thing which he wills, happens, and his opera- 
 tions are uncontrollable. 
 
 229. ‘They are confined within no bounds, 
 but those which are set to them by the perfec- 
 tions of his own nature, to which they must 
 be always agreeable; or by the possibilities of 
 things, for they cannot extend to what implies 
 a contradiction. 
 
 230. Nor can any thing fall out contrary to 
 his will. 
 
 231. All his operations are performed with- 
 out any labour or difficulty. 
 
 232. When he acts by second causes, it is 
 not that he needs their aid, or facilitates his 
 work by employing them; but, on the contrary, 
 as they derive all their power from him, the 
 use of them only multiplies the displays of his 
 perfections. 
 
 233. It is probable that his volition is the 
 sole and immediate cause of all the effects of 
 his operation, without the need of any conse- 
 
 quent action; for this appears to us the most 
 
88 Natural Theology. 
 
 perfect manner of working, and we have an 
 image of it m our own power of calling up 
 ideas by merely willing it. 
 
 234. As every intelligent being proposes 
 some end in all he does, so it is his moral char- 
 acter, that determines the nature of the end for 
 which he acts; his degree of prudence and 
 wisdom, that selects—and his measure of power, 
 that applies—the means by which he pursues 
 that end. 
 
 235. The moral perfections of God, (which . 
 are all reducible to perfect goodness, being but 
 different modifications of it,) his wisdom, and 
 his power, in conjunction, are the principles of 
 all his operations. 
 
 236. The end of them being fixed by perfect 
 goodness, is the production of happiness,— 
 especially that sublimest kind of it, which arises 
 from moral rectitude and virtue. 
 
 237. His unerring wisdom contrives the 
 fittest means of accomplishing this end. 
 
 238. His omnipotence renders effectual those 
 means which wisdom prescribes for executing 
 the dictates of his benevolence. 
 
Of the Decrees of God. 89 
 
 239. As the greatest possible happiness ap- 
 pears to be the proper object of perfect benevo- 
 lence, some have inferred, that the universe is 
 the best and happiest system possible; and it 
 certainly may be so, though to our view, (con- 
 fined as it is to a very small part of it,) there 
 are many seeming imperfections in it. 
 
 240. If it be, it must be progressive, the 
 universe rising continually to greater and great- 
 er perfection, without end; for no finite system 
 can be the most perfect possible: And, that 
 the universe is progressive, the progressive 
 nature of almost all the beings which it con- 
 tains,—at least of all who are capable of happi- 
 
 ness,—renders not improbable. 
 SECT. IT. 
 
 OF THE DECREES OF GOD. 
 
 241. The operations of God are either inter- 
 nal,—his decrees; or external,—the execution 
 of these decrees in his works. 
 
 242. The decrees of God are the determina- 
 
90 Natural Theology. 
 
 tions of his will, and can be conceived by us, 
 only by analogy to what we know of our own 
 volitions. 
 
 243. ‘The proper object of a volition is some 
 action to be done by ourselves; the end for 
 which we do that action is the object, not pro- 
 perly of the will, but of some affection of our 
 nature. | 
 
 244. In like manner, the objects of God’s 
 decrees are, strictly speaking, his own actions, 
 or the things which he himself is to do; the 
 ends for which he does them, and which he 
 intends to answer by them, are fixed by his 
 moral attributes. 
 
 245. As he always determines his will agree- 
 ably to his moral perfections, all his decrees are 
 conformable to these. | 
 
 246. When we consider God as from eterni- 
 ty decreeing all things, we must consider his 
 decrees as analogous to our purposes and re- 
 solutions concerning a future action,—not to 
 our actual volition of doing an action; for, 
 from an actual volition of God, the thing willed 
 would immediately arise. 
 
 247. The notion of successive duration be- 
 
Of the Decrees of God. 91 
 
 longing to God, mixes itself unavoidably with 
 this conception of his decrees, and involves it 
 in a degree of obscurity which would vanish if 
 we could form a proper notion of his manner 
 of existence. 
 
 248. When some assert, that God first fixed 
 the ends, and then determined the means; and 
 others, that he determined at once, by one 
 simple volition, both means and ends ;—they 
 differ more in words than in reality: For the 
 former affirm not, that there was a real succes- 
 sion in time in these determinations ; and the 
 latter deny not, that, in their nature, some 
 things are ends, regarded by God for their own 
 sake,—and others, means, regarded by him for 
 the sake of something else. 
 
 249. Ail inquiries concerning the order of 
 the Divine decrees have a reference to our im- 
 perfect manner of conceiving things,—which is 
 very different from the perfection of God’s 
 operations,—and, for this reason, are improper 
 and perplexing. 
 
 250. We can know nothing of his decrees, 
 any farther than we see them executed in his 
 
92 Natural Theology. 
 
 works, except that they must be agreeable to 
 his moral perfections. 
 
 251. When we consider his decrees as his 
 purposes concerning his own actions, all the 
 difficulties regarding them reduce themselves 
 to the difficulties which we find in accounting 
 for particulars in the constitution of the world, 
 and in the course of Providence; and, when 
 we view them in this light, they are at least 
 freed from the additional obscurity, which is 
 thrown upon them, by the imperfection of our 
 notions of God’s eternity, and of his manner of 
 existence. 
 
 SECT. IIT. 
 OF CREATION. 
 
 252. The external operations of God are 
 reducible to two--Creation and Providence; 
 and creation may be considered as_ two- 
 fold. 
 
 253. The First Creation is the producing of 
 
Of Creation. 93 
 
 things out of nothing, or the giving being to 
 things which before were not. 
 
 254. This some have reckoned impossible, 
 holding it as an axiom, That out of nothing, 
 nothing can come: But it implies no contradic- 
 tion, that something which once was not, should 
 have since begun to be.* 
 
 255. We cannot comprehend how God 
 brings things out of nothing, because we have 
 no experience of the production of new sub- 
 stances : But this is no good reason for denying 
 it; and our own production of new thoughts 
 and new motions, is, in some degree, analogous 
 to it, and helps us to a faint notion of it.+ 
 
 256. But, that there has been creation in this 
 sense, we must allow ; except we maintain, that 
 all the matter of the world, and our own souls 
 and those of others, not only have been eternal, 
 but also are independent and self-existent, and 
 that there could not possibly be more or less 
 matter, or more or fewer spirits, than there are.t 
 
 * Fiddes’ Body, b. 3. p. 1. ch. 1. Pearson, p-. 51, 52. 
 t Fiddes, ib. + Pearson, p. 53-55. 
 
4. Natural Theology. 
 
 257. Some have maintained the eternity of 
 the world along with the acknowledgment of a 
 God, considering it as an eternal effect flowing 
 from his eternal energy; but this supposition 
 seems to imply eternal successions already past, 
 and it contradicts the evidences that the world 
 had a beginning.* 
 
 258. Whether or not God could have created 
 some beings from eternity, the obscurity of our 
 notion of eternity renders us unable to deter- 
 mine, and makes it improper for us to inquire. 
 
 959. When some ask, Why the world was 
 not created sooner ?—they consider not, that, 
 however soon it had been created, there still 
 must have been a time when it would have 
 been no older than it is at present. 
 
 260. The Second Creation is the formation 
 of things into form and order. 
 
 261. We cannot determine by reason, whe- 
 ther this was really in God a distinct act from 
 the First Creation ; but, in our manner of con- 
 
 ceiving things, it is different from, and sub- 
 
 * Pearson, p. 56, &c. 
 >] 3 
 
Of Creation. 95 
 
 sequent upon, it,—at least with regard to ma- 
 terial beings. 
 
 262. In this operation, God formed the 
 several masses of matter, impressed upon them 
 their respective motions, and established the 
 laws to which he subjected them; he formed 
 the first of the several species of animals and 
 vegetables, and fixed the manner in which they 
 were to be continued; and he gave the several 
 orders and ranks of spirits their distinguishing 
 constitutions and employments. 
 
 263. ‘To ask, Why God made not the world 
 immense, or, at least, much more ample than it 
 is ?—is to forget, that, from the very nature of 
 
 quantity and number, it could not possibly be 
 immense; and that, therefore, however ample 
 it had been, still it might have been more am ple. 
 
 264. The objections that are raised on ac- 
 count of supposed imperfections and blemishes 
 in the constitution of the world, affect Provi- 
 dence as well as creation, and, under that head, 
 will be most properly considered.* 
 
 cere ere er et ead Ney iit eetinen ai alndihcitt 
 
 * Clarke, prop. 10. Bentley, Serm. 6. Burnet’s De- 
 monstr. p. 421, &c. Grot. de Ver. Rel. Chr. 1. 1. § 7. 
 
96 Natural Theology. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 OF PROVIDENCE. 
 
 265. Providence is God’s continued care of 
 the world since it was created. 
 
 266. That God exercises this care, or that 
 there is a Providence, follows easily from his 
 being and perfections; for, it is inconceivable 
 that an Absolutely Perfect Being, having once 
 created a world wholly dependent upon himself, 
 should immediately cast off the care of it. 
 
 267. Indeed, the Providence of God is prov- 
 ed from the appearances of things, as immedi- 
 ately as his Being; for it is from the present 
 order of the world, owing to Providence, that - 
 we infer that it is to be ascribed to God, both 
 as its Creator and its Governor. ; 
 
 268. To suppose that God exercises not 
 Providence, because it would be laborious to 
 
Of Providence. Q7 
 
 him, proceeds from unworthy and low concep- 
 tions of his nature. 
 
 269. His Providence extends to all things 
 whatever; for all things bear those characters 
 which shew them to be the works of God. 
 
 270. Providence implies, both the preserva- 
 tion and the government of the world. 
 
 271. The preservation of things in being 
 must be ascribed to God as the cause; else 
 things once brought into being by him, would 
 immediately become independent on him. 
 
 272. The preservation of things is equally 
 ascribed to God, whether we suppose it to be 
 done by a continued exertion of his activity, 
 or by his having given them, at the creation, 
 the stability necessary for their remaining, with- 
 out such exertion, in being, as long as he had 
 originally decreed. 
 
 273. In either view, He can, with equal ease, 
 annihilate any of the beings which he has 
 created. 
 
 274. God’s government of the world consists 
 in his preserving in force, and executing, those 
 
 Laws which he at first established in it, so as to 
 G 
 
9S Natural Theology. 
 
 preserve the order, and carry on the plan, which 
 he originally designed. 
 
 275. God governs his several creatures in 
 ways suitable to their respective natures; and, 
 consequently, governs the different ranks and 
 orders of creatures in different ways. 
 
 276. He governs the material world by a few 
 general laws, from which all the variety of its 
 phenomena proceed ; and, whether we suppose 
 these laws to be kept in force by the continual 
 exertion of his energy, or so established by one 
 original volition, as to remain in force of them- 
 selves,—makes no difference as to any useful 
 purpose; and which is the case, we cannot, 
 perhaps, decide with certainty. 
 
 277. With respect to the great systems of 
 Unorganized matter, thetwo acts of Providence, 
 Preservation and Government, in a great mea- 
 sure coincide. 
 
 278. In vegetables and animals,—which are 
 so formed, that, though the species continue, 
 some individuals perish, and others come into 
 being,—Providence, in some measure, runs up 
 
 into creation. 
 
Of Providence. 99 
 
 279. The production, the growth, and the 
 decay of vegetables and animals, are carried on 
 by established general laws, which seem to 
 require the continued operation of the First 
 Cause; and, therefore, strongly infer a God and 
 a Providence. 
 
 280. God commonly operates according to 
 the established general laws of nature; but, as 
 they are established wholly by himself, he can 
 equally operate without them, or in opposition 
 to them, and. thus work miracles. 
 
 281. But, though every miracle, (being a 
 suspension of those laws of nature with which 
 we are acquainted,) must appear to us to re- 
 quire an occasional interposition of God, or of 
 some superior being; yet all the miracles that 
 ever were wrought, may have been provided 
 for in the original constitution of things, by 
 general laws unknown to us. 
 
 282. God’s Providence respecting inanimate 
 things, and, also, respecting the natural and 
 animal motions of living things, may be called 
 his Natural Government of the World. 
 
 283. The world, both in its original constitu- 
 
100 Natural Theology. 
 
 tion, and in its whole course, must be suitable 
 to the Divine perfections; for God’s moral 
 attributes prompt, and his wisdom directs, his 
 operation, both in creating and in governing it. 
 
 284. Yet, there are appearances of faultiness 
 in the world, on account of which some have 
 pronounced it a work unworthy of God; but 
 without reason. 
 
 285. ‘Though there be seeming imperfections 
 in nature, these are not unworthy of God: Im- 
 perfection is essential to every creature, as being 
 dependent and finite; the creation of inferior 
 things does not hinder the existence of as many 
 superior beings as could have been without 
 them; the laws appointed for each kind are 
 such as suit its nature and end, and promote 
 order and beauty; and the irregularities inci- 
 dent to it could not be prevented, without 
 destroying these laws: Many things, which, 
 at first view, appear imperfections, when better 
 understood, are found to be necessary and 
 highly useful ; and, if we had a complete know- 
 ledge of the whole of nature, we should per- 
 ceive, that its seeming imperfections and ir- 
 
Of Providence. 101 
 
 regularities are the necessary consequences of 
 general laws which are good on the whole; 
 and that the disposition of the whole is the 
 best possible. 
 
 286. Natural evils, also, or the several pains 
 incident to sentient beings, are, in like manner, 
 the necessary consequences of .good general 
 laws, which could not be abrogated without 
 much greater inconveniences: They are, in 
 many instances, subservient to the preservation 
 of the beings themselves ; they are instrumen- 
 tal in God’s government of rational beings; 
 and they probably contribute to the good of 
 the whole. 
 
 287. God’s Providence respecting rational 
 agents may be called his Moral Government of 
 the World. 
 
 288. He governs rational agents in a manner 
 suitable to the nature which he has given them, 
 and, therefore, in a different manner from ma- 
 terial things. 
 
 289. Man is the only rational being with 
 whom reason makes us acquainted ; and God’s 
 government of him, suitably to his nature,— 
 
102 Natural Theology. 
 
 by giving him laws which he may voluntarily 
 either observe or transgress, by giving him op- 
 portunities of doing so, and by rewarding or 
 punishing him according to his conduct,—is 
 what we are principally concerned to attend 
 
 to.* 
 
 SECT. V. 
 THAT MAN IS AN AGENT. 
 
 290. Man’s being capable of voluntary action, 
 or of doing things with choice, renders him 
 an agent. 
 
 291. His being capable of foreseeing the 
 consequences of his actions, and of willing and 
 choosing the actions for the sake of the con- 
 sequences, or of acting for an end, renders him 
 
 a rational agent. 
 
 “ Grot. 1. 1. § 10, 11. Woolaston, sect. 5. § 18. Clarke, 
 Origin of Evil. Baxter’s Inquiry, sect. 2. Price’s 
 Dissert. on Provid. Burnet’s B. L. pr. 4. p. 432, &c. 
 
Of the Free-Agency of Man. 103 
 
 292. Agency thus arises from one’s being 
 endued with will, or the power of volition ; for, 
 by a volition, motion is begun, or a new motion 
 made to exist ; whereas, in all other cases, mo- 
 tion is only communicated, and as much is lost 
 by one body as another receives from it. 
 
 293. ‘The power of willing supposes, that, by 
 the constitution of nature, certain actions do 
 depend upon our volition, so as to be thereby 
 produced, continued, or stopped: All such 
 actions are in our power; and, in proportion to 
 the number of them, is the extent of our sphere 
 of activity. 
 
 294. Many actions have such dependence 
 upon our will for their existence or non-exist- 
 ence; and, therefore, we are agents, and have 
 a certain sphere of activity, and a certain degree 
 of power. 
 
 295. In doing or forbearing an action, whose 
 existence or non-existence depends upon our 
 willing or not willing it, and is owing to a 
 volition one way or the other; or, in other 
 words, in all our voluntary motions, we are 
 properly agents: In every involuntary motion 
 we are wholly passive. 
 
104 Natural Theology. 
 
 296. We are properly the authors or causes 
 of all those actions in which we are voluntary, 
 or spontaneous: ‘These are by some called Free 
 Actions ; and that we have the liberty of spon- 
 taneity is certain from experience, and must be 
 allowed by all who hold not man to be a mere 
 machine. 
 
 297. An action in our power is the immedi- 
 ate and the only proper object of volition. 
 
 298. As, by the constitution of nature, cer- 
 tain actions are made to depend on our will ; 
 so, by the same constitution of nature, certain 
 consequences are made to depend on our ac- 
 tions, in as far as, without willing certain ac- 
 tions, we cannot expect these consequences,— 
 but may procure them as ends, by means of the 
 actions on which they depend. 
 
 299. We perform our actions with a view 
 to those ends which they are fit to serve; but 
 the ends are not the objects of volition, but of 
 other powers of the mind: For it is reason 
 that discovers that they will be attained by our 
 acting in a certain manner; and it is some af- 
 
 fection or passion which attaches us to them. 
 
Of the Free-Agency of Man. 105 
 
 300. In all our actions, therefore, reason and 
 some passion or affection are concerned, as well 
 as the will: Affection attaches us to a certain 
 end; reason discovers what action of ours will 
 promote that end; and, in consequence of this, 
 we will the action. 
 
 301. The fitness of an action in our power, 
 for answering an end to which affection attaches 
 us, is a motive to that action, and may be said 
 to determine us to will the doing of the action. 
 
 302, In all our rational actions we have a 
 regard to motives: We do these actions, not 
 for their own sake, but for the sake of some 
 end to which they are subservient: It is reason 
 and affection together that determine us to will 
 them. | 
 
 303. The question concerning Liberty and 
 Necessity is, properly, an inquiry concerning 
 the degree of regard, which, by our constitu- 
 tion, we pay to motives, and the manner in 
 which they determine us to will. 
 
 304. It is a question which has been agitated 
 in all. ages,—which is introduced into the sys- 
 tems of Christian 'Theology,—and which has 
 
106 Natural Theology. 
 
 been pushed to a great degree of subtilty, both 
 by philosophers and divines. 3 
 
 305. As this has been the case; as men of 
 the greatest acuteness have held different opin- 
 ions concerning it; as experience has been 
 urged on both sides with equal confidence ; 
 and as the controversy continues, and probably 
 will continue, to be agitated ;—we may con- 
 clude that it is really difficult and intricate: 
 But its intricacy seems to be increased by a 
 confusion in the use of words, and by endea- 
 vours to explain the manner of our operations 
 farther than we can determine with certainty. 
 
 306. By the constitution of our nature, 
 certain objects have such a correspondence to 
 our several appetites, passions, and affections, 
 that, when presented to us, or conceived by us, 
 they necessarily excite these; other things ap- 
 pear useful or hurtful, as being the means of 
 obtaining what is’ immediately suitable to a 
 passion or affection, or of incurring what is 
 unsuitable to it; and these, that passion or 
 affection necessarily leads us to desire, or to 
 regard with aversion: Of both these sorts of 
 
Of the Free-Agency of Man. 107 
 
 things, some appear on comparison greater than 
 others; and, when they do so, they necessarily 
 become more desirable, or more hateful: Ac- 
 cording to our opinion of the good or evil,— 
 the usefulness or hurtfulness of things, we ne- 
 cessarily judge that they are fit to be pursued 
 or avoided,—which judgment is called the Last 
 Judgment of the Understanding, because it im- 
 mediately precedes our willing or not willing to 
 pursue or avoid them. 
 
 307. In all these antecedents to action, it is 
 universally acknowledged that we are neces- 
 sary. 
 
 308. The question is, Whether, after all this, 
 we remain indifferent to will or not to will ? 
 
 309. Some maintain that we do ;—that, after 
 having considered all motives to an action, and 
 judged it to be eligible, we have still the power 
 of willing that action, or not willing it; which 
 power they term Liberty of Indifference, and 
 reckon essential to the very notion of an agent. 
 
 310. Others maintain that we always are, 
 and must be, determined to will, by what ap- 
 pears to us the strongest, motive, or by the af- 
 
108 Natural Theology. 
 
 fection which is, for the present, strongest ; and 
 that our liberty consists only in the power of 
 doing what we will, and omitting what we will 
 not, or in the power of acting voluntarily and 
 spontaneously ; and that this power is sufficient 
 to render us agents: This is the opinion term- 
 ed Necessity. 
 
 311. This is the general state of the question, 
 though the patrons of each side differ as to 
 some particulars, in explaining and supporting 
 their opinion. 
 
 312. ‘The principal arguments by which the 
 former opinion is supported are the following : 
 
 313. All men are conscious that they have. 
 this liberty,—that they have a_ self-motive 
 power, by which they freely determine them- 
 selves to act; and experience is’ the proper 
 evidence in a question of fact. 
 
 314. Though it be acknowledged, that men, 
 in all their rational actions, pay a regard to 
 motives, and yield to some passion or affection 
 of their nature, it will not follow that they are 
 always determined by the strongest motive or 
 affection ; nor can it. possibly be decided that 
 
Of the Free-Agency of Man. 109 
 
 they are so, because we have no standard or 
 balance for fixing the comparative strength of 
 motives or affections; and to hold that the 
 strongest, which has in fact determined the 
 will, would be to beg the question. 
 
 315. But, though it were acknowledged, 
 that men do always will according to the 
 strongest motive or affection, or the last judg- 
 ment of the understanding suitable to them ; 
 it would not follow that they cannot will other- 
 wise, or that these necessarily determine the 
 will. 
 
 316. If these did necessarily determine the 
 will, they must be the physical and efficient 
 causes of our volitions and actions,—which they 
 cannot be; for they are not substances: Mo- 
 tives and reasons are mere abstract notions ; 
 pleasure and pain are mere passive impressions ; 
 and the passions and affections excited by them 
 are only emotions,—they are but occasions, on 
 which the self-moving power freely exerts itself 
 in producing actions. 
 
 317. If motives and affections did necessarily 
 produce our volitions and actions, what we call 
 
 2 
 
110 Natural Theology. 
 
 action would be really only passion: We 
 should be wholly passive in our voluntary 
 actions, and not agents at all; for a necessary 
 agent is a contradiction, and whatever acts 
 necessarily, acts not at all, but is only acted 
 upon. 
 
 318. We often condemn ourselves and others 
 for having acted in a particular manner,— 
 which we could not, if men were necessarily 
 determined by present motives and affections ; 
 and, therefore, every such judgment implies a 
 sense, that it was in our power to have willed 
 and acted otherwise. 
 
 319. Though we do commonly will accord- 
 ing to motives, yet we know from experience 
 that we can will without any motive or reason, 
 as in choosing one of several things perfectly 
 equal. 
 
 320. The power of freely willing or not 
 willing, is necessary for rendering us capable of 
 morality, as virtue and vice can belong’only to. 
 our free actions; and, without this power, we 
 could be the objects neither of praise nor blame,., 
 
 —neither of rewards nor punishments. - 
 
Of the Free-Agency of Man. 111 
 
 321. The other opinion is supported chiefly 
 by the following arguments : 
 
 322. We are conscious that we are free, but 
 not that we have a liberty of indifference: We 
 are conscious of spontaneity, and of our having 
 a sphere of activity ; but we are conscious, at 
 the same time, that the strongest affection or 
 motive does always determine us to will and 
 act, and that a weaker never prevails of itself, 
 and without any additional assistance: When 
 we suppose that we might have willed differ- 
 ently from what we did, we always suppose, 
 also, that by deliberation we might have had 
 other motives than those which determined us. 
 
 323. We shew our full persuasion, that 
 men’s volitions and actions are always deter- 
 mined by their affections and motives, by our 
 arguing with assurance from their characters and 
 motives, what their conduct will be: We really 
 can foresee it to a great degree ; and, when they 
 act contrary to our expectation, we still, how- 
 ever, take it for granted, that some motive, 
 unknown to us, determined them to act in that 
 
 manner, 
 
112 Natural Theology. 
 
 324. When it is asserted, that motives and 
 affections necessarily determine the will, it is 
 not meant that they determine it by a Physical 
 Necessity, but only by a Moral Necessity. 
 
 325. Motives and affections are not the 
 physical or efficient causes of our volitions and 
 actions; they are the occasions on which the 
 mind wills and spontaneously acts, and the 
 mind is the only efficient cause; but it is so 
 constituted, that it must always determine 
 itself in willing and acting by the strongest 
 motive or affection. 
 
 326. Our being constituted in this manner, is 
 not inconsistent with our being agents; for, in 
 whatever way we be determined to will, we move 
 voluntarily, or produce action by a volition; — 
 and, in the common use of all language, every 
 motion that is voluntary, or the effect of a 
 volition, is properly an action, and the being 
 capable of producing it renders one an agent. 
 
 327. ‘Though we be necessarily determined 
 to will according to the strongest motive or 
 affection, yet there is a great difference between 
 
 our action and mere passion ; for, in the latter, 
 
Of the free-Agency of Man. 113 
 
 there is no motion produced, but only com- 
 municated, and one body loses just as much as 
 it communicates; but volition does not com- 
 municate a motion received, but begins or 
 creates new motion. 
 
 328. We have, therefore, a self-motive 
 power, or a power of beginning motion; for 
 motives put no force or violence on the will: 
 But the mind does not move itself without 
 any reason or motive. 
 
 329. Though it were allowed, that a man 
 can, without any motive, choose among objects 
 perfectly equal, yet such cases are very few, 
 and of little importance; and it would not 
 follow that he can or does choose without any 
 motive, in other cases where there is real and 
 great inequality. 
 
 330. A power to do so, in such cases, would 
 be a power of knowingly and willingly choos- 
 ing pain and misery, as such;—which would 
 be highly pernicious and absurd, as it would 
 render affections and reasons useless with re- 
 gard to action, and make the active part of our 
 
 H 
 
114 Natural Theology. 
 
 nature independent on the _ perceptive and 
 rational part. 
 
 331. The liberty of indifference is not at all 
 necessary for rendering us capable of morality : 
 If it were, virtue and vice could belong only to 
 our volitions and actions, in which alone it is 
 pretended that we have this liberty ; but it is 
 to affections and temper, to which this liberty 
 is confessedly not competent, that we primarily 
 ascribe virtue or vice: Actions, or the volitions 
 from which they proceed, are in themselves 
 indifferent, and come to have virtue or vice 
 only secondarily, on account of the intention, 
 —that is, of the affection or motive which 
 prompts us to them. 
 
 332. Nor is liberty of indifference necessary 
 for our being the objects of rewards or punish- 
 ments; for it is affection and temper, to which 
 this liberty cannot belong, that are the primary 
 subjects of rewards or punishments; and this 
 liberty would render them in a great measure 
 useless, as we might alike regard or disregard 
 
 them, and- knowingly and willingly prefer 
 
Of the Free-Agency of Man. 115 
 
 punishment to reward; whereas, on the sup- 
 position of necessity, they are strong motives, 
 and have a powerful tendency to influence our 
 conduct. 
 
 333. Habits have more virtue or vice than 
 transient dispositions or actions; yet the 
 stronger the habit is, the more necessarily we 
 act according to it. 
 
 334. God cannot will or act contrary to his 
 Moral Pertections, and, consequently, has not 
 liberty of indifference ; yet He is both the most 
 free and the best of all beings. 
 
 335. It answers no good purpose to enter 
 deep, or to dwell long on this intricate ques- 
 tion ;—much less, to represent one of the opin- 
 ions, or the other, as essential to the Being of 
 Morality: It is agreed by all, that man is an 
 agent, and that, in acting, he always has a 
 regard to motives: This is enough; and all 
 the subtilties of the controversy may be disre- 
 garded, as being but different philosophical ex- 
 plications of the precise nature of his agency, 
 and of the precise manner in which he regards 
 motives ;—all of them, perhaps, faulty in some 
 
116 Natural Theology. 
 
 particulars, concerning which we have not 
 
 powers sufficient for obtaining certainty.* 
 
 SECT. VI. 
 
 MAN FORMED FOR VIRTUE, AND BY HIS 
 NATURE OBLIGED TO IT. 
 
 336. God governs man in a manner suited 
 to his nature as a rational agent, by laws 
 which he may voluntarily observe or transgress ; 
 and what these laws are may be learned from 
 the particular constitution of man’s nature. 
 
 337. The end and use of every work of 
 design may be collected from its structure; its 
 end is that to which its structure is adapted : 
 And that is the end and business of man, for 
 which the constitution of his nature fits him. 
 
 338. The powers of man are many and 
 
 * Clarke’s Letters. Collins on Liberty. Locke’s Essay, 
 b. 2. Teyler’s Prize-Dissert. vol. iii. diss. 1. by Pap. de 
 Fagaras ; Diss. 2. by Maclaine. | 
 
Man formed for Virtue. 117 
 
 various ; but, if they all form a system tending 
 to one main end, their number and variety 
 will only heighten the evidence, that this is 
 the end for which man was made. 
 
 339. The Moral Faculty, or Conscience, is 
 the supreme faculty of our nature, designed, 
 and invested with authority, to govern and re- 
 gulate all our other powers; and human nature 
 is a system made up of a great variety of 
 powers, all subject to conscience: Therefore, 
 what conscience prescribes is suitable to the 
 whole of human nature, the proper end and 
 business of man, and his proper goodness. 
 
 340. This suitableness of virtue to the whole 
 constitution or system of human nature, is the 
 Immediate and Prowimate Foundation of 
 Virtue. 
 
 341. Virtue, which is thus the result of our 
 nature considered as a whole, is inculeated on 
 all mankind by several perceptions of the 
 moral faculty, which arise without any ex- 
 plicit investigation of its being the result of 
 our nature. 
 
 342. When virtue is considered simply in 
 
118 Natural Theology. 
 
 itself, conscience approves it as good and moral- 
 ly beautiful; and it disapproves vice, as evil 
 and deformed. 
 
 343. It pronounces virtue to be worthy, 
 laudable, and well-deserving, and vice to be 
 unworthy, blameable, and ill-deserving; and 
 this sense of good or ill-desert,—of merit or 
 demerit,—arises on our considering virtue and 
 happiness, vice and misery, together. 
 
 344. It perceives virtue to be fit, congruous, 
 and becoming, and vice to be unfit, incongru- 
 ous, and unbecoming ;—a perception which 
 implies the agreeableness of virtue, and the 
 contrariety of vice, to our constitution, and 
 supposes an implicit sense of that agreeableness 
 and contrariety. 
 
 345. It gives us a perception of obligation 
 in virtue: It perceives it to be due, right, and 
 incumbent, and vice to be wrong and unlaw- 
 ful; it perceives that virtue ought, and that 
 vice ought not, to be practised. 
 
 346. This is an immediate perception, which 
 must take place while our nature continues to be 
 what it is; and this perception itself constitutes 
 
Virtue, the Will of God. 119 
 
 our Internal Moral Obligation to Virtue : 
 It renders us a law to ourselves; it renders 
 virtue the law of nature; and it makes us feel 
 ourselves indispensably obliged to observe it, 
 independently of any extrinsic or ulterior con- 
 siderations.* 
 
 SECT. VII. 
 
 VIRTUE ENFORCED BY THE WILL OF GOD, 
 AND FOUNDED IN HIS NATURE. 
 
 347. Because virtue is the end of our con- 
 stitution, it must have been designed to be 
 our end and business by God, who is the 
 Author of our Nature; and it must be His 
 will that we should be virtuous. 
 
 348. Because our nature is so constituted, 
 that we have an immediate and necessary per- 
 
 ception of obligation in virtue, or a sense of 
 
 nn ee 
 
 * Butler’s Serm. 1, 2,3. Hutcheson’s Mor. Phil. 
 
120 Natural Theology. 
 
 duty, it must be the will of God, who made us, 
 that we be obliged to virtue. 
 
 349. Virtue is, therefore, not only the law of 
 our nature, but also the law of God, which he 
 has enjoined us by the very frame and consti- 
 tution of our nature; and, from its being his 
 will and law, arises a farther obligation to it, 
 which is the Haternal Moral Obligation of 
 Virtue. 
 
 350. If our moral faculty did not give us 
 an immediate perception of obligation, we 
 could be sensible of no obligation to conform 
 to the will and law of God, but what arises 
 from interest, or from a view of the rewards 
 and punishments by which he enforces them : 
 Into this, that obligation is resolved, by those 
 who hold the will of God to be: our first or 
 only obligation to virtue. 
 
 351. But, as conscience gives a perception 
 of its own authority, and of our obligation to 
 comply with its dictates, so it gives us a per- 
 ception of authority over us in other beings, 
 or makes us to acknowledge them our lawful 
 superiors, and ourselves obliged to do their will; 
 
Virtue, the Will of God. 121 
 
 and, in particular, it makes us immediately feel 
 the supreme and absolute authority of God 
 over us, and our indispensable obligation to 
 submit to his will and laws. 
 
 352. ‘The additional obligation from the will 
 of God strengthens that primary obligation, 
 which arises immediately from the constitution 
 of our nature, and renders it more sacred: The 
 sense of it makes conscience the vicegerent of 
 God, appointed by him to be our guide and 
 governor, and invested with his authority ; so 
 that its dictates are his laws written in our 
 hearts, and, by disregarding them, we not only 
 violate our own nature, but also disobey and 
 dishonour God. | 
 
 353. As the will of God is not the first or 
 only source of obligation, so neither is it the 
 only or ultimate foundation of virtue. 
 
 354. Virtue, or moral goodness, is not such 
 merely because God wills it, but it is such an- 
 tecedent to his willing it; and, because it is 
 such, he therefore wills it, and enjoins it on us 
 by alaw: Accordingly, moral duties are by all 
 men acknowledged to be distinct from positive 
 
122 Natural Theology. - 
 
 duties; the former being good in themselves, 
 and the latter being good only because they are 
 commanded, 
 
 355. What renders a thing good and virtu- 
 ous, antecedent to the will of God, is its being 
 conformable to his moral nature or perfections, 
 which always determine his will. 
 
 356. Conformity to the moral nature of God 
 constitutes the Ultzmate Foundation of Virtue, 
 and establishes a necessary, eternal, and un- 
 changeable distinction between virtue and vice, 
 or moral good and evil. 
 
 357. Virtue is not only our end, but it is a 
 good end: It is the perfection and glory of 
 God himself, and assimilates us to him; and 
 conscience is, as it were, a ray of the Divinity, 
 and its authority as sacred and indispensable, 
 as the Divine Nature is unchangeably good 
 
 and holy. 
 
Virtue, our Interest. 123 
 
 SECT. VIII. 
 
 VIRTUE OUR INTEREST, AND ON THAT 
 ACCOUNT OBLIGATORY. 
 
 358. The happiness of every being must be 
 suitable to its nature: Virtue, therefore, being 
 the end of man, and, in a peculiar sense, suit- 
 able to his whole nature, we may presume that 
 it is, also, his proper and chief happiness. 
 
 359. Human nature, considered in relation to 
 happiness, consists of two parts,—Self-love, or 
 the calm Desire of Happiness, and our several 
 powers of perception and affection rendering 
 us capable of enjoyment. 
 
 360. Because our powers of enjoyment are 
 very various, and some of them interfere with 
 others, they cannot be all gratified together at 
 all times: That will, therefore, contribute most 
 to our happiness, which yields us the most im- 
 portant gratifications. 
 
 361. The most important gratifications are 
 
 those which are highest, most certainly attain- 
 
124 Natural Theology. 
 
 able, and most durable: These characters be- 
 long to the pleasures of virtue, which are of 
 the noblest kind, and the most satisfying ; 
 which are self-derived and in our own power, 
 and therefore not liable to disappointment; and 
 which continue on reflection ;—while, at the 
 same time, they deprive us of no real pleasure, 
 but, on the contrary, fit us for relishing every 
 such pleasure, and support and comfort us 
 under pain and evil. 
 
 362. As all our powers of enjoyment cannot 
 be constantly gratified at once, and as any pain 
 must be felt, and encroach upon our enjoy- 
 ment, perfect happiness is impossible in our 
 present state; and it is a sufficient reason for 
 denominating virtue our chief good, that it 
 tends more to our happiness than any thing 
 else. 
 
 363. Vice, likewise, of all things, tends most 
 to our misery, and is, therefore, the greatest 
 evil. 
 
 364. Self-love, therefore, if rightly informed, 
 will lead us to pursue virtue as our true 
 interest. 
 
 365. ‘This coincidence of our duty and our 
 
Virtue, our Interest. 125 
 
 interest,—of our natural and our moral good,— 
 is a farther proof that we are made for virtue 
 as our end, and that it is the will of God that 
 we should be virtuous: The happiness of virtue 
 and the misery of vice are sanctions by which 
 he enforces his moral law. 
 
 366. From its tendency to promote our 
 interest arises a Natural Obligation to Virtue, 
 which binds us as we are beings endued 
 with self-love, and derives its force from this 
 principle. 
 
 367. Though this be not our first obligation 
 to virtue, it is a real and proper obligation ; its 
 connexion with our interest is a very strong 
 motive to duty,—and of such a nature, that a 
 regard to it diminishes not the merit of virtue ; 
 for self-love has a natural authority over our 
 particular passions and affections.* 
 
 * Butler, Serm. 1, 11, 12. Shaftesbury’s Inquiry. 
 Hutcheson, Mor. Phil. b. 1. ch. 6-8. Nettleton. Brown, 
 ess. 2. sect. 6,7. Turnbull, Mor. Phil. ch. 5. 
 
126 Natural Theology. 
 
 SECT. EX. 
 
 VIRTUE CONDUCIVE TO THE GENERAL HAP- 
 PINESS, AND THEREFORE DESIRABLE TO 
 GOD. 
 
 368. All virtue tends, not only to the hap- 
 piness of the person himself who practises it, 
 but also to the happiness of others; and all 
 vice has the contrary tendencies. 
 
 369. ‘This is matter of experience, so far as 
 our observation takes in the influence of our 
 conduct on the condition of other beings ; and, 
 though we can observe its influence only upon 
 other men, yet we may conclude, even from 
 this, that our virtue contributes to the univer- 
 sal good ; for the greater the happiness of man- 
 kind, the greater will be the whole quantity of 
 happiness in the system of which mankind 
 make a part. 
 
 370. The conduct and state of mankind have 
 
Virtue, the General Good. 127 
 
 probably a real influence on the eood of the 
 whole, though too remote for our discernment ; 
 for, in every well-contrived system, every part 
 promotes the end of the whole. 
 
 371. As goodness is the character of God, 
 his end in making the universe must be the 
 general good; and the law which he prescribes 
 to moral agents must tend eminently to pro- 
 mote it,—especially as the laws of the natural 
 world have plainly this effect. 
 
 372. It is the tendency of virtue to the uni- 
 versal good, that renders it conformable to the 
 nature of God, whose leading attribute is Bene- 
 volence; and this is the precise quality that 
 renders a thing virtuous on the whole. 
 
 373. The virtue of some creatures may, per- 
 haps, consist in designedly promoting the Ge- 
 neral Good; but this is not our virtue, for the 
 General Good is an object too large for us : It is 
 enough that we act from the particular prin- 
 ciples which God has implanted in our nature; 
 and then our actions shall, in: fact, tend to the 
 General Good, though we know not how. 
 
 374. The particular benevolent affections of 
 
128 Natural Theology. 
 
 our nature are the principles of a great part of 
 our virtue, but not of the whole of it; for there 
 are other principles, also, which we approve for 
 their own sake. 
 
 375. ‘Though we cannot act with an explicit 
 intention to promote the General Good, yet the 
 real subservience of our virtue to this end gives 
 us an elevating view of virtue, as that by which 
 we may co-operate with God, in promoting 
 Universal Happiness,—a view which must have 
 great influence on the well-disposed mind.* 
 
 SECT. X. 
 OF THE GENERAL NATURE OF VIRTUE. 
 
 376. The foundation of virtue, and the 
 source of its obligation, are deduced by many 
 in a very different way from that which has 
 been sketched out. 
 
 * Shaftesbury. Hutcheson. Butler. Brown, ess. 2. 
 sect. 3. Kames’s Sketches, b. 3. sk. 2. sect. 3, 4, 7. 
 
Of the General Nature of Virtue. 129 
 
 377. Its obligation is considered as discover- 
 able, not by an immediate perception of the 
 moral faculty, but by reason,—the same power 
 _ which distinguishes truth from falsehood: But 
 this power discovers what is, or is not ; whereas 
 the subject of morals is what ought, or ought 
 not, to be.*. | 
 
 378. This account of the obligation of virtue, 
 in all the shapes into which it has been mould- 
 ed,—as, founding virtue on truth,—on the eter- 
 nal fitnesses of thines,—and the like,—is fallaci- 
 ous ; inasmuch as it ascribes to reason what be- 
 longs to another power, without which we 
 could not have the notions expressed.+ 
 
 379. These hypotheses render intricate and 
 abstruse, what, represented in a natural man- 
 ner, is plain and easy ; and the view which they 
 give of morals is dry and unaffecting : Where- 
 as, every step taken in explaining their real 
 foundation, exhibits a striking view of virtue; 
 
 * Clarke. Woolaston. + Hutcheson, treat. 4. 
 I 
 
130 Natural Theology. 
 
 and all the steps together place it on the broad- 
 est and firmest foundation. 
 
 380. Virtue tends to the happiness of the 
 universe; on that account it is agreeable to the 
 moral nature of God; therefore he wills his 
 moral creatures to practise it, and, in particular, 
 has declared it to be his will, that men should 
 practise it, by making it the end of his constitu-’ 
 tion, which his Supreme Faculty commands 
 him to pursue. 
 
 381. Its conformity to our constitution is the 
 precise quality which renders a thing virtuous 
 to us. The proper virtue of other moral agents 
 may be, in several respects, different from ours ; 
 and beings who have no moral faculty are in- 
 capable of moral virtue. 
 
 382. Virtue, therefore, properly consists in 
 following Nature; that is, in acting according 
 to the real constitution of human nature, or 
 pursuing the end for which we were made. 
 
 383. As our volitions and actions derive 
 their morality from our intentions, or the af- 
 fections which influence us to them, a virtuous 
 
Of the General Nature of Virtue. 131 
 
 character consists, primarily, in our having our 
 several affections and passions in that strength 
 which conscience prescribes ;—and, secondarily, 
 in our acting according to this temper. 
 
 384. The precise degree of every affection 
 which conscience approves, is that which is 
 fittest for answering the end of that affection, 
 and must be determined by its proportion, 
 both to the rest, and to the constitution of the 
 agent. 
 
 385. A virtuous character includes a great 
 regard to the Moral Faculty, in submitting to 
 its judgment, in consulting it, and in strength- 
 ening its authority ; but it is not necessary for 
 rendering an action virtuous, that it proceed 
 from a sense of its being virtuous: It is enough 
 that it proceed from any virtuous affection.* 
 
 * Butler. Shaftesbury. Hume. 
 
132 Natural Theology. 
 
 SECT. XI. 
 OF THE PARTICULARS OF VIRTUE. 
 
 386. As the perceptions of our Moral Facul- 
 ty, and, also, the affections and principles of 
 action by which they are produced, are. vari- 
 ous,—virtue may be considered in different 
 lights, and as distinguishable into many parti- 
 cular parts. 
 
 387. Though all the perceptions arising from 
 the Moral Faculty, are, in some measure, com- 
 mon to every thing that is virtuous, yet they 
 belong not to all the virtues in an equal de- 
 gree; and, from the different degrees and man- 
 ners in which these perceptions belong to them, 
 the virtues are distinguishable into different 
 orders. 
 
 388. Some of our passions and affections are 
 most apt to become wrong by being too strong ; 
 others by being too weak; Hence the virtues 
 
Of the Particulars of Virtue. 133 
 
 are distinguishable into those of restraint and 
 self-government, which consist in controlling 
 and weakening the former, and of which the 
 moral faculty itself is the direct principle; and 
 those, which consist in indulging and strength- 
 ening the latter, and rendering them prevalent, 
 —and of these the several good affections are 
 the immediate principles. 
 
 389. ‘The principles of our nature which vir- 
 tue regulates and exercises are various: It is 
 from one distribution of these principles, that 
 the distinction of virtue into four parts took its 
 rise, Viz. into Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude, 
 and Justice,—called the Four Cardinal Virtues, 
 
 390. From a more simple and natural dispo- 
 sition of these principles, in respect to their ob- 
 jects, all the virtues may be divided into those 
 which regard God, those which regard other 
 men, and those which regard ourselves.* 
 
 Pe eS ee en ere ogee eae 
 
 * Essays on Mor. & Nat. Rel. ess. 2. ch. 3, 4,8. Hut- 
 cheson’s Mor. Phil. 
 
134 Natural Theology. 
 
 SECT. XII. 
 MAN LIABLE TO CORRUPTION. 
 
 391. The Natural Laws by which God go- 
 verns the material world, necessarily produce 
 their effect ; but the Moral Laws, by which he 
 governs man, do not force or constrain him, 
 but lay him under an_ obligation, which he 
 has it in his power either to comply with or to 
 transeress. 
 
 392. From his very nature as a voluntary 
 agent, there arises a possibility of his trans- 
 gressing, acting viciously, and corrupting 
 himself. 
 
 393. There arises a real danger of man’s cor- 
 rupting himself, though made innocent, from 
 the very constitution of his nature, as including 
 particular passions and affections or propensions, 
 which necessarily arise when their proper ob- 
 
Of the Corruptibility of Man. 135 
 
 jects are presented, and cannot be extinguished 
 by the exertion of the Moral Faculty.* 
 
 394. As a conception of the object of any 
 passion or affection is what excites it, so a wrong 
 conception of such object is the immediate and 
 direct cause of vice in that passion or affection. 
 
 395. External things, addressing themselves 
 to our several passions and affections, constitute 
 temptations ; and these are the indirect causes 
 of vice. 
 
 396. ‘The operation of both is assisted, and 
 their power to lead us into actual vice increas- 
 ed, chiefly by incautiousness,—by inattention to 
 the difference between good and evil,—by sen- 
 timents and opinions favourable to vice,—by 
 bad example,—by presumptuous confidence,— 
 and by self-deceit. 
 
 397. 'The commission of one act of vice pro- 
 motes, in many ways, the repetition of it; 
 repeated acts of any vice necessarily beget a 
 habit of that vice; the habit, once contracted, 
 
 * Butler’s Anal. p. 1. ch. 5. 
 
136 Natural Theology. 
 
 renders the vicious actions frequent ; their fre- 
 quency renders the habit continually stronger; 
 one vice, in many ways, promotes the habit 
 and the practice of many others; and bad ex- 
 ample and vicious maxims help forward the 
 corruption of the heart. 
 
 398. If it is suffered to proceed without con- 
 trol, it will issue in obduracy in vice, in insen- 
 sibility to all virtuous sentiments and motives, 
 and even in aversion to virtue, and in a dispo- 
 
 sition to oppose it, and to seduce others from it. 
 
 SECT. XIIT.. 
 MAN DESIGNED FOR MORAL CULTURE. 
 
 399. As man, even when innocent, is, from 
 his nature, in danger of becoming vicious, he is 
 plainly intended for moral discipline and cul- 
 ture, and stands in need of it for preserving his 
 innocence and virtue. 
 
 400. Being in any degree corrupted, as all 
 men are in the present state, it is more abso- 
 
Man designed for Moral Culture. 137 
 
 lutely necessary than it would otherwise be ; it 
 is necessary for the farther purpose of reforming 
 him. 
 
 401. The means of moral culture and im- 
 provement must be such as are suitable to the 
 constitution of his nature, and analogous to the 
 causes of vice which they are designed to coun- 
 terbalance. 
 
 402. Some of these means immediately and 
 directly produce virtue; others only contribute 
 to it mediately or indirectly, by exciting us to 
 the use and application of the former. 
 
 403. The means of the former kind are re- 
 ducible to two; the management of our opini- 
 ons concerning the objects of our several pas- 
 sions and affections, which gives a beginning 
 to virtue,—and exercise, or actual abstinence 
 from vice and practice of virtue, which, by 
 means of habit, the great principle of all im- 
 provement, strengthens virtue, and grachially 
 raises it to perfection. 
 
 404. The means of the latter kind may be 
 distinguished according to the several principles 
 of human nature by which they operate, and 
 
138 Natural Theology. 
 
 from which they derive their efficacy: But 
 this is common to them all, that they operate 
 by producing passive habits, and therefore be- 
 come the weaker by being repeatedly applied 
 without effect. 
 
 405. Virtuous resolution is an exertion of the 
 Will, and has a strong tendency to excite to 
 virtuous practice, and to promote the cultiva- 
 tion of all the virtues at once. 
 
 406. Examples of virtue, and the company 
 and friendship of the virtuous, are powerful 
 means of improvement in virtue, and derive 
 their force from our propensity to imitation. 
 
 407. Study, books, advice, meditation, con- 
 tribute to improvement in virtue by the in- 
 struction which they afford; and contribute to 
 it differently, according to the several ways in 
 which they convey instruction. 
 
 408. The utility of virtue, its happy conse- 
 quences, and the rewards annexed to it,—the 
 ill effects and the punishment of vice,—address 
 themselves to self-love, and, by means of it, be- 
 come strong motives to the practice and to the 
 cultivation of a virtuous temper. 
 
Man designed for Moral Culture. 139 
 
 409. Honour, praise, and the approbation of 
 others, are, by the Sense of Good Desert in- 
 cluded in the Moral Faculty, appropriated to 
 Virtue; and their contraries, by the opposite 
 Sense of Ill Desert, to Vice; and the former 
 being naturally pleasant and the objects of de- 
 sire,—the latter, disagreeable, and the objects of 
 aversion,—they become powerful instruments 
 of virtuous improvement. 
 
 410. The Moral Faculty itself is a Capital 
 Principle of Culture in Virtue ; for from it is de- 
 rived all the force of authority and laws, and all 
 the influence of hatred anddetestation of vice, on 
 the one hand,—and of the love and admiration 
 of virtue, on the other. | 
 
 411. Virtuous education is the application of 
 all the means of Moral Culture,—and that at a 
 time when the mind is most pliable and sus- 
 ceptible; and is, therefore, of very great im- 
 portance for forming the character. 
 
 412. Religion includes all these principles of 
 improvement ; adds a strength to them which 
 they could not have without it; and, likewise, 
 supplies others peculiar to itself; and, therefore, 
 
140 Natural Theology. 
 
 is at once the firmest foundation of virtue, its 
 perfection, and the most effectual instrument 
 of our improvement in it. 
 
 SECT. XIV. 
 
 MAN’S PRESENT STATE SUITABLE TOA MORAL 
 AGENT. 
 
 413. God’s Providence and Government, as 
 respecting Man, consist, not only in his giving 
 him Moral Laws, which he may voluntarily 
 either observe or transgress, and thus either 
 corrupt or improve himself, but, also, in his 
 placing him in a state suitable to his nature as 
 a Moral Agent. 
 
 414. ‘The constitution of our nature, and the 
 present state in which God has placed us, cor- 
 respond to one another; so that, in this state, 
 our several powers find their proper objects and 
 employment. 
 
 415. Our state gives us opportunities of ob- 
 serving the Moral Laws of God, of exercising 
 
Of Man’s Present State. 141 
 
 and practising the several virtues, and of im- 
 proving a virtuous temper in ourselves: It 
 likewise affords us occasions of acting viciously 
 and corrupting ourselves, offers and temptations 
 which put us in danger of doing so. 
 
 416. Vice, as well as virtue, does in fact pro- 
 ceed from the powers which God has given us, 
 and preserves in us, exerting’ themselves ac- 
 cording to the General Laws which he has fixed 
 and keeps in force; and those circumstances 
 and objects in our present state, which prove 
 incitements and occasions to vice, are also ap- 
 pointed and ordered by his Providence: Yet 
 our vice is chargeable only on ourselves; for it 
 proceeds from our voluntarily abusing our na- 
 tural powers, and yielding to these incitements ; 
 though we can never want superior induce- 
 ments to virtue, if we will carefully attend to 
 them. 
 
 417. Our vicious actions are wholly our own; 
 but it is not improbable, even to reason, that 
 God, by immediate influences, assists virtuous 
 exertions. 
 
142 Natural Theology. 
 
 418. God permits the vices of men, in as far 
 as he destroys not our natural powers, nor sus- 
 pends their operation, when we misemploy them 
 in vice; but he permits them only for good 
 purposes, to which he, in his government of the 
 world, renders them subservient; and he often 
 restrains them within certain bounds. 
 
 419. God governs men at present by re- 
 wards and punishments, as he has, in the con- 
 stitution of things, and by the general laws of 
 nature, annexed pleasure to some of our ac- 
 tions, and pain to others, and made us capable 
 of foreseeing these consequences, that, by the 
 prospect of them, we may be induced to do or 
 to forbear the actions; and this is the Method 
 of Government which suits us as Rational 
 Agents. | 
 
 420. God likewise governs us, in many in- 
 stances and to a considerable degree, in a man- 
 ner which suits us as Moral Agents, by ap- 
 pointing, and enabling us to foresee that he has 
 appointed, pleasures of different kinds to be the 
 natural consequences of virtue, as such,—and 
 
Of the Immateriality of the Soul. 143 
 
 the opposite pains, the consequences of vice, as 
 such ; and by disposing things so as to promote 
 the happiness of virtue, and the punishment of 
 vice: This is his Moral Government over us. 
 
 421. If the present be not the only state of 
 Man, it cannot be perfectly understood, nor can 
 God’s Government of us in it be fully con- 
 ceived, by considering it by itself, and without 
 taking into view the other states for which he 
 is designed. 
 
 SECT. XV. 
 
 THE SOUL OF MAN IMMATERIAL. 
 
 422. The consideration of the Powers of 
 Man is sufficient for the views of his End, 
 Business, and State, which have been hitherto 
 pointed out; For determining whether he be 
 designed for another state, his Natwre must be 
 considered. Di 
 
 423, ‘That there is Something in us which 
 
 cA 
 pods 
 
144 Natural Theology. 
 
 thinks and acts, we are intimately conscious; 
 and this we call the Soul, or Mind. 
 
 424, Whether it be possible, or not, to de- 
 monstrate that Matter is absolutely incapable 
 of thinking, and of the other powers which we 
 are conscious of in ourselves, there are certainly 
 convincing arguments, that the Soul of Man is 
 really Immaterial, or different from all Matter. 
 
 425, The known powers of the Mind are 
 totally different from, and unlike to, all the 
 known qualities of Matter; and, therefore, we 
 must judge them to be different, on the same 
 principle that we distinguish things into differ- 
 ent genera and species, on account of the dis- 
 similarity of their known qualities. 
 
 426. ‘The known powers of the Mind are not 
 only different from the known properties of 
 Matter, but, also, contrary to them: All Mat- 
 ter is Inert and Inactive; the Mind is Active ; 
 therefore the Mind is in its nature contrary to 
 Matter. 
 
 427. All Matter is compounded, and the se- 
 veral properties of the whole mass are com- 
 
Of the Immortality of the Soul. 145 
 
 pounded of the similar properties of the parts ; 
 but all the powers of the Mind are simple and 
 indivisible, and though some of them depend 
 on the several parts of the body for their exer- 
 tion, they belong not to these parts, but all to 
 the same Mind: The Mind itself is, therefore, 
 a simple, indivisible, uncompounded, unextend- 
 ed Being, and, consequently, not material.* 
 
 SECT. XVI. 
 THE SOUL OF MAN NATURALLY IMMORTAL. 
 
 428. From the Immateriality of the Soul, it 
 follows, that it is naturally or_ physically Im- 
 mortal; by which is meant only, that it may 
 survive Death, or that Death is not necessarily 
 the destruction of the Soul. 
 
 429. Death dissolves the parts of the Body, 
 
 * Locke’s Essay, b. 4, ch. 3. Baxter’s Inquiry, § 1, 2. 
 Clarke's Letters to Dodwell. Gurdon’s B. L. Serm. 8, 9, 
 Woolaston, Rel. of Nat. sect. 9, § 7. 
 
 K 
 
146 Natural Theology. 
 
 but it cannot dissolve the parts of the Soul, 
 which is simple and without parts, and can pe- 
 rish only by annihilation; and, from Death’s 
 producing one effect on the Body, we cannot 
 infer that it will produce a totally different ef- 
 fect on the Soul. 
 
 430. The Soul being Immaterial, its union 
 with so dissimilar a substance as the Body must 
 be the arbitrary constitution of its Maker ; but 
 the ceasing of an union, arbitrary at first, cannot 
 be necessarily the destruction of the Soul. 
 
 431. The Body, which is dissolved by Death, 
 is not properly the Man himself; and from the 
 dissolution of what is different from himself, it 
 cannot follow that he himself shall be destroyed 
 by Death.* 
 
 * Baxter’s Inquiry, sect. 3. Clarke’s Letters to Dod- 
 well. Woolaston, Rel. of Nat., sect. 9, § 8. 
 
~ 
 
 Man designed for a Future State. 147 
 
 SECT. XVII. 
 
 MAN ACTUALLY DESIGNED FOR A FUTURE 
 STATE. 
 
 432. Whether Death shall really destroy the 
 Soul, or whether, on the contrary, the Soul shall 
 be actually Immortal, is an inquiry concerning 
 a Future Fact. 
 
 433. As we naturally expect that things will 
 continue as they are, except so far as we have 
 positive reason to believe that they shall be 
 changed ; and as Death is not necessarily the 
 destruction of the Soul, nor have we either ex: 
 perience or testimony that Death ever has de- 
 stroyed it ;—the Soul’s existing at present is a 
 real presumption that it shall survive Death, 
 and continue to exist after it. 
 
 434. In confirmation of this natural pre- 
 sumption of continuance, we cannot have direct 
 experience of human Souls having actually 
 
148 Natural Theology. 
 
 survived Death ; but we have—what alone the 
 nature of the case admits—experience of in-~ 
 stances in different degrees analogous to the 
 Soul’s living in another state after Death. 
 
 435. We see nothing,—not even any particle 
 
 of Matter,—perish, though we see them often 
 change their forms and states; and it is analo- 
 gous to this, that the Soul should only change 
 its state at Death, not perish or be annihilated, 
 —especially as it is a nobler Being than Mat- 
 ter. 
 ’ 436. We have experience, that all animals 
 do exist successively in different states,—some 
 in many, and very different states,—and that 
 they rise from one state to another by events 
 very similar to the Soul’s laying aside the Body 
 at Death: This is analogous to the Soul’s sur- 
 viving Death ; and, by it, passing into another 
 state ; and, therefore, gives some ground to ex- 
 pect it. 
 
 437. Man himself, at his birth, passes from 
 his embryo state into the present, by means 
 very similar to the dissolution of the Body by 
 Death; which is a presumption, that, by this, 
 
Man designed for a Future State. 149 
 
 he shall in like manner pass into a new and 
 more enlarged state. 
 
 438. Men do actually, during the present 
 life, undergo changes similar to Death. This 
 happens to all men, by the gradual alienation 
 of the Matter of their Bodies by attrition and 
 evaporation ; and to some by the loss of whole 
 Organs of Sensation, or Instruments of Motion, 
 —without the Soul being destroyed, or any of 
 its powers impaired: This is a proof that it 
 may, and a considerable evidence that it ac- 
 tually shall, undergo the change at death with- 
 out losing its existence or its powers. 
 
 439. The Immateriality of the Soul, by 
 proving with certainty that it may survive 
 Death, proves with considerable evidence, that 
 it shall survive it; for God’s having made it fit 
 to do so, is an indication of his Will that it ac- 
 tually should do so, and an indication that he 
 will not interpose his power to annihilate it, 
 without which it cannot perish. 
 
 440. Man is a progressive being: We have 
 experience of his actually rising from lower to 
 higher states, and we know that his powers are 
 
150 Natural Theology. 
 
 capable of higher improvement than the pre- 
 sent state admits ; and, therefore, may conclude, 
 that God intended him for that improvement, 
 and for another state, which will afford him op- 
 portunity for it. 
 
 441. In Nature, there is a gradation or scale 
 of beings, rising above one another without any 
 chasm: The Moral Improvement which men 
 are capable of making ina Future State is fit for 
 making one step in the scale, and shall pro- 
 bably take place to prevent a break. 
 
 442. There has been a general consent of 
 mankind in believing and expecting a Future 
 State; and this being both a primary opinion, 
 and not resolvable into the prejudices of sense, 
 the general expectation of it cannot be account- 
 ed for by any cause but what implies the truth 
 of a Future State; and is, therefore, an argu- 
 ment for it. 
 
 443. It arises, most probably, from a natural 
 propensity to expect a Future State; and such a 
 propensity is an indication that there shall be a 
 Future State; for no principle of human nature 
 wants its proper object, and the Author of our 
 
Of Man’s Future State. 151 
 
 Nature will not frustrate an expectation which 
 he himself has raised by the constitution of it. 
 
 444, This expectation seems to arise from 
 mankind’s actually judging from the presump- 
 tion of continuance in this very case, and to be 
 a presumption really collected by all mankind 
 from their present existence, that they shall con- 
 tinue to exist after death, and thus to be a na- 
 tural, and, consequently, a just judgment of the 
 Human Mind.* 
 
 SECT. XVIII. 
 OF THE NATURE OF MAN’S FUTURE STATE. 
 445. Our passage into a Future State will be 
 
 as natural as our entrance into the present ; and 
 that Future State will be, like the present, a 
 
 * Butler’s Analogy, p. 1, ch. 1. Spectator, No 111. 
 Turnbull’s Mor. Phil., ch. 9. Woolaston, Rel. of Nat., 
 
 sect. 9, § 8. > 
 
Le" Natural Theology. 
 
 Natural State, and regulated by established Ge- 
 neral Laws,* 
 
 446. We know not all its Laws, nor can we 
 form positive conceptions of its Nature, except 
 in the few respects in which it bears some re- 
 semblance to the present state. 
 
 447. All our present powers of reflection will 
 continue in a Future State ; for they do not ap- 
 pear to have, even at present, any such depend- 
 ence for their exercise on the body, as that its 
 dissolution at death should destroy or alter 
 them. 
 
 448. In a Future State, men will probably 
 find themselves endued with new powers, 
 which in the present state lie wholly latent; 
 for in every new state to which we see man or 
 other animals rise, there is an expansion of new 
 powers suitable to it, for which their former 
 state gave noscope: But of the nature of these 
 powers we can form no positive conception. 
 
 449. Man’s Future State will be a Social 
 State, for the whole constitution of our nature is 
 
 * Butler's Analogy. 
 
Of Mans Future State. 153 
 
 ‘social ; and its inhabitants will have such differ- 
 ence of capacities, characters, and situations, as 
 may fit them for social union. 
 
 450. ‘That, in a Future State, not only shall 
 the virtuous be happy and the vicious miser- 
 able, but, also, that men shall be rewarded and 
 punished according to their virtue and vice in 
 the present state, there is considerable evidence. 
 
 451. Conscience being the governor appoint- 
 ed us by God, and its dictates the laws of God, 
 they include an implicit promise of reward to 
 the obedient and threatening of punishment to 
 the disobedient: Our sense of good desert in 
 virtue, and of ill desert in vice, renders this pro- 
 mise and threatening explicit ; the actual hopes 
 and fears which the consciousness of virtue and 
 of vice respectively infuses, are direct presages 
 from our nature, that the promise and the 
 threatening will be executed; and, as they 
 continue and even increase to the moment of 
 death, they are presages that they will be ex- 
 ecuted in a Future State: This whole constitu- 
 tion of our nature is a strong intimation that 
 there will bea Future State, on purpose for the 
 
154 Natural Theology. 
 
 rewarding of virtue and the punishing of vice ; 
 and it is a full proof, that, if there be a Future 
 State, virtue will in it be rewarded, and vice 
 punished. 
 
 452. In the present state, we not only ac- 
 tually are rewarded and punished for our ac- 
 tions, but we are, in many instances, rewarded 
 and punished according to the virtue and vice 
 of our actions ;—whence we must conclude, 
 that the same plan of government will be car- 
 ried on ; and that, if there be a Future State, it 
 will be, in some measure at least, a state of 
 happiness to the virtuous, and of misery to the 
 vicious. 
 
 453. The present state of things proves, also, 
 with great evidence, that there will bea Future 
 State, on purpose that virtue may be more per- 
 fectly rewarded, and vice more perfectly pu- 
 nished, than they are at present: From. the 
 moral character of God, and the essential ten- 
 dencies of virtue and vice, we are sure that the 
 one is designed to be rewarded, and the other 
 to be punished, in a more perfect degree than 
 they actually are in this state, which bears plain 
 
Of Man’s Future State. 155 
 
 marks of its being but the beginning of a plan 
 of Perfect Moral Government ; and, therefore, 
 there must be another state, in which this plan 
 will be carried on and completed, and every 
 individual will be happy or miserable, precise- 
 ly according to his character. 
 
 454. If there is a Future State, the character 
 of God, and all that we see of the nature of 
 virtue and vice, assure us, that, in that state, 
 virtue shall be prevalent and triumphant, vice 
 depressed and borne down; and the prevalence 
 of vice in the present state, to a degree unsuit- 
 able to the natural superiority of virtue, and 
 which cannot be final under the government of 
 a righteous God, evinces that there will be a 
 Future State, in which the irregularity will be 
 corrected. 
 
 455. As man’s capacity for higher improve- 
 ments than he attains at present, is an argu- 
 ment that he shall exist ina Future State; it is 
 a much stronger proof, that, if there is a Future 
 State, it shall be to the virtuous a state of con- 
 tinual progress in knowledge, goodness, and 
 happiness. 
 
156 Natural Theology. 
 
 456. Indeed, without a state of more exten- 
 sive knowledge, of purer virtue, and of more 
 satisfying enjoyment, than the present, man 
 would appear to be made in vain, and the 
 noblest powers of his nature to have been im- 
 planted, only that they might be disappointed ; 
 and, therefore, we may conclude, that there cer- 
 tainly is such a State.* 
 
 SECT. XIX. 
 
 OF THE CONNEXION BETWEEN MAN’S PRESENT 
 AND FUTURE STATES, 
 
 457. The whole of man’s existence forms one 
 state of endless progression, of which the pre- 
 sent and the future life are but two different 
 stages. 
 
 458. From what even Reason can discover 
 concerning the nature of a Future State, it ap- 
 
 —_-_— eee 
 
 * Butler’s Anal. p. 1, ch. 2, 3, 6. Woolaston, Rel. of 
 Nat., sect. 9, § 8—13. 
 
Connexion between Present and Future States. 157 
 
 pears that our Present and our Future States 
 are connected in very important respects. 
 
 459. The Future State being a state of exact 
 retribution, our present state is a state of trial 
 and probation, from its very nature implying 
 difficulties in securing our happiness, and dan- 
 ger of miscarrying. 
 
 460. Our Present State is a state of Moral 
 Discipline and Education, designed for our ac- 
 quiring habits and improvements necessary to 
 qualify us for the Future State, and in which 
 we must begin the progress which shall be 
 continued in it. 
 
 461. Our whole conduct, therefore, ought to 
 be pursued with a view to our Future State, as 
 
 well as to our Present.* 
 SECT. XX. 
 OF THE ORIGIN OF MORAL EVIL. 
 
 462. Neither the constitution of man’s nas 
 ture, nor the laws which God has prescribed 
 
 * Butler’s Analogy, p. 1, ch. 4, 5. 
 
158 Natural Theology. 
 
 him, nor the providence which he exercises to- 
 ward him, can be fully understood without tak- 
 ing in the whole of his Existence,—his Future, 
 as well as his Present State. 
 
 463. By taking all this into view, many dif- 
 ficulties on these subjects are removed, and 
 others lessened ; but still, some things we can- 
 not account for, chiefly because the whole state 
 of man is connected with other parts of the 
 universe, to which our powers extend not. 
 
 464. The existence of moral evil in the world 
 has been sometimes represented as inconsistent 
 with the government of a perfectly pure and 
 righteous God; but we can perceive that it is 
 not inconsistent with this, though we cannot 
 remove every difficulty that may be started on 
 the subject.. 
 
 465. Imperfection is essential to every finite 
 and limited being,——-that is, to every creature ; 
 and the imperfection of a Moral Agent necessa- 
 rily occasions the possibility of his acting vi- 
 ciously ; for no laws can be prescribed, to be 
 voluntarily obeyed or disobeyed, which do not 
 imply a possibility of an imperfect being’s de- 
 viating from them. 
 
Of the Origin of Moral Evil. 159 
 
 466. ‘That liberty which makes us capable of 
 vice, is essentially necessary for rendering us 
 Moral Agents capable of virtue, and of that high 
 degree of happiness which is the result of vir- 
 tue; and the rendering us capable of these was 
 the primary intention of our being endued 
 with it. 
 
 467. If, therefore, the existence of moral evil 
 were inconsistent with the holiness and recti- 
 tude of God, it must be also inconsistent with 
 these perfections tocreateany Voluntary Agents: 
 But these are the highest order of creatures, 
 and capable of the highest happiness and per- 
 fection ; and, therefore, the Divine Perfection 
 required that there should be such creatures. 
 
 468. God’s permitting moral evil, which is 
 contrary to his holiness, isnot more unaccount- 
 able than his permitting natural evil, which is 
 contrary to his benevolence: His holiness 
 shews itself,—not in preventing it, which was 
 impossible, consistently with the creation of 
 Moral Agents,—but in discouraging it in all the 
 ways suitable to the nature of such Agents. 
 
 469. All the powers and faculties which God 
 
 e 
 
 eee 
 
160 Natural Theology. 
 
 has implanted in human nature, are good in 
 themselves, necessary in our state, and fit for 
 answering good ends; it is only the abuse of 
 them, voluntarily made by ourselves, that gives 
 rise to moral evil. 
 
 470. The state in which God has placed us, 
 and the circumstances of which he has deter- 
 mined, do not lay us under a necessity of be- 
 coming vicious: The same circumstances and 
 situations which are temptations to vice, are, at 
 the same time, necessary opportunities for vir- 
 tuous practice and improvement; and our na- 
 ture and our state afford such motives to vir- 
 tue, as, if duly considered, will impel us to it. 
 
 471. Though there may be, and no doubt 
 are, classes of Moral Agents constituted more 
 securely for virtue, and placed in states more 
 favourable to the practice of it than man, yet 
 we can have no reason to judge it improper, 
 that there should be, in the scale of beings, one 
 order just such as mankind are. 
 
 472. ‘The inequalities of the present state, 
 and the promiscuous distribution of enjoyment 
 and suffering, are necessary for the trial, exer- 
 
Of the Origin of Moral Evil. 161 
 
 cise, and improvement of virtue ; and, till it be 
 tried, exercised, and improved, it is not proper 
 that it should be rewarded, or that the State of 
 Retribution should commence. 
 
 473. The punishment of vice is in itself just 
 and agreeable to the moral nature of God ; it 
 will be finally inflicted only on those who have 
 shewn themselves irreclaimable: These. will 
 probably be very few, in comparison with the 
 multitude of beings rendered sublimely happy 
 by virtuous improvement, in. the different re- 
 gions of the universe ; and both the corruption 
 and the punishment of these few may be over- 
 ruled by Divine Providence, so as to promote, 
 not only the Happiness, but even the Moral 
 Perfection, of the Whole. 
 
 474. Our business is,—not to find fault with 
 the Plan of the Divine Administration, which 
 we cannot possibly comprehend fully,—but to 
 do our part, by conforming to the laws’ pre- 
 scribed us, and acquiescing in the providence 
 
 exercised towards us.* a 
 
 a NMR ait rial ob LS Pei SS, 
 ~ ™ King & Clarke, Orig. of Evil. Butler’s Anal. iN 
 
 ch. 7. Gurdon’s Boyle’s Lect. serm. 5. 
 L 
 
162 Natural Theology. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 475. Natural Theology is pre-requisite to all 
 inquiries concerning Revelation ; for it is only 
 after we know that there is a God who rules 
 the world, that we can think of any such dis- 
 pensation of Providence as a Divine Revelation. 
 
 476. ‘The views which Natural Theology 
 gives, both of the Attributes of God, and of 
 his operations, are sufficient to convince us, 
 that he can, if he will, give a Revelation to 
 mankind. 
 
 477. Both the difficulties which we meet 
 with in Natural Theology, and the views 
 which it gives us of God and of ourselves, ren- 
 der a Revelation very desirable. 
 
 478. The principles of Natural Religion are 
 necessary for our examining and judging of 
 any system offered to us as a Divine Revela- 
 
 tion, and of the proper evidences of a True Re- 
 velation. 
 
Conclusion. 163 
 
 479. Ifa Revelation is once proved to be True 
 and Divine, Natural Religion lays us under an 
 obligation to receive it, and comply with it.* 
 
 * Butler’s Analogy, p. 2. ch. 1. 
 
PART I. 
 
 OF THE EVIDENCES OF REVEALED 
 RELIGION. 
 
 480. IN examining the Evidences of Re- 
 vealed Religion, different methods may be 
 pursued. 
 
 481. To confine ourselves to an inquiry con- 
 cerning the Truth of the Christian Religion, 
 will have some advantages in point both of bre- 
 vity and evidence; while, at the same time, it 
 will afford opportunity for all that is necessary, 
 in order to judge of the claims of other reli- 
 gions. 
 
 482. As the Truth of the Christian Religion 
 naturally became matter of controversy, when it 
 was first proposed to the world; as it was op- 
 posed by different sorts of persons, and upon 
 
Evidences of Christianity. 165 
 
 different principles ; and as it must be defend- 
 ed in different manners, suitable to this diver- 
 sity of principles ;—it will be useful to begin 
 with a Historical View of the Controversy. 
 
 483. After this, the Evidence of Christianity 
 will resolve itself into Two Parts,—the Truth 
 and Divinity of this Religion considered in it- 
 self,—and the Authenticity of the Books in 
 which it is contained. 
 
166 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 A HISTORICAL VIEW OF THE CONTROVERSY 
 CONCERNING THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 OF THE STATE OF THE CONTROVERSY WITH 
 THE JEWS. 
 
 484. The Christian Religion was first pub- 
 lished to the Jews, who already lived under a 
 Divine Revelation, which led them to expect 
 a Messiah. 
 
 485. As the Jews had been accustomed to 
 the appearance of prophets or inspired teachers ; 
 as their laws denounced death against false pro- 
 phets; and as reproofs and threatenings utter- 
 
Question with the Jews. 167 
 
 ed by prophets naturally tended to provoke 
 those who were the objects of them, and thus 
 to discourage persons from falsely assuming the 
 prophetical character ;—the Jews would natu- 
 rally be disposed to give credit to those who 
 assumed this character, till they found positive 
 reasons for suspecting them. 
 
 486. Had Jesus Christ claimed only the cha- 
 racter of a prophet, he might have expected 
 credit on the same evidences of a Divine Mis- 
 sion, on which other prophets had been receiv- 
 ed ;—such as, extraordinary circumstances in 
 his birth, life, or character,—a few miracles,— 
 or the fulfilment of a few of his predictions. 
 
 487. But, as he claimed to be the Messiah, 
 the precise question between him and the Jews 
 was, Whether he was, or was not, the Messiah 
 promised in their Scriptures ? For determining 
 this question, other kinds of evidence were ne- 
 cessary. 
 
 488. The Messiah had been often predicted ; 
 and, in these predictions, the time and place of 
 his birth,—many particulars of his life, his cha- 
 racter, his doctrines, his miracles,—had been 
 
 circumstantially described. 
 
168 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 489. If Jesus could not shew that all these 
 predictions were fulfilled in himself, he could 
 not be the Messiah; and, if he was not the 
 Messiah, he must have been an impostor by 
 pretending it. 
 
 490. Accordingly, all the prejudices which 
 were entertained against Jesus by the Jews, 
 his contemporaries, and all the objections which 
 they opposed to his claim, terminate in this,— 
 That he appeared to them to want some cha- 
 racter, which the prophets had assigned to the 
 Messiah.* 
 
 491. In like manner, the great point which 
 Jesus and his Apostles aim at proving, both in 
 producing evidence of his claim, and in an- 
 Swering exceptions against it, is—That he was 
 precisely such a person as the prophets had 
 foretold that the Messiah was to be.t 
 
 * Matt. xiii. 54,55. John i. 46. vii. 15, 27, 41, 52. 
 
 t+ Matt. i. 1, &c. ii. 1, &c. xi. 2, &e. xii. 17—2]. Luke, 
 i. 26, 27, 68, &e. ii. 1, &e. iii. 23, &c. xxiv. 25, &c. John, 
 v. 39, 46. Rom. i. 3. x. 1], &c. xv. 8—12. Gal. iii. 6, 
 &e. 2 Tim. ii. 8, &c. 
 
Question with the Jews. 169 
 
 492. Other circumstances, which are in them- 
 selves direct evidences that Jesus was a pro- 
 phet, are often urged in arguing with the Jews, 
 not so much in the view of proving him to be 
 a prophet, as because of their being predicted 
 characters of the Messiah.* 
 
 493. The real causes of the Jews rejecting 
 Jesus were—their worldly temper,}—their ma- 
 licious obstinacy,{—and their pride and self- 
 conceit,s—which, in part, had occasioned their 
 false conceptions of the Messiah, and were by 
 these false conceptions strongly confirmed. 
 
 494. ‘Their mistakes concerning the predicted 
 character of the Messiah were greatly promoted 
 by their overvaluing the ritual of their religion, | 
 —by their allowing divine authority to their 
 
 * Chandler’s Vindication of the Christ. Rel. p. 2. ch. 
 2, 3. 
 
 + Matt. viii. 34. xiii. 23, 55. xxiii, 20. Luke, xvi. 14, 
 Acts, i. 6. xvi. 19. 
 
 { Matt. xii. xxvii. 40. John, v. ix. xi. 45. xii. 10. Acts, 
 ii. 13. iv, 3. v.33. xiv. 19. xviii. 6. 
 
 § John, v. 44. xii. 42, 43. 
 
 || Matt. xit 12. xv. 1~—20. xxiii. Luke, vi. 3. John, 
 vel]. 
 
170 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 traditions,*—-and by their implicit deference to 
 the opinions of their teachers.t It was, there- 
 fore, necessary to correct these notions, in order 
 to strike at the root of their infidelity.t 
 
 495. The earliest prejudice which these 
 causes produced against Jesus was opposed to 
 —what would first and most obviously strike 
 them,—his character, person, and condition, as 
 being different from what they expected in the 
 Messiah: And, to remove this prejudice, it 
 was necessary to shew, that their expectation of 
 qualities different from those which he possess- 
 ed, was not founded on the prophecies; but 
 that these, rightly understood, did really agree 
 to Jesus. 
 
 496. His not conforming to all their rites 
 and customs, as fixed by their doctors, and his 
 not inculcating these on his disciples, appeared 
 to them an argument against his claims, because 
 they did not think that the Messiah would make 
 any alteration in the Law of Moses. This ob- 
 
 * Matt. xv. 3, 9. xxiii. 16, 23. + John, vii. 26, 48. 
 
 { Kidder’s Demonstr. 
 
Question with the Jews. 171 
 
 jection was to be refuted by pointing out the 
 superstitions which they had mixed with their 
 ritual,—by explaining the true nature of their 
 rites,—and by shewing, that, according to the 
 prophecies, the Messiah was to give a new dis- 
 pensation of religion. 
 
 497. When they found that the Christian 
 religion was preached to the Gentiles, and im- 
 posed not the Ceremonial Law upon them, 
 they turned this into an objection ;—which was 
 to be answered by shewing that the Messiah 
 ought, according to the prophecies, to convert 
 the Gentiles, and that without subjecting them 
 to the Jewish Law.* 
 
 498. In order to’elude the proof of Chris- 
 tianity arising from the prophecies of the Old 
 Testament, the Jews began very early to apply 
 to other persons many of these prophecies, and 
 to pretend that they had been fulfilled in them, 
 and referred not to the Messiah ; and that, con- 
 
 * Acts. Epistles. Justin Martyr. Dial. cum. Tryph. 
 Tertullian, adv. Jud. 
 
172 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 sequently, they could not prove Jesus to be 
 him.* ) 
 
 499. They have by degrees carried this so 
 far, that, if their explications be allowed, there 
 would be left scarce any prophecy truly relat- 
 ing to the Messiah, which could give them 
 reason to expect such a person. 
 
 500. Christian writers have too often admit- 
 ted their application of prophecies to others in 
 a primary and literal sense; but applied them 
 also to the Messiah, in a secondary and mystical 
 sense. t 
 
 501. The Jews have, in consequence of this, 
 rejected the Christian interpretations of the 
 prophecies as allegorical, and, therefore, impro- 
 per and unsatisfactory.{ 
 
 502. In opposing them, the most unexcep- 
 tionable predictions should be urged,—such as 
 can be shewn to have been intended of the 
 Messiah,—especially such as regard him in 
 
 NL test pesieanaeisastsitues? 
 
 * Justin, ibid. Tertullian. ibid. t+ Grot. Cleric. 
 { Collins’s Grounds, p. 1. § 11. 
 
Question with the Jews. 173 
 
 their primary or only sense ;—their interpreta- 
 tions and artifices should be confuted —and a 
 double sense of some prophecies supported on 
 principles most agreeable to their own. 
 
 503. ‘The Jews were very early accused of 
 erasing from their Scriptures some predictions 
 favourable to Christianity ; but, if they made 
 the attempt, it was in vain; they could not 
 but be detected, and they could not hope to 
 erase them all.* 
 
 504. They seem really to have attempted — 
 some corruptions of Scripture with this view ; 
 but Christians have the means of removing 
 these corruptions.+ 
 
 505. Length of time added strength to the 
 proof of Christianity, especially from those pro- 
 phecies that fixed the time of the Messiah’s 
 coming ; which has put the Jews on pretending 
 that his coming is delayed for their sins,—a 
 mere modern pretence, inconsistent with the 
 
 * Justin, ibid t+ Kennie. 
 
174 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 nature of prophecy, and which shews only their 
 obstinacy. 
 
 506. The destruction of Jerusalem, and the 
 banishment of the Jews from their own coun- 
 try, supplied Christians with new topics for 
 strengthening their arguments ;—as, by ren- 
 dering the Ceremonial Law impossible to be 
 observed, they proved that it was not intended 
 to be perpetual ;—as they confirmed the Mes- 
 siah’s being already come, and prevented any 
 person, thereafter born, from answering to all 
 the predicted characters of the Messiah ;—and 
 as Jesus had circumstantially foretold their ca- 
 lamities, as a punishment for rejecting him. 
 
 507. The long continuance of their disper- 
 sion has reduced them to new methods of ac- 
 counting for it; while it has given additional 
 force to the reasonings of Christians against 
 them. . 
 
 508. The Jews always represented the Chris- 
 tian religion as inconsistent with the Mosaical 
 ritual; but the multitude of false doctrines in- 
 troduced by Christians, and the sects into 
 
Question with the Jews. 175 
 
 which these have divided the church, have 
 furnished them with new arguments,—which 
 can be answered only by returning to the sim- 
 plicity of the Gospel. 
 
 509. If Jesus was not a prophet, he could 
 not be the Messiah ; and, therefore, the Jews 
 set themselves to disprove his being a prophet ; 
 and must be confuted by proofs of his being 
 such. 
 
 510. The ancient Jews were so far from de. 
 nying the facts of the Gospel History, or even 
 the truth of the miracles wrought by Jesus, 
 that all their earliest writers refer to many of 
 them ; and even their later writers deny them 
 not: It is not necessary, therefore, to enlarge 
 on this point in opposing them. 
 
 511. But they deny that these miracles are 
 proofs of the divine mission of Jesus, and have 
 endeavoured to elude their force, by ascribing 
 them,—first, to the power of the Devil eo Se 
 terwards, to Magic ;—pretences, which the na- 
 ture of the miracles and the tendency of the 
 doctrine sufficiently confute sand, last of all, 
 
176 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 to his having stolen the Ineffable Name from 
 the Holy of Holies,—which is an absurd fiction. 
 
 512. They pretend, that his miracles cannot 
 prove a Divine Mission, because he taught 
 Idolatry ;—in proof of which they could at first 
 urge only the worship required to himself; but 
 can since insist, with greater shew of reason, on 
 the worship of images and saints in the church 
 of Rome. 
 
 513. They urge against Jesus being a pro- 
 phet, that the History of the Gospel is self- 
 contradictory, and inconsistent with the Old 
 Testament and with the common belief of 
 Christians. 
 
 514. ‘The Jews began very early to propagate 
 calumnies against the lives of Christians; and, 
 in later times, have made their real vices a pre- 
 tence for hardening themselves in their infi- 
 delity. 
 
 515. All circumstances considered, we may 
 conclude, that some very extraordinary and 
 striking event must be the occasion of the con- 
 version of the Jews; and may, perhaps, con- 
 
Question with the Pagans. 177 
 
 Jecture, that it will be the accomplishment of 
 some remarkable prophecies, yet unfulfilled.* 
 
 SECT. IT. 
 
 OF THE SIMPLE STATE OF THE CONTROVERSY 
 WITH THE ANCIENT PAGANS. 
 
 516. When Christianity was published, all 
 nations, except the Jews, were Heathens and 
 Idolaters ; and, therefore, the state of the ques- 
 tion with them, concerning the truth of Chris- 
 tianity, was very different from what it was 
 with the Jews. 
 
 517. It was necessary to expose the falsehood 
 and absurdity of Paganism, to instruct them 
 in the First Principles of Natural Religion, 
 to teach them that there is but One God, and 
 to prove that Christianity is a Revelation from 
 
 * Justin, Dial. cum Tryph. Tertullian adv. Jud. Kids 
 der’s Demonstration. Grot. de Ver. Rel. Christ. ]. 5. 
 Limborch, Amica Coll. Sharp’s Ist & 2d Arguments. 
 Warburton’s Diy. Leg. Dedic. of vol. 2. Stanhope’s B. L. 
 serm. ]—5. 
 
 M 
 
 bd cl 
 
178 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 Him ; and these were the very points at which 
 the Apostles aimed, in addressing the idolatrous 
 Gentiles.* 
 
 518. The direct method of accomplishing 
 these objects was the working of miracles, as 
 proofs of the doctrine which they taught; and, 
 in fact, the Apostles both wrought miracles be- 
 fore the Pagans, and related to them the life 
 and miracles of Jesus,—particularly his resur- 
 rection from the dead; and also conferred mi- 
 raculous gifts upon their converts.+ 
 
 519. The prophecies of the Old Testament, 
 which formed the leading evidences of Chris- 
 tianity to the Jews, were, to the Gentiles, only 
 subordinate and indirect proofs. 
 
 520. At first, the only aim of those who 
 preached Christianity to the Heathens was to 
 bring them to embrace it: In this period, there- 
 fore, the state of the question was simply what 
 arose from the genius of Paganism and the 
 claim of Christianity. 
 
 * Acts xvii. 1 Thess. i. 5—J0. Sherlock, vol. 4. 
 Dise. 4. t Acts x. 34—42. 
 
Question with the Pagans. 179 
 
 521. As the Pagan religion contained no 
 doctrinal principles, but consisted wholly of 
 rites performed to Local Deities, each nation 
 allowed that the religion of other nations was 
 true, as well as their own, and were very ready 
 to adopt it in conjunction with their own; and 
 they thought that all religions ought to allow 
 this intereommunity of gods and rites. 
 
 522. It was because the Jewish religion 
 claimed to be the only true religion, and affirm- 
 ed all the Pagan religions to be false, that they 
 found fault with it; but, as it was professedly 
 given only to one nation, they contented them- 
 selves with despising the Jews, as unsociable. 
 
 523. Christianity not only made the same 
 claim of being the only true religion, but, also, 
 further claimed to be an universal religion, and 
 represented it as necessary that all men should 
 embrace it, as alone true. 
 
 524, Pagans, before they knew that Chris- 
 tianity made this claim, listened to it with great 
 complaisance, and would have been induced, by 
 a very slight view of its evidences, to allow that 
 it was a true religion, and even to have em- 
 
180 = Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 braced it along with their ancient religion : The 
 point at which they stuck was the renouncing 
 of Paganism, which they thought might be 
 true, as well as Christianity. 
 
 525. The simple state of the controversy with 
 Pagans was, therefore, not so much, Whether 
 Christianity was a true religion ?—which they 
 would have allowed without great difficulty,— 
 as, Whether Paganism was false and absurd, 
 and ought to be totally relinquished ?* 
 
 526. In consequence of this, though it was 
 necessary, in addressing Pagans, to produce 
 evidence of the truth of Christianity, yet this 
 was not the main point: Toconfute Paganism, 
 and shew that it must be abandoned, was the 
 principal point, the most difficult, and what re- 
 quired chiefly to be laboured. 
 
 527. Accordingly, this is the topic on which 
 the Apostles insist first and most largely in 
 their addresses to idolatrous Gentiles.+ 
 
 * Warburton, Div. Leg. + Acts xiv. 15B—17. xvii. 
 22, &c. 
 
Question with the Pagans. 18] 
 
 528. In like manner, the early Christians, in 
 what they wrote simply with a view to convert 
 Pagans, insist not largely or particularly on the 
 evidences of Christianity, but employ them- 
 selves chiefly in evincing the falsity and ab- 
 surdity of Paganism ;—and with great propri- 
 ety: The finding fault with them for this, pro- 
 ceeds from not attending to the real state of 
 the question in which they were engaged. 
 
 529. The attachment of Pagans was, either 
 to the fables and rites of the popular religion, 
 or to the religious tenets of the philosophers : 
 To induce them to relinquish Paganism, it was 
 necessary to confute both; and against both 
 Christians did employ their labour.* 
 
 * Justin Martyr, Adhort. & Orat. ad Grecos. Tatian, 
 Orat. ad Grec. Clem. Alexand. Exhort. ad Gent. 
 Hermiz Derisio Philosoph. Grec. Minut. Fel. Octa- 
 
 vius. 
 
182 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 SECT. IIT. 
 
 OF THE STATE OF THE CONTROVERSY WITH 
 THE PAGANS, IN CONSEQUENCE OF THEIR 
 PERSECUTION OF THE CHRISTIANS. 
 
 530. The claim of Christianity to be the only 
 true religion led Pagans to hate it (as they had 
 done Judaism for the same reason), to misre- 
 present it, and to calumniate Christians, and 
 accuse them of various crimes. 
 
 531. Its moreover representing it as neces- 
 sary, that all men should embrace it, and relin- 
 quish Paganism, led them to persecute Chris- 
 tians,—which they justified by the accusations 
 which their hatred had already raised against 
 them. 
 
 532. These accusations gave rise to the apo- 
 logies of Christians, which aimed, not merely 
 
Question with the Pagans. 183 
 
 at converting Pagans, but at vindicating them- 
 selves. 
 
 533. This formed the second period in the 
 controversy between Christians and Pagans, 
 in which the question was _ ultimately,— 
 Whether the hatred and persecution of the 
 Christians was just, or not? and other topics 
 were urged only in subordination to this. 
 
 534. In order to shew that the persecution of 
 them was unjust, it was necessary to shew that 
 they were innocent of the crimes charged upon 
 them. 
 
 535. Some of the charges—as, of barbarities 
 in their worship—were mere calumnies, and, 
 accordingly, were soon discontinued: But the 
 confutation of them naturally led Christians to 
 explain, more fully than formerly, the real na- 
 ture and excellence of Christianity: At the 
 same time, it left them, as a principal topic, the . 
 exposure of Paganism, in retorting these accu- 
 sations on their adversaries. 
 
 536. But the main charge against them, and 
 which continued always to be urged, was im- 
 piety in denying the gods, and refusing to sa- 
 
184 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 crifice or pay any worship to them; and _ this 
 they could no otherwise answer, than by shew- 
 ing that this worship was so absurd and pro- 
 fane, that they could not, without sin, make 
 any compliance with it: It led them, therefore, 
 to continue to employ a very great part of their 
 pains in confuting Paganism.* 
 
 537. As Christians were persecuted only be- 
 cause they laboured to overturn the established 
 religion, this gives a natural account of what 
 Deists make a handle of triumph against them, 
 —that some of the best emperors were among 
 their persecutors. 
 
 538. When Christianity was established by 
 Constantine, the Pagans pled for their religion, 
 on the same topics which their ancestors had 
 used in opposing Christianity; and Christians 
 pled against giving it public countenance, and 
 sometimes, too, against tolerating it, on the 
 
 ae hn remnant 
 
 * Justin Martyr, Apol. 1, 2. Athenagor. Legat. Ter- 
 tullian, Apol. Warburton, Div. Leg. v. 2. B. 2. p. 52, & 
 Pref. to v. 3. 
 
Question with the Pagans. 185 
 
 same principles on which they had always 
 shewn that men ought to forsake it.* 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 OF THE STATE OF THE CONTROVERSY, IN CON- 
 SEQUENCE OF DEFENCES OF PAGANISM AND 
 OBJECTIONS TO CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 549. There was a third period in the con- 
 troversy between Christians and Pagans, in 
 which it took a turn different from both the for- 
 mer, though naturally arising from them; and 
 the state of the question became more complex. 
 
 540, As the state of the question in the for- 
 mer periods had led Christians to enlarge much 
 on the absurdities of Paganism, this set the 
 learned Heathens both to write professed de- 
 fences of it, and to retaliate, by raising objec- 
 tions against the nature and evidences of Chris- 
 
 tianity,—which was an easy and natural step, 
 
 * Julius Firmicus Maternus. Ambros. 1. 5. ep. 31. 
 
186 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 after the calumnies which had been raised from 
 the first, and had instigated the powerful to 
 persecution. 
 
 ~ 541. The methods which they took to de- 
 fend Paganism were different, answering to the 
 several ways in which it was attacked : To de- 
 fend the popular religion and cloak its absurdi- 
 ties, they allegorized its fables, and wrote en- 
 comiums on the mysteries, or secret worship ; 
 —to defend the religious tenets of the philoso- 
 phers, they spiritualized them. 
 
 542. ‘The objections which they raised against 
 Christianity were chiefly such as arose from the 
 genius of the Pagan religion, the prejudices 
 which it inspired, and the principles and dog- 
 mas of the received philosophy: But they like- 
 wise urged inconsistencies in the Scriptures; 
 and readily adopted all sorts of objections that 
 they could find. 
 
 543. With a view both to support their own 
 religion, and to overthrow Christianity, they 
 wrote lives of their great men, in opposition 
 to the life and miracles of Christ; and they 
 
Question with the Pagans. 187 
 
 collected and extolled their oracles, in opposi- 
 tion to the Scripture prophecies.* 
 
 544. Christians, who had all along set them- 
 selves to obviate every objection as it was 
 thrown out, in consequence of this conduct of 
 the Pagans, were led gradually to more exten- 
 sive defences of Christianity, in which they ex- 
 posed, not only Paganism itself, but also the 
 several principles on which it had been vindi- 
 cated,— gave particular answers to the several 
 objections raised against Christianity and its 
 evidences,—and, in doing so, urged and illus- 
 trated its direct evidences. 
 
 545. Some professedly confuted the work of 
 some one adversary, and confined themselves to 
 his objections, and to the arguments for Chris- 
 tianity, to which the answering of them gave 
 
 occasion.t 
 
 * Warburton, Div. Leg. v. 1. p. 304. Jamblich. Mys- 
 ter. Aigypt. Apulei Metamorph. Porphyr. & Jamblich. 
 Vit. Pythagore. Philostrat. Vit. Apollon. 
 
 t Theophil. ad Autolic. Origin. cont. Celsum. Eu. 
 seb. in Hierocl. Cyril. ady. Julian. 
 
188 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 546. Others wrote general defences of Chris- 
 tianity against all the objections raised against 
 it, and proposed to display all its evidences.* 
 
 SECT. V. 
 OF THE STATE OF THE CONTROVERSY WITH 
 PAGANS IN LATER TIMES. 
 
 547. In course of time the Christian religion 
 became greatly corrupted ; and it still continues 
 so,—especially in the church of Rome. 
 
 548. This corruption brought it to a much 
 nearer resemblance to Paganism, and may seem 
 to have, by this circumstance, facilitated the 
 conversion of Pagans. | 
 
 549. But it has, on the other hand, made it 
 more difficult for Christians to convince Pagans 
 of the absurdities of their religion, or of the 
 necessity of forsaking it: It has, also, enabled 
 
 * Arnob. Lactant. Inst. Euseb. Prep. & Demonstr. 
 Evang. Augustin. de Civ. Dei. Theodoret. 
 
Question with the Pagans. 189 
 
 Heathens to retort the charge against Christi- 
 anity ; while it has obliged Christians to sup- 
 port many things which belong not truly to 
 their religion, and which are incapable of a ra- 
 tional defence. The corruption of Christianity 
 has thus, on the whole, greatly obstructed the 
 recommending of it to Pagans. 
 
 550. In the dark ages, several nations of Pa- 
 gans were converted to the Christianity then 
 professed ; it was not, however, by argument, 
 but by the power of a conqueror, and by pre- 
 tended miracles. 
 
 551. In all the attempts which have been 
 made, in more modern times, to propagate 
 Christianity among nations of Pagans, it has 
 always appeared that the genius of Paganism 
 continues still the same;—that they readily 
 give a hearing to what is urged in support of 
 Christianity, and allow it to be a true religion ; 
 —that the difficulty lies in persuading them to 
 renounce their old religion, as false or incon- 
 sistent with it ;—that the point to be principal- 
 ly laboured, is, to confute the received Pagan- 
 ism ;—and that, if they are convinced on this 
 
190 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 point, the powerful will persecute, and the spe- 
 culative raise objections against Christianity. 
 
 552. When Christianity has been proposed 
 to savage nations, their rudeness has always 
 rendered them incapable of apprehending it ; 
 and their unsettled and uncivilized way of life, 
 incapable of retaining it: They must be, in 
 some degree, civilized, before they can be made 
 Christians. 
 
 553. The corruptions of Christianity, the di- 
 versity of opinion among Christians, and their 
 vices, lay the recommendation of this religion 
 to Pagan nations under so many disadvantages, 
 that there must probably be a very great alter- 
 ation in the state of the Christian world, before 
 any considerable progress can be made in con- 
 
 verting such nations.* 
 
 * Grot. de Ver. Rel. Christ. 1. 4. Warburton, Div. Leg. 
 v. 1. p. 2. 
 
Question with the Mahometans. 191 
 
 SECT. VI. 
 
 OF THE STATE OF THE CONTROVERSY WITH 
 THE MAHOMETANS. 
 
 554. In the beginning of the seventh centu- 
 ry, Mahomet published a new religion, which 
 the ignorance, the corruptions, and the conten- 
 tions of Christians, led him to form,—and the 
 weakness, the oppression, and the distractions 
 of the empire, gave him and _ his followers an 
 opportunity of spreading ; and which still con- 
 tinues to be the religion of several nations. 
 
 555. He pretended that he received it by 
 revelation ; but it is really a compound of Ju- 
 daism, Christianity, and the Heathenism of 
 Arabia. — 
 
 556. Mahomet allows both Moses and Jesus 
 Christ to have been true prophets, and their re- 
 
 ° 
 — a a 
 
219 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 ligions to be of divine original, and admits many 
 of the facts relating to them; but he pretends 
 that his religion is a later and more perfect re- 
 velation, and that the Books of Scripture extant 
 are not the genuine Books of Moses and Jesus, 
 but are greatly corrupted by Jews and Chris- 
 tians. 
 
 557. The first question, therefore, with Ma- 
 hometans, is, concerning the genuineness of the 
 present Books of Scripture ; and their gross ig- 
 norance of critical learning renders it extremely 
 difficult to convince them on this head. 
 
 558. The convincing them of the genuine- 
 ness of our Scriptures, would render it easy 
 to prove that the Alcoran cannot be a true 
 revelation, because it contains contradictions 
 to the Scriptures, both in facts and doctrines, 
 —and because these plainly represent Christi- 
 anity as the last revelation that shall be given. 
 
 559. A comparison with Christianity, even 
 as it is represented in the Books which they 
 reckon corrupted,—will clearly shew, that, in 
 respect of its nature, its evidences, and the cha- 
 
Question with the Mahometans. 193 
 
 racter of its author, it is incompayably prefer- 
 able to Mahometanism.* 
 
 560. But, without any comparison with 
 Christianity, it is easy to shew, that the Al- 
 coran cannot be a true revelation, because it 
 abounds in falsehoods, absurdities, and _ self- 
 contradictions. | 
 
 561. It, moreover, offers no evidence at all 
 of its truth: Mahomet disclaimed working 
 miracles; the prophecies of Scripture which he 
 applies to himself, he either misrepresents, or 
 palpably corrupts; the success of his religion 
 can be accounted for, without supposing its 
 truth, from its being accommodated to the 
 reigning prejudices, superstitions, and vices of 
 those to whom it was proposed, and from its 
 accompanying the victorious arms of the Sara- 
 cens and ‘Turks. 
 
 562. The gross ignorance of the Mahome- 
 tans, which renders them insensible to the force 
 
 of evidence,—the nature of their religion, art- 
 
 * Sherlock, v. 1. dise 9. 
 
194 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 fully fitted for creating the most bigoted at- 
 tachment to it,—and their averseness to in- 
 quire or dispute about its truth, are great ob- 
 structions to their conversion. 
 
 563. The ignorance of those Christians who 
 have access to them,—their misrepresentations 
 of the Mahometan religionw—the false doc- 
 trines received in the Christian church, especi- 
 ally in Popery, with which the Mahometans 
 are best acquainted,—and the vices of Chris- 
 tians in certain particulars, in which their own 
 conduct is remarkably strict, increase the diffi- 
 culty of converting them to Christianity ; and 
 shew why the few attempts that have been 
 made for this purpose, have been attended 
 with so little success.* 
 
 ne Sil} 10 fie aiohototy -ait perivingnad oe. 
 
 * Sale’s Koran. Grot. de Ver. Rel. Christ. 1. 6. Re- 
 land. de Rel. Moham. Prideaux & Boulainvilliers, Life 
 
 of Mahom. Lud. Marac. Prodrom. & Refut. Montes- 
 quieu. ‘ 
 
Question with the Deists. 195 
 
 SECT. VII. 
 
 OF THE STATE OF THE CONTROVERSY WITH 
 DEISTS. 
 
 564. In Christian countries there have arisen 
 unbelievers in Christianity, and in all revelation, 
 who are known by the name of Deists; and 
 with them, chiefly, the controversy concerning 
 the truth of Christianity has been carried on in 
 modern times. 
 
 565. They differ from all other infidels in 
 this,—that they maintain not, in opposition to 
 Christianity, any determinate system of re- 
 ligion anywhere received; but set pure Na- 
 tural Religion in opposition to all revelation 
 whatever. 
 
 566. This is the source of all the variations 
 
196 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 which they have made in the state of the con- 
 troversy ; and, by this, they render their oppo- 
 sition in appearance more rational, and intro- 
 duce new questions and objections against re- 
 velation in general. 
 
 567. They can argue on more general prin- 
 ciples than other unbelievers; and they are 
 freed from several difficulties, and not exposed 
 to several objections, to which others lie open. 
 
 568. They free themselves from the necessi- 
 ty of defending, either Paganism, or any reve- 
 lation inferior to Christianity in excellence or 
 in evidence, or any thing but what can be 
 proved by reason, and what Christians admit as 
 well as they. 
 
 569. But, on the other hand, they have this 
 disadvantage, that the pure Natural Religion 
 which they oppose to Christianity, is very in- 
 determinate, and, therefore, improper to be set 
 up as a religion for the world. 
 
 570. Of this circumstance—that there is no 
 precise standard of Natural Religion,—they 
 avail themselves, by varying their accounts of 
 that religion so as to suit their present purpose, 
 
 ts 
 ie 
 
 of 
 
 : : - 
 ™ Tar ae 
 — ot * 
 
Question with the Deists. 197 
 
 and by urging objections against revelation, 
 which strike equally against some of the prin- 
 ciples of Natural Religion : They thus increase 
 the difficulty of confuting them; but this is an 
 unfair advantage, which really hurts their cause. 
 
 571. They themselves differ essentially in 
 their descriptions of Natural Religion, with 
 respect even to the most important and inter- 
 esting points: For, though some hold it in its 
 just extent, yet others destroy its efficacy, by 
 denying future rewards and punishments to be 
 proper motives to virture,—by doubting of a 
 future state,—by denying it,—by taking away 
 the Moral Attributes and the Moral Govern- 
 ment of God,—by not allowing a Providence, 
 —by refusing the obligation of religious wor- 
 ship,—by declaring Natural Religion incapable 
 of proof from reason,—by representing the 
 Universe as the only God,—or by destroying 
 all foundation for Morality. 
 
 572. The Natural Religion of Deists is, 
 therefore, absolutely unfit for the service of 
 mankind : If they who profess to have investi- 
 gated it carefully, differ about so essential 
 
198 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 points, the bulk of mankind would be lost in 
 uncertainty, and destitute of all fixed religious 
 principles ; and, taking a religion from their 
 passions, would sink into superstition. 
 
 573. This case is very different from that of 
 the variety of opinions among Christians: 
 There is a fixed standard of Christianity, to 
 which all may appeal; the variety of their opi- 
 nions is not so much about the truth of general 
 and important principles, as about the manner 
 of explaining them ; and it extends not to the 
 great practical principles of Natural Religion, 
 concerning which Deists are so much divided. 
 
 574. The state of the question must be dif- 
 ferent with all the several classes of Deists, 
 according to their discordant notions of Natural 
 Religion. | 
 
 575. By Natural Religion, some of them 
 really mean no religion at all; and these are re- 
 duced to defend atheism and irreligion, and are 
 exposed to all the arguments, both for the truth 
 of religion, and its necessity to the being of 
 society. 
 
 576. Others of them strip Natural Religion 
 
Question with the Deists. 199 
 
 of every principle which renders it of import- 
 ance to mankind : These expose themselves to 
 all the arguments by which these principles are 
 supported ; and they propose a religion, which 
 could not attach men to it, which would lead 
 to unmeaning superstition, and which would 
 introduce the grossest cruelty into civil govern- 
 ment,—as is exemplified in the religion of 
 Sintos, established in Japan. 
 
 577. With those who admit Natural Religion 
 in its just extent, the question may seem simp- 
 ly to be, Whether there is, in fact, sufficient 
 evidence for revelation? But even these are 
 involved in another question,—W hether such 
 pure and perfect Natural Religion ever had a 
 being ?—that is—ever was discovered by the 
 mere force of reason ? 
 
 578. If it never was, they set themselves to 
 destroy all that ever was received in the world, 
 under the name of religion: If it was, it 
 certainly degenerated everywhere into Pagan 
 polytheism and idolatry; and, if men were 
 again reduced to it, they must quickly fall back 
 
 into the same corruptions. 
 
200 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 579. Deists, therefore, do not, in fact, derive 
 great advantage for rendering their opposition 
 to Christianity rational, from opposing to it 
 only Natural Religion. 
 
 SECT. VIIL. 
 OF THE NECESSITY OF REVELATION. 
 
 580. By maintaining only Natural Religion 
 in opposition to Christianity, Deists have it in 
 their power to raise several general questions, 
 by the determination of which they hope to set 
 aside all revelation at once, without needing to 
 examine the particular evidences of any. 
 
 581. They urge—what no other adversary 
 could—that all revelation is quite unnecessary, 
 and thence conclude that no revelation was 
 ever in fact given, and that all religions which 
 claim to have been revealed, must be false, 
 whatever evidence they pretend to have; and 
 thus they introduce a new. question, concern- 
 
 ing the necessity of revelation. 
 
Of the Necessity of Revelation. 201 
 
 582. Their great argument on this head is, 
 that the Religion and Law of Nature are ab- 
 solutely perfect and sufficient, and that, there- 
 fore, revelation is unnecessary, and never was 
 given; and Christians answer, that the Reli- 
 gion of Nature is not in any such sense perfect, 
 as to render a revelation unnecessary,—much 
 less to prove that no revelation was ever given. 
 
 583. When Deists declare the Religion and 
 Law of Nature to be absolutely perfect, be- 
 cause they contain all that is founded in the 
 nature and reason of things,—or all that God 
 sees to be true and right,—it is nothing to their 
 purpose, except they could prove that all this 
 religion and law is perfectly discoverable by 
 human reason; and, because it. plainly is not, 
 therefore the natural religion discoverable by 
 reason is necessarily imperfect. 
 
 584. Their argument against the necessity of 
 revelation, in so far as it is founded upon their 
 notion of the perfection of Natural Religion, is 
 therefore evidently inconclusive. 
 
 585. When they attempt to prove that it 
 must be perfectly discoverable, because, other- 
 
202 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 wise, it would not answer the end of a law,— 
 because, otherwise, reason could not answer the 
 purpose for which it was given,—because the 
 goodness of God would not permit him to give 
 a law which is not perfectly discoverable,—be- 
 cause every law given by a perfect God must 
 be perfect,—and from such like general topics ; 
 —they assume principles without evidence; 
 their arguments contradict what we know to 
 be matter of fact,—are, in different ways, fal- 
 lacious,—and may generally be turned against 
 themselves. 
 
 586. Whether Natural Religion be perfectly 
 discoverable by human reason, or not,—is a 
 question that can be decided only by experi- 
 ence of what mankind have actually discover- 
 ed of it; and, as all experience and history 
 prove, that it never was discovered and _ receiv- 
 ed, by the force of mere reason, in any place or 
 age, it is certain that this would have always 
 been the case,—that mere reason never would 
 have discovered it perfectly, or freed the world 
 from idolatry and superstition. 
 
 587. It is asserted, that all the parts of Na- 
 
Of the Necessity of Revelation. 203 
 
 tural Religion are to be found in the writings 
 of the philosophers, and, consequently, were in 
 fact discovered by mere reason: But it is not 
 certain that they did not derive some of their 
 principles from the Hebrews, who enjoyed re- 
 velation ; their principles, however discovered, 
 were confined to themselves, and did no service 
 to the people; no one of them taught Natural 
 Religion complete; all of them were doubtful 
 on many important points; all of them mixed 
 cross errors with the truths which they taught; 
 and a complete system of Natural Religion is 
 not to be found even among them all together. 
 
 588. With much less plausibility it is pre- 
 tended, that the whole of Natural Religion 
 was implied in the ordinary Paganism, though 
 obscured by a multitude of superadditions : 
 For, the explications of Paganism, which made 
 it seem to imply all this, were known but toa 
 few; and, though they had been just, and 
 generally known, the multitude of corruptions 
 mixed with them would have rendered them 
 useless. They were, in fact, mere fanciful re- 
 finements, of which Paganism was not really 
 
204 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 capable: Instead of implying pure Natural 
 Religion, it necessarily led men off from it ; 
 and, by having recourse to this plea, Deists 
 are reduced to defend Paganism,—though as a 
 mean to a farther end,— not for its own sake,— 
 yet in the same way that ancient Heathens 
 defended it. 
 
 589. That there are now perfect systems of 
 Natural Religion proved by reasoning, is wholly 
 owing to Christianity ; for they are found only 
 since its appearance, and only where it is 
 known: They prove not that reason could 
 have discovered them without this assistance ; 
 but, on the contrary, the present perfection of 
 Natural Religion is a strong testimony of the 
 usefulness of Christianity. 
 
 590. As experience thus shews that Natural 
 Religion never has been perfectly discovered 
 by mere reason, and leads us to conclude that 
 it never could have been; so, the necessary im- 
 perfection of human reason proves, that Natu- 
 ral Religion, as discovered by it, must always 
 have been imperfect. 
 
 591. On this account, revelation was highly 
 
Of the Necessity of Revelation. 205 
 
 necessary, even for leading men to a perfect 
 discovery of Natural Religion itself. 
 
 592. If it be said, that the imperfect know- 
 ledge of Natural Religion, of which men were 
 capable, was sufficient for them, because they 
 could be under obligation to no more ; yet it 
 might be of great advantage to them to have a 
 more perfect knowledge of it, and, consequent- 
 ly, to have a revelation, by which they might 
 attain this knowledge. 
 
 593. Supposing Natural Religion ever so 
 perfectly discoverable by reason, yet a revela- 
 tion from God would be useful, except we could 
 affirm, that reason can discover God’s Will 
 better than he himself can reveal it; and, as 
 this would be absurd, the very question is im- 
 proper— Whether Natural Religion be prefer- 
 able to Revelation ?* 
 
 594. Though Natural Religion were per- 
 fectly discoverable, yet it could be discovered 
 but gradually,—not at once; and Revelation 
 
 * Sherlock, v. I. disc. 1. p. 2. 
 
206 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 would be of great advantage for making it 
 more expeditiously known. 
 
 595. Though Natural Religion were per- 
 fectly discoverable, yet it could not be disco- 
 verable by all; and revelation was very ne- 
 cessary for making it known to the bulk of 
 mankind, and would be the best, and the only 
 effectual way of teaching it to them. 
 
 596. Natural Religion, though it had been 
 perfectly discoverable by all, is not sufficient 
 for mankind, become degenerate, and needing 
 recovery ; for the method and means of their 
 recovery can be known only by revelation,— 
 which, therefore, becomes necessary for that 
 purpose, and for dispelling the doubts, and con- 
 firming the faint hopes of nature. 
 
 597. It is argued, that, if revelation was ne- 
 cessary, it must have been given in the begin- 
 ning of the world, and not after many ages had 
 been left without it: But, in fact, it is not true 
 that ever the world was without revelation ; 
 and it may be shewn, that the several revela- 
 tions were suited to the state of the world at 
 the times when they were given; and, in - par- 
 
Of the Necessity of Revelation. 207 
 
 ticular, that the time when Christianity was 
 given, was in many respects the fittest for it: 
 And, though these things were not so, yet re- 
 velation might be highly useful, as many things 
 but lately known confessedly are. 
 
 598. It is argued, that, if a revelation was 
 necessary, it would have been given, not to a 
 part of mankind only, but to all alike; But, in 
 every respect, some men have many advan- 
 tages which others want; and many things are 
 highly useful to those who have them, which 
 are far from being common to all. 
 
 599. There is still less force in the argument, 
 that revelation is not necessary, else it would 
 have been given, not gradually, but perfectly 
 at once; for every thing is progressive, and we 
 can perceive many good reasons why revela- 
 tion should be so. 
 
 600. From men’s need of revelation, we 
 could not have inferred with certainty that re- 
 velation would be given; nor can we thence 
 conclude that it has been given,—because it 
 must be a voluntary appointment of God. 
 
 601. But, since men have need of a revela- 
 
208 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 tion, and since it would be so useful to them, 
 we must be obliged to examine the evidences 
 offered for particular revelations, and to admit 
 them, if these evidences be sufficient: And its 
 great expediency to mankind is even some real 
 presumption, that a revelation has been actual- 
 ly given.* 
 
 SECT. IX. 
 OF THE POSSIBILITY OF REVELATION. 
 
 602. In consequence of their maintaining 
 only Natural Religion, as discoverable by rea- 
 son, Deists think themselves at liberty to dis- 
 pute even the possibility of revelation, and 
 have actually disputed it. 
 
 603. They have not been so absurd as to as- 
 
 $$ 
 
 * Williams’s Boyle's Lectures, serm. 1. Leng’s B. L. 
 Serm. ll, 12. Gurdon’s B. L. Serm. 13, 14. Burnet’s 
 B. L. p. 467, &c. Berryman’s B. L. Serm. 1,2. Leland, 
 Necess. of Revel. 
 
a, Pt 
 
 Of the Possibility of Revelation. 209 
 
 sert, that it is absolutely impossible in the na- 
 ture of the thing, for the God who made us to 
 reveal his Will to us; but they assert, that it 
 is incredible that he has done so; and that, 
 
 therefore, it is unnecessary to examine the pre- 
 
 tensions and evidences of any particular work 
 
 claiming to be a Revelation. 
 
 604. It is argued, that, because the Law of 
 Nature is immutable, no revelation could alter 
 it, add to it, or take from it; and that, there- 
 fore, it is incredible that any revelation should’ 
 be given: But the Law of Nature is immu- 
 table, only on supposition that all men can 
 discover it perfectly at once, and that the situ- 
 ation of mankind remains unchanged ; and, if 
 it’ were immutable, it would follow only that it 
 could not ‘be changed by revelation, but not 
 that another law could not be given. 
 
 605. A revelation superadding something to 
 the discoveries of reason, but consistent with 
 them, does not contradict Natural Religion, 
 any more than the enactment of a new civil 
 law subverts all former ones. 
 
 606. It is argued, that, because Natural Re- 
 
 O 
 
210 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 ligion is perfect, there is no possibility of a re- 
 velation to make any addition to it: On the 
 contrary, because Natural Religion, as disco- 
 verable by our reason, is necessarily imperfect, 
 we affirm that there may be a revelation to 
 supply its deficiencies. 
 
 607. But, though reason were a perfect rule, 
 as long as God gives us no other, it will not 
 follow that he cannot give us another by re- 
 velation, if he pleases ; and, after he has given 
 it, reason will be no longer our perfect, or our 
 only rule. 
 
 608. A revelation is so far from being im- 
 possible on this account,—That our being go- 
 verned by it, which implies our taking every 
 thing contained in it on trust, would be incon- 
 sistent with reason, which requires us to admit 
 nothing but what we see to be reasonable :-— 
 that, on the contrary, if reason has once con- 
 vinced us that a thing is really revealed by 
 God, we cannot act reasonably without imme- 
 diately taking it upon trust, or believing it 
 without farther evidence. 
 
 609. A revelation is not incredible on ac- 
 
Of the Possibility of Revelation. 211 
 
 count of its being miraculous, and out of the 
 ordinary course of nature; for a revelation in 
 the beginning of the world would not have 
 been miraculous, because the course of nature 
 was not then established. Such Christianity 
 supposes that there was; and it represents all 
 subsequent revelations as the continuation of 
 it: Our experience of the ordinary course of 
 nature cannot shew that there may not be a 
 miraculous interposition by revelation, because 
 it is not experience of cases similar to this; nor 
 is there any presumption against revelation, on 
 account of its being miraculous, which may not 
 be totally destroyed by proper evidence.* 
 
 610. It is argued, that a revelation cannot 
 be given by God, because it is impossible that 
 either the person to whom it is given, or others, 
 can have sufficient evidence of its reality. 
 
 611. If it be meant, that God cannot give a 
 revelation, because he cannot, consistently with 
 the constitution of our nature, teach a man any 
 
 * Butler’s Anal. p. 2. ch. 2. _ 
 
212 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 thing, except by proving it by first principles ; 
 yet it must be allowed, that, by assisting our 
 reasoning powers, he could enable us to per- 
 ceive many things, which we could not other- 
 wise have known: But He who gave us reason 
 can, doubtless, with equal ease, make us certain 
 of a truth by other means than the exercise of 
 reason; and, though enthusiasm may lead a 
 person to suppose that he has received a reve- 
 lation, when he has not done SO, it does not fol- 
 low, that God may not makea person absolute- 
 ly certain that he is not deceived. 
 
 612. We may, likewise, have such evidence 
 of the truth of a revelation given to others, as 
 shall produce assurance of it, as great, at least, 
 
 as the generality can have of the several truths 
 of Natural Religion.* 
 
 SSE PORT Te eae aa SENNA REELS 0S in 
 
 * Williams’s B. L. Serm. 1, 3, 7. Leng’s B. L. Serm. 1]. 
 
Of the Multitude of Revelations. 213 
 
 SECT. X. 
 OF THE MULTITUDE OF REVELATIONS. 
 
 613. Deists attempt to set aside Christianity, 
 without a particular examination of its evi- 
 dences, on account of the multitude of false 
 pretences which have been made to revelation 
 in all ages and nations. 
 
 614. They sometimes pretend, that this ren- 
 ders all revelation at once incredible: But it 
 will not follow, that, because there have been 
 many pretended revelations, there can be no 
 such thing as atrue one. Men’s having always 
 shewn a strong propensity to give credit to re- 
 velation, certainly cannot prove that it is incre- 
 dible, but quite the contrary. 
 
 615. 'The many pretences to revelation could 
 proceed only from men’s sense of their need of 
 it, or from some true revelation having been 
 actually given, and, therefore, afford a presump- 
 tion that there has been such; for, otherwise, 
 
214 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 men would not have been so ready, either to 
 make pretences to revelation, or to give credit 
 to them: Consequently, the very multitude of 
 pretences to revelation obliges us to examine 
 which is the true revelation, that has given 
 occasion to the rest. 
 
 616. But Deists allege, that the multitude of 
 pretences to revelation at least renders it im- 
 possible to distinguish the true from the false ; 
 and, therefore, makes it prudent, without in- 
 quiring about any of them, to rest satisfied with 
 Natural Religion. 
 
 617. If reason, however, be as strong as they 
 represent it to be, it must be equal to the task 
 of distinguishing a true revelation from a false, 
 —which will be fully as easy as to determine 
 among their different opinions about Natural 
 Religion. 
 
 618. The possibility of mistake, instead of 
 excusing men from examining the evidences 
 of revelation, only obliges them to the greater 
 care in doing it. 
 
 619. In fact, the number of revelations to be 
 examined is not great enough to perplex the 
 
Of the Multitude of Revelations. 215 
 
 inquiry ; for most pretences are obviously to 
 be rejected. 
 
 620. No revelation has a claim, but such as 
 pretends to be a rule of religion, and to come 
 from the One True God ; and none make this 
 pretence, except the Mosaical, the Christian, 
 and the Mahometan. 
 
 621. That cannot be the true revelation, 
 which is inconsistent with Natural Religion, — 
 nor that, which is promulgated without proper 
 evidences of Divine authority: On both ac- 
 counts, Mahometanism is proscribed. Only 
 Judaism and Christianity remain; and, in the 
 question with Deists, there is no interference 
 between the claims of these.* 
 
 622. None of the general topics, then, which 
 the plan of Deists enables them to introduce, 
 can set aside Christianity previously to an exa- 
 mination of its evidences. 
 
 SSR Sp sh ED by ve oe oe tei 
 * Warburton’s Div. Leg. Gurdon’s B. L. Serm. 15. 
 
 Sherlock. 
 
216 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 623. But, in opposing these evidences, their 
 maintaining only pure Natural Religion puts it 
 in their power to pursue their objections on 
 more general principles than other infidels. 
 
 624. The truth of Christianity. must, after 
 all, be determined by a particular inquiry into 
 the strength of the evidences by which this re- 
 ligion is supported, and into the force of the 
 objections raised against them. 
 
 625. The view that has been taken of the 
 controversy concerning the truth of Christiani- 
 ty, shews the principles, on which the different 
 manners of attacking it have proceeded. 
 
 626. The proper methods of defending it 
 against its several adversaries must be accord- 
 ingly different ; and, both in proposing its po- 
 sitive evidences, and in supporting them against 
 objections, the several principles and systems 
 of the opponents must be kept in view. 
 
Of the Internal Evidences of Christianity. 217 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 OF THE INTERNAL EVIDENCES OF 
 CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 627. In order to establish the authority of 
 the Christian Religion, it is necessary to 
 evince—both the Truth of this religion, con- 
 sidered in itself,—and the Authenticity of the 
 Books in which it is contained. 
 
 628. The Evidences of Christianity, consi- 
 dered in itself, are—either Direct,—or Colla- 
 teral. 
 
 629. The Direct Evidences of Christianity 
 are—either Internal, arising from its own Na- 
 ture and Excellence,—or External, from Mi- 
 racles and Prophecy. 
 
 630. Christianity, though completed only by 
 
218 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 the Gospel revelation, has a reference to a series 
 of preceding revelations from the beginning of 
 the world ; the propriety of all which must be 
 evinced, in order to a full display of its Excel- 
 lence. 
 
 631. The propriety of these previous revela- 
 tions depends, in a great measure, on their sub- 
 servience to the Christian ; and will, therefore, 
 be best judged of, after the consideration of the 
 Christian Religion itself, the Excellence of 
 which is absolute. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 OF THE EXCELLENCE OF THE DESIGN OF 
 CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 632. In order to judge of the excellence of 
 any system, its End and Design must, first of 
 all, be taken into the account. 
 
 633. ‘The Excellence is always in proportion 
 to the importance of the end, and the fitness of 
 the system for promoting it. 
 
Of the Design of Christianity. 219 
 
 634. The professed end of the Christian Re- 
 ligion is, the comfort and sanctification of man- 
 kind in the present life, and their perfection 
 and eternal happiness in the next. 
 
 635. This is the proper end of Religion, and 
 the most important end that can be proposed ; 
 it regards mankind in their highest capacity, 
 as Moral and Immortal Beings: In respect of 
 its end, therefore, Christianity has the highest 
 possible excellence. 
 
 636. If it be fit for answering this end, that 
 fitness is sufficient for completing its excel- 
 lence ; though there may be many other ends 
 of real importance, which it has no tendency to 
 promote. 
 
 637. All objections, therefore, against Chris- 
 tianity, for its not instructing us on points 
 which might gratify curiosity, or even promote 
 our present interest,—for not having removed 
 speculative doubts and difficulties,—and the 
 like supposed defects,—are of no force against 
 its excellence: They only prove, that it is not 
 what it never pretended to be. 
 
 638. The only means by which the improve. 
 
220 dvidences of Christianity. 
 
 ment and comfort of a reasonable Being can be 
 promoted by a system of religion, are—Pre- 
 cepts, for directing his conduct,—and Doctrines, 
 for influencing his conduct, and cheering his 
 mind; and Christianity is excellent, as its Pre- 
 cepts and Doctrines have the greatest fitness 
 for answering these purposes. 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 OF THE EXCELLENCE OF THE CHRISTIAN 
 PRECEPTS. 
 
 639. The Precepts of the Christian Religion 
 are of two kinds,—Moral,—and Positive. 
 
 640. The Moral Precepts enjoin all the du- 
 ties of Piety, Humanity, and Self-government, 
 which the light of Nature can discover to be 
 incumbent on us; and these immediately ap- 
 prove themselves to the consciences of men, 
 wherever their natural sentiments are not per- 
 verted,—in so much, that their excellence has 
 
Of the Christian Precepts. 221 
 
 been either explicitly or tacitly acknowledged 
 by all the adversaries of Christianity. 
 
 641. The Christian Precepts are so complete, 
 that they extend to all that conscience requires ; 
 and so pure, that they enjoin nothing which it 
 does not approve. 
 
 642. They do not regulate only the outward 
 behaviour, but also the inward affections ; they 
 point out the several particular exertions of 
 them, and lay down rules easily applicable to 
 different situations. 
 
 643. They assign to every virtue its own 
 place, and allow it its proper degree of worth. 
 
 644. They enjoin, not only real virtue, but 
 the highest improvements of our Moral Nature. 
 
 645. The Precepts of Christianity, universal- 
 ly complied with, would greatly promote the 
 present peace and happiness, both of individu- 
 als, and of society. 
 
 646. If the Future Happiness of Man be the 
 result or the reward of virtuous improvement, 
 the Precepts of the Gospel direct us to the only 
 means by which it may be attained. 
 
 647. The Moral Precepts of Christianity are 
 
222 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 more just, pure, and complete, than those of 
 any other system ; and, therefore, Christianity 
 is, in respect of them, more excellent.* 
 
 648, It is no objection against the perfection 
 of the Moral Precepts of Christianity, that 
 there is no Precept expressly enjoining the 
 virtue of Private Friendship ; for such friend- 
 ship is not the proper subject of a precept ; and, 
 so far as it is virtuous, it is included in the 
 love of good men, which Christianity inculcates 
 very strongly.t 
 
 649. Nor is it an objection, that Christianity 
 does not by any precept enjoin Patriotism: It 
 checks the exorbitance to which that principle 
 is very liable; and, at the same time, most ef- 
 fectually recommends the principle itself, by 
 inculcating universal benevolence.t 
 
 650. Prayer is neither improper nor useless, 
 
 * Grot. de Ver. Rel. Christ. 1. 2. § 11, &e. Clarke’s 
 Evid. pr. 10. Turret. Diss. 5. § 2. Benson’s Ans. to 
 Christ. not founded on arg. Rogers, Serm. 3. 
 
 t Shaftesbury, Wit and Hum. p. 2.s.3. Brown on 
 Charact. Ess. 3. s. 6. Leng’s B. L. Serm. 16. 
 
 { Shaftesbury. Brown, ib. 
 
Of the Christian Precepts, 223 
 
 but is a duty suitable to our natural senti- 
 ments, and highly conducive to our improve- 
 ment: It is, therefore, not a fault, but an ex- 
 cellence in Christianity, that it lays so great 
 stress upon it.* 
 
 651. The Christian precepts are not unrea- 
 sonably severe, in enjoining forgiveness of in- 
 juries, and love of our enemies; for they 
 require only, that resentment should not ex- 
 tinguish the benevolence which we owe to all 
 This is not contrary to the constitution of our 
 Nature, but perfectly suitable to it,—absolutely 
 necessary for preventing endless and growing 
 mischief,—arising from the very end for which 
 resentment is implanted in our frame,—and 
 strictly obligatory by the Law of Nature.t+ 
 
 652. The precepts regarding outward things 
 are liable to no exception; for they forbid not 
 
 ERROR AD Stains" gta lanrmeencarenimematmemmeners eee ee ee ee 
 
 * Chubb’s Posth. Works, v. 1. © Leechman’s Serm. 
 Benson’s End of Prayer. Price’s Dissert. 
 
 t+ Chubb’s Posth. Works, v. 1. Bolingbroke, yv. 4. 
 Butler, Serm. 8, 9. Turretin. Diss. 13. § 1-22. Stan- 
 hope’s B. L. Serm. 14. 
 
224 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 industry or prudent foresight, but only immo- 
 derate attachment and anxiety. 
 
 653. The Precepts which appear hardest, 
 concerning crucifying the flesh and denying 
 ourselves, when rightly understood, enjoin no 
 stricter self-government than reason and con- 
 science perfectly approve.* 
 
 654. Christianity, in prohibiting Polygamy 
 and Divorce, only inculeates the Law of Na- 
 ture in its greatest perfection ; for these prac- 
 tices are not agreeable to the Law of Nature, 
 though not in all cases absolutely criminal 
 by it. 
 
 655. Of the Duties which Christianity super- 
 adds to those of Natural Religion, some are in 
 their nature Moral: The duties which it en- 
 joins to the Son of God and the Holy Spirit, 
 arise immediately from the nature of these 
 Divine Persons, and from their relations to us ; 
 and it is only because these are not discover- 
 able by reason, that the Duties to them 
 
 “Stanhope, ib. Turretin. Diss. 13. § 23. 
 
Of the Christian Precepts. 225 
 
 are not incumbent upon us by the Law of 
 Nature.* 
 
 656. The peculiar Precepts of Christianity 
 enjoining these Duties, are excellent, because 
 they have the strongest tendency to promote 
 and secure the practice of all Moral Virtue.+ 
 
 657. That such Duties may not be enjoined 
 by revelation, cannot be inferred from the per- 
 fection of the Law of Nature, rendering it in- 
 capable of any addition: For, in the sense in 
 which it is incapable of addition, as extending 
 to all Duties founded in the nature of things, 
 these Duties, being of Moral Obligation, are a 
 part of it,—not an addition to it; and because 
 there may be Duties of Moral Obligation not 
 discoverable by our reason, it may be expected 
 that a revelation, if given, should discover and 
 enjoin some such Duties.{ 
 
 658. That such Duties cannot be enjoined 
 
 * Butler's Anal. p. 2. ch. 1. + Leechman’s Ass. 
 
 Serm. 
 { Tindal’s Christianity as old as the Creation. Foster’s 
 
 Answer, ch. 4. 
 P 
 
226 — Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 by revelation, will not follow from the immu- 
 tability of God, requiring that his Laws should 
 be always the same: For it is consistent with 
 his immutability, that the States of his Creatures 
 may vary, and their Duties necessarily vary 
 with their States.* 
 
 659. It is no objection against Christianity, 
 
 that it requires faith in the Divine Persons 
 whom it reveals; for the faith which it requires 
 is virtuous, and the proper subject of a Pre- 
 cept. 
 - 660. The trust and dependence on Christ, 
 which Christianity enjoins, is not a substitution 
 for Morality ; for it includes acceptance of the 
 conditions of mercy proposed in the Gospel, 
 which imply the practice of virtue; and, by 
 encouraging men to repentance, it strengthens 
 the obligation of Morality.t 
 
 661. The Duties to the Son and Holy Spirit, 
 
 he 
 * Tindal, ib. Coneybeare. Foster. 
 
 t Christianity not founded on Argument, p. 8. Ben- 
 son’s Answer, Introd. 
 } Sherlock, v. 1. Disc. 14. 
 
Of the Christian Precepts. 227 
 
 which Christianity requires, are so far from in- 
 terfering with, or weakening the obligation of, 
 those which we owe to God the Father, that 
 they greatly promote the practice of them.* 
 
 662. Christianity includes, also, Precepts 
 merely Positive, enjoining Duties whose obli- 
 gation arises only from their being command- 
 ed: The excellence of such Precepts consists in 
 their subservience to the practice of Morality. 
 
 663. Though the subject of a Positive Pre- 
 cept may be, before such Precept is given, ab- 
 solutely indifferent; yet God, in giving such 
 Precept, does not act arbitrarily, in any sense 
 that is inconsistent with his Perfections. 
 
 664. Positive Precepts about things perfect- 
 ly indifferent in themselves, are proper trials of 
 our obedience to God, and means of forming a 
 temper of subjection to his authority; and may, 
 for this end, be given by him: They are the 
 fittest trials and means, because regard to his 
 authority is the only principle of observing 
 
 i SUR cc ee | 
 
 * Moral Philosopher. 
 
228 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 them; and, therefore, are very proper to be 
 given. 
 
 665. It is not inconsistent with the goodness 
 of God to give us Positive Precepts, as impair- 
 ing our happiness by restraining our liberty, 
 and increasing our danger of disobedience ; for, 
 by improving a principle and temper of subjec- 
 tion, they lessen our danger of disobeying, and 
 tend to increase our happiness. 
 
 666. But the subjects of all Positive Precepts 
 are not perfectly indifferent in themselves: If 
 a Positive Precept tend to Natural Good, it is 
 agreeable to the Benevolence of God to give it. 
 
 667. Positive Precepts may, likewise, tend 
 to Moral Purposes, by enjoining what is a di- 
 rect mean of promoting the practice of virtue : 
 And such are very fit to be given by God; for 
 this strengthens their tendency to promote vir- 
 tue, and prevents our neglecting all means, or 
 using improper means. 
 
 668. Though disputes and contentions have 
 arisen among Christians concerning things of 
 Positive institution, they have not arisen from 
 God’s having given Positive Precepts, but from 
 
Of the Christian Precepts. 229 
 
 men’s attempting to impose their own Precepts 
 as Divine. i 
 
 669. If Positive Precepts burden the mind, 
 it is only when they are very numerous; and 
 it shews the excellence of the Christian Reli- 
 gion, that its Positive Precepts are very few. 
 
 670. If the observance of Positive Precepts 
 sometimes draws men off from Moral Virtue, 
 this is an abuse of them: And it is the excel- 
 lence of Christianity, that it guards most effec- 
 tually against the abuse, both by giving only 
 such Positive Precepts as are immediately sub- 
 servient to virtue, and by constantly represent- 
 ing them as subordinate to it. 
 
 671. Positive Precepts are so far from being 
 improper, that our compound nature, and our 
 present state, render some external means of 
 religion absolutely necessary; and we are un- 
 der a moral obligation to observe such as God 
 has appointed. 
 
 672. The Positive Precepts of Christianity, 
 relating only to Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, 
 and the Lord’s Day, have every excellence that 
 Positive Precepts can have: They are few, 
 
230 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 simple, directly conducive to virtue, and strong- 
 ly guarded from abuse. 
 
 673. The Positive Precepts of Christianity 
 are, in all these respects, far more excellent 
 than those of any other religion whatever. 
 
 674. In respect, therefore, of all its Precepts, 
 both Moral and Positive, Christianity is excel- 
 lent, and superior to all other religions.* 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 OF THE EXCELLENCE OF THE CHRISTIAN 
 DOCTRINES. 
 
 675. The Doctrines of Christianity are of 
 two kinds: It republishes the Doctrines of 
 Natural Religion,—and it teaches Doctrines 
 peculiar to itself. 
 
 676. The Doctrines of Natural Religion, as 
 taught by Christianity, are perfectly agreeable 
 to right and well-improved reason, and such as 
 
 * 'Tindal’s Christianity as old as the Creation. 
 
Of the Christian Doctrines. 231 
 
 may be proved to be true, by just and conclu- 
 sive arguments. | 
 
 677. Christianity teaches the Doctrines of 
 Natural Religion, with such evidence as is fit 
 to convince us of their truth, pointing out the 
 principles from which they are deducible, and 
 giving additional ground for the belief of them ; 
 and has, in fact, made them better known, and 
 more extensively received, than ever they were 
 before. | 
 
 678. Christianity teaches a System of Na- 
 tural Religion, more sublime, pure, and con- 
 sistent, than any other institution ever con- 
 tained. 
 
 679. As the ‘Truths of Natural Religion are 
 of great importance, being directly conducive 
 to the virtue and happiness of mankind; so, 
 Christianity always represents them as subser- 
 vient to these purposes,—teaches them with a 
 professed view to promote them,—and sets 
 them in those lights, in which they are most 
 strongly conducive to them. 
 
 680. It is no objection against Christianity, 
 that it enters not into, nor clears up, the specu- 
 lative doubts and difficulties which have been 
 
232 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 raised concerning the principles of Natural Re- 
 ligion; for these are matters of curiosity, are 
 perhaps beyond the reach of our powers, and 
 have no influence on practice. } 
 
 681. Christianity not only republishes the 
 Doctrines of Natural Religion, but also super- 
 adds several peculiar Doctrines, as revealed by 
 God. | 
 
 682. These being matter of pure revelation, 
 it is not to be expected that their truth can be 
 proved by reasoning : It is sufficient that they 
 contain nothing that reason can disprove. 
 
 683. It is not incredible that God should re- 
 veal to us any religious Truths not discover- 
 able by reason ; for, as, on account of its weak- 
 ness, there must be many religious Truths. be- 
 yond the reach of reason, so, some of these it 
 may be very useful for us to know.* 
 
 684. Some of the peculiar Doctrines of Chris- 
 tianity being mysterious, so that we cannot 
 perceive all the reasons of them, or that we can- 
 
 te OL 87 HUD OD. Wham! 
 
 * Tindal. Moral Philosopher. Rogers, Serm. 4. Le- 
 
 land’s Answer, vy. 1. ch. J. Chapman’s Euseb. y. 1. ch. 1. 
 Sherlock, y. 1. D. 1. 
 
Of the Christian Doctrines. 233 
 
 not comprehend the manner of them,—is not 
 sufficient to render them disagreeable or con- 
 trary to reason; for many Truths which reason 
 itself discovers to be certain, are, in the very 
 same senses, mysterious.* 
 
 685. It is a Doctrine’s being absurd, and im- 
 plying a contradiction,—not its being myste- 
 rious,—that can render it contrary to reason, so 
 as to be incapable of being revealed: But none 
 of the peculiar Doctrines of Christianity are, in 
 this sense, contrary to reason; and, therefore, 
 all of them are capable of. being revealed by 
 God. 
 
 686. None of the peculiar Doctrines of Chris- 
 tianity are inconsistent with any Truths esta- 
 blished by just reasoning, so as to be on that 
 account false, and incapable of being revealed. 
 
 687. The objections urged against the Ac- 
 count of the Fall of Man, and of the state of 
 the world in consequence of it, as represented 
 by Christianity,—are equally strong against the 
 
 * Tindal. Moral Philosopher. Stanhope’s B. L. Serm. 
 9—13. Sherlock, v. 1. Dise. I. p. 3, 4 
 
234 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 actual state of the world, and against Natural 
 Religion; and have no real force against either. 
 
 688. All representations of the Christian 
 Doctrine of our Redemption by the Death 
 and Sufferings of Christ, as inconsistent with 
 the justice of God, on account of its implying 
 the punishment of an innocent person, or the 
 sparing of the guilty for his sake, or the not 
 rewarding and punishing men according to their 
 actions ;—or as inconsistent with the essential 
 mercy and placability of God, or with his good- 
 ness :—Al such representations are founded on 
 mistaken notions of this Christian Doctrine, 
 and are of no force against it, when rightly un- 
 derstood.* 
 
 689. Neither Christ’s dignity as the Son of 
 God,—nor the meanness of the outward condi- 
 tion in which he appeared,—nor the insignifi- 
 eance of man, for whom he died,—can render 
 the Doctrine of our Redemption incredible ; 
 
 * Mor. Philos. Leland’s Answer. Chapman’s Euseb. 
 
Of the Christian Doctrines. 235 
 
 but, on the contrary, these circumstances re- 
 commend it in different ways.* 
 
 690. The peculiar Doctrines of Christianity 
 not only cannot be proved false by reasoning, 
 and so are capable of being revealed; but also 
 are, in a farther sense, agreeable to reason: For, 
 though reason cannot prove directly that they 
 are true, yet it gives testimony and counte- 
 nance to them indirectly in several ways, and 
 thus shews that they are worthy to be revealed. 
 
 691. The peculiar Doctrines of Christianity 
 explain a Dispensation, analogous, in all its 
 parts, to the present constitution and course of 
 nature; and, therefore, it is likely, that they 
 give a just representation of that Dispensation, 
 as indicating that it is appointed and revealed 
 by the same God who is the Author of Na- 
 ture.+ 
 
 692. Though reason could not have disco- 
 vered the peculiar Doctrines of Christianity, 
 
 * Clarke’s Evid. prop. 13. Sherlock, v. 1. Disc. 3. 
 p. 1. Disc. 11. + Butler’s Anal. p. 2. ch. 5. 
 
236 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 yet, after they have been revealed, it can dis- 
 cover arguments, which render it, in some 
 measure, probable that they are true : This sort 
 of agreeableness to reason is a considerable ex- 
 cellence in these Doctrines. | 
 
 693. The peculiar Doctrines of Christianity 
 are farther agreeable to reason, as it can per- 
 ceive that they form all together a regular and 
 consistent System, all the parts of which are 
 strictly connected and mutually dependent; and 
 all fit for answering their professed ends.*: 
 
 694. ‘The peculiar Doctrines of Christianity 
 are still farther agreeable to reason, as they ac- 
 count for facts which it perceives to be real,— 
 clear up difficulties which it finds in the actual 
 state of things,—confirm its doubtful conjec- 
 tures,—and suit the hopes and fears which it 
 teaches us to entertain; so that the scheme of 
 things discovered by reason, and that brought 
 to light by the Gospel, coincide, and make up 
 one plan of Providence.+ 
 
 a neater neers 
 
 * Sherlock, v. ]. Dise. 2. t Turret. Diss. 5. § 12. 
 Sherlock, y. J, Dise. 2, Dise. 3, p.2. Dise. 5, 6. 
 
Of the Christian Doctrines. 237 
 
 695. The authority of Revelation, on which 
 the truth of the peculiar Doctrines of Christi- 
 anity necessarily rests, is a species of evidence 
 well adapted to the general conviction of man- 
 kind. 
 
 696. All the peculiar Doctrines of Christi- 
 anity are directly subservient to our virtue and 
 improvement, and to what depends on these,— 
 our spiritual comfort, and our future happiness ; 
 and have a strong tendency to promote them: 
 They are all grounds of joy, and motives to 
 virtuous practice, exactly suited to our nature 
 and condition.” 
 
 697. In particular, the Christian Sanctions, 
 —the rewards and punishments which it pro- 
 poses,—are fitted to have the strongest influ- 
 ence on our conduct and our happiness. 
 
 698. All the Christian Doctrines,—both 
 those of Natural Religion, which it adopts, and 
 those which are peculiar to itself,—considered 
 as motives to virtue, and grounds of joy, have 
 
 * Leechman’s Ass. Serm. 
 
238 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 all the characters of excellence which any Doc- 
 trines can have.* 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 OF THE RELATION BETWEEN THE DOCTRINES 
 AND THE PRECEPTS OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 699. The Precepts and the Doctrines of Chris- 
 tianity promote its End in different ways: 
 But they both contribute to it, and are both 
 necessary for attaining it; and, therefore, from 
 both, Christianity derives great excellence. 
 
 700. ‘The Precepts of Christianity contribute 
 to its End, by giving us a Standard of virtue, 
 —by marking our obligations,—by directing 
 us in the exercise of the several virtues,—and 
 by enabling us to judge how far our character 
 entitles us to the comforts of religion. | 
 
 701. The Doctrines of Christianity promote 
 
 ie A inline kak cam Ged eae 
 * Stanhope’s B. L. Serm. 15. Burnet’s B. L. p- 481, &c. 
 
Of the Christian Doctrines and Precepts. 239 
 
 its End, as they exhibit views of things, fit to 
 excite the several good affections, which are the 
 immediate principles of right conduct, and to 
 support our joy and religious hope. 
 
 702. Though, therefore, the Precepts of 
 Christianity do contribute greatly to its End, 
 yet its Doctrines are the most direct, imme- 
 diate, and powerful means of promoting it ; 
 and, consequently, though the Precepts be a 
 real and essential part of this religion, yet its 
 Doctrines are the principal, the most funda- 
 mental, and the most important parts of it, and 
 bestow the greatest degree of excellence upon 
 it.* 
 
 703. Neither the Precepts alone, nor the 
 Doctrines alone, would be sufficient for our 
 sanctification and our comfort: They are coun- 
 terparts to each other, co-operating to these 
 purposes; and it is the peculiar excellence of 
 Christianity, that it is a perfect system of Mo- 
 rals, supported by proper principles. 
 
 704. From the superior importance of the 
 
 * Leechman’s Ass. Serm. 
 
240 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 Doctrines of Christianity, it will not follow that 
 a speculative belief of them is of equal moment 
 with obedience to the precepts: Such a belief 
 can be compared only with a speculative know- 
 ledge of the precepts: It is compliance with 
 the Doctrines, that can be compared with obe- 
 dience to the Precepts; and these two are per- 
 fectly coincident. 
 
 705. Christianity is, in its whole structure, 
 adapted to the state of mankind, and to the 
 actual condition both of the Jews and: Hea- 
 thens, and fit to rectify the disorders of both. 
 
 SECT. V. 
 
 HOW FAR THE EXCELLENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 
 PROVES ITS TRUTH AND DIVINITY. 
 
 706. The excellence of Christianity is com- 
 monly called its Internal Evidence; and it re- 
 mains to be observed, what evidence of the 
 Truth and Divinity of Christianity arises from 
 
 its excellence. 
 
2 
 
 The Excellence of Christianity a Proof’ ofits Truth. 241 
 
 707. The excellence of Christianity,—even 
 its negative excellence, as containing nothing 
 contrary to reason,—much more the degree of 
 positive excellence which it possesses,—shews 
 that it may have been revealed by God, renders 
 it capable of proof by positive evidence, and 
 reduces the question concerning its Truth, to 
 an inquiry into the force of the positive evi- 
 dence produced for it.* 
 
 708. But, to allow only, that the excellence 
 of Christianity renders it capable of proof by 
 positive evidence, is to estimate its force too 
 low: That excellence is of itself, abstracted 
 from all farther proof, some evidence both of 
 the Truth and of the Divine Original of the 
 Christian Religion. | 
 
 709. Its Excellence, rendering it the best of 
 all religions, is a real reason for our embracing 
 it as a true religion, though it were not 
 divine: That excellence, implying that many 
 
 ThE a ae SCRE “eee > cee @erucenressee eo a 
 
 * Rogers, Serm. 3. Coneybeare, ch. ult. Butler’s Anal. 
 p. 2. ch. 3, 4. 
 
 Q 
 
242 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 parts of it are proved true by reasoning, is 
 sufficient evidence of these parts, demanding 
 our full assent to them; and the harmony of 
 the other parts with these, and the kind of con- 
 formity to reason which they have, claim some 
 degree of assent to them, as probable conjec- 
 tures, on a subject where no more can be ex- 
 pected from our natural powers. 
 
 710. But the excellence of Christianity, and 
 its great superiority to all other religions, can 
 scarcely at all be accounted for,—at least can- 
 not so naturally and easily be accounted for,— 
 by any other supposition, as by that of its hav- 
 ing been revealed by God; and it furnishes, 
 therefore, a real probability of its Divinity. 
 
 711. The supposition of its Divinity is the 
 only natural account that can be given, how 
 its peculiar Doctrines and Precepts should 
 be so remote from the investigation of reason, 
 and yet so agreeable to the soundest principles 
 of reason. 
 
 712. As the Author of Christianity asserts 
 that it is of divine original, its excellence must 
 dispose us to give credit to his assertion; for 
 
The Excellence of Christianity a Proof ofits Truth. 243 
 
 it would be a force upon our minds, to con- 
 ceive a person teaching so excellent a doctrine, 
 and yet infecting the whole with falsehood and 
 imposture. 
 
 713. Christianity cannot be a true religion, 
 except it be divine; and, if it be not a true 
 religion, there is no true religion in the 
 world,—not even Natural Religion, for it can 
 be found pure and perfect only in Christianity : 
 As, therefore, we must believe that there is 
 some true religion, we must also believe 
 Christianity to be, on account of its excellence, 
 divine. 
 
 714. This evidence of the Truth and Di- 
 vinity of Christianity, implied in its excellence, 
 must, from the constitution of our nature, 
 have considerable force in determining our 
 assent: Though it be of the presumptive kind, 
 it is yet very strong; though some of the 
 indications of Divinity which have been men- 
 tioned, may be separately inconsiderable, yet 
 all together they may have great weight : They 
 prepare the mind for perceiving the force of 
 the External Evidences ; they produce love to 
 
244 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 Christianity, as well as the belief of it; they 
 cannot be considered without increasing our 
 knowledge of it; and they continue always 
 
 the same.* 
 
 SECT. VI. 
 
 OF THE EXCELLENCE OF THE RELIGIONS PRE- 
 SUPPOSED BY CHRISTIANITY ;—THE RELI- 
 GION OF THE STATE OF INNOCENCE. 
 
 715. If Christianity had been proposed un- 
 connected with any other religion, the view of 
 it already taken would be sufficient to evince 
 its excellence. | 
 
 716. But as Christianity supposes the Truth 
 of the Jewish religion, and of the several re- 
 velations made to the Patriarchs, the propriety 
 and excellence of these must be evinced, in 
 order to a full proof of its excellence. 
 
 * Williams’s B. L. Serm. 3, 5. Bradford’s B. L. Criterion, 
 p. 336, &c. 
 
Of the Religion of the State of Innocence. 245 
 
 717. It supposes man to have been created 
 at first innocent and upright; and, that he 
 should have been thus created, is perfectly con- 
 sonant to all our notions of the Divine Per- 
 fections. 
 
 718. In the State of Innocence, the religion 
 of man comprehended pure Natural Religion, 
 the excellence of which is universally acknow- 
 ledged. 
 
 719. It included, likewise, the observance of 
 the Sabbath, which was a proper and. very 
 necessary memorial of the world’s having been 
 created by God, and an useful mean of pro- 
 moting piety, and of preserving the worship of 
 the One God, the Creator of the world.* 
 
 720. It included, also, one Positive Precept, 
 —the command to abstain from the Forbidden 
 Fruit: This was a very easy and proper trial 
 of obedience, and, perhaps, answered many 
 good ends with which we are unacquainted.t 
 
 721. The religion of the State of Innocence 
 
 * Law’s Theory, p. 2. p. 47. + King’s Serm. 
 
246 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 was, partly at least, revealed; and, during its 
 continuance, there was frequent communica- 
 tion and intercourse between God and man: 
 The necessary inexperience of man for some 
 time after his creation, rendered this needful, 
 and suitable to his state.* 
 
 SECT. VII. 
 
 OF THE EXCELLENCE OF THE RELIGION RE- 
 VEALED IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE FALL OF 
 MAN. 
 
 722. The Fall of Man from the State of 
 Innocence necessarily occasioned an alteration 
 in the religion proper for him ; and Chris- 
 tianity supposes such an alteration to have been 
 made immediately after the Fall, and other 
 alterations to have been afterwards made by 
 subsequent revelations. 
 
 * Law’s Theory, p. 2. p. 43. 
 
Of the Religion Revealed after the Fall. 24:7 
 
 ‘723. Because one great design of all these 
 was, to serve as a preparation for Christianity, 
 it. cannot be expected that they should have 
 the -very same kind of excellence with ‘it: 
 Their: propriety must be estimated in a very 
 different: manner. 
 
 724. It will arise, partly from their fitness 
 for introducing Christianity, and partly from 
 their fitness for answering the general ends of 
 religion, suitably to the circumstances of man- 
 kind at the times when they were given. 
 
 725. The religion appointed after the Fall 
 included Natural Religion, and, also, the in- 
 stitution of the Sabbath, which then answered 
 the same ends that it did in the State of In- 
 nocence.* . 
 726. Under this religion, frequent intercourse 
 with God, by occasional revelations, continued 
 to take place,—which well suited the infant 
 state of the world, and was very requisite for 
 its direction.+ | | 
 
 i Law’s, Theory, p- 2. p. 47... 5. ¢ Law, ab. p. RD eae 
 
248 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 727. An intimation that God was reconcile- 
 able to mankind, and that a Redeemer was in 
 due time to appear, who should deliver them 
 from the consequences of the Fall,—was very 
 necessary for preventing their despair, for 
 giving encouragement to repentance and obe- 
 dience, and for rendering them capable of hope 
 or joy: It was, therefore, very proper that such 
 an intimation should have been given imme- 
 diately after the Fall; as Christianity supposes 
 that it. was given. 
 
 728. As it is not easy to give any account 
 how Sacrifices,—particularly Animal Sacrifices, 
 —should have ever been thought of, if they 
 were of human invention; so, if we suppose 
 them to be of Divine institution, and to have 
 been appointed immediately after the Fall, they 
 will appear very fit for impressing mankind 
 with a sense, both of the justice and of the plac- 
 ability of God, and for preserving among them 
 the expectation of the promised Redeemer ; 
 and, thus, both to be subservient to the general 
 end of religion, and well adapted to prepare the 
 way for Christianity; and, consequently, to 
 
Of the Patriarchal Religion. 249 
 
 have a great degree of propriety and excel- 
 lence.* 
 
 729. The religion thus supposed by Chris- 
 tianity to have taken place in consequence of 
 the Fall,—including Natural Religion, along 
 with the institution of the Sabbath, the pro- 
 mise of a Redeemer, and the appointment of 
 Sacrifices,—was suitable to the ignorance, the 
 rudeness, and the simplicity of mankind in the 
 first ages of the world. 
 
 SECT. VIII. 
 
 OF THE EXCELLENCE OF THE PATRIARCHAL 
 RELIGION. 
 
 730. The universal defection of mankind to 
 idolatry, soon after the Flood, rendered some 
 new Dispensation of religion necessary for 
 preserving, both the knowledge and worship of 
 
 * Law’s Theory, p. 2. p. 40. 
 
250 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 the One ‘True God, and the expectation of a 
 Redeemer.* 
 
 731. 'The separation of one part of mankind 
 from the idolatrous world was a proper mean 
 for that end ; and, if such a separation was to 
 be made, the piety and virtue of Abraham 
 rendered it very proper that he and his poste- 
 rity should be the part thus separated : This 
 was rendered ‘still more proper, by its being 
 from him that the promised Redeemer was to 
 spring.t+ 
 
 732. The religion of Abraham and the other 
 Patriarchs included the whole of the religion 
 given after the Fall, and superadded to it some 
 new articles, each of which had great: pro- 
 priety. ! | 
 733. It included a Promise, that the Re- 
 deemer of mankind was to be of the seed of 
 Abraham, by Isaac, by Jacob, and by Judah. 
 This was highly proper: It rendered the ex- 
 pectation of the Redeemer determinate; it 
 
 * Law’s Theory, p. 2. p. 59. + Law, ib. p. 62. 
 
Of the Patriarchal Religion. 251 
 
 prevented the claims of impostors ; and it pre- 
 pared evidence of the true Redeemer when he 
 should actually appear.*. 
 
 734. It included, also, a promise of the Land 
 of Canaan, as ‘a temporal inheritance for the 
 posterity of Abraham, by Isaac, and by Jacob: 
 This promise tended to preserve them in the 
 worship of the True God, till the proper time 
 for the accomplishment of it should come. 
 
 735. This promise could not be accomplished 
 till the posterity of Jacob became, in the course 
 of nature, numerous enough to occupy and 
 defend the Land of Canaan: And this neces- 
 sary delay gave scope for a series of providen- 
 tial operations in disposing of them,—particu- 
 larly for their being carried into Egypt. These 
 were the fittest possible for preserving them 
 distinct from all other families and nations ; 
 and, consequently, for promoting all the ends 
 of their separation from the rest of mankind.+ 
 
 eee nnnntnnnnnn nen nT UES 
 
 * Gerard, v. 1. Serm. 6. + Warburton’s Diy. Leg. 
 Law’s Theory, p. 2. p. 75. 
 
252 ‘Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 736. 'To the institution of Sacrifices, which 
 had taken place ever since the Fall, the Pa- 
 triarchal Religion superadded the Positive Rite 
 of Circumcision; which, besides other purposes, 
 served to secure their separation from the other 
 nations of the world, and thus to promote all 
 the purposes to which that separation was sub- 
 servient. 
 
 737. Besides this standing religion, the Pa- 
 triarchs had frequent occasional directions for 
 particulars of their conduct: This was suitable 
 to the state of mankind in that early age of the 
 world; the simplicity and obscurity of the re- 
 velations made to them required it ; and it was 
 necessary for carrying forward those steps of 
 Providence, by which the promises made to 
 them were to be accomplished.* 
 
 * Law’s Theory, p. 2. p. 62, 71. 
 
Of the Mosaical Rehgion. 258 
 
 Tee SECT. IX. 
 
 OF THE EXCELLENCE OF THE MOSAICAL 
 RELIGION. 
 
 738. The bringing of the Israelites out of 
 Egypt, and their actual establishment in the 
 Land of Canaan, gave occasion to a new Dis- 
 pensation of Religion,—the Mosaical, or Jewish 
 Religion. 
 
 739. It was founded on the Patriarchal, of 
 which it included all the articles, together with 
 several additions. 
 
 740. Its being a National. Religion gave it 
 considerable advantage above the Patriarchal, 
 which had been only a Domestic Religion : It 
 regarded the people among whom it was esta- 
 blished as embodied into one Political Society. 
 
 741. The Jewish religion was intended, 
 partly to preserve the knowledge of the True 
 
254 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 God in the world, and partly to prepare for the 
 Christian Dispensation.* 
 
 742. ‘These are ends of so great importance, 
 that, if it be fit for answering them, it has real 
 excellence, may have been revealed by God, 
 and is worthy to be revealed by him. | 
 
 743. The Doctrines of the Jewish Religion 
 concerning God are the pure principles of Na- 
 tural Religion, and, therefore, excellent © in 
 every respect. 
 
 744, The peculiar Doctrines of that Religion 
 were very few. 
 
 745. One was, That God had chosen the na- 
 tion of the Israelites to be his Peculiar People, 
 and condescended to be their Tutelary God : 
 This was necessary for preserving the know- 
 ledge of the True.God; for mankind were so 
 prone to idolatry, that that knowledge could 
 be preserved only by separating one part of 
 them from the rest; and the Israelites were so 
 
 * Law’s Theory, p. 2. p. 78. 
 
Of the Mosaical Religion. 255 
 
 deeply infected with the general propensity, 
 that nothing short of so intimate a relation to 
 God could have at all attached them to ‘his 
 service.* f 
 
 746. Another was, That God was the King 
 and Supreme Magistrate of this nation, and 
 governed it by a special and equal Providence; 
 rewarding and punishing them by prosperity 
 and by calamity, according to their obedience 
 or disobedience: This was fit for restraining 
 them from idolatry ; and it was necessary, be- 
 cause a Future State was but obscurely revealed 
 to them.t+ 
 
 747. A Third was, That the Redeemer of 
 the world should, in due time, spring from their 
 nation: This was necessary, and contributed, 
 in many ways, to render that religion a prepa- 
 ration for Christianity. 
 
 748. The obscurity of the revelation of a 
 . Future State, in the Jewish religion, was 
 suitable to its nature, both as a National Insti- 
 
 a er 
 
 * Warburton’s Div. Leg. v.4. p. I, &e. + War. 
 burton’s Div. Leg. b. 5. s. 2. | 
 
 ~ 
 
256 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 tution, and as only an introduction to the great 
 Dispensation of Eternal Redemption. 
 
 749. The Moral Precepts of the Jewish Re- 
 ligion are unexceptionable : If they do not, in 
 every instance, enjoin the highest pitch of vir- 
 tue, they allow nothing that is absolutely and 
 in all cases immoral. 
 
 750. A Body of Political Laws was incorpo- 
 rated with the Jewish religion: And it pos- 
 sessed the proper excellence of such Laws, be- 
 ing exactly just and equitable, and suited to 
 the circumstances of the people; and, along 
 with that, it had this farther excellence, that 
 many of these Laws were directly calculated 
 for keeping them from idolatry. 
 
 751. It was not unjust in the Jewish Laws, 
 to punish idolatry with death: For God being 
 the peculiar God, and the Supreme National 
 Governor of that People, idolatry was among 
 them,—not merely an immorality,— but, pro- 
 perly, the civil crime of Treason, and, conse- 
 quently, Capital ; and its being made so by sta- 
 tute, was a strong and necessary check to their 
 propensity to idolatry. 
 
Of the Mosaical Religion. 257 
 
 752. The Jewish Religion contained a great 
 multitude of Positive Precepts, or a complex 
 Ceremonial Law; and it was proper that it 
 should do so, because this fitted it for answer- 
 ing all the purposes for which it was designed. 
 
 753. The multiplicity and carnality of its 
 ceremonies did not render it unworthy of the 
 Spiritual Nature of God; for these circum- 
 stances made it the more effectual for restraining 
 the Jews from idolatry, and thus preserving the 
 knowledge of the True God, the Eternal Spirit. 
 
 754. Many of the Jewish ceremonies were 
 instituted in direct opposition to the idolatrous 
 and superstitious ceremonies of the Pagans,— 
 for preserving the Israelites from which, they 
 were therefore well calculated ; and, consequent- 
 ly, were, in their situation, proper and excellent. 
 
 755. Some of them were very similar to the 
 rites of Paganism: The propriety and excel- 
 lence of these arose from their tendency to 
 reconcile the Israelites to the worship of the 
 True God, by innocently gratifying their pre- 
 judices, and turning them into a new channel. 
 
 756. These circumstances having been abu- 
 
 R 
 
258 Ewidences of Christian ty. 
 
 sed to the purposes of idolatry and supersti- 
 tion, did not render them unworthy to be used 
 in the worship of the True God: For they 
 were harmless in themselves ; and their being, 
 in the Jewish Religion, intermixed with cere- 
 monies directly opposed to idolatry, was a strong 
 check to their being so abused by the Jews. 
 
 757. The nature of the Jewish Ritual,—es- 
 sentially calculated for opposing idolatry, and 
 gratifying the prejudices of the people only in 
 some harmless particulars,—is a strong presump- 
 tion of its Divinity; for, if Moses had been an 
 impostor, he would have naturally pursued the 
 very opposite method, as the most likely to 
 secure success, as well as the most adapted to 
 what must have been his own notions. 
 
 758. It is no objection against the excellence 
 of the Jewish Religion, nor any proof that it 
 failed of answering its end, that it did not, in ~ 
 fact, preserve the Israelites from idolatry : For © 
 its proper end was—not to preserve them from 
 idolatry,—but to preserve the knowledge of the ° 
 One True God in the world; and it effectually 
 answered this end, even when the Israelites fell 
 
Of the Mosaical Religion. 259 
 
 into idolatry ; for their idolatry consisted— 
 not in totally abandoning the True God,—but 
 in worshipping other gods along with him. - 
 
 759. The rites of the Jewish Religion were 
 also Types, prefiguring the Christian Dispen- 
 sation: This rendered it a fit preparation for 
 that Dispensation ; and was a method of pre- 
 paring the world for it, suitable to the general 
 usages of other nations, and to the genius of the 
 Mosaical Religion itself.* 
 
 760. The complex Jewish Ritual,—referring 
 minutely to the idolatrous practices of the 
 world, and, at the same time, as minutely 
 typifying the Christian Dispensation, and, 
 thus, equally adapted to dissimilar ends,—im- 
 plies very great excellence, and displays such 
 wisdom of contrivance, as furnishes a strong’ 
 presumption of its having a Divine Original. 
 
 761. Under the Mosaical Dispensation, there 
 were frequent occasional revelations by Pro- 
 
 Byeis This was a necessary consequence of 
 ® 
 
 * Warburton’s Div. Leg. 
 
260 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 God’s governing the Israelites by a special 
 Providence; and it had a strong tendency to 
 preserve them in the worship of the One True 
 God, and, from time to time, to reclaim them 
 from idolatry ; and, along with this, it gave 
 scope for making preparation for Christianity, 
 by a series of explicit predictions gradually un- 
 folding its nature. 
 
 762. The confining of this religion to the 
 one nation of the Israelites, was not a partiality 
 unworthy of God: Without being confined to 
 one nation, it could not, considering the cir- 
 cumstances of the world, have answered its 
 ends: It was confined to them—not for their 
 own sake, to aggrandize them,—but for the 
 general benefit of mankind, who all along de- 
 rived great advantages from this religion, and” 
 were, equally with the Jews, concerned in the 
 Dispensation, for which it was intended to pre- 
 pare the way.* 
 
 763. The Israelites being a sottish and per- 
 
 * Law’s Theory, p. 2. p. 80, &c. 
 
Of the Mosaical Religion. 261 
 
 verse people, did not render it improper, that 
 they should be selected from the rest of man- 
 kind: For, they had this privilege—not for 
 their own merit,—but in reward of the emi- 
 nent piety of their ancestor Abraham; and 
 their sottishness and perverseness rendered it 
 the more unquestionably evident, that their 
 religion was of Divine Original, not contrived 
 by their own wisdom,—and that their protec- 
 tion was owing to a particular Providence, not 
 to any shining qualities of their own.* 
 
 764. Thus the Mosaical Religion,—being 
 intended for important ends; and being, in all 
 its parts, particularly in those which appear 
 the most exceptionable when considered in 
 themselves, accurately adapted to the attain- 
 ment of these ends ;—has all that excellence 
 which can reasonably be required in it. 
 
 * Law’s Theory, p. 2. p. 94, &c. 
 
262 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 SECT. X. 
 
 OF THE CONSISTENCY AND CONNEXION OF THE 
 SEVERAL REVEALED RELIGIONS. 
 
 7605. As no two religions really revealed by 
 God can be contradictory, it is necessary to the 
 excellence of Christianity, and of all the re- 
 ligions which it supposes to have been succes: 
 sively revealed, that they be consistent with 
 one another. 
 
 766. There is, notwithstanding, a strong 
 appearance of inconsistency between the Jewish 
 religion. and the Christian,—which is of im- 
 portance, not only in the peculiar question 
 with the Jews, but, also, as it regards the 
 general defence of Christianity ; for, if the in- 
 consistency were real, they could not both be 
 religions truly revealed by God. 
 
 767. But it is only a seeming inconsistency. 
 
 768. It is not a real inconsistency, that the 
 Political Law of the Jews is not of force under 
 
Of the Conneaion of the several Revelations. 263 
 
 Christianity ; for it was adapted to them, as a 
 nation inhabiting the Land of Canaan; and, 
 therefore, it ceased of course on the fall of their 
 Polity, rather than was abolished by Chris- 
 tidnity. 104: 
 
 769. ‘The Ceremonial Law was never. in- 
 tended to be, either of universal, or of perpe- 
 tual obligation, but was a temporary institu- 
 tion for particular purposes; and, when these 
 purposes were answered, it became useless ;— 
 so that, properly speaking, it was fulfilled by 
 Christianity, not abolished by it. 
 
 770. Nor does Christianity contradict Juda- 
 ism, by forbidding Polygamy and Divorce, 
 which the Law of Moses allowed: For this 
 Law only tolerated, but by no means com- 
 manded these ; and Christ only forbids using 
 that liberty, which the Law allowed to the 
 Jews, on account of the hardness of their 
 hearts. 
 
 771. In whatever instances the Moral Pre- 
 cepts of Christianity seem to differ from those 
 of Judaism, they do not contradict them; but 
 only enjoin a greater purity and perfection of 
 
264 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 virtue, suitable to the clearer and more en- 
 larged discoveries which the Gospel has given. 
 
 772. The several revelations supposed by 
 Christianity are not only consistent, and, there- 
 fore, capable of being all True and Divine; but 
 they are all, likewise, strictly connected ; and 
 their connexion and harmony bestow on the 
 whole series of them, taken together, an excel- 
 lence distinct from the propriety of each, con- 
 sidered separately. 
 
 773. Every prior revelation is a proper in- 
 troduction to the subsequent ; and every sub- 
 sequent revelation makes some addition to that 
 immediately preceding it, fit to render it,— 
 either more perfect,—or more effectual for its 
 immediate ends,—or a nearer and more direct 
 preparation for Christianity. | 
 
 774. The connexion of the several revela- 
 tions from the beginning of the world, bestows 
 great importance on Christianity ; exhibiting it 
 as a plan which God had always in view, and 
 has made the great and constant object of his 
 care and Providence through all ages,—open- 
 ing it up gradually from time to time, and at 
 
Of the Connexion of the several Revelations. 265 
 
 last, when the proper season came, establishing 
 it fully by the mission of his Son. 
 
 775. There being a series of connected and 
 dependent revelations, from the beginning of 
 the world to the establishment of Christianity, 
 is a very strong evidence that they are true 
 revelations; and that the Scheme of Things, 
 which they gradually unfold, is really a Plan 
 of Divine Providence: For it excludes the 
 possibility of the whole being a mere human 
 contrivance ; since we cannot conceive that an 
 imposture should have been carried forward 
 regularly and uniformly, through a long suc- 
 cession of ages,—especially when the first open- 
 ings of the plan are so general and obscure, as 
 to be insufficient for even giving a hint to 
 reason of the steps that were afterwards taken 
 for carrying it into execution.* 
 
 * Warburton’s Diy. Leg. Law’s Theory, p. 2. p. 135, 
 &e. 
 
266 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 776. Thus the whole of Revealed Religion 
 has such Excellence, as shews that it may have 
 proceeded from God, and is worthy of him ; 
 and as implies very considerable evidence, that 
 it really came from him. 
 
Of the Evidence from Miracles. 267 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE EXTERNAL EVIDENCES OF CHRIS-- 
 TIANITY. 
 
 777. Tue Direct External Evidence of the 
 Truth of Christianity arises—either from Mi- 
 racles,—or from Prophecy. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 OF THE EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY FROM 
 MIRACLES. 
 
 778. In order to exhibit the Evidence of 
 Christianity from Miracles, it is necessary—to 
 fix the true definition of a Miracle, and demon- 
 
268 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 strate that the works to which Christianity 
 appeals for its truth, if they were really done, 
 were properly Miraculous,—to prove that they 
 were really done,—and to shew that they 
 evince the Truth and Divinity of Christianity. 
 
 779. I. The Miracles which prove the Truth 
 of Christianity, are a series of extraordinary 
 facts, extending through all ages, almost from 
 the creation of the world to the establishment 
 of Christianity ; but the principal of these are, 
 the Miracles wrought by Moses in confirma- 
 tion of the Jewish Religion, and those wrought 
 by Christ and his Apostles in confirmation of 
 the Christian. 
 
 780. A Miracle has sometimes been defined, 
 so as that it would be scarce possible to prove 
 any work to be Miraculous; and sometimes so 
 as that it would be difficult to prove, that a 
 Miracle evinces a Divine Mission: Both ex- 
 tremes should be avoided in defining it. 
 
 781. A Miracle is a work extraordinary, or 
 contrary to the known established Course of 
 Nature, in which the interposition of a Super- 
 
Of the Evidence from Miracles. 269 
 
 natural Power, or a power superior to man’s, is 
 evident.* 
 
 782. Miraculous works are of two kinds,— 
 such extraordinary works as are produced solely 
 by a Supernatural Power, without the inter- 
 vention of any human act,—and_ such as, 
 though they require the exertion of a Super- 
 natural Power, yet are produced by means of 
 some volition or action of a human agent: 
 There are works of both these kinds appealed 
 to for the religion of the Bible. 
 
 783. Again—Miracles are—either such ef- 
 fects as could not be produced by Natural 
 Means,—or such effects as, though they might 
 be produced by Natural Means, yet could not 
 be produced in that manner, and with those 
 circumstances, which in fact attend them, with- 
 out the interposition of some Invisible Super- 
 natural Power.t 
 
 784. In cases of the former kind, when it is 
 
 * Locke’s Reas. of Christ. Fleetwood on Mir. Chand- 
 ler on Mir. Clarke’s Evid. pr. 14. Turretin. Criterion, 
 p-. 5, &c. 
 
 + Coneybeare’s Serm. on Mir. p.8. Criterion, p. 131. 
 
270 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 proved that the effects have been produced, it 
 is, at the same time, proved that there was a 
 Miracle: Many of the works appealed to for 
 the religion of the Bible are of this kind; and, 
 therefore, indubitably Miraculous, if the facts 
 were real.* 
 
 785. In cases of the latter kind, the manner 
 and circumstances of the effects produced may 
 render it equally certain, that, in these parti- 
 cular instances, they were not in fact produced 
 by Natural Causes; and, consequently, that 
 they were Miraculous: And almost all the 
 extraordinary works appealed to in the Bible, 
 which fall not under the former head, are of 
 this sort.+ 
 
 786. Our being ignorant how far the power 
 of Natural Causes may possibly extend, does 
 not put it out of our power to pronounce an 
 event Miraculous; for we may be certain that 
 that power does not extend to such and such 
 particular effects.} 
 
 * Criterion, p. 259, &c. — t Criterion, p. 249. .f Cri- 
 terion, p. 267. 
 
Of the Evidence from Miracles. 271 
 
 787. One such fact, as those to which Re- 
 vealed Religion appeals, would be above the 
 power of Nature, and, therefore, evidently Mi- 
 raculous ;—much more a long series of them, 
 —especially when they are great,—the most 
 unlike to every thing that man could do,—of 
 dissimilar kinds,—performed in public, and in 
 different places,—and extending through a 
 course of years: All these circumstances con- 
 cur in the Miracles of Holy Writ; and, conse- 
 quently, if they were at all wrought, they were 
 unquestionably real Miracles,* 
 
 788. II. That the Miraculous Works, to 
 which Revealed Religion appeals, were really 
 done, there is proper and sufficient evidence. 
 
 789. A Miracle cannot be pronounced. in- 
 credible in its own nature; for, as God at first 
 established the Course of Nature, it is certainly 
 not impossible that he can reverse that course, 
 and bring about an event contrary to it.t 
 
 a 
 
 * Sherlock, tte 1. Disc. 10. + Criterion, p. 11. 
 are ' * 
 
Q72 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 790. They who are witnesses of a Miracle 
 have the evidence of sense for the fact; and, 
 whenever they have so, they cannot disbelieve 
 it: Nor are others, who are not witnesses of it, 
 incapable of having sufficient evidence of its 
 reality. 
 
 791. Experience of the ordinary Course of 
 Nature is not a proof superior or contradictory 
 to a testimony in favour of Miracles ; for testi- 
 mony is an original cause of belief, and is an 
 evidence for a particular fact, which is not de- 
 stroyed by any general conclusion, drawn from 
 our experience of what usually happens.* 
 
 792. To say that Miracles are contrary to 
 universal experience, and therefore incredible, 
 is to beg the question,—to take it for granted 
 that no person ever saw a Miracle; and their 
 being contrary to our particular experience, 
 does not render them incredible; for we neces- 
 sarily believe numberless things which are so.+ 
 
 793. A Miracle is no more incredible than 
 
 * Campbell on Mir. p. 1. s. 1. + Campbell, ib. s. 2. 
 
Of the Evidence from Miracles. 273 
 
 any fact equally unusual, though not properly 
 Miraculous, for both are equally contrary to 
 common experience ; and, therefore, the same 
 strength of testimony is sufficient for the proof 
 of both.* 
 
 794. The testimony for the Miracles of Scrip- 
 ture is of force sufficient to render them credi- 
 ble: It is that of eye-witnesses, who cannot be 
 supposed either to have been themselves de- 
 ceived, or to have intended to deceive others. 
 
 795. The facts were not old and remote, but 
 such as happened in their own time, and in 
 their own presence. 
 
 796. The facts were not obscure, ambiguous, 
 or done in a corner, but clear and public,— 
 things, of which they could easily know the 
 truth or falsehood,—of which they could judge 
 by their very senses,—and done by persons 
 with whom they conversed intimately. 
 
 797. The facts are numerous, so that they 
 could not have mistaken all of them; as:a per- 
 
 * Campbell on Mir. p. 1. 
 
Q74 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 son may, through inadvertency, mistake in a 
 single instance. 
 
 798. The witnesses concurring as to these 
 facts, are many; and it cannot be conceived 
 that they should have been all imposed upon 
 in the same manner. 
 
 799. They appear not to have been over- 
 credulous, but, on the contrary, backward in 
 believing ; and all their prior prejudices ob- 
 structed their giving credit to the Miracles 
 which they attest. 
 
 800. On this account, their conviction can- 
 not be ascribed to enthusiasm; besides that 
 enthusiasim will not account for mistakes in 
 matters of sense. 
 
 801. As they could not be deceived them- 
 selves, so neither could they intend to deceive 
 others. ; 
 
 802. Both the tendency of the doctrine 
 which they taught, and the blameless and 
 virtuous tenor of their own behaviour, are in- 
 consistent with the supposition of imposture. 
 
 803. The meanness of their state and con- 
 dition must have prevented Christ and the 
 
Of the Evidence from Miracles. 275 
 
 Apostles from forming a design of imposing on 
 the. world a new religion, supported by false 
 Miracles. 
 
 804. They related and published their ac- 
 counts of these Miracles in the very places 
 where they were said to be wrought, at the 
 very time when they were said to be wrought, 
 and in the presence of those who must have 
 known whether they were wrought or not. 
 
 805. If they had been impostors, they would 
 have accommodated themselves to the pre- 
 judices of those whom they addressed; but 
 they opposed all the prejudices of the world. 
 
 806. If the Miracles which they relate had 
 been false, it would have been easy for their 
 learned and powerful opposers to have convyict- 
 ed them of falsehood; but this they were so 
 far from doing, that they all acknowledge the 
 reality of the Miracles. 
 
 807. ‘The Christian Miracles are related in a 
 manner which shews that the relaters were 
 secure of their truth ; for they published them 
 without dissimulation,—with all their attend- 
 ant circumstances,—boldly, and before all sorts 
 
276 - Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 of persons,—with the greatest simplicity,—and 
 with appeals to living witnesses. 
 
 808. The publishers of Christianity could 
 have no motive to imposture, but, on the con- 
 trary, had every motive against it ; and, if they 
 had at first projected it, the treatment which 
 they met with must soon have determined 
 them to abandon the design. 
 
 809. Their suffering and dying in support of 
 their testimony, is an unquestionable evidence 
 of their sincerity, and, consequently, of the 
 reality of the facts which they attested. 
 
 810. ‘he Miracles related in the Bible are 
 rendered the more credible, by their being 
 wrought by persons who assumed the character 
 of Inspired Messengers, sent by God to reveal 
 his Will to men, and by their being intended 
 as credentials of their Mission ; for this implies 
 an end important enough for suspending the 
 Course of Nature, and gives a good reason for 
 employing the visible agency of men in sus- 
 pending it. 
 
 811. ‘The evidence of these Miracles is not 
 destroyed, nor even weakened, by the many 
 
Of the Evidence from Miracles. 217 
 
 accounts of false Miracles; for all of the latter 
 kind, which could be justly reckoned Miracles, 
 if the facts were real, are supported by insuf- 
 ficient testimony,—as, either they were not 
 published till long after the time when they 
 were said to have happened,—or were not 
 published in the place where they were said 
 to have happened,—or were not exposed to 
 examination ;—the contrary of all which is true 
 of the Miracles of the Bible. 
 
 812. III. The extraordinary works recorded 
 in the Bible, being both strictly Miraculous in 
 their nature, and undoubtedly real, are direct 
 Proofs of the Truth of the Doctrine in con- 
 firmation of which they were wrought. 
 
 813. Being works opposite to the Course of 
 Nature, and above the power of Natural Causes, 
 they require the interposition of God, or of 
 some superior Being employed by him ; and it 
 is inconsistent with his Perfections, to allow 
 such works to happen on purpose to deceive 
 us: We may, therefore, be certain of the 
 truth of what is attested by Miracles. 
 
 814, Miracles prove the truth of a revelation, 
 
278 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 by removing all presumption against a super- 
 natural communication, and by shewing that 
 it actually takes place in one way. | 
 
 815. Many of the Miracles of the Gospel 
 are direct proofs of its particular Doctrines, as 
 they are specimens of the very Powers which 
 these Doctrines ascribe to Christ, or of the 
 most similar Powers that can be rendered 
 objects of sense; and, therefore, shew that he 
 actually had these powers. 
 
 816. The Miracles ascribed to Christ and 
 his Apostles, are, in many respects, superior to 
 those of Moses; and, therefore, render the in- 
 fidelity of the Jews unreasonable. 
 
 817. All the Miracles of the Bible are sup- 
 ported by sufficient evidence, and therefore 
 prove the Truth and Divinity of the whole 
 series of revelations contained in it.* 
 
 i 
 
 * Clarke’s Evid. pr. 14.. Hume’s Essay. Characteris- 
 tics. Campbell. Criterion. Chandler on Mir. Turretin. 
 Locke’s Reas. of Christ. Fleetwood. Butler’s Anal. p. 2. 
 ch. 2,7. Leng’s B. L. Serm. 13-15. 
 
Of the Evidence from Prophecy. 279 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 OF THE EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY FROM 
 PROPHECY. 
 
 818. The other External Evidence of Chris- 
 tianity is Prophecy fulfilled. 
 
 819. A Prophecy is a prediction of a future 
 event, which could not be foreseen by human 
 art, or by natural means, uttered before that 
 event happens, and exactly corresponding to it. 
 
 820. A Prophecy necessarily comes from 
 God, because he alone knows future events; 
 and, therefore, the fulfilment of any Prophecy 
 shews, that the person who uttered it was, in 
 so doing, inspired by God. 
 
 821. But it is, likewise, a proof of his being 
 inspired in other instances in which he claims 
 inspiration,—of his having a Divine Mission 
 for the purposes for which he asserts that he 
 has it; for, when a prediction accomplished 
 
280 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 shews a person to have had supernatural know- 
 ledge in that instance, it would be offering 
 violence to the understanding, not to believe 
 such Doctrines, (undiscoverable by reason,) as 
 he publishes along with the prediction, and 
 affirms to be revealed to him by the same God, 
 and for the truth of which he appeals to his 
 predictions. 
 
 822. A prophecy fulfilled is a species of 
 Miracle, and has the same force for proving 
 the Divine Mission of the person who utters 
 it; and it proves the truth of his Doctrine even 
 more directly than a Miracle, as being one 
 instance of a supernatural communication— 
 not of power,—but of knowledge,—the very 
 thing that his Doctrine supposes. 
 
 823. The whole series of predictions record- 
 ed in the Bible, both in the Old Testament 
 and in the New, are, in this way, proofs of the 
 Divine Mission of the several persons who 
 uttered them; and, consequently, of the Truth 
 and Divinity of the whole train of Revealed 
 Religions since the beginning of the world. 
 
Of the Evidence from Prophecy. 281 
 
 824. The Prophecies, considered in this 
 light, furnish an evidence equally adapted to 
 all classes of infidels. 
 
 825. Prophecy proves, with a peculiar pro- 
 priety and force, such Doctrines as relate to 
 things future, which may be considered as 
 parts of the prediction; and the fulfilment of 
 some parts is a certain pledge, that the other 
 parts shall, likewise, be fulfilled. 
 
 826. Prophecy may be considered, likewise, 
 in reference to the event foretold: A predic- 
 tion of any event uttered by a person, will 
 lead those who believe him to have a Divine 
 Mission, to expect that event with confidence, 
 even before it happen; and its happening in 
 conformity to the prediction, will be to them 
 a direct proof that it is precisely what the pre- 
 diction represented it. 
 
 827. The predictions of the Messiah by the 
 Jewish Prophets, necessarily led the Jews to 
 expect that such a person would appear; and 
 when Jesus appeared, uniting in himself all 
 the predicted characters of the Messiah, even 
 those which seemed beforehand most incom- 
 
282 | Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 patible with one another, this was to the 
 Jews a direct and full proof of his being the 
 very person designed by the Prophets,—the 
 infallible Instructor of mankind, the Saviour of 
 the world, and the Ruler of the nations; and, 
 consequently, of the Truth and Divinity of the 
 Christian Religion. 
 
 828. As soon as these predictions were ful- 
 filled in Jesus, they became a proof also, though 
 a more indirect proof, of the Truth and Divi- 
 nity of Christianity to all men; for the exact 
 conformity of the event to the prediction, at 
 once shewed the Prophet who foretold, and 
 the Messiah who was foretold, to have a Divine 
 Mission. 
 
 829. Most of the Scripture Prophecies so 
 long preceded the events foretold, that there is 
 no room for suspecting that they were contriv- 
 ed in conformity to events already past. 
 
 830. The Scripture Prophecies are not un- 
 intelligible or equivocal, so as to be equally 
 applicable to almost any event; but mark the 
 events with sufficient precision, though not 
 without some mixture of obscurity. 
 
Of the Evidence from Prophecy. 283 
 
 831. A certain degree of obscurity is often 
 unavoidable in predictions, because our con- 
 ception of an event is necessarily obscure, when 
 we know not all the circumstances of it, nor 
 the individuals concerned in it; but this ob- 
 scurity vanishes on their accomplishment, and 
 every expression appears to be proper and 
 determinate. 
 
 832. If some Prophecies are clothed in figur- 
 ative language, yet the figures have a fixed and 
 definite meaning; and other equivalent Pro- 
 phecies are expressed without figure, and in 
 proper terms. 
 
 833. If some Prophecies only give hints of 
 future events, while totally different subjects 
 are treated of, yet the hint is always such, as 
 shews that something beyond the immediate 
 subject is intended ; and, of the events there 
 only hinted at, there are direct predictions in 
 other places. 
 
 834. If some Prophecies regard two distinct 
 events at once, yet these are always connected 
 by the one being a type or emblem of the 
 other, so that there is an entire propriety in 
 
284 _ Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 speaking of them both at once; and there are 
 other Prophecies, which regard the principal 
 event alone. 
 
 835. There is no room for supposing that 
 the conformity between the predictions of 
 Scripture and certain future events, is acciden- 
 tal; but, on the contrary, this is plainly im- 
 possible. 
 
 836. Though such conformity may happen 
 in a few instances by mere accident, it could 
 not so happen in all the Scripture Prophecies,— 
 which are extremely numerous,—which were 
 delivered through a series of many ages,—which 
 regard very dissimilar events,—and which have 
 all been punctually fulfilled: The certainty 
 that the events were foreseen, grows in pro- 
 portion to the number and variety of the pre- 
 dictions. 
 
 837. Though a person might throw out, by 
 guess, some general expressions applicable to 
 an event, he could not, without complete fore- 
 knowledge of it, describe it with all its minute 
 and most peculiar circumstances ;—as is the 
 case in the Scripture Prophecies. 
 
Of the Evidence from Prophecy. 285 
 
 838. The nature of the events foretold in 
 Scripture, renders it impossible that they could 
 have been luckily guessed at; for many of 
 them are uncommon and extraordinary,—some 
 of them perfectly singular: A person could 
 scarce have thought of them; or, if he had, 
 they would have been the last he would have 
 ventured to foretell; and, if he had ventured, 
 he must have been exposed by the result. 
 
 839. If, among so many Prophecies, there 
 should be some few whose complete fulfilment 
 we cannot point out, this would not destroy 
 the force of the others, because of these latter 
 no account can be given without the supposi- 
 tion of Divine Inspiration; and, from the ful- 
 filment of these, there arises a presumption 
 that the former have really been fulfilled, 
 though we want the means of shewing that 
 they have.* 
 
 es 
 
 * Collins’s Grounds and Reasons. Scheme of Literal 
 Prophecy. Answers to these. Butler’s Anal. p. 2, ch. 7. 
 
286 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 840. Miracles and Prophecies are the most 
 Proper Evidences of Revelation;—they are 
 the explicit declarations of God, that it comes 
 from him. 
 
 841. They are proofs the most striking, and 
 the best adapted to the conviction of mankind. 
 
 842. They are absolutely necessary for evinc- 
 ing a Divine Mission : Yet Judaism and Chris- 
 tianity are the only religions that have these 
 evidences; and thus appear, not only to be 
 True and Divine, but, also, to be the only 
 religions that are so. 
 
Of the Collateral Evidences. 287 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 OF THE COLLATERAL EVIDENCES OF CHRIs- 
 TIANITY. 
 
 843, WHATEVER affords any proof or pre- 
 sumption of the Truth and Divinity of Chris- 
 tianity, and yet belongs not to the heads al- 
 ready considered,—its excellence in relation to 
 its Primary End,—Miracles,—or Prophecy ;— 
 is a Collateral Evidence for it. 
 
 844. All the Collateral Evidences of the 
 
 Truth of Christianity are so far Internal, that 
 
 - “sthey arise from something in the Nature of 
 
 this Religion;—from some circumstances at- 
 tending ‘its reception,—or from some remark- 
 able facts connected with it; but ine are of 
 different kinds. ging 
 
 * 
 
298 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 845. Some are, in the strictest sense, Inter- 
 nal; others are related to the External Evi- 
 dences of Christianity ; and others have a rela- 
 
 tion to all its evidences. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 OF THE INTERNAL COLLATERAL EVIDENCES 
 OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 846. Every topic which shews the excellence 
 of Christianity, except the Direct Proof of it 
 from the nature and tendency of its Doctrines 
 and Precepts, is a separate and Collateral Evi- 
 dence of its Truth. 
 
 847. Its great efficacy, at its first publication, 
 in banishing polytheism, idolatry, superstition, 
 and magical arts, and in reforming the tempers 
 and manners of those who embraced it,—is an 
 additional and independent proof of its proper 
 excellence, shewing corresponding effects ac- 
 tually resulting from it; and corroborates its 
 Truth, by leading us to conclude, that, if it had 
 
Of the Internal Collateral Evidences. 289 
 
 not been supported by very satisfactory evi- 
 dence, men never would have made so great 
 sacrifices to it.* 
 
 848. As the fitness of Christianity for an- 
 swering its ultimate end constitutes its Primary 
 Excellence, so its tendency to any other good 
 end consistent with this, forms a subordinate 
 excellence; and every such subordinate ex- 
 cellence affords a presumption of its Truth and 
 Divinity, similar to its direct internal evidence. 
 
 849. It is a great excellence of Christianity, 
 that its Spirit, wherever it is established, softens 
 the rigour of despotism,—introduces moderation 
 into government,—banishes many inconvenient 
 civil laws,—gives rise to others of a beneficial 
 tendency,—refines the laws of war,—humanizes 
 the manners, and improves the customs of 
 nations: It is no small presumption of the 
 Divinity of Christianity, that, while it seems 
 to have in view only the felicity of the next 
 
 “Sherlock, V. 1. Disc. 4. p. 146, 167. 
 
290 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 life, it thus, at the same time, promotes the 
 happiness of the present.* 
 
 850. Christianity—by having peculiar Doc- 
 trines, supported by sufficient evidence, which 
 are interesting and of universal concern,—by 
 having a simple worship,—by including no 
 local, civil, or political laws,—and by giving 
 moral laws of obvious obligation,—is in its 
 nature fit for being an universal religion, and 
 is the only religion that is so: This skill and 
 peculiarity in its structure forms a particular 
 excellence, which is a strong indication of its 
 having a Divine Original.t 
 
 851. Christianity employs no means of at- 
 taching men to it in an illegitimate manner ; 
 it employs only the noblest means of attracting 
 their regard,—such as are fit for securing a 
 rational adherence to it; and it is fit for pro- 
 ducing precisely the proper degree of attach- 
 
 * Montesq. B. 24. ch. 3, 4, 6, 19. + Jah eA. 
 ch. 24-26. 
 
Of the Internal Collateral Evidences. 291 
 
 ment,—an attachment equally removed from 
 indifference and from bigotry : This is peculiar 
 to Christianity, and shews a wisdom of con- 
 trivance, which indicates a Divine Original.* 
 
 852. Again—every particular in the nature 
 of Christianity,—in the effects produced by it, 
 —or in the facts of the Scripture History,— 
 which cannot be at all accounted for but on 
 the supposition of its Divine Original, or 
 which is most naturally explicable on that 
 supposition,—is a Collateral Evidence of Chris- 
 tianity ; for every such particular shews, that 
 we must involve ourselves in difficulties, im- 
 probabilities, or absurdities, if we admit not 
 the Divinity of this religion. 
 
 853. ‘The Lord’s Supper is a particular of 
 this sort in the nature of Christianity: It is 
 directly intended to keep up the memory of 
 Christ’s having died a violent and ignominious 
 death. Ifhe had suffered justly as an impostor, 
 his followers would have endeavoured to ob- 
 
 * Montesq. B. 25. ch. 2. 
 
292 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 literate the memory of it as soon as possible, 
 instead of recording it, and studiously drawing 
 men’s attention to it,—especially as his cruci- 
 fixion was reckoned a reproach to them both 
 by Jews and Gentiles; or, if they had com- 
 memorated it, it would have been by a mourn- 
 ful rite, not by a feast of joy and praise: Such 
 a memorial of it can be accounted for, only on 
 supposition that his death was what Chris- 
 tianity represents it to be; and, if so, his re- 
 ligion must be, as it claims to be, of Divine 
 Original.* 
 
 854. An argument in favour of Christianity 
 arises from the character and conduct of Judas 
 Iscariot. He was a man of sense and ability, 
 intimately acquainted with the most. secret 
 conduct and views of Jesus; and, therefore, 
 capable of detecting any fraud or imposture 
 that he had carried on, and certainly well dis- 
 posed to have detected it: Yet, after he had 
 actually betrayed Jesus, he no sooner reflected 
 
 * Caleb Fleming. 
 
Of the Internal Collateral Evidences. 293 
 
 on what he had done, than he was seized with 
 remorse, attested the innocence of his Master 
 to those to whom he had betrayed him, and, 
 this having no effect, through grief and despair 
 ended his own life: This is the strongest 
 testimony of an enemy, that Jesus was no im- 
 postor; and, consequently, that his religion is 
 true.* 
 
 855. Many circumstances which infer the 
 Truth of Christianity, by their being inexplic- 
 able on any other supposition,—give, at the 
 same time, a perception of its excellence; and, 
 by both these means together, produce a com- 
 plicated conviction of it. 
 
 856. ‘Though the excellence of Christianity 
 is, of itself, a strong evidence of its Truth and 
 Divinity, it receives great confirmation from 
 the consideration—how illiterate, and how 
 mean in outward situation, Christ and_ his 
 Apostles were; and, therefore, how -incapable 
 
 * Observ. on the Conduct and Char. of Jud. Iscar. 
 Craig’s Life of Christ. 
 
294, Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 of contriving such a religion, if they had not 
 been inspired. 
 
 857. The character of Christ is such as the 
 greatest genius never conceived; and, since 
 the illiterate Apostles conceived it, they must 
 have actually found it in him. It is a perfect 
 character, quite beyond nature, which they 
 could, therefore, never have thought of: If 
 they had thought of it, it could never have 
 entered into their minds to have placed him in 
 so low circumstances,—especially when the 
 doing so was opposite to all the received notions 
 of the Messiah; but if it had, they could not 
 have given him, notwithstanding the meanness 
 of his condition, so much true dignity of cha- 
 racter,—still less could they have supported 
 this extraordinary character through a long 
 series of conversations and actions: He must, 
 therefore, have been what they represent him 
 to be; and, if he was so, his religion cannot 
 but be true.* 
 
 * Duchal, Serm. 1. Craig’s Life of Christ. 
 
Of the Internal Collateral Evidences. 295 
 
 858. In Christ’s last discourses to his dis- 
 ciples, the mixture of dignity and tenderness 
 which he displays,—the plain account which 
 he gives of the dangers and difficulties which 
 they might expect,—and the nature of the 
 supports which he promises them,—afford 
 striking presumptions, that, if Jesus spake 
 them, he could be no impostor ; and that, if he 
 had not spoken them, the Evangelists could 
 not have ascribed them to him.* 
 
 859. The peculiar character of the Apostle 
 John has been shewn to contain strong pre- 
 sumptions, that he related no fiction; and, 
 consequently, that Christianity is True and 
 Divine.t | 
 
 860. The controversies and contentions, 
 which were very early carried to a great height 
 in the Christian Church, afford a strong pre- 
 sumption of the Truth of the Gospel; because 
 they shew that there was no collusion, and 
 because, notwithstanding these, all agreed in 
 
 * Duchal, Serm. 4. + Id. Serm. 8. 
 
296 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 the great articles of Christianity, which proves 
 that they had full and satisfactory evidence of 
 its Truth and Divinity.* 
 
 861. Christ and his Apostles submitting 
 their whole Doctrine to the fair examination 
 of mankind, and disclaiming every other me- 
 thod of propagating it,—furnishes a strong pre- 
 sumption of the Truth of Christianity ; as it 
 shews, that they fully believed what they 
 taught, and were confident of the goodness of 
 their cause.t 
 
 SECT. IT. 
 
 OF THE EXTERNAL COLLATERAL EVIDENCES 
 | OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 862. There are, likewise, Collateral Evi- 
 dences of Christianity, which have an affinity 
 to its External Evidences; and corroborate 
 
 * Duchal, Serm., 9. t+ Id. Serm. 10. 
 
Of the External Collateral Evidences. 297 
 
 our belief, by adding to the credibility of these, 
 by predisposing the mind to admit them, or 
 by heightening its acquiescence in their suf- 
 ficiency. 
 
 863. Some of the circumstances and facts 
 relating to Christianity,—which are unaccount- 
 able unless on supposition of its Divinity, and, 
 in this way, afford presumptions for it,—con- 
 tain, at the same time, a mixture of something 
 Miraculous, which carries along with it suf- 
 ficient evidence of its own reality; and, by 
 being Miraculous, implies the Truth of this 
 religion. 
 
 864, The claims of John the Baptist and of 
 Jesus Christ mutually support each other: 
 Both the circumstances attending their birth, 
 many of which were Miraculous, and _ their 
 whole conduct towards each other in their 
 public life, prove that Jesus was the Messiah, 
 and John, his Forerunner; for they are inex- 
 plicable, except on supposition of the Divine 
 Mission of both. 'The mixture of Miracle in 
 these circumstances is a farther proof; and all 
 of them do, in several ways, contribute indirect- 
 
298 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 ly, both to the credibility of the Christian 
 Miracles, and to the illustration of ancient pre- 
 dictions.* 
 
 865. The conversion and subsequent. con- 
 duct of the Apostle Paul afford a separate 
 proof of the Truth of Christianity. In the ac- 
 count which he gives of himself, he could not 
 be an impostor, who said what he knew to be 
 false with an intention to deceive; because he 
 could have no rational motive to undertake 
 this imposition, nor could he have possibly 
 carried it on with any success, by the means 
 which we know that he employed: He could 
 not be an enthusiast, who imposed upon him- 
 self by the force of an overheated imagination; 
 for his character has not those qualities which 
 always attend enthusiasm, and he could not, 
 by the power of enthusiasm, have imposed 
 upon himself, in regard either to the Miracle 
 which caused his conversion, or to the con- 
 sequences which followed on it, or to many 
 
 * Bell’s Inquiry. 
 
Of the Eaternal Collateral Evidences. 299 
 
 other circumstances, to which he bears testi- 
 mony in his Epistles: He was not, in this ac- 
 count of himself, deceived by the fraud of 
 others; for his prior conduct in _persecuting 
 Christians, rendered it impossible for Christians 
 to think of converting him; and, if they had, 
 they could not have produced by fraud the 
 appearances to which he imputes his conver- 
 sion: Consequently, no explanation can be 
 given of his conversion, without supposing that 
 it happened in the very way that he asserts,— 
 which being Miraculous, implies that the 
 Christian Religion is True and Divine." 
 
 866. Every circumstance not absolutely ne- 
 cessary for rendering the External Evidences 
 of Christianity conclusive, is a separate and 
 additional evidence of the Collateral kind. 
 
 867. Thus, the quick and extensive propaga- 
 tion of the Gospel, in opposition to the en- 
 deavours of all kinds used to prevent it, and 
 without any natural means adequate to the 
 
 * Lord Lyttleton’s Observ. Duchal, Serm. 9, 6. 
 
300 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 effect,—is, of itself, a proof of the Divinity of 
 Christianity ; and it corroborates the evidence 
 from Miracles, in the same way as the efficacy 
 of Christianity corroborates its Internal Evi- 
 dence.* 
 
 868. The Truth of Christianity receives con- 
 firmation even from the opposition of ancient 
 infidels : They had all advantages for pointing 
 out the defects of the Evidences of Christianity, 
 but their exceptions are altogether frivolous ; 
 and this affords a general presumption that 
 these Evidences are not liable to just objec- 
 tions: Their opposition, also, gives additional 
 strength to the Direct Evidences of Christi- 
 anity from Prophecy and Miracles; and their 
 testimonies and concessions, as to all the facts 
 of the Gospel History, are such, that from them 
 the Truth of Christianity may be directly 
 inferred.+ 
 
 * Orig. cont. Cels. 1. 1. Atterbury’s Serm. Stanhope’s 
 B. L. Serm. 16. Leng’s B. L. Serm. 15. 
 
 + Truth of the Gospel Hist. by Heathen Evid. Sharp’s 
 Argument. Lardner’s Credibility. Gerard, Diss. 2. S. 2. 
 
Of the General Collateral Evidences. 301 
 
 869. ‘he present circumstances of the Jews, 
 dispersed among all nations, yet preserved a 
 Distinct People, afford a strong evidence of 
 the Truth of Christianity, both as it is a re- 
 markable fulfilment of prophecy, and as it is 
 in itself an extraordinary and miraculous event, 
 which cannot be accounted for but on supposi- 
 tion that it is a judgment upon them for their 
 rejection of Jesus Christ; and, consequently, 
 it is a proof that he was really the Messiah 
 sent from God.* 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 OF THE GENERAL COLLATERAL EVIDENCES 
 OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 870. There are, likewise, some Collateral] 
 Arguments, which have almost an equal rela- 
 tion to all the Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 * Lardner’s Three Disc. 
 
302 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 871. The manner in which Christ and his 
 «Apostles proposed the Evidences of Christiani- 
 ty, is a strong proof of its Truth. Originally, 
 to those who had not raised objections, they 
 simply exhibited these Evidences: This was 
 proper in that situation, because it was suf- 
 ficient for producing conviction; it necessarily 
 implies that the evidence was very strong; it 
 was the fittest for producing faith in the un- 
 prejudiced; it sets Jesus in direct opposition 
 to impostors; it shews that he was conscious 
 of his title to the character which he claimed ; 
 it was an indication of dignity suitable to that 
 character. When, again, opposition was start- 
 ed, and objections were raised, Christ and his 
 Apostles avowed their Divine Mission, reason- 
 ed on the force of the evidences which they 
 produced, and answered the several objections 
 that had been started: By means of this altera- 
 tion in their method, many considerable dif. 
 ficulties are precluded, and objections prevent- 
 ed; it gives us their own answers to many ex- 
 ceptions, and suggests the proper manner of 
 
 answering subsequent ones; it afforded addi- 
 
Of the General Collateral Evidences. 303 
 
 tional proof of the strength of the Christian 
 Evidences; it gave a new and proper display 
 of real dignity; it shewed Christ maintaining 
 the same consistent character uniformly in the 
 most opposite situations. His whole manner 
 taken together is absolutely perfect, and shews 
 the greatest strength of understanding, and the 
 highest powers of reason, which could not be na- 
 turally attained without the best means of intel- 
 lectual improvement: Christ, therefore, and 
 his Apostles, must have owed them to super- 
 natural causes; and, consequently, were, as 
 they affirmed themselves to be, persons com- 
 missioned and inspired by God.* 
 
 872. A strong Collateral Evidence of the 
 ‘Truth of Christianity, arises from the manner 
 and the effect of the opposition of infidels: 
 The unfair arts to which they have universally 
 had recourse, betray the badness of their cause; 
 it has led Christians to illustrate fully the 
 several Evidences of Christianity, and to set 
 
 P 
 
 * Gerard, Diss. 1]. 
 
304 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 them in a great variety of lights,—to abandon 
 inconclusive reasonings, and such corruptions 
 as have been mixed with Christianity,—and to 
 bear testimony to their belief of it. Instead of 
 overturning Christianity, opposition has, in 
 these several ways, confirmed it: This is 
 peculiar to Truth, and shews Christianity to 
 be True; if it were not true, it must have 
 fallen before the opposition that has been made 
 
 to it.* 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 OF THE PRESUMPTIVE EVIDENCES OF 
 REVEALED RELIGION. 
 
 873. Besides these Collateral Evidences, 
 which belong to Christianity strictly consider- 
 ed, there are, likewise, presumptive arguments 
 for the Religion of the Bible in general. 
 
 * Gerard, Diss. 2. Serm. 3, 4. « © ©. 
 
Of the Presumptive Evidences. 305 
 
 874. There have been customs, rites, and 
 principles, which have no foundation in reason, 
 and yet have prevailed very generally in the 
 most unconnected nations,—which seem, con- 
 sequently, to be the remains of revelation, and 
 which are conformable to the revelations re- 
 corded in Scripture: It may, therefore, be pre- 
 sumed, that they are memorials of these re- 
 velations having been given, preserved among 
 those who have lost all knowledge of their 
 origin. Of this kind are sacrifices, and the 
 division of time into weeks.* 
 
 875. All the Pagan religions pretended to 
 come—not from the One True God,—but from 
 some Local Tutelary Deity, and admitted the 
 truth of one another: From all of them, there- 
 fore, the religion of the Bible is discriminated, 
 by its deriving itself from the One True God, 
 and condemning false religions ; and this is an 
 
 indication of its ‘Truth.+ 
 
 ee 
 
 * Williams’s B. L. Serm. 2. Campbell on Mir. p. 2. s. 7. 
 + Warburton’s Div. Leg. B. 4. s. 1. 
 
306 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 876. In the heathen world, it was men’s 
 attending to pretended revelations, that led 
 them off from the principles of pure Natural 
 Religion; but attention to the Jewish and 
 Christian Religions has always, in proportion 
 to its closeness, had the opposite effect,—which 
 is a presumption of their Truth. 
 
 877. All the heathen revelations were un- 
 connected ;—all the revelations supposed in the 
 Bible are connected parts of one scheme: ‘True 
 revelations, given at different times, must be 
 so; and the revelations of the Bible being so, 
 is a presumption that they are True.* 
 
 878. The very corruptions of Judaism and 
 Christianity afford a presumption of their 
 Divinity: From the nature of things, a false 
 religion is imperfect at first, and is eradually 
 amended, refined, and improved; but, if a 
 religion comes from God, it will be perfect at 
 the first,—no alteration can be made in it but 
 for the worse,—every deviation introduced by 
 
 * Warburt. Div. Leg. B. 5. s. 2. 
 
Of the Presumptive Evidences. 307 
 
 men will be a corruption: This has happened 
 both in Judaism and in Christianity, and is a 
 presumption that they are of Divine Original. 
 Besides, the corruptions which have happened 
 in both,—particularly in Christianity by Po- 
 pery,—are altogether similar to the corruptions 
 which were made by Paganism in Natural 
 Religion; and this latter being confessedly a 
 true Religion, that similarity is a presumption 
 that Judaism and Christianity have the same 
 Author as Natural Religion, and are, likewise, 
 True and Divine. 
 
 879. A strong presumption of the Divinity 
 of the Jewish Religion arises from the cha- 
 racter and conduct of Moses. Egypt was the 
 school, for legislation as well as science, to the 
 rest of the world; from it foreigners derived 
 their models, and ventured not to depart from 
 what they found there,—especially in religion : 
 But Moses,—not a passing foreigner,—but a 
 native of Egypt, skilled in all its learning,— 
 must be supposed to have been fond of its 
 institutions ; and, when he led forth the Israel- 
 
 ites, he must, if he had not been inspired, have 
 
308 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 contrived their religion and government accord- 
 ing to the Egyptian model: Yet he acts on 
 principles fundamentally opposite to that model, 
 —discards all the Egyptain gods,—teaches the 
 knowledge of the One God,—does not conceal 
 him in mysteries, but establishes his worship 
 openly and publicly,—and makes this the very 
 hinge of their whole religion and polity: In 
 all this, too, he opposes the most inveterate 
 prejudices of that people. Without inspiration, 
 he could not have formed such a design, or 
 have imagined a probability, or even possibility, 
 of its succeeding: Neither the design, nor the 
 success, can be accounted for, by any other 
 supposition than that he was invested with a 
 True Divine commission.* 
 
 880. Collateral Evidences excite attention ; 
 they add force to the direct proofs; every pro- 
 
 * Warburt. B. 4. s. 6. 
 
Of the Collateral Evidences. 309 
 
 bability viewed in connexion gives brightness 
 to the whole evidence: the concurrence of a 
 great multitude of probabilities of dissimilar 
 kinds, begets such assurance, as prevents our 
 being disturbed by every minute objection. 
 
310 Lvidences of Christianity. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 OF THE AUTHENTICITY AND AUTHORITY OF 
 THE BOOKS OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 881. For completing the Proof of the Truth 
 and Divinity of Christianity, it is farther ne- 
 cessary to evince, that the Books of Scripture 
 contain an authentic and inspired account of 
 that religion, as it was originally taught. 
 
 882. As the matters contained in Scripture 
 were transacted in places and times remote 
 from us, we can have no evidence of their truth 
 but what is resolvable into testimony ; and, 
 if we have this evidence as strong as the nature 
 of the case can admit, it ought to satisfy us. 
 
Of the Authenticity of the New Testament. 311 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 OF THE DIRECT EVIDENCES OF THE AUTHEN- 
 TICITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 883. That the Books of Scripture are a gen- 
 uine account of Christianity, as asserted by 
 Christians, ought to be taken for granted till 
 it be disproved; and the proof of their being 
 spurious lies upon those who deny them to be 
 genuine. 
 
 884. There never have been, nor can be pro- 
 duced, such internal marks of their spurious- 
 ness, as have generally overturned the credit 
 of supposititious writings: Nor can they be 
 proved such by external evidence ; on the con- 
 trary, every rule of criticism, by which the 
 genuineness of ancient books is established, 
 gives testimony to the genuineness of the Books 
 of the New Testament. 
 
 885. Such of these Books as bear the names 
 of their authors, are proved to be their works, 
 
312 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 because they are referred to by all Christian 
 writers as such, from the very age in which 
 they are said to have been written, and by suc- 
 cessive writers in an uninterrupted chain, down 
 to the present time. 
 
 886. Some of the earliest of these writers 
 had, no doubt, access to see the originals, or 
 autographs, of several of the Books of Scrip- 
 ture, which would naturally be preserved for a 
 considerable time; and some of them affirm 
 that they had seen them. 
 
 887. Most of the Books of the New Testa- 
 ment were intrusted or addressed by their 
 writers to particular churches, or societies of 
 Christians, who had, therefore, the best oppor- 
 tunities of knowing who these writers were. 
 
 888. All these Books were publicly and fre- 
 quently read, from the earliest times, in every 
 church. 
 
 889. All Christian churches, in all ages and 
 nations, have agreed in acknowledging all these 
 Books to be genuine records of the Christian 
 Religion. 
 
 890. Though, from the beginning, there were 
 
Of the Authenticity of the New Testament. 318 
 
 mahy controversies in the Christian church, 
 and differences about the meaning or the read- 
 ing of particular texts, yet the genuineness of 
 the Books themselves was never questioned, 
 except by a few such heretics as can very im- 
 properly be called Christians. 
 
 891. That these Books are the genuine works 
 of the authors whose names they bear, was 
 never questioned by early infidels, either Pa- 
 gans or Jews ; but, on the contrary, is explicitly 
 allowed by some of them. 
 
 892. ‘The authenticity of these Books is thus 
 supported by stronger evidence than that of any 
 other books of equal antiquity ; and to doubt of 
 it is more unreasonable than to doubt of the 
 authenticity of any other writings whatever. 
 
 893. Though some of the Books of the New 
 Testament were not from the beginning re- 
 ceived universally, yet they were all received 
 by a much greater proportion of Christians than 
 rejected them; and their being for a while re- 
 jected by any, was owing,—not to their know- 
 ing them to be spurious,—but to their not havy- 
 ing certain evidence of their being genuine: 
 
314 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 This shews, that they were very scrupulous of 
 admitting Books into the New Testament ; and, 
 therefore, both proves that their being after- 
 wards received by all Christians proceeded from 
 full conviction, and adds weight to their testi- 
 mony for such Books as were never doubted of 
 by Christians. 
 
 894. ‘Though there have been doubts about 
 the authors of some of the Books of the New 
 Testament, yet there appear not to be strong 
 reasons for these doubts; and, though there 
 were, their being written by any of those to 
 whom they are, or can be, with any degree of 
 plausibility, ascribed, would give them a high 
 degree of credit.* 
 
 895. The spurious Books, which appeared 
 early in the Christian church under the names 
 of Apostles, give us no reason to doubt the 
 authenticity of any of the Books of the New 
 Testament: There being such spurious Books, 
 would make Christians more cautious what 
 
 “ Grotius, 1. 3. § 1—4. Burnett, Art. 7. Blackall’s 
 B. L. Serm. 3. Lardner’s Credibil. p. 2. Michaelis. — 
 
Of the Authenticity of the New Testament. 315 
 
 Books they admitted into their Canon; and 
 none of these spurious Books were ever admit- 
 ted by any considerable numbers, and, there- 
 fore, have no claim to be reckoned of equal 
 credit with the New Testament. | > 
 
 SECT. IT. 
 
 OF THE INDIRECT EVIDENCES OF THE AU- 
 THENTICITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 896. As the Books of the New Testament 
 were written by those to whom they are as- 
 cribed, so these persons had full access to be 
 informed of the things of which they write, and 
 could not have been imposed upon as to the 
 truth of them. 
 
 897. ‘he matters recorded by the New Tes- 
 tament writers are, in their nature, such as 
 might be certainly known,—matters of sense, 
 —things done and said in the presence of many 
 witnesses,—in their own time and country,— 
 and, most of them, in their own presence. — 
 
316 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 898. They are so numerous, that, if they had 
 not been all true, it was impossible but some 
 of them must have been detected ; and the de- 
 tection of any of them would have destroyed 
 the credit of the whole. 
 
 899. They are recorded with such circum- 
 stances, as rendered an inquiry into the truth 
 or falsehood of them very easy, and, therefore, 
 must have facilitated the detection of them, if 
 they had been false; and as they, notwith- 
 standing, never were detected, this very much 
 confirms their truth and certainty. 
 
 900. They were, likewise, of such a nature, 
 as must have engaged many to examine them 
 with the greatest strictness, and to make known 
 to the world if they discovered any falsehood 
 in them. 
 
 901. It cannot be pretended that the Books 
 of the New Testament have been convicted of 
 falsehood and disproved, but that the works in 
 which this was done, and the means of now 
 doing it, have been destroyed by Christians ; 
 for there is no shadow of evidence for the pre- 
 
Of the Authenticity of the New Testament. $17 
 
 tence, while there is as good evidence against 
 it as the nature of the case admits. 
 
 902. ‘The writers of the New Testament had 
 every possible motive to deter them from writ- 
 ing what they have written, if they were not 
 certain of its truth, and must have been guilty 
 of the strangest complication of folly and wick- 
 edness if they had falsified ; besides that their 
 writings contain many marks, of different kinds, 
 of their veracity and fidelity.* 
 
 903. 'The Books of the New Testament have 
 internal marks of authenticity : They contain 
 allusions or references to facts, and to the laws 
 and customs of the places and times of which 
 they profess to treat, which are perfectly, and, 
 often, remarkably agreeable to the accounts of 
 these which are given by other writers.+ 
 
 904. It is no internal mark of the falsity of 
 these Books, that they contain things that are 
 extraordinary and supernatural ; for it has been 
 
 * Grot. |. 3.5.5, 6. Blackall’s B. L. Serm. 4, 5. 
 + Lardner’s Credib. p. 2. 
 
318 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 already shewn, that the Miracles of the Gospel 
 are highly credible.* 
 
 905. Though they contain things which rea- 
 son could not discover, yet they contain nothing 
 in such a sense disagreeable to reason, as to be 
 absurd or incredible. 
 
 906. They contain no inconsistent passages ; 
 for such passages as appear repugnant, are easi- 
 ly reconciled by a just application of criticism : 
 When reconciled, their apparent inconsistency 
 shews only that the authors wrote not in con- 
 cert, and, therefore, adds real weight to their 
 authority ; and the consistency and harmony of 
 the whole furnish an internal evidence of their 
 truth.t 
 
 907. ‘To assert, that the Epistles contain a’ 
 different scheme of religion from the Gospels, 
 or that the Gospel of Paul is different from 
 that of Christ, as some infidels have asserted,— 
 proceeds only from their not understanding 
 either, and appears to be wholly without 
 
 ‘, 
 fy. Sta 
 
 * 
 
 * See No 794, et seq. + Grot. 1. 3. § 1I—14. > 
 
Of the Authenticity of the New Testament. 319 
 
 foundation, on merely comparing them to- 
 gether.* 
 
 908. Many of the facts recorded in the New 
 Testament are mentioned by other ancient 
 writers, both Jews and Pagans,—which affords 
 a collateral evidence of the truth of what is 
 contained in the Books of the New Testament.+ 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 THAT THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 
 ARE DIVINELY INSPIRED. 
 
 909. The Books of the New Testament 
 might contain a genuine account of the reli- 
 gion taught by Christ and his Apostles, though 
 they had not been written by any of them, 
 nor by any persons Divinely inspired; but it 
 is. their being written by inspiration, that 
 makes us certain that, they contain an account 
 
 Se nneneEnnenee cee ee 
 
 * Moral Philosopher. Bolingbroke’s Posth. Works. 
 
 ‘1 Answers to these. +;,Grot. 1. 3. § 14. 
 
 ra 
 fs 
 £. 
 
 “Tas ” 
 = Ge 
 
320 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 of that religion, pure and full,—without any 
 foreign mixture ;—and enables us to acquiesce 
 in them, as the Word of God himself.* 
 
 910. In order to establish the authority of 
 the New Testament in opposition to infidels, 
 it is not necessary to maintain that every thing 
 in it,—the words as well as the matter,—is Di- 
 vine inspired: All such objections, therefore, 
 as are raised against this notion of inspiration, 
 are beside the purpose. 
 
 911. It is enough that the writers have been, 
 by Divine assistance, preserved from all error 
 or mistake in the matter, though each of them 
 was left to express this matter in his own 
 way ;—which appears, indeed, to have been 
 the case, by the varieties of style that are found 
 in their writings. ? 
 
 912. As the New Testament contains things 
 of very different natures, there is no reason to 
 think, that the writers. were inspired in the 
 very same manner with respect to all of them. 
 
 913. In historical matters which fell under 
 
 * Williams’s B. L. Serm. 6. 
 
 > 
 
Of the Inspiration of the New Testament. $21 
 
 their own notice, no more was necessary than 
 that they should, by the Divine Spirit, be pre- 
 served from mistakes in relating them, through 
 forgetfulness, imperfect remembrance, or de- 
 sign. 
 
 914. In matters discoverable by reason, they 
 were left to the exercise of their natural powers, 
 the Divine Spirit only quickening them, and 
 overruling them, so as to preserve them from 
 mistakes. 
 
 915. In matters above the reach of men’s 
 natural powers,—in predictions of future events, 
 and in teaching new articles of faith or rules 
 of conduct,—the whole proceeded from inspi- 
 ration.* | 
 
 916. There is not so direct a proof from Mi- 
 racles of the Inspiration of the New Testa- 
 ment, as there is of the truth of the Christian 
 Religion ; since Miracles were wrought pur- 
 posely for the confirmation of this latter, but no 
 
 * Burnet, Art. 6. Smith’s Select Disc. 6. ch. 13. Stack- 
 house’s Apparatus. Benson’s Append. tol Tim. Dodd- 
 ridge on Inspiration. 
 
 x 
 
322 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 Miracles were wrought on purpose to prove 
 that these particular Books were written by 
 Divine Inspiration: Yet the proof is really as 
 strong in this case, as in the other. 
 
 917. For, most of the Books of the New 
 ‘Testament were written by the Apostles, 
 whose Miracles proved that they had a Divine 
 Mission, and were inspired with the knowledge 
 of the Christian Religion, and empowered to 
 publish it; and, when they published it by 
 writing, these Miracles prove the Divine ori- 
 ginal of what they wrote, as much as of what 
 they spoke, and, consequently, the Divine 
 original, or inspiration, of such Books as were 
 certainly written by them. 
 
 918. The doctrine which they taught and 
 which they wrote, was the very same, else they 
 must have exposed themselves to certain de- 
 tection; and, therefore, the Miracles wrought 
 in attestation of the former, equally prove the 
 truth of the latter. 
 
 919. The Apostles, in their writings, often 
 make mention of their Miracles, and, by so 
 doing, actually appeal to them for the Divinity 
 
Of the Inspiration of the New Testament. 328 
 
 of these writings; for it would have been to 
 no purpose to mention them in these, if not to 
 procure credit to them. 
 
 920. The Apostles must be considered as 
 appealing to their Miracles, for proof of all 
 that they profess to have learned by inspira- 
 tion; but they refer to inspiration what they 
 wrote in the New Testament, for it all belongs 
 to the Christian Religion, the whole of which 
 they constantly declare that they received by 
 Divine Revelation. 
 
 921. The Apostles often affirm, that Christ 
 promised them Divine illumination even in 
 speaking; and, therefore, we may conclude, 
 also in writing, which is more permanent, and, 
 consequently, of greater moment ;—which, too, 
 is plainly included in the promise, that the 
 Spirit should abide with them, and teach them 
 all things: ‘They affirm that these promises 
 were fulfilled to them; and, consequently, 
 must be considered as claiming inspiration in 
 the writings where they make such affirma- 
 tion. 
 
 922. They claim inspiration in what they 
 
324 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 wrote, by calling themselves in these writings 
 Apostles; for this very title implies that they 
 were inspired teachers. 
 
 923. They give express notice, that some 
 things they wrote not by inspiration; which 
 necessarily implies, that they professed to write 
 all the rest by inspiration. 
 
 924. Since, therefore, it appears in so many 
 ways, that the Apostles professed to be inspir- 
 ed in their writings, and since they wrought 
 Miracles on purpose to prove that they were 
 inspired, these Miracles directly evince, that 
 all those Books of the New Testament which 
 were written by Apostles, are of Divine inspi- 
 ration. 
 
 925. T'wo of the Gospels, and the Acts, are 
 not written by Apostles, and ‘are the only 
 Books of the New Testament that certainly 
 are not: But Mark and Luke, the writers of 
 these, though not Apostles, were endued with 
 miraculous powers ; and their Books were ap- 
 proved by Apostles, and thus had the testimo- 
 ny of persons unquestionably inspired,—which 
 has as great weight as if the Apostles them- 
 
Of the Inspiration of the New Testament. $25 
 
 selves had written them ;—besides, that these 
 are historical Books, which contain no article 
 of Faith not found in the writings of the 
 Apostles. 
 
 926. ‘The inspiration of several Books of the 
 New Testament is, also, directly proved from 
 the writer’s having in them predicted future 
 events, which he could not have foreseen by 
 his natural powers, but which have punctually 
 come to pass. 
 
 927. Kven the affirmations of the writers of 
 the New Testament of their own inspiration 
 have some weight, considered in themselves ; 
 because, if they were false, the writers must be 
 impious liars,—which the whole strain of their 
 writings, and their characters, as they appear 
 in these, render it impossible for us to believe. 
 
 928. The Books of the New Testament have, 
 also, several internal characters, which render 
 them worthy of a Divine original, and contain 
 
 some presumptions that they had it.* 
 
 * Williams’s B. L. Serm. 6. Michaelis. Benson’s Ap- 
 pend. Grot. 1. 3. § 7, 8. 
 
326 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 OF THE AUTHORITY OF THE BOOKS OF THE 
 OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 929. The authenticity, truth, and inspiration 
 of the Books of the Old Testament, are proved 
 by almost the very same arguments as those of 
 the New, though they are not all applicable 
 to them with precisely the same degree of 
 strength. 
 
 930. That such of them whose authors are 
 known, were written by those persons to whom 
 they are ascribed, we have the universal and 
 constant testimony of the Jews,—the proper 
 witnesses in this case; and there are no con- 
 trary testimonies to weaken it. | 
 
 931. These persons had sufficient access to 
 know the things of which they wrote, for most 
 of them happened in their own time; and the 
 
Of the Authority of the Old Testament. 32'7 
 
 things of which Moses wrote prior to his own 
 time, might, considering the longevity of the 
 Patriarchs, be handed down by tradition from 
 the several times when they happened, till he 
 received them, and committed them to writ- 
 ing. 
 
 932. Many things contained in their writings 
 are confirmed by the relations of other authors, 
 and by many monuments of their reality still 
 remaining. 
 
 933. Their characters and their views are 
 such, as give no reason to suppose, that they 
 intended to deceive by writing falsely. 
 
 934. ‘The authority and inspiration of most 
 of the Books of the Old Testament are fully 
 proved, by the Miracles or the Predictions of 
 the writers of them. 
 
 935. Though there may be Books in the 
 Old Testament, whose authority is not sup- 
 ported by such evidences, and whose authors 
 are wholly unknown, yet the authority even 
 of these is fully established, by the testimony 
 which the New Testament gives to the Old; 
 and this testimony is not confined to those 
 
328 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 Books which are expressly quoted, but extends 
 to all the Books which the Jews held to be 
 inspired and canonical ; because, if they had 
 erred in this respect, Christ would have pointed 
 out their error, and reproved them for it. 
 
 936. The Books of the Old Testament and 
 of the New, being thus equally of Divine 
 authority, ought equally to be received by 
 Christians; and the insinuations of Deists, 
 that Christians should give up the Old Testa- 
 ment, as not belonging to them, are both 
 groundless and insidious. 
 
 937. It is still more palpably groundless to 
 assert, that the Old Testament is the only 
 canon of Scripture to Christians, because it has 
 been declared inspired by the inspired writers 
 of the New Testament, whereas the Books of 
 the New Testament have never been, in this 
 manner, declared canonical by any inspired 
 persons; for a Book’s having been written by 
 an inspired author is sufficient to prove it in- 
 spired and canonical, without any farther at- 
 testation from persons either inspired or unin- 
 spired; and this character belongs to the New 
 
The Scriptures not Changed. 329 
 
 Testament as really as to the Old, and much 
 more evidently belongs to it.* 
 
 SECT. V. 
 
 THAT THE BOOKS OF SCRIPTURE HAVE NOT 
 BEEN CHANGED. 
 
 938. There is no reason to doubt that the 
 Books of Scripture which we now have, are 
 the very Books which were written by inspired 
 persons, and received by Jews and Christians 
 as such; on the contrary, there is the strongest 
 evidence that they are so. 
 
 939. As it is certain that there once were 
 Books written by these persons, it is incumbent 
 on those who assert, that these Books are now 
 lost, and others substituted in their room, to 
 produce positive evidence for this; and to 
 entertain any suspicion of their genuineness, 
 
 * Collins. Grot. |. 3. s. 16.  Williams’s B. L. 
 
330 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 till such evidence be produced, would be to 
 overturn the credit of all ancient writings. 
 
 940. ‘The Books of the Old Testament could 
 not be changed by the Jews: For, they were 
 early dispersed very widely, and all communi-. 
 cation cut off between some portions of them ; 
 these Books were translated into Greek several 
 ages before Christ; by him quotations are 
 made from most of them, sufficient to shew 
 that the Books which we have are the very 
 same that were then received and used; there 
 were, either before Christ or soon after, versions 
 of them into several other languages; there 
 are many quotations from them in Philo and 
 Josephus; they were ever after in the hands 
 of the Christians as well as of the Jews ; and it 
 is from the Scriptures as the Jews just now 
 have them, that Christians derive their argu- 
 ments against the infidelity of the Jews. 
 
 941. As soon as any of the Books of the 
 New Testament were published, copies of them 
 were multiplied by Christians, dispersed far 
 and wide, and preserved with the greatest care, 
 so that it would have been foolish to think of 
 
The Scriptures not Changed. 381 
 
 commuting them: Very soon after their publi- 
 cation, translations of them were made into 
 different languages, and these versions still 
 remain: Through all ages, from the very time 
 of writing them, many passages are quoted 
 from all of them, and these passages are found 
 in the copies which we still have, and prove 
 them to be the same Books which were used 
 all along; and the divisions which have always 
 prevailed among Christians, rendered it im- 
 possible that any sect should attempt to change, 
 or succeed in changing, the Books of Scripture. 
 
 942. The supposition is so absurd, that no 
 infidel has been hardy enough explicitly to 
 make it, though Harduin, the Jesuit, has done 
 so; but his scheme has been everywhere re- 
 ceived with deserved contempt: For, to sup- 
 pose the present Books of Scripture forged a 
 few centuries ago, is not only inconsistent with 
 the marks which they bear of the age in which 
 they were written, but must, also, infer, that 
 all the works in which they are quoted, or re- 
 
 ferred to, were forged at the same time, and 
 
332 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 by the same persons; and that all the real 
 works of the several authors, in place of which 
 these forgeries were substituted, were, all at 
 once, destroyed by these same persons, without 
 the knowledge of any others,—and that so 
 effectually, that not a trace of them remains 
 any where ;—all of which is absolutely absurd.* 
 
 SECT. VI. 
 
 THAT THE BOOKS OF SCRIPTURE HAVE NOT 
 BEEN CORRUPTED. 
 
 943. Though few infidels have ventured to 
 assert, that the Books of Scripture have been 
 changed, either in whole, or in any large por- 
 tions of them; yet they have very generally 
 asserted, that they have, in the course of time, 
 
 * Grot. 1. 3. s. 15, 16. Williams’s B. L. Michaelis. 
 
The Scriptures not Corrupted. 333 
 
 been so corrupted in many particular passages, 
 that they can no longer be depended on. 
 
 944. That corruptions have crept into several 
 copies of the Scriptures through the mistakes 
 of transcribers, is allowed by Christians; and 
 was, indeed, unavoidable, unless a_ perpetual 
 Miracle had been wrought, in order to render 
 every transcriber infallible. 
 
 945. It is not even necessary to deny,— 
 though many have thought themselves obliged 
 to deny it,—that attempts have been made 
 designedly by some men to corrupt particular 
 passages in some copies, because they were 
 adverse to their favourite opinions; and that 
 the corruptions, thus introduced, have spread 
 into other copies. 
 
 946. Still, the objection is of no weight ; for 
 the various readings of the several copies of 
 Scripture, have been carefully collected, and it 
 appears that by far the greatest part of them 
 are of no moment, making no alteration at all 
 in the sense; and that those which are of most 
 moment, would not, whichever reading were 
 
 adopted, affect any one article of Faith, because 
 fe 
 
334 Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 there is no article of Faith which is not con- 
 tained in some other text, where there is no 
 variety of reading. 
 
 947. Besides, by means of the multitude of 
 copies extant of all the Books of Scripture, of 
 the ancient versions of them, and by various 
 other helps, we have it in our power to find 
 out, which of the several readings of a passage 
 is the true one; and it is not certain that there 
 is a single text, the true reading of which may 
 not be discovered, by the means which we have 
 in our power, on the justest principles of criti- 
 
 ecism. 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 948. As therefore, there is the strongest 
 evidence that Christianity is the true religion, 
 and of Divine original; so there is, also, the 
 strongest evidence that the received Books of 
 Scripture are a genuine and Divinely-inspired 
 account of that True Religion. 
 
 949. They are the only standard of Revealed 
 Religion, containing all that can belong to it : 
 
Conclusion. 3385 
 
 They ought, therefore, to be carefully studied 
 by all Christians,—especially by all Divines,— 
 and constantly regarded as the only Infallible 
 Rule of our Faith and our Manners. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 OLIVER & BOYD, PRINTERS. 
 
 sn ig toni 
 
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