S E L E-C T I O N
FROM THE WORKS
OF
WILLIAM  E  CHANNING, D.D.
BOSTON:
AMERICAN UNITARIAN ASSOCIATION,
21 BROMFIELD STREET.
1 85 5.




Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by
GEORGE G. CHANNING,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusert,




PREFACE.
THE circulation in this country of more than one hundred
and twenty thousand volumes of the works of the late William Ellery Channing, D. D., attests the interest that is felt
among us in these writings.,Many editions in England, and
recent translations in France, Germany, and Italy, give proof
that their influence is not confined to this country. In the
general unsettling of old opinions, in the growing disposition
to look at Christianity from new and higher points of view,
we may find reasons to believe that few authors are destined
to have a wider influence; while the rational basis on which
he rests his faith in Christianity, the profound reverence with
which he surveys its claims, and the primitive simplicity to
which he restores its substance, point him out as one of the
most needed and beneficent teachers of this age.
The American Unitarian Association, in order to place the
most characteristic religious publications of this author within the reach of all readers at a greatly reduced cost, have
caused the following selection to be made. It contains all the
clearest and fullest statements he gave of his views concerning theology and religion. The Discourses which attracted
the widest attention and date a new era in the history of
religious opinions, and the elaborate Treatises on the Evidences of Christianity, are here presented at a cost a little
exceeding that of two pamphlets.
(iii.)




iv                       PREFACE.
The six volume edition of these works, on good paper and
neatly bound, the Association will continue to supply at the
low price of two dollars. But some readers may prefer a
selection from the productions of this celebrated writer and
divine in smaller compass and more compact form. To them
the following volume is now offered. There are high motives
which may plead for assistance in promoting its circulation.
In a style of singular simplicity and beauty, an eloquent
voice wins us to feel the paternal character of God, the divinity of the mission of Jesus Christ, the greatness and attractiveness of a holy life. Some of the most original and brilliant thoughts that have been contributed by the literature of
the age are scattered through these pages.  No better service
can be rendered to a young man who may be sceptical as to
the truth of Christianity than to place this volume in his
hands; and thousands, repelled from all religion by formalism
and bigotry, may, by this book, be led to a believing and devout life.
It remains only to be added, that in the arrangement of
the contents of this volume reference has been had to three
general topics: 1, the basis on which the author rested his
belief in Christianity; 2, what he understood the essential
and important features of Christianity to be; 3, the high
ideal of duty and piety which he believed Christianity presents.
H. A. M.
N. B. This volume is one of a series proposed to be published by the
Book Fund of the Association, and is accordingly lettered as the first of the
Theological Library. The second volume in that library will soon be published, and will be entitled " Unitarian Principles con-firmed by Trinitarian
Testimonies." Other volumes will follow.




CONTENTS.
PAGE
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS..                        1
CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.....27
EVIDENCES OF REVEALED RELIGION.               63
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.                    95
UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY..... 179
UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY MOST FAVORABLE TO PIETY.  225
OBJECTIONS TO UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY CONSIDERED.. 269
MORAL ARGUMENT AGAINST CALVINISM..  287
LETTER ON CATHOLICISM.. 313
LETTER ON CREEDS...   341
THE CHURCH.......351
SELF-CULTURE..                           399
IMITABLENESS OF CHRIST'S CHARACTER..       465








INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
THE following tracts, having  passed through various
editions at home and abroad, are now collected to meet
the wishes of those, who may incline to possess them in
a durable form. In common with all writings, which have
obtained a good degree of notice, they have been criticized freely; but as they have been published not to dictate opinions, but to excite thought and inquiry, they
have not failed of their end, even when they have provoked doubt or reply. They'have, I think, the merit
of being earnest expressions of the writer's mind, and
of giving the results of quiet, long-continued thought.
Some topics will be found to recur often, perhaps the
reader may think too often; but it is in this way, that a
writer manifests his individuality, and he can in no other
do justice to his own mind. Men are distinguished from
one another, not Inerely by difference of thoughts, but
often more by the different degrees of relief or prominence,
which they give to the same thoughts. In nature, what
an immense dissimilarity do we observe in organized
bodies, which consist of the same parts or elements, but
in which these are found in great diversity of proportions!
So, to learn what a man is, it is not enough to dissect his
mind, and see separately the thoughts and feelings which
successively possess him. The question is, what thoughts
A




2              INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
and feelings predominate, stand out most distinctly, and
give a hue and impulse to the common actions of his
mind? What are his great ideas? These form the man,
and by their truth and dignity he is very much to be
judged.
The following writings will be found to be distinguished
by nothing more, than by the high estimate which they
express of human nature. A respect for the human soul
breathes through them. The time may come for unfolding my views more fully on this and many connected topics., As yet, I have given but fragments; and, on this
account, I have been sometimes misapprehended. The
truth is, that a man, who looks through the present disguises and humbling circumstances of human nature,
and speaks with earnestness of what it was made for and
what it may become, is commonly set down by men of
the world as a romancer, and what is far worse, by the
religious, as a minister to human pride, perhaps as exalting man against God. A few remarks on this point seem,
therefore, a proper introduction to these volumes.
It is not, however, my purpose in this place to enter
far into the consideration of the greatness of human nature, and of its signs and expressions in the inward and
outward experience of men. It will be sufficient here to
observe, that the greatness of the soul is especially seen
in the intellectual energy which discerns absolute, universal truth, in the idea of God, in freedom of will and moral
power, in disinterestedness and self-sacrifice, in the boundlessness of love, in aspirations after perfection, in desires
and affections, which time and space cannot confine, and
the world cannot fill. The soul, viewed in these lights,
should fill us with awe. It is an immortal germ, which
may be said to contain now within itself what endless
ages are to unfold. It is truly an image of the infinity
of God, and no words can do justice to its grandeur




INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.              3
There is, however, another and very different aspect of
our nature. When we look merely at what it now is, at
its present developement, at what falls under present con
sciousness, we see in it much of weakness and limitation,
and still more, we see it narrowed and degraded by error
and sin. This is the aspect, under which it appears to
most men; and so strong is the common feeling of human
infirmity, that a writer, holding higher views, must state
them with caution, if he would be listened to without prejudice. My language, I trust, will be sufficiently measured, as my object at present is not to set forth the
greatness of human nature, but to remove difficulties in
relation to it, in the minds of religious people.
From the direction, which theology has taken, it has
been thought, that to ascribe any thing to man, was to
detract so much from God. The disposition has been, to
establish striking contrasts between man and God, and
not to see and rejoice in the likeness between them. It
has been thought, that to darken the creation, was the way
to bring out more clearly the splendor of the Creator.
The human being has been subjected to a stern criticism.
It has been forgotten, that he is as yet an infant, new to
existence, unconscious of his powers; and he has been
expected to see clearly, walk firmly, and act perfectly.
Especially in estimating his transgressions, the chief regard has been had, not to his finite nature and present
stage of developement, but to the infinity of the being
against whom he has sinned; so that God's greatness, instead of being made a ground of hope, has been used to
plunge man into despair.
I have here touched on, great spring of error in religion, and of error among the most devout. I refer to
the tendency of fervent minds, to fix their thoughts exclusively or unduly on God's infinity. It is said, in devotional writings, that' exalted and absorbing views of




4              INTRODUOTORY     RKs.
God enter into the very essence of piety; that our grand
labor should be, to turn the mind from the creature to the
creator; that the creature cannot sink too low in our estimation, or God fill too high a sphere. God, we are told,
must not be limited; nor are his rights to be restrained
by any rights in his creatures. These are made to minister to their Maker's glory, not to glorify themselves.
They wholly depend on him, and have no power which
they can call their own. His sovereignty, awful and
omnipotent, is not to be kept in check, or turned from
its purposes, by any claims of his subjects. Man's place
is the dust. The entire prostration of his faculties is the
true homage, he is to offer God. He is not to exalt his
reason or his sense of right against the decrees of the
Almighty. He has l,ut.one lesson to learn, that he is
nothing, that God is All in All. Such is the common
language of theology.
These views are exceedingly natural. That the steady,
earnest contemplation of the Infinite One, should so dazzle the mind as to obscure or annihilate all things else,
ought not to surprise us. By looking at the sun, we lose
the power of seeing other objects. It was, I conceive,
one design of God in hiding himself so far from us, in
throwing around himself the veil of his works, to prevent
this very evil. He intended that our faculties should be
left at liberty to act on other things besides himself, that
the will should not be crushed by his overpowering greatness, that we should be free agents, that we should recognise rights in ourselves and in others as well as in
the Creator, and thus be introduced into a wide and ever
enlarging sphere of action and duty. Still the idea of
the Infinite is of vast power, and the mind, in surrendering itself to it, is in danger of becoming unjust to itself
and other beings, of losing that sentiment of self-respect,
which should be inseparable from a moral nature, of de



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.               5
grading the intellect by the forced belief of contradictions which God is supposed to sanction, and of losing
that distinct consciousness of moral freedom, of power
over itself, without which the interest of life and the
sense of duty are gone.
Let it not be imagined from these remarks, that I would
turn the mind from God's Infinity. This is the grand
truth; but it must not stand alone in the mind. The
finite is something real as well as the infinite. We must
reconcile the two in our theology. It is as dangerous
to exclude the former as the latter. God surpasses all
human thought; yet human thought, mysterious, unbounded, "wandering through eternity," is not to be contemned. God's sovereignty is limitless; still man has
rights. God's power is irresistible; still man is free. On
God, we entirely depend; yet we can and do act from
ourselves, and determine our own characters. These antagonist ideas, if so they may be called, are equally true,
and neither can be spared. It will not do for an impassioned or an abject piety, to wink one class of them out
of sight. In a healthy mind they live together; and the
worst error in religion has arisen from throwing a part
of them into obscurity.
In most religious systems, the tendency has been to
seize exclusively on the idea of the Infinite, and to sacrifice to this the finite, the created, the human. This I
have said is very natural. To the eye of sense, man is
such a mote in the creation, his imperfections and sins
are so prominent in his history, the changes of his life
are so sudden, so awful, he vanishes into such darkness,
the mystery of the tomb is so fearful, all his outward
possessions are so fleeting, the earth which he treads on
so insecure, and all surrounding nature subject to such
fearful revolutions, that the reflective and sensitive mind
is prone to see Nothingness inscribed on the human beA*




6              INTRODUCTORY REMARKMS
ing and on all things that are made, and to rise to God
as the only reality. Another more influential feeling contributes to the same end. The mind of man, in its present infancy and blindness, is apt to grow servile through
fear, and seeks to propitiate the Divine Being by flattery
and self-depreciation. Thus deep are the springs of religious error. To admit all the elements of truth into our
system, at once to adore the infinity of God and to give
due importance to our own free moral nature, is no very
easy work. But it must be done. Man's free activity is
as important to religion as God's infinity. In the kingH
dom of Heaven, the moral power of the subject is as essential as the omnipotence of the sovereign. The rights of
both have the same sacredness. To rob man of his dignity is as truly to subvert religion, as to strip God of his
perfection. We muot believe in man's agency as truly
as in the Divine, in his freedom as truly as in his dependence, in his individual being as truly as in the great
doctrine of his living in God. Just as far as the desire
of exalting the Divinity obscures these conceptions, our
religion is sublimated into mysticism or degraded into
servility.
In the Oriental world, the human mind has tended
strongly to fix on the idea of the Infinite, the Vast, the
Incomprehensible.  In its speculations it has started
from God. Swallowed up in. his greatness, it has annihilated the creature.  Perfection has been thought
to lie in self-oblivion, in losing one's self in the Divinity,
in establishing exclusive communion with God.  The
mystic worshipper fled from society to wildernesses,
where not even nature's beauty might divert the soul from
the Unseen.  Living on roots, sleeping on the rocky
floor of his cave, he hoped to absorb himself in the One
and the Infinite. The more the consciousness of the individual was lost, and the more the wilt and tbe intellect




INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.              7
became passive or yielded to the universal soul, the
more perfect seemed the piety.
From such views naturally sprung Pantheism. No
being was at last recognised but God. He was pronounced the only reality  The universe seemed a succession of shows, shadows, evanescent manifestations of
the One, Ineffable Essence. The human spirit was but an
emanation, soon to be reabsorbed in its source. God,
it was said, bloomed in the flower, breathed in the wind,
flowed in the stream, and thought in the human soul. All
our powers were but movements of one infinite force.
Under the deceptive spectacle of multiplied individuals
intent on various ends, there was but one agent. Life,
with its endless changes, was but the heaving of one and
the same eternal ocean.
This mode of thought naturally gave birth or strength
to that submission to despotic power, which has characterized the Eastern world. The sovereign, in whom the
whole power of the state was centred, became an emblem
of the One, Infinite Power, and was worshipped as its
representative. An unresisting qthietism naturally grew
out of the contemplation of God as the all-absorbing
and irresistible energy. Man, a bubble, arising out of
the ocean of the universal soul, and fated soon to
vanish in it again, had plainly no destiny to accomplish,
which could fill him with hope or rouse him to effort. In
the East the individual was counted nothing. In Greece
and Rome he was counted much, and he did much. In
the Greek and the Roman the consciousness of power was
indeed too little chastened by religious reverence. Their
gods were meh. Their philosophy, though in a measure
borrowed from or tinctured with the Eastern, still spoke
of man as his own master, as having an independent
happiness in the energy of his own will. As far as they
thus severed themselves from God, they did themselves
b




8               INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
great harm; but in their recognition, however imper.
fect, of the grandeur of the soul, lay the secret of their
vast influence on human affairs.
In all ages of the church, the tendency of the religious
mind to the exclusive thought of God, to the denial or
forgetfulness of all other existence and power, has come
forth in various forms. The Catholic church, notwithstanding its boasted unity, has teemed with mystics, who
have sought to lose themselves in God. It would seem
as if the human mind, cut off by this church from free,
healthful inquiry, had sought liberty in this vague contemplation of the Infinite. In the class, just referred to,
were found many noble spirits, especially Fenelon, whose
quietism, with all its amiableness, we must look on as a
~disease.
In Protestantism, the same tendency to exalt God and
annihilate the creature has manifested itself, though in
less pronounced forms. We see it in Quakerism, and
Calvinism, the former striving to reduce the soul to silence, to suspend its action, that in its stillness God alone
may be heard; and the latter, making God the only
power in the universe, and annihilating the free will, that
one will alone may be done in heaven and on earth.
Calvinism will complain of being spoken of as an approach to Pantheism   It will say, that it recognises distinct minds from the Divine. But what avails this, if it
robs these minds of self-determining force, of original
activity; if it makes them passive recipients of the Universal Force; if it sees in human action only the necessary issues of foreign impulse. The doctrine, that God
is the only Substance, which is pantheism, differs little
from the doctrine, that God is the only active power of
the universe.  For what is substance without power?
It is a striking fact, that the philosophy, which teaches
that matter is an inert substance, and that God is the




INTRODUCTQR R7 EdM4S.:9
force which pervades it, has led men to question, whether
any such thing as matter exists; whether the powers of
attraction and repulsion, which are regarded as the indwelling Deity, be not its whole essence. Take away
force, and substance is a shadow and might as well vanish from the universe. Without a free power in man,
he is nothing. The divine agent within him is every
thing. Man acts only in show. He is a phenomenal existence, under which the one Infinite power is manifested;
and is this much better than Pantheism?
One of the greatest of all errors, is the attempt to
exalt God, by making him the sole cause, the sole agent
in the universe, by denying to the creature freedom of will:and moral power, by making man a mere recipient and
transmitter of a foreign impulse. This, if followed out consistently, destroys all moral connexion between God and his
creatures. In aiming to strengthen the physical, it ruptures the moral bond, which holds them together. To extinguish the free will is to strike the conscience with death,
for both have but one and the same life. It destroys responsibility. It puts out the light of the universe; it
makes the universe a machine. It freezes the fountain
of our moral feelings, of all generous affection and lofty
aspirations. Pantheism, if it leave man a free agent, is
a comparatively harmless speculation; as we see in the
case of Milton. The denial of moral freedom, could it
really be believed, would prove the most fatal of errors.
If Edwards's work on the will could really answer its
end, if it could thoroughly persuade men that they were
bound by an irresistible necessity, that their.actions were
fixed links in the chain of destiny, that there was but one
agent, God, in the universe; it would be one of the most
pernicious books ever issued from our press. Happily
it is a demonstration which no man believes, which the
whole consciousness contradicts.




10             INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
It is a fact worthy of serious thought and full of solemn
instruction, that many of the worst errors have grown out
of the religious tendencies of the mind. So necessary
is it to keep watch over our whole nature, to subject the
highest sentiments to the calmn, conscientious reason.
Men starting from the idea of God, have been so dazzled
by it, as to forget or misinterpret the universe. They
have come to see in him the only force in creation and in
other beings only signs, shadows, echoes of this. Absolute dependence is the only relation to God, which
they have left to human beings. Our infinitely nobler
relations, those which spring from the power of free
obedience to a, moral law, their theory dissolves. The
moral nature, of which freedom is the foundation and
essence, which confers rights and imposes duties, which is
the ground of praise and blame, which lies at the foundation of self-respect, of friendship between man and man,
of spiritual connexion between man and his maker, which
is the spring of holy enthusiasm and heavenly aspiration, which gives to life its interest, to creation its glory,
this is annihilated by the mistaken piety, which, to exalt
God, to make him All in All, immolates to him the powers
of the universe.
This tendency, as we have seen, gave birth in former
ages to asceticism, drove some of the noblest men into
cloisters or caverns, infected them with the fatal notion,
that there was an hostility between their relations to God
and their relations to his creatures, and of course persuaded them to make a sacrifice of the latter. To this we
owe systems of theology degrading human nature, denying its power and grandeur, breaking it into subjection
to the priest through whom alone God is supposed to
approach the abject multitude, and placing human virtue
in exaggerated humiliations. The idea of God, the grandest of all, and which ought above all to elevate the soul,




INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.            11
has too often depressed it and led good minds very far
astray, a consideration singularly fitted to teach us tolerant views of error, and to enjoin caution and sobriety in
religious speculation.
I hope, that I shall not be thought wanting in a just
tolerance, in the strictures now offered on those systems
of theology and philosophy, which make God the only
power in the universe and rob man of his dignity. Among
the authors of these, may be found some of the greatest
and best men.  To this class belonged Hartley, whose
work on Man carries indeed the taint of materialism and
necessity, but still deserves to be reckoned among the
richest contributions ever made to the science of mind,
whilst it breathes the profoundest piety. Our own Edwards was as eminent for religious as for intellectual
power. The consistency of great error with great virtue
is one of the lessons of universal history. But error is
not made harmless by such associations. The false theories of which I have spoken, though not thoroughly believed, have wrought much evil. They have done much,
think, to perpetuate those abject views of human nature,
hRich keep it where it is, which check men's aspirations,
and reconcile them to their present poor modes of thought
and action as the fixed unalterable laws of their being.
Many religious people fall into the error, which I have
wished to expose, through the belief that they thus glorify the creator.  "The glory of God," they say, "is our
chief end; " and this is accomplished as they suppose by
taking all power from man and transferring all to his
Maker. We have here an example of the injury done
by imperfect apprehension and a vague, misty use of
Scripture language. The "glory of God," is undoubtedly to be our end; but what does this consist in? It
means the shining forth of his perfection in his creation,
especially in his spiritual offspring; and it is best probe




12            INtROjtoiR oURY REMARKS.
Ioted by awakening in these their highest faculties, by
bringing out in ourselves and others the image of God in
which all are made. An enlightened, disinterested human being, morally strong, and exerting a wide influence
by the power of virtue, is the clearest reflexion of the divine splendor on earth, and we glorify God in proportion
as we form ourselves and others after this model. The
glory of the Maker lies in his work. We do not honor
him by breaking down the human soul, by connecting it
with him only by a tie of slavish dependence. By making
him the author of a mechanical universe, we ascribe to
him a low kind of agency. It is his glory that he creates
beings like himself, free beings, not slaves; that he
forms them to obedience, not by physical agency, but by
moral influences; that he confers on them the reality, not
the show of power; and opens to their faith and devout
strivings 9a futurity of progress and glory without end.
It is not by darkening and dishonoring the creature, that
we honor the creator. Those men glorify God most, who
look with keen eye and loving heart on his works, who
catch in all some glimpses of beauty and power, who have
a: spiritual sense for good in its dimmest manifestations,
and who can so interpret the world, that it becomes a
bright witness to the divinity.
To such remarks as these it is commonly objected, that
we thus obscure, if we do not deny, the doctrine of Entire
Dependence on God, a doctrine which is believed to be
eminently the foundation of religion. But not so. On the
contrary, the greater the creature, the more extensive is
his dependence; the more he has to give thanks for, the
more he owes to the free gift of his Creator. No matter
what grandeur or freedom we ascribe to our powers, if we
maintain, as we ought, that they are bestowed, inspired,
sustained by God; that he is their life; that to him we
owe all the occasions and spheres of their action and all




INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.            13
the helps and incitements by which they are perfected
On account of their grandeur and freedom they are not
less his gifts; and in as far as they are divine, their natural tendency is not towards idolatrous self-reliance, but
towards the grateful, joyful recognition of their adorable
source. The doctrine of dependence is in no degree impaired by the highest views of the human soul.
Let me farther observe, that the doctrine of entire dependence is not, as is often taught, the fundamental doctrine of religion, so that to secure this, all other ideas
must be renounced. And this needs to be taught, because
nothing has been more common with theologians than to
magnify our dependence, at the expense of every thing elevated in our nature. Man has been stripped of freedom, and spoken of as utterly impotent, lest he should
trench on God's sole, supreme power. To eradicate this
error, it should be understood, that our dependence is not
our chief relation to God, and that it is not the ground of
religion, if by religion we understand the sentiment of
faith, reverence, and love towards the Divinity.  That
piety may exist, it is not enough to know that God alone
and constantly sustains all beings. This is not a founda- 
tion for moral feelings towards him. The great question
on which religion rests, is, What kind of a universe does
he create and sustain? Were a being of vast power to
give birth to a system of unmeasured, unmitigated evil,
dependence on him would be any thing but a ground of
reverence. We should hate it, and long to flee from it
into nonexistence. The great question, I repeat it, is,
what is the nature, the end, the purpose of the creation
which God upholds. On this and on the relations growing
out of this, religion wholly rests. True, we depend on
the Creator; and so does the animal; so does the clod;
and were this the only relation, we should be no more
bound to worship than they. We sustain a grander relaB




14             INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
tion, that of rational, moral, free beings to a Spiritual
Father. We are not mere material substances, subjected
to an irresistible physical law, or mere animals subjected
to resistless instincts; but are souls, on which a moral
law is written, in which a divine oracle is heard. Take
away the moral relation of the created spirit to the universal spirit, and that of entire dependence would remain
as it is now; but no ground, and no capacity of religion
would remain; and the splendor of the universe would
fade away.
We must start in religion from  our own souls.  In
these is the fountain of all divine truth. An outward revelation is only possible and intelligible, on the ground of
conceptions and principles, previously furnished by the
soul. Here is our primitive teacher and light. Let us not
disparage it. There are, indeed, philosophical schools of
the present day, which tell us, that we are to start in all
our speculations from the Absolute, the Infinite. But we
rise to these conceptions from the contemplation of our
own nature; and even if it were not so, of what avail
would be the notion of an Absolute, Infinite existence, an
Uncaused Unity, if stripped of all those intellectual and
moral attributes, which we learn only from our own souls.
What but a vague shadow, a sounding name, is the metaphysical Deity, the substance without modes, the being
without properties, the naked unity, which performs such
a part in some of our philosophical systems. The only
God, whom our thoughts can rest on, and our hearts can
cling to, and our consciences can recognise, is the God
whose image dwells in our own souls. The grand ideas
of Power, Reason, Wisdom, Love, Rectitude, Holiness,
Blessedness, that is, of all God's attributes, come from
within, from the action of our own spiritual nature. Many
indeed think that they learn God from marks of design
and skill in the outward world; but our ideas of design




INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.            15
and skill, of a determining cause, of an end or purpose,
are derived from  consciousness, from  our own souls.,
Thus the soul is the spring of our knowledge of God.
These remarks might easily be extended, but these will
suffice to show, that in insisting on the claims of our nature to reverence, I have not given myself to a subject
of barren speculation. It has intimate connexions with
religion; and deep injury to religion has been the consequence of its neglect. I have also felt and continually
insisted, that a new reverence for man was essential to
the cause of social reform. As long as men regard one
another as they now do, that is as little better than the
brutes, they will continue to treat one another brutally.
Each will strive, by craft or skill, to make others his
tools. There can be no spirit of brotherhood, no true
peace, any farther than men come to understand their affinity with and relation to God and the infinite purpose
for which he gave them  life.  As yet these ideas are
treated as a kind of spiritual romance; and the teacher,
who really expects men to see in themselves and one
another the children of God, is smiled at as a visionary.
The reception of this plainest truth of Christianity would
revolutionize society, and create relations among men not
dreamed of at the present day. A union would spring up,
compared with which our present friendships would seem
estrangements. Men would know the import of the word
Brother, as yet nothing but a word to multitudes. None
of us can conceive the change of manners, the new courtesy and sweetness, the mutual kindness, deference, and
sympathy, the life and energy of efforts for social melioration, which are to spring up, in proportion as man
shall penetrate beneath the body to the spirit, and shall
learn what the lowest human being is.  Then insults,
wrongs, and oppressions, now hardly thought of, will give
a deeper shock than we receive from crimes, which the




16             INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
laws punish with death.  Then man will be sacred in
man's sight; and to injure him will be regarded as open
hostility toward God. It has been under a deep feeling
of the intimate connexion of better and juster views of human nature with all social and religious progress, that I
have insisted on it so much in the following tracts, and I
hope that the reader will not think that I have given it
disproportioned importance.
I proceed to another sentiment, which is expressed so
habitually in these writings, as to constitute one of their
characteristics, and which is intimately connected with the
preceding topic. It is reverence for Liberty, for human
rights; a sentiment, which has grown with my growth,
which is striking deeper root in my age, which seems to
me a chief element of' true love for mankind, and which
alone fits a man for intercourse with his fellow-creatures.
I have lost no occasion for expressing my deep attachment to liberty in all its forms, civil, political, religious,
to liberty of thought, speech, and the press, and of giving
utterance to my abhorrence of all the forms of oppression.
This love of freedom I have not borrowed from Greece
or Rome.  It is not the classical enthusiasm of youth,
which, by some singular good fortune, has escaped the
blighting influences of intercourse with the world. Greece
and Rome are names of little weight to a Christian.
They are warnings rather than inspirers and guides. My
reverence for human liberty and rights has grown up in
a different school, under milder and holier discipline.
Christianity has taught me to respect my race, and to
reprobate its oppressors. It is because I have learned toregard man under the light of this religion, that I cannot
bear to see him treated as a brute, insulted, wronged, enslaved, made to wear a yoke, to tremble before his brother, to serve him as a tool, to hold property, and life at his




INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.              17
will, to surrender intellect and conscience to the priest,
or to seal his lips or belie his thoughts through dread of
the civil power. It is because I have learned the essential equality of men before the common Father, that I
cannot endure to see one man establishing his arbitrary
will over another by fraud, or force, or wealth, or rank,
or superstitious claims. It is because the human being
has moral powers, because he carries a law in his own
breast, and was made to govern himself, that I cannot endure to see him taken out ofd his own hands and fashioned
into a tool by another's avarice or pride. It is because I
see in him a great nature, the divine image, and vast capacities, that I demand for him means of self-developement, spheres for free action; that I call society not to
fetter, but to aid his growth. Without intending to disparage the outward, temporal advantages of liberty, I
have habitually regarded it in a higher light, as the birthright of the soul, as the element, in which men are to put
themselves forth, to become conscious of what they are,
and to fulfil the end of their being.
Christianity has joined with all history in inspiring me
with a peculiar dread and abhorrence of the passion for
power, for dominion over men. There is nothing in the
view of our divine teacher so hostile to his divine spirit,
as the lust of domination. This we are accustomed to regard as eminently the sin of the Archfiend.  "By this sin
fell the angels."  It is the most Satanic of all human
passions, and it has inflicted more terrible evils on the
human family than all others. It has made the names of
king and priest the most appalling in history. There is
no crime, which has not been perpetrated for the strange
pleasure of treading men under foot, of fastening chains
on the body or mind. The strongest ties of nature have
been rent asunder, her holiest feelings smothered, parents, children, brothers murdered, to secure dominion
B




18'            INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
over man. The people have now been robbed of the
necessaries of life, and now driven to the field of slaugh
ter like flocks of sheep, to make one man the master of
millions. Through this passion, government, ordained by
God, to defend the weak against the strong, to exalt
right above might, has up to this time been the great
wrong doer. Its crimes throw those of private men into
the shade.  Its murders reduce to insignificance those
of the bandits, pirates, highwaymen, assassins, against
whom it undertakes to protect society. How harmless at
this moment are all the criminals of Europe, compared
with the Russian power in Poland. This passion for power, which in a thousand forms, with a thousand weapons,
is warring against human liberty, and which Christianity
condemns as its worst foe, I have never ceased to repro-,
bate with whatever strength of utterance God has given
me. Power trampling on right, whether in the person
of king or priest, or in the shape of democracies, majorities and republican slaveholders, is the saddest sight to
him who honors human nature and desires its enlargement and happiness.
So fearful is the principle of which I have spoken, that
I have thought it right to recommend restrictions on power, and a simplicity in government, beyond what most
approve. Power, I apprehend, should not be suffered to
run into great masses. No more of it should be confided
to rulers, than is absolutely necessary to repress crime
and preserve public order. A purer age may warrant
larger trusts; but the less of government now the better,
if society be kept in peace. There should exist, if possible, no office to madden ambition. There should be no
public prize tempting enough to convulse a nation. One
of the tremendous evils of the world, is the monstrous
accumulation of power in a few hands. Half a dozen
men may, at this moment, light the fires of war through




INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.             19
the world, may convulse all civilized nations, sweep earth
and sea with armed hosts, spread desolation through the
fields and bankruptcy through cities, and make themselves felt by some form of suffering through every household in Christendom. Has not one politician recently
caused a large part of Europe to bristle with bayonets?
And ought this tremendous power to be lodged in the
hands of any human being? Is any] man pure enough
to be trusted with it? Ought such a prize as this to be
held out to ambition? Can we wonder at the shameless
profligacy, intrigue, and the base sacrifices of public interests, by which it is sought, and when gained, held fast.
Undoubtedly great social changes are required to heal
this evil, to diminish this accumulation of power. National spirit, which is virtual hostility to all countries but
our own, must yield to a growing humanity, to a new
knowledge of the spirit of Christ. Another important
step is, a better comprehension by communities, that government is at best a rude machinery, which can accomplish but very limited good, and which, when strained to
accomplish what individuals should do for themselves, is
sure to be perverted by selfishness to narrow purposes,
or to defeat through ignorance its own ends. Man is
too ignorant to govern much, to form vast plans for states
and empires. Human policy has almost always been in
conflict with the great laws of social well being; and the
less we rely on it the better. The less of power, given
to man over man, the better. I speak, of course, of
physical, political force. There is a power which cannot
be accumulated' to excess, I mean moral power, that of
truth and virtue, the royalty of wisdom and love, of magnanimity and true religion. This is the guardian of all
right. It makes those whom it acts on, free. It is mightiest when most gentle. In the progress of society this
C




20             INTRODUCTORY REMARKtS
is more and more to supersede the coarse workings of
government. Force is to fall before it.
It must not be inferred from these remarks, that I am
an enemy to all restraint.  Restraint in some form or other, is an essential law of our nature, a necessary discipline, running through life, and not to be escaped by any
art or violence. Wthere can we go, and not meet it?
The powers of nature are, all of them, limits to human
power. A never-ceasing force of gravity chains us to the
earth.  Mountains', rocks, precipices, and seas forbid our
advances. If we come to society, restraints multiply on
us. Our neighbour's rights limit our own. His property
is forbidden ground. Usage restricts our free action,
fixes our manners, and the language we must speak, and
the modes of pursuing our ends. Business is a restraint,
setting us wearisome tasks, and driving us through the
same mechanical routine day after day. Duty is a restraint, imposing curbs on passion, enjoining one course
and forbidding another, with stern voice, with uncompromising authority. Study is a restraint, compelling us,
if we would learn any thing, to concentrate the forces of
thought, and to bridle the caprices of fancy. All law,
divine or human, is, as the name imports, restraint. No
one feels more than I do, the need of this element of human life. He, who would fly from it, must live in perpetual conflict with nature, society, and himself.
But all this does not prove, that liberty, free action,
is not an infinite good, and that we should seek and
guard it with sleepless jealousy. For if we look at the
various restraints of which I have spoken, we shall see
that liberty is the end and purpose of all. Nature's powers around us hem us in, only to rouse a free power within us. It acts that we should react. Burdens press on
us, that the soul's elastic force should come forth. Bounds
are set, that we should clear them.' The weight, which




INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.              21
gravitation fastens to our limbs, incites us to borrow
speed from winds and steam, and we fly where we seemed doomed to creep. The sea, which first stopped us,
becomes the path to a new  hemisphere.  The sharp
necessities of life, cold, hunger, pain, which chain man
to toil, wake up his faculties, and fit him for wider action.
Duty restrains the passions, only that the nobler faculties
and affections may have freer play, may ascend to God,
and embrace all his works. Parents impose restraint, that
the child may learn to go alone, may outgrow authority.
Government is ordained, that the rights and freedom of
each and all may be inviolate. In study thought is confined, that it may penetrate the depths of truth, may seize
on the great laws of nature, and take a bolder range.
Thus freedom, ever-expanding action, is the end of all
just restraint. Restraint, without this end, is a slavish
yoke. How often has it broken the young spirit, tamed
the heart and the intellect, and made social life a standing pool. We were made for free action. This alone is
life, and enters into all that is good and great. Virtue
is free choice of the right; love, the free embrace of
the heart; grace, the free motion of the limbs; genius,
the free, bold flight of thought; eloquence, its free and
fervent utterance. Let me add, that social order is better
preserved by liberty, than by restraint. The latter, unless
most wisely and justly employed, frets, exasperates, and
provokes secret resistance; and still more, it is rendered
needful very much by that unhappy constitution of society,
which denies to multitudes the opportunities of free activity. A community, which should open a great variety of
spheres to its members, so that all might find free scope
for their powers, would need little array of force for restraint. Liberty would prove the best peace-officer. The
social order of New England, without a soldier and almost
without a police, bears loud witness to this truth. These




22             INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
views may suffice to explain the frequent recurrence of
this topic in the following tracts.
I will advert to one topic more, and do it briefly, that I
may not extend these remarks beyond reasonable bounds.
I have written once and again on War, a hackneyed
subject, as it is called, yet, one would think, too terrible
ever to become a commonplace. Is this insanity never to
cease? At this moment, whilst I write, two of the freest
and most enlightened nations, having one origin, bound
together above all others by mutual dependence, by the
interweaving of interests; are thought by some to be on
the brink of war. False notions of national honor, as
false and unholy as those of the duellist, do most toward
fanning this fire. Great nations, like great boys, place
their honor in resisting insult and in fighting well. One
would think, the time had gone by, in which nations needed to rush to arms, to prove that they were not cowards.
If there is one truth, which history has taught, it is, that
communities in all stages of society, from the most barbarous to the most civilized, have sufficient courage. No
people can charge upon its conscience, that it has not
shed blood enough in proof of its valor. Almost any
man, under the usual stimulants of the camp, can stand
fire. The poor wretch, enlisted from a dram-shop and
turned into the ranks, soon fights like a " hero." Must
France, and England, and America, after so many hardfought fields, go to war to disprove the charge of wanting
spirit? Is it not time, that the point of honor should
undergo some change, that some glimpses at least of
the true glory of a nation should be caught by rulers and
people? " It is the honor of a man to pass over a transgression," and so it is of states. To be wronged is no
disgrace. To bear wrong generously, till every means
of conciliation is exhausted; to recoil with manly dread




INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.             23
from the slaughter of our fellow-creatures; to put confidence in the justice, which other nations will do to our
motives; to have that consciousness of courage, which
will make us scorn the reproach of cowardice; to feel
that there is something grander than the virtue of savages; to desire peace for the world as well as ourselves,
and to shrink from kindling a flame, which may involve
the world; these are the principles and feelings, which do
honor to a people. Has not the time come, when a nation professing these, may cast itself on the candor of
mankind? Must fresh blood flow for ever, to keep clean
the escutcheon of a nation's glory? For one, I look on
war with a horror, which no words can express.. I have
long wanted patience to read of battles. Were the world
of my mind, no man would fight for glory; for the name
of a commander, who has no other claim to respect, seldom passes my lips, and the want of sympathy drives him
from my mind. The thought of man, God's immortal
child, butchered by his brother; the thought of sea and
land stained with human blood by human hands, of women and children buried under the ruins of besieged
cities, of the resources of empires and the mighty powers of nature all turned by man's malignity into engines
of torture and destruction; this thought gives to earth
the semblance of hell. I shudder as among demons. I
cannot now, as I once did, talk lightly, thoughtlessly of
fighting with this or that nation. That nation is no longer
an abstraction to me. It is no longer a vague mass. It
spreads out before me into individuals, in a thousand interesting forms and relations.  It consists of husbands
and wives, parents and children, who love one another as
I love my own home. It consists of affectionate women
and sweet children. It consists of Chris'tians, united
with me to the common Saviour, and in whose spirit
I reverence the likeness of his divine virtue. It con



24             INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
sists of a vast multitude of laborers at the plough and in
the workshop, whose toils I sympathize with, whose burden I should rejoice to lighten, and for whose elevation I
have pleaded. It consists of men of science, taste, genius, whose writings have beguiled my solitary hours,
and given life to my intellect and best affections. Here
is the nation which I am called to fight with, into whose
families I must send mourning, whose fall or humiliation
I must seek through blood. I cannot do it, without a
clear commission from God. I love this nation. Its men
and women are my brothers and sisters. I could not,
without unutterable pain, thrust a sword into their hearts.
If, indeed, my country were invaded by hostile armies,
threatening without disguise its rights, liberties, and dearest interests, I should strive to repel them, just as I
should repel a criminal, who should enter my house to
slay what I hold most dear, and what is intrusted to my
care. But I cannot confound with such a case the common instances of war. In general, war is the work of
ambitious men, whose principles have gained no strength
from the experience of public life, whose policy is colored
if not swayed by personal views or party interests, who
do not seek peace with a single heart, who, to secure
doubtful rights, perplex the foreign relations of the state,
spread jealousies at home and abroad, enlist popular paslions on the side of strife, commit themselves too far for
retreat, and are then forced to leave to the arbitration of
the sword, what an impartial umpire could easily have
arranged. The question of peace and war, is too often
settled for a country by men, in whom a Christian, a lover
of his race, can put little or no trust; and at the bidding
of such men, is he to steep his hands in human blood?
But this insanity is passing away. This savageness cannot endure, however hardened to it men are by long use.




INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.             25
The hope of waking up some from their lethargy has induced me to recur to this topic so often in my writings.
I might name other topics, which occupy a large space
in the following tracts, but enough has been said here.
I will only add, that I submit these volumes to the public with a deep feeling of their imperfections. Indeed, on
such subjects as God, and Christ, and Duty, and Immortality, and Perfection, how faint must all human utterance
be! In another life, we shall look back on our present
words as we do on the lispings of our childhood. Still these
lispings conduct the child to higher speech. Still, amidst
our weakness, we may learn something, and make progress, and quicken one another by free communication.
We indeed know and teach comparatively little; but the
known is not the less true or precious, because there is
an infinite unknown. Nor ought our ignorance to discourage us, as if we were left to hopeless skepticism.
There are great truths, which every honest heart way be
assured of. There is such a thing, as a serene, immovable conviction. Faith is a deep want of the soul. We
have faculties for the spiritual, as truly as for the outward
world. God, the foundation of all existence, may become to the mind the most real of all beings. We can
and do see in virtue an everlasting beauty. The distinctions of right and wrong, the obligations of goodness and
justice, the divinity of conscience, the moral connexion
of the present and future life, the greatness of the character of Christ, the ultimate triumphs of truth and love,
are to multitudes, not probable deductions, but intuitions
accompanied with the consciousness of certainty. They
shine with the clear, constant brightness of the lights of
heaven. The believer feels himself resting on an ever.
lasting foundation. It is to this power of moral or spiritual perception, that the following writings are chiefly adc




26              INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
dressed. I have had testimony, that they have not been
wholly ineffectual, in leading some minds to a more living
and unfaltering persuasion of great moral truths. WVithout this, I should be little desirous to send them out in
this new form. I trust that they will meet some wants.
Books which are to pass away, may yet render much service, by their fitness to the intellectual struggles and moral aspirations of the times in which they are written. If
in this or in any way I can serve the cause of truth,
humafity, and religion, I shall regard my labors, as having earned the best recompence which God bestows on
his creatures.
W. E. C.
BOSTON, AlSpril 18th, 1841.




CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.
ROMANS i. 16: " I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ."
SUCH was the language of Paul; and every man will
respond to it, who comprehends the character and has
felt the influence of Christianity.  In a former discourse, I proposed to state to you some reasons for
adopting as our own the words of the Apostle, for joining in this open and resolute testimony to the gospel
of Christ.  I observed, that I was not ashamed of the
gospel, first because it is True, and to this topic the
discourse was devoted.  I wish now to continue the
subject, and to state another ground of undisguised
and unshaken adherence to Christianity.  I say, then,
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because it is
a rational religion.  It agrees with reason; therefore I
count it worthy of acceptation, therefore I do not blush
to enrol myself among its friends and advocates.  The
object of the present discourse will be the illustration
of this claim of Christianity. I wish to show you the
harmony which subsists between the light of God's
word, and that primitive light of reason, which he has
kindled within us to be our perpetual guide.  If, in
treating this subject, I shall come into conflict with any




28        CHRISTIANITY A RATtONAL RELIGION.
class of Christians, I trust I shall not be considered
as imputing to them any moral or intellectual defect.
I judge men by their motives, dispositions, and lives,
and not by their speculations or peculiar opinions; and
I esteem piety and virtue equally venerable, whether
found in friend or foe.
Christianity is a Rational religion.  Were it not so,
I should be ashamed to profess it. I am aware that it
is the fashion with some to decry reason, and to set up
revelation as an opposite authority.  This error though
countenanced by good men, and honestly maintained
for the defence of the Christian cause, ought to be
earnestly withstood; for it virtually surrenders our religion into the hands of the unbeliever.  It saps the
foundation to strengthen the building.  It places our
religion in hostility to human nature, and gives to its
adversaries the credit of vindicating the rights and noblest powers of the mind.
We must never forget that our rational nature is the
greatest gift of God. For this we owe him our chief
gratitude.  It is a greater gift than any outward aid
or benefaction, and no doctrine which degrades it can
come from its Author.  The developement of it is the
end of our being. Revelation is but a means, and is
designed to concur with nature, providence, and God's
spirit, in carrying forward reason to its perfection.  I
glory in Christianity because it enlarges, invigorates,
exalts my rational nature.  If I could not be a Christian without ceasing to be rational, I should not hesitate
as to my choice.  I feel myself bound to sacrifice to
Christianity property, reputation, life; but I ought not
to sacrifice to any religion, that reason which lifts me
above the brute and constitutes me a nman.  1 can con



CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.       29
ceive no sacrilege greater than to prostrate or renounce
the highest faculty which we have derived from God.
In so doing we should offer violence to the divinity
within us. Christianity wages no war with reason, but
is one with it, and is given to be its helper and friend.
I wish, in the present discourse, to illustrate and
confirm  the views now given.  My remarks will be
arranged under two heads.  I propose, first, to show
that Christianity is founded on, and supposes, the authority of reason, and cannot therefore oppose it without
subverting itself.  My object in this part of the discourse will be to expose the error of those who hope
to serve revelation by disparaging reason.  I shall then,
in the second place, compare Christianity and the light
of reason, to slhow their accordance; and shall prove,
by descending to particulars, that Christianity is eminently a rational religion. My aim, under this head,
will be to vindicate the Gospel from the reproaches of
the unbeliever, and to strengthen the faith and attachment of its friends. - Before I begin, let me observe
that this discussion, from the nature of the subject,
must assume occasionally an abstract form, and will demand serious attention.  I amn to speak of Reason, the
chief faculty of the mind; and no simplicity of language
in treating such a topic can exempt the hearer from the
necessity of patient effort of thought.
I am to begin with showing that the Christian revelation is founded on the authority of reason, and consequently cannot oppose it; and here it may be proper
to settle the meaning of the word Reason. One of the
most important steps towards the truth is to determine
the import of terms.  Very often fierce controversies
have sprung from obscurity of language, and the parties,
C *




30        CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.
on explaining themselves, have discovered that they
have been spending their strength in a war of words.
What, then, is reason?
The term Reason is used with so much latitude,
that to fix its precise limits is not an easy task.  In this
respect it agrees with the other words which express
the intellectual faculties. One idea, however, is always
attached to it.  All men understand by reason the highest faculty or energy of the mind. Without laboring
for a philosophical definition that will comprehend all
its exercises, I shall satisfy myself with pointing out
two of its principal characteristics or functions.
First, it belongs to reason to comprehend Universal truths.  This is among its most important offices.
There are particular and there are universal truths.
The last are the noblest, and the capacity of perceiving
them is the distinction of intelligent beings; and these
belong to reason.  Let me give my meaning by some
illustrations;  I see a stone falling to the ground.  This
is a particular truth; but I do not stop here.  I believe
that not only this particular stone falls towards the
earth, but that every particle of matter, in whatever
world, tends, or, as is sometimes said, is attracted
towards all other matter.  Here is a universal truth,
a principle extending to the whole material creation,
and essential to its existence.  This truth belongs tc
reason. — Again, I see a man producing some effect, c
manufacture, a house. Here is a particular truth. But
I am not only capable of seeing particular causes and
effects; I am sure that every thing which begins to exist, no matter when or where, must have a cause, that
no change ever has taken place or ever will take place
without a cause.  Here is a universal truth, something




tHIISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.      31
true here and everywhere, true now and through eternity; and this truth belongs to reason. - Again, I see with
my eyes, I traverse with my hands, a limited space; but
this is not all. I am sure, that, beyond the limits which
my limbs or senses reach, there is an unbounded space;
that, go where I will, an infinity will spread around me.
Here is another universal truth, and this belongs to reason.  The idea of Infinity is indeed one of the noblest
conceptions of this faculty. - Again, I see a man conferring a good on another.  Here is a particular truth or
perception.  But my mind is not confined to this.  I
see and feel that it is right for all intelligent beings, exist
when or where they may, to do good, and wrong for them
to seek the misery of others.  Here is a universal truth,
a law extending from God to the lowest human being;
and this belongs to reason.  I trust I have conveyed to
you my views in regard to the first characteristic of this
highest power of the soul. Its office is to discern universal truths, great and eternal principles.  But it does
not stop here.  Reason is also exercised in applying
these universal truths to particular cases, beings, events.
For example, reason teaches me, as we have seen, that
all changes without exception require a cause; and in
conformity to this principle, it prompts me to seek the
particular causes of the endless changes and appearances
which fall under my observation.  Thus reason is perpetually at work on the ideas furnished us by the senses,
by consciousness, by memory, associating them with its
own great truths, or investing them with its own universality.
I now proceed to the second function of reason, which
is indeed akin to the first. Reason is the power which
tends, and is perpetually striving, to reduce our various




032       CIRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.
thoughts to Unity or Consistency. Perhaps the most
findamental conviction of reason is, that all truths agree
together; that inconsistency is the mark of error.  Its
intensest, most earnest effort is to bring concord into the
intellect, to reconcile what seem to be clashing views.
On the observation of a new fact, reason strives to incorporate it with former knowledge. It can allow nothing
to stand separate in the mind.  It labors to bring together scattered truths, and to give them the strength and
beauty of a vital order.  Its end and delight is harmony.
It is shocked by an inconsistency in belief, just as a fine
ear is wounded by a discord.  It carries within itself an
instinctive consciousness, that all things which exist are
intimately bound together; and it cannot rest until it has
connected whatever we witness with the infinite whole.
Reason, according to this view, is the most glorious form
or exercise of the intellectual nature.  It corresponds to
the unity of God and the universe, and seeks to make
the soul the image and mirror of this sublime unity.
I have thus given my views of reason; but, to prevent
all perversion, before I proceed to the main discussion,
let me offer a word or two more of explanation. In this
discourse, when I speak of the accordance of revelation
with reason, I suppose this faculty to be used deliberately, conscientiously, and with the love of truth. Men often baptize with the name of reason their prejudices, unexamined notions, or opinions adopted through interest,
pride, or other unworthy biasses.  It is not uncommon
to hear those who sacrifice the plainest dictates of the
rational nature to impulse and passion, setting themselves
up as oracles of reason.  Now when I say revelation
must accord with reason; I do not mean by the term the




CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.     33
corrupt and superficial opinions of men who have betrayed and debased their rational powers.  I mean reason,
calmly, honestly exercised for the acquisition of truth and
the invigoration of virtue.
After these explanations, I proceed to the discussion
of the two leading principles to which this Discourse is
devoted.
First, I am to show that revelation is founded on the
authority of reason, and cannot therefore oppose or disparage it without subverting itself.  Let me state a few
of the considerations which convince me of the truth of
this position.  The first is, that reason alone makes us
capable of receiving a revelation.  It must previously
exist and operate, or we should be wholly unprepared for
the communications of Christ. Revelation, then, is built
on reason.  You will see the truth of these remarks if
you will consider to whom revelation is sent. Why is it
given to men rather than to brutes? Why have not
God's messengers gone to the fields to proclaim his glad
tidings to bird and beast?  The answer is obvious.
These want reason; and, wanting this, they have no capacity or preparation for revealed truth.  And not only
would revelation be lost on the brute; let it speak to the
child, before his rational faculties have been awakened,
and before some ideas of duty and his own nature have
been developed, and it might as well speak to a stone.
Reason is the preparation and ground of revelation.
This truth will be still more obvious, if we consider,
not only to whom, but in what way, the Christian revelation is communicated. How is it conveyed? In words.
Did it make these words? No. They were in use ages
before its birth. Again I ask, Did it make the ideas or
4




34        CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.
thoughts which these words express? No. If the hearers of Jesus had not previously attached ideas to the
terms which he employed, they could not have received
his meaning. He might as well have spoken to them in
a foreign tongue.  Thus the ideas which enter into
Christianity subsisted before.  They were ideas of reason; so that to this faculty revelation owes the materials
of which it is composed.
Revelation, we must remember, is not our earliest
teacher.  AIan is not born with the single power of
reading God's word, and sent immediately to that guide.
His eyes open first on another volume, that of the creation. Long before he can read the Bible, he looks
round on the earth and sky.  He reads the countenances
of his friends, and hears and understands their voices.
He looks, too, by degrees within himself, and acquires
some ideas of his own soul.  Thus his first school is
that of nature and reason, and this is necessary to prepare him for a communication from Heaven.  Revelation
does not find the mind a blank, a void, prepared to receive unresistingly whatever may be offered; but finds it
in -possession of various knowledge from nature and experience, and, still more, in possession of great principles, fundamental truths, moral ideas, which are derived
from itself, and which are the germs of all its future improvement. This last view is peculiarly important. The
mind does not receive every thing from abroad. Its
great ideas arise from itself, and by those native lights it
reads and comprehends the volumes of nature and revelation. We speak, indeed, of nature and revelation as
making known to us an intelligent First Cause; but the
ideas of intelligence and causation we derive originally
from our own nature.  The elements of the idea of God




CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.     35
we gather from ourselves. Power, wisdom, love, virtue1
beauty, and happiness, words which contain all that is
glorious in the universe and interesting in our existence,
express attributes of the mind, and are understood by us
only through consciousness.  It is true, these ideas or
principles of reason are often obscured by thick clouds,
and mingled with many and deplorable errors.  Still
they are never lost.  Christianity recognises them, is
built on them, and needs them as its interpreters.  If
an illustration of these views be required, I would point
you to what may be called the most fundamental idea of
religion. I mean the idea of right, of duty. Do we
derive this originally and wholly from sacred books?
Has not every human being, whether born within or beyond the bounds of revelation, a sense of the distinction
between right and wrong? Is there not an earlier voice
than revelation, approving or rebuking men according to
their deeds? In barbarous ages is not conscience heard?
And dots it not grow more articulate with the progress
of society? Christianity does not create, but presupposes the idea of duty; and the same may be said of
other great convictions. Revelation, then, does not stand
alone, nor is it addressed to a blank and passive mind.
It was meant to be a joint worker with other teachers,
with nature, with Providence, with conscience, with our
rational powers; and as these all are given us by God,
they cannot differ from each other. God must agree
with himself. He has but one voice. It is man who
speaks with jarring tongues. Nothing but harmony can
come from the Creator; and, accordingly, a religion
claiming to be from God, can give no surer proof of
falsehood than by contradicting those previous truths
which God is teaching by our very nature. We have




36        CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.
thus seen that reason prepares us for a divine communication, and that it furnishes the ideas or materials of
which revelation consists.  This is my first consideration.
I proceed to a second. I affirm, then, that revelation
rests on the authority of reason, because to this faculty
it submits the evidences of its truth, and nothing but the
approving sentence of reason binds us t6 receive and
obey it.  This is a very weighty consideration.  Christianity, in placing itself before the tribunal of reason and
in resting its claims on the sanction of this faculty, is one
of the chief witnesses to the authority and dignity of our
rational nature.  That I have ascribed to this faculty its
true and proper office, may be easily made to appear. I
take the New Testament in hand, and on what ground do
I receive its truths as divine? I see nothing on its pages
but the same letters in which other books are written.
No miraculous voice from Heaven assures me that it is
God's word, nor does any mysterious voice within my
soul command me to believe the supernatural works of
Christ.  How, then, shall I settle the question of the
origin of this religion? I must examine it by the same
rational faculties by which other subjects are tried.  1
must ask what are its evidences, and I must lay them
before reason, the only power by which evidence can be
weighed. I have not a distinct faculty given me for
judging a revelation.  I have not two understandings,
one for inquiring into God's word and another into his
works. As with the same bodily eye I now look on the
earth, now on the heavens, so with the same power of
reason I examine now nature, now revelation. Reason
must collect and weigh the various proofs of Christianity
It must especially compare this system with those great




CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.       37
moral convictions, which are written by the finger of
God on the heart, and which make man a law to himself.  A religion subverting these, it must not hesitate
to reject, be its evidences what they may.  A religion,
for example, commanding us to hate and injure society,
reason must instantly discard, without even waiting to
examine its proofs. From these views we learn, not
only that it is the province of reason to judge of the truth
of Christianity, but, what is still more important, that
the rules or tests by which it judges are of its own dictation.  The laws which it applies in this case have
their origin in itself. No one will pretend, that revelation can prescribe the principles by which the question
of its own truth should be settled; for, until proved to
be true, it has no authority.  Reason must prescribe
the tests or standards, to which a professed communication from God should be referred; and among these
none are more important than that moral law, which
belongs to the very essence, and is the deepest conviction, of the rational nature.  Revelation, then, rests
on reason, and, in opposing it, would act for its own
destruction.
I have given two views. I have shown that revelation draws its ideas or materials from reason, and that it
appeals to this power as the judge of its truth.  I now
assert, thirdly, that it rests on the authority of reason,
because it needs and expects this faculty to be its interpreter, and without this aid would be worse than useless.
How is the right of interpretation, the real meaning, of
Scriptures to be ascertained? I answer, By reason.  I
Know of no process by which the true sense of the New
Testament is to pass from the page into my mind without the use of my rational faculties.  It will not be pre4*                 D




38        CHRISTIANITY A RA~'IONAL RELIGION.
tended that this book is so exceedingly plain, its words
so easy, its sentences so short, its meaning so exposed
on the surface, that the whole truth may be received in a
moment and without any intellectual effort.  There is
no such miraculous simplicity in the Scriptures.  In
truth, no book can be written so simply as to need no
exercise of reason.  Almost every word has more than
one meaning, and judgment is required to select the
particular sense intended by the writer.  Of all books,
perhaps the Scriptures need most the use of reason for
their just interpretation; and this, not from any imperfection, but friom the strength, boldness, and figurative
character of their style, and from  the distance of the
time when they were written.  I open the New Testament and my eye lights on this passage; "If thy hand
offend thee, cut it off and cast it from  thee."  Is this
language to be interpreted in its plainest and most obvious sense? Then I must mutilate my body, and become
a suicide.  I look again, and I find Jesus using these
words to the Jews; " Fill ye up the measure of your
iniquities."  Am  I to interpret this according to the
letter, or the first ideas which it suggests?  Then Jesus
commanded his hearers to steep themselves in crime,
and was himself a minister of sin.  It is only by a deliberate use of reason, that we can penetrate beneath the
figurative, hyperbolical, and often obscure style of the
New Testament, to the real meaning. Let me go to
the Bible, dismissing my reason and taking the first impression which the words convey, and there is no absurdity, however gross, into which I shall not fall.  I
shall ascribe a limited body to God, and unbounded
knowledge to man, for I read of God having limbs, and
of man knowing all things. Nothing is plainer, than




CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.      39
that I must compare passage with passage, and limit one
by another, and especially limit all by those plain and
universal principles of reason, which are called common
sense, or I shall make revelation the patron of every
folly and vice.  So essential is reason to the interpretation of the Christian records.  Revelation rests upon
its authority.  Can it then oppose it, or teach us to hold
it in light esteem?
I have now furnished the proofs of my first position,
that revelation is founded on reason; and in discussing
this, I have-wished not only to support the main doctrine, but to teach you to reverence, more perhaps than
you have done, your rational nature.  This has been
decried by theologians, until men have ceased to feel its
sacredness and dignity.  It ought to be regarded as
God's greatest gift.  It is his image within us.  To renounce it would be to offer a cruel violence to ourselves,
to take our place among the brutes.  Better pluck out
the eye, better quench the light of the body, than the
light within us.  We all feel, that the loss of reason,
when produced by disease, is the most terrible calamity
of life, and we look on a hospital for the insane as the
receptacle for the most pitiable of our race.  But, in
one view, insanity is not so great an evil as the prostration of reason to a religious sect or a religious chief; for
the first is a visitation of Providence, the last is a voluntary act, the work of our own hands.
I am aware, that those who have spoken most contemptuously of human reason, have acted from a good
motive; their aim has been to exalt revelation.  They
have thought that by magnifying this as the only means
of divine teaching, they were adding to its dignity.  But
truth gains nothing by exaggeration; and Christianity,




49        CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.
as we have seen, is undermined by nothing more effectually, than by the sophistry which would bring discredit
on our rational powers.  Revelation needs no such support. For myself I do not find, that, to esteem Christianity, I must think it the only source of instruction to
which I must repair. I need not make nature dumb, to
give power or attraction to the teaching of Christ. The
last derives new interest and confirmation from its harmony with the first. Christianity would furnish a weapon against itself, not easily repelled, should it claim the
distinction of being the only light vouchsafed by God to
men; for, in that case, it would represent a vast majority of the human race as left by their Creator without
guidance or hope. I believe, and rejoice to believe,
that a ray from Heaven descends on the path of every
fellow-creature.  The heathen, though in darkness when
compared with the Christian, has still his light; and it
comes from the same source as our own, just as the
same sun dispenses, now the faint dawn, and now the
perfect day.  Let not nature's teaching be disparaged.
It is from God as truly as his word.  It is sacred, as
truly as revelation.  Both are manifestations of one infinite mind, and harmonious manifestations; and without
this agreement the claims of Christianity could not be
sustained.
In offering these remarks, I have not forgotten that
they will expose me to the reproach of ministering to
" the pride of reason"'; and I may be told, that there
is no worse form of pride than this.  The charge is so
common, as to deserve a moment's attention.  It will
appear at once to be groundless, if you consider, that
pride finds its chief nourishment and delight in the idea
of our own superiority. It is built on something pecu.




CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.       41
Jar and distinctive, on something which separates us
from others and raises us above them, and not on powers which we share with all around us. Now, in speaking, as I have done, of the worth and dignity of reason,
I have constantly regarded and represented this faculty,
as the common property of all human beings. I have
spoken of its most important truths as universal and unconfined, such as no individual can monopolize or make
the grounds of personal distinction or elevation.  I have
given, then, no occasion and furnished no nutriment to
pride.  I know, indeed, that the pride of reason or of
intellect exists; but how does it chiefly manifest itself?
Not in revering that rational nature, which all men have
derived fromn God; but in exaggerating our particular
acquisitions or powers, in magnifying our distinctive
views, in looking contemptuously on other minds, in
making ourselves standards for our brethren, in refusing
new lights, and in attempting to establish dominion over
the understandings of those who are placed within our
influence.  Such is the most common form of the pride
of intellect.  It is a vice confined to no sect, and perhaps will be found to prevail most where it is most disclaimed.
I doubt not that they who insist so continually on the
duty of exalting Scripture above reason, consider themselves as particularly secured against the pride of reason.  Yet none, I apprehend, are more open to the
charge.  Such persons are singularly prone to enforce
their own interpretations of Scripture on others, and tr
see peril and crime in the adoption of different views
from their own. Now, let me ask, by what power do
these men interpret revelation?  Is it not by their reason? Have they any faculties but the rational ones, by
nD




42        CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.
which to compare Scripture with Scripture, to explain
figurative language, to form conclusions as to the will of
God? Do they not employ on God's word the same
intellect as on his works?  And are not their interpretations of both equally results of reason?  It follows,
that in imposing on others their explications of the
Scriptures, they as truly arrogate to themselves a superiority of reason, as if they should require conformity to
their explanations of nature.  Nature and Scripture
agree in this, that they cannot be understood at a glance.
Both volumes demand patient investigation, and task all
our powers of thought. Accordingly it is well known,
that as much intellectual toil has been spent on theological systems as on the natural sciences; and unhappily
it is not less known, that as much intellectual pride has
been manifested in framing and defending the first as the
last. I fear, indeed, that this vice has clung with peculiar obstinacy to the students of revelation.  Nowhere, I
fear, have men manifested such infatuated trust in their
own infallibility, such overweening fondness for their own
conclusions, such positiveness, such impatience of contradiction, such arrogance towards the advocates of different opinions, as in the interpretation of the Scriptures;
and yet these very men, who so idolize their own intellectual powers, profess to humble reason, and consider a
criminal reliance on it as almost exclusively chargeable
on others.  The true defence against the pride of reason, is, not to speak of it contemptuously, but to reverence it as God's inestimable gift to every human being,
and as given to all for never-ceasing improvements of
which we see but the dawn in the present acquisitions
ef the noblest mind.




CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.       43
I have now completed my views of the first principle,
which I laid down in this discourse; namely, that the
Christian revelation rests on the authority of reason
Of course, it cannot oppose reason without undermining and destroying itself.  I maintain, however, that it
does not oppose, that it perfectly accords with reason.
It is a rational religion. This is my second great position, and to this I ask your continued attention.  This
topic might easily be extended to a great length.  1
might state, in succession, all the principles of Christianity, and show their accordance with reason.  But
I believe that more general views will be more useful,
and such only can be given within the compass of a
discourse.
In the account which I gave you of reason, in the
beginning of this discourse, I confined myself to two
of its functions, namely, its comprehension of universal
truths, and the effort it constantly makes to reduce the
thoughts to harmony or consistency.  Universality and
Consistency are among the chief attributes of reason.
Do we find these in Christianity?  If so, its claim to
the character of a rational religion will be established.
These tests I will therefore apply to it, and I will begin
with Consistency.
That a religion be rational, nothing more is necessary than that its truths should consist or agree with
one another, and with all other truths, whether derived
fiom outward nature or our own souls.  Now I affirm,
that the Christian doctrines have this agreement; and
the more we examine, the more brightly this mark of
truth will appear.  I go to the Gospel, and I first compare its various parts with one another.  Among these
I find perfect harmony; and what makes this more re



44         CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.
markable is, that Christianity is not taught systematically, or like a science.  Jesus threw out, if I may so
speak, his precepts and doctrines incidentally, or as
they were required by the occasion, and yet, when they
are brought together, they form a harmonious whole.
I do not think it necessary to enlarge on this topic, because I believe it is not questioned by infidelity.  I will
name but one example of this harmony in Christianity.
All its doctrines and all its precepts have that species
of unity, which is most essential in a religion, that is,
they all tend to one object.  They all agree in a single
aim or purpose, and that is to exalt the human character to a height of virtue never known before.  Let the
skeptic name, if he can, one Christian principle which
has not a bearing on this end.  A  consistency of this
kind is the strongest mark of a rational religion which
can be conceived.  Let me observe, in passing, that,
besides this harmony of the Christian doctrines with one
another, there is a striking and beautiful agreement between the teachings of Jesus and his character, which
gives confirmation to both.  Whatever Jesus taught,
you may see embodied in himself.  There is perfect
unity between the system and its Founder. His life republished what fell from his lips. With his lips he enjoined earnestly, constantly a strong and disinterested
philanthropy; and how harmoniously and sublimely did
his cross join with his word in enforcing this exalted
virtue! With his lips he taught the mercy of God to
sinners; and of this attribute he gave a beautiful illustration in his own deep interest in the sinful, in his free
intercourse with the most fallen, and in his patient efforts
to recover them to virtue and to filial reliance on their
Father in Heaven.   So, his preaching turned much




CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.     45
on the importance of raising the mind above the world;
and his own life was a constant renunciation of worldly
interests, a cheerful endurance of poverty that he might
make many truly rich.  So, his discourses continually
revealed to man the doctrine of immortality; and in his
own person he brought down this truth to men's senses,
by rising from the dead and ascending to another state
of being. —I have only glanced at the unity which subsists between Jesus and his religion. Christianity, from
every point of view, will be found a harmonious system.  It breathes throughout one spirit and one purpose.  Its doctrines, precepts, and examples have the
consistency of reason.
But this is not enough.  A  rational religion must
agree not only with itself, but with all other truths,
whether revealed by the outward creation or our own
souls. I take, then, Christianity into the creation, I
place it by the side of nature.  Do they agree?  I say,
Perfectly. I can discover nothing, in what claims to
be God's word, at variance with his works. This is
a bright proof of the reasonableness of Christianity.
When I consult nature with the lights modern science
affords, I see continually multiplying traces of the doctrine of One God. The more I extend my researches
into nature, the more I see that it is a whole, the product of one wisdom, power, and goodness. It bears
witness to one Author, nor has its testimony been
without effect; for although the human mind has often
multiplied its objects of worship, still it has always
tended towards the doctrine of the divine unity, and
has embraced it more and more firmly in the course- of
human improvement.  The Heathen, while he erected
many altars, generally believed in one Supreme Di5




46        CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.
vinity, to whom the inferior deities were subjected and
from whom they sprung. Need I tell you of the hart
mony which subsists between nature and revelation in
this particular?  To Christianity belongs the glory of
having proclaimed this primitive truth with new power,
and of having spread it over the whole civilized world.
-- Again.  Nature gives intimation of another truth,
I mean of the universal, impartial goodness of God.
When I look round on the creation, I see nothing to
lead me to suspect that its Author confines his love to
a few.  The sun sends no brighter beam into the palace
of the proudest king, than into the hut of the meanest
peasant.  The clouds select not one man's fields rather
than his neighbour's, but shed down their blessings on
rich and poor, and, still more, on the just and the unjust.
True, there is a variety of conditions among men; but
this takes place, not by any interposition of God, but by
fixed and general laws of nature.  Impartial, universal
goodness is the character in which God is revealed by
his works, when they are properly understood; and
need I tell you how brightly this truth shines in the
pages of Christianity, and how this religion has been
the great means of establishing it among men?-Again.
When I look through nature, nothing strikes me more
than the union which subsists among all its works.
Nothing stands alone in the creation.  The humblest
plant has intimate connexions with the air, the clouds,
the sun. Harmony is the great law of nature, and how
strikingly does Christianity coincide here with God's
works; for what is the design of this religion, but to
bring the human race, the intelligent creation of God,
into a harmony, union, peace, like that which knits
together the outward universe?  I will give another




CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION         47
illustration.  It is one of the great laws of nature, tiat
good shall come to us through agents of God's appointment; that beings shall receive life, support, knowledge,
and safety through the interposition and labors and sufferings of others.  Sometimes whole communities are
rescued from oppression and ruin chiefly by the efforts
and sacrifices of a wise, disinterested, and resolute individual.  How accordant with this ordination of nature
is the doctrine of Christianity, that our Heavenly Father, having purposed our recovery from sin and death,
has instituted for this end the agency and mediation of
his Son; that he has given an illustrious deliverer to
the world, through whose toils and sufferings we may
rise to purity and immortal life. -  I say, then, that revelation is consistent with nature, when nature is truly
interpreted by reason.  I see it bringing out with noonday brightness the truths which dawn in nature; so that
it is reason in its most perfect form.
I have thus carried Christianity abroad into nature.
I now carry it within, and compare it with the human
soul; and is it consistent with the great truths of reason
which I discover there?  I affirm, that it is.  When I
look into the soul, I am at once struck with its irnmeasurable superiority to the body.  I am  struck with the
contrast between these different elements of my nature,
between this active, soaring mind, and these limbs and
material organs which tend perpetually to the earth, and
are soon to be resolved into dust.' How consistent is
Christianity with this inward teaching!  In Christianity,
with what strength, with what bold relief, is the supremacy of the spiritual nature brought out!  WVhat
contempt does Jesus cast on the body and its interests,
when compared with the redemption of the soul! —




48        CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.
Another great truth dawns on me when I look within.
I learn more and more, that the great springs of happiness and misery are in the mind, and that the efforts of
men to secure peace by other processes than by inward
purification, are vain strivings; and Christianity is not
only consistent with, but founded on, this great truth;
teaching us, that the kingdom of heaven is within us,
and proposing, as its great end, to rescue the mind
from evil, and to endue it with strength and dignity
worthy its divine origin. -  Again, when I look into the
soul I meet intimations of another great truth.  I discern in it capacities which are not fully unfolded here.
I see desires which find no adequate good on earth.  I
see a principle of hope always pressing forward into
futurity. Here are marks of a nature not made wholly
for this world; and how does Christianity agree with
this teaching of our own souls?  Its great doctrine is
that of a higher life, where the spiritual germ within us
will open for ever, and where the immortal good after
which the mind aspires will prove a reality. -Had I
time, I might survey distinctly the various principles of
the soul, the intellectual, moral, social, and active, and
might show you how Christianity accords with them all,
enlarging their scope and energy, proposing to them
nobler objects, and aiding their developement by the
impulse of a boundless hope.  But, commending these
topics to your private meditation, I will take but one
more view of the soul. When I look within, I see
stains of sin, and fears and forebodings of guilt; and
how adapted to such a nature is Christianity, a religion
which contains blood-sealed promises of forgiveness to
the penitent, and which profifers heavenly strength to
fortify lus in our conflict with moral evil — I say, then,




CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL REIGION       49
Christianity consists with she nature within us, as well
as with nature around us.  The highest truths in respect
to the soul are not only responded to, but are carried
out by Christianity, so that it deserves to be called the
perfection of reason.
I have now shown, in a variety of particulars, that
Christianity has the character of Consistency, and thus
satisfies the first demand of reason.  It does not divide
the mind against itself, does not introduce discord into
the intellect, by proposing doctrines which our consciousness and experience repel.  But these views do
not exhaust the present topic.  It is not enough to
speak of Christianity as furnishing views which harmonize with one another, and with all known truth.  It
gives a new and cheering consistency to the views with
which we are furnished by the universe.  Nature and
providence, with all their beauty, regularity, and beneficence, have yet perplexing aspects. Their elements
are often seen in conflict with one another.  Sunshine
and storms, pleasure and pain, success and disaster,
abundance and want, health and sickness, life and death,
seem to ordinary spectators to be mixed together confusedly and without aim.  Reason desires nothing so
earnestly, so anxiously, as to solve these discordant
appearances, as to discover some great, central, reconciling truth, around which they may be arranged, and
from which they may borrow light and harmony. This
deep want of the rational nature, Christianity has supplied.  It has disclosed a unity of purpose in the seemingly hostile dispensations of providence, and opened
to the mind a new world of order, beauty, and benevolent design.  Christianity, revealing, as it does, the
unbounded mercy of God to his sinful creatures; re5*            E




50        CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.
vealing an endless futurity, in which the inequalities of
the present state are to be redressed, and which reduces
by its immensity the sorest pains of life to light and
momentary evils; revealing a Moral Perfection, which
is worth all pain and conflicts, and which is most effectually and gloriously won amidst suffering and temptation; revealing in Jesus Christ the sublimity and rewards of tried and all-enduring virtue; revealing in Him
the founder of a new moral kingdom or power, which
is destined to subdue the world to God; and proffering
the Holy Spirit to all who strive to build up in themselves and others the reign of truth and virtue; Christianity, I say, by these revelations, has poured a flood
of light over nature and providence, and harmonized the
infinite complexity of the works and ways of God.
Thus it meets the first want of the rational nature, the
craving for consistency of views.  It is reason's most
effectual minister and friend.  Is it not, then, eminently
a Rational Faith?
Having shown that Christianity has the character of
consistency, I proceed to the second mark or stamp of
reason on a religion, that is, Universality; and this I
claim for Christianity.  This indeed is one of the most
distinguishing features of our religion, and so obvious
and striking as to need little illustration.  When I exalnine the doctrines, precepts, and spirit of Christianity,
I discover, in them all, this character of Universality.
[ discover nothing narrow, temporary, local. The Gospel bears the stamp of no particular age or country.
It does not concern itself with the perishable interests
of communities or individuals; but appeals to the Spiritual, Immortal, Unbounded principle in human nature.
Its aim is to direct the mind to the Infinite-Being, and




CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.       51
to an Infinite good.  It is not made up, like other reigions, of precise forms and details; but it inculcates
immutable and all-comprehending principles of duty,
leaving every man to apply them for himself to the
endless variety of human conditions.  It separates from
God the partial, limited views of Judaism and heathenism, and holds him forth in the sublime attributes of the
Universal Father. In like manner, it inculcates philanthropy without exceptions or bounds; a love to man
as man, a love founded on that immortal nature of
which all men partake, and which binds us to recognise
in each a child of God and a brother.  The spirit of
bigotry, which confines its charity to a sect, and the
spirit of aristocracy, which looks on the multitude as an
inferior race, are alike rebuked by Christianity; which,
eighteen hundred years ago, in a narrow and superstitious age, taught, what the present age is beginning to
understand, that all men are essentially equal, and that
all are to be honored, because made for immortality and
endued with capacities of ceaseless improvement.  The
more I examine Christianity, the more I am struck with
its universality.  I see in it a religion made for all regions and all times, for all classes and all stages of society.  It is fitted, not to the Asiatic or the European,
but to the essential principles of human nature, to man
under the tropical or polar skies, to all descriptions of
intellect and condition.  It speaks a language which all
men need and all can understand; enjoins a virtue,
which is man's happiness and glory in every age and
clime; and ministers consolations and hopes which answer to man's universal lot, to the sufferings, the fear,
and the self-rebuke, which cleave to our nature in every
outward change.  I see in it the light, not of one na



52        CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.
Lion, but of the world; and a light reaching beyond the
world, beyond time, to higher modes of existence and
to an interminable futurity.  Other religions have been
intended to meet the exigencies of particular countries
or times, and therefore society in its progress has outgrown them; but Christianity meets more and more the
wants of the soul in proportion to the advancement of,mU' race, atid thus proves itself to be Eternal Truth.
After these remtarks, may I not claim  for Christianity
that character of universality which is the highest distinction of rea.ison?  To understand fully the confirmation which these views give to the Gospel, you must
compare it with thit religions prevalent in the age of
Christ, all of wvVhich bore the marks of narrow, local,
temporary institutions. How striking the contrast! And
how singular the fact, that amid this darkness there
sprung up a religion so consistent and universal, as to
deserve to be called the perfection of reason!
I do and must feel, my friends, that the claim of
Christianity to the honor of being a rational religion,
is fully established. As such I commend it to you.
As such it will more and more approve itself, in proportion as you study and practise it.  You will never
find cause to complain, that by adopting it you have enslaved or degraded your highest powers. Here, then,
I might stop, and might consider my work as done.
But I am aware that objections have been made to the
rational character of our religion, which may still linger
in the minds of some of my hearers. A brief notice
of these may aid the purpose, and will form a proper
conclusion, of this discourse.
I imagine that were some who are present to speak,




CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGtON.      53
they would tell me, that if Christianity be judged by its
fruits, it deserves any character but that of rational.  I
should be told that no religion has borne a more abundant
harvest of extravagance and fanaticism., I should be told
that reason is a calm, reflecting, sober principle, and I
should be asked whether such is the character of the
Christianity which has overspread the world.  Perhaps
some of you will remind me of the feverish, wild, passionate religion, which is now systematically dispersed
through our country, and I shall be asked whether a system under which such delusions prevail can be a rational
one.
To these objections I answer, You say much that is
true.  I grant that reason is a calm and reflecting principle, and I see little calmness or reflection among many
who take exclusively the name of Christ.  But I say,
you have no right to confound Christianity with its professors.  This religion, as you know, has come down to
us through many ages of darkness, during Which it must
have been corrupted and obscured. Common candor
requires that you should judge of it as it came from its
Founder.  Go, then, to its original records; place yourselves near Jesus; and tell me if you ever found yourselves in the presence of so calm a teacher. We indeed
discern in Jesus great earnestness, but joined with entire self-control.  Sensibility breathes through his whole
teaching and life, but always tempered with wisdom.
Amidst his boldest thoughts and expressions, we discover no marks of ungoverned feeling or a diseased imagination.  Take, as an example, his longest discourse, the
Sermon on the Mount.  How weighty the thoughts!
How grave and dignified the style! You recollect, that
the multitude were astonished, not at the passionate




54        CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.
vehemence, but at the authority, with which he spoke.
Read next the last discourse of Jesus to his disciples in
St. John's Gospel. What a deep, yet mild and subdued
tenderness mingles with conscious greatness in that wonderful address.  Take what is called the Lord's Prayer,
which Jesus gave as the model of all prayer to God.
Does that countenance fanatical fervor, or violent appeals
to our Creator? Let me further ask, Does Jesus anywhere place religion in tumultuous, ungoverned emotion?
Does he not teach us, that obedience, not feeling, marks
and constitutes true piety, and that the most acceptable
offering to God is to exercise mercy to our fellow-creatures? When I compare the clamorous preaching and
passionate declamation, too common in the Christian
world, with the composed dignity, the deliberate wisdom, the freedom from all extravagance, which characterized Jesus, I can imagine no greater contrast; and I
am sure that the fiery zealot is no representative of
Christianity.
I have done with the first objection; but another class
of objections is often urged against the reasonable character of our religion.  It has been strenuously maintained, that Christianity contains particular doctrines which
are irrational, and which involve the whole religion to
which they are essential, in their own condemnation.
To this class of objections I have a short reply.  I insist that these offensive doctrines do not belong to Christianity, but are human additions, and therefore do not
derogate from its reasonableness and truth.  What is the
doctrine most frequently adduced to fix the charge of
irrationality on the Gospel?  It is the Trinity.  This is
pronounced by the unbeliever a gross offence to reason.
It teaches that there is one God, and yet that there are




CHBIISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.      55
three divine persons.  According to the doctrine, these
three persons perform different offices, and sustain different relations to each other.  One is Father, another his
Son.  One sends, another is sent.  They love each
other, converse with jeach other, and make a covenant
with each other; and yet, with all these distinctions, they
are, according to the doctrine, not different beings, but
one being, one and the same God. Is this a rational
doctrine? has often been the question of the objector to
Christianity.  I answer, No.  I can as easily believe
that the whole human race are one man, as that three infinite persons, performing such different offices, are one
God.  But I maintain, that, because the Trinity is irrational, it does not follow that the same reproach belongs
to Christianity; for this doctrine is no part of the Christian religion.  I know, there are passages which are continually quoted in its defence; but allow me to prove
doctrines in the same way, that is, by detaching texts
from their connexion and interpreting them without reference to the general current of Scripture, and I can prove
any thing and every thing from the Bible. I can prove,
that God has humat passions.  I can prove transubstantiation, which is taught much more explicitly than the
Trinity.  Detached texts prove nothing.  Christ is called God; the same title is given to Moses and to rulers.
Christ has said, " I and my Father are one;" so he
prayed, that all his disciples might be one, meaning not
one and the same being, but one in affection and purpose.
I ask you, before yotu judge on this point, to read the
Scriptures as a whole, and to inquire into their general
strain and teaching in regard to Christ.  1 find him uniformly distinguishing between himself and God, calling
himself, not God the Son, but the Son of God, contin



56        CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.
ually speaking of himself as sent by God, continually
referring his power and miracles to God.  I hear him
saying, that of himself he can do nothing, and praying to
his Father under the character of the only true God.
Such I affirm to be the tenor, the current, the general
strain of the New  Testament; and the scattered passages, on which' a different doctrine is built, should
have no weight against this host of witnesses. Do not
rest your faith on a few texts.  Sometimes these favorite
texts are no part of Scripture.  For example, the famous passage on which the Trinity mainly rests, " There
are three that bear record in Heaven, the Father, the
Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one,"
this text, I say, though found at present in John's Epistle, and read in our churches, has been pronounced by
the ablest critics a forgery; and a vast majority of the
educated ministers of this country are satisfied, that it is
not a part of Scripture.  Suffer no man, then, to select
texts for you as decisive of religious controversies.
Read the whole record for yourselves, and possess yourselves of its general import.  I am very desirous to separate the doctrine in question from Christianity, because
it fastens the charge of irrationality on the whole religion.
It is one of the great obstacles to the propagation of the
Gospel. The Jews will not hear of a Trinity. I have
seen in the countenance, and heard in the tones of the
voice, the horror with which that people shrink from the
doctrine, that God died on the cross.  Mahometans, too,
when they hear this opinion from Christian missionaries,
repeat the first article of their faith, " There is one
God " and look with pity or scorn on the disciples of.Jesus, as deserters of the plainest and greatest truth of
religion.  Even the Indian of our wilderness, who wor



CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.       57
ships the Great Spirit, has charged absurdity on the
teacher who has gone to indoctrinate him in a Trinity.
How  many, too, in Christian countries, have suspected
the whole religion for this one error.  Believing, then, as
I do, that it forms no part of Christianity, my allegiance
to Jesus Christ calls me openly to withstand it.  In
so doing I would wound no man's feelings. I doubt not,,
that they who adopt this doctrine intend, equally with
those who oppose it, to render homage to the truth and
service to Christianity.  They think that their peculiar
faith gives new interest to the character and new authority
to the teaching of Jesus. But they grievously err. The
views, by which they hope to build up love towards
Christ, detract from the perfection of his Father; and I
fear, that the kind of piety, which prevails now in the
Christian world, bears witness to the sad influence of
this obscuration of the true glory of God. We need
not desert reason or corrupt Christianity, to insure the
purest, deepest love towards the only true God, or
towards Jesus Christ, whom he has sent for our redemption.
I have named one doctrine, which is often urged
against Christianity as irrational-  There is one more on
which I would offer a few remarks. Christianity has
often been reproached with teaching, that God brings
men into life totally depraved, and condemns immense
multitudes to everlasting misery for sins to which their
nature has irresistibly impelled them.  This is said to be
irrational, and consequently such must be the religion
which teaches it.  I certainly shall not attempt to vindicate this theological fiction.  A more irrational doctrine
could not, I think, be contrived; and it is something
worse; it is as immoral in its tendency, as it is unrea6




58        CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.
sonable.  It is suited to alienate men from  God and
from  one another.  Were it really believed (which it
cannot be), men would look up with dread and detestation to the Author of their being, and look round with
horror on their fellow-creatures. It would dissolve society.  Were men to see in one another wholly corrupt
beings, incarnate fiends, without one genuine virtue, society would become as repulsive as a den of lions or a
nest of vipers.  All confidence, esteem, love, would
die; and without these, the interest, charm, and worth
of existence would expire. What a pang would shoot
through a parent's heart, if he were to see in the smiling
infant a moral being continually and wholly propense
to sin, in whose mrind were thickly sown the seeds of
hatred to God and goodness, and who had commenced
his existence under the curse of his Creator?  What
good man could consent to be a parent, if his offspring
were to be born to this infinitely wretched inheritance?
I say, the doctrine is ofimmoral tendency; but I do not
say that they who profess it are immoral.  The truth is,
that none do or can hold it in its full and proper import.
I have seen its advocates smile as benignantly on the
child whom their creed has made a demon, as if it were
an angel; and I have seen them mingling with their fellow-creatures as cordially and confidingly -as if the doctrine of total depravity had never entered their ears.
Perhaps the most, mischievous effect of the doctrine is
the dishonor which it has thrown on Christianity.  This
dishonor I would wipe away. Christianity teaches no
such doctrine.  Where do you find it in the New Testament?  Did Jesus teach it, when he took little children in his arms and blessed them, and said " Of such
is the kingdom of God"? Did Paul teach it, when




CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.      59
he spoke of the Gentiles, who have not fhe law, or a
written revelation, but who do by nature the things contained in the law? Christainity indeed speaks strongly
of human guilt, but always treats men as beings who
have the power of doing right, and who have come into
existence under the smile of their Creator.
I have now completed my vindication of the claim of
the Gospel to the character of a rational religion; and
my aim has been, not to serve a party, but the cause of
our common Christianity. At the present day, one of
the most urgent duties of its friends is, to rescue it from
the reproach of waging war with reason.  The character of our age demands this.  There have been times
when Christianity, though loaded with unreasonable doctrines, retained its hold on men's faith; for men had
not learned to think.  They received their religion as
children learn the catechism; they substituted the priest
for their own understandings, and cared neither what
nor why they believed. But that day is gone by, and
the spirit of freedom, which has succeeded it, is subjecting Christianity to a scrutiny more and more severe;
and if this religion cannot vindicate itself to the reflecting, the calm, the wise, as a reasonable service, it
cannot stand.  Fanatical sects may, for a time, spread
an intolerant excitement through a community, and impose silence on the objections of the skeptical.  But
fanaticism is the epidemic of a season; it wastes itself by
its own violence. Sooner or later the voice of reflection
will be heard. Men will ask, What are the claims of
Christianity? Does it bear the marks of truth? And
if it be found to war with nature and reason, it will be,
and it ought to be abandoned.  On this ground, I am
anxious that Christianity should be cleared from all




60        UCRISTLANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.
hunlan additions and corruptions.  If indeed irrational
doctrines belong to it, then I have no desire to separate
them from it.  I have no desire, for the sake of upholding the Gospel, to wrap up and conceal, much less to
deny, any of its real principles.  Did I think that it
was burdened with one irrational doctrine, I would say
so, and I would leave it, as I found it, with this millstone round its neck.  But I know none such.  I meet,
indeed, some difficulties in the narrative part of the
New Testament; and there are arguments in the Epistles, which, however suited to the Jews, to whom they
were first addressed, are not apparently adapted to men
at large; but I see not a principle of the religion, which
my reason, calmly and impartially exercised, pronounces inconsistent with any great truth. I have the strongest conviction, that Christianity is reason in its most
perfect form, and therefore I plead for its disengagement
from the irrational additions with which it has been
clogged for ages.
With these views of Christianity, I do and I must
hold it fast.  I cannot surrender it to the cavils or scoffs
of infidelity.  I do not blush to own it, for it is a rational religion.  It satisfies the wants of the intellect as
well as those of the heart.  I know that men of strong
minds have opposed it. But, as if Providence intended
that their sophistry should carry a refutation on its own
front, they have generally fallen into errors so gross
and degrading, as to prove them to be any thing rather
than the apostles of reason.  When I go from the study
of Christianity to their writings, I feel as if I were
passing from the warm, bright sun into a chilling twilight, which too often deepens into utter darkness.  I
am not, then, ashamed of the Gospel.   I see it glori



CHRISTIANITY A RATIONAL RELIGION.       61
fied by the hostile systems which are reared for its destruction. I follow Jesus, because he is eminently "the
Light "; and I doubt not, that, to his true disciples, he
will be a guide to that world, where the obscurities of
our present state will be dispersed, and where reason as
well as virtue will be unfolded under the quickening influence and in the more manifest presence of God.
6*                       F








THE
EVIDENCES OF REVEALED RELIGION.
DISCOURSE
BEFORE THE
UNIVERSITY IN CAMBRIDGE, AT THE DUDLEIAN LECTURE,
14th MARCH, 1821..
JOHN iii. 2: " The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto
him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God;
for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God
be with him."
THE evidences of revealed religion are the subject of
this lecture, a subject of great extent, as well as of
vast importance.  In discussing it, an immense variety
of learning has been employed, and all the powers of
the intellect been called forth.  History, metaphysics,
ancient learning, criticism, ethical science, and the science of human nature, have been summoned to the
controversy, and have brought important contributions
to the Christian cause.  To condense into one discourse
what scholars and great men have written on this point,
is impossible, even if it were desirable; and I have
stated the extent of speculation into which our subject
has led, not because I propose to give an abstract of
others' labors, but because I wish you to understand,




64                THE EVIDENCES OF
that the topic is one not easily despatched, and because
I would invite ycu to follow me in a discussion, which
will require concentrated and continued attention.  A
subject more worthy of attention, than the claims of
that religion which was impressed on our childhood,
and which is acknowledged to be the only firm  foundation of the hope of immortality, cannot be presented;
and our minds must want the ordinary seriousness of
human nature, if it cannot arrest us.
That Christianity has been opposed, is a fact, implied
in the establishment of this lecture.  That it has had
adversaries of no mean intellect, you know. I propose
in this discourse to make some remarks on what seems
to me the great objection to Christianity, on the general
principle on which its evidences rest, and on some of
its particular evidences.
The great objection to Christianity, the only one
which has much influence at the present day, meets us
at the very threshold. We cannot, if we would, evade
t, for it is founded on a primary and essential attribute
df this religion. The objection is oftener felt than expressed, and amounts to this, that miracles are incredible, and that the supernatural character of an alleged
fact is proof enough of its falsehood.  So strong is this
propensity to doubt of departures from the order of
nature, that there are sincere Christians, who incline to
rest their religion wholly on its internal evidence, and
to overlook the outward extraordinary interposition of
God, by which it was at first established.  But the
difficulty cannot in this way be evaded; for Christianity
is not only confirmed by miracles, but is in itself, in its
very essence, a miraculous religion.  It is not a system




REVEALED RELIGION.               65
which the human mind might have gathered, in the ordinary exercise of its powers, from the ordinary course
of nature.  Its doctrines, especially those which relate
to its founder, claim for it the distinction of being a
supernatural provision for the recovery of the human
race.  So that the objection which I have stated still
presses upon us, and, if it be well grounded, it is fatal
to Christianity.
It is proper, then, to begin the discussion with inquiring, whence the disposition to discredit miracles springs,
and how far it is rational.  A  preliminary remark of
some importance is, that this disposition is not a necessary part or principle of our mental constitution, like
the disposition to trace effects to adequate causes.  We
are indeed so framed, as to expect a continuance of
that order of nature which we have uniformly experienced; but not so framed as to revolt at alleged violations of that order, and to account them impossible
or absurd.  On the contrary, men at large discover' a
strong and incurable propensity to believe in miracles.
Almost all histories, until within the two last centuries,
reported seriously supernatural facts.  Skepticism  as
to miracles is comparatively a new thing, if we except
the Epicurean or Atheistical sect among the ancients;
and so far from being founded in human nature, it is
resisted by an almost infinite preponderance of belief
on the other side.
Whence, then, has this skepticism sprung? It may
be explained by two principal causes.  1. It is now an
acknowledged fact, among enlightened men, that in past
times and in our own, a strong disposition has existed
and still exists to admit miracles without examination.
Human  credulity is found to have devoured nothing
F




66                THE EVIIDENCES OlF'
more eagerly than reports of prodigies.  Now  it is argued, that we discover here a principle of human natures
namely, the love of the supernatural and marvellous,
which accounts sufficiently for the belief of miracles,
wherever we find it; and that it is, consequently, unnecessary and unphilosophical to seek for other causes,
and especially to admit that most improbable one, the
actual existence of miracles.  This sweeping conclusion is a specimen of that rash habit of generalizing,
which rather distinguishes our times, and shows that
philosophical reasoning has made fewer advances than
we are apt to boast.  It is true, that there is a principle
of credulity as to prodigies in a considerable part of
society, a disposition to believe without due scrutiny.
But this principle, like every other in our nature, has its
limits; acts according to fixed laws; is not omnipotent,
cannot make the eyes see, and the ears hear, and the
understanding credit delusions, under all imaginable circumstances; but requires the concurrence of various
circumstances and of other principles of our nature in
order to its operation.   For example, the belief of
spectral appearances has been very common; but under
what circumstances and in what state of mind has it
occurred!  Do men see ghosts in broad day, and amidst
cheerful society? Or in solitary places; in grave-yardls;
in twilights or mists, where outward objects are so undiefined, as easily to take a form from imagination; and
in other circumstances favorable to terror, and associated
with the delusion in question?  The principle of credulity is as regular in its operation, as any-other principle
of the mind; and is so dependent on circumstances and
so restrained and checked by other parts of human nature, that sometimes the most obstinate incredulity is




REVEALED RELIGION.              67
found in that very class of people, whose easy belief on
other occasions moves our contempt. It is well known,
for example, that the efficacy of the vaccine inoculation has been encountered with much more unyielding
skepticism among the vulgar, than among the improved;
and in general, it may be affirmed, that the credulity
of the ignorant operates under the control of their
strongest passions and impressions, and that no class of
society yield a slower assent to positions, which manifestly subvert their old modes of thinking and most settled prejudices.  It is, then, very unphilosophical to assume this principle as an explanation of all miracles
whatever.  I grant that the fact, that accounts of supernatural agency so generally prove false, is a reason for
looking upon them  with peculiar distrust.  Miracles
ought on this account to be sifted more than common
facts. But if we find, that a belief in a series of supernatural works, has occurred under circumstances very
different from those under which false prodigies have
been received, under circumstances most unfavorable
to the operation of credulity; then this belief cannot be
resolved into the common causes, which have blinded
men in regard to supernatural agency.  We must look
for other causes, and if none can be found but the
actual existence of the miracles, then true philosophy
binds us to believe them. I close this head with ob
serving, that the propensity of men to believe in what
is strange and miraculous, though a presumption against
particular miracles, is not a presumption against miracles
universally, but rather the reverse; for great principles
of human nature have generally a foundation in truth,
and one explanation of this propensity so common to
mankind is obviously this, that in the earlier ages of the
10




6Sg               THE EVIDENCES OF
human race, miraculous interpositions, suited to man's
infant state, were not uncommon, and, being the most
striking facts of human history, they spread through all
future times a belief and expectation of miracles.
I proceed now to the second cause of the skepticism
in regard to supernatural agency, which has grown up,
especially among the more improved, in later times.
These later times are distinguished, as you well know,
by successful researches into nature; and the discoveries of science have continually added strength to that
great principle, that the phenomena of the universe are
regulated by general and permanent laws, or that the
Author of the universe exerts his power according to an
established order.  Nature, the more it is explored, is
found to be uniform. We observe an unbroken succession of causes and effects.  Many phenomena, once denominated irregular, and ascribed to supernatural agency,
are found to be connected with preceding circumstances,
as regularly as the most common events.  The comet,
we learn, observes the same attraction as the sun and
planets. When a new phenomenon now occurs, no one
thinks it miraculous, but believes, that, when better understood, it may be reduced to laws already known, or
is an example of a law not yet investigated.
Now this increasing acquaintance with the uniformity
of nature begets a distrust of alleged violations of it,
and a rational distrust too; for, while many causes of
mistake in regard to alleged miracles may be assigned,
there is but one adequate cause of real miracles, that is,
the power of God; and the regilrarity of nature forms a
strong presumption agaiwl(t Lthe. miraculous exertion of
this power, except in extrao dllnar'y circumstances, and
for extraordinary purposes? to wahich the established laws




REVEALED RELIGION.                69
of the creation are not competent.  But the observation
of the uniformity of nature produces, in multitudes, not
merely this rational distrust of alleged violations of it,
but a secret feeling, as if such violations were impossible. That attention to the powers of nature, which is
implied in scientific research, tends to weaken the practical conviction of a higher power; and the laws of the
creation, instead of being regarded as the modes of Divine operation, come insensibly to be considered as
fetters on his agency, as too sacred to be suspended
even by their Author.  This secret feeling, essentially
atheistical, and at war with all sound philosophy, is the
chief foundation of that skepticism, which prevails in
regard to miraculous agency, and deserves our particular
consideration.
To a man whose belief in God is strong and practical,
a miracle will appear as possible as any other effect, as
the most common event in life; and the argument against
miracles, drawn from the uniformity of nature, will weigh
with him, only as far as this uniformity is a pledge and
proof of the Creator's disposition to accomplish his purposes by a fixed order or anode of operation. Now it is
freely granted, that the Creator's regard or attachment
to such an order may be inferred from the steadiness
with which he observes it; and a strong presumption
lies against any violation of it on slight occasions, or for
purposes to which the established laws of nature are adequate.  But this is the utmost which the order of nature
authorizes us to infer respecting its Author.  It forms
no presumption against miracles universally, in all imaginable cases; but may even furnish a presumption in
their favor.
We are never to forget, that God's adherence to the




70                TIIE EVIDENCES OF
order of the universe is not necessary and mechanical,
but intelligent and voluntary.  He adheres to it, not for
its own sake, or because it has a sacredness which compels him to respect it, but because it is most suited to
accomplish his purposes.  It is a means, and not an
end; and, like all other means, must give way when
the end can best be promoted without it. It is the mark
of a weak mind, to make an idol of order and method;
to cling to established forms of business, when they clog
instead of advancing it.  If, then, the great purposes of
the universe can best be accomplished by departing from
its established laws, these laws will undoubtedly be suspended; and, though broken in the letter, they will be
observed in their spirit, for the ends for which they were
first instituted will be advanced by their violation.  Now
the question arises, For what purposes were nature and
its order appointed? and there is no presumption in
saying, that the highest of these is the improvement of
intelligent beings.  Mind (by which we mean both moral
and intellectual powers) is God's first end.  The great
purpose for which an order of nature is fixed, is plainly
the formation of Mind.  In a creation without order,
where events would follow without any regular succession, it is obvious, that Mind must be kept in perpetual
infancy; for, in such a universe, there could be no reasoning from effects to causes, no induction to establish
general truths, no adaptation of means to ends; that is,
no science relating to God, or matter, or mind; no action; no virtue.  The great purpose of God, then, I
repeat it, in establishing the order of nature, is to form
and advance the mind; and if the case should occur, in
whiph the interests of the mind could best be advanced
by departing from this order, or by miraculous agency,




REVEALED RELIGION.              71
then the great purpose of the creation, the great end of
its laws and regularity, would demand such departure;
and miracles, instead of warring against, would concur
with nature.
Now, we Christians maintain, that such a case has
existed.  We affirm, that, when Jesus Christ came into
the world, nature had failed to communicate instructions
to men, in which, as intelligent beings, they had the
deepest concern, and on which the full developement of
their highest faculties essentially depended; and we
affirm, that there was no prospect of relief from nature;
so that an exigence had occurred, in which additional
communications, supernatural lights, might rationally be
expected from the Father of spirits.  Let me state two
particulars, out of many, in which men needed intellectual aids not given by nature.  I refer to the doctrine
of one God and Father, on which all piety rests; and
to the doctrine of Immortality, which is the great spring
of virtuous effort.  Had I time to enlarge on the history
of that period, I might show you under what heaps of
rubbish and superstition these doctrines were buried.
But I should repeat only what you know familiarly.
The works of ancient genius, which form your studies,
carry on their front the brand of polytheism, and of debasing error on subjects of the first and deepest concern.
It is more important to observe, that the very uniformity
of nature had some tendency to obscure the doctrines
which I have named, or at least to impair their practical
power, so that a departure from this uniformity was
needed to fasten them on men's minds.
That a fixed order of nature, though a proof of the
One God to reflecting and enlarged understandings, has
yet a tendency to hide him from men in general, will
10*




72                THE EVIDENCES OF
appear, if we consider, first, that, as the human mind is
constituted, what is regular and of constant occurrence,
excites it feebly; and benefits flowing to it through
fixed, unchanging laws, seem  to come by a kind of necessity, and are apt to be traced up to natural causes
alone. Accordingly, religious convictions and feelings,
even in the present advanced condition of society, are
excited, not so much by the ordinary course of God's
providence, as by sudden, unexpected events, which
rouse and startle the mind, and speak of a power higher
than nature. - There is another way, in which a. fixed
order of nature seems unfavorable to just impressions
respecting its Author. It discovers to us in the Creator,
a regard to general good rather than an affection to individuals.  The laws of nature, operating, as they do,
with an inflexible steadiness, never varying to meet the
cases and wants of individuals, and inflicting much private suffering in their stern administration for the general
weal, give the idea of a distant, reserved sovereign, much
more than of a tender parent; and yet this last view of
God is the only effectual security from superstition and
idolatry. Nature, then, we fear, would not have brought
back the world to its Creator. -And as to the doctrine
of Immortality, the order of the natural world had little
tendency to teach this, at least with clearness and energy.
The natural world contains no provisions or arrangements for reviving the dead.  The sun and the rain,
which cover the tomb with verdure, send no vital influences to the mouldering body.  The researches of science detect no secret processes for restoring the lost
powers of life.  If man is to live again, he is not to live
through any known laws of nature, but by a power higher
than nature; and how, then, can we be assured of this




REVEALED RELIGION.              73
truth, but by a manifestation of this power, that is, by
miraculous agency, confirming a future life?
I have labored in these remarks to show; that the uniformity of nature is no presumption against miraculous
agency, when employed in confirmation of such a religion as Christianity.  Nature, on the contrary, furnishes a presumption in its favor. Nature clearly shows to
us a power above itself, so that it proves miracles to
be possible.  Nature reveals purposes and attributes in
its Author, with which Christianity remarkably agrees.
Nature too has deficiencies, which show that it was not
intended by its Author to be his whole method of instructing mankind; and in this way it gives great confirmation to Christianity, which meets its wants, supplies
its chasms, explains its mysteries, and lightens its heartoppressing cares and sorrows.
Before quitting the general consideration of miracles,
I ought to take some notice of Hume's celebrated argument on this subject; not that it merits the attention
which it has received, but because it is specious, and
has derived weight from  the name of its author.  The
argument is briefly this,-' that belief is founded upon
and regulated by experience. Now we often experience
testimony to be false, but never witness a departure from
the order of nature. That men may deceive us when
they testify to miracles, is therefore more accordant with
experience, than that nature should be irregular; and
hence there is a balance of proof against miracles, a
presumption so strong as to outweigh the strongest testimony."  The usual replies to this argument I have not
time to repeat. Dr. Campbell's work, which is accessible to all, will show you that it rests on an equivocal
use of terms, and will furnish you with many fine reG




74                THE EVIDENCES OF
marks on testimony and on the conditions or qualities
which give it validity. I will only add a few remarks
which seem tb me worthy of attention.
1. This argument affirms, that the credibility of facts
or statements is to be decided by their accordance with
the established order of nature, and by this standard
only. Now, if nature comprehended all existences and
all powers, this position might be admitted. But if
there is a Being higher than nature, the origin of all its
powers and motions, and whose character falls under
our notice and experience as truly as the creation, then
there is an additional standard to which facts and statements are to be referred; and works which violate nature's order, will still be credible, if they agree with the
known properties and attributes of its author; because
for such works we can assign an adequate cause and
sufficient reasons, and these are the qualities and conditions on which credibility depends.
2. This argument of Hume proves too much, and
therefore proves nothing.  It proves too much; for if 1
am to reject the strongest testimony to miracles, because
testimony has often deceived me, whilst nature's order
has never been found to fail, then I ought to reject a
miracle, even if I shocld see it with my own eyes, and
if all my senses should attest it; for all my senses have
sometimes given false reports, whilst nature has never
gone astray; and, therefore, be the circumstances ever
so decisive or inconsistent with deception, still I must
not believe what I see, and hear, and touch, what my
senses, exercised according to the most deliberate judgment, declare to be true.  All this the argument requires; and it proves too much; for disbelief, in the
case supposed, is out of our power, and is instinctively




REVEALED RELIGION.              75
pronounced absurd; and what is more, it would subvert
that very order of nature on which the argument rests;
for this order of nature is learned only by the exercise
of my senses and judgment, and if these fail me, in the
most unexceptionable circumstances, then their testimony to nature is of little worth.
Once more; this argument is built on an ignorance
of the nature of testimony.  Testimony, we are told,
cannot prove a miracle.  Now the truth is, that testimony of itself and immediately, proves no facts whatever, not even the most common.  Testimony can do
nothing more than show us the state of another's mind
in regard to a given fact.  It can only show us, that
the testifier has a belief, a conviction, that a certain phenomenon or event has occurred. Here testimony stops;
and the reality of the event is to be judged altogether
from the nature and degree of this conviction, and from
the circumstances under which it exists.  This conviction is an effect, which must have a cause, and needs
to be explained; and if no cause can be found but the
real occurrence of the event, then this occurrence is
admitted as true.  Such is the extent of testimony.
Now a man, who affirms a miraculous phenomenon or
event, may give us just as decisive proofs, by his character and conduct, of the strength and depth of his conviction, as if he were affirming a common occurrence.
Testimony, then, does just as much in the case of miracles, as of common events; that is, it discloses to us
the conviction of another's mind. Now this conviction
in the case of miracles requires a cause, an explanation,
as much as in every other; and if the circumstances be
such, that it could not have sprung up and been estab
fished but by the reality of the alleged miracle, then that




76                THE EVIDENCES OF
great and fundamental principle of human belief, namely, that every effect must have a cause, compels us to
admit the miracle.
It may be observed of Hume and of other philosophical opposers of our religion, that they are much more
inclined to argue against miracles in general, than against
the particular miracles on which Christianity rests. And
the reason is obvious.  Miracles, when considered in a
general, abstract manner, that is, when divested of all
circumstances, and supposed to occur as disconnected
facts, to stand alone in history, to have no explanations
or reasons in preceding events, and no influence on
those which follow, are indeed open to great objection,
as wanton and useless violations of nature's order; and
it is accordingly against miracles, considered in this
naked, general form, that the arguments of infidelity are
chiefly urged.  But it is great disingenuity to class under this head the miracles of Christianity.  They are
palpably different.  They do not stand alone in history;
but are most intimately incorporated with it.  They
were demanded by the state of the world which preceded them, and they have left deep traces on all subsequent ages.  In fact, the history of the whole civilized world, since their alleged occurrence, has been
swayed and colored by them, and is wholly inexplicable
without them.  Now, such miracles are not to be met
and disposed of by general reasonings, which apply only
to insulated, unimportant, uninfluential prodigies.
I have thus considered the objections to miracles in
general; and I would close this head with observing,
that these objections will lose their weight, just in proportion as we strengthen our conviction of God's power
over nature and of his parental interest in his creatures.




REVEALED RELIGION.               77
The great repugnance to the belief of miraculous agency
is founded in a lurking atheism, which ascribes supremacy to nature, and which, whilst it professes to believe
in God, questions his tender concern for the improvement of men.  To a man, who cherishes a sense of
God, the great difficulty is, not to account for miracles,
but to account for their rare occurrence.  One of the
mysteries of the universe is this, that its Author retires so continually behind the veil of his works, that
the great and good Father does not manifest himself
more distinctly to his creatures.  There is something
like coldness and repulsiveness in instructing us only
by fixed, inflexible laws of nature.  The intercourse of
God with Adam and the patriarchs suits our best conceptions of the relation which he bears to the human
race, and ought not to surprise us more, than the expression of a human parent's tenderness and concern
towards his offspring.
After the remarks now made to remove the objection
to revelation in general, I proceed to consider the evidences of the Christian religion in particular; and these
are so numerous, that should I attempt to conipress
them into the short space which. now remains, I could
give but a syllabus, a dry and uninteresting index.  It
will be more useful to state to you, with some distinctness, the general principle into which all Christian
evidences may be resolved, and on which the whole
religion rests, and then to illustrate it in a few striking
particulars.
All the evidences of Christianity may be traced to
this great principle,-that every effect must have an
adequate cause. We claim for our religion a divine
40




'7~~              TfRHE EVIDENCES OF
original, because no adequate cause for it can be found
in the powers or passions of human nature, or in the
circumstances under which it appeared; because it cait
only be accounted for by the interposition of that Being,
to whom its first preachers universally ascribed it, and
with whose nature it perfectly agrees.
Christianity, by which we mean not merely the doctrines of the religion, but every thing relating to it, its
rise, its progress, the character of its author, the conduct of its propagators, — Christianity, in this broad
sense, can only be accounted for in two ways. It either
sprung from the principles of human nature, under the
excitements, motives, impulses of the age in which it
was first preached; or it had its origin in a higher and
supernatural agency.  To which of these causes the
religion should be referred, is not a question beyond
our reach; for being partakers of human nature, and
knowing more of it than of any other part of creation,
we can judge with sufficient accuracy of the operation
of its principles, and of the effects to which they are
competent.  It is indeed true, that human powers are
not exactly defined, nor can we state precisely the
bounds beyond which they cannot pass; but still, the
disproportion between human nature and an effect ascribed to it, may be so vast and palpable, as to satisfy
us at once, that the effect is inexplicable by human
power. I know not precisely what advances may be
made by the intellect of an unassisted savage; but that a
savage in the woods could not compose the I" Principia"
of Newton, is about as plain as that he could not create the world. I know not the point at which bodily
strength must stop; but that a man cannot carry Atlas
or Andes on his shoulders, is a safe position.  The




REVEALED RELIGION.              79
question, therefore, whether the principles of human
nature, under the circumstances in which it was placed
at Christ's birth, will explain his religion, is one to
which we are competent, and is the great question on
which the whole controversy turns.
Now we maintain, that a great variety of facts belonging to this religion, - such as the character of its
Founder; its peculiar principles; the style and character of its records; its progress; the conduct, circumstances, and sufferings of its first propagators; the reception of it from the first on the ground of miraculous
attestations; the prophecies which it fulfilled and which
it contains; its influence on society, and other circumstances connected with it; are utterly inexplicable by
human powers and principles, but accord with, and are
fully explained by, the power and perfections of God.
These various particulars I cannot attempt to unfold.
One or two may be illustrated to show you the mode of
applying the principles which I have laid down. I will
take first the character of Jesus Christ.  How is this
to be explained by the principles of human nature?We are immediately struck with this peculiarity in the
Author of Christianity, that, whilst all other men are
formed in a measure by the spirit of the age, we can
discover in Jesus no impression of the period in which
he lived. We know with considerable accuracy the
state of society, the modes of thinking, the hopes and
expectations of the country in which Jesus was born
and grew up; and he is as free from them, and as exalted above them, as if he had lived in another world,
or with every sense shut on the objects around him.
His character has in it nothing local or temporary.  It
can be explained by nothing around hinm.  His history
11




80               THE EVIDENCES or
shows him to us a solitary being, living for purposes
which none but himself comprehended, and enjoying
not so much as the sympathy of a single mind. His
Apostles, his chosen companions, brought to him the
spirit of the age; and nothing shows its strength more
strikingly, than the slowness with which it yielded in
these honest men to the instructions of Jesus.
Jesus came to a nation expecting a Messiah; and he
claimed this character.  But instead of conforming to
the opinions which prevailed in regard to the Messiah,
he resisted them  wholly and without reserve.  To a
people anticipating a triumphant leader, under whom
vengeance as well as ambition was to be glutted by the
prostration of their,oppressors, he came as a spiritual
leader, teaching humility and peace.  This undisguised
hostility to the dearest hopes and prejudices of his
nation; this disdain of the usual compliances, by which
ambition and imposture conciliate adherents; this deliberate exposure of himself to rejection and hatred,
cannot easily be explained by the common principles
of human nature, and excludes the possibility of selfish
aims in the Author of Christianity.
One striking peculiarity in Jesus is the extent, the
vastness, of his views. Whilst all around him looked
for a Messiah to liberate God's ancient people, whilst
to every other Jew, Judea was the exclusive object of
pride and hope, Jesus came, declaring himself to be
the deliverer and light of the world, and in his whole
teaching and life, you see a consciousness, which never
forsakes him, of a relation to the whole human race.
This idea of blessing mankind, of spreading a universal religion, was the most magnificent which had ever
entered man's mind.  All previous religions had been




REVEALED RELIGION.             81
given to particular nations. No conqueror, legislator,
philosopher, in the extravagance of ambition, had ever
dreamed of subjecting all nations to a common faith.
This conception of a universal religion, intended alike
for Jew and Gentile, for all nations and climes, is wholly inexplicable by the circumstances of Jesus.  He
was a Jew, and the first and deepest and most constant
impression on a Jew's mind, was that of the superiority conferred on his people and himself by the national
religion introduced by Moses.  The wall between the
Jew and the Gentile seemed to reach to heaven.  The
abolition of the peculiarity of Moses, the prostration
of the temple on Mount Zion, the erection of a new
religion, in which all men would meet as brethren, and
which would be the common and equal property of Jew
and Ge'htile, these were of all ideas the last to spring
up in Judea, the last for enthusiasm or imposture to
originate.
Compare next these views of Christ with his station
in life. He was of humble birth and education, with
nothing in his lot, with no extensive means, no rank, or
wealth, or patronage, to infuse vast thoughts and extravagant plans.  The shop of a carpenter, the village
of Nazareth, were not spots for ripening a scheme more
aspiring and extensive than had ever been formed.  It
is a principle of human nature, that, except in case
of insanity, some proportion is observed between the
power of an individual, and his plans and hopes.  The
purpose, to Which Jesus devoted himself, was as ill suited
to his condition as an attempt to change the seasons,
or to make the sun rise in the west.  That a young
man, in obscure life, belonging to an oppressed nation,
should seriously think of subverting the time-hallowed




82                THE EVIDENCES OF
and deep-rooted religions of the world, is a strange
fact; but with this purpose we see the mind of Jesus
thoroughly imbued; and, sublime as it is, he never
falls below it in his language or conduct, but speaks
and acts with a consciousness of superiority, with a
dignity and authority, becoming this unparalleled destination.
In this connexion, I cannot but add another striking
circumstance in Jesus, and that is, the calm confidence
with which he always looked forward to the accomplishment of his design.  He fully knew the strength of the
passions and powers which were arrayed against him,
and was perfectly aware that his life was to be shortened by violence; yet not a word escapes him implying
a doubt of the ultimate triumphs of his religion.  One
of the beauties of the Gospels, and one of the proofs
of their genuineness, is found in our Saviour's indirect
and obscure allusions to his approaching sufferings, and
to the glory which was to follow; allusions showing
us the workings of a mind, thoroughly conscious of
being appointed to accomplish infinite good through
great calamity.  This entire and patient relinquishment
of immediate success, this ever present persuasion, that
he was to perish before his religion would advance,
and this calm, unshaken anticipation of distant and unbounded triumphs, are remarkable traits, throwing a
tender and solemn grandeur over our Lord, and wholly
inexplicable by human principles, or by the circumstances in which he was placed.
The views hitherto taken of Christ relate to his
public character and office. If we pass to what may be
called his private character, we shall receive the same
impression of inexplicable excellence. The most strik



REVEALED RELIGION.              83
ing trait in Jesus was, undoubtedly, benevolence; and,
although this virtue had existed before, yet it had not
been manifested in the same form and extent.  Christ's
benevolence was distinguished first by its-.expansiveness.
At that age, an unconfined philanthropy, proposing and
toiling to do good without distinction of country or rank,
was unknown. Love to man as man, love comprehending the hated Samaritan and the despised publican, was
a feature which separated Jesus from the best men of
his nation and of the world.  Another characteristic of
the benevolence of Jesus, was its gentleness and tenderness, forming a strong contrast with.the hardness
and ferocity of the spirit and manners which then prevailed, and with that sternness and inflexibility, which
the purest philosophy of Greece and RIome inculcated
as the perfection of virtue.  But its most distinguishing
trait was its superiority to injury.  Revenge was one
of the recognised rights of the age in which he lived;
and though a few sages, who had seen its inconsistency
with man's dignity, had condemned it, yet none had inculcated the duty of regarding one's worst enemies with
that kindness which God manifests to sinful men, and
of returning curses with blessings and prayers.  This
form of benevolence, the most disinterested and divine
form, was, as you well know, manifested by Jesus Christ
in infinite strength, amidst injuries and indignities which
cannot be surpassed. Now this singular eminence of
goodness, this superiority to the degrading influences
of the age, under which all other men suffered, needs
to be explained; and one thing it demonstrates, that
Jesus Christ was not an unprincipled deceiver, exposing
not only his own life but the lives of confiding friends,
in an enterprise next to desperate.
] 1*




84                THE EVIDENCES OF
I cannot enlarge on other traits of the character of
Christ.  I will only observe, that it had one distinction,
which more than any thing, forms a perfect character.
It was made up of contrasts; in other words, it was a
union of excellences which are not easily reconciled,
which seem at first sight incongruous, but which, when
blended and duly proportioned, constitute moral harmony, and attract, with equal power, love and veneration.  For example, we discover in Jesus Christ an
unparalleled dignity of character, a consciousness of
greatness, never-discovered or approached by any other
individual in.history; and yet this was blended with a
condescension, lowliness, and unostentatious simplicity,
which had never'before been thought consistent with
greatness.  In like manner, he united an utter superiority to the world, to its pleasures and ordinary interests, with suavity of manners and freedom from austerity.
He joined strong feeling and self-possession; an indignant sensibility to sin, and compassion to the sinner;
an intense devotion to his work, and calmness under
opposition and ill success; a universal philanthropy, and
a susceptibility of private attachments; the authority
which became the Saviour of the world, and the tenderness and gratitude of a son.  Such was thd author
of our religion.  And is his character to be explained
by imposture or insane enthusiasm? Does it not bear
the unambiguous marks of a heavenly origin?
Perhaps it may be said, this character never existed.
Then the invention of it is to be explained, and the
reception which this fiction met with; and these perhaps
are as difficult of explanation on natural principles, as
its real existence.  Christ's history bears all the marks
of reality; a more frank, simple, unlabored, unosten



REVEALED RELIGION.              85
tatious narrative was never penned.  Besides, his character, if invented, must have been an invention of singular difficulty, because no models existed on which to
frame it. He stands alone in the records of time. The
conception of a being, proposing such new and exalted
ends, and governed by higher principles than the progress of society had developed, implies singular intellectual power.  That several individuals should join in
equally vivid conceptions of this character; and should
not merely describe in general terms the fictitious being
to whom it was attributed, but should introduce him
into real life, should place him in a great variety of
circumstances, in connexion with various ranks of men,
with friends and foes, and should in all preserve his
identity, show the same great and singular mind always
acting in harmony with itself; this is a supposition hardly credible, and, when the circumstances of the writers
of the New Testament are considered, seems to be as
inexplicable on human principles, as what I before suggested, the composition of Newton's "' Principia " by a
savage.  The character of Christ, though delineated
in an age of great moral darkness, has stood the scrutiny of ages; and, in proportion as men's moral sentiments have been refined, its beauty has been more seen
and felt.  To suppose it invented, is to suppose that
its authors, outstripping their age, had attained to a
singular delicacy and elevation of moral perception and
feeling.  But these attainments are not very reconcilable with the character of its authors, supposing it
to be a fiction; that is, with the character of habitual
liars and impious deceivers.
But we are not only unable to discover powers adequate to this invention.  There must have been motives
H




86                THE EVIDENCES OF
for it; for men do not make great efforts, without strong
motives; and, in the whole compass of human incitements, we challenge the infidel to suggest any, which
could have prompted to the work now to be explained.
Once more, it must be recollected, that this invention,
if it were one, was received as real, at a period so near
to the time ascribed to Christ's appearance, that the
means of detecting it were infinite.  That men should
send out such a forgery, and that it should prevail and
triumph, are circumstances not easily reconcilable witlh
the principles of our nature.
The character of Christ, then, was real.  Its reality
is the only explanation of the mighty revolution produced by his religion. And how can you account for
it, but by that cause to which he always referred it, — a
mission from the Father?
Next to the character of Christ, his religion might
be shown to abound in circumstances which contradict
and repel the idea of a human origin. For example,
its representations of the paternal character of God; its
inculcation of a universal charity; the stress which it
lays on inward purity; its substitution of a spiritual worship for the forms and' ceremonies, which everywhere
had usurped the name and extinguished the life of religion; its preference of humility, and of the mild, unostentatious, passive virtues, to the dazzling qualities
which had monopolized men's admiration; its consistent
and bright discoveries of immortality; its adaptation
to the wants of man as a sinner; its adaptation to all
the conditions, capacities, and sufferings of human nature; its pure, sublime, yet practicable morality; its
high and generous motives; and its fitness to form a




REVEALED RELIGION.              87
character, which plainly prepares for a higher life than
the present; these are peculiarities of Christianity,
which will strike us more and more, in proportion as
we understand distinctly the circumstances of the age
and country in which this religion appeared, and for
which no adequate human cause has been or can be
assigned.
Passing over these topics, each of which might be
enlarged into a discourse, I will make but one remark
on this religion, which strikes my own mind very forcibly.  Since its introduction, human nature has made
great progress, and society experienced great changes;
and in this advanced condition of the world, Christianity, instead of losing its application and importance,
is found to be more and more congenial and adapted
to man's nature and wants. Men have outgrown the
other institutions of that period when Christianity appeared, its philosophy, its modes of warfare, its policy,
its public and private economy; but Christianity has
never shrunk as intellect has opened, but has always
kept in advance of men's faculties, and unfolded nobler
views in proportion as they have ascended.  The highest powers and affections, which our nature has developed, find more than adequate objects in this religion.
Christianity is indeed peculiarly fitted to the more improved stages of society, to the more delicate sensibilities of refined minds, and especially to that dissatisfaction with the present state, which always grows with the
growth of our moral powers and affections.  As men
advance in civilization, they become susceptible of mental sufferings, to which ruder ages are strangers; and
these Christianity is fitted to assuage.  Imagination
and intellect become more restless; and Christianity




88               THE EVIDENCES OF
brings them tranquillity, by the eternal and magnificent
truths, the solemn and unbounded prospects, which it
unfolds. This fitness of our religion to more advanced
stages of society than that in which it was introduced,
to wants of human nature not then developed, seems
to me very striking.  The religion bears the marks of
having conle from a being who perfectly understood the
human mind, and had power to provide for its progress.
This feature of Christianity is of the nature of prophecy. It was an anticipation of future and distant ages;
and, when we consider among whom our religion sprung,
where, but in God, can we find an explanation of this
peculiarity?
I have now offered a few hints on the character of
Christ, and on the character of his religion; and, before
quitting these topics, I would observe, that they form
a strong presumption in favor of the miraculous facts
of the Christian history.  These miracles were not
wrought by a man, whose character, in other respects,
was ordinary. They were acts of a being, whose mind
was as singular as his works, who spoke and acted with
more than human authority, whose moral qualities and
sublime purposes were in accordance with superhuman
powers. Christ's miracles are in unison with his whole
character, and bear a proportion to it, like that which
we observe in the most harmonious productions of nature; and in this way they receive from it great confirmation. And the same presumption in their favor
arises from his religion. That a religion, carrying in itself such marks of divinity, and so inexplicable on human
principles, should receive outward confirmations from
Omnipotence, is not surprising. The extraordinary character of the religion accords with and seems to de



REVEALED RELIGION.               89
mand extraordinary interpositions in its behalf.  Its
miracles are not solitary, naked, unexplained, disconnected events, but are bound up with a system, which
is worthy of God, and impressed with God; which
occupies a large space, and is operating, with great and
increasing energy, in human affairs.
As yet I have not touched on what seem to many
writers the strongest proofs of Christianity, I mean the
direct evidences of its miracles; by which we mean the
testimony borne to them, including the character, conduct, and condition of the witnesses.  These I have
not time to unfold; nor is this labor needed; for Paley's inestimable work, which is one of your classical
books, has stated these proofs with great clearness and
power. I would only observe, that they may all be
resolved into this single principle, namely, that the
Christian miracles were originally believed under such
circumstances, that this belief can only be explained
by their actual occurrence.  That Christianity was received at first on the ground of miracles, and that its
first preachers and converts proved the depth and
strength of their conviction of these facts, by attesting
themn in sufferings and in death, we know from the most
ancient records which relate to this religion, both Christian and Heathen; and, in fact, this conviction can
alone explain their adherence to Christianity.  Now,
that this conviction could only have sprung from the
reality of the miracles, we infer from the known circumstances of these witnesses, whose passions, interests, and strongest prejudices were originally hostile
to the new religion; whose motives for examining with
care the facts on which it rested, were as urgernt and
i-l




90                THE EVIDENCES OF
solemn, and whose means and opportunities of ascer
taining their truth were as ample and unfailing, as can
be conceived to conspire; so that the supposition of
their falsehood cannot be admitted, without subverting our trust in human judgment and human testimony
under the most favorable circumstances for discovering
truth; that is, without introducing universal skepticism.
There is one class of Christian evidences, to which
I have but slightly referred, but which has struck with
peculiar force men of reflecting minds.  I refer to the
marks of truth and reality, which are found in the Christian Records; to the internal proofs, -which the books
of the New Testament carry with them, of having been
written by men who lived in the first age of Christianity, who believed and felt its truth, who bore a part in
the labors and conflicts which attended its establishment, and who wrote from personal knowledge and deep
conviction.  A few remarks to illustrate the nature and
power of these internal proofs, which are furnished by
the books of the New Testament, I will now subjoin.
The New Testament consists of histories and episties. The historical books, namely, the Gospels and
the Acts, are a continued narrative, embracing many
years, and professing to give the history of the rise
and progress of the religion. Now it is worthy of observation, that these writings completely answer their
end; that they completely solve the problem, how this
peculiar religion grew up and established itself in the
world; that they furnish precise and adequate causes
for this stupendous revolution in human affairs.  It is
also worthy of remark, that they relate a series of facts,
which are not only connected with one another, but are




REVEALED RELIGION.               91
intimately linked with the long series which has followed them, and agree accurately with subsequent history, so as to account for and sustain it.  Now, that a
collection of fictitious narratives, coming from different
]hands, comprehending many years, and spreading over
many countries, should not only form a consistent whole,
when taken by themselves; but should also connect and
interweave themselves with real history so naturally and
intimately, as to furnish no clue for detection, as to exclude the appearance of incongruity and discordance,
and as to give an adequate explanation and the only
explanation of acknowledged events, of the most important revolution in society; this is a supposition from
which an intelligent man at once revolts, and which, if
admitted, would shake a principal foundation of history.
I have before spoken of the unity and consistency of
Christ's character as developed in the Gospels, and of
the agreement of the different writers in giving us the
singular features of his mind. Now there are the same
marks of truth running through the whole of these narratives. For example, the effects produced by Jesus
on the various classes of society; the different feelings
of admiration, attachment, and envy, which he called
forth; the various expressions of these feelings; the
prejudices, mistakes, and gradual illumination of his
disciples; these are all given to us with such marks of
truth and reality as could not easily be counterfeited.
The whole history is precisely such, as might be expected from the actual appearance of such a person as
Jesus Christ, in such a state of society as then existed.
The Epistles, if possible, abound in marks of truth
and reality even more than the Gospels.  They are
12




92                THE EVIDENCES OF
imbued thoroughly with the spirit of the first age of
Christianity.  They bear all the marks of having-come
from men plunged in the conflicts which the new religion excited, alive to its interests, identified with its
fortunes.  They betray the very state of mind which
must have been generated by the peculiar condition of
the first propagators of the religion.  They are letters
written on real business, intended for immediate effects,
designed to meet prejudices and passions, which such
a religion must at first have awakened.  They contain
not a trace of the circumstances of a later age, or of
the feelings, impressions, and modes of thinking by
which later times were characterized, and from which
later writers could not easily have escaped.. The letters of Paul have a remarkable agreement with his
history. They are precisely such as might be expected
from a man of a vehement mind, who had been brought
up in the schools of Jewish literature, who had been
converted by a sudden, overwhelming miracle, who had
been intrusted with the preaching of the new religion
to the Gentiles, and who was everywhere met by the
prejudices and persecuting spirit of his own nation.
They are full of obscurities growing out of these points
of Paul's history and character, and out of the circumstances of the infant church, and which nothing but an
intimate acquaintance with that early period can illustrate. This remarkable infusion of the spirit of the
first age into the Christian Records, cannot easily be
explained but by the fact, that they were written in
that age by the real and zealous propagators of Christianily, and that they are records of real convictions and
of actual events.




REVEALED RELIGION.               93
There is another evidence of Christianity, still more
nternal than any on which I have yet dwelt, an evidence to be felt rather than described, but not less real
because founded on feeling.  I refer to that conviction
of the divine original of our religion, which springs up
and continually gains strength, in those who apply it habitually to their tempers and lives, and who imbibe its
spirit and hopes. In such men, there is a consciousness
of the adaptation of Christianity to their noblest faculties; a consciousness of its exalting and consoling influences, of its power to confer the true happiness of human nature, to give that peace which the world cannot
give; which assures them, that it is not of earthly origin,
but a ray from the Everlasting Light, a stream from the
Fountain of Heavenly Wisdom and Love.  This is the
evidence which sustains the faith of thousands, who
never read and cannot understand the learned books of
Christian apologists, who want, perhaps, words to explain the ground of their belief, but whose faith is of
adamantine firmness, who hold the Gospel with a conviction more intimate and unwavering than mere argument ever produced.                   /
But I must tear myself from a subject, which opens
upon me continually as I proceed — Imperfect as this
discussion is, the conclusion, I trust, is placed beyond
doubt, that Christianity is true.  And, my hearers, if
true, it is the greatest of all truths, deserving and demanding our reverent attention and fervent gratitude.
This religion must never be confounded with our common blessings.  It is a revelation of pardon, which, as
sinners, we all need.  Still more, it is a revelation of
human immortality; a doctrine, which, however under.
valued amidst the bright anticipations of inexperienced




94       THE EVIDENCES OF REVEALED RELIGION.
youth, is found to be our strength and consolation, and
the only effectual spring of persevering and victorious
virtue, when the realities of life have scattered our visionary hopes; when pain, disappointment, and temptation press upon us; when this world's enjoyments are
found unable to quench that deep thirst of happiness
which burnS in every breast; when friends, whom we
love as our own souls, die; and our own graves open
before us. -To all who hear me, and especially to my
young hearers, I would say, let the truth of this religion
be the strongest conviction of your understandings; let
its motives and precepts sway with an absolute power
your characters and lives.




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
ROMANS i. 16: "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ."
PART L
THESE words of Paul are worthy of his resolute and
disinterested spirit.  In uttering them  he was not an
echo of the multitude, a servile repeater of established
doctrines. The vast majority around him were ashamed
of Jesus. The cross was then coupled with infamy.
Christ's name was scorned as a malefactor's, and to
profess his religion was to share his disgrace.  Since
that time what striking changes have occurred! The
cross now hangs as an ornament from the neck of beauty.
It blazes on the flags of navies, and the standards of
armies. Millions bow before it in adoration, as if it were
a shrine of the divinity.  Of course, the temptation to
be ashamed of Jesus is very much diminished.  Still it
is not wholly removed. Much of the homage now paid
to Christianity is outward, political, worldly, and paid
to its corruptions much more than to its pure and lofty
spirit; and accordingly its conscientious and intrepid
friends must not think it a strange thing to be encountered with occasional coldness or reproach. We may




96           EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
still be tempted to be ashamed of our religion, by being
thrown among skeptics, who deny and deride it. We
may be tempted to be ashamed of the simple and rational doctrines of Christ, by being brought into connexion with narrow zealots, who enforce their dark and
perhaps degrading peculiarities as essential to salvation.
MWe may be tempted to be ashamed of his pure, meek,
and disinterested precepts, by being thrown among the
licentious, self-seeking, and vindictive.  Against these
perils we should all go armed.  To be loyal to truth
and conscience under such trials, is one of the signal
proofs of virtue.  No man deserves the name of Christian, but he who adheres to his principles amidst the
unbelieving, the intolerant, and the depraved.
"I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ." So
said Paul. So would I say. Would to God that I
could catch the spirit as well as the language of the
Apostle, and bear my testimony to Christianity with the
same heroic resolution. Do any ask, why I join in this
attestation to the gospel?  Some of my reasons I propose now to set before you; and in doing so, I ask the
privilege of speaking, as the Apostle has done, in the
first person; of speaking in my own name, and of laying
open my own mind in the most direct language. There
are cases, in which the enids of public discourse may
be best. answered by the frank expression of individual
feeling; and this mode of address, when adopted with
such views, ought not to be set down to the account
of egotism.
I proceed to state the reasons why I am not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ; and I begin with one so impor.
tant, that it will occupy the present discourse.




EVIDENCES OF CHISTIANITY.          97
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because
it is true.  This is my first reason.  The religion is
true, and no consideration but this could induce me to
defend it. I adopt it, not because it is popular, for false
and ruinous systems have enjoyed equal reputation; nor
because it is thought to uphold the order of society, for
I believe that nothing but truth can be permanently
useful.  It is true; and I say this not lightly, but after
deliberate examination.  I am not repeating the accents
of the nursery.  I do not affirm the truth of Christianity, because I was so taught before I could inquire, or
because I was brought up in a community pledged to
this belief.  It is not unlikely, that my faith and zeal
will be traced by some to these sources; and believing
such imputations to be groundless, fidelity to the cause
of truth binds me to repel them.  The circumstance of
having been born and educated under Christianity, so
far from disposing me to implicit faith, has often been
to me the occasion of serious distrust of our religion.
On observing how common it is for men of all countries
and names, whether Christians, Jews, or Mahometans,
to receive the religion of their fathers, I have again
and again asked myself, whether I too was not a slave,
whether I too was not blindly walking in the path of
tradition, and yielding myself as passively as others to
an hereditary faith.  I distrust and fear the power of
numbers and of general opinion over my judgment;
and few things incite me more to repel a doctrine than
intolerant attempts to force it on my understanding.
Perhaps my Christian education and connexions have
inclined me to skepticism, rather than bowed my mind
to authority.
It may still be said, that the pride and prejudices.27 *    I




98            EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
and motives of interest, which belong to my profession
as a Christian minister, throw a suspiciousness ovei
my reasoning and judgment on the present subject.  I
reply, that to myself I seem as free from biases of this
kind, as the most indifferent person.  I have no priestly
prepossessions. I know and acknowledge the corruptions and perversions of the ministerial office from the
earliest age of the church.  I reprobate the tyranny
which it exercises so often over the human mind. I
recognise no peculiar sanctity in those who sustain it.
I think, then, that I come to the examination of Christianity with as few blinding partialities as any man.  I
indeed claim no exemption from error; I ask no implicit faith in my conclusions; I care not how jealously
and thoroughly my arguments are sifted.  I only ask,
that I may not be prejudged as a servile or interested
partisan of Christianity.  I ask that I may be heard as
a friend of truth, desirous to aid my fellow-creatures in
determining a question of great and universal concern.
I appear as the advocate of Christianity, solely because
it approves itself to my calmest reason as a revelation
from  God,' and as the purest, brightest light which He
has shed on the human mind. I disclaim all other motives. No policy, no vassalage to opinion, no dread
of reproach even from the good, no private interest, no
lesire to uphold a useful superstition, nothing in short
but a deliberate conviction of the truth of Christianity,
induces me to appear in its ranks. I should be ashamed
of it, did I not believe it true.
In discussing this subject, I shall express my ponvictions strongly; I shall speak of infidelity as a gross
and perilous error.  But in so doing, T beg not to be




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.         99
understood as passing sentence on the character of individual unbelievers.  I shall show that the Christian
religion is true, is from God; but I do not therefore
conclude, that all who reject it are the enemies of God,
and are to be loaded with reproach. I would, uphold
the truth without ministering to uncharitableness.  The
criminality, the damnable guilt of unbelief in all imaginable circumstances, is a position which I think untenable; and persuaded as I am, that it prejudices the
cause of Christianity, by creating an antipathy between
its friends and opposers, which injures both, and drives
the latter into more determined hostility to the truth,
I think it worthy of a brief consideration in this stage
of the discussion.
I lay it down as a principle, that unbelief, considered
in itself, has no moral quality, is neither a virtue nor
a vice, but must receive its character, whether good or
bad, from the dispositions or motives which produce or
pervade it. Mere acts of the understanding are neither
right nor wrong. When I speak of faith as a holy or
virtuous principle, I extend the term beyond its primitive meaning, and include in it not merely the assent
of the intellect, but the disposition or temper by which
this assent is determined, and which it is suited to confirm; and I attach as broad a signification to unbelief,
when I pronounce it a crime.  The truth is, that the
human mind, though divided by our philosophy into
many distinct capacities, seldom or never exerts them
separately, but generally blends them in one act.  Thus
in forming a judgment, it exerts the will and affections,
or the moral principles of our nature, as really as the
power 6f thought.  Men's passions and interests mix
with, and are expressed in, the decisions of the intel



100           EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
lect. In the Scriptures, which use language freely, and
not with philosophical strictness, faith and unbelief are
menial acts of this complex character, or joint products
of the understanding and heart; and on this account
alone, they are objects of approbation or reproof.  In
these views, I presume, reflecting Christians of every
name agree.
According to these views, opinions cannot be laid
down as unerring and immutable signs of virtue and
vice. The very same opinion may be virtuous in one
man and vicious in another, supposing it, as is very
possible, to have originated in different states of mind.
For example, if through envy and malignity I should
rashly seize on the slightest proofs of guilt in my neighbour, my judgment of his criminality would be morally
wrong.  Let another man arrive at the same conclusion, in consequence of impartial inquiry and love of
truth, and his decision would be morally right.  Still
more, according to these views, it is possible for the
belief of Christianity to be as criminal as unbelief.  Undoubtedly the reception of a system, so pure in spirit
and tendency as the gospel, is to be regarded in general
as a favorable sign.  But let a man adopt this religion,
because it will serve his interest and popularity; let
him shut his mind against objections to it, lest they
should shake his faith in a gainful system; let him
tamper with his intellect, and for base and selfish ends
exhaust its strength in defence of the prevalent faith,
and he is just as criminal in believing, as another would
be in rejecting Christianity under the same bad impulses. Our religion is at this moment adopted, and
passionately defended by vast multitudes, on the ground
of the very same pride, worldliness, love of popularity,




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.         101
and blind devotion to hereditary prejudices, which led
the Jews and Heathens to reject it in the primitive age;
and the faith of the first is as wanting in virtue, as was
the infidelity of the last.
To judge of the character of faith and unbelief, we
must examine the times and the circumstances in which
they exist.  At the first preaching of the gospel, to believe on Christ was a strong proof of an upright mind;
to enlist among his followers, was to forsake ease, honor,
and wordly success; to confess him was an act of signal
loyalty to truth, virtue, and God.  To believe in Christ
at the present moment has no such significance.  To
confess him argues no moral courage.  It may even betray a servility and worldliness of mind.  These remarks
apply in their spirit to unbelief.  At different periods,
and in different conditions of society, unbelief may express very different states of mind.  Before we pronounce it a crime, and doom it to perdition, we ought to
know the circumstances under which it has sprung up,
and to inquire with candor whether they afford no palliation or defence.  When Jesus Christ was on earth,
when his miracles were wrought before men's eyes, when
his voice sounded in their ears, when not a shade of
doubt could be thrown over the reality of his supernatural works, and not a human corruption had mingled with
his doctrine, there was the strongest presumption against
the uprightness and the love of truth of those who re —
jected him.  He knew too the hearts and the lives of
those who surrounded him, and saw distinctly in their
envy, ambition, worldliness, sensuality, the springs of
their unbelief; and accordingly he pronounced it a
crime.  Since that period, what changes have taken
place! Jesus Christ has left the world.  His miracles
1*




102          EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANLTY.
are events of a remote age, and the proofs of them
though abundant, are to many perfectly unknown; and,
what is incomparably more important, his religion has
undergone corruption, adulteration, disastrous change,
and its likeness to its Founder is in no small degree effaced.  The clear, consistent, quickening truth, which
came from the lips of Jesus, has been exchanged for a
hoarse jargon and vain babblings.  The stream, so pure
at the fountain, has been polluted and poisoned through
its whole course. Not only has Christianity been overwhelmed by absurdities, but by impious doctrines, which
have made the Universal Father, now a weak and vain
despot, to be propitiated by forms and flatteries, and
now an almighty torturer, foreordaining multitudes of his
creatures to guilt, and then glorifying his justice by their
everlasting woe. When I think what Christianity has
become in the hands of politicians and priests, how it
has been shaped into a weapon of power, how it has
crushed the human soul for ages, how it has struck the
intellect with palsy and haunted the imagination with superstitious phantoms, how it has broken whole nations to
the yoke, and frowned on every free thought; when I
think how, under almost every form of this religion, its
ministers have taken it into their own keeping, have
hewn and compressed it into the shape of rigid creeds,
and have then pursued by menaces of everlasting woe
whoever should question the divinity of these works of
their hands; when I consider, in a word, how, under
such influences, Christianity has been and still is exhibited, in forms which shock alike the reason, conscience,
and heart, I feel deeply, painfully, what a different system it is from that which Jesus taught, and I dare not
apply to unbelief the terms of condemnation which belonged to the infidelity of the primitive age.




EVIDECES Or CoIMTIAImITY.          103
Perhaps I ought to go further.  Perhaps I ought to
say, that to reject Christianity under some of its corruptions is rather a virtue than a crime.  At the present
moment, I would ask, whether it is a vice to doubt the
truth of Christianity, as it is manifested in Spain and
Portugal? When a patriot in those benighted countries,
who knows Christianity only as a bulwark of despotism,
as a rearer of inquisitions, as a stern jailer immuring
wretched women in the convent, as an executioner
stained and reeking with the blood of the friends of freedom; I say, when the patriot, who sees in our religion
the instrument of these crimes and woes, believes and
affirms that it is not from God, are we authorized to
charge his unbelief on dishonesty and corruption of
mind, and to brand him as a culprit? Mlay it not be
that the spirit of Christianity in his heart emboldens him
to protest with his lips against what bears the name'?
And if he thus protest, through a deep sympathy with
the oppression and sufferings of his race, is he not nearer the kingdom of God than the priest and inquisitor
who boastingly and exclusively assumo the Christian
name? Jesus Christ has told us, that (" this is the condemnation " of the unbelieving, " that they love darkness rather than light; " and who does not see, that this
ground of condemnation is removed, just in proportion
as the light is quenched, or Christian truth is buried in
darkness and debasing error?
I know I shall be told that a man in the circumstances
now supposed, would still be culpable for his unbelief,
because the Scriptures are within his reach, and these
are sufficient to guide him to the true doctrines of Christ.
But in the countries of which I have spoken, the Scriptures are not common; and if they were, I apprehend




104           EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
that we should task human strength too severely, in requiring it, under every possible disadvantage, to gain the
truth from this source alone.  A man, born and brought
up in the thickest darkness, and amidst the grossest corruptions of Christianity, accustomed to hear the Scriptures
disparaged, accustomed to connect false ideas with their
principal terms, and wanting our most common helps of
criticism, can hardly be expected to detach from the
mass of error which bears the name of the Gospel, the
simple principles of the primitive faith.  Let us not exact too much of our fellow-creatures.  In our zeal for
Christianity, let us not forget its spirit of equity and
mercy. - In these remarks I have taken an extreme
case.  I have supposed a man subjected to the greatest
disadvantages in regard to the knowledge of Christianity.
But obstacles less serious may exculpate the unbeliever.
In truth, none of us can draw the line which separates
between innocence and guilt in this particular.  To
measure the responsibility of a man, who doubts or denies Christianity, we must know the history of his mind,
his capacity of judgment, the early influences and prejudices to which he was exposed, the forms under which
the religion and its proofs first fixed his thoughts, and
the opportunities since enjoyed of eradicating errors,
which struck root before the power of trying them  was
unfolded.  We are not his judges.  At another and an
unerring tribunal he must give account.
I cannot, then, join in the common cry against infidelity as the sure mark of a corrupt mind.  That unbelief often has its origin in evil dispositions, I cannot
doubt.  The character of the unbeliever often forces us
to acknowledge, that he rejects Christianity to escape its
rebukes; that its purity is its chief offence; that' he




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.         105
seeks infidelity as a refuge from fear and virtuous restraint. But to impute these unholy motives to a man
of pure life, is to judge rashly, and it may be unrighteously. I cannot look upon unbelief as essentially and
unfailingly a crime. But I do look upon it as among
the greatest of calamities. It is the loss of the chief aid
of virtue, of the mightiest power over temptation, of the
most quickening knowledge of God, of the only unfailing light, of the only sure hope. The unbeliever
would gain unspeakably by parting with every possession
for the truth which he doubts or rejects.  And how
shall we win him to the faith? Not by reproach, by
scorn, by tones of superiority; but by paying due respect to his understanding, his virtues, and his right of
private judgment; by setting before him Christianity in
its simple majesty, its reasonableness, and wonderful
adaptation to the wants of our spiritual nature; by exhibiting its proofs without exaggeration, yet in their full
strength; and, above all, by showing in our own characters and lives, that there is in Christianity a power to
purify, elevate, and console, which can be found in no
human teaching.  These are the true instruments of
conversion. The ignorant and superstitious may indeed
be driven into a religion by menace and reproach. But
the reflecting unbeliever cannot but distrust a cause
which admits such weapons. He must be reasoned
with as a man, an equal, and a brother. Perhaps we
maS silence him  for a time, by spreading through the
conimunity a fanatical excitement, and a persecuting
hatred of infidelity. But as by such processes Christianity would be made to take a more unlovely and irrational form, its secret foes would be multiplied; its
brightest evidence would be dimmed, its foundation
28




106          EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
sapped, its energy impaired; and whenever the time
should arrive for throwing off the mask (and that time
would come), we should learn, that in the very ranks of
its nominal disciples, there had been trained a host of
foes, who would burn to prostrate the intolerant faith,
which had so long sealed their lips, and trampled on the
rights and freedom of the human mind.
According to these views, I do not condemn the unbeliever, unless he bear witness against himself by an
immoral and irreligious life. It is not given me to search
his heart.  But this power is given to himself, and as a
friend, I call upon him to exert it; I ask him to look
honestly into his own mind, to question his past life, and
to pronounce impartial sentence on the causes of his unbelief. Let him ask himself, whether he has inquired
into the principles and proofs of Christianity deliberately
and in the love of truth; whether the desire to discover
and fulfil his duties to God and his fellow-creatures has
governed his examination; whether he has surrendered
himself to no passions or pursuits which religion and
conscience rebuke, and which bar the mind and sear the
heart against the truth.  If, thus self-questioned, his
heart acquit him, let no man condemn him, and let him
heed no man's condemnation. But if conscience bear
witness against him, he has cause to suspect and dread
his unbelief.  He has reason to fear, that it is the fruit
of a depraved mind, and that it will ripen and confirm
the depravity from which it sprung.
I know that there are those, who will construe what
they will call my lenity towards unbelief, into treachery
towards Christianity.  There are those who think, that
unless skepticism be ranked among the worst crimes,
and the infidel be marked out for abhorrence and dread,




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.        107
the multitude of men will lose their hold on the gospel.
An opinion more discreditable to Christianity cannot
easily be advanced by its friends.  It virtually admits,
that the proofs of our religion, unless examined under
the influence of terror, cannot work conviction; that
the gospel cannot be left, like other subjects, to the
calm and unbiassed judgment of mankind. It discovers
a distrust of Christianity, with which I have no sympathy. And here I would remark, that the worst abuses
of our religion have sprung from this cowardly want of
confidence in its power.  Its friends have feared, that
it could not stand without a variety of artificial buttresses. They have imagined, that men must now be
bribed into faith by annexing to it temporal privileges,
now driven into it by menaces and inquisitions, now
attracted by gorgeous forms, now awed by mysteries
and superstitions; in a word, that the multitude must
be imposed upon, or the religion will fall. I have no
such distrust of Christianity; I believe in its invincible
powers.  It is founded in our nature.  It meets our
deepest wants.  Its proofs as well as principles are
adapted to the common understandings of men, and
need not to be aided by appeals to fear or any other
passion, which would discourage inquiry or disturb the
judgment.  I fear nothing for Christianity, if left to
speak in,its own tones, to approach men with its unveiled, benignant countenance.  I do fear much fronm
the weapons of policy and intimidation, which are
framed to uphold the imagined weakness of Christian
truth.
I now come to the great object of this discourse,an exhibition of the proofs of Christianity; — and I be



W08          EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
gin with a topic which is needed to prepare some, if
not many, to estimate these proofs fairly, and according
to their true weight.  I begin with the position, That
there is nothing in the general idea of Revelation at
which Reason ought to take offence, nothing inconsistent with any established truth, or with our best views
of God and Nature.  This topic meets a prejudice not
very rare.  I repeat it then, Revelation is nothing
incredible, nothing which carries contradiction on its
face, nothing at war with any great principles of reason
or experience. On hearing of God's teaching us by
some other means than the fixed order of nature, we
ought not to be surprised, nor ought the suggestion to
awaken resistance in our minds.
Revelation is not at war with nature. From the
necessity of the case, the earliest instruction must have
come to human beings from this source. If our race had
a beginning (and nothing but the insanity of Atheism
can doubt this), then its first members, created as they
were without human parentage, and having no resource
in the experience of fellow-creatures who had preceded
them, required an immediate teaching from their Creator; they would have perished without it. Revelation
was the very commencement of human history, the
foundation of all later knowledge and improvement. It
was an essential part of the course of Providence, and
must not then be regarded as a discord in God's general system.
Revelation is not at war with nature. Nature prompts
us to expect it from the relation which God bears to
the human race.  The relation of Creator is the most
intimate which can subsist; and it leads us to anticipate
a free and affectionate intercourse with the creature.




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.        109
That the Universal Father should be bound by a parental interest to his offspring, that he should watch
over and assist the progress of beings whom he has
enriched with the divine gifts of reason and conscience,
is so natural a doctrine, so accordant with his character, that various sects, both philosophical and religious,
both anterior and subsequent to Christianity, have believed, not only in general revelation, but that God
reveals himself to every human soul. When I think of
the vast capacities of the human mind, of God's nearness to it, and unbounded love towards it, I am disposed to wonder, not that revelations have been mad.e,
but that they have not been more variously vouchsafed
to the wants of mankind.
Revelation has a striking agreement with the chief
method which God has instituted for carrying forward
individuals and the race, and is thus in harmony with
his ordinary operations.  Whence is it, that we all
acquire our chief knowledge? Not from the outward
universe; not from the fixed laws of material nature;
but from intelligent beings, more advanced than ourselves.  The teachings of the wise and good are our
chief aids. Were our connexion with superior minds
broken off, had we no teacher but nature with its fixed
laws, its unvarying revolutions of night and day and
seasons, we should remain for ever in the ignorance of
childhood. Nature is a volume, which we can read
only by the help of an intelligent interpreter.   The
great law under which man is placed, is, that he shall
receive illumination and impulse from beings more improved than himself.  Now revelation is only an extension of this universal method of carrying forward mankind.  In this case, God takes on himself the office
28 *    j




110          EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
to which all rational beings are called. He becomes
an immediate teacher to a few, communicating to them
a higher order of truths than had before been attained,
which they in turn are to teach to their race. Here is
no new power or element introduced into the system,
but simply an enlargement of that agency on which the
progress of man chiefly depends.
Let me next ask you to consider, Why or for what
end God has ordained, as the chief means of human
improvement, the communication of light from superior
to inferior minds; and if it shall then appear, that revelation is strikingly adapted to promote a similar though
more important end, you will have another mark of
agreement between revelation and his ordinary Providence. Why is it that God has made men's progress
dependent on instruction from their fellow-beings? Why
are the more advanced commissioned to teach the less
informed? A great purpose, I believe the chief purpose, is, to establish interesting relations among nmen,
to bind them to one another by generous sentiments, to
promote affectionate intercourse, to call forth a purer
love than could spring from a communication of mere
outward gifts.  Now it is rational to believe, that the
Creator designs to bind his creatures to Himself as truly
as to one another, and to awaken towards himself even
stronger gratitude, confidence, and love; for these sentiments towards God are more happy and ennobling
than towards any other being; and it is plain that revelation, or immediate divine teaching, serves as effectually to establish these ties between God and man, as
human, teaching to attach men to one another.  We
see, then, in revelation an end corresponding to what
tle Supreme Being adopts in his common providence.




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.        111
That the end here affirmed is worthy of his interposiLion, who can doubt?  His benevolence can propose
no higher purpose, than that of raising the minds and
hearts of his creatures to himself.  His parental character is a pledge that he must intend this ineffable happiness for his rational offspring; and Revelation is suited to this end, not only by unfolding new doctrines in
relation to God, but by the touching proof which it
carries in itself of the special interest which he takes
in his human family. There is plainly an expression
of deeper concern, a more affectionate character, in this
mode of instruction, than in teaching us by the fixed
order of nature.  Revelation is God speaking to us in
our own language, in the accents which human friendship employs.  It shows a love, breaking through the
reserve and distance, which we all feel to belong to the
method of teaching us by his works alone.  It fastens
our minds on him. We can look on nature, and not
think of the Being whose glory it declares; but God
is indissolubly connected with, and indeed is a part of,
the idea of revelation. How much nearer does this
direct intercourse bring him to the mass of mankind!
On this account revelation would seem to me important,
were it simply to repeat the teachings of nature.  This
reiteration of great truths in a less formal style, in kinder, more familiar tones, is peculiarly fitted to awaken
the soul to the presence and benignity of its heavenly
Parent.  I see, then, in revelation a purpose corresponding with that for which human teaching was instituted.'Both are designed to bring together the teacher
and the taught in pure affections.
Let me next ask you to consider, what is the kind
of instruction which the higher minds among men are




112           EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
chiefly called to impart to the inferior. You will here
see another agreement between revelation and that ordinary human teaching, which is the great instrument
of improving the race. What kind of instruction is
it, which parents, which the aged and experienced, are
most anxious to give to the young, and on which the
safety of this class mainly depends?  It is instruction
in relation to the Future, to their adult years, such as
is suited to prepare them fcr the life that is opening
before them.  It is God's will, when he gives us birth,
that we should be forewarned of the future stages of
our being, of approaching manhood or womanhood, of
the scenes, duties, labors, through which we are to
pass; and for this end he connects us with beings, who
have traversed the paths on which we are entering, and
whose duty it is to train us for a more advanced age.
Instruction in regard to Futurity is the great means
of improvement. Now the Christian revelation has for
its aim to teach us on this very subject; to disclose
the life which is before us, and to fit us for it.  A Future state is its constant burden.  That God should
give us light in regard to that state, if he designs us
for it, is what we should expect from his solicitude to
teach us in regard to what is future in our earthly existence.  Nature thirsts for, and analogy almost promises, some illumination on the subject of human destiny. This topic I shall insist on more largely hereafter.
I wish now simply to show you the agreement of revelation, in this particular, with the ordinary providence
of God.
I proceed to another order of reflections, which to
my own mind is particularly suited to meet the vague
idea, that revelation is at war with nature. To judge




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.         113
of nature, we should look at its highest ranks of beings.
We should inquire of the human soul, which we all feel
to be a higher existence than matter. Now I maintain,
that there are in the human soul wants, deep wants,
which are not met by the influences and teachings, which
the ordinary course of things affords.  I am aware that
this is a topic to provoke distrust, if not derision, in the
low-minded and sensual; but I speak what I do know;
and nothing moves me so little as the scoffs of men who
despise their own nature.  One of the most striking
views of human nature, is the disproportion between
what it conceives and thirsts for, and what it finds or
can secure in the range of the present state.  It is prone
to stretch beyond its present bounds.  Ideas of excellence and happiness spring up, which it cannot realize
now.  It carries within itself a standard, of which it daily and hourly falls short.  This self-contradiction is the
source of many; sharp pains.  There is, in most men, a
dim consciousness, at least, of being made for something higher than they have gained, a feeling of internal
discord, a want of some stable good, a disappointment in
merely outward acquisitions; and in proportion as these
convictions and wants become distinct, they break out in
desires of illumination and aids from  God not found in
nature.  I am aware, that,the wants of which I have
spoken are but faintly developed in the majority of men.
Accustomed to give their thoughts and strength to the
outward world, multitudes do not penetrate and cannot
interpret their own souls.  They impute to outward
causes the miseries which spring from an internal foun.
tain.  They do not detain, and are scarcely conscious
of the better thoughts and feelings, which sometimes
dart through their minds.  Still there are few, who are
J*




114          EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
not sometimes dissatisfied with themselves, who do not
feel the wrong which they have done to themselves, and
who do not desire a purer and nobler state of mind.
The suddenness, with which the multitude are thrilled
by the voice of fervent eloquence, when it speaks to
them of the spiritual world in tones of reality, shows
the deep wants of human nature even amidst ignorance
and degradation. But all men do not give themselves
wholly to outward things.  There are those, and not
a few, who are more true to their nature, and ought
therefore to be regarded as its more faithful representatives; and in such, the wants, of which I have spoken,
are unfolded with energy.  There are those, who feel
painfully the weight of their present imperfection; who
are fired by rare examples of magnanimity and devotion;
who desire nothing so intensely as power over temptation, as elevation above selfish passions, as conformity
of will to the inward law of duty, as the peace of conscious rectitude and religious trust; who would rejoice
to lay down the present life for that spotless, bright,
disinterested virtue, of which they have the type or
germ in their own minds. Such men can find no resource but in God, and are prepared to welcome a revelation of his merciful purposes as an unspeakable gift.
I say, then, that the human mind has wants which nature
does not answer.  And these are not accidental feelings, unaccountable caprices, but are deep, enduring,
and reproduced in all ages under one or another form.
They breathe through the works of genius; they burn
in the loftiest souls. Here are principles implanted by
God in the highest order of his creatures on earth, to
which revelation is adapted; and I say, then, that revelation is any thing but hostility to nature.




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.          115
I will offer but one more view in illustration of this
topic. I ask you to consider, on what Principle of human nature the Christian revelation is intended to bear
and to exert influence, and then to inquire whether the
peculiar importance of this principle be not a foundation
for peculiar interposition in its behalf.  If so, revelation
may be said to be a demand of the human soul, and its
imagined incongruity with nature will disappear. For
what principle or faculty of the mind, then, was Christianity intended?  It was plainly not given to enrich
the intellect by teaching philosophy, or to perfect the
imagination and faste by furnishing sublime and beautiful models of composition.  It was not meant to give
sagacity in public life, or skill and invention in common
affairs. It was undoubtedly designed to develope all
these faculties, but secondarily, and through its influence
on a higher principle.  It addresses itself primarily,
and is especially adapted, to the Moral power in man.
It regards and is designed for man as a moral being,
endued with conscience or the principle of duty, who is
capable of that peculiar form of excellence which we
call righteousness or virtue, and exposed to that peculiar evil, guilt.  Now  the question offers itself, Why
does God employ such extraordinary means for promoting virtue rather than science, for aiding conscience
rather than intellect and our other powers?  Is there a
foundation in the moral principle for peculiar interpositions in its behalf?  I affirm that there is.  I affirm
that a broad distinction exists between our moral nature
and our other capacities.  Conscience is the Supreme
power within us.  Its essence, its grand characteristic,
is Sovereignty.  It speaks with a divine authority.  Its
office is to command, to rebuke, to reward; and happi



116           EVIDENCES OF (HHRISTIANITY.
aess and honor depend on the reverence with which
we listen to it.  All our other powers become useless
and worse than useless, unless controlled by the principle of duty.  Virtue is the supreme good, the supreme
beauty, the divinest of God's gifts, the healthy and harmonious unfolding of the soul, and the germ of immortality. It is worth every sacrifice, and has power to
transmute sacrifices and sufferings into crowns of glory
and rejoicing.  Sin, vice, is an evil of its own kind, and
not to be confounded with any other. Who does not
feel at once the broad distinction between misfortune
and crime, between disease of body and turpitude of
soul?  Sin, vice, is war with the highest power in our
own breasts, and in the universe.  It makes a being
odious to himself, and arms against him the principle
of rectitude in God and in all pure beings. It poisons
or dries up the fountains of enjoyment, and adds unspeakable weight to the necessary pains of life.  It is
not a foreign evil, but a blight and curse in the very
centre of our being.  Its natural associates are fear,
shame, and self-torture; and, whilst it robs the present
of consolation, it leaves the future without hope. Now
I say, that in this peculiar ruin wrought by moral evil
and in this peculiar worth of moral goodness, we see
reasons for special interpositions of God in behalf of
virtue, in resistance of sin.  It becomes the Infinite
Father to manifest peculiar interest in the moral condition and wants of his creatures.  Their great and continued corruption is an occasion for peculiar methods
of relief; and a revelation given to restore them, and
carry them forward to perfection, has an end which justifies, if it does not demand, this signal expression of
parental love.




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.        117
The preceding views have been offered, not as sufficient to prove that a revelation has been given, but
for the purpose of removing the vague notion that it
is at war with nature, and 6f showing its consistency
with the spirit and principles of the divine administration. I proceed now to consider the direct and positive
proofs of Christianity, beginning with some remarks on
the nature and sufficiency' of the evidence on which it
chiefly relies.
Christianity sprung up about eighteen hundred years
ago. Of course its evidences are to be sought in history. We must go back to the time of its birth, and
understand the condition in which it found the world,
as well as the circumstances of its origin, progress, and
establishment; and happily, on these points, we have
all the light necessary to a just judgment.  We must
not imagine, that a religion, which bears the date of so
distant an age, must therefore be involved in obscurity.
We know enough of the earliest times of Christianity
to place the question of its truth within our reach.  The
past may be known as truly as the present; and I deem
this principle so important in the present discussion
that I ask your attention to it.
The past, I have said, may be known; nor is this
all; we derive from it our most important knowledge.
Former times are our chief instructors.  Our political,
as well as religious institutions, our laws, customs, modes
of thinking, arts of life, have come down from earlier
ages, and most of them are unintelligible without a light
borrowed from history.
Not only are we able to know' the nearest of past
ages, or those which touch on our own times, but those
which are remote. No educated man doubts any more
29




118          EVIDENCES OF CHRISTI4NITY.
of the victories of Alexander or Caesar, before Christ,
than of Napoleon's conquests in our own day.  So open
is our communication with some ages of antiquity, so
many are the records which they have transmitted, that
we know them even better than nearer times; and a
religion which grew up eighteen hundred years ago,
may be more intelligible and accompanied with more
decisive proofs of truth or falsehood, than one which is
not separated from us by a fourth part of that duration.
From the nature of things, we may and must know
much of the past; for the present has grown out of the
past, is its legacy, fruit, representative, and is deeply
impressed with it. Events do not expire at the moment
of their occurrence.  Nothing takes place without leaving traces behind it; and these are in many cases so
distinct and various, as to leave not a doubt of their
cause.  We all understand, how, in the material world,
events testify of themselves to future ages.  Should we
visit an unknown region, and behold masses of lava
covered with soil of different degrees of thickness, and
surrounding a blackened crater, we should have as firm
a persuasion of the occurrence of remote and successive volcanic eruptions, as if we had lived through the
ages in which they took place. The chasms of the
earth would report how terribly it had been shaken,
and the awful might of long-extinguished fires would
be written in desolations which ages had failed to efface. Now conquest, and civil and religious revolutions, leave equally their impressions on society, leave
institutions, manners, and a variety of monuments, which
are inexplicable without them, and which, taken togethb
er, admit not a doubt of their occurrence.  The past
stretches into the future, the present is crowded with il,
and can be interpreted only by the light of history.




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.        119
But besides these effects and remains of earlier times,
\we have other and more distinct memorials of the past,
which, when joined with the former, place it clearly
within our knowledge. I refer to books. A book is
more than a monument of a preceding age.  It is a
voice coming to us over the interval of centuries.  Language, when written, as truly conveys to us another's
mind as when spoken.  It is a species of personal intercourse.  By it the wise of former times give us their
minds as really, as if by some miracle they were to rise
from the dead and communicate with us by speech.
From these remarks we learn that Christianity is not
placed beyond the reach of our investigations by the
remoteness of its origin; and they are particularly applicable to the age in which the gospel was first given
to the world. Our religion did not spring up before
the date of authentic history.  Its birth is not hidden
in the obscurity of early and fabulous times.  We have
abundant means of access to its earliest stages; and,
what is very important, the deep and peculiar interest
which Christianity has awakened, has fixed the earnest
attention of the most learned and sagacious men on the
period of its original publication, so that no age of antiquity is so thoroughly understood.  Christianity sprung
up at a time, when the literature and philosophy of
Greece was spread far and wide, and had given a great
impulse to the human mind; and when Rome by unexampled conquests had become a centre and bond of
union to the civilized world and to many half civilized
regions, and had established a degree of communication
between distant countries before unknown. We are not,
then, left to grope our way by an unsteady light. Our
means of information are various and great.  We have




120          EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
incontestable facts in relation to the origin of our religion, from which its truth may be easily deduced. A
few of these facts, which form the first steps of our
reasoning on this subject, I will now lay before you.
1. First, then, we know with certainty the time when
Christianity was founded.  As to this fact, there is and
can be no doubt.  Heathen and Christian historians
speak on this point with one voice.  Christianity was
first preached in the age of Tiberius.  Not a trace of
it exists before that period, and afterwards the marks
and proofs of its existence are so obvious and acknowledged as to need no mention. Here is one important
fact placed beyond doubt.
2. In the next place, we know the place where Christianity sprung up. No one can dispute the country of
its birth. Its Jewish origin is not only testified by all
history, but is stamped on its front and woven into its
frame.  The language in which it is conveyed, carries
us at once to Judea.  Its name is derived friom Jewish
prophecy. None but Jews could have written the New
Testament.  So natural, undesigned, and perpetual are
the references and allusions of the writers to the opinions and manners of that people, so accustomed are
they to borrow from the same source the metaphors,
smilitudes, types, by which they illustrate their doctrines, that Christianity, as to its outward form, may be
said to be steeped in Judaism. We have, then, another established fact. We know where it was born.
3. Again, we know the individual by whom  Christianity was founded. We know its Author, and from
the nature of the case this fact cannot but be known.
The founder of a religion is naturally and necessarily
the object of general inquiry. Wherever the new fait~h




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.        121
is carried, the first and most eager questions are,
"I From whom does it come? On whose authority does
it rest? " Curiosity is never more intense, than in regard to the individual, who claims a divine commission
and sends forth a new religion.  He is the last man to
be overlooked or mistaken.  In the case of Christianity
especially, its founder may be said to have been forced
on men's notice, for his history forms an essential part
of hi: religion.  Christianity is not an abstract doctrine, which keeps its author out of sight.  He is its
very soul.  It rests on him, and finds its best illustration in his life.  These reflections however may be
spared.  The simple consideration, that Christianity
must have had an author, and that it has been always
ascribed to Jesus, and to no one else, places the great
fact, which I would establish, beyond doubt.
A. I next observe, that we not only know the founder
of Christianity, but the ministers by whom he published
and spread it through the world. A new religion must
have propagators, first teachers, and with these it must
become intimately associated.  A  community can no
more be ignorant as to the teachers who converted it
to a new faith, than as to the conqueror who subjected
it to a new government; and where the art of writing
is known and used for recording events, the latter fact
will not more certainly be transmitted to posterity than
the former.  We have the testimony of all ages, that
the men called Apostles were the first propagators of
Christianity, nor have any others been named as sustaining this office; and it is impossible that, on such a
point, such testimony should be false.
5. Again; we know not only when, and where, and
by whom Christianity was introduced; —we know, fiom
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122           EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
a great variety of sources, what in the main this religion was, as it came from the hands of its founder.
To assure ourselves on this point, we need not recur
to any sacred books. From the age following that of
Christ and the Apostles, down to the present day, we'iave a series, and an almost numberless host, of writers
An the subject of Christianity; and whilst we discover
in thic, a great diversity of opinions, and opposite interpretations of some of Christ's teachings, yet on the
whole iney so far agree in the great facts of his history, and in certain great principles of his religion, that
we cannot mistake as to the general character of the
system  which he taught.  There is not a shadow  of
reason for the opinion that the original system which
Jesus taught was lost, and a new one substituted and
fastened on the world in his name.  The many and
great corruptions of Christianity did not and could not
hide its principal features.  The greatest corruptions
took place in the century which followed the death of
the Apostles, when certain wild and visionary sects
endeavoured to establish a union between the new religion and the false philosophy to which they had been
wedded in their heathen state.  You may judge of their
character and claims, when I tell you, that they generally agreed in believing, that the God who made the
world, and who was worshipped by the Jews, was not
the supreme God, but an inferior and imperfect Deity,
and that matter had existed from eternity, and was
essentially and unchangeably evil.  Yet these sects endeavoured to sustain themselves on the writings which
the great body of Christians received and honored as
the works of the Apostles; and, amidst their delusionsthey recognised and taught the miracles of Christ, his




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.         123
resurrection, and the most important principles of his
religion; so that the general nature of Christianity, as
it came from its Founder, may be ascertained beyond
a doubt.  Here another great point is fixed.
6. I have now stated to you several particulars relating to Christianity, which admit no doubt; and these
indisputable facts are of great weight in a discussion of
the Christian, evidences.  There is one point more, of
importance, which cannot be settled so expeditiously as
these. I hope, however, enough may be said to place
it beyond doubt, without exceeding the limits of a discourse; and I invite to it your serious attention.  I say,
then, that we not only know in general what Christianity was at its first promulgation; but we know precisely what its first propagators taught, for we have
their writings. We have their religion under their own
hands.  We have particularly four narratives of the life,
works, and words of their Master, which put us in possession of his most private as well as public teaching.
It is true, that without those writings we should still
have strong arguments for the truth of Christianity;
but we should be left in doubt as to some of its important principles; and its internal evidence, which corroborates, and, as some think, exceeds the external,
would be very much impaired.  The possession of the
writings of the first propagators of the gospel, must
plainly render us great aid in judging of its claims.
These writings, I say, we have, and this point I would
now establish.
I am aware that the question, to which I now ask
your attention, is generally confined to professed students.  But it is one on which men of good sense are
competent to judge, and its great importance gives it a
claim to the serious consideration of every Christian.




124          EVWENCES OF CHR[STIMUTY.
The question is, whether the four Gospels are genuine, that is, whether they were written by those to whom
they are ascribed. To answer it, let us consider how
we determine the genuineness of books in general. I
begiin with the obvious remark, that to know the author.
of a work, it is not necessary that we should be eyewitnesses of its composition. Perhaps of the numberless publications of the present day, we have not seen
one growing under the pen of the writer. By far the
greater number come to us across the ocean, and yet
we are as confident in regard to their authors as if we
had actually seen them first committed to paper.  The
ascription of a book to an individual, during his life,
by those whe are interested in him, and who have the
best means of knowing the truth, removes all doubts as
to its author.  A strong and wide-spread conviction of
this kind must have a cause, and can only be explained
by the actual production of the work by the reputed
writer.  It should here be remembered that there is
a strong disposition in men to ascertain the author of
an important and interesting work. We have had a
remarkable illustration of this in our own times.  The
author of " Waverley " saw fit to wrap himself for a time
in mystery; and what was the consequence? No subject in politics or science was agitated more generally
than the question to whom the work belonged. It was
not only made a topic in almost every periodical publication, but one book was expressly written to solve the
problem. The instance, I know, was remarkable; but
this inquisitiveness in regard to books is a principle of
our nature, and is particularly active, when the book in
debate is a work of singular authority.
I have spoken of the confidence which we feel as to




EVIDENCES -OF CHRISTIANITY.       125
the authors of books published in our own times. But
our certainty is not confined to these.  Every reading
man is as sure that Hume and Robertson wrote the
histories which bear their names, as that Scott has in
our own time sent out the " Life of Bonaparte." Those
eminent men were born more than a hundred years
ago, and they died before the birth of most to whom
I speak.  But the communication between their times
and our own is so open and various, that we know their
literary labors as well as those of the present day.
Not a few persons now living have had intercourse
with some of the contemporaries of these historians;
and through this channel in particular, we of this generation have the freest access to the preceding, and
know its convictions in regard to the authors of interesting books as fully as if we had lived in it ourselves.
That the next age will have the same communication
with the present as the present has with the past, and
that these convictions of our predecessors will be transmnitted by us to our immediate successors, you will
easily comprehend; and you will thus learn the respect
which is due to the testimony of the third generation
on such a subject.
In what has now been said, we see with what confidence and certainty we determine the authors of writings published in our own age or in the times nearest
our own.  These remarks may be easily applied to
the productions of antiquity.  When the question arises,
whether an ancient book was written by the individualwhose name it bears, we must inquire into the opinion
of his contemporaries, or of those who succeeded his
contemporaries so nearly as to have intimate communication with them.  The competency of these to a just
t*




126          EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
judgment on the subject, we have seen; and if they
have transmitted their convictions to us in undisputed
writings, it ought to be decisive.  On this testimony,
we ascribe many ancient books to their authors with
the firmest faith; and, in truth, we receive as genuine
many works of antiquity on far inferior proofs.  There
are many books of which no notice can be found for
several ages after the time of their reputed authors.
Still the fact, that, as soon as they are named, they
are ascribed undoubtingly, and by general consent, to
certain authors, is esteemed a sufficient reason for
regarding them as their productions, unless some opposite proof can be adduced.  This general reception
of a work as having come from a particular writer, is
an effect which requires a cause; and the most natural
and obvious explanation of his being named, rather than'
any other man, is, that he actually composed it.
I now proceed to apply these principles to the four
histories of Christ, commonly called Gospels.  The
question is, what testimony respecting their authors
has come down to us from the age of their reputed
authors, or from times so near it and so connected with
it, as to be faithful representatives of its convictions.
By this testimony, as we have seen, the genuineness
of the books must be decided.  And I begin with admitting that no evidence on the subject is to be derived
from  contemporary writers.  No author, living in the
age of the first propagators of Christianity, has named
the Gospels.  The truth is, that no undisputed writings of their immediate converts have been preserved.
A few tracts, bearing the name of men acquainted
with the Apostles, have indeed come down to us; but
so much uncertainty hangs over their origin, that I am




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.        127
unwilling to ground on them any reasoning. Nor ought
we to wonder that the works of private Christians of the
primitive age are wanting to us; for that was an age of
persecution, when men were called to die rather than
write for their religion. I suppose too, that during the
times of the Apostles, little importance was attached to
any books but such as were published or authorized by
these eminent men; and, of course, what was written
by others was little cilculated, and soon passed away.
The undisputed writings of the early Christians begin
about seventy years after the times of the Apostles.
At that period there probably remained none of the first
converts or contemporaries of the Apostles.  But there
were living not a few, who had been acquainted with the
last survivors of that honored generation.  When the
Apostles died, they must have left behind a multitude
who had known them; and of these not a few must have
continued many years, and must have had intercourse
with the new generation which sprung up after the apostolic age. Now in the times of this generation, the
series of Christian authors begins.  Although, then, we
have no productions of the apostolic age to bear witness
to the Gospels, we have writings from the ages which
immediately followed it, and which, from their connexion with it, ought, as we have seen, to be regarded as
most credible witnesses on such a subject. What, then,
do these writings teach? I answer, Their testimony is
clear and full. We learn from them, not only that the
Gospels existed in those times, but that they were widely diffused, that they were received as the writings of
the men whose names they bear, and that they were regarded with a confidence and veneration yielded to no
other books. They are quoted as books given by their




128          EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
revered authors to the Christian community, to be public
and enduring records of the religion; and they are
spoken of as read in the assemblies which were held for
the inculcation and extension of the faith. I ask you to
weigh this testimony.  It comes to us from times connected intimately with the first age.  Had the Gospels
been invented and first circulated among the generation
which succeeded the Apostles, could that generation
have received them, as books known and honored before
their time, and as the most authoritative and precious
records transmitted to them from their fathers and predecessors?  The case may seem too plain to require
explanation; but as many are unaccustomed to inquiries
of this kind, I will offer an example. You well know,
that nearly a century ago a great religious excitement
was spread through this country chiefly by the ministry
of Whitefield.  Suppose now that four books were at
this moment to come forth, bearing the names of four of
the most distinguished men of that period, of Whitefield, of the venerable Edwards, and of two others intimately associated with them  in their religious labors;
and suppose these books not only to furnish narratives
of what then took place, but to contain principles and
rules urged with all possible earnestness and authority on
the disciples or admirers of these religious leaders.  Do
you think it possible that their followers of the present
day, and the public, could be made to believe, that these
books had been published by their pretended authors,
had been given as standards to,a religious community,
and had been handed down as venerated books, when
no such works had been heard of before? This is but a
faint illustration; for Whitefield and Edwards are names
of little weight or authority, compared with what the
Apostles possessed in the primitive church.




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.        129
We have, then, strong and sufficient reasons for believing that the histories called Gospels were received,
in the times of the Apostles, as works of those whose
names they bear; and were handed down as theirs with
veneration by their contemporaries, Will any say that
all this may be true, but that, during the lives of the
Apostles, books forged in their names may have obtained general currency?  To this extravagant supposition it would be sufficient to reply, according to my previous remarks, that the general ascription of a book to
an author during his life, is the ground on which the genuineness of the most unquestioned works depends. But
I would add, that this evidence is singularly conclusive
in the present case.  The original propagators of Christianity, to whom the Gospels were ascribed, were, from
their office, among the public men of their age. They
must have travelled extensively.  They must have been
consulted by inhabitants of various countries on the subject of the new religion. They must have been objects
of deep interest to the first converts.  They lived in the
world's eye. Their movements, visits, actions, words,
and writings, must have awakened attention. Books
from their hands must have produced a great sensation.
WVe cannot conceive a harder task, than to impose writings, forged in their name, on Christians and Christian
communities, thus intimately connected with them, and
so alive to their efforts for the general cause.  The opportunities of detecting the falsehood were abundant;
and to imagine falsehood to prosper under such circumstances, argues a strange ignorance of literary history
and of human nature.
Let me add, that the motives of the first Christians,
to ascertain distinctly whether writings ascribed to the
30




130          EVIDENCES OF CHIRISTANITY.
Apostles were truly theirs, were the strongest which can
be conceived. I have mentioned, in my previous remarks, the solicitude of the world to learn the author of
" Waverley. " The motive was mere curiosity; and yet
to what earnest inquiries were multitudes impelled. The
name of the author was of little or no moment. The
book was the same, its portraits equally vivid, its developements of the human heart equally true and powerful,
whether the author were known or not.  So it is with
most works. Books of science, philosophy, morals,
and polite literature, owe their importance and authority, not to their writers, but to their contents.  Now, the
four Gospels were different in this respect.  They were
not the same to the first converts, come from whom they
might.  If written by Apostles or by their associates,
they had an authority and sacredness, which could belong to them on no other condition. They became
books of laws to the Christian community, became
binding on their consciences and lives.  To suppose
such books received blindly and without inquiry, by
great numbers who had all the means of ascertaining
their true origin, is to suppose the first converts insane
or idiots, a charge which I believe their worst enemies
will not think of urging against them, and which the
vast superiority of their religious and moral system to
all the philosophical systems of the times abundantly
disproves.
I have now finished what is called the historical or
external evidence of the genuineness of the four Gospels; that is, the evidence drawn from their being received and revered as the writings of the Apostles in the
first and succeeding ages of Christianity.' But before
leaving this head, I would notice a difficulty which may




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.        131
press on some minds.  I suppose, that many of you
have heard, that very early, probably about the beginning of the second century, writings were forged in the
name of the Apostles; and some may ask why the four
Gospels may not belong to this description. The answer
is, that the Gospels, as we have seen, were received and
honored by the great body of Christians, in the first and
succeeding ages of Christianity, as writings of Apostles
or their associates.  The forgeries are known to be forgeries, because they were not so received, because they
were held in no veneration, but were rejected as fictitious
by the Christian community. Here is a broad line of
distinction.  It must not surprise us, that in the great
excitement produced by the first publication and triumphs of Christianity, a variety of extravagant notions
should spring up, and that attempts should be made to
blend the new religion with established systems; and as
the names of the first propagators of the Gospel were
held in peculiar reverence, we cannot wonder that the
leaders of sects should strive to attach an apostolic
sanction to their opinions, by sending abroad partly true
and partly false accounts of the preaching of these eminent men. Whether these writings were sent forth as
compositions of the Apostles, or only as records of
their teaching, made by their hearers, is a question open
to debate; but as to their origin there can be little
doubt. We can account for their existence, and for the
degree of favor which they obtained. They were generally written to give authority to the dreams or speculations of some extravagant sects, to which they were
very much confined, and with which most of them
passed away.  There is not a shadow of reason for
confounding with these our Gospels, which were spread




132          EVIDENCES OF CHRISANITY.
from the beginning through the Christian world, ant
were honored and transmitted as the works of the venerated m'en by whose names they were called.
Having now given the historical argument in favor ot
the genuineness of the Gospels, that is, in favor of theii
being written by their reputed authors, I now add, that
there are several presumptive and internal proofs of the
same truth, which, taken alone, have great weight, and,
when connected with the preceding, form an amount of
evidence not easily withstood. I have time to glance at
only a few of these.
It is a presumption in favor of the claims of an
author, that the book ascribed to him has never been
assigned to any other individual. Now I am not aware,
that unbelief has in any age named any individuals, to
whom the Gospels may be traced rather than to those
whose names they bear. We are not called upon to
choose between different writers.  In common cases,
this absence of rival claims is considered as decisive in
favor of the reputed author, unless the books themselves
give ground to suspect another hand. Why shall not
this principle be applied to the Gospels as well as to all
other works?
Another presumption in favor of the belief that these
histories were written by the first propagators of Christianity, arises from the consideration, that such books
were to be expected from them. It is hardly conceivable that the Apostles, whose zeal carried abroad their
system through so many nations, and who lived in an
age of reading and writing, should leave their doctrines
to tradition, should neglect the ordinary precaution of
embodying them in the only permanent form, the only
one in which they could be accurately transmitted, and




EVIDENCES OF CHISTIANITY.         133
by which all other systems were preserved. It is reasonable to suppose that they wro'  what they taught;
and if so, it is hardly possible that their writings should
be lost.  Their accounts must have been received and
treasured up just as we know the Gospels were cherished; and hence arises a strong presumption in favor
of the genuineness of these books.
Again; these books carry one strong mark of having
been written in the time of the Apostles. They contain
no trace of later times, nothing to indicate that the
authors belonged to another age.  Now  to those of
you, who are acquainted with such subjects, it is hardly
necessary to observe, how difficult it is for a writer to
avoid betraying the period in which he lives; and the
cause is very obvious.  Every age has its peculiarities,
has manners, events, feelings, words, phrases of its
own; and a man brought up among these falls so naturally under their influence, and incorporates them so
fully with his own mind, that they break out and manifest themselves, almost necessarily and without his consciousness, in his words and writings.  The present
makes an impression incomparably more vivid than the
past, and accordingly traces of the real age of a writer
may almost always be discovered by a critical eye.
however anxious he may be to assume the style and
character of a preceding age.  Now the Gospels betray
no marks of the feelings, manners, contentions, events
of a period later than that in which the Apostles lived;
and when we consider, that, with the exception of Luke's
history, they have all the appearance of having come
from plain men, unused to composition, this argumlent
applies to them with peculiar force.  Under this head,
I might place before you the evidence of the genuine.
30 *     I,




134          EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
ness of these books derived from the language, dialect,
Idiom, in which they are written. You can easily understand, that by these helps the country and age of a
writing may often be traced; but the argument belongs
to the learned.  It may however be satisfactory to
know, that the profoundest scholars see in the dialect
and idiom of the Gospels, a precise accordance with
what might be expected of Jews, writing in the age of
the Apostles.
Another internal proof, and one within the reach of
all, may be gathered from the style and character of
the evangelical narratives.  They are written with the
simplicity, minuteness, and ease, which are the natural
tones of truth, which belong to writers thoroughly acquainted with their subjects, and writing from reality.
You discover in them nothing of the labor, caution,
and indistinctness, which can scarcely be escaped by
men who are assuming a character not their own, and
aiming to impose on the world.  There is a difference
which we have all discerned and felt, though we cannot
describe it, between an honest, simple-hearted witness,
who tells what he has seen or is intimately acquainted
with, and the false witness, who affects an intimate
knowledge of events and individuals, which are in whole
or in part his own fabrication.  Truth has a native
frankness, an unaffected freedom, a style and air of its
own, and never were narratives more strongly characterized by these than the Gospels.  It is a striking
circumstance in these books, that whilst the life and
character which they portray, are the most extraordinary in history, the style is the most artless.  There is
no straining for epithets or for elevation of language to
suit the dignity of the great personage who is the subh



EVIDENCES OF CIRISTIANITY.        135
ect.. You hear plain men telling you what they know,
of a character which they venerated too much to think
of adorning or extolling.  It is also worthy of remark,
that the character of Jesus, though the most peculiar
and exalted in history, though the last to be invented
and the hardest to be sustained, is yet unfolded through
a great variety of details and conditions, with perfect
unity and consistency.  The strength of this proof can
only be understood by those who are sufficiently acquainted with literary history, to appreciate the difficulty
of accomplishing a consistent and successful forgery
Such consistency is, in the present case, an almost infallible test. Suppose four writers, of a later age, to
have leagued together in the scheme of personating the
first propagators of Christianity, and of weaving, in
their name, the histories of their Master's life.  Removed as these men would have been from the original,
and having no model or type of his character in the
elevation of their own minds, they must have portrayed
him with an unsteady hand, must have marred their
work with incongruous features, must have brought
down their hero on some occasion to the ordinary views
and feelings of men, and in particular must have been
warped in their selection and representation of incidents
by the private purpose which led them to this singular
cooperation.  That four writers, under such circumstances, should sustain throughout so peculiar and elevated a character as Jesus, and should harmonize with
each other in the delineation, would be a prodigy which
no  genius, however preeminent, could achieve.  I say,
then, that the narratives bear strong internal marks of
having been drawn from the living original, by those
who had the best means of knowing his character and
life.




136          EVENCES OF CHRISTIAITY.
So various, strong, sufficient are the proofs that the
four Gospels are the works of the first preachers of
Christianity, whose name they bear. I will only add,
that the genuineness of few ancient books is supported
by proofs equally strong.  Most of the works, which
have come down to us from antiquity, and which are
ascribed to their reputed writers with undoubting confidence, are so ascribed on evidence inferior to that on
which the claims of the Evangelists rest. On this point
therefore not a doubt should remain.
Here I pause. The proofs of Christianity, which are
involved in or founded on the facts now established,
will be the subjects of future discussion.




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANI'I.       1-37
PART II.
I HAVE now stated some of the great facts relating
to the origin of Christianity, of which we have clear
and full proof. We know when and where this religion
sprung up. We know its Author, and the men whom
he employed as the first propagators of his doctrine.
We know the great features of the religion as it was
originally taught; and still more, we have the writings
of its first teachers, by which its precise character is
placed beyond doubt. I now proceed to lay before you
some of the arguments in support of Christianity, which
are involved in or are founded on these facts.  I must
confine myself to a few, and will select those to which
some justice may be. done in the compass of a discourse.
I. I believe Christianity to be true, or to have come
from God, because it seems to me impossible to trace
it to any other origin.  It must have had a cause, and
no other adequate cause can be assigned.  The incongruity between this religion and all the circumstances
amidst which it grew up, is so remarkable, that we are
compelled to look beyond and above this world for its
explanation. When I go back to the origin of Christianity, and place myself in the age and country of its
birth, I can find nothing in the opinions of men, or in
the state of society, which can account for its beginning or diffusion. There was no power on earth to
L




138          EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
create or uphold such a system.  There was nothing
congenial with it in Judaism, in heathenism, or in the
state of society among the most cultivated communities.
If you study the religions, governments, and philosophical systems of that age, you will discover in them
not even a leaning towards Christianity.  It sprung
up in opposition to all, making no compromise with
human prejudice or passion; and it sprung up, not
only superior to all, but possessing at its very beginning
a perfection, which has been, the admiration of ages,
and which, instead of being dimmed by time, has come
forth more brightly, in proportion to the progress of
the human mind.
I know, indeed, that, at the origin of our religion,
the old heathen worship had fallen into disrepute among
the enlightened classes through the Roman Empire, and
was gradually losing its hold on the populace. Accordingly some have pretended that Christianity grew from
the ruins of the ancient faith.  But this is not true;
for the decline of the heathen systems was the product
of causes singularly adverse to the origination of such a
system as Christianity. One cause was the monstrous
depravity of the age, which led multitudes to an utter
scorn of religion in all its forms and restraints, and
which prepared others to exchange their old worship
for still grosser and more licentious superstitions, particularly for the magical arts cf Egypt.  Surely this
con uption of manners, this wide-wasting moral pestilence, will not be considered by any as a germ of the
Christian religion.  Another principal agent in. loosening the foundations of the old systems, was Philosophy,
a noble effort indeed of the human intellect, but one
which did nothing to prepare the way for Christianity.




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.        139
The most popular systems of philosophy at the birth
of Christianity were the Skeptical and the Epicurean,
the former of which turned religion into a jest, dlenied
the possibility of arriving at truth, and cast the mind on
an ocean of doubt in regard to every subject of inquiry;
whilst the latter placed happiness in ease, inculcated a
calm indifference both as to this world and the next,
and would have set down the Christian doctrine of selfsacrifice, of suffering for truth and duty, as absolute insanity.  Now I ask in what single point do these systems touch Christianity, or what impulse could they
have given to its invention.  There was indeed another
philosophical sect of a nobler character; I mean the
Stoical. This maintained that virtue was the supreme
good, and it certainly nurtured some firm and lofty spirits amidst the despotism which then ground all classes
in the dust.  But the self-reliance, sternness, apathy,
and pride of the Stoic, his defiance and scorn of mankind, his want of sympathy with human suffering, and
his extravagant exaggerations of his own virtue, placed
this sect in singular opposition to Christianity; so that
our religion might as soon have sprung from Skepticism
and Epicureanism, as from Stoicism. There was another system, if it be worthy of the name, which prevailed
in Asia, and was not unknown to the Jews, often called
the Oriental philosophy. But this, though certainly an
improvement on the common heathenism, was visionary
and mystical, and placed happiness in an intuition or
immediate perception of God, which was to be gained
by contemplation and ecstasies, by emaciation of the
body, and desertion of the world. I need not tell you
how infinitely removed was the practical, benevolent
spirit of Christianity, from this spurious sanctity and




140          EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
profitless enthusiasm.  I repeat it, then, that the various
causes which were silently operating against the established heathen systems in the time of Christ, had no
tendency to suggest and spread such a religion as he
brought, but were as truly hostile to it as the worst
forms of heathenism.
We cannot find, then, the origin of Christianity in
the heathen world.  Shall we look for it in the Jewish?
This topic is too familiar to need much exposition.
You know the character, feelings, expectations of the descendants of Abraham  at the appearing of Jesus; and
you need not be told, that a system, more opposed to
the Jewish mind than that which he taught, cannot be
imagined.  There was nothing friendly to it in the soil
or climate of Judea.  As easily might the luxuriant
trees of our forest spring from the sands of an Arabian
desert.  There was never perhaps a national character
so deeply stamped as the Jewish.  Ages after ages of
unparalleled suffering have done little to wear away its
indelible features.  In the time of Jesus the whole influence of education and religion was employed to fix it
in every member of the state.  In the bosom  of this
community, and among its humblest classes, sprung up
Christianity, a religion as unfettered by Jewish prejud.ices, as untainted by the earthly, narrow views of the
age, as if it had come from another world. Judaism
was all around it, but did not mar it by one trace, or
sully its brightness by a single breath. Can we find,
then, the cause of Christianity in the Jewish any more
than in the heathen world?
Christianity, I maintain, was not the growth of any
of the circumstances, principles, or feelings of the age
in which it appeared.  In truth, one of the great dis



~1ViIJJCES OF CHRISTIANITY.       141
tinctions of the Gospel is, that it did not grow. The
conception, which filled the mind of Jesus, of a religion
more spiritual, generous, comprehensive, and unworldly
than Judaism, and destined to take its place, was not of
gradual formation. We detect no signs of it, and no
eftbrts to realize it, before his time; nor is there an appearance of its having been gradually matured by Jesus
himself.  Christianity was delivered from the first in its
full proportions, in a style of singular freedom and boldness, and without a mark of painful elaboration.  This
suddenness with which this religion broke forth, this
maturity of the system at the very moment of its birth,
this absence of gradual developement, seems to me a
strong mark of its divine original.  If Christianity be a
human invention, then I can be pointed to something in
the history of the age which impelled and fitted the mind
of its author to its production; then I shall be able to
find some germ of it, some approximation to it, in the
state of things amidst which it first appeared. How was
it, that from thick darkness there burst forth at once
meridian light? Were I told that the sciences of the
civilized world had sprung up to perfection at once,
amidst a barbarous horde, I should pronounce it incredible. Nor can I easily believe, that Christianity, the religion of unbounded love, a religion which broke down
the barrier between Jew and Gentile, and the barriers between nations, which proclaimed one Universal Father,
which abolished forms and substituted the worship of the
soul, which condemned alike the false greatness of the
Roman and the false holiness of the Jew, and which
taught an elevation of virtue, that the growing knowledge
of succeeding ages has made more admirable;- I say,
I cannot easily believe that such a religion was suddenly,
31




142           EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
immediately struck out by human ingenuity, among a
peol)le distinguished by bigotry and narrowness of spirit,
by superstitious reliance on outward worship, by hatred
and scorn of other nations, and by the proud, impatient
hope of soon bending all nations to their sway.
Christianity, I repeat it, was not the growth of the
age in which it appeared. It had no sympathy with that
age.  It was the echo of no sect or people.  It stood
alone at the moment of its birth. It used not a word of
conciliation. It stooped to no error or passion. It had
its own tone, the tone of authority and superiority to the
world.  It struck at the root of what was everywhere
called glory, reversed the judgments of all former ages,
passed a condemning sentence on the idols of this
world's admiration, and held forth, as the perfection of
human nature, a spirit of love, so pure and divine, so
free and full, so mild and forgiving, so invincible in fortitude yet so tender in its sympathies, that even now few
comprehend it in its extent and elevation.  Such a religion had not its origin in this world.
I have thus sought to unfold one of the evidences of
Christianity. Its incongruity with the age of its birth, its
freedom from earthly mixtures, its original, unborrowed,
solitary greatness, and the suddenness with which it
broke forth amidst the general gloom, these are to me
strong indications of its divine descent. I cannot reconcile them with a human origin.
II. Having stated the argument in favor of Christianity, derived from the impossibility of accounting for it
by the state of the world at the time of its birth, I proceed, in the second place, to observe, that it cannot be
accounted for by any of the motives which instigate men




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.         143
to the fabrication of religions. Its aims and objects are
utterly irreconcilable with imposture.  They are pure,
lofty, and worthy of the most illustrious delegate of
heaven.  This argument deserves to be unfolded with
some particularity.
Men act from  Motives.  The inventors of religions
have purposes to answer by them.  Some systems have
been framed by legislators to procure reverence to
their laws, to bow the minds of the people to the civil
power; and some have been forged by priests, to establish their sway over the multitude, to form themselves
into a dominant caste, and to extort the wealth of the
industrious.  Now  I affirm, that Christianity  cannot
be ascribed to any selfish, ambitious, earthly motive.
It is suited to no private end.  Its purpose is generous
and elevated, and thus bears witness to its heavenly
origin.
The great object which has seduced men to pretend
to inspiration, and to spread false religions, has been
Power, in one form or another, sometimes political
power, sometimes spiritual, sometimes both. Is Christianitv to be explained by this selfish aim? I answer,
No.  I affirm  that the love of power is the last principle to be charged on the Founder of our religion.
Christianity is distinguished by nothing more than by its
earnest enforcement of a meek and humble spirit, and
by its uncompromising reprobation of that passion for
dominion, which had in all ages made the many the prey
of the few, and had been worshipped as the attribute
and impulse of the greatest minds.  Its tone on this
subject was original, and altogether its own. Jesus felt,
as none had felt before, and as few feel now, the baseness of selfish ambition, and the grandeur of that benev



144          EVIDENCES OF CHRESTINITY.
olence which waves every mark of superiority, that it
may more effectually bless mankind. He taught this
lesson, not only in the boldest language, but, accommodating himself to the emblematical mode of religious
instruction prevalent in the East, he set before his disciples a little child as their pattern, and himself washed
their feet. His whole life was a commentary on his
teaching.  Not a trace of the passion for distinction and
sway can be detected in the artless narratives of his
historians.  He wore no badge of superiority, exacted no signs of homage, coveted no attentions, resented
no neglect.  He discouraged the ruler who prostrated
himself before him with flattering salutations, but received with affectionate sensibility the penitent who
bathed his feet with her tears.  He lived with his obscure disciples as a friend, and mixed freely with all
ranks of the community. He placed himself in the way
of scorn, and advanced to meet a death, more suited
than any other imaginable event, to entail infamy on his
name.  Stronger marks of an infinite superiority to what
the world calls glory, cannot be conceived than we meet
in the history of Jesus.
I have named two kinds of power, Political and
Spiritual, as the ordinary objects of false religions.  I
wish to show you more particularly the elevation of
Christianity above these aims. That the Gospel was
not framed for political purposes, is too plain to require proof; but its peculiarity in this respect is not
sufficiently considered.  In ancient times, religion was
everywhere a national concern.  In Judea the union
between religion and government was singularly close,
and political sovereignty was one of the chief splendors, with which the Jewish imagination had surround



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.        145
ed the expected Messiah.  That in such an age and
country, a religion should arise, which hardly seems to
know that government exists; which makes no reference to it except in a few general inculcations of obedience to the civil powers; which says not a word nor
throws out a hint of allying itself with the state; which
assumes to itself no control of political affairs, and intermeddles with no public concerns; which has no tendency, however indirect, to accumulate power in particular hands; which provides no form of national worship
as a substitute for those which it was intended to destroy; and which treats the distinctions of rank and
office as worthless in comparison with moral influence
and an unostentatious charity; — that such a religion
should spring up in such a state of the world is a remarkable fact.  We here see a broad line between
Christianity and other systems, and a striking proof of
its originality and elevation. Other systems were framed
for communities; Christianity approached nmen as Individuals. It proposed, not the glory of the state, but
the perfection of the individual mind.  So far from being contrived to build up political power, Christianity
tends to reduce and gradually to supplant it, by teaching
men to substitute the sway of truth and love for menace
and force, by spreading through all ranks a feeling of
brotherhood altogether opposed to the spirit of domination, and by establishing principles which nourish selfrespect in every human being, and teach the obscurest
to look with an undazzled eye on the most powerful of
their race.
Christianity bears no mark of the hands of a politician. One of its main purposes is to extinguish the
very spirit which the ambitious statesman most anxiously
31 *    M




146         IEV.WCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
cherishes, and on which he founds his success. It prom
scribes a narrow patriotism, shows no mercy to the
spirit of conquest, requires its disciples to love other
countries as truly as their own, and enjoins a spirit of
peace and forbearance in language so broad and earnest,
that not a few of its professors consider war in every
shape and under all circumstances as a crime.  The
hostility between Christianity and all the political maxims of that age, cannot easily be comprehended at the
present day.  No doctrines were then so rooted, as,
that conquest was the chief interest of a nation, and
that an exclusive patriotism was the first and noblest
of social virtues.  Christianity, in loosening the tie
which bound man to the state, that it might connect
him with his race, opposed itself to what was deemed
the vital principle of national safety and grandeur, and
commenced a political revolution as original and unsparing as the religious and moral reform at which it
aimed.
Christianity, then, was not framed for political purposes. But I shall be asked, whether it stands equally
clear of the charge of being intended to accumulate
Spiritual power. Some may ask, whether its founder
was not instigated by the passion for religious domination, whether he did not aim to subdue men's minds,
to dictate to the faith of the world, to make himself the
leader of a spreading sect, to stamp his name as a prophet on human history, and thus to secure the prostration of multitudes to his will, more abject and entire
than kings and conquerors can achieve.
To this I might reply by what I have said of the
character of Jesus, and of the spirit of his religion.
It is plain, that the founder of Christianity had a per



EVIDENCES OF CIRISTIANITY.         147
ception, quite peculiar to himself, of the moral beauty
and greatness of a disinterested, meek, and self-sacrificing spirit, and such a person was not likely to meditate the subjugation of the world to himself.  But,
leaving this topic, I observe, that on examining Christianity we discover none of the features of a religion
framed for spiritual domination.  One of the infallible
marks of such a system is, that it makes some terms
with the passions and prejudices of men.  It does not,
cannot provoke and ally against itself all the powers,
whether civil or religious, of the world. Christianity
was throughout uncompromising and exasperating, and
threw  itself in the way of hatred and scorn.  Such a
system was any thing but a scheme for seizing the
spiritual empire of the world.
There is another mark of a religion which springs
from  the love of spiritual domination.  It infuses a
servile spirit. Its author, desirous to stamp his name
and image'on his followers, has an interest in curbing
the free action of their minds, imposes on them arbitrary doctrines, fastens on them badges which may
separate them from others, and besets them with rules,
forms, and distinctive observances, which may perpetually remind them of their relation to their chief.
Now I see nothing in Christianity of this enslaving
legislation. It has but one aim, which is, not to exalt
its teacher, but to improve the disciple; not to fasten
Christ's name on mankind, but to breathe into them
his spirit of universal. love.  Christianity is not a religion of forms. It has but two ceremonies, as simple
as they are expressive; and these hold so subordinate
f place in the New Testament, that some of the best
Christians question or deny their permanent obligation.




148          EVIDENCES PF CHRISTIANITY.
Neither is it a narrow creed, or a mass of doctrines
which find no support in our rational nature.  It may
be summed up in a few great, universal, immutable principles, which reason and conscience, as far as they are
unfolded, adopt and rejoice in, as their own everlasting
laws, and which open perpetually enlarging views to
the mind.  As far as I am a Christian, I am free.  My
religion lays on me not one chain.  It does not prescribe a certain range for my mind, beyond which nothing can be learned.  It speaks of God as the Universal
Father, and sends me to all his works for instruction.
It does not hem me round with a mechanical ritual,
does not enjoin forms, attitudes, and hours of prayer,
does not descend to details of dress and food, does
not put on me one outward badge.  It teaches and
enkindles love to God, but commands no precise expressions of this sentiment.  It prescribes prayer; but
lays the chief stress on the prayer of the closet, and
treats all worship as worthless but that of the mind and
heart.  It teaches us to do good, but leaves us to devise for ourselves the means by which we may best
serve mankind. In a word, the whole religion of Christ
may be summed up in the love of God and of mankind, and it leaves the individual to cherish and express
this spirit by the methods most accordant with his own
condition and peculiar mind. Christianity is eminiently
the religion of freedom. The views which it gives of
the parental, impartial, universal goodness of God, and
of the equal right of every human being to inquire into
his will, and its inculcations of candor, forbearance,
and mutual respect, contribute alike to freedom  of
thought and enlargement of the heart.  I repeat it,
Christianity lays on me no chains. It is any thing but
t contrivance for spiritual domination.




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.        149
I am aware that I shall be told, that Christianity, if
judged by its history, has no claim to the honorable
title of a religion of liberty.  I shall be told, that no
system  of heathenism  ever weighed more oppressively
on men's souls; that the Christian ministry has trained
tyrants, who have tortured, now the body with material
fire, and now the mind with the dread of fiercer flames,
and who have proscribed and punished free thought and
free speech as the worst of crimes. I have no disposition to soften the features of priestly oppression; but
I say, let not Christianity be made to answer for it.
Christianity gives its ministers no such power.  They
have usurped it in the face of the sternest prohibitions,
and in opposition to the whole spirit of their Master.
Christianity institutes no priesthood, in the original and
proper sense of that word.  It has not the name of
priest among its officers; nor does it confer a shadow
of priestly power.  It invests no class of men with peculiar sanctity, ascribing to their intercessions a special
influence over God, or suspending the salvation of the
private Christian on ceremonies which they alone can
administer.  Jesus indeed appointed twelve of his immediate disciples to be the great instruments of propagating his religion; but nothing can be simpler than
their office.  They went forth to make known through
all nations the life, death, resurrection, and teachings
of Jesus Christ; and this truth they spread freely and
without reserve.  They did not give it as a mystery
to a few who were to succeed them in their office, and
according to whose direction it was to be imparted to
others.  They communicated it to the whole body of
converts, to be their equal and common property, thus
securing to all the invaluable rights of the mind. It




1560         EVIDENCES OF CHIMTIANrITY
is true, they appointed ministers or teachers in the
various congregations which they formed; and in that
early age, when the religion was new and unknown, and
when oral teaching was the only mode of communicating
it, there seems to have been no way for its diffusion
but this appointment of the most enlightened disciples
to the work of instruction.  But the New Testament
nowhere intimates, that these men were to monopolize
the privilege of studying their religion, or of teaching
it to others. Not a single man can claim under Christianity the right to interpret it exclusively, or to impose
his interpretation on his brethren.  The Christian minister enjoys no nearer access to God, and no promise
of more immediate illumination, than other men. He
is not intrusted with the Christian records more than
they, and by these records it is both their right and duty
to try his instructions.  I have here pointed out a noble
peculiarity of Christianity.  It is the religion of liberty.
It is in no degree tainted with the passion for spiritual
power.  1' Call nr man master, for ye are all brethren,"
is its free and generous inculcation, and to every form
of freedom it is a friend and defence.
We have seen that Christianity is not to be traced to
the love of power, that master passion in the authors of
false religions. I add, that no other object of a selfish
nature could have led to its invention.  The Gospel is
not of this world. At the time of its origin no ingenuity could have brought it to bear on any private or
worldly interest. Its spirit is self-denial. Wealth, ease,
and honor, it counts among the chief perils of life, and
it insists on no duty more earnestly than on that of putting them to hazard and casting them from us, if the
cause of truth and humanity so require. And these




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.        151
maxims were not mere speculations or rhetorical commonplaces in the times of Christ and his Apostles
The first propagators of Christianity were called upon
to practise what they preached, to forego every interest
on its account.  They could not but foreknow, that
a religion so uncompromising and pure would array
against them the world. They did not merely take the
chance of suffering, but were sure that the whole weight
of scorn, pain, and worldly persecution would descend
on their heads. How inexplicable, then, is Christianity
by any selfish object, or any low aim?
The Gospel has but one object, and that too plain
to be mistaken. In reading the New Testament, we
see the greatest simplicity of aim.  There is no lurking
purpose, no by-end, betraying itself through attempts
to disguise it.  A  perfect singleness of design runs
through the records of the religion, and is no mean
evidence of their truth.  This end of Christianity is
the moral perfection of the human soul.  It aims and
it tends, in all its doctrines, precepts, and promises, to
rescue men from the power of moral evil; to unite them
to God by filial love, and to one another in the bonds
of brotherhood; to inspire them  with a philanthropy
as meek and unconquerable as that of Christ; and to
kindle irrtense desire, hope, and pursuit of celestial and
immortal virtue.
And now, I ask, what is the plain inference from
these views? If Christianity can be traced to no selfish or worldly motive, if it was framed, not for dominion, not to compass any private purpose, but to raise
men above themselves, and to conform them to God,
can we help pronouncing it worthy of God? And to
whom but to' God can we refer its origin? Ought we




152           EVIDENCES OF CIIRISTIANITY.
not to recognise in the first propagators of such a faith
the holiest of men, the friends of their race, and the
messengers of Heaven?  Christianity, from  its very
nature, repels the charge of imposture.  It carries in
itself the proof of pure intention.  Bad men could not
have conceived it, much less have adopted it as the
great object of their lives.  The supposition of selfish
men giving up every private interest to spread a system
which condemned themselves, and which tended only
to purify mankind, is an absurdity as gross as can be
found in the most irrational faith.  Christianity, therefore, when tried by its Motives, approves itself to be
of God.
III. I now proceed to another and very important
ground of my belief in the divine origin of Christianity.
Its truth was attested by miracles.  Its first teachers
proved themselves the ministers of God by supernatural
works. They did what man cannot do, what bore the
impress of a divine power, and what thus sealed the
divinity of their mission.  A  religion so attested must
be true.  This topic is a great one, and I ask your
patient attention to it.
I am aware that a strong prejudice exists in some
minds against the kind of evidence which I have now
adduced.  Miracles seem  to them to carry a confutation in themselves.   The presumption against them
seems next to infinite.  In this respect, the present
times differ from  the past.  There have been ages,
when men believed any thing and every thing; and the
more monstrous the story, the more eagerly was it received by the credulous multitude.  In the progress of
knowledge men have come to see, that most of the prod.




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.        153
igies and supernatural events in which their forefathers
believed, were fictions of fancy, or fear, or imposture.
The light of knowledge has put to flight the ghosts
and witches which struck terror into earlier times. We
now know, that not a few of the appearances in the
heavens, which appalled nations, and were interpreted
as precursors of divine vengeance, were natural effects.
We have learned, too, that a highly excited imagination
can work some of the cures once ascribed to magic;
and the lesson taught us by these natural solutions of
apparent miracles, is, that accounts of supernatural
events are to be sifted with great jealousy and received
with peculiar care.
But the result of this new light thrown on nature and
history is, that some are disposed to discredit all miracles indiscriminately.  So many having proved groundless, a sweeping sentence of condemnation is passed on
all. The human mind, by a natural reaction, has passed
from extreme credulousness, to the excess of incredulity.  Some persons are even hardy enough to deride the
very idea of a miracle.  They pronounce the order of
nature something fixed and immutable, and all suspensions of it incredible.  This prejudice, for such it is,
seems to deserve particular attention; for, until it is
removed, the evidences of Christian miracles will have
little weight.  Let us examine it patiently and impartially.
The skeptic tells me, that the order of nature is
fixed. I ask him, By whom or by what is it fixed? By
an iron fate? By an inflexible necessity? Does not
nature bear the signatures of an intelligent Cause?
Does not the very idea of its order imply an ordaining
or disposing Mind? Does not the universe, the more
32




154          EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
it is explored, bear increasing testimony to a Being superior to itself? Then the order of nature is fixed by
a Will which can reverse it. Then a power equal to
miracles exists.  Then miracles are not incredible.
It may be replied, that God indeed can work miracles, but that he will not. He will not? And how
does the skeptic know this? Has God so told him?
This language does not become a being of our limited
faculties; and the presumptuousness which thus makes
laws for the Creator, and restricts his agency to particular modes, is as little the spirit of true philosophy as
of religion.
The skeptic sees nothing in miracles, but ground
of offence.  To me, they seem to involve in their very
nature a truth so great, so vital, that I am not only
reconciled to them, but am disposed to receive joyfully
any sufficient proofs of their having been performed.
To the skeptic, no principle is so important as the uniformity of nature, the constancy of its laws.  To me,
there is a vastly higher truth, to which miracles bear
witness, and to which I welcome their aid. What I
wish chiefly to know is, that Mind is the supreme power
in the universe; that matter is its instrument and slave;
that there is a Will to which nature can offer no obstruction; that God is unshackled by the laws of the
universe, and controls them at his pleasure.  This absolute sovereignty of the Divine Mind over the universe,
is the only foundation of hope for the triumph of the
human mind over matter, over physical influences, over
imperfection and death. Now it is plain, that the strong
impressions which we receive through the senses from
the material creation, joined to our experience of its
regularity, and to our instinctive trust in its future uni



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.        155
formity, do obscure this supremacy of God, do tempt
us to ascribe a kind of omnipotence to nature's laws,
and to limit our hopes to the good which is promised
by these.  There is a strong tendency in men to attach
the idea of necessity to an unchanging regularity of
operation, and to imagine bounds to a being who keeps
one undeviating path, or who repeats himself perpetually.  Hence, I say that I rejoice in miracles.  They
show and assert the supremacy of Mind in the universe.
They manifest a spiritual power, which is in no degree
enthralled by the laws of matter.  I rejoice in these
witnesses to so great a truth.  I rejoice in whatever
proves, that this order of nature, which so often weighs
on me as a chain, and which contains no promise of
my perfection, is not supreme and immutable, and that
the Creator is not restricted to the narrow modes of
operation with which I am most familiar.
Perhaps the form in which the objection to miracles
is most frequently expressed, is the following; " It is
derogatory," says the skeptic, " to the perfect wisdom
of God, to suppose him to break in upon the order of
his own works.  It is only the unskilful artist who is
obliged to thrust his hand into the machine for the
purpose of supplying its defects, and of giving it a new
impulse by an immediate agency."  To this objection
I reply, that it proceeds on false ideas of God and of
the creation.  God is not an artist, but a MIoral Parent
and Governor; nor is the creation a machine.  If it
were, it might be urged withI greater speciousness, that
miracles cannot be needed or required.  One of the
most striking views of the creation, is the contrast ot
opposition of the elements of which it consists.  It includes not only matter but mind, not only lifeless and




156           EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
unconscious masses, but rational beings, free agents;
and these are its noblest parts and ultimate objects.
The material universe was framed not for itself, but for
these.  Its order was not appointed for its own sake,
but to instruct and improve a higher rank of beings,
the intelligent offspring of G-;d; and whenever a departure from this order, that is, whenever miraculous
agency can contribute to the growth and perfection of
his intelligent creatures, it is demanded by his wisdom,
goodness, and all his attributes.  If the Supreme Being
proposed only such ends as mechanism can produce,
then he might have framed a machinery so perfect and
sure as to need no suspension of its ordinary movements. But he has an incomparably nobler end. His
great purpose is to educate, to rescue from evil, to
carry forward for ever the free, rational mind or soul;
and who that understands what a free mind is, and
what a variety of teaching and discipline it requires, will
presume to affirm, that no lights or aids, but such as
come to it through an invariable order of nature, are
necessary to unfold it?
Much of the difficulty in regard to miracles, as I
apprehend, would be removed, if we were to consider
more particularly, that the chief distinction of intelligent beings is Moral Freedom, the power of determining themselves to evil as well as good, and consequently the power of involving themselves in great
misery.  When God made man, he framed not a machine, but a free being, who was to rise or fall according to his use or abuse of his powers.  This capacily,,
at once the most glorious and the most fearful which
we can conceive, shows us how the human race may
have come into a condition, to which the illumination




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.       157
af nature was inadequate. In truth, the more we consider the freedom of intelligent beings, the more we
shall question the possibility of establishing an unchangeable order which will meet fully all their wants; for
such beings, having of necessity a wide range of action,
may bring themselves into a vast variety of conditions,
and of course may come to need a relief not contained
in the resources of nature.  The history of the human
race illustrates these truths.  At the introduction of
Christianity, the human family were plunged into gross
and debasing error, and the light of nature had not
served for ages to guide them back to truth.  Philosophy had done its best, and failed.  A  new element, a
new power seems to have been wanting to the progress
of the race. That in such an exigence miraculous aid
should be imparted, accords with our best views of
God.  I repeat it; were men mechanical beings, an
undeviating order of nature might meet all their wants.
They are free beings, who bear a moral relation to God,
and as such may need, and are worthy of, a more
various and special care than is extended over the irrational creation.
When I examine nature, I see reasons for believing
that it was not intended by God to be the only method
of instructing and improving mankind. I see reasons,
as I think, why its order or regular course should be
occasionally suspended, and why revelation slould be
joined to it in the work of carrying forward the race.
I can offer only a few considerations on this point, but
they seem to me worthy of serious attention. - The first
is, that a fixed, invariable order of nature does not give
us some views of God which are of great interest and
importance, or at least it does not give them with that
32*     N




158           EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
distinctness which we all desire. It reveals him as the
Universal Sovereign who provides for the whole or for
the general weal, but not, with sufficient clearness, as
a tender father, interested in the Individual.  I see, in
this fixed order, his care of the race, but not his constant, boundless concern for myself.  Nature speaks of
a general Divinity, not of the friend and benefactor of
each living soul.  This is a necessary defect attending
an inflexible, unvarying administration by general laws;
and it seems to require that God, to carry forward the
race, should reveal himself by some other manner than
by general laws. No conviction is more important to
human improvement than that of God's paternal interest
in every human being; and how can he communicate
this persuasion so effectually, as by suspending nature's
order, to teach, through an inspired messenger, his paternal love?
My second remark is, that, whilst nature teaches many
important lessons, it is not a direct, urgent teacher.
Its truths are not prominent, and consequently men may
neglect it, and place themselves beyond its influence.
For example, nature holds out the doctrine of One
God, but does not compel attention to it.  God's name
is not written in the sky in letters of light, which all
nations must read, nor sounded abroad in a voice, deep
and awful as thunders, so that all must hear.  Nature
is a gentle, I had almost said, a reserved teacher, demanding patient thought in the learner, and may therefore be unheeded.  Men may easily shut their ears and
harden their hearts against its testipnony to God.  Ac_ordingly we learn, that, at Christ's coming, almost all
nations had lost the knowledge of the true glory of the
Creator, and given themselves up to gross superstitions.




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.       159
To such a condition of the world, nature's indirect and
unimposing mode of instruction is not fitted, and thus it
furnishes a reason for a more immediate and impressive
teaching. In such a season of moral darkness, was it not
worthy of God to kindle another and more quickening
beam? When the long repeated and almost monotonous
language of creation was not heard, was it unworthy of
God to speak with a new and more startling voice?
What fitter method was there for rousing those whom
nature's quiet regularity could not teach, than to interrupt its usual course?
I proceed to another reason for expecting revelation
to be added to the light of nature.  Nature, I have
said, is not a direct or urgent teacher, and men may
place themselves beyond its voice.  I say, thirdly, that
there is one great point, on which we are deeply concerned to know the truth, and which is yet taught so
indistinctly by nature, that men, however disposed to
learn, cannot by that light alone obtain full conviction.
What, let me ask, is the question in which each man
has the deepest interest?  It is this, Are we to live
again; or is this life all? Does the principle of thought
perish with the body; or does it survive?  And if it
survive, where? how? in what condition? under what
law?  There is an inward voice which speaks of judgment to come. Will judgment indeed come? and if so,
what award may we hope or fear? The Future state
of man, this is the great question forced on us by our
changing life, and by approaching death.  I will not
say, that on this topic nature throws no light.  I think
it does; and this light continually grows brighter to them
whose eyes revelation has couched and made strong
to see. But nature alone does not meet our wants. I




160          EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
might prove this by referring you to the ages precede
ing Christ, when the anxious spirit of man constantly
sought to penetrate the gloom beyond the grave, when
imagination and philosophy alike plunged into the future,
but found no resting-place. But every man must feel,
that, left to nature as his only guide, he must wander in
doubt as to the life to come.  Where, but from God
himself, can I learn my destination?  I ask at the
mouth of the tomb for intelligence of the depart'ed, and
the tomb gives me no reply. I examine the various
regions of nature, but I can discover no process for
restoring the mouldering body, and no sign or track of
the spirit's ascent to another sphere.  I see the need
of a power above nature to restore or perpetuate life
after death; and if God intended to give assurance of
this life, I see not how he can do it but by supernatural
teaching, by a miraculous revelation.  Miracles are the
appropriate, and would seem to be the only mode of
placing beyond doubt man's future and immortal being;
and no miracles can be conceived so peculiarly adapted
to this end as the very ones which hold the highest
place in Christianity, - I mean the resurrection of
Lazarus, and, still more, the resurrection of Jesus.
No man will deny, that, of all truths, a future state is
most strengthening to virtue and consoling to humanity.
Is it then unworthy of God to employ miracles for the
awakening or the confirmation of this hope? May they
not even be expected, if nature, as we have seen, sheds
but a faint light on this most interesting of all verities?
I add one more consideration in support of the position, that nature was not intended to be God's only
method of teaching mankind. In surveying the human
mind, we discover a principle which singularly fits it to




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.          161
be wrought upon and benefited by miraculous agency,
and which might therefore lead us to expect such interposition.  I refer to that principle of our nature, by
which we become in a measure insensible or indifferent to what is familiar, but are roused to attention and
deep interest by what is singular, strange, supernatural.
This principle of wonder is an important part of our
constitution; and that God should employ it in the
work of our education, is what reason might anticipate.
I see, then, a foundation for miracles in the human
mind; and, when I consider that the mind is God's noblest work, I ought to look to this as the interpreter
of his designs.  We are plainly so constituted, that the
order of nature, the more it is fixed, excites us the less.
Our interest is blunted by its ceaseless uniformity.  On
the contrary, departures from this order powerfully stir
the soul, break up its old and slumbering habits of
thought, turn it with a new solicitude to the Almighty
Interposer, and prepare it to receive with awe the communications of his will. Was it unworthy of God, who
gave us this sensibility to the wonderful, to appeal to it
for the recovery of his creatures to himself?
I here close my remarks on the great objection of
skepticism, that miracles are inconsistent with the divine
perfections; that the Supreme Being, having established
tn order of operation, cannot be expected to depart
from it.  To me, such reasoning, if reasoning it may be
called, is of no weight. When I consider God's. paternal and moral relation to mankind, and his interest in
their progress; when I consider how accordant it is
with his character that he should make himself kn: wn
to them by methods most fitted to awaken the mind and
heart to his goodness; when I consider the need we
N*




162          EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
have of illumination in regard to the future life, more distinct and full than the creation affords; when I consider
the constitution and condition of man, his free agency,
and the corruption into which he had fallen; when I
consider how little benefit a being so depraved was likely to derive from an order of nature to which he had
grown familiar, and how plainly the mind is fitted to be
quickened by miraculous interposition; — I say, when
I take all these things into view, I see, as I -think, a
foundation in nature for supeinatural light and aid, and I
discern in a miraculous revelation, such as Christianity,
a provision suited at once to the franie and wants of the
human soul, and to the perfections of its Author.
There are other objections to miracles, though less
avowed, than that which I have now considered, yet
perhaps not less influential, and probably operating on
many minds so secretly as to be unperceived.  At two
of these I will just glance.  Not a few, I am confident,
have doubts of the Christian miracles, because they see
none now. Were their skepticism to clothe itself in language, it would say, " Show us miracles, and we will
believe them.  We suspect them, because they are
confined to the past." Now this objection is a childish
one.  It may be resolved into the principle, that nothing in the past is worthy of belief, which is not repeated
in the present. Admit this, and where will incredulity
stop? How many forms and institutions of society,
recorded in ancient history, have passed away. Has
history, then, no title to respect?  If indeed the human
race were standing still, if one age were merely a copy
of preceding ones, if each had precisely the same wants,
then the miracles required at one period would be reproduced in all. But who does not know that there is a




EVIDENCES UF CHRISTIANITY.        163
progress in human affairs? that formerly mankind were
in a different stage from that through which they are
now passing? that of course the education of the race
must be varied? and that miracles, important once, may
be superfluous now? Shall we bind the Creator to
invariable modes of teaching and training a race whose
capacities and wants are undergoing a perpetual change?
Because in periods of thick darkness God introduced a
new religion by supernatural works, shall we expect
these works to be repeated, when the darkness is scattered and their end attained? Who does not see that
miracles, from their very nature, must be rare, occasional, limited?  Would not their power be impaired
by frequency? and would it not wholly cease, were
they so far multiplied as to seem a part of the order of
nature?
The objection I am now considering, shows us the
true character of skepticism.  Skepticism is essentially
a narrowness of mind, which makes the present moment
the measure of the past and future.  It is the creature
of sense.  In the midst of a boundless universe, it can
conceive no mode of. operation but what falls under
its immediate observation.  The visible, the present, is
every thing to the unbeliever.  Let him but enlarge his
views; let him look round on the immensity of the universe; let him consider the infinity of resources which
are comprehended in omnipotence; let him represent to
himself the manifold stages through which the human
race is appointed to pass; let him remember that the
education of the ever-growing mind must require a
great variety of discipline; and especially let him admit
the sublime thought, of which the germ is found in
nature, that man was created to be trained for, and to




164          EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
ascend to, an incomparably higher order of existence
than the present,-and he will see the childishness of
making his narrow experience the standard of all that
is past and is to come in human history.
It is strange, indeed, that men of science should fall
into this error.  The improved science of the present
day teaches them, that this globe of ours, which seems
so unchangeable, is not now what it was a few thousand
years ago.  They find proofs by digging into the earth,
that this globe was inhabited before the existence of
the human race, by classes of animals which have perished, and the ocean peopled by races now unknown,
and that the human race are occupying a ruined and
restored world.  Men of science should learn to free
themselves from the vulgar narrowness which sees nothing in the past but the present, and should learn the
stupendous and infinite variety of the dispensations of
God.
There is another objection to miracles, and the last
to be now considered, which is drawn from the wellknown fact, that pretended miracles crowd the pages
of ancient history. No falsehoods, we are told, have
been more common than accounts of prodigies, and
therefore the miraculous character of Christianity is a
presumption against its truth.  I acknowledge that this
argument has its weight; and I am ready to say, that,
did I know nothing of Christianity, but that it was a
religion full of miracles; did I know nothing of its
doctrines, its purpose, its influences, and whole history,
I should suspect it as much as the unbeliever.  There
is a strong presumption against miracles, considered
nakedly, or separated from their design and from all
circumstances which explain and support them. There




EVIDENCES OF eHISTAI.             165
s a like presumption against events not miraculous, but
of an extraordinary character.  But this is only a reason for severe scrutiny and slow belief, not for resisting
strong and multiplied proofs. I blame no man for doubting a report of miracles when first brought to his ears.
Thousands of absurd prodigies have been created by
ignorance and fanaticism, and thousands more been
forged by imposture.  I invite you, then, to try scrupulously the miracles of Christianity; and, if they bear
the marks of the superstitious legends of false religions,
do not spare them. I only ask for them a fair hearing
and calm investigation.
It is plainly no sufficient argument for rejecting all
miracles, that men have believed in many which are
false. If you go back to the times when miraculous
stories were swallowed most greedily, and read the
books then written on history, geography, and natural
science, you will find all of them crowded with error;
but do they therefore contain nothing worthy your trust?
Is there not a vein of truth running through the prevalent falsehood? And cannot a sagacious mind very
often detach the real from the fictitious, explain the origin of many mistakes, distinguish the judicious and honest from the credulous or interested narrator, and by
a comparison of testimonies detect the latent truth?
Where will you stop, if you start with believing nothing
on points where former ages have gone astray? You
must pronounce all religion and all morality to be delusion, for on both topics men have grossly erred. Nothing is more unworthy of a philosopher, than to found a
universal censure on a limited number of unfavorable
facts. This is much like the reasoning of the misanthrope, who, because he sees much vice, infers that
33




166           EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
there is no virtue, and, because he has sometimes been
deceived, pronounces all men hypocrites.
I maintain that the multiplicity of false miracles, far
from disproving, gives support to those on which Christianity rests; for, first, there is generally some foundation for falsehood, especially when it obtains general
belief.  The love of truth is an essential principle of
human nature; men generally embrace error on account
of some precious ingredient of truth mixed with it, and
for the time inseparable from it.  The universal belief
of past ages in miraculous interpositions, is to me a
presumption that miracles have entered into human history.  Will the unbeliever say, that it only shows the
insatiable thirst of the human mind for the supernatural?
I reply, that, in this reasoning, he furnishes a weapon
against himself; for a strong principle in the human
mind, impelling men to seek for and to cling to miraculous agency, affords a presumption that the Author of
our being, by whom this thirst for the supernatural was
given, intended to furnish objects for it, and to assign it
a place in the education of the race.
But I observe, in the next place, and it is an observation of great importance, that the exploded miracles
of ancient times, if carefully examined, not only furnish
a general presumption in favor of the existence of genuine ones, but yield strong proof of the truth of those
in particular upon which Christianity rests.  I say to
the skeptic, You affirm nothing but truth in declaring
history to abound in false miracles; I agree with you
in exploding by far the greater part of the supernatural
accounts of which ancient religions boast. But how
do we know these to be false? We do not so judge
without proofs. We discern in them the marks of de.




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.        167
fusion. Now I ask you to examine these marks, and
then to answer me honestly, whether you find them  in
the miracles of Christianity.  Is there not a broad line
between Christ's works and those which we both agree
in rejecting?  I maintain that there is, and that nothing
but ignorance can confound the Christian miracles with
the prodigies of heathenism.  The contrast between
them is so strong as to forbid us to refer them to a common origin.  The miracles of superstition carry the
brand of falsehood in their own nature, and are disproved by the circumstances under which they were
imposed on the multitude.  The objects, for which they
are said to have been wrought, are such as do not require or justify a divine interposition.  Many of them
are absurd, childish, or extravagant, and betray a weak
intellect or diseased imagination. Many can be explained by natural causes.  Many are attested by persons who lived in different countries and ages, and
enjoyed no opportunities of inquiring into their truth.
We can see the origin of many in the self-interest of
those who forged them, and can account for their reception by the condition of the world.  In other words,
these spurious miracles were the natural growth of the
ignorance, passions, prejudices, and corruptions of the
times, and tended to confirm them. Now it is not
enough to say, that these various marks of falsehood
cannot be found in the Christian miracles. We find
in them characters directly the reverse.  They were
wrought for an end worthy of God; they were wrought
in an age of improvement; they are marked by a majesty, beneficence, unostentatious simplicity, and wisdom,
which separate them' immeasurably from the dreams of
a disordered fancy or the contrivances of imposture.




168          EVIDmNCE OF CHRISTIANITY.
They can be explained by no interests, passions, or prejudices of men.  They are parts of a religion, which was
singularly at variance with established ideas and expectations, which breathes purity and benevolence, which
transcended the improvements of the age, and which
thus carries with it the presumption of a divine original.
Whence this immense distance between the two classes
of miracles? Will you trace both to one source, and
that a polluted one? Will you ascribe to one spirit,
works as different as light and darkness, as earth and
heaven? I am not, then, shaken in my faith by the false
miracles of other religions.  I have no desire to keep
them out of sight; I summon them as my witnesses.
They show me how naturally imposture and superstition
leave the stamp of themselves on their fictions. They
show how man, when he aspires to counterfeit God's
agency, betrays more signally his impotence and folly.
When I place side by side the mighty works of Jesus
and the prodigies of heathenism, I see that they can no
more be compared with one another, than the machinery
and mock thunders of the theatre can be likened to the
awful and beneficent powers of the universe.
In the preceding remarks on miracles, I have aimed
chiefly to meet those general objections by which many
are prejudiced against supernatural interpositions universally, and are disinclined to weigh any proof in their
support. Hoping that this weak skepticism has been
shown to want foundation in nature and reason, I proceed now to state more particularly the principal grounds
on which I believe that the miracles ascribed to Jesus
and the first propagators of Christianity, were actually
wrought in attestation of its truth.
The evidences of facts are of two kinds, presumptive




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.         169
and direct, and both meet in support of Christian mira.
zles.  First, there are strong presumptions in its favor.
To this class of proofs, belong the views already given
of the accordance of revelation and miracles with the
wants and principles of human nature, with the perfections of God, with his relations to his human family, and
with his ordinary providence. These I need not repeat.
I will only observe, that a strong presumption in support
of the miracles arises from the importance of the religion to which they belong. If I were told of supernatural works performed to prove, that three are more than
one, or that human life requires food for its support, I
should know  that they were false.  The presumption
against them would be invincible.  The author of nature
could never supersede its wise and stupendous order to
teach what falls within the knowledge of every child.
Extraordinary interpositions of God suppose that truths
of extraordinary dignity and beneficence are to be imparted.  Now, in Christianity, I find truths of transcendent importance, which throw into shade all the discoveries of science, and which give a new character,
aim, and interest, to our existence.  Here is a fit occasion for supernatural interposition.  A presumption exists in favor of miracles, by which a religion so worthy
of God is sustained.
But a presumption in favor of facts, is not enough.
It indeed adds much force to the direct proofs; still
these are needed, nor are they wanting to Christianity.
The direct proofs of facts are chiefly of two kinds;
they consist of testimony, oral or written, and of effects,
traces, monuments, which the facts have left behind
them. The Christian miracles are supported by both.
-We have first the most unexceptionable Testimo38 *~   o




170          EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
ny, nothing less than that of contemporaries and eyewitnesses, of the companions of Jesus and the first
propagators of his religion. We have the testimony of
men who could not have been deceived as to the facts
which they report; who bore their witness amidst perils
and persecutions; who bore it on the very spot where
their Master lived and died; who had nothing to gain,
and every thing to lose, if their testimony were false;
whose writings breathe the sincerest love of virtue and
of mankind; and who at last sealed their attestations
with their blood.  More unexceptionable witnesses to
facts cannot be produced or conceived.
Do you say, " These witnesses lived ages ago; could
we hear these accounts from their own lips, we should
be satisfied"? I answer, You have something better
than their own lips, or than their own word taken alone.
You have, as has been proved, their writings. Perhaps you hear with some surprise that a book may be
a better witness than its author; but nothing is more
true, and I will illustrate it by an imaginary case in our
own times.
Suppose, then, that a man claiming to be an eyewitness should relate to me the events of the three
memorable days of July, in which the last revolution
of France was achieved; suppose next, that a book,
a history of that revolution, published and received as
true in France, should be sent to me from that country.
Which is the best evidence of the facts?, I say the
last.  A single witness may deceive; but that a writer
should publish in France the history of a revolution,
which never occurred there, or which differed essentially
from the true one, is, in the highest degree, improbable;
and that such a history should obtain currency, that it




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.         171
should not be instantly branded as a lie, is utterly impossible. A history received by a people as true, not only
gives us the testimony of the writer, but the testimony
of the nation among whom it obtains credit. It is a
concentration of thousands of voices, of many thousand
witnesses.  I say, then, that the writings of the first
teachers of Christianity, received as they were by the
multitude of Christians in their own times and in those
which immediately followed, are the testimonies of that
multitude as well as of the writers.  Thousands, nearest
to the events, join in bearing testimony to the Christian
miracles.
But there is another class of evidence, sometimes
more powerful than direct witnesses, and this belongs to
Christianity. Facts are often placed beyond doubt by
the effects which they leave behind them. This is the
case with the miracles of Christ. Let me explain this
branch of evidence. I am told, when absent and distant from your city, that on a certain day, a tide, such as
had never been known, rose in your harbour, overflowed
your wharves, and rushed into your streets; I doubt the
fact; but hastening here, I see what were once streets,
strewed with sea-weed, and shells, and the ruins of
houses, and I cease to doubt. A witness may deceive,
but such effects cannot lie.  All great events leave
effects, and these speak directly of the cause. What, I
ask, are the proofs of the American revolution? Have
we none but written or oral testimony? Our free constitution, the whole form of our society, the language
and spirit of our laws, all these bear witness to our English origin, and to our successful conflict for independence. Now the miracles of Christianity have left
effects, which equally attest their reality, and cannot be




172          EVIENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
explained without them. I go back to the age of Jesus
Christ, and I am immediately struck with the commencement and rapid progress of the most remarkable
revolution in the annals of the world. I see a new religion, of a character altogether its own, which bore no
likeness to any past or existing faith, spreading in a few
years through all civilized nations, and introducing a new
era, a new state of society, a change of the human mind,
which hag broadly distinguished all following ages. Here
is a plain fact, which the skeptic will not deny, however
he may explain it.  I see this religion issuing from an
obscure, despised, hated people.  Its founder had died
on the cross, a mode of punishment as disgraceful as the
pillory or gallows of the present day. Its teachers were
poor men, without rank, office, or education, taken from
the fishing-boat and other occupations which had never
furnished teachers to mankind.  I see these men beginning their work on the spot where their Master's blood
had been shed, as of a common malefactor; and I hear
them summoning first his murderers, and then all nations
and all ranks, the sovereign on the throne, the priest in
the temple, the great and the learned, as well as the poor
and the ignorant, to renounce the faith and the worship
which had been hallowed by the veneration of all ages,
and to take the yoke of their icrucified Lord. I see
passion and prejudice, the sword of the magistrate, the
curse of the priest, the scorn of the philosopher, and
the fury of the populace, joined to crush this common
enemy; and yet, without a human weapon and in opposition to all human power, I see the humble Apostles of
Jesus winning their way, overpowering prejudice, breaking the ranks of their opposers, changing enemies into
friends, breathing into multitudes a calm spirit of mar.




EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.        173
tyrdom, and carrying to the bounds of civilization, and
even into half-civilized regions, a religion which has contributed to advance society more than all other causes
combined. Here is the effect. Here is a monument
more durable than pillars or triumphal arches.  Now I
ask for an explanation of these effects. If Jesus Christ
and his Apostles were indeed sent and empowered by
God, and wrought miracles in attestation of their mission, then the establishment of Christianity is explained.
Suppose them, on the other hand, to have been insane
enthusiasts, or selfish impostors, left to meet the whole
strength of human opposition, with nothing but their own
power or rather their own weakness, and you have no
cause for the stupendous effect I have described. Such
men could no more have changed the face of the world,
than they could have turned back rivers to their sources,
sunk mountains into valleys, or raised valleys to the
skies. Christianity, then, has not only the evidence of
unexceptionable witnesses, but that of effects; a-proof
which will grow stronger by comparing its progress with
that of other religions, such as Mahometanism, which
sprung from human passions, and were advanced by human power.
IV. Haying given my views on the subject of,Christian miracles, I now pass to the last topic of this discourse. Its extent and importance will lead me to enlarge upon it in a subsequent discourse; but a discussion
of Christian evidences, in which it should find no place,
would be essentially defective.  I refer to the proof of
Christianity derived from the Character of its Author.
The character of Jesus was Original. He formed a
new era in the moral history of the human race. His




174          EYIDENC&S OF CHRISTIANITY.
perfection was not that of his age, nor a copy of tle
greatness which had long engrossed the world's admiration. Jesus stood apart from other men. He borrowed
from none and leaned on none.  Surrounded by mnen of
low thoughts, he rose to the conception of a higher form
of human virtue than had yet been realized or imagined,
and deliberately devoted himself to its promotion, as the
supreme object of his life and death.  Conscious of being dedicated to this great work, he spoke with a calm
dignity, an unaffected elevation, which separated him
from all other teachers.  Unsupported, he never wavered; sufficient to himself, he refused alliance with wealth
or power. Yet, with all this self-subsistence and uncompromising energy, his character was the mildest, the
gentlest, the most attractive, ever manifested among men.
It could not have been a' fiction, for who could have
conceived it, or who could have embodied the conception in such a life as Jesus is said to have led, in actions,
words, manners, so natural and unstudied, so imbued
with reality, so worthy of the Son of God?
The great distinction of Jesus was a philanthropy
without mixture and without bounds; a philanthropy,
uniting grandeur and meekness in beautiful proportions;
a philanthropy, as wise as it was fervent, which comprehended the true wants and the true good of man, which
compassionated, indeed, his sufferings from abroad, but
which saw in the soul the deep fountain of his miseries,
and labored, by regenerating this, to bring him to a pure
and enduring happiness.  So peculiar, so unparalleled
was the benevolence of Jesus, that it has impressed itself on all future times.  There went forth a virtue, a
beneficent influence from his character, which operates
even now.  Since the death of Christ, a spirit of hu



EVranM Os  OST casL.           1765
inanity, unknown before, has silently diffused itself over
a considerable portion of the earth. A new standard
of virtue has gradually possessed itself of the veneration
of men. A new power has been acting on society,
which has done more than all other causes combined, to
disarm the selfish passions, and to bind men strongly to
one another and to God. What a monument have we
here to the virtue of Jesus! and if Christianity has such
a Founder, it must have come from Heaven.
There are other remarkable proofs of the power and
elevation of the'character of Christ.  It has touched
and conciliated not a few of the determined adversaries
of his religion. Infidelity, whilst it has laid unsparing
hands on the system, has generally shrunk from offering
violence to its Author.  In truth, unbelievers have occasionally borne eloquent testimony to the benignant and
celestial virtues of Jesus; and I record this with pleasure, not only as honorable to Christianity, but as snowing that unbelief does not universally sear the moral
feelings, or breathe hostility to goodness. Nor is this
all. The character of Christ has withstood the most
deadly and irresistible foe of error and unfounded claims,
I mean, Time. It has lost nothing of its elevation by
the improvements of ages. Since he appeared, society
has gone forward, men's views have become enlarged,
and philosophy has risen to conceptions of far purer virtues than were the boast of antiquity. But, however
the human mind may have advanced, it must still look
upward, if it would see and understand Christ.  He is
still above it. Nothing purer, nobler, has yet dawned
on human thoughts. -Then Christianity is true. The
delineation of Jesus in the Gospels, so warm with life,
and so unrivalled in loveliness and grandeur, required 4th




EtVDElCES OF CHOISTIANT,
existence of an original. To suppose that this character
was invented by unprincipled men, amidst Jewish and
heathen darkness, and was then imposed as a reality in
the very age of the founder of Christianity, argues an
excess of credulity, and a strange ignorance of the
powers and principles of human nature. The character
of Jesus was real; and if so, Jesus must have been
what he professed to be, the Son of God and the revealer of his mercy and his will to mankind.
I have now completed what I proposed in this discourse. I have laid before you some of the principal
evidences of Christianity. I have aimed to state them
without exaggeration.  That an honest mind, which
thorotughly comprehends them, can deny their force,
seems to me hardly possible.  Stronger proofs may indeed be conceived; but it is doubtful, whether these
could be given in consistency with our moral nature, and
with the moral government of God. Such a government requires, that truth should not be forced on the
mind, but that we should be left to gain it, by an upright
use of our understandings, and by conforming ourselves
to what we have already learned. God might indeed
shed on us an overpowering light, so that it would be
impossible for us to lose our way; but in so doing, he
would annihilate an important part of our present probation. It is then no objection to Christianity, that its
evidences are not the very strongest which might be
given, and that they do not extort universal assent.  In
this respect, it accords with other great truths.  These
are not forced on our belief. Whoever will, may shut
his eyes on their proofs, and array against them objections. In the measure of evidence with which Christi



EVIDENCES OF CRsTIANIIY.          177
anity is accompanied, I see a just respect for the free.
dom of the mind, and a wise adaptation to that moral
nature, which it is the great aim of this religion to carry
forward to perfection.
I close as I began. I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ; for it is True.  It is true; and its truth is to
break forth more and more gloriously.  Of this I have
not a doubt. I know indeed that our religion has been
questioned even by intelligent and good nien; but this
does not shake my faith in its divine original or in its ultimate triumphs.  Such men have questioned it, because
they have known it chiefly by its corruptions. In pro.
portion as its original simplicity shall be restored, the
doubts of the well-disposed will yield. I have no fears
from infidelity; especially from that form of it, which
some are at this moment laboring to spread through our
country; I mean, that insane, desperate unbelief, which
strives to quench the light of nature as well as of revelation, and to leave us, not only without Christ, but without God.  This I dread no more than I should fear the
efforts of men to pluck the sun from his sphere, or to
storm the skies with the artillery of the earth. We
were made for religion; and unless the enemies of our
faith can change our nature, they will leave the foundation of religion unshaken   The human soul was created
to look above material nature.  It wants a Deity for its
love and trust, an Immortality for its hope.  It wants
consolations not found in philosophy, wants strength in
temptation, sorrow, and death, which human wisdom
cannot minister; and knowing as I do, that Christianity
meets these deep wants of men, I have no fear or
doubt as to its triumphs. Men cannot long live without
34




178          EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIAMTY.
religion. In France there is a spreading dissatisfaction
with the skeptical spirit of the past generation.  A philosopher in that country would now blush to quote Voltaire as an authority in religion.  Already Atheism is
dumb where once it seemed to bear sway.  The greatest minds in France are working back their way to the
light of truth.  Many of them  indeed cannot yet be
called Christians; but their path, like that of the wise
men of old who came star-guided from the East, is
towards Christ. I am not ashamed of the Gospel of
Christ. It has an immortal life, and will gather strength
from the violence of its foes. It is equal to all the wants
of men.  The greatest minds have found in it the light
which they most anxiously desired. The most sorrowful and broken spirits have found in it a healing balm for
their woes.  It has inspired the sublimest virtues and
the loftiest hopes.  For the corruptions of such a religion I weep, and I should blush to be their advocate;
but of the Gospel itself, I can never be ashamed.




UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.
DISCOURSE
AT THE
ORDINATION OF THE REV. JARED SPARKS.
BALTIMORE, 1819.
1 THES. v. 21: "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."
THE peculiar circumstances of this occasion not only
justify, but seem to demand a departure from the course
generally followed by preachers at the introduction of
a brother into the sacred office.  It is usual to speak
of the nature, design, duties, and advantages of the
Christian ministry; and on these topics I should now
be happy to insist, did I not remember that a minister
is to be given this day to a religious society, whose
peculiarities of opinion have drawn upon them much
remark, and may I not add, much reproach.  Many
good minds, many sincere Christians, I am aware, are
apprehensive that the solemnities of this day are to give
a degree of influence to principles which they deem
false and injurious.  The fears and anxieties of such
men I respect; and, believing that they are grounded
in part on mistake, I have thought it my duty to lay




180            UNITARIAN CHRISTIAITY.
before you, as clearly as I can, some of the distinguish.
ing opinions of that class of Christians in our country,
who are known to sympathize with this religious society.
I must ask your patience, for such a subject is not to
be despatched in a narrow compass.  I must also ask
you to remember, that it is impossible to exhibit, in a
single discourse, our views of every doctrine of Revelation, much less the differences of opinion which are
known to subsist among ourselves.  I shall confine myself to topics, on which our sentiments have been mis
represented, or which distinguish us most widely from
others.  May I not hope to be heard with candor?
God deliver us all from prejudice and unkindness, and
fill us with the love of truth and virtue.
There are two natural divisions under which my
thoughts will be arranged. I shall endeavour to unfold,
1st, The principles which we adopt in interpreting the
Scriptures. And 2dly, Some of the doctrines, which
the Scriptures, so interpreted, seem to us clearly to
express.
I. We regard the Scriptures as the records of God's
successive revelations to mankind, and particularly of
the last and most perfect revelation of his will by Jesus
Christ.  Whatever doctrines seem to us to be clearly
taught in the Scriptures, we receive without reserve
or exception. We do not, however, attach equal importance to all the books in this collection.  Our religion, we believe, lies chiefly in the New Testament.
The dispensation of Moses, compared with that of Jesus, we consider as adapted to the childhood of the hu.
man race, a preparation for a nobler system, and chiefly
useful now  as serving to confirm  and  illustrate the




UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.          181
Christian Scriptures. Jesus Christ is the only master
of Christians, and whatever he taught, either during
his personal ministry, or by his inspired Apostles, we
regard as of divine authority, and profess to make the
rule of our lives.
This authority, which we give to the Scriptures, is
a reason, we conceive, for studying them with peculiar
care, and for inquiring anxiously into the principles of
interpretation, by which their true meaning may be
ascertained. The principles adopted by the class of
Christians in whose name I speak, need to be explained,
because they are often misunderstood. We are particularly accused of making an unwarrantable use of reason
in the interpretation of Scripture.  We are said to
exalt reason above revelation, to prefer our own wisdom
to God's. Loose and undefined charges of this kind
are circulated so freely, that we think it due to ourselves, and to the cause of truth, to express our views
with some particularity.
Our leading principle in interpreting Scripture is
this, that the Bible is a book written for men, in the
language of men, and that its meaning is to be sought
in the same manner as that of other books.  We believe that God, when he speaks to the human race,
conforms, if we may so say, to the established rules of
speaking and writing. How else would the Scriptures
avail us more, than if communicated in an unknown
tongue?
Now all books, and all conversation, require in the
reader or hearer the constant exercise of reason; or
their true import is only to be obtained by continual
comparison and inference. Human language, you well
know, admits various interpretations; and every word
6           P




182            UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.
and every sentence must be modified and explained according to the subject which is discussed, according to
the purposes, feelings, circumstances, and principles of
the writer, and according to the genius and idioms of
the language which he uses. These are acknowledPged
principles in the interpretation of human writings; and
a man, whose words we should explain without reference to these principles, would reproach us justly with
a criminal want of candor, and an intention of obscuring or distorting his meaning.
Were the Bible written in a language and style of its
own, did it consist of words, which admit but a single
sense, and of sentences wholly detached from each
other, there would be no place for the principles now
laid down. We could not reason about it, as about
other writings.  But such a book would be of little
worth; and perhaps, of all books, the Scriptures correspond least to this description. The Word of God
bears the stamp of the same hand, which we see in his
works.  It has infinite connexions and dependences.
Every proposition is linked with others, and is to be
compared with others; that its full and precise import
may be understood. Nothing stands alone. The New
Testament is built on the Old.  The Christian dispensation is a continuation of the Jewish, the completion of a vast scheme of providence, requiring great
extent of view in the reader.  Still more, the Bible
treats of subjects on which we receive ideas from other
sources besides itself; such subjects as the nature, passions, relations, and duties of man; and it expects us
to restrain and modify its language by the known truths,
which observation and experience furnish on these topics.
We profess not to know a book, which demands a




UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.          183
more frequent exercise of reason than the Bible.  In
addition to the remarks now made on its infinite connexions, we may observe, that its style nowhere affects
the precision of science, or the accuracy of definition.
Its language is singularly glowing, bold, and figurative,
demanding more frequent departures from the literal
sense, than that of our own age and country, and consequently demanding more continual exercise of judgrnent. - We find, too, that the different portions of this
book, instead of being confined to general truths, refer
perpetually to the times when they were written, to
states of society, to modes of thinking, to controversies
in the church, to feelings and usages which have passed
away, and without the knowledge of which we are constantly in danger of extending to all times, and places,
what was of temporary and local application. - We find,
too, that some of these books are strongly marked by
the genius and character of their respective writers,
that the Holy Spirit did not so guide the Apostles as
to suspend the peculiarities of their minds, and that a
knowledge of their feelings, and of the influences under
which they were placed, is one of the preparations for
understanding their writings.  With these views of the
Bible, we feel it our bounden duty to exercise our rea-.on upon it perpetually, to compare, to infer, to look
beyond the letter to the spirit, to seek in the nature of
the subject, and the aim of the writer, his true mean.
ing; and, in general, to make use of what is known,
for explaining what is difficult, and for discovering new
truths.
Need I descend to particulars, to prove that the
Scriptures demand the exercise of reason? Take, for
example, the style in which they generally speak of




1 84          UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.
God, and observe how habitually they apply to him
human passions and organs.  Recollect the declarations
of Christ, that he came not to send peace, but a sword;
that unless we eat his flesh, and drink his blood, we
have no life in us; that we must hate father and mother, and pluck out the right eye; and a vast number of
passages equally bold and unlimited.  Recollect the
unqualified manner in which it is said of Christians, that
they possess all things, know all things, and can do all
things. Recollect the verbal contradiction between Paul
and James, and the apparent clashing of some parts of
Paul's writings with the general doctrines and end of
Christianity.  I might extend the enumeration indefinitely; and who does not see, that we must limit all
these passages by the known attributes of God, of
Jesus Christ, and of human nature, and by the circumstances under which they were written, so as to give
the language a quite different import from what it would
require, had it been applied to different beings, or used
in different connexions.
Enough has been said to show, in what sense we
make use of reason in interpreting Scripture.  From
a variety of possible interpretations, we select that which
accords with the nature of the subject and the state of
the writer, with the connexion of the passage, with the
general strain of Scripture, with the known character
and will of God, and with the obvious and acknowledged laws of nature.  In other words, we believe that
God never contradicts, in one part of Scripture, what
he teaches in another; and never contradicts, in revela
tion, what he teaches in his works and providence.
And we therefore distrust every interpretation, which,
after deliberate attention, seems repugnant to any estab



UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.          185
lished truth. We reason about the Bible precisely as
civilians do about the constitution under which we live;
who, you know, are accustomed to limit one provision
of that venerable instrument by others, and to fix the
precise import of its parts, by inquiring into its general
spirit, into the intentions of its authors, and into the
prevalent feelings, impressions, and circumstances of
the time when it was framed. Without these principles
of interpretation, we frankly acknowledge, that we cannot defend the divine authority of the Scriptures. Deny
us this latitude, and we must abandon this book to its
enemies.
We do not announce these principles as original, or
peculiar to ourselves. All Christians occasionally adopt
them, not excepting those who most vehemently decry
them, when they happen to menace some favorite article of their creed.  All Christians are compelled to
use them in their controversies with infidels.  All sects
employ them in their warfare with one another. All
willingly avail themselves of reason, when it can be
pressed into the service of their own party, and only
complain of it, when its weapons wound themselves.
None reason more frequently than those from whom we
differ. It is astonishing what a fabric they rear from
a few slight hints about the fall of our first parents; and
how ingeniously they extract, from detached passages,
mysterious doctrines about the divine nature. We do
not blame them for reasoning so abundantly, but for
violating the fundamental rules of reasoning, for sacrificing the plain to the obscure, and the general strain of
Scripture to a scanty number of insulated texts.
We object strongly to the contemptuous manner in
which human reason is often spoken of by our adver6*       P*




'I''6          MNITfRIAN COIlSTIAMTY,
saries, because it leads, we believe, to universal skepl
ticism.  If reason be so dreadfully darkened by the
fall, that its most decisive judgments on religion are
unworthy of trust, then Christianity, and even natural
theology, must be abandoned; for the existence and
veracity of God, and the divine original of Christianity,
are conclusions of reason, and must stand or fall with
it. If revelation be at war with this faculty, it subverts
itself, for the great question of its truth is left by God
to be decided at the bar of reason.  It is worthy of remark, how nearly the bigot and the skeptic approach.
Both would annihilate our confidence in our faculties,
and both throw doubt and confusion over every truth.
We honor revelation too highly to make it the antagonist of reason, or to believe that it calls us to renounce
our highest powers.
We indeed grant, that the use of reason in religion
is accompanied with danger.  But we ask any honest
man to look back on the history of the church, and say,
whether the renunciation of it be not still more dangerous.  Besides, it is a plain fact, that men reason as
erroneously on all subjects, as on religion.  Who does
not know the wild and groundless theories, which have
been framed in physical and political science?  But
who ever supposed, that we must cease to exercise reason on nature and society, because men have erred for
ages in explaining them? We grant, that the passions
continually, and sometimes fatally, disturb the rational
faculty in its inquiries into revelation.  The ambitious
contrive to find doctrines in the Bible, which favor their
love of dominion.  The timid and dejected discover
there a gloomy system, and the mystical and fanatical, a
visionary theology. The vicious can find examples or




UNITARIAN CHRISTIANIrr.         4187
assertions on which to build the hope of a late repentance, or of acceptance on easy terms.  The falsely
refined contrive to light on doctrines which have not
been soiled by vulgar handling. But the passions do
not distract the reason in religious, any more than in
other inquiries, which excite strong and general interest; and this faculty, of consequence, is not to be renounced in religion, unless we are prepared to discard
it universally. The true inference from the almost endless errors, which have darkened theology, is, not that
we are to neglect and disparage our powers, but to exert
them  more patiently, circumspectly, uprightly.  The
worst errors, after all, having sprung up in that church,
which proscribes reason, and demands from its members
implicit faith. The most pernicious doctrines have been
the growth of the darkest times, when the general credulity encouraged bad men and enthusiasts to broach
their dreams and inventions, and to stifle the faint remonstrances of reason, by the menaces of everlasting
perdition. Say what we may, God has given us a rational nature, and will call us to account for it.  We
may let it sleep, but we do so at our peril.  Revelation
is addressed to us as rational beings. We may wish, in
our sloth, that God had given us a system, demanding
no labor of comparing, limiting, and inferring.   But
such a system would be at variance with the whole character of our present existence; and it is the part of
wisdom to take revelation as it is given to us, and to interpret it by the help of the faculties, which it everywhere supposes, and on which it is founded.
To the views now given, an objection is commonly
urged fromn the character of God.  We are told, that
God being infinitely wiser than men, his discoveries




188            UNITARIAN CHRISTIANIT'Y
will surpass human reason. In a revelation from such
a teacher, we ought to expect propositions, which we
cannot reconcile with one another, and which may seem
to contradict established truths; and it becomes us not
to question or explain them away, but to believe, and
adore, and to submit our weak and carnal reason to
tile Divine Word. To this objection, we have two short
answers.  We say, first, that it is impossible that a
teacher of infinite wisdom should expose those, whom
he would teach, to infinite error. But if once we admit,
that propositions, which in their literal sense appear
plainly repugnant to one another, or to any known
truth, are still to be literally understood and received,
what possible limit can we set to the belief of contradictions? What shelter have we from the wildest fanaticism, which can always quote passages, that, in their
literal and obvious sense, give support to its extravagances? How can the Protestant escape from transubstantiation, a doctrine most clearly taught us, if the
submission of reason, now contended for, be a duty?
How can we even hold fast the truth of revelation,
for if one apparent contradiction may be true, so may
another, and the proposition, that Christianity is false,
though involving inconsistency, may still be a verity?
We answer again, that, if God be infinitely wise, he
cannot sport with the understandings of his creatures.
A wise teacher discovers his wisdom in adapting himself
to the capacities of his pupils, not in perplexing them
with what is unintelligible, not in distressing them with
apparent contradictions, not in filling them with a skeptical distrust of their own powers.  An infinitely wise
teacher, who knows the precise extent of our minds,
and the best method of enlightening them, will surpass




UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.         189
all other instructors in bringing down truth to our apprehension, and in showing its loveliness and harmony.
We ought, indeed, to expect occasional obscurity in
such a book as the Bible, which was written for past
and future ages, as well as for the present. But God's
wisdom is a pledge, that whatever is necessary for us,
and necessary for salvation, is revealed too plainly to
be mistaken, and too consistently to be questioned, by
a sound and upright mind. It is not the mark of wisdom, to use an unintelligible phraseology, to communicate what is above our capacities, to confuse and unsettle the intellect by appearances of contradiction. We
honor our Heavenly Teacher too much to ascribe to
him such a revelation. A revelation is a gift of light.
It cannot thicken our darkness, and multiply our perplexities.
II. Having thus stated the principles according to
which we interpret Scripture, I now proceed to the
second great head of this discourse, which is, to state
some of the views which we derive from that sacred
book, particularly those which distinguish us from other
Christians.
1. In. the first place, we believe in the doctrine of
God's UNITY, or that there is one God, and one, only.
To this truth we give infinite importance, and we feel
ourselves bound to take heed, lest any man spoil us of
it by- vain philosophy.  The proposition, that there is
one God, seems to us exceedingly plain. We understand by it, that there is one being, one mind, one person, one intelligent agent, and one only, to whom underived and infinite perfection and dominion belong.
We conceive, that these words could-have conveyed no




190            UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY..ther meaning to the simple and uncultivated people,
who were set apart to be the depositaries of this great
truth, and who were utterly incapable of understanding
those hair-breadth distinctions between being and person, which the sagacity of later ages has discovered.
We find no intimation, that this language was to be
taken in an unusual sense, or that God's unity was a
quite different thing from  the oneness of other intelligent beings.
We object to the doctrine of the Trinity, that, whilst
acknowledging in words; it subverts in effect, the unity
of God.  According to this doctrine, there are three
infinite and equal persons, possessing supreme divinity,
called the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Each of
these persons, as described by theologians, has his own
particular consciousness, will, and perceptions.  They
love each other, converse with each other, and delight
in each other's society.  They perform  different parts
in man's redemption, each having his appropriate office,
and neither doing the work of the other.  The Son is
mediator and not the Father.  The Father sends the
Son, and is not himself sent; nor is he conscious, like
the Son, of taking flesh. Here, then, we have three intelligent agents, possessed of different consciousnesses,.
different wills, and different perceptions, performing different acts, and sustaining different relations; and if
these things do not imply and constitute three minds
or beings, we are utterly at a loss to know how three
ninds or beings are to be formed.  It is difference of
properties, and acts, and consciousness, which leads
us to the belief of different intelligent beings, and, if
this mark fails us, our whole knowledge falls; we have
no proof, that all the agents and persons in the universe




UTNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.        191
are not one and the same mind.  When we attempt to
conceive of three Gods, we can do nothing more than
represent to ourselves three agents, distinguished from
each other by similar marks and peculiarities to those
which separate the persons of the Trinity; and when
common Christians hear these persons spoken of as
conversing with each other, loving each other, and performing different acts, how can they help regarding them
as different beings, different minds?
We do, then, with all earnestness, though without
reproaching our brethren, protest against the irrational
and unscriptural doctrine of the Trinity.' To us," as
to the Apostle and the primitive Christians, "there is
one God, even the Father." With Jesus, we worship
the Father, as the only living and true God. We are
astonished, that any man can read the New Testament,
and avoid the conviction, that the Father alone is God.
We hear our Saviour continually appropriating this
character to the Father.  We find the Father continually distinguished from Jesus by this title.  "God sent
his Son." "' God anointed Jesus." Now, how singular and inexplicable is this phraseology, which fills the
New Testament, if this title belong equally to Jesus,
and if a principal object of this book is to reveal him
as God, as partaking equally with the Father in supreme
divinity! We challenge our opponents to adduce one
passage in the New Testament, where the word God
means three persons, where it is not limited to one person, and where, unless turned from its usual sense by
the connexion, it does not mean the Father.  Can
stronger proof be given, that the doctrine of three persons in the Godhead is not a fundamental doctrine of
Christianity?




192           UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.
This doctrine, were it true, must, from its difficulty,
singularity, and importance, have been laid down with
great clearness, guarded with great care, and stated with
all possible precision.  But where does this statement
appear? From the many passages which treat of God,
we ask for one, one only, in which we are told, that he
is a threefold being, or that he is three persons, or that
he is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. On the contrary,
in the New Testament, where, at least, we might expect many express assertions of this nature, God is
declared to be one, without the least attempt to prevent
the acceptation of the words in their common sense;
and he is always spoken of and addressed in the singular
number, that is, in language which was universally understood to intend a single person, and to which no
other idea could have been attached, without an express
admonition. So entirely do the Scriptures abstain from
stating the Trinity, that when our opponents would insert it into their creeds and doxologies, they are compelled to leave the Bible, and to invent forms of words
altogether unsanctioned by Scriptural phraseology. That
a doctrine so strange, so liable to misapprehension, so
fundamental as this is said to be, and requiring such
careful exposition, should be left so undefined and unprotected, to be made out by inference, and to be hunted
through distant and detached parts of Scripture, this is
a difficulty, which, we think, no ingenuity can explain.
We have another difficulty. Christianity, it must be
remembered, was planted and grew up amidst sharpsighted enemies, who overlooked no objectionable part
of the system, and who must have fastened with great
earnestness on a doctrine involving such apparent contradictions as the Trinity.  We cannot conceive an




UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.        193
opinion, against which the Jews, who prided themselves
on an adherence to God's unity, would have raised an
equal clamor.  Now, how  happens it, that in the
apostolic writings, which relate so much to objections
against Christianity, and to the controversies which
grew out of this religion, not one word is said, implying
that objections were brought against the Gospel from
the doctrine of the Trinity, not one word is uttered in
its defence and explanation, not a word to rescue it from
reproach and mistake? This argument has almost the
force of demonstration. We are persuaded, that had
three divine persons been announced by the first preachers of Christianity, all equal, and all infinite, one of
whom was the very Jesus who had lately died on a
cross, this peculiarity of Christianity would have almost
absorbed every other, and the great labor of the Apostles would have been to repel the continual assaults,
which it would have awakened. But the fact is, that
not a whisper of objection to Christianity, on that account, reaches our ears from the apostolic age.  In the
Epistles we see not a trace of controversy called forth
by the Trinity.
We have further objections to this doctrine, drawn
from its practical influence. We regard it as unfavorable to devotion, by dividing and distracting the mind
in its communion with God. It is a great excellence
of the doctrine of God's unity, that it offers to us ONE
OBJECT of supreme homage, adoration, and love, One
Infinite Father, one Being of beings, one original and
fountain, to whom we may refer all good, in whom all
our powers and affections may be concentrated, and
whose lovely and venerable nature may pervade all our
thoughts.  True piety, when directed to an undivided




194             UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY
Deity, has a chasteness, a singleness, most favorable
to religious awe and love. Now, the Trinity sets belore. us three distinct objects of supreme adoration,
three infinite persons, having equal claims on our hearts;
three divine agents, performing different offices, and to
be acknowledged and worshipped in different relations.
And is it possible, we ask, that the weak and limited
mind of man can attach itself to these with the same
power and joy, as to One Infinite Father, the only First
Cause, in whom all the blessings of nature and redenmption meet as their centre and source?  Must not devotion be distracted by the equal and rival claims of
three equal persons, and must not the worship of the
conscientious, consistent Christian, be disturbed by an
apprehension, lest he withhold from one or another of
these, his due proportion of homage?
We also think, that the doctrine of the Trinity injures devotion, not only by joining to the Father other
objects of worship, but by taking from the Father the
supreme affection, which is his due, and transferring
it to the Son.  This is a most important view.  That
Jesus Christ, if exalted into the infinite Divinity, should
be more interesting than the Father, is precisely what
might be expected from history, and from the principles
of hulman nature.  Jl en want an object of worship like
themselves, and tile great secret of idolatry lies iin this
propensity. A God, clothed ill our form, and feeling
our warnts and sorrows, speaks to our weak nature more
strongly, than a Father in heaven, a pure spirit, invisible and unap)proacbable, save by the reflecting and
purified mind. -- We think, too, that the peculiar offices
ascribed to Jesus by the popular theology, make him
the most attractive person in the Godhead.  The Fa



UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY          195
ther is the depositary of the justice, the vindicator of the
rights, the avenger of the laws of the Divinity. On the
other hand, the Son, the brightness of the divine mercy,
stands between the incensed Deity and guilty humanity,
exposes his meek head to the storms, and his compassionate breast to the sword of the divine justice, bears
our whole load of punishment, and purchases with his
blood every blessing which descends from heaven. Need
we state the effect of these representations, especially
on common minds, for whom Christianity was chiefly
designed, and whom it seeks to bring to the Father as
the loveliest being?.We do believe, that the worship
of a bleeding, suffering God, tends strongly to absorb
the mind, and to draw it from other objects, just as the
human tenderness of the Virgin Mary has given her so
conspicuous a place in the devotions of the Church of
Rome. We believe, too, that this worship, though attractive, is not most fitted to spiritualize the mind, that
it awakens human transport, rather than that deep veneration of the moral perfections of God, which is the
essence of piety.
2. Having thus given our views of the unity of God,
I proceed in the second place to observe, that we believe in the unity of Jesus Christ.  We believe that
Jesus is one mind, one soul, one being, as truly one as
we are, and equally distinct from the one God. We
complain of the doctrine of the Trinity, that, not satisfied with making God three beings, it makes Jesus Christ
two beings, and thus introduces infinite confusion into
our conceptions of his character.  This corruption of
Christianity, alike repugnant to common sense and to the
general strain of Scripture, is a remarkable proof of the
power of a false philosophy in disfiguring the simple
truth of Jesus.




196            UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.
According to this doctrine, Jesus Christ, instead of
being one mind, one conscious intelligent principle,
whom we can understand, consists of two souls, two
minds; the one divine, the other human; the one weak,
the other almighty; the one ignorant, the other omniscient. Now we maintain, that this is to make Christ
two beings. To denominate him one person, one being,
and yet to suppose him made up of two minds, infinitely
different from each other, is to abuse and confound
language, and to throw darkness over all our conceptions
of intelligent natures. According to the common doctrine, each of these two minds in Christ has its own consciousness, its own will, its own perceptions. They
have, in fact, no common properties. The divine mind
feels none of the wants and sorrows of the human, and
the human is infinitely removed from the perfection and
happiness of the divine. Can you conceive of two
beings in the universe more distinct? We have always
thought that one person was constituted and distinguished
by one consciousness.  The doctrine, that one and the
same person should have two consciousnesses, two wills,
two souls, infinitely different from each other, this we
think an enormous tax on human credulity.
We say, that if a doctrine, so strange, so difficult, so
remote from all the previous conceptions of men. be
indeed a part and an essential part of revelation, it must
be taught with great distinctness, and we ask our brethren to point to some plain, direct passage, where Christ
is said to be composed of two minds infinitely different,
yet constituting one person.  We find none.  Other
Christians, indeed, tell us, that this doctrine is necessary
to the harmony of the Scriptures, that some texts ascribe to Jesus Christ human, and others divine proper



UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.          197
ties, and that to reconcile these, we must suppose two
minds, to which these properties may be referred.  In
other words, for the purpose of reconciling certain difficult passages, which a just criticism can in a great
degree, if not wholly, explain, we must invent an hypothesis vastly more difficult, and involving gross absurdity. We are to find our way out of a labyrinth, by
a clue which conducts us into mazes infinitely more inextricable.
Surely, if Jesus Christ felt that he consisted of two
minds, and that this was a leading feature of his religion,
his phraseology respecting himself would have been colored by this peculiarity.  The universal language of
men is framed upon the.idea, that one person is one person, is one mind, and one soul; and when the multitude
heard this language from the lips of Jesus, they must
have taken it in its usual sense, and must have referred
to a single soul all which he spoke, unless expressly instructed to interpret it differently.  But where do we
find this instruction?  Where do you meet, in the New
Testament, tile phraseology which abounds in Trinitarian books, and which necessarily grows from the doctrine of two natures in Jesus?  Where does this divine
teacher say, " This I speak as God, and this as man;
this is true only of my human mind, this only of my
divine'"? Where do we find in the Epistles a trace
of this strange phraseology?  Nowhere.  It was not
needed in that day. It was demanded by the errors of
a later age.
We believe, then, that Christ is one mind, one being,
and, I add, a being distinct from the one God. That
Christ is not the one God, not the same being with the
Father, is a necessary inference from our former head,
7*          Q




1 9S          UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.
in which we saw that the doctrine of three persons in
God is a fiction. But on so important a subject, I
would add a few remarks. We wish, that. those from
whom we differ, would weigh one striking fact. Jesus,
in his preaching, continually spoke of God. The word
was always in his mouth. We ask, does he, by this
word, ever mean himself? We say, never. On the
contrary, he most plainly distinguishes between God and
himself, and so do his disciples. How this is to be
reconciled with the idea, that the manifestation of Christ,
as God, was a primary object of Christianity, our adversaries must determine.
If we examine the passages in which Jesus is distinguished from God, we shall see, that they not only speak
of him as another being, but seem to labor to express
his inferiority. He is continually spoken of as the Son
of God, sent of God, receiving all his powers from God,
working miracles because God was with him, judging
justly because God taught him, having claims on our belief, because he was anointed and sealed by God, and as
able of himself to do nothing. The New Testament is
filled with this language. Now we ask, what impression
this language was fitted and intended to make? Could
any, who heard it, have imagined that Jesus was the
very God to whom he was so industriously declared to
be inferior; the very Being by whom he was sent, and
from whom he professed to have received his message
and power? Let it here be remembered, that the hbuman birth, and bodily form, and humble circumstances,
and mortal sufferings of Jesus, must all have prepared
men to interpret, in the most unqualified manner, the
language in which his inferiority to God was declared.
Why, then, was this language used so continually, and




UNITl'ARIAN CHRISTIANLTY.        199
without limitation, if Jesus were the Supreme Deity,
and if this truth were an essential part of his religion?
I repeat it, the human condition and sufferings of Christ
tended strongly to exclude from men's minds the idea of
his proper Godhead; and, of course, we should expect
to find in the New Testament perpetual care and effort
to counteract this tendency, to hold him forth as the
same being with his Father, if this doctrine were, as is
pretended, the soul and centre of his religion.  We
should expect to find the phraseology of Scripture cast
into the mould of this doctrine, to hear familiarly of God
the Son, of our Lord God Jesus, and to be told, that
to us there is one God, even Jesus. But, instead of
this, the inferiority of Christ pervades the New Testament. It is not only implied in the general phraseology,
but repeatedly and decidedly expressed, and unaccompanied with any admonition to prevent its application
to his whole nature.  Could it, then, have been the
great design of the sacred writers to exhibit Jesus as
the Supreme God?
I am aware that these remarks will be met by two or
three texts, in which Christ is called God, and by a
class of passages, not very numerous, in which divine
properties are said to be ascribed to him.  To these
we offer one plain answer.  We say, that it is one of
the most established and obvious principles of criticism,
that language is to be explained according to the known
properties of the subject to which it is applied.  Every
man knows, that the same words convey very different
ideas, when used in relation to different beings. Thus,
Solomon built the temple in a different manner from the
architect whom he employed; and! God repernts differ
ently from  man.  Now  we maintain, that:the known




200            UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.
properties and circumstances of Christ, his birth, sufferings, and death, his constant habit of speaking of God
as a distinct being from himself, his praying to God, his
ascribing to God all his power and offices, these acknowledged properties of Christ, we say, oblige us to interpret the comparatively few passages which are thought
to make him the Supreme God, in a manner consistent
with his distinct and inferior nature.  It is our duty to
explain such texts by the rule which we apply to other
texts, in which human beings are called gods, and are
said to be partakers of the divine nature, to know and
possess all things, and to be filled with all God's fulness.
These latter passages we do not hesitate to modify, and
restrain, and turn from the most obvious sense, because
this sense is opposed to the known properties of the
beings to whom they relate; and we maintain, that we
adhere to the same principle, and use no greater latitude,
in explaining, as we do, the passages which are thought
to support the Godhead of Christ.
Trinitarians profess to derive some important advantages from  their mode of viewing Christ.  It furnishes
them, they tell us, with an infinite atonement, for it
shows them an infinite being suffering for their sins.
The confidence with which this fallacy is repeated astonishes us.  When pressed with the question, whether
they really believe, that the infinite and unchangeable
God suffered and died on the cross, they acknowledge
that this is not true, but that Christ's human mind alone
sustained the pains of death. How have we, then, an
infinite sufferer? This language seems to us an jmposition on common minds, and very derogatory to God's
justice, as if this attribute could be satisfied by a sophism
and a fiction.




UNITARIAN:OHIUSTIANITY.         201
We are also;told, that Christ is a more interesting
object, that his love and mercy are more felt, when he
is viewed as the Supreme God, who left his glory to
take humanity and to suffer for men.  That Trinitarians
are strongly moved by this representation, we do not
mean to deny; but we think their emotions altogether
founded on a misapprehension of their own doctrines.
They talk of the second person of the Trinity's leaving
his glory and his Father's bosom, to visit and save the
world. But this second person, being the unchangeable
and infinite God, was evidently incapable of parting
with the least degree of his perfection and felicity.  At
the moment of his taking flesh, he was as intimately
present with his Father as before, and equally with his
Father filled heaven, and earth, and immensity. This
Trinitarians acknowledge; and still they profess to be
touched and overwhelmed by the amazing humiliation
of this immutable being! But not only does their doctrine, when fully explained, reduce Christ's humiliation
to a fiction, it almost wholly destroys the impressions
with which his cross ought to be viewed. According
to their doctrine, Christ was comparatively no sufferer
at all. It is true, his human mind suffered; but this,
they tell us, was an infinitely small part of Jesus, bearing no more proportion to his whole nature, than e
single hair of our heads to the whole body, or than a
drop to the ocean.  The divine mind of Christ, that
which was most properly himself, was infinitely happy,
at the very moment of the suffering of his humanity.
Whilst hanging on the cross, he was the happiest being
in the universe, as happy as the infinite Father; so that
his pains, compared with his felicity, were nothing.
This Trinitarians do, and must, acknowledge. It fol



202            UNITARIAN CIUSTIANITY.
lows necessarily from the immutableness of the divine
nature, which they ascribe to Christ; so that their system, justly viewed, robs his death of interest, weakens
our sympathy with his sufferings, and is, of all others,
most unfavorable to a love of Christ, founded on a
sense of his sacrifices for mankind.  We esteem  our
own views to be vastly more affecting. It is our belief,
that Christ's humiliation was real and entire, that the
whole Saviour, and not a part of him, suffered, that
his crucifixion was a scene of deep and unmixed agony.
As we stand round his cross, our' minds are not distracted, nor our sensibility weakened, by contemplating
him as composed of incongruous and infinitely differing
minds, and as having a balance of infinite felicity. We
recognise in the dying Jesus but one mind. This, we
think, renders his sufferings, and his patience and love
in bearing them, incomparably more impressive and affecting than the system we oppose.
3. Having thus given our belief on two great points,
namely, that there is one God, and that Jesus Christ
is a being distinct from, and inferior to, God, I now
proceed to another point, on which we lay still greater
stress. We believe in the moral perfection of God.
We consider no part of theology so important as that
which treats of God's moral character; and we value
our views of Christianity chiefly as they assert his amiable and venerable attributes.
It may be said, that, in regard to this subject, all
Christians agree, that all ascribe to the Supreme Being
infinite justice, goodness, and holiness. We reply, that
it is very possible to speak of God magnificently, and
to think of him meanly; to apply to his person highsounding, epithets, and to his government, principles




UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.          203
which make him odious. The Heathens called Jupiter
the greatest and the best; but his history was black
with cruelty and lust. We cannot judge of men's real
ideas of God by their general language, for in all ages
they have hoped to soothe the Deity by adulation. We
must inquire into their particular views of his purposes,
of the principles of his administration, and of his disposition towards his creatures.
We conceive that Christians have generally leaned
towards a very injurious view of the Supreme Being.
They have too often felt, as if he were raised, by his
greatness and sovereignty, above the principles of morality, above those eternal laws of equity and rectitude,
to which all other beings are subjected. We believe,
that in no being is the sense of right so strong, so
omnipotent, as in God. We believe that his almighty
power is entirely submitted to his perceptions of rectitude; and this is the ground of our piety.  It is not
because he is our Creator merely, but because he created us for good and holy purposes; it is not because
his will is irresistible, but because his will is the perfection of virtue, that we pay him allegiance. We cannot bow before a being, however great and powerful,
who governs tyrannically. We respect nothing but excellence, whether on earth or in heaven.. We venerate
not the loftiness of God's throne, but the equity and
goodness in which it is established.
We believe that God is infinitely good, kind, benevolent, in the proper sense of these words; good in disposition, as well as in act; good, not to a few, but to
all; good to every individual, as well as to the general
system.
We believe, too, that God is just; but we never




204             UNIARTAN EBRISTANT.
forget, that his justice is the justice of a good being,
dwelling in the same mind, and acting in harmony,.
with perfect benevolence.  By this attribute, we understand God's infinite regard to virtue or moral worth
expressed in a moral government; that is, in giving
excellent and equitable laws, and in conferring such rewards, and inflicting such punishments, as are best fitted
to secure their observance.  God's justice has for its
end the highest virtue of the creation, and it punishes
for this end alone, and thus it coincides with benevolence; for virtue and happiness, though not the same,
are inseparably conjoined.
God's justice thus viewed, appears to us to be in perfect harmony with his mercy. According to the prevalent systems of theology, these attributes are so discordant and jarring, that to reconcile them is the hardest
task, and the most wonderful achievement, of infinite
wisdom.  To us they seem  to be intimate friends, always at peace, breathing the same spirit, and seeking
the same end. By God's mercy, we understand not a
blind instinctive compassion, which forgives without reflection, and without regard to the interests of virtue.
This, we acknowledge, would be incompatible with justice, and also with enlightened benevolence.   God's
mercy, as we understand it, desires strongly the happiness of the guilty, but only through their penitence.  It
has a regard to" character as truly as his justice.  It
defers punishment, and suffers long, that the sinner may
return to his duty, but leaves the impenitent and unyielding, to the fearful retribution threatened in God's
Word.
To give our views of God in one word, we believe
in his Parental character. We ascribe to him, not only




UNITABIAN CHRISTINITY.           205
the name, but the dispositions and principles of a father. We believe that he has a father's concern for
his creatures, a father's desire for their improvement,
a father's equity in proportioning his commands to their
powers, a father's joy in their progress, a father's readiness to receive the penitent, and a father's justice for
the incorrigible. We look upon this world as a place
of education, in which he is training men by prosperity
and adversity, by aids and obstructions, by conflicts of
reason and passion, by motives to duty and temptations
to sin, by a various discipline suited to free and moral
beings, for union with himself, and for a sublime and
ever-growing virtue in heaven.
Now, we object to the systems of religion, which
prevail among us, that they are adverse, in a greater
or less degree, to these purifying, comforting, and honorable views of God; that they take from us our Father in heaven, and substitute for him  a being, whom
we cannot love if we would, and whom we ought not to
love if we could. We object, particularly on this ground,
to that system, which arrogates to itself the name of
Orthodoxy, and which is now industriously propagated
through our country.  This system indeed takes various
shapes, but in all it casts dishonor on the Creator.
According to its old and genuine form, it teaches, that
God brings,us into life wholly depraved, so that under
the innocent features of our childhood is hidden a nature averse to all good and propense to all evil, a nature
which exposes us to God's displeasure and wrath, even
before we have acquired power to understand our duties, or to reflect upon our actions.  According to a
more modern exposition, it teaches, that we came from
the hands of our Maker with such a constitution, and are
8            E;




206.         UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.
placed under such influences and circumstances, as to
render certain and infallible the total depravity of every
human being, from the first moment of his moral agency;
and it also teaches, that the offence of the child, wh6
brings into life this ceaseless tendency to unmingled
crime, exposes him to the sentence of everlasting damnation. Now, according to the plainest principles of
morality, we maintain, that a natural constitution of the
mind, unfailingly disposing it to evil and to evil alone,
would absolve it from guilt; that to give existence under
this condition would argue unspeakable cruelty; and
that to punish the sin of this unhappily constituted child
with endless ruin, would be a wrong unparalleled by the
most merciless despotism.
This system also teaches, that God selects from this
corrupt mass a number to be saved, and plucks them,
by a special influence, from the common ruin; that the
rest of mankind, though left without that special grace
which their conversion requires, are commanded to repefft, under penalty of aggravated woe; and that forgiveness is promised them, on terms which their very
constitution infallibly disposes them to reject, and in
rejecting which they awfully enhance the punishments
of hell.  These proffers of forgiveness and exhortations
of amendment, to beings born under a blighting curse,
fill our minds with a horror which we want words to
express.
That this religious system does not produce all the
effects on character, which might be anticipated, we
most joyfully admit.  It is often, very often, counteracted by nature, conscience, common sense, by the
general strain of Scripture, by the mild example and
precepts of Christ, and by the many positive declara



UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.         207
tions of God's universal kindness and perfect equity.
But still we think that we see its unhappy influence.
It tends to discourage the timid, to give excuses to the
bad, to feed the vanity of the fanatical, and to offer
shelter to the bad feelings of the malignant.  By shocking, as it does, the fundamental principles of morality.
and by exhibiting a severe and partial Deity, it tends
strongly to pervert the moral faculty, to form a gloomy,
forbidding, and servile religion, and to lead men to substitute censoriousness, bitterness, and persecution, for a
tender and impartial charity.  We think, too, that this
system, which begins with degrading human nature, may
be expected to end in pride; for pride grows out of a
consciousness of high distinctions, however obtained,
and no distinction is so great as that which is made between the elected and abandoned of God.
The false and dishonorable views of God, which
have now been stated, we feel ourselves bound to resist
unceasingly. Other errors we can pass over with comparative indifference.  But we ask our opponents to
leave to us a GOD, worthy of our love and trust, in
whom our moral sentiments may delight, in whom our
weaknesses and sorrows may find refuge. We cling to
the Divine perfections. We meet them everywhere in
creation, we read them in the Scriptures, we see a
lovely image of them in Jesus Christ; and gratitude,
love, and'veneration call on us to assert them.  Reproached, as we often are, by men, it is our consolation
and happiness, that one of our chief offences is the zeal
with which we vindicate the dishonored goodness and
rectitude of God.
4. Having thus spoken of the unity of God; of the
unity of Jesus, and his inferiority to God; and of the




208            UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.
perfections of the Divine character; I now proceed to
give our views of the mediation of Christ, and of the
purposes of his mission. With regard to the great object which Jesus came to accomplish, there seenis to be
no possibility of mistake. We believe, that he was sent
by the Father to effect a moral, or spiritual deliverance
of mankind; that is, to rescue men from sin and its
consequences, and to bring them to a state of everlasting purity and happiness.  We believe, too, that he accomplishes this sublime purpose by a variety of methods; by his instructions respecting God's unity, parental
character, and moral government, which are admirably
fitted to reclaim the world from idolatry and impiety,
to the knowledge, love, and obedience of the Creator;
by his promises of pardon to the penitent, and of divine
assistance to those who labor for progress in moral excellence; by the light which he has thrown on the path
of duty; by his own spotless example, in which the
loveliness and sublimity of virtue shine forth to warm
and quicken, as well as guide us to perfection; by his
threatenings against incorrigible guilt; by his glorious discoveries of immortality; by his sufferings and death;
by that signal event, the resurrection, which powerfully
bore witness to his divine mission, and brought down to
men's senses a future life; by his continual intercession,
which obtains for us spiritual aid and blessings; and by
the power with which he is invested of raising the dead,
judging the world, and conferring the everlasting rewards
promised to the faithful.
We have no desire to conceal -the fact, that a difference of opinion exists among us, in regard to an interesting part of Christ's mediation; I mean, in regard
to the precise influence of his death on our forgiveness.




UNITARLAN CHRISTIANITY.         209
Many suppose, that this event contributes to our pardon, as it was a principal means of confirming his religion, and of giving it a power over the mind; in other
words, that it procures forgiveness by leading to that
repentance and virtue, which is the great and only condition on which forgiveness is bestowed.  Many of uis
are dissatisfied with this explanation, and think that the
Scriptures ascribe the remission of sins to Christ's death,
with an emphasis so peculiar, that we ought to consider
this event as having a special influence in removing
punishment, though the Scriptures may not reveal the
way in which it contributes to this end.
Whilst, however, we differ in explaining the connexion between Christ's death and human forgiveness,
a connexion which we all gratefully acknowledge, we
agree in rejecting many sentiments'which prevail in
regard to his mediation. The idea, which is conveyed
to common minds by the popular system, that Christ's
death has an influence in making God placable, or merciful, in awakening his kindness towards men, we reject
with strong disapprobation.  We are happy to find,
that this very dishonorable notion is disowned by intelligent Christians of that class from which we differ.
We recollect, however, that, not long ago, it was common to hear of Christ, as having died to appease God's
wrath, and to pay the debt of sinners to his inflexible
justice; arid we have a strong persuasion, that the language of popular religious books, and the common mode
of stating the doctrine of Christ's mediation, still communicate very degrading views of God's character.
They give to multitudes the impression, that the death
of Jesus produces a change in the mind of God towards man, and that in this its efficacy chiefly consists.
8' *        R*




210           UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.
No error seems to us more pernicious. We can endure
no shade over the pure goodness of God. We earnestly maintain, that Jesus, instead of calling forth, in
any way or degree, the mercy of the Father, was sent
by that mercy, to be our Saviour; that he is nothing
to the human race, but what he is by God's appointment; that he communicates nothing but what God empowers him to bestow; that our Father in heaven is
originally, essentially, and eternally placable, and disposed to forgive; and that his unborrowed, underived,
and unchangeable love is the only fountain of what
flows to us through his Son. We conceive, that Jesus
is dishonored, not glorified, by ascribing to him an influence, which clouds the splendor of Divine benevolence.
We farther agree in rejecting, as unscriptural and
absurd, the explanation given by the popular system,
of the manner in which Christ's death procures forgiveness for men.  This system used to teach as its
fundamental principle, that man, having sinned against
an infinite Being, has contracted infinite guilt, and is
consequently exposed to an infinite penalty. We believes
however, that this reasoning, if reasoning it may be
called, which overlooks the obvious maxim, that the
guilt of a being must be proportioned to his nature and
powers, has fallen into disuse.  Still the system teaches, that sin, of whatever degree, exposes to endless
punishment, and that the whole human race, being in-.
fallibly involved by their nature in sin, owe this awful
penalty to the justice of their Creator.  It teaches, that
this penalty cannot be remitted, in consistency with the
honor of the divine law, unless a substitute be found
to endure it or to suffer an equivalent.  It also teaches,




UNITARIAN CrISTIANIMY.            2L
that, from the nature of the case, no substitute is adequate to this work, save the infinite God himself; and
accordingly, God, in:his second person, took on him
human nature, that he might pay to his own justice the
debt of punishment incurred by men, and might thus
reconcile forgiveness with the claims and threatenings
of his law. Such is the prevalent system. Now, to
us, this doctrine seems to carry on its front strong
marks of absurdity; and we maintain that Christianity
ought not to be encumbered with it, unless it be laid
down in the New Testament fully and expressly. We
~ask our adversaries,'then, to point to some plain passages
where it is taught. We ask for one text, in which we
are told, that God took human nature that he might
make an infinite satisfaction to his own justice; for one
text, which tells us, that human guilt requires an infinite
substitute; that Christ's sufferings owe their efficacy
to their being borne by an infinite being; or that his
divine nature gives infinite value to the sufferings of the
human.  Not one word of this description can we find
in the Scriptures; not a text, which even hints at these
strange doctrines.  They are altogether, we believe,
the fictions of theologians.  Christianity is in no degree
responsible for them. We are astonished at their prevalence. What can be plainer, than that God cannot,
in any sense, be a sufferer, or bear a penalty in the
room  of his creatures?  How  dishonorable to him is
the supposition, that his justice is now so severe, as to
exact infinite punishment for the sins of frail and feeble
men, and now so easy and yielding, as to accept the
limited pains of Christ's human soul, as a full equivalent for the endless woes due from the world? How
plain is it also, according to this doctrine, that God,




212            UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.
instead of being plenteous in forgiveness, never forgives; for it seems absurd to speak of men as forgiven,
when their whole punishment, or an equivalent to it, is
borne by a substitute? A scheme more fitted to obscure the brightness of Christianity and the mercy of
God, or less suited to give comfort to a guilty and
troubled mind, could not, we think, be easily framed.
We believe, too, that this system is unfavorable to
the character.  It naturally leads men to think, that
Christ came to change God's mind rather than their
own; that the highest object of his mission was to
avert punishment, rather than to communicate holiness;
and that a large part of religion consists in disparaging
good works and human virtue, for the purpose of Inagnifying the value of Christ's vicarious sufferings.  In
this way, a sense of the infinite importance and indispensable necessity of personal improvement is weakened, and high-sounding praises of Christ's cross seem
often to be substituted for obedience to his precepts.
For ourselves, we have not so learned Jesus. Whilst
we gratefully acknowledge, that he came to rescue us
from punishment, we believe, that he was sent on a still
nobler errand, namely, to deliver us from sin itself, and
to form us to a sublime and heavenly virtue. We regard him as a Saviour, chiefly as he is the light, physician, and guide of the dark, diseased, and wandering mind. No influence in the universe seems to us so
glorious, as that over the character; and no redemption
so worthy of thankfulness, as the restoration of the
soul to purity. Without this, pardon, were it possible,
would be of little value. Why pluck the sinner from
hell, if a hell be left to burn in his own breast? Why
raise hinm to heaven, if he remain a stranger to its sanc



UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.           213
tity and love?   With these impressions, we are accustomed to value the Gospel chiefly as it abounds in
effectual aids, motives, excitements to a generous and
divine virtue. In this virtue, as in a common centre,
we see all its doctrines, precepts, promises meet; and
we believe, that faith in this religion is of no worth,
and contributes nothing to salvation, any farther than as
it uses these doctrines, precepts, promises, and the whole
life, character, sufferings, and triumphs of Jesus, as the
means of purifying the mind, of changing it into the
likeness of his celestial excellence.
5. Having thus stated our views of the highest object of Christ's mission, that it is the recovery of men
to virtue, or holiness, I shall now, in the last place,
give our views of the nature of Christian virtue, or
true holiness.  We believe that all virtue has its foundation in the moral nature of man, that is, in conscience,
or his sense of duty, and in the power of forming his
temper and life according to conscience. We believe
that these moral faculties are the grounds of responsibility, and the highest distinctions of human natures
and that no act is praiseworthy, any farther than it
springs from their exertion.  We believe, that no dispositions infused into us without our own moral activity,
are of the nature of virtue, and therefore, we reject the
doctrine of irresistible divine influence on the human
mind, moulding it into goodness, as marble is hewn
into a statue.  Such goodness, if this word may be
used, would not be the object of moral approbation,
any more than the instinctive affections of inferior animals, or the constitutional amiableness of human beings.
By these remarks, we do not mean to deny the importance of God's aid or Spirit; but by his Spirit, we




214           UJNITARJAN CHRISTIANITY.
mean a moral, illuminating, and persuasive influence,
not physical, not compulsory, not involving a necessity
of virtue.  We object, strongly, to the idea of many
Christians respecting man's impotence and God's irresistible agency on the heart, believing that they subvert
our responsibility and the laws of our moral nature, that
they make men machines, that they cast on God the
blame of all evil deeds, that they discourage good minds,
and inflate the fanatical with wild conceits of immediate
and sensible inspiration.
Among the virtues, we give the first place to the love
of God. We believe, that this principle is the true end
and happiness of our being, that we were made for
union with our Creator, that his infinite perfection is
the only sufficient object and true resting-place for the
insatiable desires and unlimited capacities of the human
mind, and that, without him, our noblest sentiments, admiration, veneration, hope, and love, would wither and
decay. We believe, too, that the love of God is not
only essential to happiness, but to the strength and perfection of all the virtues; that conscience, without the
sanction of God's authority and retributive justice, would
be a weak director; that benevolence, unless nourished
by communion with his goodness, and encouraged by
his smile, could not thrive amidst the selfishness and
thanklessness of the world; and that self-government,
without a sense of the divine inspection, would hardly
extend beyond an outward and partial purity. God,
as he is essentially goodness, holiness, justice, and virtue, so he is the life, motive, and sustainer of virtue in
the human soul.
But, whilst we earnestly inculcate the love of God,
we believe that great care is necessary to distinguish it




UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.          215
from counterfeits. We think that much which is called
piety is worthless.  Many have fallen into the error,
that there can be no excess in feelings which have dod
for their object; and, distrusting as coldness that selfpossession, without which virtue and devotion lose all
their dignity, they have abandoned themselves to extravagances, which have brought contempt on piety.  Most
certainly, if the love of God be that which often bears
its name, the less we have of it the better.  If religion
be the shipwreck of understanding, we cannot keep too
far from it.  On this subject, we always speak plainly.
We cannot sacrifice our reason to the reputation of
zeal.  We owe it to truth and religion to maintain,
that fanaticism, partial insanity, sudden impressions,
and ungovernable transports, are any thing rather than
piety.
We conceive, that the true love of God is a moral
sentiment, founded on a clear perception, and consisting
in a high esteem and veneration, of his moral perfections.  Thus, it perfectly coincides, and is in fact the
same thing, with the love of virtue, rectitude, and goodness. You will easily judge, then, what we esteem the
surest and only decisive signs of piety. We lay no
stress on strong excitements. We esteem him, and him
only a pious man, who practically conforms to God's
moral perfections and government; who shows his delight in God's benevolence, by loving and serving his
neighbour; his delight in God's justice, by being resolutely upright; his sense of God's purity, by regulating
his thoughts, imagination, and desires; and whose conversation, business, and domestic life are swayed by a
regard to God's presence and authority.  In all things
else men may deceive themselves.  Disordered nerves




216            UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.
may give them strange sights, and sounds, and impres,
sions. Texts of Scripture may come to them as from
Heaven. Their whole souls may be moved, and their
confidence in God's favor be undoubting. But in all
this there is no religion. The question is, Do they love
God's commands, in which his character is fully expressed, and give up to these their habits and passions?
Without this, ecstasy is a mockery. One surrender
of desire to God's will, is worth a thousand transports.
We do not judge of the bent of men's minds by their
raptures, any more than we judge of the natural direction of a tree during a storm.  We rather suspect loud
profession, for we have observed, that deep feeling is
generally noiseless, and least seeks display.
We would not, by these remarks, be understood as
wishing to exclude from religion warmth, and even
transport. We honor, and highly value, true religious
sensibility. We believe, that Christianity is intended
to act powerfully on our whole nature, on the heart as
well as the understanding and the conscience.  We
conceive of heaven as a state where the love of God
will be exalted into an unbounded fervor and joy; and
we desire, in our pilgrimage here, to drink into the
spirit of that better world.  But we think, that religious
warmth is only to be valued, when it springs naturally
from an improved character, when it comes unforced,
when it is the recompense of obedience, when it is the
warmth of a mind which understands God by being like
him, and when, instead of disordering, it exalts the
understanding, invigorates conscience, gives a pleasure
to common duties, and is seen to exist in connexion
with cheerfulness, judiciousness, and a reasonable frame
of mind. When we observe a fervor, called religious,




UNITARAN CISRI8TIANITY.          217
in men whose general character expresses little refine
ment and elevation, and whose piety seems at war with
reason, we pay it little respect.  We honor religion
too much to give its sacred name to a feverish, forced,
fluctuating zeal, which has little power over the life.
Another important branch of virtue, we believe to be
love to Christ.  The greatness of the work of Jesus,
the spirit with which he executed it, and the sufferings
which he bore for our salvation, we feel to be strong
claims on our gratitude and veneration.  We see in nature no beauty to be compared with the loveliness of his
character, nor do we find on earth a benefactor to whom
we owe an equal debt. We read his history with delight, and learn from it the perfection of our nature.
We are particularly touched by his death, which was
endured for our redemption, and by that strength of
charity which triumphed over his pains. His resurrection is the foundation of our hope of immortality. His
intercession gives us boldness to draw nigh to the throne
of grace, and we look up to heaven with new desire,
when we think, that, if we follow him here, we shall
there see his benignant countenance, and enjoy his
friendship for ever.
I need not express to you our views on the subject
of the benevolent virtues. We attach such importance
to these, that we are sometimes reproached with exalting them  above piety.  We regard the spirit of love,
charity, meekness, forgiveness, liberality, and beneficence, as the badge and distinction of Christians, as the
brightest image we can bear of God, as the best proof
of piety. On this subject, I need not, and cannoc enlarge; but there is -one branch of benevolence which I
ought not to pass over in silence, because we think that
9          S




218            UMTARIAN CHRISTIANITY.
we conceive of it more highly and justly than many of
our brethren.  I refer to the duty of candor,. charitable
judgment, especially towards those who differ in religious
opinion. We think, that in nothing have Christians so
widely, departed from their religion, as in this particular.
We read with astonishment and horror, the history of
the church; and sometimes when we look back on the
fires of persecution, and on the zeal of Christians, in
building up walls of separation, and in giving up one
another to perdition, we feel as if we were reading the
records of an infernal, rather than a heavenly kingdom.
An enemy to every religion, if asked to describe a
Christian, would, with some show of reason, depict him
as an idolater of his own distinguishing opinions, covered
with badges of party, shutting his eyes on the virtues,
and his ears on the arguments, of his opponents, arrogating all excellence to his own sect and all saving power
to his own creed, sheltering under the name of pious
zeal the love of domination, the conceit of infallibility,
and the spirit of intolerance, and trampling on men's
rights under the pretence of saving their souls.
We can hardly conceive of a plainer obligation on
beings of our frail and fallible nature, who are instructed
in the duty of candid judgment, than to abstain fronm
condemning men of apparent conscientiousness and sincerity, who are chargeable with no crime but that of
differing from us in the interpretation of the Scriptures,
and differing, too, on topics of great and acknowledged
obscurity. We are astonished at the hardihood of those,
who, with Christ's warnings sounding in their ears, take
on them the responsibility of making creeds for his
church, and cast out professors of virtuous lives for imagined errors, for the guilt of thinking for themselves.




UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.          219
We know that zeal for truth is the cover for this usurpation of Christ's prerogative; but we think that zeal
for truth, as it is called, is very suspicious, except in
men, whose capacities and advantages, whose patient
deliberation, and whose improvements in humility, mildness, and candor, give them a right to hope that their
views are more just than those of their neighbours.
Miuch of what passes for a zeal for truth, we look upon
with little respect, for it often appears to thrive most
luxuriantly where other virtues shoot up thinly and
feebly; and we have no gratitude for those reformers,
who would force upon us a doctrine which has not
sweetened their own tempers, or made them better men
than their neighbours.
We are accustomed to think much of the difficulties attending religious inquiries; difficulties springing
from the slow developement of our minds, from the
power of early impressions, from the state of society,
from human authority, from the general neglect of the
reasoning powers, from the want of just principles of
criticism and of important helps in interpreting Scripture, and from various other causes. We find, that on
no subject have men, and even good men, ingrafted so
many strange conceits, wild theories, and fictions of fancy, as on religion; and remembering, as we do, that
we ourselves are sharers of the common frailty, We dare
not assume infallibility in the treatment of our fellowChristians, or encourage in common Christians, who
have little time for investigation, the habit of denouncing and contemning other denominations, perhaps more
enlightened and virtuous than their own. Charity, forbearance, a delight in the virtues of different sects, a
backwardness to censure and condemn, these are vir



220            UTNITARtAN CHRISTIANITY.
tues, which, however poorly practised by us, we admire
and recommend; and we would rather join ourselves to
the church in which they abound, than to any other
communion, however elated with the belief of its own
orthodoxy, however strict in guarding its creed, however
burning with zeal against imagined error.
I have thus given the distinguishing views of those
Christians in whose names I have spoken. We have
embraced this system, not hastily or lightly, but after
much deliberation; and we hold it fast, not merely because we believe it to be true, but because we regard it
as purifying truth, as a doctrine according to godliness, as
able to I" work mightily " and to " bring forth fruit " in
them who believe. That we wish to spread it, we have
no desire to conceal; but we think, that we wish. its
diffusion, because we regard it as more friendly to practical piety and pure morals than the opposite doctrines,
because it gives clearer and nobler views of duty, and
stronger motives to its performance, because it recommends religion at once to the understanding and the
heart, because it asserts the lovely and venerable attributes of God, because it tends to restore the benevolent
spirit of Jesus to his divided and afflicted church, and
because it cuts off every hope of God's favor, except
that which springs from practical conformity to the life
and precepts of Christ.  We see nothing in our views
to give offence, save their purity, and it is their purityr,
which makes us seek and hope their extension through
the world.
My friend and brother;-You are this;day to take
upon you important duties; to be clothed with an office,
which the Son of God did not disdain; to devote your-.




UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY          221
self to that religion, which the most hallowed lips have
preached, and the most precious blood sealed. We
trust that you will bring to this work a willing mind, a
firm  purpose, a martyr's spirit, a readiness to toil and
suffer for the truth, a devotion of your best powers to
the interests of piety and virtue. I have spoken of the
doctrines which you will probably preach; but I do not
mean, that you are to give yourself to controversy.
You will remember, that good practice is the end of
preaching, and will labor to make your people holy livers, rather than skilful disputants.  Be careful, lest the
desire of defending what you deem truth, and of repelling reproach and misrepresentation, turn you aside from
your great business, which is to fix in men's minds a
living conviction of the obligation, sublimity, and happiness of Christian virtue. The best way to vindicate
your sentiments, is to show, in your preaching and life,
their intimate connexion with Christian morals, with a
high and delicate sense of duty, with candor towards
your opposers, with inflexible integrity, and with an habitual reverence for God.  If any light can pierce and
scatter the clouds of prejudice, it is that of a pure example. My brother, may your life preach more loudly
than your lips. Be to this people a pattern of all good
works, and. may your instructions derive authority from
a well-grounded belief in your hearers, that you speak
from the heart, that you preach from experience, that
the truth which you dispense has wrought powerfully in
your own heart, that God, and Jesus, and heaven, are
not merely words on your lips, but most affecting realities to your mind, and springs of hope and consolation,
and strength, in all your trials. Thus laboring, may
you reap abundantly, and have a testimony of your faith9*             s8




222            UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.
fulness, not only in your own conscience, but in the
esteem, love, virtues, and improvements of your people.
To all who hear me, I would say, with the Apostle,
Prove all things, hold fast that which is good.  Do not,
brethren, shrink from the duty of searching God's Word
for yourselves, through fear of human censure and denunciation. Do not think, that you may innocently follow the opinions which prevail around you, without investigation, on the ground, that Christianity is now so
purified from errors, as to need no laborious research.
There is much reason to believe, that Christianity is at
this moment dishonored by gross and cherished corruptions. If you remember the darkness which hung over
the Gospel for ages; if you consider the impure union,
which still subsists in almost every Christian country,
between the church and state, and which enlists men's
selfishness and ambition on the side of established
error; if you recollect in what degree the spirit of intolerance has checked free inquiry, not only before, but
since the Reformation; you will see that Christianity
cannot have freed itself from all the human inventions,
which disfigured it under the Papal tyranny. No. Much
stubble is yet to be burned; much rubbish to be removed; many gaudy decorations, which a false taste:has
hung around Christianity, must be swept away; and!the
earth-born fogs, which have long shrouded it, mnust be
scattered, before this divine fabric will rise before ts in
its native and awful majesty, in its harmonious ~proportions, in its mild and celestial splendors.  This glorious
reformation in the church, we hope, under God's blessing, from the progress of the human intellect, from the
moral progress of society, from the consequent decline
If prejudice and bigotry, andl, though last not least, from




UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY.         223
the subversion of human authority in matters of religion,
from the fall of those hierarchies, and other human institutions, by which the minds of individuals are oppressed
under the weight of numbers, and a Papal dominion is
perpetuated in the Protestant church.  Our earnest
prayer to God is, that he will overturn, and overturn,
and overturn the strong-holds of spiritual usurpation, until
iIE shall come, whose right it is to rule the minds of
men; that the conspiracy of ages against the liberty of
Christians may be brought to an end; that the servile
assent, so long yielded to human creeds, may give place
to honest and devout inquiry into the Scriptures; and
that Christianity, thus purified from error, may put forth
its almighty energy, and prove itself, by its ennobling influence on the mind, to be indeed " the power of God
unto salvation."








UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY
MOST FAVORABLE TO PIETY.
DISCOURSE
AT THE
DEDICATION OF THE SECOND CONGREGATIONAL
UNITARIAN CHURCH.
NEW YORK, 1826.
MARK xii. 29, 30: " And Jesus answered him, The first of all the
commandments is, Hear, 0 Israel; The Lord our God is one
Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with
all thy strength. This is the first commandment."
WE have assembled to dedicate this building to the
worship of the only living and true God, and to the
teaching of the religion of his son, Jesus Christ. By
this act we do not expect to confer on this spot of ground
and these walls any peculiar sanctity or any mysterious
properties. We do not suppose, that, in consequence
of rites now performed, the worship offered here will
be more acceptable than prayer uttered in the closet,
or breathed from the soul in the midst of business; or
that the instructions delivered from this pulpit will be
more effectual, than if they were uttered in a private
dwelling or the open air.  By dedication we understand




226            UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY
only a solemn expression of the purpose for which this
building is reared, joined with prayer to Him, who
alone can crown our enterprise with success, that our
design may be accepted and fulfilled. For this religious
act, we find indeed no precept in the New Testament,
and on this account some have scrupled as to its propriety. But we are not among those who consider the
written Word as a statute-book, by the letter of which
every step in life must be governed. We believe, on
the other hand, that one of the great excellences of
Christianity is, that it does not deal in minute regulation, but that, having given broad views of duty, and
enjoined a pure and disinterested spirit, it leaves us
to apply these rules and express this spirit according
to the promptings of the divine monitor within us, and
according to the claims and exigencies of the ever varying conditions in which we are placed. We believe,
too, that revelation is not intended to supersede God's
other modes of instruction; that it is not intended to
drown, but to make more audible, the voice of nature.
Now, nature dictates the propriety of such an act as we
are this day assembled to perform. Nature has always
taught men, on the completion of an important structure, designed for public and lasting good, to solemnize
its first appropriation to the purpose for which it was
reared, by some special service.  To us there is a
sacredness in this moral instinct, in this law written on
the heart; and in listening reverently to God's dictates,
however conveyed, we doubt not that we shall enjoy
his acceptance and blessing.
I have said, we dedicate this building to the teaching
of the Gospel of Christ. But in the present state of
the Christian church, these words are not as definite as




MOST FAVORABLE TO PIETY.         227
they one day will be.  This Gospel is variously interpreted.  It is preached in various forms.  Christendom
is parcelled out into various sects. When, therefore,
we see a new house of worship reared, the question
immediately arises, To what mode of teaching Christianity is it to be devoted? I need not tell you, my
hearers, that this house has been built by that class of
Christians, who are called Unitarians, and that the Gospel will here be taught, as interpreted by that body of
believers.  This you all know; but perhaps all present
have not attached a very precise meaning to the word,
by which our particular views of Christianity are designated. Unitarianism has been made a term of so much
reproach, and has been uttered in so many tones of
alarm, horror, indignation, and scorn, that to many it
gives only a vague impression of something monstrous,
impious, unutterably perilous.  To such, I would say,
that this doctrine, which is considered by some as the
last and most perfect invention of Satan, the consummation of his blasphemies, the most cunning weapon
ever forged in the fires of hell, amounts to this, — That
there is One God, even the Father; and that Jesus
Christ is not this One God, but his son and messenger,
who derived all his powers and glories from the Universal Parent, and who came into the world not to claim
supreme homage for himself, but to carry up the soul
to his Father as the Only Divine Person, the Only Ultimate Object of religious worship.  To us, this doctrine
seems not to have sprung from hell, but to have descended from the throne of God, and to invite and
attract us thither.  To us it seems to come from the
Scriptures, with a voice loud as the sound of many
waters, and as articulate and clear as if Jesus, in a




228            UNITARIAN CI=RSTIANITY
bodily form, were pronouncing it distinctly in our ears.
To this doctrine, and to Christianity interpreted in con.
sistency with it, we dedicate this building.
That we desire to propagate this doctrine, we do not
conceal.  It is a treasure, which we wish not to confine
to ourselves, which we dare not lock up in our own
breasts. We regard it as given to us for others, as well
as for ourselves. We should rejoice to spread it through
this great city, to carry'it into every dwelling, and to
send it far and wide to the remotest settlements of our
country. Am I asked, why we wish this diffusion?
We dare not say, that we are in no degree influenced
by sectarian feeling; for we see it raging around us, and
we should be more than men, were we wholly to escape
an epidemic passion. We do hope, however, that our
main purpose and aim is not sectarian, but to promote
a purer and nobler piety than now prevails. We are
not induced to spread our opinions by the mere conviction that they are true; for there are many truths, historical, metaphysical, scientific, literary, which we have
no anxiety to propagate. We regard them as the highest, most important, most efficient truths, and therefore
demanding a firm testimony, and earnest efforts to make
them known. In thus speaking, we do not mean, that
we regard our peculiar views as essential to salvation.
Far from us be this spirit of exclusion, the very spirit
of antichrist, the worst of all the delusions of Popery
and of Protestantism. We hold nothing to be essential,
but the simple and supreme dedication of the mind,
heart, and life to God and to his will. This inward
and practical devotedness to the Supreme Being, we are
assured, is attained and accepted under all the forms of
Christianity. We believe, however, that it is favored




MOST FAVORABLE TO PIETY.           229
by that truth which we maintain, as by no tother system
of faith.  We regard Unitarianism  as peculiarly the
friend of inward, living, practical religion. For this we
value it.  For this we would spread it; and we desire
none to embrace it, but such as shall seek and derive
from it this celestial influence.
This character and property of Unitarian Christianity, its fitness to promote true, deep, and living piety,
being our chief ground of attachment to it, and our
chief motive for dedicating this house to its inculcation,
I have thought proper to make this the topic of my
present discourse.  I'do not propose to prove the truth
of Unitarianism by Scriptural authorities, for this argument would exceed the limits of a sermon, but to show
its superior tendency to form an elevated religious character.  If, however, this position can be sustained, I
shall have contributed no weak argument in support of
the truth of our views; for the chief purpose of Christianity undoubtedly is, to promote piety, to bring us to
God, to fill our souls with that Great Being, to make
us alive to him; and a religious system can carry no
more authentic mark of a divine original, than its obvious, direct, and peculiar adaptation to quicken and raise
the mind to its Creator. - In speaking thus of Unitarian
Christianity as promoting piety, I ought to observe, that
I use this word in its proper and highest sense. I mean
not every thing which bears the name of piety, for under
this title superstition, fanaticism, and formality are walking abroad and claiming respect. I mean not an anxious
frame of mind, not abject and slavish fear, not a dread
of hell, not a repetition of forms, not church-going, not
loud profession, not severe censure of others' irreligion;
but filial love and reverence towards God, habitual gratiT




230            UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY
tude, cheerful trust, ready obedience, and, though last
not least, an imitation of the ever-active and unbounded
benevolence of the Creator.
The object of this discourse requires me to speak
with great freedom of different systems of religion. But
let me not be misunderstood. Let not the uncharitableness, which I condemn, be lightly laid to my charge.
Let it be remembered, that I speak only of systems,
not of those who embrace them. In setting forth with
all simplicity what seem to me the good or bad tendencies of doctrines, I have not a thought of giving standards or measures by which to estimate the virtue or vice
of their professors. Nothing would be more unjust,
than to decide on men's characters from their peculiarities of faith; and the reason is plain.  Such peculiarities are not the only causes which impress and determine
the mind.  Our nature is exposed to innumerable other
influences. If indeed a man were to know nothing but
his creed, were to meet with no human beings but those
who adopt it, were to see no example and to hear no
conversation, but such as were formed by it; if his
creed were to meet him everywhere, and to exclude
every other object of thought; then his character might
be expected to answer to it with great precision.  But
our Creator has not shut us up in so narrow a school.
The mind is exposed to an infinite variety of influences,
and these are multiplying with the progress of society.
Education, friendship, neighbourhood, public opinion,
the state of society, " the genius of the place" where
we live, books, events, the pleasures and business of life,
the outward creation, our physical temperament, and innumerable other causes, are perpetually pouring in upon
the soul thoughts, views, and emotions; and these influ



MOST FAVORABLE TO PIETY.         231
ences are so complicated, so peculiarly combined in the
case of every individual, and so modified by the original
susceptibilities and constitution of every mind, that on
no subject is there greater uncertainty, than on the
formation of character.  To determine the precise operation of a religious opinion amidst this host of influences, surpasses human power.  A  great truth may
be completely neutralized by the countless impressions
and excitements, which the mind receives from other
sources; and so a great error may be disarmed of much
of its power, by the superior energy of other and better views, of early habits, and of virtuous examples.
Nothing is more common than to see a doctrine believed without swaying the will. Its efficacy depends,
not on the assent of the intellect, but on the place which
it occupies in the thoughts, on the distinctness and vividness with which it is conceived, on its association with
our common ideas, on its frequency of recurrence, and
on its command of the attention, without which it has
no life. Accordingly, pernicious opinions are not seldom held by men of the most illustrious virtue. I mean
not, then, in commending or condemning systems, to
pass sentence on their professors. I know the power
of the mind to select from a multifarious system, for
its habitual use, those features or principles which are
generous, pure, and ennobling, and by these, to sustain
its spiritual life amidst the nominal profession of many
errors.  I know that a creed is one thing, as written
in a book, and another, as it exists in the minds of its
advocates.  In the book, all the doctrines appear in
equally strong and legible lines. In the mind, many
are faintly traced and seldom recurred to, whilst others
are inscribed as with sunbeams, and are the chosen,
15




23)2           TUTARIANI CHRSTIANITY
constant lights of the soul.. Hence, in good men, of
opposing denominations, a real agreement may subsist
as to their vital principles of faith; and amidst the
division of tongues, there may be unity of soul, and the
same internal worship of God. By these remarks, I
do not mean that error is not evil, or that it bears no
pernicious fruit. Its tendencies are always bad.  But
I mean, that these tendencies exert themselves amidst
so many counteracting influences; and that injurious
opinions so often lie dead, through the want of mixture
with the common thoughts, through the mind's not
absorbing them, and changing them into its own substance; that the highest respect may, and ought to
be cherished for men, in whose creed we find much to
disapprove. In this discourse I shall speak freely, and
some may say severely, of Trinitarianism; but I love
and honor not a few of its advocates; and in opposing what I deem their error, I would on no account
detract from their worth.  After these remarks, I hope
that the language of earnest discussion and strong conviction will not be construed into the want of that
charity, which I acknowledge as the first grace of our
religion.
I now proceed to illustrate and prove the superiority
of Unitarian Christianity, as a means of promoting a
deep and noble piety.
I. Unitarianism is a system most favorable to piety,
because it presents to the mind One, and only one, Infinite Person, to whom supreme homage is to be paid.
It does not weaken the energy of religious sentiment
by dividing it among various objects. It collects and
concentrates the soul on One Father of unbounded,
undivided, unrivalled glory.  To Him  it teaches the




MOST FAVORABLE TO PIETY.          23
mind to rise through all beings. Around Him it gathers
all the splendors of the universe. To Him it teaches
us to ascribe whatever good we receive or behold, the
beauty and magnificence of nature, the liberal gifts of
Providence, the capacities of the soul, the bonds of
society, and especially the riches of grace and redemption, the mission, and powers, and beneficent influences
of Jesus Christ.  All happiness it traces up to the
Father, as the sole source; and the mind, which these
views, have penetrated, through this intimate association
of every thing exciting and exalting in the universe with
One Infinite Parent, can and does offer itself up to
him with the intensest and profoundest love, of which
human nature is susceptible.  The Trinitarian indeed
professes to believe in one God, and means to hold
fast this truth.  But three persons, having distinctive
qualities and relations, of whom one is sent and another
the sender, one is given and another the giver, of whom
one intercedes and another hears the intercession, of
whom one takes flesh and another never becomes incarnate,- three persons, thus discriminated, are as truly
three objects of the mind, as if they were acknowledged
to be separate divinities; and, from the principles of
our nature, they cannot act on the mind as deeply and
powerfully as one Infinite Person, to whose sole goodness all happiness is ascribed.  To multiply infinite
objects for the heart, is to distract it.  To scatter the
attention among three equal persons, is to impair the
power of each.  The more strict and absolute the
unity of God, the more easily and intimately all the
impressions and emotions of piety flow together, and
are condensed into one glowing thought, one thrilling
love. No language can express the absorbing energy
To




234            UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY
of the thought of one Infinite Father. When vitally
implanted in the soul, it grows and gains strength for
ever. It enriches itself by every new view of God's
word and works; gathers tribute from all regions and
all ages; and attracts into itself all the rays of beauty,
glory, and joy, in the material and spiritual creation.
My hearers, as you would feel the full influence of
God upon your souls, guard sacredly, keep unobscured
and unsullied, that fundamental and glorious truth, that
there is One, and only One Almighty Agent in the
universe, one Infinite Father.  Let this truth dwell in
me in its uncorrupted simplicity, and I have the spring
and nutriment of an ever-growing piety.  I have an
object for my mind towards which all things bear me.
I know whither to go in all trial, whom to bless in all
joy, whom to adore in all I behold.  But let three persons claim from me supreme homage, and claim it on
different grounds, one for sending and another for coming to my relief, and I am divided, distracted, perplexed.
My frail intellect is overborne.  Instead of One Father,
on whose arm I can rest, my mind is torn from object
to object, and I tremble, lest among so many claimants
of supreme love, I should withhold from one or another,his due.
II. Unitarianism is the system most favorable to piety, because it holds forth and preserves inviolate the
spirituality of God.  "God is a spirit, and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
It is of great importance to the progress and elevation
of the religious principle, that we should refine more
and more our conceptions of God; that we should sep.
arate from him all material properties, and whatever is
limited or imperfect in our own nature; that we should




MOST FAVORABLE TO PIETY.         2~5
regard him as a pure intelligence, an unmixed and infinite
Mind. When it pleased God to select the Jewish people and place them under miraculous interpositions, one
of the first precepts given them was, that they should
not represent God under any bodily form, any graven
image, or the likeness of any creature.  Next came
Christianity, which had this as one of its great objects,
to render religion still more spiritual, by abolishing the
ceremonial and outward worship of former times, and
by discarding those grosser modes of describing God,
through which the ancient prophets had sought to impress
an unrefined people.
Now, Unitarianism concurs with this sublime moral
purpose of God.  It asserts his spirituality.  It approaches him under no bodily form, but as a pure spirit,
as the infinite and the universal Mind.  On the other
hand, it is the direct influence of Trinitarianism to materialize men's conceptions of God; and, in truth, this
system is a relapse into the error of the rudest and earliest ages, into the worship of a corporeal God.  Its
leading feature is, the doctrine of a God clothed with a
body, and acting and speaking through a material frame,
-of the Infinite Divinity dying on a cross; a doctrine,
which in earthliness reminds us of the mythology of the
rudest pagans, and which a pious Jew, in the twilight of
the Mosaic religion, would have shrunk from with horror.
It seems to me no small objection to the Trinity, that it
supposes God to take a body in the later and more improved ages of the world, when it is plain, that such a
manifestation, if needed at all, was peculiarly required
in the infancy of the race. The effect of such a system
n debasing the idea of God, in associating with the
Divinity human passions:and infirmities, is too obvious
15*




236           UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY
to need much elucidation. On the supposition that the
second person of the Trinity became incarnate, God
may be said to be a material being, on the same general
ground, on which this is affirmed of man; for man is
material only by the union of the mind with the body;
and the very meaning of incarnation is, that God took a
body, through which he acted and spoke, as the human
soul operates through its corporeal organs. Every bodily
affection may thus be ascribed to God. Accordingly
the Trinitarian, in his most solemn act of adoration, is
heard to pray in these appalling words: "' Good Lord,
deliver us; by the mystery of thy holy incarnation, by
thy holy nativity and circumcision, by thy baptism, fasting, and temptation, by thine agony and bloody sweat,
by thy cross and passion, good Lord, deliver us." Now
I ask you to judge, from the principles of human nature,
whether to worshippers, who adore their God for his
wounds and tears, his agony, and blood, and sweat, the
ideas of corporeal existence and human suffering will
not predominate over the conceptions of a purely spiritual essence; whether the mind, in clinging to the man,
will not lose the God; whether a surer method for depressing and adulterating the pure thought of the Divinity
could have been devised.  That the Trinitarian is unconscious of this influence of his faith, I know, nor do
I charge it on him as a crime.  Still it exists, and cannot be too much deplored.
The Roman Catholics, true to human nature and
their creed, have sought, by painting and statuary, to
bring their imagined God before their eyes; and have
thus obtained almost as vivid impressions of him, as if
they had lived with him on the earth.  The Protestant
condemns them for using these similitudes and represen



MOST FAVORABLS TO: PETY.          237
tations in their worship; but, if a Trinitarian, he does so
to his own condemnation, For if, as le believes, it was
once a duty to bow in adoration before the living body
of his incarnate God, what possible guilt can there be in
worshipping before the pictured or sculptured memorial
of the same being? Christ's body may as truly be represenited by the artist, as any other human form; and its
image may be used as effectually and properly, as that
of an ancient sage or hero, to recall him with vividness
to the mind. - Is it said, that God has expressly forbidden the use of images in our worship? But why was
that prohibition laid on the Jews? For this express
reason, that God had not presented himself to them in
any form, which admitted of representation. Hear the
language of Moses: "' Take good heed lest ye make
you a graven image, for ye saw no manner of similitude
on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out
of the midst of the fire." *  If, since that period, God
has taken a body, then the reason of the prohibition has
ceased; and if he took a body, among other purposes,
that he might assist the weakness of the intellect, which
needs a material form, then a statue, which lends so
great an aid to the conception of an absent friend, is not
only justified, but seems to be required.
This materializing and embodying of the Supreme
Being, which is the essence of Trinitarianism, cannot
but be adverse to a growing and exalted piety. Human
and divine properties, being confounded in one being,.lose their distinctness.  The splendors of the Godhead
are dimmed. The worshippers of an incarnate Deity,
through the frailty of their nature, are strongly tempted
* Deut. iv. 15, 16. —The arrangement of the text is a little changed, to
put the reader immediately in possession of the meaning.




238            UNITAIAN CRISTIANITY
to fasten chiefly on his human attributes; and their devotion, instead of rising to the Infinite God, and taking the
peculiar character which infinity inspires, becomes rather
a human affection, borrowing much of its fervor from the
Ideas of suffering, blood, and death. It is indeed possible, that this God-man (to use the strange phraseology
of Trinitarians) may excite the mind more easily, than a
purely spiritual divinity; just as a tragedy, addressed to
the eye and ear, will interest the multitude more than the
contemplation of the most exalted character. But the
emotions, which are the most easily roused, are not the
profoundest or most enduring. This human love, inspired by a human God, though at first more fervid,
cannot grow and spread through the soul, like the reverential attachment, which an infinite, spiritual Father
awakens. Refined conceptions of God, though more
slowly attained, have a more quickening and all-pervading
energy, and admit of perpetual accessions of brightness,
life, and strength.
True, we shall be told, that Trinitarianism has converted only one of its three persons into a human Deity,
and that the other two remain purely spiritual beings.
But who does not know, that man will attach himself
most strongly to the God who has become a man? Is
not this even a duty, if the Divinity has taken a body to
place himself within the reach of human comprehension
and sympathy? That the Trinitarian's views of the
Divinity will be colored more by his visible, tangible,
corporeal God, than by those persons of the Trinity,
who remain comparatively hidden in their invisible and
spiritual essence, is so accordant with the principles of
our nature, as to need no labored proof.
My friends, hold fast the doctrine of a purely spiritual




MOST FAVORABLE TO PIETY.           239
Divinity. It is one of the great supports and instruments
of a vital piety. It brings God near, as no other doctrine can. One of the leading purposes of Christianity
is, to give us an ever-growing sense of God's immediate
presence, a consciousness of him in our souls. Now,
just as far as corporeal or limited attributes enter into
our conception of him, we remove him from us. He
becomes an outward, distant being, instead of being
viewed and felt as dwelling in the soul itself.  It is an
unspeakable benefit of the doctrine of a purely spiritual
God, that he can be regarded as inhabiting, filling our
spiritual nature; and, through this union with our minds,
he can and does become the object of an intimacy and
friendship, such as no embodied being can call forth.
III. Unitarianism is the system most favorable to
piety, because it presents a distinct and intelligible object
of worship, a being, whose nature, whilst inexpressibly
sublime, is yet simple and suited to human apprehension.
An infiniteFather is the most exalted of all conceptions,
and yet the least perplexing. It involves no incongruous ideas.  It is illustrated by analogies from our own
nature. It coincides with that fundamental law of the
intellect, through which we demand a cause proportioned
to effects.  It is also as interesting as it is rational; so
that it is peculiarly congenial with the improved mind.
The sublime simplicity of God, as he is taught in Unitarianism, by relieving the understanding from perplexity,
and by placing him within the reach of thought and affection, gives him peculiar power over the soul.  Trinitarianism, on the other hand, is a riddle.  Men call it a
mystery; but it is mysterious, not like the great truths
of religion, by its vastness' and grandeur, but by the
irreconcilable ideas which it involves. One God, con



240           BOrJrAIAqN cMTRlx TSYr1A
sisting of three persons or agents, is so strange a being,
so'unlike our own minds, and all others with which we
hold intercourse, is so misty, so incongruous, so contradictory, that he cannot be apprehended with that distinctness and that feeling of reality, which belong to the
opposite system.  Such a heterogeneous being, who is
at the same moment one and many; who includes in his
own nature the relations of Father and Son, or, in other
words, is Father and Son to himself; who, in one of
his persons, is at the same moment the Supreme God
and a mortal man, omniscient and ignorant, almighty and
impotent; such a being is certainly the most puzzling
and distracting object ever presented to human thought.
Trinitarianism, instead of teaching an intelligible God,
offers to the mind a strange compound of hostile attributes, bearing plain irarks of those ages of darkness,
when Christianity shed but a faint ray, and the diseased
fancy teerned with prodigies and unnatural creations. Ihl
contemplating a being, who presents such different and
inconsistent aspects, the mind finds nothing to rest upon;
and, instead of receiving distinct and harmonious impressions, is disturbed by shifting, unsettled images.
To commune with such a being must be as hard, as to
converse with a man of three different countenances,
speaking with three different tongues.  The believer in
this system must forget it, when he prays, or he could
find no repose in:devotion. Who can compare it, in
distinctness, reality, and power,'with the simple doctrine
of One Infinite Father?
IV. Unitarianism promotes a fervent and enlightened
piety, by asserting the absolute and unbounded perfection of God's character.  This is the highest service
which can be rendered to mankind. Just and generous




MOST FAVORABLB TO PWSTY           241
conceptions of the Divinity are the soul's tue wealth.
To spread these is to contribute more effectually, than
by any other agency, to the progress and happiness of
the intelligent creation. To obscure God's glory is
to do greater wrong, than to blot out the sun.  The
dharacter and influence of a religion must answer to
the views which it gives of the Divinity.; and there is
a plain tendency in that system, which manifests the
divine perfections, most resplendently, to awaken the
sublimest and most blessed piety.
Now, Trinitarianism has a fatal tendency to degrade
the character of the Supreme Being, though its advocates, I am sure, intend no such wrong.  By multiplying divine persons, it takes from each the glory of
independent, all-sufficient, absolute perfection.   This
may be shown in various particulars.  And in the first
place, the very idea, that three persons in the Divinity
are in any degree important, implies and involves the
imperfection of each; for it is plain, that if one divine
person possesses all possible power, wisdom, love, and
happiness, nothing will be gained to himself or to the
creation by joining with him two, or two hundred other
persons.  To say that he needs others for any purpose
or in any degree, is to strip him of independent and allsufficient majesty. If our Father in heaven, the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is not of himself
sufficient to all the wants of his creation; if, by his
union with other persons, he can accomplish any good
to which he is not of himself equal; or if he thus acquires a claim to the least degree of trust or hope, to
which he is not of himself entitled by his own independent attributes; then it is plain, he is not a being of
infinite and absolute perfection. Now Trinitarianism
U




242             UNITATIAN CHRISTIANITY
teaches, that the highest good accrues to the human
race from the existence of three divine persons, sustaining different offices and relations to the world; and
it regards the Unitarian, as subverting the foundation
of human hope, by asserting that the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus is alone and singly God. Thus it
derogates from his infinite glory.
In the next place, Trinitarianism degrades the character of the Supreme Being, by laying its disciples
under the necessity of making such a distribution of
offices and relations among the three persons, as will
serve to designate and distinguish them; for in this way
it interferes with the sublime conceptions of One Infinite Person, in whom all glories are concentred.  If we
are required to worship three persons, we must view
them in different lights, or they' will be mere repetitions
of each other, mere names and sounds, presenting no
objects, conveying no meaning to the mind.   Some
appropriate character, some peculiar acts, feelings, and
relations must be ascribed to each.  In other words,
the glory of all must be shorn, that some special distinguishing lustre may be thrown on each. Accordingly, creation is associated peculiarly with the conception of the Father; satisfaction for human guilt wilh
that of the Son; whilst sanctification, the noblest work
of all, is given to the Holy Spirit as his more particular work.  By a still more fatal distribution, the work
of justice, the office of vindicating the rights of the
Divinity, falls peculiarly to the Father, whilst the loveliness of interposing mercy clothes peculiarly the person
of the Son. By this unhappy influence of Trinitarianism, from which common minds at least cannot escape,
the splendors of the Godhead, being scattered among




MOST FAVORABLE TO PIETY.         243
three objects, instead of being united in One Infinite
Father, are dimmed; and he, whose mind is thoroughly
and practically possessed by this system, can hardly
conceive the effulgence of glory in which the One God
offers himself to a pious believer in his strict unity.
But the worst has not been told.  I observe, then,
in the third place, that if Three Divine Persons are
believed in, such an administration or government of
the world must be ascribed to them, as will furnish
them- with a sphere of operation. No man will admit
three persons into his creed, without finding a use for
them.  Now it is an obvious remark, that a system of
the universe, which involves and demands more than
one Infinite Agent, must be wild, extravagant, and unworthy the perfect God; because there is no possible
or conceivable good, to which such an Agent is not
adequate. Accordingly we find Trinitarianism connecting itself with a scheme of administration, exceedingly
derogatory to the Divine character.  It teaches, that
the Infinite Father saw fit to put into the hands of our
first parents the character and condition of their whole
progeny; and that, through one act of disobedience,
the whole race bring with them into being a corrupt
nature, or are born depraved.  It teaches, that the
offences of a short life, though begun and spent under
this disastrous influence, merit endless punishment, and
that God's law threatens this infinite penalty; and that
man is thus burdened with a guilt, which no sufferings
of the created universe can expiate, which nothing but
the sufferings of an Infinite Being can purge away.
In this condition of human nature, Trinitarianism finds
a sphere of action for its different persons. I am aware
that some Trinitarians, on hearing this statement of their
16




244            UNITARTAN CHRISTIANITY
system, may reproach me with ascribing to them the
errors of Calvinism, a system which they abhor as much
as ourselves. But none of the peculiarities of Calvinism  enter into this exposition.  I have given what I
understand to be the leading features of Trinitarianism
all the world over; and the benevolent professors of
that faith, who recoil from this statement, must blaIne
not the preacher, but the creeds and establishments by
which these doctrines are diffused. For ourselves, we
look with horror and grief on the views of God's government, which are naturally and intimately united with
Trinitarianism.  They take from us our Father in heaven, and substitute a stern and unjust lord.  Our filial
love and reverence rise up against them. We say to
the Trinitarian, touch any thing but the perfections of
God. Cast no stain on that spotless purity and loveliness. We can endure any errors but those, which
subvert or unsettle the conviction of God's paternal
goodness. Urge not upon us a system, which makes
existence a curse, and wraps the universe in gloom.
Leave us the cheerful light, the free and healthful atmosphere, of a liberal and rational faith; the ennobling
and consoling influences of the doctrine, which nature
and revelation in blessed concord teach us, of One
Father of unbounded and inexhaustible love.
V. Uniitarianism is peculiarly favorable to piety, because it accords with nature, with the world around and
the world within us; and through this accordance it
gives aid to nature, and receives aid from it, in impressing the miind with God. We live in the midst of a
glorious universe, which was meant to be a witness and
a preacher of the Divinity; and a revelation from God
may be expected to be in harm.ony with this, system,




MOST FAVORABLE TO PIETY.         245
and to carry on a common ministry with it in lifting the
soul to God. Now, Unitarianism is in accordance with
nature.  It teaches One Father, and so does creation,
the more it is explored. Philosophy, in proportion as
it extends its views of the universe, sees in it, more
and more, a sublime and beautiful unity, and multiplies
proofs, that all things have sprung from one intelligence,
one power, one love. The whole outward creation
proclaims to the Unitarian the truth in which he delights.
So does his own soul.  But neither nature nor the soul
bears one trace of Three Divine Persons. Nature is no
Trinitarian.  It gives not a hint, not a glimpse of a tripersonal author.  Trinitarianism is a confined system,
shut up in a few texts, a few written lines, where many
of the wisest minds have failed to discover it.  It is
not inscribed on the heavens and the earth, not borne
on every wind, not resounding and reichoing through
the universe.  The sun and stars say nothing of a God
of three persons.  They all speak of the One Father
whom we adore. To our ears, one and the same voice
comes from God's word and works, a full and swelling
strain, growing clearer, louder, more thrilling as we
listen, and with one blessed influence lifting up our souls
to the Almighty Father.
This accordance between nature and revelation increases the power of both over the mind. Concurring
as they do in one impression, they make that impression deeper.  To men of reflection, the conviction of
the reality of religion is exceedingly heightened, by a
perception of harmony in the views of it which they
derive from various sources.  Revelation is never received with so intimate a persuasion of its truth, as
when it is seen to conspire to the same ends and imU*




246'.           U'NITARIAN CHRISTIANITY
pressions, for which all other things are made.  It is
no small objection to Trinitarianism, that it is an insulated doctrine, that it reveals a God whom we meet
nowhere in the universe. Three Divine Persons, I reI)eat it, are found only in a few texts, and those so dark,
that the gifted minds of Milton, Newton, and Locke,
could not find them  there.  Nature gives them  not a
~whlisper of evidence.  And can they be as real and
powerful to the mind, as that One Father, whom the
general strain and common voice of Scripture, and the
universal voice of nature call us to adore?
VI. Unitarianism favors piety by opening the mind
to new and ever-enlarging views of God. Teaching, as
it does, the same God with nature,'it leads us to seek
him in nature. It does not shut us up in the written
word, precious as that manifestation of the Divinity is.
It considers revelation, not as independent of his other
means of instruction; not as a separate agent; but as
a part of the great system of God for enlightening and
elevating the human soul; as intimately joined with
creation and providence, and intended to concur with
them; and as given to assist us in reading the volume
of the universe. Thus Unitarianism, where its genuine
influence is experienced, tends to enrich and fertilize
the mind; opens it to new lights, wherever they spring
up; and, by combining, makes more efficient, the means
of religious knowledge.  Trinitarianism, on the' other
hand, is a system which tends to confine the mind; to
shut it up in what is written; to diminish its interest
in the universe; and to disincline it to bright and
enlarged views of God's works. - This effect will be
explained, in the first place, if we consider, that the
peculiarities of Trinitarianism differ so much from the




MOST FAVORABLE TO PiiETY.        247
teachings of the universe, that he who attaches himself to the one, will be in danger of losing his interest
in the other.  The ideas of Three Divine Persons, of
God clothing himself in flesh, of the infinite Creator
saving the guilty by transferring their punishment to
an innocent being, these ideas cannot easily be made
to coalesce in the mind with that which nature gives,
of One Almighty Father and Unbounded Spirit, whom
no worlds can contain, and whose vicegerent in the
human breast pronounces it a crime, to lay the penalties of vice on the pure and unoffending.
But Trinitarianism has a still more positive influence
in shutting the mind against improving views fromr the
universe. It tends to throw gloom over God's works.
Imagining that Christ is to be exalted, by giving him
an exclusive agency in enlightening and recovering mankind, it is tempted to disparage other lights and influences; and, for the purpose of magnifying his salvation,
it inclines to exaggerate the darkness and desperateness
of man's present condition.  The mind thus impressed,
naturally leans to those views of nature and of society,
which will strengthen the ideas of desolation and guilt.
It is tempted to aggravate the miseries of life, and to
see in them only the marks of divine displeasure and
punishing justice; and overlooks their obvious fitness
and design to awaken our powers, exercise our virtues,
and strengthen our social ties.  In like manner, it exaggerates the sins of men, that the need of an Infinite
atonement may be maintained. Some of the most affecting tokens of God's love within and around us are
obscured by this gloomy theology.  The glorious faculties of the soul, its high aspirations, its sensibility to
the great and good in character, its sympathy with dis16*




248             UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY
interested and suffering virtue, its benevolent and religious instincts, its thirst for a happiness not found on
earth, these are overlooked or thrown into the shade,
that they may not disturb the persuasion of man's natural corruption.   Ingenuity is employed to disparage
what is interesting in the human character. Whilst the
bursts of passion in the newborn child are gravely
urged as indications of a native, rooted corruption; its
bursts of affection, its sweet smile, its innocent and
irrepressible j.oy, its loveliness and beauty, are not listened to, though they plead more eloquently its alliance
with higher natures.  The sacred and tender affections
of home; the unwearied watchings and cheerful sacrifices of parents; the reverential, grateful assiduity of
children, smoothing an aged father's or mother's descent
to the grave; woman's love, stronger than death; the
friendship of brothers and sisters; the anxious affection, which tends around the bed of sickness; the subdued voice, which breathes comfort into the mourner's
heart; all the endearing offices, which shed a serene
light through our dwellings; these are explained away
by the thorough advocates of this system, so as to include no real virtue, so as to consist with a natural
aversion to goodness. Even the higher efforts of disinterested benevolence, and the most unaffected expressions of piety, if not connected with what is called
" the true faith," are, by the most rigid disciples of the
doctrine which I oppose, resolved into the passion for
distinction, or some other working of " unsanctified nature."  Thus, Trinitarianism  and its kindred doctrines
have a tendency to veil God's goodness, to sully his
fairest works, to dim the lustre of those innocent and
pure affections, which a divine breath kindles in the




MOST FAVORABLE TO PIETY.          249
soul, to blight the beauty and freshness of creation, and
in this way to consume the very nutriment of piety.
We know, and rejoice to know, that in multitudes this
tendency is counteracted by a cheerful temperament, a
benevolent nature, and a strength of gratitude, which
bursts the shackles of a melancholy system.  But from
the nature of the doctrine, the tendency exists and is
strong; and an impartial observer will often discern it
resulting in gloomy, depressing views of life and the
universe.
Trinitarianism, by thus tending to exclude bright
and enlarged views of the creation, seems to me not
only to chill the heart, but to injure the understanding,
as far as moral and religious truth is concerned.  It
does not send the mind far and wide for new and elevating objects; and we have here one explanation of
the barrenness and feebleness, by which theological
writings are so generally marked.  It is not wonderful,
that the prevalent theology should want vitality and enlargement of thought, for it does not accord with the
perfections of God and the spirit of the universe. It
has not its root in eternal truth; but is a narrow, technical, artificial system, the fabrication of unrefined ages,
and consequently incapable of being blended with the
new lights which are spreading over the most interesting subjects, and of being incorporated with the results
and anticipations of original and progressive minds.  It
stands apart in the mind, instead of seizing upon new
truths, and converting them into its own nutriment,
With few exceptions, the Trinitarian theology of the
present day is greatly deficient in freshness of thought,
and in power to awaken the interest and to meet the
intellectual and spiritual wants of thinking men. I see




250            UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITM
indeed superior minds and great minds among the adherents of the prevalent system; but they seem to me
to move in chains, and to fulfil poorly their high function of adding to the wealth of the human intellect.  In
theological discussion, they remind me more of Samson
grinding in the narrow mill of the Philistines, than of
that undaunted champion achieving victories for God's
people, and enlarging the bounds of their inheritance.
Now, a system which has a tendency to confine the
mind, and to impair its sensibility to the manifestations
of God in the universe, is so far unfriendly to piety, to
a bright, joyous, hopeful, evergrowing love of the Creator.  It tends to generate and nourish a religion of a
melancholy tone, such, I apprehend, as now predominates in the Christian world.
VII. Unitarianism promotes piety, by the high place
which it assigns to piety in the character and work of
Jesus Christ. What is it which the Unitarian regards
as the chief glory of the character of Christ? I answer, his filial devotion, the entireness with which he
surrendered himself to the will and benevolent purposes
of God. The piety of Jesus, which, on the supposition
of his Supreme Divinity, is a subordinate and incongruous, is, to us, his prominent and crowning, attribute.
We place his " oneness with God," not in an unintelligible unity of essence, but in unity of mind and heart,
in the strength of his love, through which he renounced
every separate interest, and identified himself with his
Father's designs. In other words, filial piety, the consecration of his whole being to the benevolent will of
his Father, this is the mild glory in which he always
offers himself to our minds; and, of consequence, all
our sympathies with him, all our love and veneration




MOST FAVORABLE To PIETY.         251
towards him, are so many forms of delight in a pious
character, and our whole knowledge of him incites us
to a like surrender of our whole nature and existence
to God.
In the next place, Unitarianism  teaches, that the
highest work or office of Christ is, to call forth and
strengthen piety in the human breast; and thus it sets
before us this character as the chief acquisition and end
of our being.  To us, the great glory of Christ's mission consists in the power with which he " reveals the
Father," and establishes the "kingdom or reign of God
within" the soul.  By the crown which he wears, we
understand the eminence which he enjoys in the most
beneficent work in the universe, that of bringing back
the lost mind to the knowledge, love, and likeness of its
Creator. With these views of Christ's office, nothing
can seem to us so important as an enlightened and profound piety, and'we are quickened to seek it, as the
perfection and happiness to which nature and redemption jointly summon us.
Now we maintain, that Trinitarianism obscures and
weakens these views of Christ's character and work;
and this it does, by insisting perpetually on others of
an incongruous, discordant nature.  It diminishes the
power of his piety.  Making him, as it does, the Supreme Being, and placing him as an equal on his Father's throne, it turns the mind from him as the meekest
worshipper of God; throws into the shade, as of very
inferior worth, his self-denying obedience; and gives
us other grounds for revering him, than his entire homage, his fervent love, his cheerful self-sacrifice to the
Universal Parent. There is a plain incongruity in the
belief of his Supreme Godhead with the ideas of filial




252            UNITARiAN CHRSTIANITY
piety and exemplary devotion. The mind, which has
been taught to regard him as of equal majesty and
authority with the Father, cannot easily feel the power
of his character as the affectionate son, whose meat it
was to do his Father's will.  The mind, accustomed to
make him the ultimate object of worship, cannot easily
recognise in him the pattern of that worship, the guide
to the Most High.  The characters are incongruous,
and their union perplexing, so that neither exerts its full
energy on the mind.
Trinitarianism also exhibits the work as well as character of Christ, in lights less favorable to piety.  It does
not make the promotion of piety his chief end.  It
teaches, that the highest purpose of his mission was
to reconcile God to man, not man to God.  It teaches,
that the most formidable obstacle to human happiness
lies in the claims and threatenings of divine justice.
Hence, it leads men to prize Christ more for answering
these claims and averting these threatenings, than for
awakening in the human soul sentiments of love towards
its Father in heaven.  Accordingly, multitudes seem
to prize pardon more than piety, and think it a greater
boon to escape, through Christ's sufferings, the fire of
hell, than to receive, through his influence, the spirit
of heaven, the spirit of devotion.  Is such a system
propitious to a generous and ever-growing piety?
If I may be allowed a short digression, I would conclude this head with the general observation, that we
deem our views of Jesus Christ more interesting than
those of Trinitarianism. We feel that we should lose
much, by exchanging the distinct character and mild
radiance with which he offers himself to our minds, for
the confused and irreconcilable glories with which that




MOST PAVOIA9LE TO PIETY.:253
system labors to invest him. According to Unitarian.
ism, he is a being who may be understood, for he is
one mind, one conscious nature. According to the opposite faith, he is an inconceivable compound of two
most dissimilar minds, joining in one person a finite
and infinite nature, a soul weak and ignorant, and a
soul almighty and omniscient. And is such a being a
proper object for human thought and affection? —I add,
as another important consideration, that to us Jesus,
instead of being the second of three obscure unintelligible persons, is first and preeminent in the sphere
in which he acts, and is thus the object of a distinct
attachment, which he shares with no equals or rivals.
To us, he is first of the sons of God, the Son by peculiar nearness and likeness to the Father.  He is first
of all the ministers of God's mercy and beneficence,
and through him the largest stream of bounty flows to
the creation. He is first in God's favor and love, the
most accepted of worshippers, the most prevalent of
intercessors. In this mighty universe, framed to be a
mirror of its Author, we turn to Jesus as the brightest
image of God, and gratefully yield him a place in our
souls, second only to the Infinite Father, to whom he
himself directs our supreme affection.
VIII. I now proceed to a great topic. Unitarianism
promotes piety, by meeting the wants of man as a sinner.  The wants of the sinner may be expressed almost
in one word.  He wants assurances of mercy in his
Creator. He wants pledges, that God is Love in its
purest form, that is, that He has a goodness so disinterested, free, full, strong, and immutable, that the
ingratitude and disobedience of his creatures cannot
overcome it. This unconquerable love, which in Scripv




254            UNITARIAN CRISTIANITY
ture is denominated grace, and which waits not fox
merit to call it forth, but flows out to the most guilty,
is the sinner's only hope, and it is fitted to call forth
the most devoted gratitude.  Now, this grace or mercy
of God, which seeks the lost, and receives and blesses
the returning child, is proclaimed by that faith which
we advocate, with a clearness and energy, which cannot
be surpassed.  Unitarianism will not listen for a monlent to the common errors, by which this bright attribute is obscured.  It will not hear of a vindictive wrath
in God, which must be quenched by blood; or of a justice, which binds his mercy with an iron chain, until its
demands are satisfied to the full.  It will not hear that
God needs any foreign influence to awaken his mercy;
but teaches, that the yearnings of the tenderest human
parent towards a lost child, are but a faint image of
God's deep and overflowing compassion towards erring
man.  This essential and unchangeable propensity of
the Divine Mind to forgiveness, the Unitarian beholds
shining forth through the whole Word of God, and
especially in the mission and revelation of Jesus Christ,
who lived and died to make manifest the inexhaustible
plenitude of divine grace; and, aided by revelation,
he sees this attribute of God everywhere, both around
him and within him. He sees it in the sun which shines,
and the rain which descends on the evil and unthankful;
in the peace, which returns to the mind in proportion
to its return to God and duty; in the sentiment of compassion, which springs up spontaneously in the human
breast towards the fallen and lost; and in the moral instinct, which teaches us to cherish this compassion as
a sacred principle, as an emanation of God's infinite
love.  In truth, Unitarianism  asserts so strongly the




MOST FAVORABLE TO PIMTY.         255
mercy of God, that the reproach thrown upon it is, that
it takes from the sinner the dread of punishment, - a
reproach wholly without foundation; for our system.eaches that God's mercy is not an instinctive tenderness, which cannot inflict pain; but an all-wise love,
which desires the true and lasting good of its object,
and consequently desires first for the sinner that restoration to purity, without which, shame, and suffering, and
exile from God and heaven are of necessity and unalterably his doom. Thus Unitarianism holds forth God's
grace and forgiving goodness most resplendently; and,
by this manifestation of him, it tends to awaken a
tender and confiding piety; an ingenuous love, which
mourns that' it has offended; an ingenuous aversion to
sin, not because sin brings punishment, but because it
separates the mind from this merciful Father.
Now we object to Trinitarianism, that it obscures
the mercy of God. It does so in various ways. We
have already seen, that it gives such views of God's
government, that we can hardly conceive of this attribute as entering into his character.  Mercy to the sinner is the principle of love or benevolence in its highest form; and surely this cannot be expected from a
being who brings us into existence burdened with hereditary guilt, and who threatens with endless punishment and woe the heirs of so frail and feeble a nature.
With such a Creator, the idea of mercy cannot coalesce; and I will say more, that, under such a government, man would need no mercy; for he would owe no
allegiance to such a maker, and could not of course
contract the guilt of violating it; and, without guilt, no
grace or pardon would be wanted.  The severity of this
system would place him on the ground of an injured
17




256             UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY
being.  The wrong would lie on the side of the Cre'
ator.
In the next place, Trinitarianismr obscures God's
mercy, by the manner in which it supposes pardon to
be communicated. It teaches, that God remits the punishment of the offender, in consequence of receiving an
equivalent from an innocent person; that the sufferings
of the sinner are removed by a full satisfaction made
to divine justice, in the sufferings of a substitute.  And
is this " the quality of mercy"?  What means forgiveness, but the reception of the returning child through
the strength of parental love?  This doctrine invests
the Saviour with a claim of merit, with a right to the
remission of the sins of his followers; and represents
God's reception of the penitent as a recompense due
to the worth of his Son. And is mercy, which means
free and undeserved love, made more manifest, more
resplendent, by the introduction of merit and right as
the ground of our salvation? Could a surer expedient
be invented for obscuring its freeness, and for turning
the sinner's gratitude from the sovereign who demands,
to the sufferer who offers, full satisfaction for his guilt?
I know it is said, that Trinitarianism magnifies God's
mercy, because it teaches, that he himself provided the
substitute for the guilty.  But I reply, that the work
here ascribed to mercy is not the most appropriate, nor
most fitted to manifest it and impress it on the heart.
This may be made apparent by familiar illustrations.
Suppose that a creditor, through compassion to certain
debtors, should persuade a benevolent and opulent man
to pay him in their stead. Would not the debtors see
a greater mercy, and feel a weightier obligation, if they
were; to receive a free, gratuitous release.?  And. will




MOST FAVORABLE TO PIETY.          257
not their chief gratitude stray beyond the creditor to
the benevolent substitute? Or, suppose that a parent,
unwilling to inflict a penalty on a disobedient but feeble child, should persuade a stronger child to bear it.
Would not the offender see a more touching mercy in a
free forgiveness, springing immediately from a parent's
heart, than in this circuitous remission?  And will he
not be tempted to turn with his strongest love to the
generous sufferer?  In this process of substitution, of
which Trinitarianism boasts so loudly, the mercy of
God becomes complicated with the rights and merits
of the substitute, and is a more distant cause of our
salvation. These rights and merits are nearer, more
visible, and more than divide the glory with grace and
mercy in our rescue. They turn the mind from Divine
Goodness, as the only spring of its happiness, and only
rock of its hope. Now this is to deprive piety of one
of its chief means of growth and joy. Nothing should
stand between the soul and God's mercy. Nothing
should share with mercy the work of our salvation.
Christ's intercession should ever be regarded as an application to love and mercy, not as a demand of justice,
not as a claim of merit.  I grieve to say, that Christ,
as now viewed by multitudes, hides the lustre of that
very attribute which it is his great purpose to display.
I fear, that, to many, Jesus wears the glory of a more
winning, tender mercy, than his Father, and that he is
regarded as the sinner's chief resource.  Is this the
way to invigorate piety?
Trinitarians imagine, that there is one view of their
system peculiarly fitted to give peace and hope to the
sinner, and consequently to promote gratitude and love.
It is this. They say, it provides an Infinite substitute
V*




25~            UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY
for the sinner, than which nothing can give greater relief to the burdened conscience. Jesus, being the second person of the Trinity, was able to -make infinite
satisfaction for sin; and what, they ask, in Unitarianism, can compare with this? I have time only for two
brief replies. And first, this doctrine of an Infinite
satisfaction, or, as it is improperly called, of an Infinite
atonement, subverts, instead of building up, hope; because it argues infinite severity in the government which
requires it.  Did I believe, what Trinitarianism teaches, that not the least transgression, not even the first
sin of the dawning mind of the child, could be remitted
without an infinite expiation, I should feel myself living under a legislation unspeakably dreadful, under laws
written, like Draco's, in blood; and, instead of thanking the Sovereign for providing an infinite substitute, I
should shudder at the attributes which render this expedient necessary. It is commonly said, that an infinite
atonement is needed to make due and deep impressions
of the evil of sin. But He who framed all souls, and
gave them their susceptibilities, ought not to be thought
so wanting in goodness and wisdom, as to have constituted a universe, which demands so dreadful and degrading a method of enforcing obedience, as the penal
sufferings of a God.  This doctrine, of an Infinite substitute suffering the penalty of sin, to manifest God's
wrath against sin, and thus to support his government,
is, I fear, so familiar to us all, that its severe character
is overlooked. Let me, then, set it before you, in new
terms, and by a new illustration; and if, in so doing, I
may wound the feelings of some who hear me, I beg
them to believe, that I do it with pain, and from no
impulse but a desire to serve the cause of truth. -




MOST FAVORABLE TO PIETY.         259
Suppose, then, that a teacher should come among you,
and should tell you, that the Creator, in order to pardon his own children, had erected a gallows in the centre of the universe, and had publicly executed upon it,
in room of the offenders, an Infinite Being, the partaker
of his own Supreme Divinity; suppose him to declare,
that this execution was appointed, as a most conspicuous and terrible manifestation of God's justice, and of.
the infinite woe denounced by his law; and suppose
him to add, that all beings in heaven and earth are required to fix their eyes on this fearful sight, as the most
powerful enforcement of obedience and virtue. Would
you not tell him, that he calumniated his Maker?
Would you not say to him, that this central gallows
threw gloom over the universe; that the spirit of a government, whose very acts of pardon were written in
such blood, was terror, not paternal love; and that the
obedience which needed to be upheld by this horrid
spectacle, was nothing worth? Would you not say to
him, that even you, in this infancy and imperfection
of your being, were capable of being wrought upon by
nobler motives, and of hating sin through more generous views; and that much more the angels, those pure
flames of love, need not the gallows and an executed
God to confirm their loyalty? You would all so feel,
at such teaching as I have supposed; and yet how does
this differ from the popular doctrine of atonement?
According to this doctrine, we have an Infinite Being
sentenced to suffer, as a substitute, the death of the
cross, a punishment more ignominious and agonizing
than the gallows, a punishment reserved for slaves and
the vilest malefactors; and he suffers this punishment,
that.he may show forth the terrors of God's law, and
17*




260            UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY
strike a dread of sin through the universe. — I am indeed aware, that multitudes, who profess this doctrine,
are not accustomed to bring it to their minds distinctly
in this light; that they do not ordinarily regard the
death of Christ as a criminal execution, as an infinitely
dreadful infliction of justice, as intended to show, that,
without an infinite satisfaction, they must hope nothing
from God. Their minds turn, by a generous instincts
from these appalling views, to the love, the disinterestedness, the moral grandeur and beauty of the sufferer;
and through such thoughts they make the cross a source
of peace, gratitude, love, and hope; thus affording a
delightful exemplification of the power of the human
mind, to attach itself to what is good and purifying in
the most irrational system. Not a few may shudder
at the illustration which I have here given; but in what
respects it is unjust to the popular doctrine of atonement, I cannot discern.  I grieve to shock sincere
Christians, of whatever name; but I grieve more for
the corruption of our common faith, which I have now
felt myself bound to expose.
I have a second objection to this doctrine of Infinite
atonement.  When examined minutely, and freed from
ambiguous language, it vanishes into air. It is wholly
delusion.  The Trinitarian tells me, that, according
to his system, we have an infinite substitute; that the
Infinite God was pleased to bear our punishment, and
consequently, that pardon is made sure.  But I ask
him, Do I understand you?  Do you mean, that the
Great God, who never changes, whose happiness is the
same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, that this Eternal
Being really bore the penalty of my sins, really suffered
and died?  Every pious man, when pressed by this




MOST FAVORABLE TO PIETY.         261
question, answers, No.  What, then, does the doctrine
of Infinite atonement mean? Why, this; that God took
into union with himself our nature, that is, a human
body and soul; and these bore the suffering for our sins;
and, through his union with these, God may be said to
have borne it himself.  Thus, this vaunted system goes
out,-in words.  The Infinite victim proves to be frail
man, and God's share in the sacrifice is a mere fiction.
I ask with solemnity, Can this doctrine give one moment's ease to the conscience of an unbiassed, thinking
man? Does it not unsettle all hope, by making the
whole religion suspicious and unsure? I am compelled
to say, that I see in it no impression of majesty, or wisdom, or love, nothing worthy of a God; and when I
compare it with that nobler faith, which directs our eyes
and hearts to God's essential mercy, as our only hope, I
am amazed that any should ascribe to it superior efficacy, as a religion for sinners, as a means of filling the
soul with pious trust and love. I know, indeed, that
some will say, that, in giving up an infinite atonement, I
deprive myself of all hope of divine favor.  To such,
I would say, You do wrong to God's mercy. On that
mercy I cast myself without a fear.  I indeed desire
Christ to intercede for me.  I regard his relation to me
as God's kindest appointment. Through him, " grace
and truth come " to me from Heaven, and I look forward to his friendship, as among the highest blessings
of my whole future being. But I cannot, and dare not
ask him, to offer an infinite satisfaction for my sins; to
appease the wrath of God; to reconcile the Universal
Father to his own offspring; to open to me those arms
of Divine mercy, which have encircled and borne me
from the first moment of my being. The essential and




262            UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY
unbounded mercy of my Creator, is the foundation of
my hope, and a broader and surer the universe cannot
give me.
IX. I now proceed to the last consideration, which
the limits of this discourse will permit me to urge.  It
has been more than once suggested, but deserves to be
distinctly stated.  I observe, then, that Unitarianism
promotes piety, because it is a rational religion.  By
this, I do not mean that its truths can be fully comprehended; for there is not an object in nature or religion,
which has not innumerable connexions and relations beyond our grasp of thought.  I mean, that its doctrines
are consistent with one another, and with all established
truth.  Unitarianism is in harmony with the great and
clear principles of revelation; with the laws and powers
of human nature; with the dictates of the moral sense;
with the noblest instincts and highest aspirations of the
soul; and with the lights which the universe throws on
the character of its author.  We can hold this doctrine
without self-contradiction, without rebelling against our
rational and moral powers, without putting to silence the
divine monitor in the breast.  And this is an unspeakable benefit; for a religion thus coincident with reason,
conscience, and our whole spiritual being, has the foundations of universal empire in the breast; and the heart,
finding no resistance in the intellect, yields itself wholly,
cheerfully, without doubts or misgivings, to the love of
its Creator.
To Trinitarianism we object, what has always been
objected to it, that it contradicts and degrades reason,
and thus exposes the mind to the worst delusions.
Some of its advocates, more courageous than prudent,
have even recommended " the prostration' of the under



MOST FAVORABLE TO PIETY.           263
standing," as preparatory to its reception.  Its chief
doctrine is an outrage on our rational nature.  Its three
persons who constitute its God, must either be frittered
away into three unmeaning distinctions, into sounds signifying nothing; or they are three conscious agents, who
cannot, by any human art or metaphysical device, be
made to coalesce into one being; who cannot be really
viewed as one mind, having one consciousness and one
will. Now a religious system, the cardinal principle of
which offends the understanding, very naturally conforms
itself throughout to this prominent feature, and becomes
prevalently irrational. He who is compelled to defend
his faith in any particular, by the plea, that human reason
is so depraved through the fall, as to be an inadequate
judge of religion, and that God is honored by our reception of what shocks the intellect, seems to have no defence left against accumulated absurdities.  According
to these principles, the fanatic who exclaimed, " I believe, because it is impossible," had a fair title to canonization. Reason is too godlike a faculty, to be insulted
with impunity. Accordingly, Trinitarianism, as we have
seen, links itself with several degrading errors; and its
most natural alliance is with Calvinism, that cruel faith,
which, stripping God of mercy and man of power, has
made Christianity an instrument of torture to the timid,
and an object of doubt or scorn to hardier spirits.  I
repeat it, a doctrine which violates reason like the Trinity, prepares its advocates, in proportion as it is incorporated into the mind, for worse and worse delusions.  It
breaks down the distinctions and barriers between truth
mnd falsehood.  It creates a diseased taste for prodigies,
fictions, and exaggerations, for startling mysteries, and
wild dreams of enthusiasm.  It destroys the relish for




264            UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY
the simple, chaste, serene beauties of truth. Especially
when the prostration of understanding is taught as an act
of piety, we cannot wonder, that the grossest superstitions should be devoured, and that the credulity of the
multitude should keep pace with the forgeries of impost'ure and fanaticism.  The history of the Church is
the best comment on the effects of divorcing reason
from religion; and if the present age is disburdened of
many of the superstitions under which Christianity and
human nature groaned for ages, it owes its relief in no
small degree to the reinstating of reason in her longviolated rights.
The injury to religion, from irrational doctrines when
thoroughly believed, is immense. The human soul has
a unity. Its various faculties are adapted to one another.
One life pervades it; and its beauty, strength, and
growth depend on nothing so much, as on the harmony
and joint action of all its principles.  To wound and
degrade it in any of its powers, and especially in the
noble and distinguishing power of reason, is to inflict on
it universal injury. No notion is more false, than that
the heart is to thrive by dwarfing the intellect; that perplexing doctrines are the best food of piety; that religion flourishes most luxuriantly in mist and darkness.
Reason was given for God as its great object; and for
him it should be kept sacred, invigorated, clarified, protected from human usurpation, and inspired with a meek
self-reverence.
The soul never acts so effectually or joyfully, as when
all its powers and affections conspire; as when thought
and feeling, reason and sensibility, are called forth together by one great and kindling object. It will never
devote itself to God with its whole energy, whilst its




MOST FAVORABLE TO PIETY.         265
guiding faculty sees in him a being to shock and con.
found it.  We wan: a harmony in our inward nature.
We want a piety, which will join light and fervor, and
on which the intellectual power will look benignantly.
We want religion to be so exhibited, that, in the clearest
moments of the intellect, its signatures of truth will grow
brighter; that, instead of tottering, it will gather strength
and stability from the progress of the human mind.
These wants we believe to be met by Unitarian Christianity, and therefore we prize it as the best friend of
piety.
I have thus stated the chief grounds, on which I rest
the claim of Unitarianism to the honor of promoting an
enlightened, profound, and happy piety.
Am I now asked, why we prize our system, and why
we build churches for its inculcation? If I may be
allowed to express myself in the name of conscientious
Unitarians, who apply their doctrine to their own hearts
and lives, I would reply thus: We prize and would
spread our views, because we believe that they reveal
God to us in greater glory, and bring us nearer to him,
than any other. We are conscious of a deep want,
which the creation cannot'supply, the want of a Perfect
Being, on whom the strength of our love may be centred, and of an Almighty Father, in whom our weaknesses, imperfections, and sorrows may find resource;
and such a Being and Father, Unitarian Christianity sets
before us. For this we prize it above all price. We
can part with every other good. We can endure the
darkening of life's fairest prospects.  But this bright,
consoling doctrine of One God, even the Father, is
dearer than life, and we cannot let it go. - Through
w




266            UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY
this faith, every thing grows brighter to our view. Born
of such a Parent, we esteem- our existence an inestimable. gift.  We meet everywhere our Father, and his
presence is as a sun shining on our path. We see him
in his works, and hear his praise rising from every spot
which we tread. We feel him near in our solitudes, and
sometimes enjoy communion with him more tender than
human friendship.  We see him in our duties, and perform them more gladly, because they are the best tribute we can offer our Heavenly Benefactor. Even the
consciousness of sin, mournful as it is, does not subvert
our peace; for, in the mercy of God, as made manifest
in Jesus Christ, we see an inexhaustible fountain of
strength, purity, and pardon, for all who, in filial reliance, seek these heavenly gifts. - Through this faith,
we are conscious of a new benevolence springing up to
our fellow-creatures, purer and more enlarged than natural affection.  Towards all mankind we see a rich and
free love flowing from the common Parent, and, touched
by this love, we are the friends of all. We compassionate the most guilty, and would win them back to
God.-Through this faith, we receive the happiness of
an ever-enlarging hope.  There is no good too vast for
us to anticipate for the universe or for ourselves, from
such a Father as we believe in.  We hope from him,
what we deem his greatest gift, even the gift of his own
Spirit, and the happiness of advancing for ever in truth
and virtue, in power and love, in union of mind with the
Father and the Son. -We are told, indeed, that our
faith will not prove an anchor in the last hour.  But we
have known those, whose departure it has brightened;
and our experience of its power, in trial and peril, has
proved it to be equal to all the wants of human nature.




MOST FAVORABLE TO PIETY.         267
We doubt not, that, to its sincere followers, death will
be a transition to the calm, pure, joyful mansions, prepared by Christ for his disciples.  There we expect to
meet that great and good Deliverer. With the eye of
faith, we already see him looking round him with celestial love on all of every name, who have imbibed his
spirit. His spirit; his loyal and entire devotion to the
will of his Heavenly Father; his universal, unconquerable benevolence, through which he freely gave from his
pierced side his blood, his life for the salvation of the
world; this divine love, and not creeds, and names, and
forms, will then be found to attract his supreme regard.
This spirit we trust to see in multitudes of every sect
and name; and we trust, too, that they, who now reproach us, will at that day recognise, in the dreaded
Unitarian, this only badge of Christ, and will bid him
welcome to the joy of our common Lord. —I have thus
stated the views with which we have reared this building.  We desire to glorify God, to promote a purer,
nobler, happier piety. Even if we err in doctrine, we
think that these motives should shield us from reproach;
should disarm that intolerance, which would exclude us
from the church on earth, and from our Father's house
in heaven.
We end, as we began, by offering up this building tothe Only Living and True God. We have erected it
amidst our private habitations, as a remembrancer of
our Creator. We have reared it in this busy city, as a
retreat for pious meditation and prayer. We dedicate
it to the King and Father Eternal, the King of kings
and Lord of lords. We dedicate it to his Unity, to
his unrivalled and undivided Majesty.  We dedicate it
to the praise of his free, unbought, unmerited grace.
18




268 UNITARIAN CHRISTLANITY MOST FAVORABLE TO PIETY.
We dedicate it to Jesus Christ, to the memory of his
love, to the celebration of his divine virtue, to the
preaching of that truth, which he sealed with blood.
We dedicate it to the Holy Spirit, to the sanctifying
influence of God, to those celestial emanations of light
and strength, which visit and refresh the devout mind.
We dedicate it to prayers and praises, which, we trust,
will be continued and perfected in heaven. We dedicate it to social worship, to Christian intercourse, to the
communion of saints. We dedicate it to the cause of
pure morals, of public order, of temperance, uprightness, and general good will. We dedicate it to Christian admonition, to those warnings, remonstrances, and
earnest and tender persuasions, by which the sinner may
be arrested, and brought back to God. We dedicate it
to Christian consolation, to those truths which assuage
sorrow, animate penitence, and lighten the load of human
anxiety and fear. We dedicate it to the doctrine of
Immortality, to sublime and joyful hopes which reach
beyond the grave. In a word, we dedicate it to the
great work of perfecting the human soul, and fitting it
for nearer approach to its Author. Here may heart
meet heart. Here may man meet God. From this
place may the song of praise, the ascription of gratitude,
the sigh of penitence, the prayer for grace, and the holy
resolve, ascend as fragrant incense to Heaven; and,
through many generations, may parents bequeath to their
children this house, as a sacred spot, where God had
"lifted, upon them  his countenance," and given them
pledges of his everlasting love.




OBJECTIONS TO UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY
CONSIDERED.
1819.
It is due to truth, and a just deference to our fellowChristians, to take notice of objections which are currently made to our particular views of religion; nor ought
we to dismiss such objections as unworthy of attention,
on account of their supposed lightness; because what is
light to us, may weigh much with our neighbour, and truth
may suffer from obstructions which a few explanations
might remove. It is to be feared that those Christians,
who are called Unitarian, have been wanting in this duty.
WVhilst they have met the labored arguments of their opponents fully and fairly, they have overlooked the loose,
vague, indefinite objections, which float through the community, and operate more on common minds than formal
reasoning.  On some of these objections, remarks will
now be offered; and it is hoped that our plainness of
speech will not be construed into severity, nor our strictures on different systems be ascribed to a desire of retaliation. It cannot be expected, that we shall repel with
indifference, what seem to us reproaches on some of the
most important and consoling views of Christianity. Believing that the truths, which through God's good proviW*




270           OBJECTIONS TO UNITARIAN
dence we are called to maintain, are necessary to the
vindication of the Divine character, and to the prevalence
of a more enlightened and exalted piety, we are bound to
assert them earnestly, and to speak freely of the opposite
errors which now disfigure Christianity. -What, then,
are the principal objections to Unitarian Christianity?
I. It is objected to us, that we deny the Divinity of
Jesus Christ.  Now  what does this objection mean?
What are we to understand by the Divinity of Christ?
In the sense in which many Christians, and perhaps a
majority, interpret it, we do not deny it, but believe it as
firmly as themselves. We believe firmly in'the Divinity
of Christ's mission and office, that he spoke with Divine
authority, and was a bright image of the Divine perfections. We believe that God dwelt in him, manifested
himself through him, taught men by him, and communicated to him his spirit without measure. We believe
that Jesus Christ was the most glorious display, expression, and representative of God to mankind, so that in
seeing and knowing him, we see and know the invisible
Father; so that when Christ came, God visited the world
and dwelt with men more conspicuously than at any former period. In Christ's words, we hear God speaking; in
his miracles, we behold God acting; in his character and
life, we see an unsullied iniage of God's purity and love.
We believe, then, in the Divinity of Christ, as this term is
often and properly used. -How, then, it may be asked, do
we differ from other Christians? We differ in this important respect. Whilst we honor Christ as the Son, representative, and image of the Supreme God, we do not
believe him to be the Supreme God himself. We maintain,
that Christ and God are distinct beings, two beings, not one
and the same being. On this point a little repetition may
be pardoned, for many good Christians, after the controversies of ages, misunderstand the precise difference be



CHRISTIANITY CONSIDERED.         271
tween us and themselves. Trinitarianism teaches, that.
Jesus Christ is the supreme and Infinite God, and that he
and his Father are not only one in affection, counsel, and
will, but are strictly and literally one and the same being.
Now to us this doctrine is most unscriptural and irrational. We say that the Son cannot be the same being with
his own Father; that he, who was sent into the world to
save it, cannot be the living God who sent him. The language of Jesus is explicit and unqualified. " I came not
to do mine own will. "- "I came not from myself. " — " I
came from God." Now we affirm, and this is our chief
heresy, that Jesus was not and could not be the God from
whom he came, but was another being; and it amazes us
that any can resist this simple truth. The doctrine, that
Jesus, who was born at Bethlehem; who ate and drank
and slept; who suffered and was crucified; who came
from God; who prayed to God; who did God's will; and
who said, on leaving the world, "I ascend to my Father
and your Father, to my God and your God "; the doctrine that this Jesus was the Supreme God himself, and
the same being with his Father, this seems to us a contradiction to reason and Scripture so flagrant, that the simple
statement of it is a sufficient refutation. We are often
charged with degrading Christ; but if this reproach belong to any Christians, it falls, we fear, on those who accuse him of teaching a doctrine so contradictory, and so
subversive of the supremacy of our Heavenly Father.
Certainly our humble and devout Master has given no
ground for this accusation. He always expressed towards
God the reverence of a son. He habitually distinguished
himself from God. He referred to God all his powers.
He said without -limitation or reserve, "The Father is
greater than I." — " Of myself I can do nothing." If to
represent Christ as a being distinct from God, and as inferior to him, be to degrade him, then let our opponents




272            OBJECTIONS TO UNITARIAN
lay the guilt where it belongs, not on us, but on our Mlaster, whose language we borrow, in whose very words we
express our sentiments, whose words we dare not trifle
with and force from their plain sense. Our limits will not
allow us to say more; but we ask common Christians,
who have taken their opinions from the Bible, rather than
from human systems, to look honestly into their own
minds, and to answer frankly, whether they have not understood and believed Christ's divinity, in the sense maintained by us, rather than in that for which the Trinitarians
contend.
2. We proceed to another objection, and one which
probably weighs more with multitudes than any other. It
is this, that our doctrine respecting Christ takes from the
sinner the only ground of hope. It is said by our opponents, " We and all men are sinners by our very nature,
and infinitely guilty before God. The sword of divine
justice hangs over us, and hell opens beneath us; and
where shall we find a refuge but in an infinite Saviour?
We want an Infinite Atonement; and in depriving us of
this, you rob us df our hope, you tear from the Scriptures
the only doctrine which meets our wants. We may burn
our Bibles, if your interpretation be true, for our case is
desperate; we are lost for ever." In such warm and
wild language, altogether unwarranted by Scripture, yet
exceedingly fitted to work on common and terror-stricken
minds, our doctrine is constantly assailed.
Now, to this declamation, for such we esteem it, we oppose one plain request. Show us, we say, a single passage in the Bible, in which we are told that the sin of man
is infinite, and needs an infinite atonement. We find not
one. Not even a whisper of this doctrine comes to us
from the sacred writers. Let us stop a moment and weigh
this doctrine. It teaches us that man, although created
by God a frail, erring, and imperfect being, and even




CHRISTIANITY CON8WDErU            273
created with an irresistible propensity to sin, is yet regarded by the Creator as an infinite offender, meriting infinite
punishment for his earliest transgressions; and that he is
doomed to endless torment, unless an infinite Saviour appear for his rescue! How can any one, we ask, charge
on our benevolent and righteous Parent such a government of his creatures? -We maintain, that man is not
created in a condition which makes an infinite atonement
necessary; nor do we believe that any creature can fall
into a condition, from which God may not deliver him
without this rigid expedient. Surely, if an infinite satisfaction to justice were indispensable to our salvation, if
God took on him human nature for the very purpose of
offering it, and if this fact constitute the peculiar glory,
the life and essence, and the saving efficacy of the Gospel, we must find it expressed clearly, definitely, in at
least one passage in the Bible. But not one, we repeat
it, can be found there. - We maintain, further, that this
doctrine of God becoming a victim and sacrifice for his
own rebellious subjects, is as irrational as it is unscriptural. We have always supposed that atonement, if necessary, was to be made to, not by, the sovereign who has
been offended; and we cannot conceive a more unlikely
method of vindicating his authority, than that he himself
should bear the punishment which is due to transgressors
of his laws. -We have another objection. If an infinite
atonement be necessary, and if, consequently, none but
God can make it, we see not but that God must become a
sufferer, must take upon himself, our pain and woe; a
thought from which a pious mind shrinks with horror.
To escape this difficulty, we are told, that Christ suffered
as man, not as God; but if man only suffered, if only a
human and finite mind suffered, if Christ, as God, was
perfectly happy on the cross, and bore only a short and
limited pain in his human nature, where, we ask, was the
VOL. V.              34




274           OBJECTIONS TO UNITARIAN
infinite atonement? Where is the boasted hope which
this doctrine is said to give to the sinner?
The objection, that there is no hope for the sinner,
unless Christ be the infinite God, amazes us. Surely if
we have a Father in heaven, of infinite goodness and
power, we need no other infinite person to save us. The
common doctrine disparages and dishonors the only true
God, our Father, as if, without the help of a second and
a third divinity, equal to himself, he could not restore his
frail creature, man. We have not the courage of our
brethren. With the Scriptures in our hands, with the
solemn attestations which they contain to the divine Unity,
and to Christ's dependence, we dare not give to the God
and Father of Jesus an equal or rival in the glory of
originating our redemption, or of accomplishing it by underived and infinite power. -Are we asked, as we sometimes are, what is our hope, if Christ be not the supreme
God? We answer, it is the boundless and almighty
goodness of his Father and our Father; a goodness
which cannot require an infinite atonement for the sins of
a frail and limited creature. God's essential and unchangeable mercy, not Christ's infinity, is the Scriptural
foundation of a sinner's hope. In the Scriptures, our
heavenly Father is always represented as the sole original, spring, and first cause of our salvation; and let no
one presume to divide His glory with another. That
Jesus came to save us, we owe entirely to the Father's
benevolent appointment. That Jesus is perfectly adequate to the work of our salvation, is to be believed, not
because he is himself the supreme God, but because the
supreme and unerring God selected, commissioned, and
empowered him for this office.-That his death is an important means of our salvation, we gratefully acknowledge; but ascribe its efficacy to the merciful disposition
of God towards the human race. To build the hope of




CHRISTIAMTY CONSMIDRE.           275
pardon on the independent and infinite sufficiency of Jesus
Christ, is to build on an unscriptural and false foundation;
for Jesus teaches us, that of himself he can do nothing;
that all power is given to him by his Father; and that he
is a proper object of trust, because he came not of himself, or to do his own will,. but because the Father sent
him. We indeed lean on Christ, but it is because he is
"a corner-stone, chosen by God and laid by God in
Zion." God's forgiving love, declared to mankind by
Jesus Christ, and exercised through him, is the foundation of hope to the penitent, on which we primarily rest,
and a firmer the universe cannot furnish us.
3. We now proceed to another objection. We are
charred with expecting to be saved by Works, and not by
Grace. This charge may be easily despatched, and a
more groundless one cannot easily be imagined. We indeed attach great importance to Christian works, or
Christian obedience, believing that a practice or life conformed to the precepts and example of Jesus, is the great
end for which faith in him is required, and is the great
condition on which everlasting life is bestowed. We are
accustomed to speak highly of the virtues and improvements of a true Christian, rejecting with abhorrence the
idea, that they are no better than the outward Jewish
righteousness, which the Prophet called " filthy rags";
and maintaining with the Apostle, that they are "in the
sight of God, of great price." We believe that holiness
or virtue is the very image of God in the human soul, a
ray of his brightness, the best gift which he communicates
to his creatures, the highest benefit which Christ came to
confer, the only important and lasting distinction between
man and man. Still we always and earnestly maintain,
that no human virtue, no human obedience, can give a
legal claim, a right by merit, to the life and immortality
brought to light by Christ. WVe see and mourn over the




276           OBJECTIONS TO UNITARIAN
deficiencies, broken resolutions, and mixed motives of the
best men. We always affirm, that God's grace, benignity, free kindness, is needed by the most advanced Christians, and that to this alone we owe the promise in the
Gospel, of full remission, and everlasting happiness to
the penitent. None speak of mercy more constantly than
we. One of our distinctions is, that we magnify this
lovely attribute of the Deity. So accustomed are we to
insist on the infinity of God's grace and mercy, that our
adversaries often charge us with forgetting his justice;
and yet it is objected to us, that, renouncing grace, we
appeal to justice, and build our hope on the abundance
of our merit!
4. VVe now proceed to another objection often urged
against our views, or rather against those who preach
them; and it is this, that we preach morality. To meet
this objection, we beg to know what is intended by morality. Are we to understand by it, what it properly signifies, our whole duty, however made known to us, whether
by nature or revelation? Does it mean the whole extent
of those obligations which belong to us as moral beings?
Does it mean that "sober, righteous, godly life," which
our moral Governor has prescribed to us by his Son, as
the great preparation for heaven? If this be morality,
we cheerfully plead guilty to the charge of preaching it,
and of laboring chiefly and constantly to enforce it; and
believing, as we do, that all the doctrines, precepts, threatenings, and promises of the Gospel, are revealed for no
other end than to make men moral, in this true and generous sense, we hope to continue to merit this reproach.
We fear, however, that this is not the meaning of the
morality, which is said to be the burden of our preaching.
Some, at least, who thus reproach us, mean that we are
accustomed to enjoin only. a worldly and social morality,
consisting in common honesty, common kindness, and




CHRISTIANITY CONSIDERBD.         277
freedom from gross vices; neglecting to inculcate inward
purity, devotion, heaveniy-mindedness, and love to Jesus
Christ. We hope that the persons who thus accuse us
speak from rumor, and have never heard our instructions
for themselves; for the charge is false; and no one who
ever sat under our ministry can urge it, without branding
himself a slanderer. The first and great commandment,
which is to love God supremely, is recognised and enforced habitually in our preaching; and our obligations to
Jesus Christ, the friend who died for us, are urged, we
hope, not wholly without tenderness and effect.
It is but justice, however, to observe of many, that
when they reproach us with moral preaching, they do not
mean that we teach only outward decencies, but that we
do not inculcate certain favorite doctrines, which are to
them the very marrow and richness of the Gospel. When
such persons hear a sermon, be the subject what it may,
which is not seasoned with recognitions of the Trinity,
total depravity, and similar articles of faith, they call it
moral. According to this strange and unwarrantable use
of the term, we rejoice to say that we are " moral preachers "; and it comforts us that we have for our pattern,
"him who spake as man never spake," and who, in his
longest discourse, has dropped not a word about a Trinity, or inborn corruption, or special and electing grace;
and still more, we seriously doubt whether our preaching
could with propriety be called moral, did we urge these
doctrines, especially the two last; for, however warmly
they may be defended by honest men, they seem to us to
border on immorality; that is, to dishonor God, to weaken the sense of responsibility, to break the spirit, and to
loosen the restraints on guilty passion.
5. Another objection urged against us, is, that our system does not produce as much' zeal, seriousness, and piety as other views of religion. The objection it is difficult
34 *       x




278           OBJECTIONS TO UNITARIAN
to repel, except by language which will seem to be a
boasting of ourselves.  When expressed in plain language, it amounts to this; -" We Trinitarians and Calvinists are better and more pious than you Unitarians, and
consequently our system is more Scriptural than yours."
Now assertions of this kind do not strike us as very modest and humble, and we believe that truth does not require us to defend it by setting up our piety above that
of our neighbours. -This, however, we would say, that
if our zeal and devotion are faint, the fault is our own,
not that of our doctrine. We are sure that our views
of the Supreme Being are incomparably more affecting
and attractive than those which we oppose. It is the
great excellence of our system, that it exalts God, vindicates his parental attributes, and appeals powerfully to
the ingenuous principles of love, gratitude, and veneration; and when we compare it with the doctrines which
are spread around us, we feel that of all men we are
most inexcusable, if a filial piety do not spring up and
grow strong in our hearts.
Perhaps it may not be difficult to suggest some causes
for the charge, that our views do not favor seriousness
and zeal. One reason probably is, that we interpret with
much rigor those precepts of Christ, which forbid ostentation, and enjoin modesty and retirement in devotion.
WVTe dread a showy religion. We are disgusted with pretensions'to superior sanctity, that stale and vulgar way
of building up a sect.  We believe that true religion
speaks in actions more than in words, and manifests itself
chiefly in the common temper and life; in giving up the
passions to God's authority, in inflexible uprightness and
truth, in active and modest charity, in candid judgment,
and in patience under trials and injuries. We think it
no part of piety to publish its fervors, but prefer a delicacy in regard to these secrets of the soul; and hence,




CHRISTIANITY CONSIDERED.         279
to those persons who think religion is to be worn conspicuously and spoken of passionately, we may seem cold
and dead, when perhaps, were the heart uncovered, it
might be seen to be "alive to God," as truly as their
own.
Again, it is one of our principles, flowing necessarily
from our views of God, that religion is cheerful; that
where its natural tendency is not obstructed by false
theology, or a melancholy temperament, it opens the
heart to every pure and innocent pleasure. We do not
think that piety disfigures its face, or wraps itself in a
funeral pall as its appropriate garb Now, too many conceive of religion as something gloomy, and never to be
named but with an altered tone and countenance; and
where they miss these imagined signs of piety, they can
hardly believe that a sense of God dwells in the heart.
Another cause of the error in question, we believe to
be this. Our religious system excludes, or at least does
not favor, those overwhelming terrors and transports
which many think essential to piety. We do not believe in shaking and disordering men's understandings,
by excessive fear, as a preparation for supernatural grace
and immediate conversion. This we regard as a dreadful corruption and degradation of religion. Religion, we
believe, is a gradual and rational work, beginning sometimes in sudden impressions, but confirmed by reflection,
growing by the regular use of Christian means, and advancing silently to perfection. Now, because we specify
no time when we were overpowered and created anew by
irresistible impulse; because we relate no agonies of despair succeeded by miraculous light and joy, we are
thought by some to be strangers to piety; -how reasonably, let the judicious determine.
Once more; we are thought to want zeal, because our
principles forbid us to use many methods for spreading




280           OBJECTIONS TO UNITARIAN
them, which are common with other Christians. Whilst
we value highly our peculiar views, and look to them for
the best fruits of piety, we still consider ourselves as
bound to think charitably of those who doubt or deny
them; and with this conviction, we cannot enforce them
with that vehemence, positiveness, and style of menace,
which constitute much of the zeal of certain denominations;- and we freely confess that we would on no account exchange our charity for their zeal; and we trust
that the time is near, when he who holds what he deems
truth with lenity and forbearance, will be accounted more
pious than he who compasseth sea and land to make proselytes to his sect, and " shuts the gates of mercy " on all
who will not bow their understandings to his creed. -We
fear, that in these remarks we may have been unconsciously betrayed into a self-exalting spirit.  Nothing
could have drawn them from us, but the fact that a very
common method of opposing our sentiments, is to decry
the piety of those who adopt them. After all, we mean
not to deny our great deficiencies. We have nothing to
boast before God, although the cause of truth forbids us
to submit to the censoriousness of our brethren.
6. Another objection to our views, is, that they lead to
a rejection of revelation. Unitarianism has been called
" a half-way house to infidelity. " - Now, to this objection
we need not oppose general reasonings. We will state a
plain fact. It is this. A large proportion of the most
able and illustrious defenders of the truth of Christianity
have been Unitarians; and our religion has received from
them, to say the least, as important service in its conflicts
with infidelity, as from any class of Christians whatever.
From the long catalogue of advocates of Christianity
among Unitarians, we can select now but a few; but
these few are a host. The name of John Locke is familiar to every scholar. He rendered distinguished service to




CIHRISTIANITY CONSIDERED.        281
the philosophy of the human mind; nor is this his highest
praise. His writings on government and toleration contributed more than those of any other individual, to the
diffusion of free and generous sentiments through Europe
and America; and perhaps Bishop Watson was not guilty
of great exaggeration, when he said, "This great man
has done more for the establishment of pure Christianity
than any author I am acquainted with." Hv was a laborious and successful student of the Scriptures.  His
works on the "Epistles of Paul," and on the "Reasonableness of Christianity," formed an era in sacred literature; and he has the honor of having shed a new and
bright light on the darkest parts of the New Testament,
and in general on the Christian system. Now Locke, be
it remembered, was a Unitarian. -We pass to another
intellectual prodigy, -to Newton, a name which every
man of learning pronounces with reverence; for it reminds him of faculties so exalted above those of ordinary
men, that they seem designed to help our conceptions of
superior orders of being. This great man, who gained
by intuition what others reap from laborious research,
after exploring the laws of the universe, turned for light
and hope to the Bible; and although his theological works
cannot be compared with Locke's, yet in his illustrations
of the prophecies, and of Scripture chronology, and in his
criticisms on two doubtful passages,* which are among
the chief supports of the doctrine of the Trinity, he is
considered as having rendered valuable services to the
Christian cause. Newton, too, was a Unitarian. — We
are not accustomed to boast of men, or to prop our faith
by great names; for Christ, and He only, is our Master;
but it is with pleasure, that we find in our ranks the most
gifted, sagacious, and exalted minds; and we cannot but
smile, when we sometimes hear from men ana women of
f*' John v. 7; 1 Tim. iii. 16.




282           Oi939TTIOS' TO UNMAlt1AN
very limited culture, and with no advantages for enlarged
inquiry, reproachful and contemptuous remarks on a doctrine which the vast intelligence of Locke and Newton,
tfter much study of the Scriptures, and in opposition to a
prejudiced and intolerant age, received as the truth of
God. It is proper to state, that doubts have lately been
raised as to the religious opinions of Locke and Newton,
and for a very obvious reason. In these times of growing
light, their names have been found too useful to the Unitarian cause. But the long and general belief of the
Unitarianism of these illustrious men can hardly be accounted for, but by admitting the fact; and we know of
no serious attempts to set aside the proofs on which this
belief is founded.
We pass to another writer, who was one of the brightest ornaments of the Church of England and of the age
in which he lived, Dr. Samuel Clarke. In classical literature, and in metaphysical speculation, Dr. Clarke has a
reputation which needs no tribute at our hands. His sermons are an invaluable repository of Scriptural criticism;
and his work on the evidences of natural and revealed religion, has ever been considered as one of the ablest vindications of our common faith. This great man was a
Unitarian. He believed firmly that Jesus was a distinct
being from his Father, and a derived and dependent being; and he desired to bring the liturgy of his church
into a correspondence with these doctrines.
To those who are acquainted with the memorable infidel controversy in the early part of the last century, excited by the writings of Bolingbroke, Tindal, Morgan, Collins, and Chubb, it will be unnecessary to speak of the
zeal and power with which the Christian cause was maintained by learned Unitarians. But we must pass over
these, to recall a man whose memory is precious to enlightened believers; we mean Lardner, that most patient




OESTIIANI CONSMERSD.             283
and successful advocate of Christianity; who has written, we believe, more largely than any other author on
the evidences of the Gospel; from whose works later
authors have drawn as from a treasure-house; and
whose purity and mildness have disarmed the severity
and conciliated the respect of men of very different views
from his own. Lardner was a Unitarian. -Next to
Lardner, the most laborious advocate of Christianity
against the attacks of infidels, in our own day, was
Priestley; and whatever we may think of some of his
opinions, we believe that none of his opposers ever questioned the importance of his vindications of our common
faith. We certainly do not say too much, when we affirm that Unitarians have not been surpassed by any denomination in zealous, substantial service to the Christian
cause. Yet we are told that Unitarianism leads to infidelity! We are reproached with defection from that
religion, round which we have gathered in the day of its
danger, and from which, we trust, persecution and death
cannot divorce us.
It is indeed said, that instances have occurred of persons, who, having given up the Trinitarian doctrine, have
not stopped there, but have resigned one part of Christianity after another, until they have become thorough infidels. To this we answer, that such instances we have
never known; but that such should occur is not improbable, and is what we should even expect; for it is natural
that when the mind has detected one error in its creed, it
should distrust every other article, and should exchange
its blind and hereditary assent for a sweeping skepticism.
We have examples of this truth at the present moment,
both in France and Spain, where multitudes have pro.
ceeded from rejecting Popery to absolute Atheism. Now,
who of us will argue that the Catholic faith is true, because multitudes who relinquished it have also cast away




284           OBJECTIONS TO UNITARIAN
every religious principle and restraint; and if the argument be not sound on the side of Popery, how can it be
pressed into the service of Trinitarianism? The fact is,
that false and absurd doctrines, when exposed, have a
natural tendency to beget skepticism in those who received them without reflection. None are so likely to
believe too little as those who have begun with believing
too much; and hence we charge upon Trinitarianism
whatever tendency may exist in those who forsake it, to
sink gradually into infidelity.
Unitarianism does not lead to infidelity. On the contrary, its excellence is, that it fortifies faith. Unitarianism is Christianity stripped of those corrupt additions
which shock reason and our moral feelings. It is a rational and amiable system, against which no man's understanding or conscience, or charity, or piety revolts.  Can
the same be said of that system, which teaches the doctrines of three equal persons in one God, of natural and
total depravity, of infinite atonement, of special and
electing grace, and of the everlasting misery of the nonelected part of mankind? We believe that unless Christianity be purified from these corruptions, it will not be
able to bear the unsparing scrutiny to which the progress
of society is exposing it. We believe that it must be reformed, or intelligent men will abandon it. As the friends
of Christianity, and the foes of infidelity, we are therefore solicitous to diffuse what seem to us nobler and juster
views of this divine system.
7. It was our purpose to consider one more objection
to our views; namely, that they give no consolation in
sickness and death. But we have only time to express
amazement at such a charge. What! a system which
insists with a peculiar energy on the pardoning mercy of
God, on his universal and parental love, and on the doctrine of a resurrection and immortality, - such a system




CHRISTIANITY CONSIDERED.         285
unable to give comfort? It unlocks infinite springs of
consolation and joy, and gives to him who practically receives it, a living, overflowing, and unspeakable hope.
Its power to sustain the soul in death has been often
tried; and did we believe dying men to be inspired, or
that peace and hope in the last hours were God's seal to
the truth of doctrines, we should be able to settle at once
the controversy about Unitarianism. A striking example
of the power of this system in disarming death, was lately
given by a young minister in a neighbouring town,*
known to many of our readers, and singularly endeared
to his friends by eminent Christian virtue.  He was
smitten by sickness in the midst of a useful and happy
life, and sunk slowly to the grave. His religion, and it
was that which has now been defended, gave habitual
peace to his mind, and spread a sweet smile over his pale
countenance. He retained his faculties to his last hour;
and when death came, having left pious counsel to the
younger members of his family, and expressions of gratitude to his parents, he breathed out life in the language
of Jesus, — " Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." Such was the end of one who held, with an unwavering faith, the great principles which we have here
advanced; and yet our doctrine has no consolation, we
are told, for sickness and death!
We have thus endeavoured to meet objections commonly urged against our views of religion; and we have
(lone this, not to build up a party, but to promote views
of Christianity, which seem to us particularly suited to
strengthen men's faith in it, and to make it fruitful of
good works and holy lives. Christian virtue, Christian
holiness, love to Fod and man, these are all which we
* Rev. John E. Abbot, of Salem. This tract was first published in 1819
in the " Christian Disciple".
35




286          OBJECTIONS, &ec., CONSIDERED.
think worth contending for; and these we believe to be
intimately connected with the system now maintained. If
in this we err, may God discover our error, and disap)point our efforts. We ask no success, but what he may
approve, - no proselytes but such as will be made better,
purer, happier by the adoption of our views.




THE MORAL ARGUMENT AGAINST
CALVINISM,
Illustrated in a Review of a Work entitled " A GENERAL VIEW
OF THE DOCTRINES OF CHRISTIANITY, designed more especially for the Edification and Instruction of Families. Boston.
1809."
THE work, of which we have prefixed the title to this
article, was published several years ago, and has beer,
read by many among us with pleasure and profit. BI
it is not known as widely as it should be, and we wisn
to call to it the notice which it merits.  It is not an
original work, but was compiled chiefly from the writings of the Rev. Robert Fellowes, whose name is
probably known to most of our readers. The title we
think not altogether happy, because it raises an expectation which the book does not answer. We should
expect from it a regular statement of the great truths
of our religion; but we find, what at present is perhaps
as useful, a vindication of Christianity from the gross
errors, which Calvinism has labored to identify with this
divine system. This may easily be supposed from the
table of contents.  The book professes to treat of the
following subjects:-  The nature of religion and the
mistakes that occur on that subject; the free-agency
19




288            THE MORAL ARGUMENT
and accountableness of man; the fall of Adam, and
original sin; the doctrine of faith in general, and' of
religious faith in particular; the doctrine of works; the
doctrine of regeneration; the doctrine of repentance;
the doctrine of grace; the doctrine of election and reprobation; the doctrine of perseverance; the visiting
of the iniquities of the fathers upon the children; and
the sin against the Holy Ghost. - By those, who are
acquainted with the five thorny points of Calvinism,
the design of this compilation will be sufficiently understood from the enumeration of topics now given;
and few designs are more praiseworthy, than to free
Christianity from the reproach brought upon it by that
system.
The work under review is professedly popular in its
style and mode of discussion. It lhas little refined and
elaborate reasoning, but appeals to the great moral principles of human nature, and to the general strain of the
Scriptures. It expresses strongly and without circumlocution the abhorrence with which every mind, uncorrupted by false theology, must look on Calvinism; and
although some of its delineations may be overcharged,
yet they are substantially correct, and their strength is
their excellence.  The truth is, that nothing is so necessary on this subject as to awaken moral feeling in
men's breasts.  Calvinism  owes its perpetuity to the
influence of fear in palsying the moral nature. Men's
minds and consciences are subdued by terror, so that
they dare not confess, even to themselves, the shrinking, which they feel, from the unworthy views which
this system  gives of God; and, by thus smothering
their just abhorrence, they gradually extinguish it, and
even come to vindicate in God what would disgrace




AGAINST CALVNISMo             289
his creatures.  A voice of power and solemn warning
is needed to rouse them from this lethargy, to give them
a new and a juster dread, the dread of incurring God's
displeasure, by making him odious, and exposing religion to insult and aversion. -  In the present article,
we intend to treat this subject with great freedom.  But
we beg that it may be understood that by Calvinism we
intend only the peculiarities or distinguishing features
of that system. We would also have it remembered,
that these peculiarities form a small part of the religious
faith of a Calvinist. He joins with them the general,
fundamental, and most important truths of Christianity,
by which they are always neutralized in a greater or
less degree, and in some cases nullified. Accordingly
it has been our happiness to see in the numerous body
by which they are professed, some of the brightest examples of Christian virtue. Our hostility to the doctrine
does not extend to its advocates. In bearing our strongest testimony against error, we do not the less honor
the moral and religious worth, with which it is often
connected.
The book under review will probably be objected
to by theologians, because it takes no notice of a distinction, invented by Calvinistic  metaphysicians, for
rescuing their doctrines from  the charge of aspersing
God's equity and goodness.  We refer to the distinction between natural and moral inability, a subtilty
which may be thought to deserve some attention, because it makes such a show in some of the principal
books of this sect.  But, with due deference to its defenders, it seems to us groundless and idle, a distinction
without a difference. An inability to do our duty, which
is born with us, is to all intents and according to the
Y




290             THE MORAL ARGLMENT
established meaning of the word, natural.  Call it mor~
al, or what you please, it is still a part of the nature
which our Creator gave us, and to suppose that he punishes us for it, because it is an inability seated in the
will, is just as absurd, as to suppose him to punish us
for a weakness of sight or of a limb. Common people
cannot understand this distinction, cannot split this hair;
and it is no small objection to Calvinism, that, according to its ablest defenders, it can only be reconciled to
God's perfections, by a metaphysical subtilty, which the
mass of people cannot comprehend.
If we were to speak as critics of the style of this
book, we should say, that, whilst generally clear, and
sometimes striking, it has the faults of the style which
was very current not many years ago in this country,
and which, we rejoice to say, is giving place to a better. The style to which we refer, and which threatened
to supplant good writing in this country, intended to
be elegant, but fell into jejuneness and insipidity.  It
delighted in words and arrangements of words, which
were little soiled by common use, and mistook a spruce
neatness for grace. We had a Procrustes' bed for sentences, and there seemed to be a settled war between
the style of writing and the free style of conversation.
Times we think have changed. Men have learned more
to write as they speak, and are ashamed to dress up
familiar thoughts, as if they were just arrived from a
far country, and could not appear in public without a
foreign and studied attire. They have learned that commor. words are common, precisely because most fitted to
express real feeling and strong conception, and that the
circuitous, measured phraseology, which was called elegance, was but the parade of weakness.  They have




AGAINST CALVINISM.            291
learned that words are the signs of thought, and worth.
less counterfeits without it, and that style is good, when,
instead of being anxiously cast into a mould, it seems a
free and natural expression of thought, and gives to us
with power the workings of the author's mind.
We have been led to make these remarks on the
style which in a degree marks the book before us, from
a persuasion, that this mode of writing has been particularly injurious to religion, and to rational religion.  It
has crept into sermons perhaps more than into any other
compositions, and has imbued them with that soporific
quality, which they have sometimes been found to possess
in an eminent degree. Howv many hearers have been
soothed by a smooth, watery flow of words, a regular
chime of sentences, and elegantly rocked into repose i
We are aware, that preachers, above all writers, are
excusable for this style, because it is the easiest; and,
having too much work to do, they must do it of course
in the readiest way. But we mourn the necessity, and
mourn still more the effect. —It gives us great pleasure
to say, that, in this particular, we think we perceive an
improvement taking place in this region.  Preaching is
becoming more direct, aims more at impression, and
seeks the nearest way to men's hearts and consciences.
We often hear from the pulpit strong thought in plain
and strong language. It is hoped, from the state of
society, that we shall not fly from one extreme to another, and degenerate into coarseness; but perhaps even
this is a less evil than tameness and insipidity.
To return; the principal argument against Calvinism,
in the General View of Christian Doctrines, is the moral argument, or that which is drawn from the inconsistency of the system with the divine perfections. It is
19*




292             THE MORAL ARGUIENRT
plain, that a doctrine, which contradicts our best ideas
of goodness and justice, cannot come from the just and
good God, or be a true representation of his character.
This moral argument has always been powerful to the
pulling down of the strong-holds of Calvinism. Even
in the dark period, when this system was shaped and
finished at Geneva, its advocates often writhed under
the weight of it; and we cannot but deem it a mark of
the progress of society, that Calvinists are more and
more troubled with the palpable repugnance of their
doctrines to God's nature, and accordingly labor to soften and explain them, until in many cases the name only
is retained. If the stern reformer of Geneva could lift
up his head, and hear the mitigated tone, in which some
of his professed followers dispense his fearful doctrines,
we fear, that he could not lie down in peace, until he
had poured out his displeasure on their cowardice and
degeneracy.  He would tell them, with a frown, that
moderate Calvinism was a solecism, a contradiction in
terms, and would bid them in scorn to join their real
friend, Arminius. Such is the power of public opinion
and of an improved state of society on creeds, that
naked, undisguised Calvinism is not very fond of showing itself, and many of consequence know imperfectly
what it means. What then is the system against which
the View of Christian Doctrines is directed?
Calvinism teaches, that, in consequence of Adam's
sin in eating the forbidden fruit, God brings into life all
his posterity with a nature wholly corrupt, so that they
are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to
all that is spiritually good, and wholly inclined to all
evil, and that continually.  It teaches, that all man,
kind, having fallen in Adam, are under God's wrath




AGAINST CALVIMNIS              293
and curse, and so made liable to all miseries in this
life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever.
It teaches, that, from this ruined race, God, out of his
mere good pleasure, has elected a certain number to
be saved by Christ, not induced to this choice by any
foresight of their faith or good works, but wholly by
his free grace and love; and that, having thus predestinated them to eternal life, he renews and sanctifies
them by his almighty and special agency, and brings
them into a state of grace) from which they cannot fall
and perish.  It teaches, that the rest of mankind he is
pleased to pass over, and to ordain them to dishonor
and wrath for their sins, to the honor of his justice and
power; in other words, he leaves the rest to the corruption in which they were born, withholds the grace which
is necessary to their recovery, and condemns them to
"most grievous torments in soul and body without intermission in hell-fire for ever."  Such is Calvinism, as
gathered from the most authentic records of the doctrine. Whoever will consult the famous Assembly's
Catechisms and Confession, will see the peculiarities
of the system in all their length and breadth of deformity. A man of plain sense, whose spirit has not been
broken to this creed by education or terror, will think
that it is not necessary for us to travel to heathen countries, to learn how mournfully the human mind may
misrepresent the Deity.
The moral argument against Calvinism, of which we
have spoken, must seem irresistible to common and unperverted minds, after attending to the brief statement
now given. It will be asked with astonishment. How
is it possible that men can hold these doctrines and yet
maintain God's goodness and equity? What principles
bY




294            TE  itOIrAL AGMIMEM
can be more contradictory? - To remove the dbjectieor
to Calvinism, which is drawn from its repugnance to the
Divine perfections, recourse has been had, as before observed, to the distinction between natural and moral
inability, and to other like subtilties. But a more common reply, we conceive, has been drawn from the weakness and imperfection of the human mind, and from its
incapacity of comprehending God. Calvinists will tell
us, that, because a doctrine opposes our convictions of
rectitude, it is not necessarily false; that apparent are
not always real inconsistencies; that God is an infinite
and incomprehensible being, and not to be tried by our
ideas of fitness and morality; that we bring their system to an incompetent tribunal, when we submit it to
the decision of human reason and conscience; that we
are weak judges of what is right and wrong, good and
evil, in the Deity; that the happiness of the universe
may require an administration of human affairs which
is very offensive to limited understandings; that we must
follow revelation, not reason or moral feeling, and must
consider doctrines, which shock us in revelation, as awful mysteries, which are dark through our ignorance, and
which time will enlighten. How little, it is added, can
man explain or understand God's ways. How inconsistent the miseries of life appear with goodness in the
Creator. How prone, too, have men always been to
confound good and evil, to call the just, unjust.  How
presumptuous is it in such a being, to sit in judgment
upon God, and to question the rectitude of the divine
administration, because it shocks his sense of rectitude.
Such we conceive to be a fair statement of the manner
in which the Calvinist frequently meets the objection,
that his system is at war with God's attributes.  Such




AGAINST CALVINISM.             295
the reasoning by which the voice of conscience and
nature is stifled, and men are reconciled to doctrines,
which, if tried by the established principles of morality,
would be rejected with horror. On this reasoning we
purpose to offer some remarks; and we shall avail ourselves of the opportunity, to give our views of the confidence wohich is due to our rational and moral faculties
in religion.
That God is infinite, and that man often errs, we
affirm as strongly as our Calvinistic brethren.  We
desire to think humbly of ourselves, and reverently of
our Creator. In the strong language of Scripture, "We
now see through a glass darkly." ~~ We cannot by
searching find out God unto perfection. Clouds and
darkness are round about him. His judgments are a
great deep." God is great and good beyond utterance
or thought.  We have Dn  disposition to idolize our own
powers, or to penetrate the secret counsels of the Deity.
But, on the other hand, we think it ungrateful to disparage the powers which our Creator has given us, or
to question the certainty or importance of the knowledge, which he has seen fit to place within our reach.
There is an affected humility, we think, as dangerous
as pride. We may rate our faculties too meanly, as
well as too boastingly.  The worst error in religion,
after all, is that of the skeptic, who records triumphantly
the weaknesses and wanderings of the human intellect,
and maintains, that no trust is due to the decisions of
this erring reason. We by no means conceive, that
man's greatest danger springs from pride of understanding, though we think as badly of this vice as other Christians.  The history of the church proves, that mei mnay
trust their faculties too little as well as too much, and




296            THE MORAL ARGUMENT
that the timidity, which shrinks from investigation, has
injured the mind, and betrayed the interests of Christianity, as much as an irreverent boldness of thought.
It is an important truth, which, we apprehend, has
not been sufficiently developed, that the ultimate reliance of a human being is and must be on his own mind.
To confide in God, we must first confide in the faculties
by which He is apprehended, and by which the proofs
of his existence are weighed.  A trust in our ability to
distinguish between truth and falsehood is implied in
every act of belief; for to question this ability would of
necessity unsettle all belief.  We cannot take a step in
reasoning or action without a secret reliance on our own
minds.  Religion in particular implies, that we have
understandings endowed and qualified for the highest
employments of intellect.  In affirming the existence
and perfections of God, we suppose and affirm the existence in ourselves of faculties which correspond to
these sublime objects, and which are fitted to discern
them. Religion is a conviction and an act of the human soul, so that, in denying confidence to the one, we
subvert the truth and claims of the other.  Nothing is
gained to piety by degrading human nature, for in the
competency of this nature to know and judge of God
all piety has its foundation.  Our proneness to err instructs us indeed to use our powers with great caution,
but not to contemn and neglect them.  The occasional
abuse of our faculties, be it ever so enormous, does not
prove them unfit for their highest end, which is, to form
clear and consistent views of God. Because our eyes
sometimes fail or deceive us, would a wise man pluck
them out, or cover them with a bandage, and choose to
walk and work in the dark? or, because they cannot




AGAINST CALVINISM.            297
distinguish distant objects, can they discern nothing clear3ly in their proper sphere, and is sight to be pronounced
a fallacious guide? Men who, to support a creed, would
shake our trust in the calm, deliberate, and distinct decisions of our rational and moral powers, endanger religion more than its open foes, and forge the deadliest
weapon for the infidel.
It is true that God is an infinite being, and also true,
that his powers and perfections, his purposes and operations, his ends and means, being unlimited, are incomprehensible.  In other words, they cannot be wholly taken in or embraced by the human mind.  In the strong
and figurative language of Scripture, we I know nothing" of God's ways; that is, we know very few  of
them. But this is just as true of the most advanced
archangel as of man. In comparison with the vastness
of God's system, the range of the highest created intellect is narrow; and, in this particular, man's lot does
not differ from that of his elder brethren in heaven.
We are both confined in our observation and experience
to a little spot in the creation.  But are an angel's faculties worthy of no trust, or is his knowledge uncertain,
because he learns and reasons from a small part of
God's works? or are his judgments respecting the Creator to be charged with presumption, because his views
do not spread through the whole extent of the universe?
We grant that our understandings cannot stretch beyond
a very narrow sphere. But still the lessons, which we
learn within this sphere, are just as sure, as if it were
indefinitely enlarged. Because much is unexplored, we
are not to suspect what we have actually discovered.
Knowledge is not the less real, because confined. The
man, who has never set foot beyond his native village,




298             THE MORAL ARGUMENT
knows its scenery and inhabitants as undoubtingly, as if
he had travelled to the poles. We indeed see very little; but that little is as true, as if every thing else were
seen; and our future discoveries must agree with and
support it.  Should the whole order and purposes of
the universe be opened to us, it is certain that nothing
would be disclosed, which would in any degree shake
our persuasion, that the earth is inhabited by rational
and moral beings, who are authorized to expect from
their Creator the most benevolent and equitable government.  No extent of observation can unsettle those
primary and fundamental principles of moral truth, which
we derive from our highest faculties operating in the relations in which God has fixed us. In every region and
period of the universe, it will be as true as it is now on
the earth, that knowledge and power are the measures
of responsibility, and that natural incapacity absolves
from guilt. These and other moral verities, which are
among our clearest perceptions, would, if possible, be
strengthened, in proportion as our powers should be enlarged; because harmony and consistency are the characters of God's administration, and all our researches
into the universe only serve to manifest its unity, and to
show a wider operation of the laws which we witness
and experience on earth.
We grant that God is incomprehensible, in the sense
already given.  But he is not therefore unintelligible,
and this distinction we conceive to be important. We
do not pretend to know the whole nature and properties
of God, but still we can form some clear ideas of him,
and can reason from these ideas as justly as from any
other.  The truth is, that we cannot be said to comprehend any being whatever, not the simplest plant or




AGAINST CALVINISM.             299
animal.  All have hidden properties.  Our knowledge
of all is limited.  But have we therefore no distinct
ideas of the objects around us, and is all our reasoning
about them  unworthy of trust?  Because God is infinite, his name is not therefore a mere sound.  It is a
representative of some distinct conceptions of our Creator; and these conceptions are as sure, and important,
and as proper materials for the reasoning faculty, as
they would be if our views were indefinitely enlarged.
We cannot indeed trace God's goodness and rectitude
through the whole field of his operations; but we know
the essential nature of these attributes, and therefore
can often judge what accords with and opposes them.
God's goodness, because infinite, does not cease to be
goodness, or essentially differ from the same attribute
in man; nor does justice change its nature, so that it
cannot be understood, because it is seated in an unbounded mind. There have indeed been philosophers,
" falsely so called," who have argued from the unlimited
nature of God, that we cannot ascribe to him justice
and other moral attributes, in any proper or definite
sense of those words; and the inference is plain, that
all religion or worship, wanting an intelligible object,
must be a misplaced, wasted offering. This doctrine
from the infidel we reject with abhorrence; but something, not very different, too often reaches us from the
mistaken Christian, who, to save his creed, shrouds the
Creator in utter darkness.  In opposition to both, we
maintain that God's attributes are intelligible, and that
we can conceive as truly of his goodness and justice, as
of these qualities in men.  In fact, these qualities are
essentially the same in God and man, though differing
in degree, in purity, and in extent of operation. We
20




300             THE MORAL ARGUMENT
know not and we cannot conceive of any other justice
or goodness, than we learn from our own nature; and
if God have not these, he is altogether unknown to us
as a moral being; he offers nothing for esteem and love
to rest upon; the objection of the infidel is just, that
worship is wasted; " We worship we know not what."
It is asked, On what authority do we ascribe to God
goodness and rectitude, in the sense in which these attributes belong to men, or how can we judge of the
nature of attributes in the mind of the Creator? We
answer by asking, How is it that we become acquainted
with the mind of a fellow-creature? The last is as invisible, as removed from immediate inspection, as the
first. Still we do not hesitate to speak of the justice
and goodness of a neighbour; and how do we gain our
knowledge? We answer, by witnessing the effects, operations, and expressions of these attributes.  It is a
law of our nature to argue from the effect to the cause,
from the action to the agent, from the ends proposed
and from the means of pursuing them, to the character
and disposition of the being in whom we observe them.
By these processes, we learn the invisible mind and
character of man; and by the same we ascend to the
mind of God, whose works, effects, operations, and
ends are as expressive and significant of justice and
goodness, as the best and most decisive actions of men.
If this reasoning be sound (and all religion rests upon
it,) then God's justice and goodness are intelligible attributes, agreeing essentially with the same qualities in
ourselves.  Their operation indeed is infinitely wider,
and they are employed in accomplishing not only immediate but remote and unknown ends. Of consequence,
we must expect that many parts of the divine adminis



AGAINST CALVINISM.           301
tration will be obscure, that is, will not produce immediate good, and an immediate distinction between virtue
and vice. But still the unbounded operation of these
attributes does not change their nature.  They are still
the same, as if they acted in the narrowest sphere. We
can still determine in many cases what does not accord
with them. We are particularly sure that those es3ential principles of justice, which enter into and even form
our conception of this attribute, must pervade every
province and every period of the administration of a
just being, and that to suppose the Creator in any instance to forsake them, is to charge him directly with unrighteousness, however loudly the lips may compliment
his equity.
" But is it not presumptuous in man," it is continually
said, " to sit in judgment on God?"  We answer, that
to " sit in judgment on God" is an ambiguous and offensive phrase, conveying to common minds the ideas of
irreverence, boldness, familiarity. The question would
be better stated thus;-Is it not presumptuous in man
to judge concerning God, and concerning what agrees
or disagrees with his attributes? We answer confidently, No; for in many cases we are competent and even
bound to judge. And we plead first in our defence the
Scriptures. How continually does God in his word
appeal to the understanding and moral judgment of man.
0' O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge,
I pray you, between me and my vineyard. What could
have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not
done in it." We observe, in the next place, that all
religion supposes and is built on judgments passed by us
on God and on his operations. Is it not, for example,
our duty and a leading part of piety to praise God:
z




302             THE MORAL ARGUMENT
And what is praising a being, but to adjudge and ascribe
to him just and generous deeds and motives? And of
what value is praise, except from those, who are capable of distinguishing between actions which exalt and
actions which degrade the character? Is it presumption to call God excellent? And what is this, but to
refer his character to a standard of excellence, to try it
by the established principles of rectitude, and to pronounce its conformity to them; that is, to judge of God
and his operations?
We are presumptuous, we are told, in judging of our
Creator. But he himself has made this our duty, in
giving us a moral faculty; and to decline it, is to violate
the primary law of our nature. Conscience, the sense
of right, the power of perceiving moral distinctions, the
power of discerning between justice and injustice, excellence and baseness, is the highest faculty given us
by God, the whole foundation of our responsibility, and
our sole capacity for religion. Now we are forbidden
by this faculty to love a being, who wants, or who fails
to discover, moral excellence. God, in giving us conscience, has implanted a principle within us, which forbids us to prostrate ourselves before mere power, or to
offer -praise where we do not discover worth; a principle, which challenges our supreme homage for supreme
goodness, and which absolves us from guilt, when we
abhor a severe and unjust administration. Our Creator has consequently waved his own claims on our veneration and obedience, any farther than he discovers
himself to us in characters of benevolence, equity, and
righteousness.  He rests his authority on the perfect
coincidence of his will and government with those great
and fundamental principles of morality written on our




AGAINST CALVINISM.             303
souls.  He desires no worship, but that which springs
from the exercise of our moral faculties upon his character, from our discernment and persuasion of his rectitude and goodness. He asks, he accepts, no love or
admiration but from those, who can understand the nature and the proofs of moral excellence.
There are two or three striking facts, which show
that there is no presumption in judging of God, and
of what agrees or disagrees with his attributes.  The
first fact is, that the most intelligent and devout men
have often employed themselves in proving the existence
and perfections of God, and have been honored for this
service to the cause of religion. Now we ask, what is
meant by the proofs of a divine perfection? They are
certain acts, operations, and methods of government,
which are proper and natural effects, signs, and expressions of this perfection, and from which, according to
the established principles of reasoning, it may be inferred.  To prove the divine attributes is to collect and
arrange those works and ways of the Creator, which
accord with these attributes, correspond to them, flow
from them, and express them. Of consequence,' to
prove them requires and implies the power of judging
of what agrees with them, of discerning their proper
marks and expressions.  All our treatises on natural
theology rest on this power. Every argument in support of a divine perfection is an exercise of it.  To
deny it, is to overthrow all religion.
Now if such are the proofs of God's goodness and
justice, and if we are capable of discerning them, then
we are not necessarily presumptuous, when we say of
particular measures ascribed to him, that they are inconsistent with his attributes, and cannot belong to him.
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304             THE MORAL ARGUMENT
There is plainly no more presumption in affirming of
certain principles of administration, that they oppose
God's equity and would prove him unrighteous, than to
affirm of others, that they prove him upright and good.
1here are signs and evidences of injustice as unequivocal as those of justice; and our faculties are as adequate
to the perception of the last as of the first.  If they
nmust not be trusted in deciding what would prove God
unjust, they are unworthy of confidence when they gather evidences of his rectitude; and of course, the whole
structure of religion must fall.
It is no slight objection to the mode of reasoning
adopted by the Calvinist, that it renders the proof of
the divine attributes impossible.  When we object to
his representations of the divine government, that they
shock our'clearest ideas of goodness and justice, he
replies, that still they may be true, because we know
very little of God, and what seems unjust to man, may
be in the Creator the perfection of rectitude. Now
this weapon has a double edge. If the strongest marks
and expressions of injustice do not prove God unjust,
then the strongest marks of the opposite character do
not prove him righteous.  If the first do not deserve
confidence, because of our narrow views of God, neither do the last. If, when more shall be known, the
first may be found consistent with perfect rectitude,
so, when more shall be known, the last may be found
consistent with infinite malignity and oppression.  This
reasoning of our opponents casts us on an ocean of
awful uncertainty. Admit it, and we have no proofs
of God's goodness and equity to rely upon. What we
call proofs, may be mere appearances, which a wider
knowledge of God may reverse. The future may show




AGAINST CALVINISM.             305
us, that the very laws and works of the Creator, from
which we now infer his kindness, are consistent with
the most determined purpose to spread infinite misery
and guilt, and were intended, by raising hope, to add
the agony of disappointment to our other woes. Why
may not these anticipations, horrible as they are, be
verified by the unfolding of God's system, if our reasonings about his attributes are rendered so very uncertain, as Calvinism teaches, by the infinity of his
nature?
We have mentioned one fact to show that it is not
presumptuous to judge of God, and of what accords
with and opposes his attributes; namely, the fact that
his attributes are thought susceptible of proof.  Another
fact, very decisive on this point, is, that Christians of
all classes have concurred in resting the truth of Christianity in a great degree on its internal evidence, that
is, on its accordance with the perfections of God. How
common is it to hear from religious teachers, that Christianity is worthy of a good and righteous being, that it
bears the marks of a divine original. Volumes have
been written on its internal proofs, on the coincidence
of its purposes and spirit with our highest conceptions
of God.  How  common too is it, to say of other
religions, that they are at war with the divine nature,
with God's rectitude and goodness, and that we want no
other proofs of their falsehood.  And what does all this
reasoning imply? Clearly this, that we are capable of
determining, in many cases, what is worthy and what is
unworthy of God, what accords with and what opposes
his moral attributes.  Deny us this capacity, and it
would be no presumption against a professed revelation,
that it ascribed to the Supreme Being the most detestz*




306             THE MORAL ARGUMENT
able practices.  It might still be said in support of such
a system, that it is arrogant in man to determine what
kind of revelation suits the character of the Creator.
Christianity then leans, at least in part, and some think
chiefly, on internal evidence, or on its agreeableness to
God's moral attributes; and is it probable, that this
religion, having this foundation, contains representations
of God's government which shock our ideas of rectitude, and that it silences our objections by telling us,
that we are no judges of what suits or opposes his infinite nature?
We will name one more fact to show, that it is not
presumptuous to form these judgments of the Creator.
All Christians are accustomed to reason from  God's
attributes, and to use them  as tests of doctrines.  In
their controversies with one another, they spare no
pains. to show, that their particular views accord best
with the divine perfections, and every sect labors to
throw on its adversaries the odium of maintaining what
is unworthy of God.  Theological writings are filled
with such arguments; and yet we, it seems, are guilty
of awful presumption, when we deny of God principles
of administration, against which every pure and good
sentiment in our breasts rises in abhorrence.
We shall conclude this discussion with an important
inquiry. If God's justice and goodness are consistent
with those operations and modes of government, which
Calvinism ascribes to him, of what use is our belief in
these perfections? What expectations can we found
upon them? If it consist with divine rectitude to consign to everlasting misery, beings who have come guilty
and impotent from his hand, we beg to know what interest we have in this rectitude, what pledge of good




AGAINST CALVINISM.             307
it contains, or what evil can be imagined which may
not be its natural result? If justice and goodness, whtn
stretched to infinity, take such strange forms and appear
in such unexpected and apparently inconsistent operations, how  are we sure, that they will not give up the
best men to ruin, and leave the universe to the powers
of darkness?  Such results indeed seem  incompatible
with these attributes, but not more so than the acts attributed to God by Calvinism. Is it said, that the divine
faithfulness is pledged in the Scriptures to a happier issue
of things? But why should not divine faithfulness transcend our poor understandings as much as divine goodness and justice, and why may not God, consistently
with this attribute, crush every hope which his word has
raised?  Thus all the divine perfections are lost to us
as grounds of encouragement and consolation, if we maintain, that their infinity places. them beyond our judgment, and that we must expect from themi measures and
operations entirely opposed to what seems to us most
accordant with their nature.
We have thus endeavoured to show, that the testimony
of our rational and moral faculties against Calvinism is
worthy of trust. -We know that this reasoning will be
nlet by the question, What then becomes of Christianity? for this religion plainly teaches the doctrines you
have condemned. Our answer is ready. Christianity
contains no such doctrines. Christianity, reason, and conscience are perfectly harmonious on the subject under
discussion. Our religion, fairly- construed, gives no countenance to that system, which has arrogated to itself the
distinction of Evangelical. WVTe cannot, however, enter
this field at present. We will only say, that the general
spirit of Christianity affords a very strong presumption,




308             THE MORAL ARGUMENT
that its records teach no such doctrines as we have op.
Posed. This spirit is love, charity, benevolence. Christianity, we all agree, is designed to manifest God as perlect benevolence, and to bring men to love and imitate
him. Now is it probable, that a religion, having this object, gives views of the Supreme Being, from which our
moral convictions and benevolent sentiments shrink with
horror, and which, if made our pattern, would convert
us into monsters! It is plain, that, were a human parent
to form himself on the universal Father, as described
by Calvinism, that is, were he to bring his children into
life totally depraved, and then to pursue them with endless punishment, we should charge him with a cruelty
not surpassed in the annals of the world; or, were a sovereign to incapacitate his subjects in any way whatever
for obeying his laws, and then to torture them in dungeons of perpetual woe, we should say, that history records no darker crime.  And is it probable, that a
religion, which aims to attract and assimilate us to God,
considered as love, should hold him up to us in these
heart-withering characters? We may confidently expect to find in such a system the brightest views of the
divine nature; and the same objections lie against interpretations of its records, which savour of cruelty
and injustice, as lie against the literal sense of passages
which ascribe to God bodily wants and organs. Let
the Scriptures be read with a recollection of the spirit
of Christianity, and with that modification of particular
texts by this general spirit, which a just criticism  requires, and Calvinism  would no more enter the mind
of the reader, than Popery, we had almost said, than
Heathenism.
In the remarks now niade, it will be seen, we hope,




AGAINST CALVINISM              309
that we have aimed to expose doctrines, not to condemn
their professors.  It is true, that men are apt to think
themselves assailed, when their system  only is called
to account.  But we have no foe but error.  We are
less and less disposed to measure the piety of others by
peculiarities of faith.  Men's characters are determined,
not by the opinions which they profess, but by those on
which their thoughts habitually fasten, which recur to
them most forcibly, and which color their ordinary views
of God and duty. The creed of habit, imitation, or
fear, may be defended stoutly, and yet have little practical influence. The mind, when compelled by education or other circumstances to receive irrational doctrines, has yet a power of keeping them, as it were, on
its surface, of excluding them from its depths, of refusing to incorporate them with its own being; and, when
burdened with a mixed, incongruous system, it often
discovers a sagacity, which reminds us of the instinct
of inferior animals, in selecting the healthful and nutritious portions, and in making them its daily food. Accordingly the real faith often corresponds little with that
which is professed.  It often happens, that, through the
progress of the mind in light and virtue, opinions, once
central, are gradually thrown outward, lose their vitality,
and cease to be principles of action, whilst through habit
they are defended as articles of faith.  The words of
the creed survive, but its advocates sympathize with it
little more than its foes.  These remarks are particularly applicable to the present subject. A large number,
perhaps a majority of those, who surname themselves
with the name of Calvin, have little more title to it than
ourselves. They keep the name, and drop the principles which it signifies. They adhere to the system as




310             THE MORAL ARGUMEMT
a whole, out shrink from all its parts and distinguishing
points. This silent but real defection from Calvinism
is spreading more and more widely. The grim features
of this system are softening, and its stern spirit yielding
to conciliation and charity. We beg our readers to
consult for themselves the two Catechisms and the Confession of the Westminster Assembly, and to compare
these standards of Calvinism, with what now bears its
name. They will rejoice, we doubt not, in the triumphs
of truth. With these views, we have no disposition to
disparage the professors of the system which we condemn, although we believe that its influence is yet so
extensive and pernicious as to bind us to oppose it.
Calvinism, we are persuaded, is giving place to better views. It has passed its meridian, and is sinking,
to rise no more. It has to contend with foes more formidable than theologians, with foes, from whom it cannot shield itself in mystery and metaphysical subtilties,
we mean with the progress of the human mind, and
with the progress of the spirit of the Gospel.  Society
is going forward in intelligence and charity, and of
course is leaving the theology of the sixteenth century
behind it. We hail this revolution of opinion as a most
auspicious event to the Christian cause. We hear much
at present of efforts to spread the Gospel.  But Christianity is gaining more by the removal of degrading errors, than it would by armies of missionaries who should
carry with them a corrupted form of the religion. We
think the decline of Calvinism one of the most encouraging facts in our passing history; for this system, by
outraging conscience and reason, tends to array these
high faculties against revelation.  Its errors are peculiarly mournful, because they relate to the character of




AGAINST CALVINISM.            311
God.  It darkens and stains his pure nature; spoils his
character of its sacredness, loveliness, glory; and thus
quenches the central light of the universe, makes existence a curse, and the extinction of it a consummation
devoutly to be wished. We now speak of the peculiarities of this system, and of their natural influence, when
not counteracted, as they always are in a greater or less
degree, by better views, derived from the spirit and
plain lessons of Christianity.
We have had so much to do with our subject, that
we have neglected to make the usual extracts from the
book which we proposed to review. We earnestly wish,
that a work, answering to the title of this, which should
give us "c a general view of Christian doctrines," might
be undertaken by a powerful hand. Next to a good
commentary on the Scriptures, it would be the best
service which could be rendered to Christian truth.








LETTER ON CATHOLICISM,
TO THE
EDITOR OF THE "WESTERN MESSENGER,"
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCZY.
AA








ON CATHOLICISM.
BOSTON, June, 1836.
MY DEAR SIR,
I have received your letter, expressing a very earnest
desire that I would make some contribution to the pages
of the " Western  Messenger."  Your appeal is too
strong to be resisted.  I feel that I must send you
something, though circumstances, which I cannot control, do not allow me to engage in any elaborate discussion. I have therefore resolved to write you a letter,
with the same freedom which I should use, if writing
not for the public, but to a friend.  Perhaps it may
meet the wants, and suit the frank spirit of the WVest,
more than a regular essay.  But judge for yourself, and
do what you will with my hasty thoughts.
I begin with expressing my satisfaction in your having
planted yourself in the West. I am glad for your own
sake, as well as for the sake of the cause you have
adopted.  I say, your own sake.  You have chosen
the good part.  The first question to be asked by a
young man entering into active life, is, in what situation
he can find the greatest scope and excitement to his




0316              ON CATHOLICISM.
powers and good affections? That sphere is the best
for a man, in which he can best unfold the faculties of a
AIan, in which he can do justice to his whole nature;
in which his intellect, heart, conscience, will be called
into the most powerful life. I am always discouraged
when I hear a young man asking for the easiest condition, when I see him looking out for some beaten
path, in which he may move on mechanically, and with
the least expense of thought or feeling.  The young
minister sometimes desires to become a fixture in an
established congregation, which is bound to its place of
worship by obstinate ties of habit, and which can therefore be kept together with little effort of his own.  If
the congregation happens to be what is called a respectable one, that is, if it happens so far to regard the ruies
of worldly decorum as never to shock him by immoralities, and never to force him into any new or strenuous
exertion for its recovery, so much the better.  Such a
minister is among the most pitiable members of the community. Happily this extreme case is rare. But the
case is not rare of those, who, wishing to do good, still
desire to reconcile usefulness with all the comforts of
life, who shrink from the hazards, which men take in
other pursuits, who want the spirit of enterprise, who
prefer to reap where others have sowed, and to linger
round the places of their nativity. At a time when men
of other professions pour themselves into the new parts
of the country, and are seeking their fortunes with
buoyant spirits, and overflowing hopes, the minister
seems little inclined to seek what is better than fortune
in untried fields of labor. Of all men, the minister
should be first to inquire, where shall I find the circumstances most fitted to wake up my whole soul, to task




ON CATHOLICISM.              317
all my faculties, to inspire a profound interest, to carry
me out of myself? I believe you have asked yourself:his question, and I think you have answered it wisely.
You have thrown yourself into a new country, where
there are admirable materials, but where a congregation
is to be created by your own faithfulness and zeal.
Not even a foundation is laid, on which you can build.
There are no mechanical habits among the people,
which the minister can use as labor-saving machines,
which will do much of his work for him, which will
draw people to church whether he meets their wants or
not.  Still more, there are no rigid rules, binding you
down to specific modes of action, cramping your energies, warring with your individuality. You may preach
in your own way, preach from your observation of the
effects produced on a free-speaking people.  Tradition
does not take the place of your own reason. In addition
to this, you see and feel the pressing need of religious
instruction, in a region where religious institutions are in
their infancy.  That under such circumstances, a man
who starts with the true spirit will make progress, can
hardly be doubted.  You have peculiar trials, but in
these you find impulses, which, I trust, are to carry
you forward to greater usefulness, and to a higher action
of the whole soul.
Boston has sometimes been called the Paradise of
ministers; and undoubtedly the respect in which the
profession is held, and the intellectual helps afforded
here, give some reason for the appellation.  But there
are disadvantages also, and one in particular, to which
you are not exposed.  Shall I say a word of evil of this
good city of Boston?  Among all its virtues it does not
abound in a tolerant spirit.  The yoke of opinion is a
23           AA'*




318                ON CATHOLICISM
heavy one, often crushing individuality of judgment and
action.  A  censorship, unfriendly to free exertion, is
exercised over the pulpit as well as over other concerns. No city in the world is governed so little by a
police, and so much by mutual inspection, and what is
called public sentiment. We stand more in awe of one
another, than most people.  Opinion is less individual,
or runs more into masses, and often rules with a rod
of iron. Undoubtedly opinion, when enlightened, lofty,
pure, is a useful sovereign; but in the present imperfect state of society, it has its evils as well as benefits.
It suppresses the grosser vices, rather than favors the
higher virtues.  It favors public order, rather than
originality of thought, moral energy, and spiritual life.
To prescribe its due bounds, is a very difficult problem.
Were its restraints wholly removed, the decorum of the
pulpit would be endangered; but that these restraints
are excessive in this city, and especially in our denomination, that they often weigh oppressively on the young
minister, and that they often take from ministers of all
ages the courage, confidence, and authority which their
high mission should inspire, cannot, I fear, be denied.
The minister here, on entering the pulpit, too often feels,
that he is to be judged, rather than to judge; that instead of meeting sinful men, who are to be warned or
saved, he is to meet critics to be propitiated or disarmed.  He feels, that should he trust himself to his
heart, speak without book, and consequently break some
law of speech, or be hurried into some daring hyperbole, he should find little mercy. Formerly Felix trembled before Paul; now the successor of Paul more frequently trembles.  Foreigners generally set down as
one of our distinctions, the awe in which we stand of




ON CA'THOL[CISM,              319
opinion, the want of freedom of speech, the predominance of caution and calculation over impulse,  This
feature of our society exempts it from some dangers;
and those persons who see only ruin in the reforming
spirit of the times, will prize it as our best characteristic. Be this as it may, one thing is sure, that it does
not give energy to the ministry, or favor the nobler
action or higher products of the mind.  Your situation
gives you greater freedom.  You preach, Iunderstand,
wholly without notes,. In this you may carry your
liberty too far.  Writing is one of the great means of
giving precision, clearness, consistency, and energy to
thought. Every other sermon, I think, should be written, if circumstances allow it. But he who only preaches from notes, will never do justice to his own powers
and feelings. The deepest fountains of eloquence within him will not be unsealed.  He will never know the
full power given him over his fellow-creatures.
The great danger to a minister at this,time is the
want of life, the danger of being dead while he lives.
Brought up where Christianity is established, he is in
danger of receiving it as a tradition.  Brought up,
where a routine of duty is marked out for him, and a
certain style of preaching imposed, he is in danger of
preaching from tradition.  Ministers are strongly tempted to say what they are expected to say.  Accordingly
their tones and looks too often show, that they understand but superficially what is meant by their words.
You see that they are talking of that which is not real
to them.  This danger of lifelessness is great in old
congregations, made up of people of steady habits and
respectable characters.  The minister in such a case
is apt to feel as if his hearers needed no mighty change,




320               ON CATHOLICISM.
and as if his Work were accomplished, when his true
isms, expressed with more or less propriety, are received with due respect.  He ought to feel, that the
people may be spiritually dead with their regular habits,
as he may be with his regular preaching; that both
may need to be made alive.  It is the advantage of
such a situation as you are called to fill, that you can
do nothing without life. A machine in a western pulpit
cannot produce even the show of an effect.  The people may be less enlightened than we are, more irregular
in habits, more defective in character; but they must
have living men to speak to them, and must hear a
voice which, whether true or erring, still comes from
the soul, or they cannot be brought to hear.  This is
no small compensation for many disadvantages.
This Life of which I speak, though easily recognised
by a congregation, cannot be easily described by them,
iust as the most ignorant man can distinguish a living
from a dead body, but knows very little in what vitality
consists. A common mistake is, that Life in the minister is strong emotion.  But it consists much more in
the clear perception, the deep conviction of the Reality
of religion, the reality of virtue, of man's spiritual nature, of God, of Immortality, of Heaven. The tone
which most proves a minister to be alive, is that of calm,
entire confidence in the truth of what he says, the tone
of a man who speaks of what he has seen and handled,
the peculiar tone which belongs to one who has come
fresh from what he describes, to whom the future world
is as substantial as the present, who does not echo what
others say of the human soul, but feels his own spiritual
nature as others feel their bodies, and to whom God is
as truly present as the nearest fellow-creature.  Strong




ON CATHOLICISM.              321
emotion in the pulpit is too often a fever caught by sympathy, or a fervor worked up for the occasion, or a sensibility belonging more to the nerves than the mind, and
excited by vague views which fade away before the calm
reason. Hence enthusiasts often become skeptics. The
great sign of life is to see and feel, that there is something real, substantial, immortal, in Christian virtue; to
be conscious of the reality and nearness of your relations
to God and the invisible world. This is the life, which
the minister needs, and which it is his great work to
communicate.  My hope is, that by sending ministers
into new situations, where new wants cry to them for
supply, a living power may be awakened, to which a
long established routine of labors is not favorable, and
which may spread beyond them to their brethren.
I pass now to another subject. We hear much of
the Catholic religion in the West, and of its threatening progress.  There are not a few here who look upon
this alarm as a pious fraud, who consider the cry of
" No Popery," as set up by a particular sect to attract
to itself distinction and funds; but fear is so natural,
and a panic spreads so easily, that I see no necessity of
resorting to so unkind an explanation. It must be confessed that Protestantism enters on the warfare with
Popery under some disadvantages, and may be expected
to betray some consciousness of weakness.  Most Protestant sects are built on the Papal foundation.  Their
creeds and excommunications embody the grand idea of
Infallibility, as truly as the decrees of Trent and the
Vatican; and if the people must choose between different infallibilities, there is much to incline them to that
of Rome. This has age, the majority of votes, more
23 *




322                 ON CATHOLICTSM.
daring assumption, and bolder denunciation on its side.
The popes of our different sects are certainly less imposing to the imagination than the Pope at Rome.
I trust, however, that, with these advantages, Catholicism  is still not very formidable.  It has something
Inore to do, than to fight with sects; its great foe is
the progress of society.  The creation of dark times,
it cannot stand before the light.  In this country in particular, it finds no coadjutors in any circumstances, passions, or institutions. Catholicism is immovable, and
movement and innovation are the order of the day.  It
rejects the idea of melioration, and the passion for improvement is inflaming all minds.  It takes its stand in
the Past, and this generation are living in the Future.
It clings to forms, which the mind has outgrown. It
will not modify doctrines in which the intelligence of
the age cannot but recognise the stamp of former ignorance.  It forbids free inquiry, and inquiry is the spirit
of the age, the boldest inquiry, stopping nowhere, invading every region of thought. Catholicism wrests from
thie people the right to choose their own ministers, and
the right of election is the very essence of our institutions.  It establishes an aristocratical priesthood, and
the whole people are steeped in republicanism. It withholds the Scriptures, and the age is a reading one, and
reads the more what is forbidden. Catholicism cannot
comprehend that the past is not the present, cannot
comprehend the revolution which the art of printing
and the revival of learning have effected.  Its memory
seems not to come down lower than the middle ages.
It aims to impose restraints on thought, which were
comparatively easy before the press was set in motion,
and labors to shore up institutions, in utter unconscious



ON CATHOLICISM                323
uess that the state of society, and the modes of thinking on which they rested, have passed away.
The political revolutions of the times are enough to
seal the death-warrant of Catholicism, but it has to encounter a far more important spiritual revolution. Catholicism belongs to what may be called the dogmatical
age of Christianity, the age when it was thought our
religion might be distilled into a creed, which would
prove an elixir of life to whoever would swallow it.
We have now come to learn, that Christianity is not a
dogma, but a spirit, that its essence is the spirit of its
divine founder, that it is of little importance what church
a man belongs to, or what formula of doctrines he subscribes, that nothing is important but the supreme love,
choice, pursuit of moral perfection, shining forth in the
life and teachings of Christ.  This is the true Catholic doctrine, the creed of the true Church, gathering
into one spiritual communion all good and holy men
of all ages and regions, and destined to break down all
the earthly clay-built, gloomy barriers, which now separate the good from  one another.  To this great idea
of reason and revelation, of the understanding and heart,
of experience and philosophy, to this great truth of an
advanced civilization, Catholicism stands in direct hostility. How sure then is its fall!
The great foe of the Romish Church is not the theologian.  He might be imprisoned, chained, burned.  It
is human nature waking up to a consciousness of its
powers, catching a glimpse of the perfection for which
it was made, beginning to respect itself, thirsting for
free action and developement, learning through a deep
consciousness that there is something diviner than forms,
or churches, or creeds, recognising in Jesus Christ its




324                ON CATHOUICISM.
own celestial model, and claiming kindred with all wna
have caught any portion of his spiritual life and disinterested love; here, here is the great enemy of Catholicism.  I look confidently to the ineradicable, everunfolding principles of human nature, for the victory
over all superstitions.   Reason and conscience, the
powers by which we discern the true and the right, are
immortal as their author. Oppressed for ages, they yet
live. Like the central fires of the earth, they can
heave up mountains. It is encouraging to see under
what burdens and clouds they have made their way; and
we must remember, that, by every new developement,
they are brought more into contact with the life-giving,
omnipotent truth and character of Jesus Christ.  It
makes me smile, to hear immortality claimed for Catholicism or Protestantism, or for any past interpretations
of Christianity; as if the human soul had exhausted itself in its infant efforts, or as if the men of one or a
few generations could bind the energy of human thought
and affection for ever. A theology!at war with the
laws of physical nature would be a battle of no doubtful issue.  The laws of our spiritual nature give still
less chance of success to the system, which would
thwart or stay them. The progress of the individual
and of society, which has shaken the throne of Rome,
is not an accident, not an irregular spasmodic effort,
but the natural movement of the soul. Catholicism
must fall before it. In truth, it is very much fallen
already. It exists, and will long exist as an outward
institution. But compare the Catholicism of an intelligent man of the nineteenth century with what it was in
the tenth.  The name, the letter remain, - how changed the spirit! The silent reform spreading in the very




ON CATHOLICISM.               325
bosom  of Catholicism, is as important as the reformation of the sixteenth century, and in truth more effectual.
Catholicism has always hoped for victory over Protestantismn, on the ground of the dissensions of Protestants. But its anticipations have not approached fulfilment, and they show us how the most sagacious err,
when they attempt to read futurity.  I have long since
learned to hear with composure the auguries of the
worldy wise. The truth is, that the dissensions of Protestantism  go far to constitute its strength.  Through
thenl its spirit, which is freedom, the only spirit which
Rome cannot conquer, is kept alive.  Had its members been organized, and bound into a single church,
it would have become a despotism  as unrelenting, and
corrupt, and hopeless as Rome.  But this is not all.
Protestantism, by being broken into a great variety of
sects, has adapted itself to the various modifications of
human nature. Every sect has embodied religion in a
form  suited to some large class of minds.  It has met
some want, answered to some great principle of the
soul, and thus every new denomination has been a new
standard, under which to gather and hold fast a host
against Rome. One of the great arts, by which Catholicism spread and secured its dominion, was its woiderful flexibleness, its most skilful adaptation of itself
to the different tastes, passions, wants of men  and to
this means of influence and dominion, Protestantism
could oppose nothing, but variety of sects.  I do not
recollect, that I ever saw this feature of Catholicism
brought out distinctly, and yet nothing in the system has
im)ressed me more strongly.  The Romish religion
calls itself one, but it has a singular variety of forms
BB




326               ON CATHOLICISM.
and aspects. For the lover of forms and outward religion, it has a gorgeous ritual.  To the mere man of
the world, it shows a pope on the throne, bishops in
palaces, and all the splendor of earthly dominion.  At
the same time, for the self-denying, ascetic, mystical,
and fanatical, it has all the forms of monastic life.  To
him, who would scourge himself into godliness, it offers
a whip. For him who would starve himself into spirituality, it provides the mendicant convents of St. Francis.  For the anchorite, it prepares the death-like silence of La Trappe. To the passionate young woman,
it presents the raptures of St. Theresa, and the marriage of St. Catharine with her Saviour.  For the restless pilgrim, whose piety needs greater variety than the
cell of the monk, it offers shrines, tombs, relics, and
other holy places in Christian lands, and above all, the
holy sepulchre near Calvary. To the generous, sympathizing enthusiast, it opens some fraternity or sisterhood of Charity. To him, who inclines to take heaven
by violence, it gives as much penance as he can ask;
and to the mass of men, who wish to reconcile the two
worlds, it promises a purgatory, so far softened down
by the masses of the priest and the prayers of the
faithful, that its fires can be anticipated without overwhelming dread.  This composition of forces in the
Romish Church seems to me a wonderful monument of
skill. When, in Rome, the traveller sees by the side of
the purple, lackeyed cardinal, the begging friar; when,
under the arches of St. Peter, he sees a coarsely dressed monk holding forth to a ragged crowd; or when,
beneath a Franciscan church, adorned with the most
precious works of art, he meets a charnel-house, where
the bones of the dead brethren are built into walls, be



ON CATHOLICISM.              327
tween which the living walk to read their mortality,
he is amazed, if he gives himself time for reflection,
at the infinite variety of machinery which Catholicism
has brought to bear on the human mind; at the sagacity with which it has adapted itself to the various tastes
and propensities of human nature.  Protestantism  attains this end by more simple, natural, and in the main
more effectual ways. All the great principles of our
nature are represented in different sects, which have
on the whole a keener passion for self-aggrandizement
than the various orders in the Romish Church, and thus
men of all varieties of mind find something congenial,
find a class to sympathize with.
And, here, I cannot but observe, that Episcopacy
renders good service to the Protestant cause.  Without being thoroughly Protestant, it is especially efficient
against Catholicism; and this good work it does by its
very proximity to Rome. From the wide diffusion and
long continuance of Catholicism, we may be sure that
it embodies some great idea, and answers some want,
which is early and powerfully developed in the progress
of civilization. There is of consequence a tendency
to Catholicism in society, though more and more restrained by higher tendencies. Happily, Episcopacy
is built on the same great idea, but expresses it in a
more limited and rational form.  It is Catholicism improved, or mother church with a lower mitre and a less
royal air; and by meeting the want which carries men
to the Romish Church, stops numbers on their way to
it. Hence, Catholicism hates Episcopacy more than
any other form of dissent.  Sects are apt to hate each
other in proportion to their proximity. The old proverb that two of a trade cannot agree, applies to reli



328               ON CATHOLICISM.
gion as strongly as to common life. -The amount is,
that Catholicism derives little aid from Protestant di.
visions. In an age as unimproved in Christianity as the
present, these divisions are promising symptoms. They
prevent men from settling down in a rude Christianity.
They keep alive inquiry and zeal. They are essential
to freedom and progress. Without these, Protestantism
would be only a new edition of Catholicism; and the
old pope would certainly beat any new one who could
be arrayed against him.
Do you ask me, how I think Catholicism  may be
most successfully opposed? I know but one way.
Spread just, natural, ennobling views of religion.  Lift
men above Catholicism, by showing them the great
spiritual purpose of Christianity. Violence will avail
nothing. Romanism cannot be burned down, like the
convent at Charlestown.  That outrage bound every
Catholic faster to his church, and attracted to it the
sympathies of the good. Neither is Popery to be subdued by virulence and abuse.  The priest can call as
hard names as the Protestant pastor. Neither do I
think that any thing is to be gained by borrowing from
the Catholic Church her forms, and similar means of
influence. Borrowed forms are peculiarly formal. No
sect will be benefited by forms which do not grow from
its own spirit.  A sect which has true life, will seize
by instinct the emblems and rites, which are in accordance with itself; and, without life, it will only find in
borrowed rites its winding-sheet. It is not uncommon
to hear persons who visit Catholic countries, recommending the introduction of this or that usage of Romanism among ourselves. For example, they enter
Catholic churches and see at all hours worshippers be



ON CATHOLICISM.              329
fore one or another altar, and contrasting with this the
desertion of our houses of worship during the week,
doubt whether we are as pious, and wish to open the
doors of our sanctuaries, that Protestants may at all
hours approve themselves as devoted as the Papists.
Now such recommendations show a misconception of
the true foundation and spirit of Roman usages. In the
case before us, nothing is more natural than that Catholics should go to churches or public places to pray.
In the first place, in the southern countries of Europe,
where Catholicism first took its form, the people live in
public. They are an outdoor people. Their domestic
occupations go on in the outward air. That they should
perform their private devotionsin public, is in harmon5
with all their habits.  What a violence it would be tC
ours! In the next place, the Catholic believes that
the church has a peculiar sanctity. A prayer offered
from its floor finds its way to heaven more easily than
from  any other spot.  The pernicious superstition of
his religion carries him to do the work of his religion
in one consecrated place, and therefore he does it the
less elsewhere.  Again: Catholic churches are attractive from the miraculous virtue ascribed to the images
which are worshipped there.  Strange, monstrous as
the superstition is, yet nothing is more common in Catholic countries than the ascription of this or that supernatural agency to one or another shrine or statue. A
saint, worshipped at oie place, or under one image, will
do more, than if worshipped elsewhere. I recollect
asking an Italian, why a certain church of rather humble appearance, in a large city, was so much frequented.
He smiled, and told me, that the Virgin, who was
adored there, was thought particularly propitious to
24          BB*




ON CATHOUICISM.
those who had bought tickets in the Iottery, Once
more, we can easily conceive why visiting the churches,
for daily prayer, has been encouraged by the priesthood.
The usage brought the multitude still more under priestly power, and taught them to associate their most secret aspirations of piety with the church. Who, that
takes all these circumstances into consideration, can
expect Protestants to imitate the Catholics in frequenting the church for secret devotion, or can wish it?
Has not Jesus said, " When thou prayest, go into thy
closet, and shut thy door, and pray to thy Father, who
seeth in secret"?  Catholicism  says, " When thou
prayest, go into the public church, and pray before the
multitude." Of the little efficacy of this worship we
have too painful proofs.  The worship of the churches
of Italy is directed chiefly to the Virgin.  She is worshipped as the Virgin. The great idea of this Catholic deity is purity, chastity; and yet, unless all travellers deceive us, the country where she is worshipped is
disfigured by licentiousness, beyond all countries of the
civilized world. I return to my position. We need borrow  nothing from Catholicism.  Episcopacy retained
(did not borrow) as much of the ritual of that church
as is wanted in the present age, for those among us
who have Catholic propensities.  Other sects, if they
need forms, must originate them, and this they must do
not mechanically, but from the promptings of the spiritual life, from a thirst for new.modes of manifesting
their religious hopes and aspirations.  Woe to that
church, which looks round for forms to wake it up to
spiritual life. The dying man is not to be revived by
a new dress, however graceful. The disease of a languid sect is too deep to be healed by ceremonies. It




ON CATHOLICISM.              331
needs deeper modes of cure. Let it get life, and it will
naturally create the emblems or rites which it needs tr
express and maintain its spiritual force.
The Ureat instrument of influence and dominion in
the Catholic Church, is one which we should shudder
to borrow, but which may still give important hints as
to the means;of promoting religion.  I refer to Confession.  Nothing too bad can be said of this.  By
laying open the secrets of all hearts to the priest, it
makes the priest the master of all.  Still, to a good
man it gives the power of doing good, a power, which,
I doubt not, is often conscientiously used.  It gives
to the religious teacher an access to men's minds and
conscience, such as the pulpit does not furnish. Instead of scattering generalities among the crowd, he
can administer to each soul the very instruction, warning, encouragement it needs.  In Catholic countries
there is little preaching, nor is it necessary.  The confessional is far more powerful than the pulpit.  And
what do we learn from this? That Protestants should
adopt confession? No. But the question arises, whether the great principle of confession, that on which its
power rests, viz. access to the individual mind, may
not be used more than it is by Protestant teachers;
whether such access may not be gained by honorable
and generous means, and so used as to be guarded
against abuse. Preaching is now our chief reliance;
but preaching is an. arrow which shoots over many
heads, and flies wide of the hearts of more. Its aim is
too vague to do much execution. It is melancholy to
think how little clear knowledge on the subject of duty
and religion, is communicated by the pulpit, and how
often the emotion which it excites, for want of clear




332               ON CATHOLICISM.
views, for want of wisdom, runs into morbidness or
excess.  No art, no science is taught so vaguely as
religion from the pulpit. No book is so read or expounded as the Bible is, that is, in minute fragments,
and without those helps of method, by which all other
branches are taught. Is not a freer, easier, opener communication with his pupils needed, than-the minister
does or can hold from the pulpit? Should not modes
of teaching and intercourse be adopted, by which he
can administer truth to different minds, according to
their various capacities and wants.  Must not he rely
less on preaching, and more on more familiar communication.
This question becomes of more importance, because
it is very plain that preaching is becoming less and less
efficacious.  Preaching is not what it was in the first
age of Christianity.  Then, when there was no printing, comparatively no reading, Christianity could only be
spread by the living voice. Hence to preach became
synonymous with teaching. It was the great means of
access to the multitude. Now the press preaches incomparably more than the pulpit. Through this, all
are permitted to preach.  Woman, if she may not
speak in the church, may speak from the printing room,
and her touching expositions of religion, not learned in
theological institutions, but in the schools of affection,
of sorrow, of experience, of domestic change, sometimes make their way to the heart more surely than the
minister's homilies.  The result is, that preaching does
not hold the place now, which it had in dark and unrefined ages.  The minister addresses from his pulpit
many as well educated as himself, and almost every
parishioner has at home better sermons than he hears




ON CATHOLICISM.             333
in public.  The minister, too, has competitors in the
laity, as they are called, who very wisely refuse to
leave to him the monopoly of public speaking, and who
are encroaching on his province more and more.  In
this altered condition of the world, the ministry is to
undergo important changes.  What they must be, I
have not time now to inquire. I will only say, that the
vagueness which belongs to so much religious instruction
from the pulpit, must give place to a teaching which
shall meet more the wants of the individual, and the
wants of the present state of society.  Great principles
must be expounded in accommodation to different ages,
capacities, stages of improvement, and an intercourse
be established by which all classes may be helped to apply them to their own particular conditions. How shall
Christianity be brought to bear on the individual, and
on society at the present moment, in its present struggles?  This is the great question to be solved, and the
reply to it will determine the form which the Christian
ministry is to take.  I imagine, that in seeking the solution of this problem, it will be discovered, that the
ministry must have greater freedom than in past times.
It will be discovered, that the individual minister must
not be rigidly tied down to certain established modes of
operation, that he must not be required to cast his
preaching into the old mould, to circumscribe himself
to the old topics, to keep in motion a machinery which
others have invented, but that he will do most good if
left to work according to his own nature, according to
the promptings of the Holy Spirit within his own breast.
I' imagine it will be discovered, that, as justice may be
administered without a wig, and the executive function
without a crown or sceptre, so Christianity may be
24 *




331               ON CATHOLICISM.
administered in more natural and less formal ways than
have prevailed, and that the minister, in growing less
technical, will find religion becoming, to himself and others, a more living reality.  I imagine, that our present
religious organizations will silently melt away, and that
hierarchies will be found no more necessary for religion
than for literature, science, medicine, law, or the elegant and useful arts.  But I will check these imaginings. The point from which I started was, that Catholicism might teach us one element of an effectual ministry, that the Protestant teacher needs and should seek
access to the individual mind, beyond what he now
possesses; and the point at which I stop is, that this
access is to be so sought and so used, as not to infringe religious liberty, the rights of private judgment,
the free action of the individual mind.  Nothing but
this liberty can secure it from the terrible abuse to
which it has been exposed in the Catholic Church.
In the free remarks, which I have now made on
certain denominations of Christians, I have been influenced by no unkindness or disrespect towards the
individuals who compose them. In all sects I recognise joyfully true disciples of the common Master.
Catholicism boasts of some of the best and greatest
names in history, so does Episcopacy, so Presbyterianism, &c. I exclude none. I know that Christianity
is mighty-enough to accomplish its end in all. I cannot
however speak of religious, any more than of political
parties, without betraying the little respect I have for
them as parties.  There is no portion of human history
more humbling than that of sects.  When I meditate
on the grand moral, spiritual purpose of Christianity,
in which all its glory consists; when I consider how




ON CATHOLICISM.              335
plainly Christianity attaches importance to nothing but
to the moral excellence, the disinterested, divine virtue,
which was embodied in the teaching and life of its
founder; and when from this position I look down on
the sects which have figured, and now figure in the
church; when I see them making such a stir about
matters generally so unessential; when I see them seizing on a disputed and disputable doctrine, making it a
watch-word, a test of God's favor, a bond of communion, a ground of self-complacency, a badge of peculiar holiness, a warrant for condemning its rejectors,
however imbued with the spirit of Christ; when I see
them overlooking the weightier matters of the law, and
laying infinite stress here on a bishop and prayer-book,
there on the quantity of water applied in baptism, and
there on some dark solution of an incomprehensible
article of faith; when I see the mock dignity of their
exclusive claims to truth, to churchship, to the promises of God's word; when I hear the mimic thunderbolts of denunciation and excommunication, which they
delight to hurl; when I consider how their deep theology, in proportion as it is examined,,evaporates into
words, how many opposite and extravagant notions are
covered by the same broad shield of mystery and tradition, and how commonly the persuasion of infallibility
is proportioned to the absurdity of the creed; when I
consider these things, and other matters of like import,
I am lost in amazement at the amount of arrogant folly,
of self-complacent intolerance, of almost incredible blindness to the end and essence of Christianity, which the
history of sects reveals.  I have indeed profound respect for individuals in all communions of Christians.
But on sects, and on the spirit of sects, I must be




336               ON CATHOLICISM.
allowed to look with grief, shame, pity, I had almost
said, contempt.  In passing these censures, I claim no
superiority.  I am sure there are thousands of all sects,
who think and feel as I do in this particular, and who,
far from claiming superior intelligence, are distinguished
by following out the plain dictates, the natural impulses,
and spontaneous judgments of conscience and common
sense.
It is time for me to finish this letter, which indeed
has grown under my hands beyond all reasonable bounds.
But I must add a line or two in reply to your invitation
to visit you. You say, that Kentucky will not exclude
me for my opinions on slavery. I rejoice to hear it,
not for my own sake, but for the sake of the country.
I rejoice in a tolerant spirit, wherever manifested.
What you say accords with what I have heard, of the
frank, liberal character of Kentucky.  All our accounts
of the West make me desire to visit it.  I desire to see
nature under new aspects; but still more to see a new
form of society.  I hear of the defects of the West;
but I learn that a man there feels himself to be a man,
that he has a self-respect which is not always to be found
in older communities, that he speaks his mind freely,
that he acts more from generous impulses, and less from
selfish calculations.  These are good tidings.  I rejoice that the intercourse between the East and West
is increasing. Both will profit. The West may learn
from us the love of order, the arts which adorn and
cheer life, the institutions of education and religion,
which lie at the foundation of our greatness, and may
give us in return the energies and virtues which belong
to and distinguish a fresher state of society.  Such ex



ON CATHOLICISM.              337
changes I regard as the most precious fruits of the
Union, worth more than exchanges of products of industry, and they will do more to bind us together as
one people.
You press me to come and preach in your part of
the country.  I should do it cheerfully if I could.  It
would rejoice me to bear a testimony, however feeble,
to great truths in your new settlements.  I confess,
however, that I fear, that my education would unfit
me for great usefulness among you.  I fear that the
habits, rules, and criticisms, under which I have.grown
upl, and almost grown old, have not left me the freedom
and courage which are needed in the style of address
best suited to the Western people.  I have fought
against these chains.  I have labored to be a free man,
but in the state of the ministry and of society here,
freedom is a hard acquisition.  I hope the rising generation will gain it more easily and abundantly than their
fathers.
I have only to add, my young brother, my best wishes
for your usefulness.  I do not ask for you, enjoyment.
I ask for you something better and greater, something
which includes it, even a spirit to live and die for a
cause, which is dearer than your own enjoyment. If
I were called to give you one rule, which your situation
demands above all others, it would be this.  Live a life
of faith and hope.  Believe in God's great purposes towards the human race. Believe in the mighty power of
truth and love. Believe in the omnipotence of Christianity. Believe that Christ lived and died to breathe
into his church and into society a diviner spirit than
now exists.  Believe in the capacities and greatness of
human nature.  Believe that the celestial virtue, recc




338               ON CATEOLICISM.
vealed in the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, is not.
a bright vision, for barren admiration, but is to become
a reality in your own and others' souls. Carry to your
work a trustful spirit.  Do not waste your breath in
wailing over the times. Strive to make them better. Do
not be disheartened by evils. Feel through your whole
soul, that evil is not the mightiest power in the universe, that it is permitted only to call forth the energy
of love, wisdom, persuasion, and prayer for its removal. Settle it in your mind, that a minister can never
speak an effectual word without faith.  Be strong in the
Lord and the power of his might. Allow me to say,
that I have a good hope of you. I learned some time
ago, from one of your dear friends, that you comprehended the grandeur of your work as a Christian minister. I learned that the pulpit, from which a divinely
moved teacher communicates everlasting truths, seemed
to you more glorious than a throne.  I learned, that
you had come to understand what is the greatest power
which God gives to man, the power of acting generously on the soul of his brother; of communicating to
others a divine spirit, of awakening in others a heavenly
life, which is to outlive the stars.  I then felt that you
would not labor in vain. You have indeed peculiar
trials. You are dwelling far from your brethren, but
there is a sense of God's presence more cheering than
the dearest human society.  There is a consciousness
of working with God, more strengthening than all human cooperation.   There is a sight, granted to the
pure mind, of the cross of Christ, which makes privations and sufferings in the cause of his truth seem
light, which makes us sometimes to rejoice in tribulation, like the primitive heroes of our faith. My young




ON CATHOLICISM.             339
brother, I wish you these blessings. What else ought
I to wish for you?
This letter, you will perceive, is written in great
haste. The opinions indeed have been deliberately
formed; but they probably might have been expressed
with greater caution. If it will serve, in your judgment, the cause of truth, freedom, and religion, you
are at liberty to insert it in your work.
Your sincere friend,
WILLIAM  E. CHANNING.








EXTRACTS FROM A LETTER
ON
CREEDS.
25        cc*








ON CREEDS.
IMY aversion to human creeds as bonds of Christian
union, as conditions of Christian fellowship, as means
of fastening chains on men's minds, constantly gains
strength.
ily first objection to them is, that they separate us
from Jesus Christ. To whom am I to go for my
knowledge of the Christian religion, but to the Great
Teacher, to the Son of G-od, to him in whom the fulness of the divinity dwelt.  This is my great privilege
as a Christian, that I may sit at the feet not of a human
but divine master, that I may repair to him in whom
truth lived and spoke without a mixture of error; who
was eminently the Wisdom of God and the light of the
world.  And shall man dare to interpose between me
and my heavenly guide and Saviour, and prescribe to
me the articles of my Christian faith? What is the
state of mind in which I shall best learn the truth? It
is that, in which I forsake all other teachers for Christ,
in which my mind is brought nearest to him; it is that
in which I lay myself open most entirely to the impressions of his mind.  Let me go to Jesus with a human
voice sounding in my ears, and telling me what I'must




344                 ON CREEDS.
hear fiom the Great Teacher, and how can I listen to
him  in singleness of heart?  All Protestant sects indeed tell the learner to listen to Jesus Christ; but most
of them shout around him their own articles so vehemently and imperiously, that the voice of the heavenly
master is well nigh drowned.  He is told to listen to
Christ, but told that he will be damned, if he receives
any lessons but such as are taught in the creed.  He
is told that Christ's word is alone infallible, but that
unless it is received as interpreted by fallible men, he
will be excluded from the communion of Christians.
This is what shocks me in the creed-maker. He interposes himself between me and my Saviour. He dares
not trust me alone with Jesus. He dares not leave
me to the word of God. This I cannot endure. The
nearest possible communication with the mind of Christ,
is my great privilege as a Christian. I must learn
Christ's truth from Christ himself, as he speaks in the
records of his life, and in the men whom he trained
up and supernaturally prepared to be his witnesses to
the world. On what ground, I ask, do the creed-makers
demand assent to their articles as condition of church
membership or salvation? What has conferred on them
infallibility? 1" Show me your proofs," I say to them,
"c of Christ speaking in you. Work some miracle.
Utter some prophecy.  Show me something divine in
you, which other men do not possess.  Is it possible,
that you are unaided men, like myself, having no more
right to interpret the New Testament than myself, and
that you yet exalt your interpretations as infallible standards of truth, and the necessary conditions of salvation.  Stand out of my path.  I wish to go to the
master. Have you words of greater power than his?




ON CREED.                 345
Can you speak to the human conscience or heart in a
mightier voice than he?  What is it which emboldens
you to tell me what I must learn of Christ or be
lost? "
I cannot but look on human creeds with feelings approaching contempt. When I bring them into contrast
with the New Testament, into what insignificance do
they sink! What are they? Skeletons, freezing abstractions, metaphysical expressions of unintelligible dogmas; and these I am to regard as the expositions of the
fresh, living, infinite truth which came from Jesus! I
might with equal propriety be required to hear and receive the lispings of infancy as the expressions of wisdom. Creeds are to the Scriptures, what rush-lights
are to the sun. The creed-maker defines Jesus in half
a dozen lines, perhaps in metaphysical terms, and calls
me to assent to this account of my Saviour. I learn
less of Christ by this process, than I should learn of
the sun, by being told that this glorious luminary is a
circle about a foot in diameter. There is but one way
of knowing Christ. We must place ourselves near him,
see him, hear him, follow him from his cross to the
heavens, sympathize with him and obey him, and thus
catch clear and bright glimpses of his divine glory.
Christian Truth is Infinite. Who can think of shutting it up in a few lines of an abstract creed? You
might as well compress the boundless atmosphere, the
fire, the all-pervading light, the free winds of the universe, into separate parcels, and weigh and label them,
as break up Christianity into a few propositions. Christianity is freer, more illimitable, than the light or the
winds. It is too mighty to be bound down by man's
puny hands.  It is a spirit rather than a rigid doctrine,
25*




346                 ON CREEDS.
the spirit of boundless love.  The Infinite cannot be
defined and measured out like a human manufacture.
It cannot be reduced to a system. It cannot be comprehended in a set of precise ideas.  It is to be felt
rather than described.  The spiritual impressions which
a true Christian receives from the character and teachings of Christ, and in which the chief efficacy of the religion lies, can be poorly brought out in words. Words
are but brief, rude hints of a Christian's mind. His
thoughts and feelings overflow them.  To those who
feel as he does, he can make himself known; for such
can understand the tones of the heart; but he can no
more lay down his religion in a series of abstract propositions, than he can make known in a few vague terms
ihe expressive features and inmost soul of a much-loved
friend. It has been the fault of all sects, that they
have been too anxious to define their religion. They
have labored to circumscribe the infinite. Christianity,
as it exists in the mind of the true disciple, is not made
up of fragments, of separate ideas which he can express in detached propositions. It is a vast and everunfolding whole, pervaded by one spirit, each precept
and doctrine deriving its vitality from its union with
all. When I see this generous, heavenly doctrine compressed and cramped in human creeds, I feel as I
should were I to see screws and chains applied to the
countenance and limbs of a noble fellow-creature, deforming and destroying one of the most beautiful works
of God.
From the Infinity of Christian truth, of which I have
spoken, it follows that our views of it must always be
very imperfect, and ought to be continually enlarged.
The wisest theologians are children who have caught




ON CREEDS.                 347
but faint glimpses of the religion; who have taken but
their first lessons; and whose business it is " to grow
in tile knowledge of Jesus Christ."  Need I say how
hostile to this growth is a fixed creed, beyond which
we must never wander? Such a religion as Christ's
demands the highest possible activity and freedom of
the soul. Every new gleam of light should be welcomed with joy. Every hint should be followed out with
eagerness. Every whisper of the divine voice in the
soul should be heard.  The love of Christian truth
should be so intense, as to make us willing to part with
all other things for a better comprehension of it.  Who
does not see that human creeds, setting bounds to
thought, and telling us where all inquiry must stop,
tend to repress this holy zeal, to shut our eyes on new
illumination, to hem us within the beaten paths of man's
construction, to arrest that perpetual progress which
is the life and glory of an immortal mind.
It is another and great objection to creeds, that, wherever they acquire authority, they interfere with that simplicity and godly sincerity, on which the efficacy of religious teaching very much depends.  That a minister
should speak with power, it is important that he should
speak from his own soul, and not studiously conform
himself to modes of speaking which others have adopted.  It is important that he should give out the truth
in the very form in which it presents itself to his mind,
in the very words which offer themselves spontaneously
as the clothing of his thoughts.  To express our own
minds frankly, directly, fearlessly, is the way to reach
other minds. Now it is the effect of creeds to check
this free utterance of thought.  The minister must seek
words which will net clash with the consecrated arti



348                  ON CREEDS.
cles of his church. If new ideas spring up in his mind,
not altogether consonant with what the creed-monger has
established, he must cover them with misty language.
If he happen to doubt the standard of his church,
he must strain its phraseology, must force it beyond
its obvious import, that he may give his assent to it
without departures from  truth.  All these processes
must have a blighting effect on the mind and heart.
They impair self-respect.  They cloud the intellectual
eye.  They accustom  men to tamper with truth.  In
proportion as a man dilutes his thought and suppresses
his conviction, to save his orthodoxy from suspicion;
in proportion as he borrows his words from  others, instead of speaking in his own tongue; in proportion as
he distorts language from its common use, that he may
stand well with his party; in that proportion he clouds
and degrades his intellect, as well as undermines the
manliness and integrity of his character.  How deeply
do I commiserate the minister, who, in the warmth and
freshness of youth, is visited with glimpses of higher
truth than is embodied in the creed, but who dares not
be just to himself, and is made to echo what is not the
simple, natural expression of his own mind! Better
were it for us to beg our bread and clothe ourselves in
rags, than to part with Christian simplicity and frankness.  Better for a minister to preach in barns or the
open air, where he may speak the truth from the fulness of his soul, than to lift up in cathedrals, amidst
pomp and wealth, a voice which is not true to his inward thoughts.  If they who wear the chains of creeds,
once knew the happiness of breathing the air of freedom, and of moving with an unincurmbered spirit, no




ON CREEDS.                  349
wealth or power in the world's gift would bribe them to
part with their spiritual liberty.
Another sad effect of creeds is, that they favor unw
belief. It is not the object of a creed to express the
simple truths of our religion, though in these its efficilency chiefly lies, but to embody and decree those mysteries about which Christians have been contending. I use
the word " mysteries," not in the Scriptural but popular
sense, as meaning doctrines which give a shock to the
reason and seem to contradict some acknowledged truth.
Such mysteries are the staples of creeds.  The celestial
virtues of Christ's character, these are not inserted into
articles of faith. On the contrary, doctrines which from
their darkness or unintelligibleness have provoked controversy, and which owe their importance very much to
the circumstance of having been fought for or fought
against for ages, these are thrown by the creed-makers
into the foremost ranks of the religion, and made its
especial representatives.  Christianity as set forth in
creeds is a propounder of dark sayings, of riddles, of
knotty propositions, of apparent contradictions. Who,
on reading these standards, would catch a glimpse of the
simple, pure, benevolent, practical character of Christianity? And what is the result,? Christianity becoming
identified, by means of creeds, with so many dark doctrines, is looked on by many as a subject for theologians
to quarrel about, but too thorny or perplexed for common minds, while it is spurned by many more as an
insult on human reason, as a triumph of fanaticism over
common sense.
It is a little remarkable that most creeds, whilst they
abound inl mysteries of human creation, have renounced
the great mystery of religion. There is in religion a
DD




350                 ON CRlMEDS.
great mystery. I refer to the doctrine of Free-will or
moral liberty. How to reconcile this with God's foreknowledge and human dependence, is a question which
has perplexed the greatest minds.  It is probable that
much of the obscurity arises from our applying to God
the same kind of foreknowledge as men possess by their
acquaintance with causes, and from our supposing the
Supreme Being to bear the same relation to time as
man.  It is probable that juster views on these subjects
will relieve the freedom of the will from some of its
difficulties. Still the difficulties attending it are great.
It is a mystery in the popular sense of the word. Now
is it not strange that theologians who have made and
swallowed so many other mysteries, have generally rejected this, and rejected it on the ground of objections
less formidable than those which may be urged against
their own inventions? A large part of the Protestant
world have sacrificed man's freedom of will to God's
foreknowledge and sovereignty, thus virtually subverting
all religion, all duty, all responsibility. They have made
man a machine, and destroyed the great distinction between him and the brute. There seems a fatality attending creeds. After burdening Christianity with mysteries
of which it is as innocent as the unborn child, they have
generally renounced the real mystery of religion, of
human nature.  They have subverted the foundation
of moral government, by taking from man the only capacity which makes him responsible, and in this way
have fixed on the commands and threatenings of God
the character of a cruel despotism.  What a lesson
against man's attempting to impose his wisdom on his
fellow-creatures as the truth of God!




THE CHURCH.
A DISCOURSE
DEIVERED IN THE
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL UNITARIAN CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA,
SUNDAY, MAY 30, 1841.








DISCOURSE ON THE CHURCH.
MATTHEW vii. 21- 27:," Not every one that saith unto me, Lord,
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth
the will of my Father. which is in heaven. Many will say to
me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy
name $ and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name
done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto
them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth
them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house
upon a rock; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and
the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not; for it
was founded upon a rock.
And every one that beareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them
not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house
upon the sand; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and
the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell; and great
was the fall of it."
THESE words, which form the conclusion of Christ's
Sermon on the Mount, teach a great truth, namely,
that there is but one thing essential in religion, and this
is, the doing of God's will, the doing of those sayings
or precepts of Christ which constitute the substance of
that memorable discourse. We learn that it will avail
us nothing to call Christ, Lord, Lord, to profess ourselves his disciples, to hear his words, to teach in his
name, to take our place in his church, or even to do
16 *         DD*




354                  THE CHURCH.
wonderful works or miracles in attestation of his truth, if
we neglect to cherish the spirit and virtues of his religion. God heeds not what we say, but what we are,
and what we do.  The subjection of our wills to the
Divine, the mortification of sensual and selfish propensities, the cultivation of supreme love to God, and of
universal justice and charity towards our neighbour,
-this, this is the very essence of religion; this alone
places us on a rock; this is the end, the supreme and
ultimate good, and is to be prized and sought above all
other things.
This is a truth as simple as it is grand.  The child
can understand it; and yet men, in all ages, have contrived to overlook it; have contrived to find substitutes
for purity of heart and life; have hoped by some other
means to commend themselves to God, to enter the
kingdom  of heaven.  Forms, creeds, churches, the
priesthood, the sacraments, these and other things have
been exalted into supremacy.  The grand and only
qualification for heaven, that which in itself is heaven,
the virtue and the spirit of Jesus Christ, has been obscured, depreciated; whilst assent to certain mysteries,
or union with certain churches, has been thought the
narrow way that leads to life. I have not time in a
single discourse to expose all the delusions which have
spread on this subject.  I shall confine myself to one,
which is not limited to the past, but too rife in our own
times.
There has always existed, and still exists, a disposition to attach undue importance to' the church "
which a man belongs to.  To be a member of "the
true church " has been insisted on as essential to human salvation. Multitudes have sought comfort, and not




TM CsUrars                 355
seldom found their ruin, in the notion, that they were embraced in the motherly arms of " the true church"; for
with this they have been satisfied.  Professed Christians have fought about "' the church " as if it were a
matter of life and death. The Roman Catholic shuts
the gate of heaven on you because you will not enter his
i' church." Among the Protestants are those who tell
you that the promises of Christianity do not belong to
you, be your character what it may, unless you receive
the Christian ordinances from the ministers of their
" church.?' Salvation is made to flow through a certain
priesthood, through an hereditary order, through particular rites administered by consecrated functionaries.
Even among denominations in which such exclusive
claims are not set up you will still meet the idea, that a
man is safer in their particular "church" than elsewhere; so that something distinct from Christian purity
of heart and life is made the way of salvation.
This error I wish to expose. I wish to show that
Christ's spirit, Christ's virtue, or "the doing of the
Sermon on the Mount," is the great end of our religion,
the only essential thing, and that all other things are important only as ministering to this. I know, indeed, that
very many acknowledge the doctrine now expressed.
But too often their conviction is not deep and living, and
it is impaired by superstitious notions of some mysterious
saving influence in " the church," or in some other
foreign agency.  To meet these erroneous tendencies, I
shall not undertake to prove in a formal way, by logical
process, the supreme importance, blessedness, and glory
of righteousness, of sanctity, of love towards God and
man, or to prove that nothing else is indispensable. This
truth shines by its own light. It runs through the whole




356                  no cmciaf
New Testament; and is a gospel written in the soul by
a divine hand. To vindicate it against the claims set up
for " the church," nothing is needed but to offer a few
plain remarks in the order in which they rise up of themselves to my mind.
I begin with the remark, that in the Sermon on the
Mount Jesus said nothing about the " church "; nor do
we find him, or his disciples, laying down anywhere a
definite plan for its organization, or a ritual for its worship.  Nor ought this to surprise us.  It was the very
thing to be expected in such a religion as Christianity.
Judaism was intended to educate a particular nation,
half civilized and surrounded with the grossest idolatry,
and accordingly it hedged them in by multiplied and rigid
forms.  But Christianity proposes, as its grand aim, to
spread the inward, spiritual worship of God through all
nations, in all stages of society, under all varieties of
climate, government, and condition; and such a religion
cannot be expected to confine itself to any particular
outward shape.  Especially when we consider that it is
destined to endure through all ages, to act on all, to
blend itself with new forms of society and with the highest improvements of the race, it cannot be expected to
ordain an immutable mode of administration, but must
leave its modes of worship and communion to conform themselves silently and gradually to the wants and
progress of humanity. The rites and arrangements which
suit one period lose their significance or efficiency In
another. The forms which minister to the mind now
may fetter it hereafter, and must give place to its free
unfolding. A system wanting this freedom and flexibleness would carry strong proof in itself of not having been
intended for universality.  It is one proof of Christ's




THE CURVCI.                357
having come to "s inherit all nations," that he did not institute for all nations and all times a precise machinery
of forms and outward rules, that he entered into no minute legislation as to the worship and government of his
church, but left these outward concerns to be swayed by
the spirit and progress of successive ages. Of consequence, no particular order of the church can be essential' to salvation.  No church can pretend that its constitution is defined and ordained in the Scriptures so plainly
and undeniably that whoever forsakes it gives palpable
proof of a spirit of disobedience to God. All churches
are embraced by their members with equal religious
reverence, and this assures us that in all God's favor
may be equally obtained.
It is worthy of remark, that, from the necessity of
the case, the church assumed at first a form which it
could not long retain.  It was governed by the apostles
who had founded it, men who had known Christ'personally, and received his truth from his lips, and witnessed
his resurrection, and were enriched above all men by the
miraculous illuminations and aids of his Spirit.  These
presided over the church with an authority peculiar to
themselves, and to which none after them could with any
reason pretend. They understood "' the mind of Christ "
as none could do but those who had enjoyed so long and
close an intimacy with him; and not only were they
sent forth with miraculous powers, but, by imposition of
their hands, similar gifts of the Spirit were conferred on
others.  This presence of inspired apostles and supernatural powers gave to the primitive church obvious and
important distinctions, separating it widely from the form
which it was afterwards to assume. Of this we have a
remarkable proof in a passage of Paul, in which he sets




358                 THE CHURCI
before us the offices or functions exercised in the original church.  "God hath set in the church apostles,
prophets, teachers, miracles, gifts of healings, helps,
governments, diversities of tongues." * Now of all these
endowments or offices, one only, that of teacher, remains in our day.  The apostles, the founders and heroes of the primitive church, with their peculiar powers,
have vanished, leaving as their representatives their writings, to be studied alike by all.  Teachers remain, not
because they existed inthe first age, but because their
office, from its nature, and from the condition of human
nature, is needed still.  The office, however, has undergone an important change. At first the Christian teacher enjoyed immediate communication with the apostles,
and received miraculous aids, and thus enjoyed means
of knowledge possessed by none of his successors.
The Christian minister now can only approach the apostles as other men do, that is, through the Gospels and
Epistles which they have left us; and he has no other
aid from above in interpreting them than every true
Christian enjoys. The promise of the Holy Spirit,
that greatest of promises, is made without distinction to
every man, of every office or rank, who perseveringly
implores the Divine help; and this establishes an essential equality among all. Whether teachers are to continue in the brighter ages which prophecy announces is
rendered doubtful by a very striking prediction of the
times of the Messiah.  " After those days," saith the
Lord, " I will put my law in their inward parts, and
write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they
shall be my people.  And they shall teach no more
every man his neighbour, and every man his brother,
*1 Cor. xii. 28.




THE CHURCH.                 359
saying,' Know the Lord;' for they shall all know me,
from the least of them unto the greatest of them." * Is
it possible that any man, with a clear comprehension of
the peculiarity of the primitive church, can look back to
this as an immutable form and rule, can regard any church
form as essential to salvation, can ascribe to outward ordinances, so necessarily fluctuating, an importance to be
compared with that which belongs to the immutable,
everlasting distinctions of holiness and virtue?
The church as at first constituted presents interesting
and beautiful aspects.  It was not a forced and arbitrary, but free, spontaneous union.  It grew out of the
principles and feelings of human nature.  Our nature is
social. We cannot live alone. We cannot shut up any
great feeling in our hearts. We seek for others to partake it with us.  The full soul finds at once relief and
strength in sympathy.  This is especially true in religion, the most social of all our sentiments, the only universal bond on earth.  In this law of our nature the
Christian church had its origin.  Christ did not establish
it in a formal way. If you consult the New Testament,
you do not find Jesus or his apostles setting about the
task of forming an artificial organization of the first disciples.  Read in the book of Acts the simple, touching narratives of the union of the first converts.  They
" were of one heart and of one soul.'" They could not
be kept asunder.  The new truth melted them into one
mass, knit them  into one body.  In their mutual love
they could not withhold from  one another their possessions, but had all things in common. Blessed unity! a
type of that oneness and harmony which a purer Christianity is to spread through all nations.  Among those
* Jeremiah, xxxi. 33, 34.




360                 TEE cmor1
early converts the most gifted and enlightened were
chosen to be teachers in public assemblies.  To these
assemblies the brotherhood repaired with eagerness, to
hear expositions of the new faith, to strengthen one
another's loyalty to Christ, and to be open witnesses of
him in the world.  In their meetings they were left very
much to follow the usages of the synagogue, in which
they had been brought up; so little did Christianity
trouble itself about forms.  How simple, how natural
this association!  It is no mystery.  It grew out of the
plainest wants of the human heart.  The religious sentiment, the spirit of love towards God and man, awakened afresh by Christ, craved for a new union through
which to find utterance and strength.  And shall this
church union, the growth of the Christian spirit, and so
plainly subordinate to it, usurp its place, or in any way
detract from its sole sufficiency, from its supreme, unrivalled glory?
The church, according to its true idea and purpose,
is an association of sincere, genuine followers of Christ;
and at first this idea was in a good degree realized.
The primitive disciples were drawn to Christ by conviction.  They met together and confessed him, not
from usage, fashion, or education, but in opposition to
all these.  In that age, profession and practice, the form
and the spirit, the reality and the outward signs of religion went together. But with the growth of the church
its life declined; its great idea was obscured; the name
remained, and sometimes little more than the'name. It
is a remarkable fact, that the very spirit to which Christianity is most hostile, the passion for power, dominion,
pomp, and preeminence, struck its deepest roots in the
church. The church became the very stronghold of




TIE CHURCH.                 361
the lusts and vices which Christianity most abhors. Accordingly its history is one of the most melancholy records of past times.  It is sad enough to read the bloodstained annals of worldly empires; but when we see the
spiritual kingdom of Christ a prey for ages to usurping
popes, prelates, or sectarian chiefs, inflamed with bigotry and theological hate and the lust of rule, and driven
by these fires of hell to grasp the temporal sword, to
persecute, torture, imprison, butcher their brethren, to
mix with and embitter national wars, and to convulse the
whole Christian world, we experience a deeper gloom,
and are more tempted to despair of our race. History
has not a darker page than that which records the persecutions of the Albigenses, or the horrors of the Inquisition. And when we come to later times, the church
wears any thing rather than " Holiness " inscribed on
her front. How melancholy to a Christian, the history
lately given us by Ranke of the reaction of Catholicism
against Protestantism!  Throughout we see the ecclesiastical powers resorting to force as the grand instrument of conversion; thus proving their alliance, not
with heaven, but with earth and hell. If we take broad
views of the church in any age or land, how seldom do
we see the prevalence of true sanctity! How'many of
its ministers preach for lucre or display, preach what
they do not believe, or deny their doctrines in their
lives! How many congregations are there, made up in
a great degree of worldly men and women, who repair
to the house of God from usage, or for propriety's sake,
or from a vague notion of being saved; not from thirst
for the Divine Spirit, not from a fulness of heart which
longs to pour itself forth in prayer and praise! Such
is the church. We are apt, indeed, to make it an abEE             17




362                 THE CHURCH.
straction, or to separate it in our thoughts from the individuals who compose it; and thus it becomes to us a
holy thing, and we ascribe to it strange powers.  Theologians speak of it as a unity, a mighty whole, one and
the same in all ages; and in this way the imagination is
cheated into the idea of its marvellous sanctity and grandeur.  But we must separate between the theory or the
purpose of the church and its actual state.  When we
come down to facts, we see it to be, not a mysterious,
cmmutable unity, but a collection of fluctuating, divided,
warring individuals, who bring into it, too often, hearts
and hands any thing but pure. Painful as it is, we must
see things as they are; and so doing, we cannot but be
struck with the infinite absurdity of ascribing to such a
church mysterious powers, of supposing that it can confer holiness on its members, or that the circumstance
of being joined to it is of the least moment in comparison with purity of heart and life.
Purity of heart and life, Christ's spirit of love towards
God and man; this is all in all.  This is the only essential thing.  The church is important only as it ministers to this; and every church which so ministers is a
good one, no matter how, when, or where it grew up,
no matter whether it worship on its knees or on its feet,
or whether its ministers are ordained by pope, bishop,
presbyter, or people; these are secondary things, and
of no comparative moment. The church which opens
on heaven is that, and that only, in which the spirit of
heaven dwells.  The church whose worship rises to
God's ear is that, and that only, where the soul ascends.
No matter whether it be gathered in cathedral or barn;
whether it sit in silence, or send up a hymn; whether
the minister speak from carefully prepared notes, or




THE CHURCH.                 363
from  immediate, fervent, irrepressible suggestion.  If
God be loved, and Jesus Christ be welcomed to the
soul, and his instructions be meekly and wisely heard,
and the solemn purpose grow up to do all duty amidst
all conflict, sacrifice, and temptation, then the true end
of the church is answered.  " This is no other than the
house of God, the gate of heaven."
In these remarks I do not mean that all churches are
of equal worth.  Some undoubtedly correspond more
than others to the spirit and purpose of Christianity, to
the simple usages of the primitive disciples, and to the
principles of human nature.  All have their superstitions and corruptions, but some are more pure than the
rest; and we are bound to seek that which is purest,
which corresponds most to the Divine will. As far as
we have power to select, we should go to the church
where we shall be most helped to become devout, disinterested, and morally strong.  Our salvation, however,
does not depend on our finding the best church on earth,
for this may be distant or unknown. Amidst diversities
of administrations there is the same spirit.  In all religious societies professing Christ as their Lord, the
plainest, grandest truths of religion will almost certainly
be taught, and some souls may be found touched and
enlightened from  above.  This is a plain, undeniable
fact. In all sects, various as they are, good and holy
men may be found;'nor can we tell in which the holiest
have grown up.  The church, then, answers its end in
all; for its only end is, to minister to human virtue.  It
is delightful to read in the records of all denominations
the lives of eminent Christians who have given up every
thing for their religion, who have been faithful unto
death, who have shed around them the sweet light and




364                ~THE CHURCI-.
fragrance of Christian hope and love. We cannot, thlien,
well choose amiss, if we choose the church which, as it
seems to us, best represents the grand ideas of Christy
and speaks most powerfully to our consciences and
hearts.  This church, however, we must not choose
for our brother.  He differs from us, probably, in temperament, in his range of intellect, or in the impressions
which education and habit have given him. Perhaps the
worship which most quickens you and me may hardly
keep our neighbour awake.  He must be approached
through the heart and imagination; we through the reason. What to him is fervor passes with us for noises
What to him is an imposing form is to us vain show..
Condemn him not.  If, in his warmer atmosphere, he
builds up a stronger faith in God and a more steadfast
choice of perfect goodness than ourselves, his church is
better to him than ours to us.
-One great error in regard to churches contributes to,
the false estimate of them as essential to salvation. We
imagine that the church, the minister, the worship carn
do something for us mechanically; that there are certain
mysterious inxfluences in what we call a holy place, which
may act on us without our own agency.  It is not so.
The church and the minister can do little for us in comparison with what we must do for ourselves, and nothing
for us without ourselves. They become to us blessings
through our own activity. Every man must be his own.
priest.  It is his own action, not the minister's, it is the
prayer issuing from his own heart, not from another's lips,
which aids him in the church.  The church does him
good only as by its rites, prayers, hymns, and sermons
it wakes up his spirit to think, feel, pray, praise, and resolve.. The church is a help, not a force.- It acts on us




TIPE CHJRCH.                365
Dy rational and moral means, and not by mystical operations. Its influence resembles precisely that which is
exerted out of church.  Its efficiency depends chiefly
on the clearness, simplicity, sincerity, love, and zeal
with which the minister speaks to our understandings,
consciences, and hearts; just as in common life we are
benefited by the clearness and energy with which our
friends set before us what is good and pure. The church
is adapted to our free moral nature.  It acts on us as
rational and responsible beings, and serves us through
our own efficiency. From these views we learn that the
glory of the church does not lie in any particular government or form, but in the wisdom with which it combines such influences as are fitted to awaken and purify
the soul.
Am I asked to state more particularly what these influences are to which the church owes its efficacy? I
reply, that they are such as may be found in all churches, in all denominations.  The first is, the character of
the minister.  This has an obvious, immediate, and
powerful bearing on the great spiritual purpose of the
church. I say, his character, not his ordination. Ordination has no end but to introduce into the sacred office
men qualified for its duties, and to give an impression of
its importance.  It is by his personal endowments, by
his intellectual, moral, and religious worth, by his faithfulness and zeal, and not through any mysterious ceremony or power, that the minister enlightens and edifies the
church. What matters it how he is ordained or set apart.
if he give himself to his work in the fear of God? What
matters it who has laid hands on him, or whether he stand
up in surplice or drab coat? I go to church to be benefited, not by hands or coats, but by the action of an en17 *      EE,*




366                ~THE CIURClL
lightened and holy teacher on my mind and heart; not am
overpowering, irresistible action, but such as becomes
effectual- through my own free thought and will. I go to
be convinced of what is true, and to be warmed with
love of what is good; and he who thus helps me is a true
ministery no matter from  what school;, consistory, or
ecclesiastical body he comes.  He carries his commission in his soul.  Do not say, that his ministry has
no "validity," because Rome, or Geneva, or Lambeth,
or Andover, or Princeton, has not laid hands on him,
What t IIas he not opened my eyes to see, and roused
my conscience to reprove?  As I have heard him has
not my heart burned within me, and have I not silently
given myself to God with new humility and love? Have
I not been pierced by his warnings, and softened by his
looks and tones of love? Has he not taught and helped
me to deny myself, to conquer the world, to do good top
a foe? Has he done this; and yet has his ministry no
"validity"? What other validity can there be than
this? If a generous friend gives me water to drink
when I am parched with thirst, and I drink and am refreshed, will it do to tell me, that, because he did not
buy the cup at a certain licensed shop, or draw the water
at a certain antiquated cistern, therefore his act of kindness is "' invalid," and I am as thirsty and weak as I was
before? What more can a minister with mitre or tiara do
than help me, by wise and touching manifestations of
God's truth, to become a holier, nobler man? If my soul
be made alive, no matter who ministers to me; and if not,
the ordinances of the church, whether high or low, orthodox or heretical, are of no validity so far as I am coneerned.  The diseased man who is restored to health
cares little whether his physician wear wig or cowl, or




THE CHURCH.                 367
receive his diploma from Paris or London; and so to
the regenerate man it is of little moment where or by
what processes he became a temple of the Holy Spirit.
According to these views a minister deriving power
from his intellectual, moral, and religious worth is one
of the chief elements of a true and quickening church.
Such a man will gather a true church round him; and
we here learn that a Christian community is bound to
do what may aid, and to abstain from what may impair,
the virtue, nobleness, spiritual energy of its minister.
It should especially leave him free, should wish him to
wear no restraints but those of a sense of duty.  His
office is, to utter God's truth according to his apprehension of it, and he should be encouraged to utter it
honestly, simply. He must follow his own conscience,
and no other. How can he rebuke prevalent error without an unawed spirit? Better that he should hold his
peace than not speak from his own soul.  Better that
the pulpit be prostrated than its freedom be taken away.
The doctrine of "' instructions" in politics is of very
doubtful expediency; but that instructions should issue
from the congregation to the minister we all with one
voice pronounce wrong.  The religious teacher compelled to stifle his convictions grows useless to his people, is shorn of his strength, loses self-respect, shrinks
before his own conscience, and owes it to himself to refrain from teaching. If he be honest, upright, and pure,
worthy of trust, worthy of being a minister, he has a
right to freedom; and when he uses it conscientiously,
though he may err in judgment, and may give pain to
judicious hearers, he has still a right to respect. There
are, indeed, few religious societies which would knowingly make the minister a slave. Many err on the side




368                  THE CIIURIL
of submission, and receive his doctrines with blind, unquestioning faith. Still, the members of a congregation,
conscious of holding the support of their teacher in their
hands, are apt to expect a cautious tenderness towards
their known prejudices or judgments, which, though not
regarded as servility, is very hostile to that firm, bold
utterance of truth on which the success of his ministry
chiefly depends.
I have mentioned the first condition of the most useful church; it is the high character of its mninister. The
second is to be found in the spiritual character of its
members. This, like the former, is, from the very principles of human nature, fitted to purify and save.  It
was the intention of Christ that a quickening power
should be exerted in a church, not by the minister alone,
but also by the members on one another. Accordingly
we read of the " working of every part, every joint,"
in his spiritual body. We come together in our places
of worship that heart may act on heart; that in the
midst of the devout a more fervent flame of piety may be
kindled in our own breasts; that we may hear God's word
more eagerly by knowing that it is drunk in by thirsty
spirits around us; that our own purpose of obedience
may be confirmed by the consciousness that a holy energy of will is unfolding itself in our neighbours.  To this
sympathy the church is dedicated; and in this its highest
influence is sometimes found.  To myself the most
effectual church is that in which I see the signs of Christian affection in those around me, in which warm hearts
are beating on every side, in which a deep stillness
speaks of the absorbed soul, in which I recognize
fellow-beings who in common life have impressed me
with their piety.  One look from  a beaming counte



THE CHURCH.                369
nance, one tone in singing from a deeply moved heart,
perhaps aids me more than the sermon. When nothing
is said, I feel it good to be among the devout; and I
wonder not that the Quakers in some of their still meetings profess to hold the most intimate union, not only
with God, but with each other. It is not with the voice
only that man communicates with man. Nothing is so
eloquent as the deep silence of a crowd.  A sigh, a low
breathing, sometimes pours into us our neighbour's soul
more than a volume of words.  There is a communication more subtile than freemasonry between those who
feel alike. How contagious is holy feeling! On the
other hand, how freezing, how palsying, is the gathering
of a multitude who feel nothing, who come to God's
house without reverence, without love, who gaze around
on each other as if they were assembled at a show,
whose restlessness keeps up a slightly disturbing sound,
whose countenances reveal no collectedness, no earnestness, but a frivolous or absent mind! The very sanctity
of the place makes this indifference more chilling. One
of the coldest spots on earth is a church without devotion. What is it to me that a costly temple is set apart,
by ever so many rites, for God's service, that priests
who trace their lineage to apostles have consecrated it,
if I find it thronged by the worldly and undevout? This
is no church to me. I go to meet, not human bodies,
but souls; and if I find them in an upper room like that
where the first disciples met, or in a shed, or in a street,
there I find a church. There is the true altar, the sweet
incense, the accepted priest. These all I find in sanctiflied souls.
True Christians give a sanctifying power, a glory, to
the place of worship where they come together.  In




370                  THE CHURCH.
them Christ is present and manifested in a far higher
sense than if he were revealed to the bodily eye.  We
are apt, indeed, to think differently. Were there a place
of worship in which a glory like that which clothed
Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration were to shine
forth, how should we throng to it as the chosen spot on
earth! how should we honor this as eminently his church!
But there is a more glorious presence of Christ than
this. It is Christ formed in the souls of his disciples.
Christ's bodily presence does not make a church. He
was thus present in the thronged streets of Jerusalem,
present in the synagogues and temples; but these were
not churches.  It is the presence of his spirit, truth,
likeness, divine love, in the souls of men which attracts
and unites them into one living body.  Suppose that we
meet together in a place consecrated by all manner of
forms, but that nothing of Christ's spirit dwells in us.
With all its forms, it is a synagogue of Satan, not a
church of Jesus. Christ in the hearts of men, I repeat
it, is the only church bond.  The Catholics, to give
them a feeling of the present Saviour, adorn their temples with paintings representing him in the most affecting scenes of his life and death; and had worship never
been directed to these, I should not object to them.
But there is a far higher likeness to Christ than the artist
ever drew or chiselled. It exists in the heart of his true
disciple.   The true disciple surpasses Raphael and
Michael Angelo.  The latter have given us Christ's
countenance from fancy, and, at best, having little likeness to the mild beauty and' majestic form which moved
througll Judea.  But the disciple who sincerely conforms himself to the disinterestedness, and purity, and
filial worship, and all-sacrificing love of Christ gives us




THE CHURCH.                371
no fancied representation, but the true, divine lineaments
of his soul, the very spirit which beamed in his face,
which spoke in his voice, which attested his glory as the
Son of God.  The truest church is that which has in
the highest degree this spiritual presence of our Lord,
this revelation of Jesus in his followers.  This is the
church in which we shall find the greatest aid to our virtue which outward institution can afford us.
I have thus spoken of the two chief elements of a
living and effectual church; a pure, noble-minded minister, and faithful followers of Christ.  In the preceding
remarks I have had chiefly in view particular churches,
organized according to some particular forms; and I
have maintained that these are important only as ministering to Christian holiness or virtue.  There is, however, a grander church, to which I now ask your attention; and the consideration of this will peculiarly confirm the lesson on which I am insisting, namely, that
there is but one essential thing, true holiness, or disinterested love to God and man.  There is a grander
church than all particular ones, however extensive; the
Church Catholic or Universal, spread over all lands, and
one with the church in heaven.  That all Christ's followers form one body, one fold, is taught in various passages in the New Testament. You remember the earnestness of his last prayer, " that they might all be One,
as he and his Father are one." Into this church all who
partake the spirit of Christ are admitted.  It asks not
who has baptized us; whose passport we carry; what
badge we wear.  If " baptized by the Holy Ghost," its
wide gates are opened to us. Within this church are
joined those whom different names have severed or still




372                 THE CHURCH.
sever. We hear nothing of Greek, Roman, English
churches, but of Christ's church only. My friends, this
is not an imaginary union.  The Scriptures in speaking
of it do not talk rhetorically, but utter the soberest truth.
All sincere partakers of Christian virtue are essentially
one. In the spirit which pervades them dwells a uniting
power found in no other tie.  Though separated by
oceans, they have sympathies strong and, indissoluble.
spired Christian flies through the earth.  It touches kindred chords in another hemisphere.  The word of such
a man as Fenelon, for instance, finds its way into the
souls of scattered millions.  Are not he and they of one
church? I thrill with joy at the name of holy men who
lived ages ago.  Ages do not divide us.  I venerate
them more for their antiquity. Are we not one body?
Is not this union something real? It is not men's coming together into one building which makes a church.
Suppose that in a place of worship I sit so near a fellow-creature as to touch him; but that there is no common feeling between us, that the truth which moves me
he inwardly smiles at as a dream of fancy, that the disinterestedness which I honor he calls weakness or wild
enthusiasm. How far apart are we, though visibly so
near! We belong to different worlds. How much
nearer am I to some pure, generous spirit in another
continent whose word has penetrated my heart, whose
virtues have kindled me to emulation, whose pure thoughts
are passing through my mind whilst I sit in the house of
prayer! With which of these two have I church union?
Do not tell me that I surrender myself to a fiction
of imagination, when I say, that distant Christians, that
all Christians and myself, form one body, one church,




THE CHURCH.                373
Just as far as a common love and piety possess our
hearts. Nothing is more real than this spiritual union.
TIlere is one grand, all-comprehending church; and if I
am a Christian, I belong to it, and no man can shut me
out of it. You may exclude me from your Roman
church, your Episcopal church, and your Calvinistic
church, on account of supposed defects in my creed or
my sect, and I am content to be excluded.  But I will
not be severed from the great body of Christ.  Who
shall sunder me from such men as Fenelon, and Pascal,
and Borromeo, from Archbishop Leighton, Jeremy Taylor, and John Howard? Who can rupture the spiritual
bond between these men and myself?  Do I not hold
them dear? Does not their spirit, flowing out through
their writings and lives, penetrate my soul? Are they
not a portion of my being? Am I not a different man
from what I should have been, had not these and other
like spirits acted on mine? And is it in the power of
synod, or conclave, or of all the ecclesiastical combinations on earth, to part me from them? I am bound to
them by thought and affection; and can these be suppressed by the bull of a pope or the excommunication
of a council?  The soul breaks scornfully these barriers, these webs of spiders, and joins itself to the great
arnd good; and if it possess their spirit, will the great and
good, living or dead, cast it off because it has not enrolled itself in this or another sect? A pure mind is
free of the universe.  It belongs to the church, the
family of the pure, in all worlds. Virtue is no local
thing.  It is not honorable because born in this community or that, but for its own independent, everlasting
beauty.  This is the bond of the universal church.  No
man can be excommunicated from it but by himself, by
F F         1 8




374                  THE CHURCH.
the death of goodness in his own breast. All sentences
of exclusion are vain, if he do not dissolve the tie of
purity which binds him to all holy souls.
I honor the Roman Catholic church on one account;
it clings to the idea of a Universal Church, though it
has mutilated and degraded it.  The word Catholic
means Universal. Would to God that the church which
has usurped the name had understood the reality! Still,
Itomanism has done something to give to its members
the idea of their connexion with that vast spiritual community, or church, which has existed in all times and
spread over all lands.  It guards the memory of great
and holy men who in all ages have toiled and suffered
for religion, asserts the honors of the heroes of the faith,
enshrines them in heaven as beatified saints, converts
their legends into popular literature, appoints days for
the celebration of their virtues, and reveals them almhnost
as living to the eye by the pictures in which genius has
immortalized their deeds. In doing this Rome has fallen,
indeed, into error. She has fabricated exploits for these
spiritual persons, and exalted them into objects of wor-,
ship.  But she has also done good.  She has given to
her members the feeling of intimate relation to the holiest and noblest men in all preceding ages.  An interesting and often a sanctifying tie connects the present Romlan Catholic with martyrs, and confessors, and a host of
Ien whose eminent piety and genius and learning have
won for them an immortality of fame. It is no mean service thus to enlarge men's ideas and affections, to awaken
their veneration for departed greatness, to teach themn
their connexion with the grandest spirits of all times. It
was this feature of Catholicism which most interested
me in visiting Catholic countries.  The services at the




THE CHURCR.                375
altar did not move, but rather pained me. But when I
cast my eyes on the pictures on the walls, which placed
before me the holy men of departed ages, now absorbed
in devotion and lost in rapture, now enduring with meek
courage and celestial hope the agonies of a painful death
in defence of the truth, I was touched, and I hope made
better.  The voice of the officiating priest I did not
hear; but these sainted dead spoke to my heart, and I
was sometimes led to feel as if an hour on Sunday spent
in this communion were as useful to me as if it had been
spent in a Protestant church.  These saints never rose
to my thoughts as Roman Catholics. I never connected them with any particular church. They were to me
living, venerable witnesses to Christ, to the power of
religion, to the grandeur of the human soul. I saw what
men might suffer for the truth, how they could rise above
themrselves, how real might become the ideas of God
and a higher life.  This inward reverence for the departed good helped me to feel myself a member of the
church universal. I wanted no pope or priest to establish my unity with them.  My own heart was witness
enough to a spiritual fellowship.  Is it not to be desired
that all our churches should have services to teach us
our union with Christ's whole body? Would not this break
our sectarian chains, and awaken reverence for Christ's
spirit, for true goodness, under every name and form? It
is not enough, to feel that we are members of this or that
narrow communion. Christianity is universal sympathy
and love. I do not recommend that our churches should
be lined with pictures of saints. This usage must come
in, if it come at all, not by recommendation, but by
gradual change of tastes and feelings. But why may
not the pulpit be used occasionally to give us the lives




376                 T   Ea CHUR
and virtues of eminent disciples in former ages?  It is
customary to deliver sermons on the history of Peter,
John, Paul, and of Abraham, and Elijah, and other
worthies of the Old Testament; and this'we do because
their names are written in the Bible. But goodness
owes nothing to the circumstance of its being recorded
in a sacred book, nor loses its claim to grateful, reverent commemoration because not blazoned there. Moral
greatness did not die out with the apostles. Their lives
were reported for this, among other ends, that their virtues might be propagated to future times, and that men
might spring up as worthy a place among the canonized
as themselves. What I wish is, that we should learn to
regard ourselves as members of a vast spiritual community, as joint heirs and fellow-worshippers with the
goodly company of Christian heroes who have gone
before us, instead of immuring ourselves in particular
churches.  Our nature delights in this consciousness of
vast connexion.  This tendency manifests itself in the
patriotic sentiment, and in the passionate clinging of men
to a great religious denomination.  Its true and noblest
gratification is found in the deep feeling of a vital, everlasting connexion with the universal church, with the innumerable multitude of the holy on earth and in heaven.
This church we shall never make a substitute for virtue.
I have spoken of the Roman Catholic Church. My
great objection to this communion is, that it has fallen
peculiarly into the error which I am laboring to expose
in this Discourse, that it has attached idolatrous impor.
tance to the institution of the Church, that it virtually
exalts this above Christ's spirit, above inward sanctity.
Its other errors are of inferior importance.  It does not




THE CHiRCH                 377
offend me, that the Romanist maintains that a piece of
bread, a wafer, over which a priest has pronounced some
magical words, is the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ.
I learn, indeed, in this error, an humbling lesson of human credulity, of the weakness of human reason; but I
see nothing in it which strikes at the essential principles
of religion. When, however, the Roman Catholic goes
farther, and tells me that God looks with abhorrence on
all who will not see in the consecrated wafer Christ's
flesh and blood; and when he makes the reception of
this from the hands of a consecrated priest the door into
Christ's fold, then I am shocked by the dishonor he
casts on God and virtue, by his debasing conceptions of
our moral nature and of the Divine, and by his cruel disruption of the ties of human and Christian brotherhood.
How sad and strange that a maji educated under Christianity should place religion in a church-connexion, in
church-rites, should shtut fi'on God's family the wisest
and the best because they conscientiously abstain from
certain outward ordinances! Is not holiness of heart
and life dear to God for its own sake, dear to him without the manipulations of a priest, without the agency of a
consecrated wafer? The grand error of Roman Catholicism is, its narrow church-spirit, its blind sectarianism,
its exclusion of virtuous, pious men from God's favor
because they cannot eat, drink, or pray according to
certain prescribed rites.  Romanism  has to learn that
nothing but the inward life is great and good in the sight
of the Omniscient, and that all who cherish this are members of Christ's body.  Romanism is any thing but what
it boasts to be, the Universal Church.  I am too much
a Catholic to enlist under its banner.
I belong to the Universal Church; nothing shall sep18 *      FF*




378                 TE CHURC.
arate me from it. In saying this, however, I am no
enemy to particular churches.  In the present age of
the world it is perhaps best that those who agree in
theological opinions should worship together; and I do
not object to the union of several such churches in -one
denomination, provided that all sectarian and narrow
feeling be conscientiously and scrupulously resisted.  I
look onf the various churches of Christendom with no
feelings of enmity. I have expressed my abhorrence of
the sectarian spirit of Rome; but in that, as in all other
churches, individuals are better than their creed; and,
amidst gross error and the inculcation of a narrow spirit,
noble virtues spring up, and eminent Christians are
formed.  It is one sign of the tendency of human nature to goodness, that it grows good under a thousand
bad influences.  The Romish church is illustrated by
great names. Her gloomy convents have often been
brightened by fervent love to God and man. Her St.
Louis, and Fenelon, and Massillon, and Cheverus; her
missionaries who have carried Christianity to the ends
of the earth; her sisters of charity who have carried
relief and solace to the most hopeless want and pain;
do not these teach us that in the Romish church the
Spirit of God has found a home? How much, too,
have other churches to boast! In the English church
we meet the names of Latimer, Hooker, Barrow, Leighton, Berkeley, and Heber; in the Dissenting Calvinistic
church, Baxter, HI)we, Watts, Doddridge, and Robert
Hall; among the Quakers, George Fox, William Penn,
Robert Barclay, -nd our own Anthony Benezet, and
John Woolman; in the Anti-trinitarian church, John
Milton, John Locke, Samuel Clarke, Price, and Priestley. To repeat these names does the heart good. They




TIHE CUHUlCH.              379
oreathe a fragrance through the common air.  They lift
up the whole race to which they belonged. With the
churches of which they were pillars or chief ornaments
I have many sympaties; nor do I condemn the union
of ourselves to these or any other churches whose doctrines we approve, provided that we do it without severing ourselves in the least from the universal church. On
this point we cannot be too earnest. We must shun the
spirit of sectarianism as from hell. We must shudder
at the thought of shutting up God in any denomination.  We must think no man the better for belonging
to our communion; no man the worse for belonging to
another. We must look with undiminished joy on goodness, though it shine forth from the most adverse sect.
Christ's spirit must be equally dear and honored, no
matter where manifested. To confine God's love or
his good Spirit to any party, sect, or name is to sin
against the fundamental law of the kingdom of God, to
break that living bond with Christ's universal church
which is one of our chief helps to perfection.
I have now given what seem to me the most important
views in relation to the church; and in doing this I have
-not quoted much from  Scripture, because quotations
cannot be given fully on this or on any controverted
point in the compass of a discourse.  I have relied on
what is vastly more important, on the general strain and
tone of Scripture, on the spirit of the Christian religion,
on the sum and substance of Christ's teachings, which
is plainly this, that inward holiness, or goodness, or disinterested love, is all in all.  I also want time to consider at large the arguments or modes of reasoning by
which this or that church sets itself forth as the only true




380                  THE CHURCH
church, and by which the necessity of entering it is
thought to be proved. I cannot, however, abstain from
offering a few remarks on these.
The principal arguments on which. exclusive churches
rest their claims are drawn from Christian history and
literature, in other words, from the records of the primitive ages of our faith, and from the writings of the early
Fathers.  These arguments, I think, may be disposed
of by a single remark, that they cannot be comprehended
or weighed by the mass of Christians.  How very, very
few in our congregations can enter into the critical study
of ecclesiastical history, or wade through the folios of
the Greek and Latin Fathers! Now if it were necessary to join a particular church in order to receive the
blessings of Christianity, is it to be conceived that the
discovery of this church should require a learning plainly
denied to the mass of human beings? Would not this
church shine out with the brightness of the sun? Would
it be hidden in the imperfect records of distant ages, or
in the voluminous writings of a body of ancient authors,
more remarkable for rhetoric than for soundness of judgment?  The learned cannot agree about these authorities. How can the great multitudes of believers interpret them? Would not the Scriptures guide us by simple, sure rules to the only true church, if to miss it were
death? To my own mind this' argument has a force
akin to demonstration.
I pass to another method of defending the claims
which one or another church sets up to exclusive acceptance with God.  It is an unwarrantable straining of
the figurative language of Scripture. Because the church
is spoken of as one body, vine, or temple, theologians
have argued that it is one outward organization, to lwhich




THE CHURCH.                381
all men must be joined. But a doctrine built on metaphor is worth little. Every kind of absurdity may find
a sanction in figures of speech, explained by tame, prosaic, cold-hearted commentators. The beautiful forms
of speech to which I have referred were intended to express the peculiarly close and tender unions which necessarily subsist among all the enlightened and sincere
disciples of such a religion as Christ's, a religion whose
soul, essence, and breath of life is love, which reveals
to us in Jesus the perfection of philanthropy, and which
calls to us to drink spiritually of that blood of self-sacrifice which was shed for the whole human race. HIow
infinitely exalted is the union of minds and hearts formed
by such a religion above any outward connexion established by rites and forms! Yet the latter has been
seized on by the earthly understanding as the chief meaning of Scripture, and magnified into supreme importance.
Has not Paul taught us that there is but one perfect
bond, Love? * Has not Christ taught us that the seal
set on his disciples, by which all men are to know them,
is Love? t Is not this the badge of the true church, the
life of the true body of Christ? And is not every disciple, of every name and form, who is inspired with this,
embraced indissolubly in the Christian union?
It is sometimes urged by those who maintain the
necessity of connexion with what they call " the true
church," that God has a right to dispense his blessings
through what channels or on what terms he pleases; that,
if he sees fit to communicate his Holy Spirit through a
certain priesthood or certain ordinances, we are bound
to seek the gift in his appointed way; and that, having
actually chosen this method of imparting it, he may just* Colossians, iii. 14.  t John, xiii. 35.




382                 THE CHURCI
ly withhold it from those who refuse to comply with his
appointment.  I reply, that the right of the Infinite
Father to bestow his blessings in such ways as to his infinite wisdom and love may seem best no man can be so
irreverent as to deny.  But is it not reasonable to expect that he Vwill adopt such methods or conditions as
will seem to accord with his perfection? And ought
we not to distrust such as seem to dishonor him? Suppose, for example, that I were told that the Infinite
Father had decreed to give his Holy Spirit to such as
should bathe freely in the sea.  Ought I not to require
the most plain, undeniable proofs of a purpose apparently
so unworthy of his majesty and goodness, before yielding obedience to it? The presumption against it is exceedingly strong. That the Infinite Father, who is ever
present to the human soul, to whom it is unspeakably
dear, who has created it for communion with himself,
who desires and delights to impart to it his grace, that he
should ordain sea-bathing as a condition or means of
spiritual communication is so improbable that I must insist
on the strongest testimony to its truth. Now I meet precisely this difficulty in the doctrine, that God bestows his
Holy Spirit on those who receive bread and wine, or flesh
and blood, or a form of benediction or baptism, or any
other outward ministration, from the hands or lips of certain privileged ministers or priests.  It is the most glorious act and manifestation of God's power and love, to impart enlightening, quickening, purifying influences to the
immortal soul.  To imagine that these descend in connexion with certain words, signs, or outward rites, administered by a frail fellow-creature, and are withheld or
abridged in the absence of such rites, seems, at first, an
insult to his wisdom and goodness; seems to bring down




THE CHURCIL                   383
his pure, infinite throne, to set arbitrary limits to his
highest agency, and to assimilate his worship to that of
false gods. The Scriptures teach us that " God giveth
grace to the humble;" that " he giveth his Holy Spirit
to them that ask him."  This is the great law of Divine
communications; and we can see its wisdom, because
the mind which hungers for Divine assistances is most
prepared to use them  aright.  And can we really believe that the prayers and aspirations of a. penitent, thirsting soul need to be seconded by the outward offices of
a minister or priest? or that for want of these they find
less easy entrance into the ear of the ever-present, allloving Father?  My mind recoils from this doctrine as
dishonorable to God, and I ought not to receive it without clear proofs. I want something more than metaphors, or analogies, or logical inferences.  I want some
express Divine testimony. And where is it given? Do
we not know that thousands and millions of Christians,
whose lives and deaths have borne witness to their faith,
have been unable to find it in the Scriptures, or anywhere
else? And can we believe that the spiritual communication of such men with the Divinity has been forfeited
or impaired, because they have abstained' from rites
which in their consciences they could not recognize as
of Divine appointment? That so irrational and extravagant a doctrine should enter the mind of a man who has
the capacity of reading the New Testament would seem
an impossibility, did not history show us that it has been
not only believed, but made the foundation ofthe bitterest intolerance and the bloodiest persecutions.
The notion, that, by a decree of.God's sovereign
will, his grace or Spirit flows through certain rites to
those who are in union with a certain church, and that




384                  THE CmRCH.
it is promised to notne besides, has no foundation in
Scripture or reason.  The church, as I have previously
suggested, is not an arbitrary appointment; it does not
rest on Will, but is ordained on account of its obvious
fitness to accomplish the spiritual improvement which is
the end of Christianity.  It corresponds to our nature.
It is a union of means, and influences, and offices which
rational and moral creatures need.  It has no affinity
with the magical operations so common in false religions; its agency is intelligible and level to the common mind. Its two great rites, baptism and the Lord's
supper, are not meant to act as charms.  When freed
from the errors and superstitions which have clung to
them for ages, and when administered, as they should
be, with tenderness and solemnity, they are powerful
means of bringing great truths to the mind and of touch
ing the heart, and for these ends they are ordained. The
adaptation of the church to the promotion of holiness
among men is its grand excellence; and where it accomplishes this end its work is done, and no greater can
be conceived on earth or in heaven.  The moment we
shut our eyes on this truth, and conceive of the church
as serving us by forms and ordinances which are effectual only in the hands of privileged officials or priests,
we plunge into the region of shadows and superstitions;
we have no ground to tread on, no light to guide us.
This mysterious power, lodged in the hands of a few fellow-creatures, tends to give a servile spirit to the mass
of Christians, to impair manliness and self-respect, to
subdue the intellect to the reception of the absurdest
dogmas.  Religion loses its simple grandeur, and degenerates into mechanism and form.  The conscience
is quieted by something short of true repentance; some



THE CIHURCn                 385
thing besides purity of heart and life is made the qualification for heaven.  The surest device for making the
mind a coward and a slave is a wide-spread and closely
cemented church the powers of which are concentrated
in the hands of a " sacred order," and which has succeeded in arrogating to its rites or ministers a sway over
the future world, over the soul's everlasting weal or woe.
The inevitably degrading influence of such a church is
demonstrative proof against its Divine original.
There is no end to the volumes written in defence of
this or that church which sets itself forth as the only
true church, and claims exclusive acceptance with God.
But the unlettered Christian has an answer to them all.
He cannot and need not seek it in libraries.  He finds
it, almost without seeking, in plain passages of the New
Testament, and in his own heart. He reads, and he
feels, that religion is an Inward Life.  This he knows,
not by report, but by consciousness, by the prostration
of his soul in penitence, by the surrender of his will to
the Divine, by overflowing gratitude, by calm trust,
and by a new love to his fellow-creatures. Will it do
to tell such a man that the promises of Christianity do
not belong to him, that access to God is denied him,
because he is not joined with this or that exclusive
church? Has not this access been granted to him already? Has he not prayed in his griefs, and been consoled? in his temptations, and been strengthened? Has
he not found God near in his solitudes and in the great
congregation? Does he thirst for any thing so fervently
as for perfect assimilation to the Divine purity? And
can he question God's readiness to help him, because
he is unable to find in Scripture a command to bind him.
self to this or another self-magnifying church? How
GG         19




386                 TH  CHUMCH.
easily does the experience of the true Christian brush
away the cobwebs of theologians! He loves and reveres God, and in this spirit has a foretaste of heaven;
and can heaven be barred against him by ecclesiastical
censures? He has felt the power of the cross and
resurrection and promises of Jesus Christ; and is there
any "height or depth " of human exclusiveness and
bigotry which can separate him from his Lord? He
can die for truth and humanity; and is there any man so
swelled by the conceit of his union with the true church
as to stand apart and say, "I am holier than thou"?
When, by means of the writings or conversations of
Christians of various denominations, you look into their
hearts, and discern the deep workings, and conflicts,
and aspirations of piety, can you help seeing in them
tokens of the presence and operations of God's Spirit
more authentic and touching than in all the harmonies
and beneficent influences of the outward universe? Who
can shut up this Spirit in any place or any sect? Who
will not rejoice to witness it in its fruits of justice, goodness, purity, and piety, wherever they meet the eye?
Who will not hail it as the infallible sign of the accepted
worshipper of God?
One word more respecting the arguments adduced
in support of one or another exclusive church.  They
are continually, and of necessity, losing their force.
Arguments owe their influence very much to the mental
condition of those to whom they are addressed. What
is proof to one man is no proof to another.  The evidlence which is triumphant in one age is sometimes
thought below notice in the next.  Men's reasonings
on practical subjects are not cold, logical processes,
standing separate in the mind, but are carried on in in



THE CHURCIH                 387
timate connexion with their prevalent feelings and modes
of thought.  Generally speaking, that, and that only, is
truth to a man which accords with the common tone of
his mind, with the mass of his impressions, with the results of his experience, with his measure of intellectual
development, and especially with those deep convictions and biases which constitute what we call character.
Now it is the tendency of increasing civilization, refinement, and expansion of mind, to produce a tone of
thought and feeling unfriendly to the church spirit, to reliance on church forms as essential to salvation. As the
world advances it leaves matters of form  behind.  In
proportion as men get into the heart of things they are
less anxious about exteriors.  In proportion as religion
becomes a clear reality we grow tired of shows. In
the progress of ages there spring up in greater numbers
men of mature thought and spiritual freedom, who unite
self-reverence with reverence of God, and who cannot,
without a feeling approaching shame and conscious degradation, submit to a church which accumulates outward,
rigid, mechanical observances towards the Infinite Father.
A voice within them, which they cannot silence, protests against the perpetual repetition of the same signs,
motions, words, as unworthy of their own spiritual powers, and of Him who deserves the highest homage of the
reason and the heart.  Their filial spirit protests against
it. In common life, a refined, lofty mind expresses itself in simple, natural, unconstrained manners; and the
same tendency, though often obstructed, is manifested in
religion.  The progress of Christianity, which must go
on, is but another name for the growing knowledge and
experience of that spiritual worship of the Father which
Christ proclaimed as the end of his mission; and before




388                 THE CHURCH.
this the old idolatrous reliance on ecclesiastical forms
and organizations cannot stand. There is thus a perpetually swelling current which exclusive churches have to
stem, and which must sooner or later sweep away their
proud pretensions.  What avails it, that this or another
church summons to its aid fathers, traditions, venerated
usages? The spirit, the genius of Christianity is stronger
than all these.  The great ideas of the religion must
prevail over narrow, perverse interpretations of it.  On
this ground I have no alarm at reports of the triumphs
of the Catholic church.  The spirit of Christianity is
stronger than popes and councils. Its venerableness and
divine beauty put to shame the dignities and pomps of.a
hierarchy; and men must more and more recognize it
as alone essential to salvation.
From the whole discussion through which I have now
led you you will easily gather how I regard the Church,
and what importance I attach to it.  In its true idea, or
regarded as the union of those who partake in the spirit
of Jesus Christ, I revere it as the noblest of all associations. Our common social unions are poor by its side.
In the world we form ties of interest, pleasure, and ambition. We come together as creatures of time and
sense, for transient amusement or display. In the church
we meet as God's children; we recognize in ourselves
something higher than this animal and worldly life. We
come that holy feeling may spread from heart to heart.
The church, in its true idea, is a retreat from the world.
We meet in it, that, by union with the holy, we may
get strength to withstand our common intercourse with
the impure. We meet to adore God, to open our souls
to his Spirit, and, by recognition of the common Fa



THE CHURCH.                 389
ther, to forget all distinction among ourselves, to embrace
all men as brothers.  This spiritual union with the holy
who are departed and who yet live is the beginning of
that perfect fellowship which constitutes heaven.  It is
to survive all ties. The bonds of husband and wife,
parent and child, are severed at death; the union of the
virtuous friends of God and man is as eternal as virtue,
and this union is the essence of the true church.
To the church relation, in this broad, spiritual view
of it, I ascribe the highest dignity and importance.  But
as to union with a. particular denomination or with
a society of Christians for public worship and instruction, this, however important, is not to be regarded as
the highest means of grace. We ought, indeed, to seek
help for ourselves, and to give help to others, by upholding religious institutions, by meeting together in the
name of Christ.  The influence of Christianity is perpetuated and extended, in no small degree, by the public offices of piety, by the visible "communion of
saints."  But it is still true that the public means of
religion ire not its chief means.  Private helps to piety
are the most efficacious.  The great work of religion is
to be done, not in society, but in secret, in the retired
soul, in the silent closet. Communion with God is eminently the means of religion, the nutriment and life of
the soul, and we can commune with God in solitude as
nowhere else.  Here his presence may be most felt.
It is by the breathing of the unrestrained soul, by the
opening of the whole heart to "Him  who seeth in
secret "; it is by reviewing our own spiritual history, by
searching deeply into ourselves, by solitary thought, and
solitary solemn consecration of ourselves to a new virtue; it is by these acts, and not by public gatherings,
1.9*       GG*




390                  te cmmcRL
that we chiefly make progress in the religiouis life.  It
is common to speak of the house of public worship as a
holy place; but it has no exclusive sanctity.  The holiest spot on earth is that where the soul breathes its
purest vows, and forms or executes its noblest purposes; and on this ground, were I to seek the holiest
spot in your city, I should not go to your splendid sanctuaries, but to closets of private prayer.  Perhaps the
" Holy of Holies" among you is some dark, narrow
room from which most of us would shrink as unfit for
human habitation; but God dwells there.  He hears
there music more grateful than the swell of all your organs, sees there a beauty such as nature, in these her
robes of spring, does not unfold; for there he meets,
and sees, and hears the humblest, most thankful, most'
trustful worshipper; sees the sorest trials serenely borne,
the deepest injuries forgiven; sees toils and sacrifices
cheerfully sustained, and death approached through
poverty and lonely illness with a triumphant faith.  The
consecration which such virtues shed over the obscurest
spot is not and cannot be communicated by any of those
outward rites by which our splendid structures are dedicated to God.
You see the rank which belongs to the church, whether gathered in one place or spread over the whole earth.
It is a sacred and blessed union; but must not be magnified above other means and helps of religion.  The
great aids of piety are secret, not public.  The Christian cannot live without private prayer; he may live and
make progress without a particular church. Providence
may place us far from the resorts of our fellow-disciples,
beyond the sound of the Sabbath-bell, beyond all ordlnances; and we may find Sabbaths and ordinances in




our own spirits.  Illness may separate us from the outward church as well as' from the living world, and the
soul may yet be in health and prosper. There have been
men of eminent piety who, from conscience, have separated themselves from all denominations of Christians and
all outward worship. Milton, that great soul, in the latter
years of his life forsook all temples made with hands, and
worshipped wholly in the inward sanctuary. So did William Law, the author of that remarkable book, " The
Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life." His excess
of devotion (for in him devotion ran into excess) led
him to disparage all occasional acts of piety. He lived
in solitude, that he might make life a perpetual prayer.
These men are not named as models in this particular.
They mistook the wants of the soul, and misinterpreted
the Scriptures.  Even they, with all their spirituality,
would have found moral strength and holy impulse in religious association.  But, with such examples before us,
we learn not to exclude men from God's favor because
severed from the outward church.
The doctrine of this Discourse is plain. Inward sanctity, pure love, disinterested attachment to God and
man, obedience of heart and life, sincere excellence of
character, this is the one thing needful, this the essential
thing in religion; and all things else, ministers, churches,
ordinances, places of worship, all are but means, helps,
secondary influences, and utterly worthless when separated from this.  To imagine that God regards any thing
but this, that he looks at any thing but the heart, is to
dishonor him, to express a mournful insensibility to his
pure character.  Goodness, purity, virtue, this is the
only distinction in God's sight.  This is intrinsically,




39                   THE CHUaC.
essentially, everlastingly, and by its own nature, lovely,
beautiful, glorious, divine. It owes nothing to time, to
circumstance, to outward connexions.  It shines by its
own light.  It is the sun of the spiritual universe.  It is
God himself dwelling in the human soul. Can any man
think lightly of it because it has not grown up in a certain church, or exalt any church above it? My friends,
one of the grandest truths of religion is, the supreme
importance of character, of virtue, of that divine spirit
which shone out in Christ.  The grand heresy is, to
substitute any thing for this, whether creed, or form, or
church. One of the greatest wrongs to Christ is, to
despise his character, his virtue, in a disciple who happens to wear a different name from our own.
When I represent to myself true virtue or goodness;
not that which is made up of outward proprieties and prudent calculations, but that which chooses duty for its own
sake and as the first concern; which respects impartially
the rights of every human being; which labors and suffers
with patient resolution for truth and others' welfare; which
blends energy and sweetness, deep humility and selfreverence; which places joyful faith in the perfection
of God, communes with him intimately, and strives to
subject to his pure will all thought, imagination, and
desire; which lays hold on the promise of everlasting
life, and in the strength of this hope endures calmly and
firmly the sorest evils of the present state; when I set
before me this virtue, all the distinctions on which men
value themselves fade away. Wealth is poor; worldly
honor is mean; outward forms are beggarly elements.
Condition, country, church, all sink into unimportance.
Before this simple greatness I bow, I revere.  The
robed priest, the gorgeous altar, the great assembly, the




THE CHURCH.                 39
pealing organ, all the exteriors of religion, vanish from
my sight as, I look at the good and great man, the holy,
disinterested soul.  Even I, with vision so dim, with
heart so cold, can see and feel the divinity, the grandeur
of true goodness.  How, then, must God regard it?
To his pure eye how lovely must it be! And can any
of us turn from it, because some water has not been
dropped on its forehead, or some bread put into its lips
by a minister or priest; or because it has not learned to
repeat some mysterious creed which a church or human
council has ordained?
AIy friends, reverence virtue, holiness, the upright
will which inflexibly cleaves to duty and the pure law
of God.  Reverence nothing in comparison with it.
Regard this as the end, and all outward services as the
means. Judge of men by this. Think no man the better,
no man the worse, for the church he belongs to. Try him
by his fruits. Expel from your breasts the demon of sectarianism, narrowness, bigotry, intolerance. This is not,
as we are apt to think, a slight sin.  It is a denial of the
supremacy of goodness.  It sets up something, whether a form or dogma, above the virtue of the heart and
the life.  Sectarianism  immures itself in its particular
church as in a dungeon, and is there cut off from the
free air, the cheerful light, the goodly prospects, the
celestial beauty of the church universal.
MIy friends, I know that I am addressing those who
hold various opinions as to the controverted points of
theology.  We have grown up under different influences.  We bear different names.  But if we purpose
solemnly to do God's will, and are following the precepts
and example of Christ, we are one church, and let nothing divide us. Diversities of opinion may incline us to




394                 THE CHURCH.
worship under different roofs; or diversities of tastes or
habit, to worship with different forms. But these varieties are not schisms; they do not break the unity of
Christ's church. We may still honor and love and rejoice in one another's spiritual life and progress as truly
as if we were cast into one and the same unyielding
form. God loves variety in nature and in the human
soul, nor does he reject it in Christian worship.  In
many great truths, in those which are most quickening,
purifying, and consoling, we all, I hope, agree. There
is, too, a common ground of practice, aloof from all
controversy, on which we may all meet. We may all
unite hearts and hands in doing good, in fulfilling God's
purposes of love towards our race, in toiling and suffering for the cause of humanity, in spreading intelligence,
freedom, and virtue, in making God known for the reverence, love, and imitation of his creatures, in resisting
the abuses and corruptions of past ages, in exploring and
drying up the sources of poverty, in rescuing the fallen
from intemperance, in succouring the orphan and widow,
in enlightening and elevating the depressed portions of
the community, in breaking the yoke of the oppressed
and enslaved, in exposing and withstanding the spirit
and horrors of war, in sending God's Word to the ends
of the earth, in redeeming the world from sin and
woe.  The angels and pure spirits who visit our earth
come not to join a sect, but to do good to all. May
this universal charity descend on us, and possess our
hearts; may our narrowness, exclusiveness, and bigotry
melt away under this mild, celestial fire. Thus we shall
not only join ourselves to Christ's Universal Church on
earth, but to the Invisible Church, to the innumerable
company of the just made perfect, in the mansions of
everlasting purity and peace.




THE CHURC.                  395
NOTES.
I HAVE spoken in this Discourse of the Romish church
as excluding from salvation those who do not submit to it.
I know, and rejoice to know, that many Catholics are too
wise and good to hold this doctrine; but the church, interpreted by its past words and acts, is not so liberal.
I have also expressed my reverence for the illustrious
names which have adorned the'English church. This
church sets up higher claims than any other in the Protestant world; but by a man acquainted with its early history
it will be seen to be clothed with no peculiar authority. If
any Protestant church deserves to be called a creature of
the state, it is this. It was shaped by the sovereign very
much after his own will. It is a problem in history, how
the English people, so sturdy and stout-hearted in the main,
could be so tame and flexible in matters of religion, under
Henry the Eighth, Edward the Sixth, Mary, and Elizabeth. They seem to have received, almost as unresistingly as the coin, the image and superscription of the king.
The catuses of this yieldingness are to be found in the
averseness to civil broils to which the nation had been
brought by the recent bloody and exhausting wars of the
Roses; in the formidable power of the Tudor sovereigns;
in the insular position of England, and her distance from
Rome, which checked the domination of the papacy; in
the ignorance of the people; in the ravenousness of the
nobles for the property of the church in the first instance,




396                   2I  PRVcM
and afterwards in their greediness for court favor. This
strange pliancy is a stain on the annals of the country.
It was in the Puritans that the old national sturdiness revived, that England became herself again. These men
were rude in aspect, and forbidding in manners; but, with
all their sternness, narrowness, frowning theology, and
high religious pretensions, they were the master spirits of
their times. To their descendants it is delightful to think
of the service they rendered to the civil and religious
liberties of England and the world, and to recall their
deep, vital piety, a gem most rudely set, but too precious
to be overvalued.
Since the preceding. Discourse has been printed, the
following extract from an article in the Edinburgh Review
for July, 1841, entitled "The Port-Royalists," has been
deemed so strikingly coincident that it is herewith appended.
" But for every labor under the sun, says the Wise Man,
there is a time. There is a time for bearing testimony
against the errors of Rome; why not also a time for testifying to the sublime virtues with which those errors have been
so often associated? Are we for ever to admit and never
to practise the duties of kindness and mutual forbearance?
Does Christianity consist in a vivid perception of the faults,
and an obtuse blindness to the merits of those who differ
from us? Is charity a virtue only when we ourselves are
the objects of it? Is there not a church as pure and more
catholic than that of Oxford or Romne, -a church comnprehending within its limits every human being who, according to the measure of the knowledge placed within
his reach, strives habitually to be conformed to the will
of the common Father of us all? To indulge hope beyond the pale of some narrow communion has, by each
Christian society in its turn, been denounced as a daring
presumption. Yet hope has come to all; and with her,
faith and charity, her inseparable companions. Amidst




THE CHURCH.                 397
the shock of contending creeds and the uproar of anathemas, they who have ears to hear and hearts to understand
have listened to gentler and more kindly sounds. Good
men may debate as polemics, but they will feel as Chris
tians., On the universal mind of Christendom is indelibly
engraven one image, towards which the eyes of all are
more or less earnestly directed.  Whoever has himself
caught any resemblance, however faint and imperfect, to
that divine and benignant Original, has, in his measure,
learned to recognize a brother wherever he can discern
the same resemblance.
" There is an essential unity in that kingdom which is
not of this world. But within the provinces of that mighty
state there is room for endless varieties of administration,
and for local laws and customs widely differing from each
other. The unity consists in the one object of worship,
the one object of affiance, the one source of virtue, the
one cementing principle of mutual love which pervades
and animates the whole. The diversities are, and must
be, as numerous and intractable as are the essential distinctions which nature, habit, and circumstances have created amongst men. Uniformity of creeds, of discipline, of
ritual, and of ceremonies, in such a world as ours! a
world where no two men are not as distinguishable in
their mental as in their physical aspect; where every petty
community has its separate system of civil government;
where all that meets the eye, and all that arrests the ear
has the stamp of boundless and infinite variety! What
are the harmonies of tone, of color, and of form, but the
result of contrasts; of contrasts held in subordination to
one pervading principle, which reconciles without confounding the component elements of the music, the painting, or the structure? In the physical works of God
beauty could have no existence without endless diversities.
Why assume that in religious society —a work not less
surely to be ascribed to the supreme Author of all things
— this law is absolutely ieversed? Were it possible to
subdue that innate tendency of the human mind which
compels men to-differ in religious opinions and observances, at least as widely as on all other subjects, what would
be the results of such a triumph? Where wouli then be
the free comparison and the continual enlargement of
thought; where the self-distrusts which are the springs of
HH           20




398                   THE CHURCH.
humility, or the mutual dependencies which are the bonds
of love? He who made us with this infinite variety in our
intellectual and physical constitution must have foreseen,
and foreseeing, must have intended, a corresponding dissimilarity in the opinions of his creatures on all questions
submitted to their judgment and proposed for their acceptance. For truth is his law; and if all will profess to
think alike, all must live in the habitual violation of it.
"Zeal for uniformity attests the latent distrusts, not
the firm convictions of the zealot.  In proportion to the
strength of our self-reliance is our indifference to the
multiplication of suffrages in favor of our own judgment.
Our minds are steeped in imagery; and where the visible
form is not, the impalpable spirit escapes the notice of the
unreflecting multitude. In common hands analysis stops
at the species or the genus, and cannot rise to the order
or the class. To distinguish birds from fishes, beasts from
insects, limits the efforts of the vulgar observer of the face
of nature. But Cuvier could trace the sublime unity, the
universal type, the fontal Idea existing in the creative Intelligence, which connects as one the mammoth and the
snail. So, common observers can distinguish from each
other the different varieties of religious society, and can
rise no higher. Where one assembly worships with har-'
monies of music, fumes of incense, ancient liturgies, and
a gorgeous ceremonial, and another listens to the unaided
voice of a single pastor, they can perceive and record the
differences; but the hidden ties which unite them both
escape such observation. All appears as contrast, and all
ministers to antipathy and discord. It is our belief that
these things may be rightly viewed in a different aspect,
and yet with the most severe conformity to the Divine
will, whether as intimated by natural religion, or as revealed in Holy Scripture. We believe, that, in the judgment of an enlightened charity, many Christian societies
who are accustomed to denounce each other's errors will
at length come to be regarded as members in common of
the one great and comprehensive church, in which diversities of forms are harmonized by an all-pervading unity
of spirit. For ourselves. at least, we should deeply regret to conclude that we are aliens from that great Chrisz
tian commonwealth of which the nuns and recluses of the
valley of Port-Royal were members, and members assuredly of no common excellence."




SELF-CULTURE.
AN ADDRESS
INTRODUCTORY TO THE FRANKLIN LECTURES,
DELIVERED AT BOSTON, SEPT., 1838.




THIs Address was intended to make two lectures; but the author was
led to abridge it and deliver it as one, partly by the apprehension, that
some passages were too abstract for a popular address, partly to secure
the advantages of presenting the whole subject at once and in close connexion, and for other reasons which need not be named. Most of the
passages which were omitted, are now published. The author respect.
fully submits the discourse to those for whom it was particularly intended,
and to the public, in the hope, that it will at least bring a great subject
before the minds of some, who may not as yet have given to it the attention it deserves.




ADDRESS ON SELF-CULTURE.,
1MY RESPECTED FRIENDS:
By the invitation of the committee of arrangements
for the Franklin Lectures, I now appear before you to
offer some remarks introductory to this course.  My
principal inducement for doing so is my deep interest in
those of my fellow-citizens, for whom these lectures are
principally designed.  I understood that they were to
be attended chiefly by those who are occupied by manual
labor; and, hearing this, I did not feel myself at liberty
to decline the service to which I had been invited.  I
wished by compliance to express my sympathy with this
large portion of my race. I wished to express my
sense of obligation to those, from whose industry and
skill I derive almost all the comforts of life.  I wished
still more to express my joy in the efforts they are
making for their own improvement, and my firm faith in
their success.  These motives will give a particular
character and bearing to some of my remarks. I shall
speak occasionally as among those who live by the labor
of their hands.  But I shall not speak as one separated
30         Ii H




402                SELF-CULTURE.
from them. I belong rightfully to the great fraternity
of working men. Happily in this community we all are
bred and born to work; and this honorable mark, set on
us all, should bind together the various portions of the
community.
I have expressed my strong interest in the mass of
the people; and this is founded, not on their usefulness
to the community, so much as on what they are in themselves.  Their condition is indeed obscure; but their
importance is not on this account a whit the less.  The
multitude of men cannot, from the nature of the case, be
distinguished; for the very idea of distinction is, that a
man stands out from the multitude. They make little
noise and draw little notice in their narrow spheres of
action; but still they have their full proportion of personal worth and even of greatness. Indeed every man,
in every condition, is great.  It is only our own diseased sight which makes him little. A man is great as
a man, be he where or what he may. The grandeur of
his nature turns to insignificance all outward distinctions.
His powers of intellect, of conscience, of love, of
knowing God, of perceiving the beautiful, of acting on
his own mind, on outward nature, and on his fellowcreatures, these are glorious prerogatives.  Through the
vulgar error of undervaluing what is common, we are
apt indeed to pass these by as of little worth. But as in
the outward creation, so in the soul, the common is the
most precious.  Science and art may invent splendid
modes of illuminating the apartments of the opulent;
but these are all poor and worthless, compared with the
common light which the sun sends into all our windows,
which he pours freely, impartially over hill and valley,
which kindles daily the eastern and western sky; and so




SELF-CULTUIE.               403
the common lights of reason, and conscience, and love,
are of more worth and dignity than the rare endowments
which give celebrity to a few. Let us not disparage
that nature which is common to all men; for no thought
can measure its grandeur. It is the image of God, the
image even of his infinity, for no limits can be set to its
unfolding.  He who possesses the divine powers of the
soul is a great being, be his place what it may. You
may clothe him with rags, may immure him in a dungeon, may chain him to slavish tasks. But he is still
great. You may shut him out of your houses; but
God opens to him heavenly mansions.  He makes no
show indeed in the streets of a splendid city; but a
clear thought, a pure affection, a resolute act of a virtuous will, have a dignity of quite another kind and far
higher than accumulations of brick and granite and
plaster and stucco, however cunningly put together, or
though stretching far beyond our sight.  Nor is this all.
If we pass over this grandeur of our common nature,
and turn our thoughts to that comparative greatness,
which draws chief attention, and which consists in the
decided superiority of the individual to the general
standard of power and character, we shall find this as
free and frequent a growth among the obscure and unnoticed as in more conspicuous walks of life.  The
truly great are to be found everywhere, nor is it easy to
say, in what condition they spring up most plentifully.
Real greatness has nothing to do with a man's sphere.
It does not lie in the magnitude of his outward agency,
in the extent of the effects which he produces.  The
greatest men may do comparatively little abroad. Perhaps the greatest in our city at this moment are buried
in obscurity.  Grandeur of character lies wholly in




404                 SELF-CULTURE.
force of soul, that is, in the force of thought, moral
principle, and love, and this may be found in the humblest condition of life. A man brought up to an obscure
trade, and hemmed in by the wants of a growing family,
may, in his narrow sphere, perceive more clearly, discriminate more keenly, weigh evidence more wisely,
seize on the right means more decisively, and have
more presence of mind in difficulty, than another who
has accumulated vast stores of knowledge by laborious
study; and he has more of intellectual greatness. Many
a man, who has gone but a few miles from home, understands human nature better, detects motives and weighs
character more sagaciously, than another, who has travelled over the known world, and made a name by his
reports of different countries.  It is force of thought
which measures intellectual, and so it is force of principle which measures moral greatness, that highest of
human endowments, that brightest manifestation of the
Divinity.  The greatest man is he who chooses the
Right with invincible resolution, who resists the sorest
temptations from within and without, who bears the
heaviest burdens cheerfully, who is calmest in storms
aiid most fearless under menace and frowns, whose reliance on truth, on virtue, on God, is most unfaltering;
and is this a greatness, which is apt to make a show, or
which is most likely to abound in conspicuous station?
The solemn conflicts of reason with passion; the victories of moral and religious principle over urgent and
almost irresistible solicitations to self-indulgence; the
hardest sacrifices of duty, those of deep-seated affection and of the heart's fondest hopes; the consolations,
hopes, joys, and peace, of disappointed, persecuted,
scorned, deserted virtue; these are of course unseen;




SELF-CULTUR1.               405
so that the true greatness of human life is almost wholly
out of sight. Perhaps in our presence, the most heroic
deed on earth is done in some silent spirit, the loftiest
purpose cherished, the most generous sacrifice made
and we do not suspect it.  I believe this greatness to be
most common among the multitude, whose names are
never heard.  Among- common people will be found
more of hardship borne manfully, more of unvarnished
truth, more of religious trust, more of that generosity
which gives what the giver needs himself, and more of
a wise estimate of life and death, than among the more
prosperous. — And even in regard to influence over
other beings, which is thought the peculiar prerogative
of distinguished station, I believe, that the difference
between the conspicuous and the obscure does not
amount to much.  Influence is to be measured, not
by the extent of surface it covers, but by its kind.  A
man may spread his mind, his feelings, and opinions,
through a great extent; but if his mind be a low one,
he manifests no greatness. A wretched artist may fill a
city with daubs, and by a false, showy style achieve a
reputation; but the man of genius, who leaves behind
him one grand picture, in which immortal beauty is embodied, and which is silently to spread a:true taste in his
art, exerts an incomparably higher influence.  Now the
noblest influence on earth is that exerted on character;
and he who puts forth this, does a great work, no matter
how narrow or obscure his sphere. The father and
mother of an unnoticed family, who, in their seclusion,
awaken the mind of one child to the idea and love of
perfect goodness, who awaken in him a strength of will
to repel all temptation, and who send him out prepared
to profit by the conflicts of life, surpass in influence a
30 




406                SELF-CULTURE.
Napoleon breaking the world to his sway. And not only
is their work higher in kind; who knows, but that they
are doing a greater work even as to extent of surface
than the conqueror? Who knows, but that the being,
whom they inspire with holy and disinterested principles,
may communicate himself to others; and that, by a
spreading agency, of which they were the silent origin,
improvements may spread through a nation, through the
world? In these remarks you will see why I feel and
express a deep interest in the obscure, in the mass of
men.  The distinctions of society vanish before the
light of these truths. I attach myself to the multitude,
not because they are voters and have political power;
but because they are men, and have within their reach
the most glorious prizes of humanity.
In this country the mass of the people are distinguished by possessing means of improvement, of self-culture,
possessed nowhere else.  To incite them to the use
of these, is to render them the best service they can
receive. Accordingly I have chosen for the subject of
this lecture, Self-culture, or the care which every man
owes to himself, to the unfolding and perfecting of his
nature.  I consider this topic as particularly appropriate
to the introduction of a course of lectures, in consequence of a common disposition to regard these and
other like means of instruction, as able of themselves to
carry forward the hearer. Lectures have their use.
They stir up many, who, but for such outward appeals,
might have slumbered to the end of life. But let it be
remembered, that little is to be gained simply by coming
to this place once a-week, and giving up the mind for an
hour to be wrought upon by a teacher. Unless we are
roused to act upon ourselves, unless we engage in the




SELF-CULTURE.               407
work of self-improvement, unless we purpose strenuously to form and elevate our own minds, unless what
we hear is made a part of ourselves by conscientious
reflection; very little permanent good is received.
Self-culture, I am aware, is a topic too extensive for
a single discourse, and I shall be able to present but a
few views which seem to me most important.  My aimn
will be, to give first the Idea of self-culture, next its
Means; and then to consider some objections to the
leading views which I am now to lay before you.
Before entering on the discussion, let me offer one
remark.  Self-culture is something possible.  It is not
a dream.  It has foundations in our nature.  Without this conviction, the speaker will but declaim, and
the hearer listen without profit.  There are two powers
of the human soul which make self-culture possible, the
self-searching and the self-forming power. We have
first the faculty of turning the mind on itself; of recalling its past, and watching its present operations; of
learning its various capacities and susceptibilities, what
it can do and bear, what it can enjoy and suffer; and of
thus learning in general what our nature is, and what
it was made for.  It is worthy of observation, that we
are able to discern not only what we already are, but
what we may become, to see in ourselves germs and
promises of a growth to which no bounds can be set,
to dart beyond what we have actually gained to the
idea of Perfection as the end of our being. It is by this
self-comprehending power that we are distinguished from
the brutes, which give no signs of looking into them.
selves   Without this there would be no self-culture,
for we should not know the work to be done; and one
reason why self-culture is so little proposed is, that so




40S                SELF-CULtURE.
few penetrate into their own nature. To most men,
their own spirits are shadowy, unreal, compared with
what is outward.  When they happen to cast a glance
inward, they see there only a dark, vague chaos. They
distinguish perhaps some violent passion, which has
driven them to injurious excess; but their highest powers hardly attract a thought; and thus multitudes live
and die as truly strangers to themselves, as to countries
of which they have heard the name, but which human
foot has never trodden.
But self-culture is possible, not only because we can
enter into and search ourselves. We have a still nobler
power, that of acting on, determining and forming ourselves. This is a fearful as well as glorious endowment,
for it is the ground of human responsibility. We have
the power not only of tracing our powers, but of guiding and impelling them; not only of watching our passions, but of controlling them; not only of seeing our
faculties grow, but of applying to them means and influences to aid their growth.  We can stay or change
the current of thought. We can concentrate the intellect on objects which we wish to comprehend.  We
can fix our eyes on perfection, and make almost everything speed us towards it.  This is indeed a noble
prerogative of our nature. Possessing this, it matters
little what or where we are now, for we can conquer a
better lot, and even be happier for starting from the
lowest point. Of all the discoveries which men need to
make, the most important at the present moment, is that
of the self-forming power treasured up in themselves.
They little suspect its extent, as little as the savage
apprehends the energy which the mind is created to
exert on the material world. It transcends in impor



S. LF-CULTURE.               409
tance all our power over outward nature.  There is
more of divinity in it, than in the force which impels
the outward universe; and yet how little we comprehend it!  How it slumbers in most men unsuspected,
unused!  This makes self-culture possible, and binds
it on us as a solemn duty.
I. I am first to unfold the idea of self-culture; and
this, in its most general form, may easily be seized.
To cultivate any thing, be it a plant, an animal, a mind,
is to make grow.  Growth, expansion is the end.
Nothing admits culture, but that which has a principle
of life, capable of being expanded.  He, therefore, who
does what he can to unfold all his powers and capacities, especialy his nobler ones, so as to become a well
proportioned, vigorous, excellent, happy being, practises self-culture.
This culture, of course, has various branches corresponding to the different capacities of human nature;
but, though various, they are intimately united and make
progress together.  The soul, which our philosophy
divides into various capacities, is still one essence, one
life; and it exerts at the same moment, and blends in
the same act, its various energies of thought, feeling,
and volition. Accordingly, in a wise self-culture, all the
principles of our nature grow at once by joint, harmonious action, just as all parts of the plant are unfolded
together. When therefore you hear of different branches of self-improvement, you will not think of them as
distinct processes going on independently of each other,
and requiring each its own separate means.  Still a
distinct consideration of these is needed to a full comII




410                SELF-CULTURE.
prehension of the subject, and these I shall proceed to
unfold.
First, self-culture is Moral, a branch of singular Importance. When a man looks into himself, he discovers
two distinct orders or kinds of principles, which it behoves him  especially to comprehend.  He discovers
desires, appetites, passions, which terminate in himself,
which crave and seek his own interest, gratification,
distinction; and he discovers another principle, an antagonist to these, which is Impartial, Disinterested,
Universal, enjoining on him a regard to the rights and
happiness of other beings, and laying on him obligations which must be discharged, cost what they may,
-or however they may clash with his particular pleasure
or gain. No man, however narrowed tbd his own interest, however hardened by selfishness, can deny, that
there springs. up within hiln a great idea in opposition
to interest, the idea of Duty, that an inward voice
calls him more or less distinctly, to revere and exercise
Impartial Justice, and Universal Good-will. This disinterested principle in human nature we call sometimes
reason, sometimes conscience, sometimes the moral sense
or faculty. But, be its name what it may, it is a real
principle in each of us, and it is the supreme power
within us, to be cultivated above all others, for on its
culture the right developement of all others depends.
The passions indeed may be stronger than the conscience, may lift up a louder voice; but their clamor
differs wholly from the tone of command in which the
conscience speaks.  They are not clothed with its
authority, its binding power.  In their very triumphs
they are rebuked by the moral principle, and often
cower before its still, deep, menacing voice. No part




SELF-CUL'URE.               411
of self-knowledge is more important than to discern
clearly these two great principles, the self-seeking and
the disinterested; and the most important part of selfculture is to depress the former, and to exalt the latter,
or to enthrone the sense of duty within us.  There are
no limits to the growth of this moral force in man, if
he will cherish it faithfully. There have been men,
whom no power in the universe could turn from the
Right, by whom death in its most dreadful forms has
been less dreaded, than transgression of the inward law
of universal justice and love.
In the next place, self-culture is Religious. When
we look into ourselves, we discover powers, which link
us with this outward, visible, finite, ever-changing world.
We have sight and other senses to discern, and limbs
and various faculties to secure and appropriate the material creation. And we have, too, a power, which
cannot stop at what we see and handle, at what exists
within the bopnds of space and time, which seeks for
the Infinite, Uncreated Cause, which cannot rest till it
ascend to the Eternal, All-comprehending Mind. This
we call the religious principle, and its grandeur cannot
be exaggerated by human language; for it marks out
a being destined for higher communion than with the
visible universe. To develope this, is eminently to
educate ourselves.  The true idea of God, unfolded
clearly and livingly within us, and moving us to adore
and obey him, and to aspire after likeness to him, is
the noblest growth in human, and, I may add, in celestial natures. The religious principle, and the moral,
are intimately connected, and grow  together.   The
former is indeed the perfection and highest manifestation of the latter.  They are both disinterested.  It is




412                 SELF-CULTURE.
the essence of true religion to recognise and adore in
God the attributes of Impartial Justice and Universal
Love, and to hear him commanding us in the conscience
to become what we adore.
Again. Self-culture is Intellectual. We cannot look
into ourselves without discovering the intellectual principle, the power which thinks, reasons, and judges, the
power of seeking and acquiring truth.  This, indeed,
we are in no danger of overlooking.  The intellect being the great instrument by which men compass their
wishes, it draws more attention than any of our other
powers. When we speak to men of improving themselves, the first thought which occurs to them is, that
they must cultivate their understanding, and get knowledge and skill. By education, men mean almost exclusively intellectual training.  For this, schools and
colleges are instituted, and to this the moral and religious discipline of the young is sacrificed. Now I reverence, as much as any man, the intellect; but let us
never exalt it above the moral principle. With this it
is most intimately connected.  In this its culture is
founded, and to exalt this is its highest aim. Whoever
desires that his intellect may grow up to soundness, to
healthy vigor, must begin with moral discipline. Reading and study are not enough to perfect the power of
thought. One thing above all is needful, and that is,
the Disinterestedness which is the very soul of virtue.
To gain truth, which is the great object of the understanding, I must seek it disinterestedly.  Here is the
first and grand condition of intellectual progress. I must
choose to receive the truth, no matter how it bears on
ipyself. I must follow it, no matter where it leads,
what interests it opposes, to what persecution cr loss it




SELF-CULTURE.               413
lays me open, from what party it severs me, or to what
party it allies. Without this fairness of mind, which is
only another phrase for disinterested love of truth, great
native powers of understanding are perverted and led
astray; genius runs wild; " the light within us becomes
darkness."  The subtilest reasoners, for want of this,
cheat themselves as well as others, and become entangled in the web of their own sophistry.  It is a fact
well known in the history of science and philosophy,
that men, gifted by nature with singular intelligence,
have broached the grossest errors, and even sought to
undermine the grand primitive truths on which human
virtue, dignity, and hope depend. And, on the other
hand, I have known instances of men of naturally moderate powers of mind, who, by a disinterested love of
truth and their fellow-creatures, have gradually risen to
no small force and enlargement of thought.  Some of
the most useful teachers in the pulpit and in schools,
have owed their power of enlightening others, not so
much to any natural superiority, as to the simplicity,
impartiality, and disinterestedness of their minds, to
their readiness to live and die for the truth.  A man,
who rises above himself, looks from an eminence on
nature and providence, on society and life.  Thought
expands, as by a natural elasticity, when the pressure
of selfishness is removed.  The moral and religious
principles of the soul, generously cultivated, fertilize
the intellect. Duty, faithfully performed, opens the
mind to truth, both being of one family, alike immutable, universal, and everlasting.
I have enlarged on this subject, because the connexion between moral and intellectual culture is often overlooked, and because the former is often sacrificed to
31          II




414                 SELF-CULTURE.
the latter.  The exaltation of talent, as it is called,
above virtue and religion, is the curse of the age. Education is now chiefly a stimulus to learning, and thus
men acquire power without the principles which alone
make it a good.  Talent is worshipped; but, if divorced from rectitude, it will prove more of a demon
than a god.
Intellectual culture consists, not chiefly, as many are
apt to think, in accumulating information, though this
is important, but in building up a force of thought which
may be turned at will on any subjects, on which we are
called to pass judgment.  This force is manifested in
the concentration of the attention, in accurate, penetrating observation, in reducing complex subjects to
their elements, in diving beneath the effect to the cause,
in detecting the more subtile differences and resemblances of things, in reading the future in the present, and
especially in rising from particular facts to general laws
or universal truths.  This last exertion of the intellect,
its rising to broad views and great principles, constitutes what is called the philosophical mind, and is especially worthy of culture. What it means, your own
observation must have taught you.  You must have
taken note of two classes of men, the one always employed on details, on particular facts, and the other
using these facts as foundations of higher, wider truths.
The latter are philosophers. For example, men had
for ages seen pieces of wood, stones, metals falling to
the ground.  Newton seized on these particular facts,
and rose to the idea, that all matter tends, or is attracted, towards all matter, and then defined the law according to which this attraction or force acts at different
distances, thus giving us a grand principle, which, we,




SELF-CULTURE.               415
have reason to think, extends to and controls the whole
outward creation.  One man reads a history, and can
tell you all its events, and there stops. Another combines these events, brings them under one view, and
learns the great causes which are at work on this or
another nation, and what are its great tendencies, whether to freedom or despotism, to one or another form of
civilization. So, one man talks continually about the
particular actions of this or another neighbour; whilst
another looks beyond the acts to the inward principle
from which they spring, and gathers from them larger
views of human nature. In a word, one man sees all
things apart and in fragments, whilst another strives to
discover the harmony, connexion, unity of all. One
of the great evils of society is, that men, occupied perpetually with petty details, want general truths, want
broad and fixed principles.  Hence many, not wicked,
are unstable, habitually inconsistent, as if they were
overgrown children rather than men.  To build up that
strength of mind, which apprehends and cleaves to great
universal truths, is the highest intellectual self-culture;
and here I wish you to observe how entirely this culture agrees with that of the moral and the religious principles of our nature, of which I have previously spoken.
In each of these, the improvement of the soul consists
in raising it above what is narrow, particular, individual,
selfish, to the universal and unconfined.  To improve
i man, is to liberalize, enlarge him in thought, feeling,
and purpose.  Narrowness of intellect and heart, this
is the degradation from which all culture aims to rescue
the human being.
Again.  Self-culture is social, or one of its great offices is to unfold and purify the affections, which spring




416                 SELF-CULTURJE.
up instinctively in the human breast, which bind togethl
er husband and wife, parent and child, brother and sis.
ter; which bind a man to friends and neighbours, to hia
country, and to the suffering who fall under his eye,
wherever they belong.  The culture of these is an imn
portant part of our work, and it consists in converting
them from instincts into principles, from natural into
spiritual attachments, in giving them a rational, moral,
and holy character.  For example, our affection for our
children is at first instinctive; and if it continue such,
it rises little above the brute's attachment to its young.
But when a parent infuses into his natural love for his
offspring, moral and religious principle, when he comes
to regard his child as an intelligent, spiritual, immortal
being, and honors him as such, and desires first of all
to make him disinterested, noble, a worthy child of
God and the friend of his race, then the instinct rises
into a generous and holy sentiment. It resembles God's
paternal love for his spiritual family. A like purity
and dignity we must aim to give to all our affections.
Again.  Self-culture is Practical, or it proposes, as
one of its chief ends, to fit us for action, to make us
efficient in whatever we undertake, to train us to firmness of purpose and to fruitfulness of resource in common life, and especially in emergencies, in times of
difficulty, danger, and trial. But passing over this and
other topics for which I have no time, I shall confine
myself to two branches of self-culture which have been
almost wholly overlooked in the education of the people, and which ought not to be so slighted.
In looking at our nature, we discover, among its admirable endowments, the sense or perception of Beauty.
We see the germ  of this in every human being, and




SJEL'-CULTURE.               417
there is no power which admits greater cultivation;
and why should it not be cherished in all?  It deserves
remark, that the provision for this principle is infinite
in the universe.  There is but a very minute portion of
the creation which we can turn into food and clothes,
or gratification for the body; but the whole creation
may be used to minister to the sense of beauty. Beauty
is an all-peryading presence.  It unfolds in the numberless flowers of the spring.  It waves in the branches of
the trees and the green blades of grass.  It haunts the
depths of the earth and sea, and gleams out in the hues
of the shell and the precious stone.  And not only
these minute objects, but the ocean, the mountains, the
clouds, the heavens, the stars, the rising and setting
sun, all overflow with beauty.  The universe is its temple; and those men, who are alive to it, cannot lift their
eyes without feeling themselves encompassed with it on
every side. Now this beauty is so precious, the enjoyments it gives are so refined and pure, so congenial with
our tenderest and noble feelings, and so akin to worship, that it is painful to think of the multitude of men
as living in the midst of it, and living almost as blind
to it, as if, instead of this fair earth and glorious sky,
they were tenants of a dungeon. An infinite joy is lost
to the world by the want of culture of this spiritual endowment.  Suppose that I were to visit a cottage, and
to see its walls lined with the choicest pictures of Raphael, and every spare nook filled with statues of the
most exquisite workmanship, and that I were to learn,
that neither man, woman, nor child ever cast an eye
at these miracles of art, how should I feel their privation; how should I want to open their eyes, and to
help them to comprehend and feel the loveliness and
31*




418                SELF-CULTURE.
grandeur which in vain courted their notice! But every
husbandman is living in sight of the works of a diviner
Artist; and how much would his existence be elevated,
could he see the glory which shines forth in their forms,
hues, proportions, and moral expression! I have spoken only of the beauty of nature, but how much of this
mysterious charm is found in the elegant arts, and especially in literature?  The best books have most beauty.  The greatest truths are wronged if not linked with
beauty, and they win their way most surely and deeply
into the soul when arrayed in this their natural and fit
attire. Now no man receives the true culture of a
man, in whom the sensibility to the beautiful is not cherished; and I know of no condition in life from which
it should be excluded. Of all luxuries, this is the
cheapest and most at hand; and it seems to me to be
most important to those conditions, where coarse labor
tends to give a grossness to the mind. From the diffusion of the sense of beauty in ancient Greece, and of
the taste for music in modern Germany, we learn that
the people at lhrge may partake of refined gratifications,
which have hitherto been thought to be necessarily restricted to a few.
What beauty is, is a question which the most penetrating minds have not satisfactorily answered; nor,
were I able, is this the place for discussing it.  But
one thing I would say; the beauty of the outward creatlon is intimately related to the lovely, grand, interesting
attributes of the soul.  It is the emblem  or expression
of these.  Matter becomes beautiful to us, when it
seems to lose its material aspect, its inertness, finiteness, and grossness, and by the etherial lightness of its
forms and motions seems to approach spirit; when it




SELF.CULTURE.              419
images to us pure and gentle affections; when it spreads
out into a vastness which is a shadow of the Infinite; or
when in more awful shapes and movements it speaks of
the Omnipotent.  Thus outward beauty is akin to something deeper and unseen, is the reflection of spiritual
attributes; and of consequence the way to see and feel
it more and more keenly, is to cultivate those moral, religious, intellectual, and social principles of which I have
already spoken, and which are the glory of the spiritual
nature; and I name this, that you may see, what I am
anxious to show, the harmony which subsists among all
branches of human culture, or how each forwards and is
aided by all.
There is another power, which each man should cultivate according to his ability, but which is very much
neglected in the mass of the people, and that is, the
power of Utterance.  A man was not made to shut up
his mind in itself; but to give it voice and to exchange it
for other minds.  Speech is one of our grand distinctions from the brute.  Our power over others lies not
so much in the amount of thought within us, as in the
power of bringing it out. A man, of more than ordinary intellectual -vigor, may, for want of expression,
be a cipher, without significance, in society.  And not
only does a man influence others, but he greatly aids his
own intellect, by giving distinct and forcible utterance to
his thoughts.  We understand ourselves better, our conceptions grow clearer, by the very effort to make them
clear to another. Our social rank, too, depends a good
deal on our power of utterance.  The principal distinction between what are called gentlemen and the
vulgar lies in this, that the latter are awkward in manners, and are especially wanting in propriety, clearness,




420                SELF-CULTURE.
grace, and force of utterance.  A  man who cannot
open his lips without breaking a rule of grammar, without showing in his dialect or brogue or uncouth tones his
want of cultivation, or without darkening his meaning
by a confused, unskilful mode of communication, cannot take the place to which, perhaps, his native good
sense entitles him.  To have intercourse with respectable people, we must speak their language. On this
account, I am glad that grammar and a correct pronunciation are taught in the common schools of this city.
These are not trifles; nor are they superfluous to any
class of people.  They give a man access to social
advantages, on which his improvement very much depends. The power of utterance should be included by
all in their plans of self-culture.
I have now given a few views of the culture, the
improvement, which every man should propose to himself. I have all along gone on the principle, that a man
has within him capacities of growth, which deserve and
will reward intense, unrelaxing toil. I do not look on
a human being as a machine, made to be kept in action
by a foreign force, to accomplish an unvarying succession of motions, to do a fixed amount of work, and then
to fall to pieces at death, but as a being of free spiritual
powers; and I place little value on any culture, but
that which aims to bring out these and to give them
perpetual impulse and expansion. I am aware, that
this view is far from being universal. The common
notion has been, that the mass of the people need no
other culturei than is necessary to fit them for their
various trades; and, though this error is passing away,
it is far from being exploded.  But the ground of a




SELF-CULTURE.               421
man's culture lies in his nature, not in his calling.  His
powers are to be unfolded on account of their inherent
dignity, not their outward direction. He is to be educated, because he is a man, not because he is to make
shoes, nails, or pins.  A trade is plainly not the great
end of his being, for his mind cannot be shut up in it;
his force of thought cannot be exhausted on it.  He has
faculties to which it gives no action, and deep wants it
cannot answer. Poems, and systems of theology and
philosophy, which have made some noise in the world,
have been wrought at the work-bench and amidst the
toils of the field. How often, when the arms are mechanically plying a trade, does the mind, lost in reverie
or day-dreams, escape to the ends of the earth! How
often does the pious heart of woman mingle the greatest
of all thoughts, that of God, with household drudgery 
Undoubtedly a man is to perfect himself in his trade,
for by it he is to earn his bread and to serve the community.  But bread or subsistence is not his highest
good; for, if it were, his lot would be harder than that
of the inferior animals, for whom nature spreads a table
and weaves a wardrobe, without a care of their own.
Nor was he made chiefly to minister to the wants of the
community.  A rational, moral being cannot, without
infinite wrong, be converted into a mere instrument of
others' gratification.  He is necessarily an end, not a
means. A mind, in which are sown the seeds of wisdom, disinterestedness, firmness of purpose, and piety,
is worth more than all the outward material interests of
a world.  It exists for itself, for its own perfection, and
must not be enslaved to its own or others' animal wants
You tell me, that a liberal culture is needed for men
who are to fill high stations, but not for such as are
JJ




422                SELF-CULT UE.
doomed to vulgar labor. 1 answer, that Man is a greater
name than President or King. Truth and goodness are
equally precious, in whatever sphere they are found.
Besides, men of all conditions sustain equally the relations, which give birth to the highest virtues and demand the highest powers. The laborer is not a mere
laborer.  He has close, tender, responsible connections
with God and his fellow-creatures. He is a son, husband, father, friend, and Christian. He belongs to a
home, a country, a church, a race; and is such a man
to be cultivated only for a trade? Was he not sent
into the world for a great work? To educate a child
perfectly requires profounder thought, greater wisdom,
than to govern a state; and for this plain reason, that
the interests and wants of the latter are more superficial, coarser, and more obvious, than the spiritual
capacities, the growth of thought and feeling, and the
subtile laws of the mind, which must all be studied and
comprehended, before the work of education can be
thoroughly performed; and yet to all conditions this
greatest work on earth is equally committed by God.
What plainer proof do we need that a higher culture,
than has yet been dreamed of, is needed by our whole
race?
II. I now proceed to inquire into the Means, by
which the self-culture, just described, may be promoted; and here T know not where to begin.  The
subject is so extensive, as well as important, that I feel
myself unable to do any justice to it, especially in the
limits to which I am confined. I beg you to consider
me as presenting but hints, and such as have offered
themselves with very little research to my own mind.




SELF-CULTURE.               423
And, first, the great means of self-culture, that which
includes all the rest, is to fasten on this culture as our
Great End, to determine deliberately and solemnly,
that we will make the most and the best of the powers
which God has given us. Without this resolute purpose, the best means are worth little, and with it the
poorest become mighty. You may see thousands, with
every opportunity of improvement which wealth can
gather, with teachers, libraries, and apparatus, bringing
nothing to pass, and others, with few helps, doing wonders; and simply because the latter are in earnest, and
the former not.  A man in earnest finds means, or, if
he cannot find, creates them.  A  vigorous purpose
makes much out of little, breathes power into weak instruments, disarms difficulties, and even turns them into
assistances.  Every condition has means of progress,
if we have spirit enough to use them.  Some volumes
have recently been published, giving examples or histories of " knowledge acquired under difficulties"; and
it is most animating to see in these what a resolute man
can do for himself. A great idea, like this of Selfculture, if seized on clearly and vigorously, burns like
a living coal in the soul. He who deliberately adopts
a great end, has, by this act, half accomplished it, has
scaled the chief barrier to success.
One thing is essential to the strong purpose of selfculture now insisted on, namely, faith in the practicableness of this culture.  A great object, to awaken resolute choice, must be seen to be within our reach. The
truth, that progress is the very end of our being, must
not be received as a tradition, but comprehended and
felt as a reality. Our minds are apt to pine and starve,
by being imprisoned within what we have already at



424               *SELF-CULTUE.
tained.  A true faith, looking up to something better,
catching glimpses of a distant perfection, prophesying
to ourselves improvements proportioned to our conscientious labors, gives energy of purpose, gives wings to
the soul; and this faith will continually grow, by acquainting ourselves with our own nature, and with the
promises of Divine help and immortal life which abound
in Revelation.
Some are discouraged from proposing to themselves
improvement, by the false notion, that the study of
books, which their situation denies them, is the all-important, and only sufficient means. Let such consider,
that the grand volumes, of which all our books are
transcripts, I mean nature, revelation, the human soul,
and human life, are freely unfolded to every eye.  The
great sources of wisdom are experience and observation; and these are denied to none.  To open and fix
our eyes upon what passes without and within us, is
the most fruitful study.  Books are chiefly useful, as
they help us to interpret what we see and experience.
When they absorb men, as they sometimes do, and turn
them from observation of nature and life, they generate
a learned folly, for which the plain sense of the laborer
could not be exchanged but at great loss.  It deserves
attention that the greatest men have been formed without the studies, which at present are thought by many
most needful to improvement.  Homer, PlatoI Demosthenes, never heard the name of chemistry, and knew
less of the solar system  than a boy in our common
schools.  Not that these sciences are unimportant; but
the lesson is, that human improvement never wants the
means, where the purpose of it is deep and earnest in
the soul.




SELF-CULTruRE               425
The purpose of self-culture, this is the life and
strength of all the methods we use for our own elevation. I reiterate this principle on account of its great
importance; and I would add a remark to prevent its
misapprehension. When I speak of the purpose of selfculture, I mean, that it should be sincere.  In other
words, we must make self-culture really and truly our
end, or choose it for its own sake, and not merely as
a means or instrument of something else. And here I
touch a common and very pernicious error. Not a few
persons desire to improve themselves only to get property and to rise in the world; but such do not properly
choose improvement, but something outward and foreign
to themselves; and so low an impulse can produce only
a stinted, partial, uncertain growth. A man, as I have
said, is to cultivate himself because he is a man. He
is to start with the conviction, that there is something
greater within him than in the whole material creation,
than in all the worlds which press on the eye and ear;
and that inward improvements have a worth and dignity
in themselves, quite distinct from the power they give
over outward things. Undoubtedly a man is to labor
to better his condition, but first to better himself. If
he knows no higher use of his mind than to invent
and drudge for his body, his case is desperate as far
as culture is concerned.
In these remarks, I do not mean to recommend to
the laborer indifference to his outward lot. I hold it
important, that every man in every class should possess
the means of comfort, of health, of neatness in food
and apparel, and of occasional retirement and leisure.
These are good in themselves, to be sought for their
own sakes, and still more, they are important means of
32          JJ*




426                 SELF-CULTUEE.
the self-culture for which I am pleading.  A  cTeart
comfortable dwelling, with wholesome meals, is no small
aid to intellectual and moral progress.  A  man living
in a damp cellar or a garret open to rain and snow.
breathing the foul air of a filthy room, and striving without success to appease hunger on scanty or unsavory
food, is in danger of abandoning himself to a desperate,
selfish recklessness.  Improve then yotor lot.  Multiply
comforts, and still more get wealth if you can by honorable means., and if it do not cost too much.  A  true
cultivation of the mind is fitted to forward you in your
worldly concerns, and you ought to use it for this end.
Only, beware, lest this end master you; lest your motives sink as your condition improves; lest you fall
victims to the miserable passion of vying with those
around you in show, luxury, and expense. Cherish a
true respect for yourselves.  Feel that your nature is
worth more than every thing which is foreign to you.
He who has not caught a glimpse of his own rational
and spiritual being, of something within himself superior
to the world and allied to the divinity, wants the true
spring of that purpose of self-culture, on which I have
insisted as the first of all the means of improvement.
I proceed to another important means of self-culture,
and this is the control of the animal appetites.  To
raise the moral and intellectual nature, we must put
down the animal.  Sensuality is the abyss in which
very many souls are plunged and lost.  Among the
most prosperous classes, what a vast amount of intellectual life is drowned in luxurious excesses! It is
one great curse of wealth, that it is used to pamper the
senses; and among the poorer classes, though luxury




SELF-CULTURE.                427
is wanting, yet a gross feeding often prevails, under
which the spirit is whelmed. It is a sad sight to walk
through our streets, and to see how many countenances
bear marks of a lethargy and a brutal coarseness, induced by unrestrained indulgence.  Whoever would
cultivate the soul, must restrain the appetites.  I am
not an advocate for the doctrine, that animal food was
not meant for man; but that this is used among ifs to
excess, that as a people we should gain much in cheerfulness, activity, and buoyancy of mind, by less gross
and stimulating food, I am strongly inclined to believe.
Above all, let me urge on those, who would bring out
and elevate their higher nature, to abstain from the use
of spirituous liquors.  This bad habit is distinguished
fiom all others by the ravages it makes on the reason,
the intellect; and this effect is produced to a mournful
extent, even when drunkenness is escaped.  Not a few
men, called temperate, and who have thought themselves such, have learned, on abstaining from  the use
of ardent spirits, that for years their minds had been
clouded, impaired by moderate drinking, without their
suspecting the injury.  Multitudes in this city are bereft
of half their intellectual energy, by a degree of indulgence which passes for innocent.  Of all the foes of the
working class, this is the deadliest.  Nothing has done
more to keep down this class, to destroy their selfrespect, to rob them of their just influence in the cornmunity, to render profitless the means of improvement
within their reach, than the use of ardent spirits as a
drink.  They are called on to withstand this practice
as they regard their honor, and would take their just
place in society.  They are under solemn obligations
to give their sanction to every effort for its suppression.




428                 SELF.CULTUvrE.
They ought to regard as their worst enemies (though
unintentionally such), as the enemies of their rights,
dignity, and influence, the men who desire to flood city
and country with distilled poison.  I lately visited  a
flourishing village, and on expressing to one of the respected inhabitants the pleasure I felt in witnessing so
many signs of progress, he replied, that one of the causes
ofthe prosperity I witnessed, was the disuse of ardent
spirits by the people. And this reformation we may
be assured wrought something higher than outward prosperity. In almost every family so improved, we cannot doubt that the capacities of the parent for intellectual and moral improvement were enlarged, and the
means of education made more effectual to the child.
I call on working men to take hold of the cause of
temperance as peculiarly their cause.  These remarks
are the more needed, in consequence of the efforts made
far and wide, to annul at the present moment a recent
law for the suppression of the sale of ardent spirits in
such quantities as favor intemperance.  I know, that
there are intelligent and good men, who believe, that,
in enacting this law, government transcended its limits,
left its true path, and established a precedent for legislative interference with all our pursuits and pleasures.
No one here looks more jealously on government than
myself. But I maintain, that this is a case which stands
by itself, which can be confounded with no other, and
on which government from its very nature and end is
peculiarly bound to act.  Let it never be forgotten, that
the great end of government, its highest function, is,
not to make roads, grant charters, originate improvements, but to prevent or repress Crimes against individual rights and social order.  For this end it crdains




SELF-CULTURE.               429
R penal code, erects prisons, and inflicts fearful punishments.  Now if it be true, that a vast proportion of
the crimes, which government is instituted to prevent
and repress, have their origin in the use of ardent spirits; if our poor-houses, work-houses, jails, and penite.ntiaries, are tenanted in a great degree by those whose
first and chief impulse to crime came from the distillery
and dram-shop; if murder and theft, the most fearful
outrages on property and  life, are most frequently the
issues and consummation of intemperance, is not government bound to restrain by legislation the vending of
the stimulus to these terrible social wrongs? Is government never to act as a parent, never to remove the
causes or occasions of wrong-doing? Has it but one
instrument for repressing crime, namely, public, infamous punishment, an evil only inferior to crime? Is
government a usurper, does it wander beyond its sphere,
by imposing restraints on an article, which does no imaginable good, which can plead no benefit conferred on
body or mind, which unfits the citizen for the discharge
of his duty to his country, and which, above all, stirs
up men to the perpetration of most of the crimes, from
which it is the highest and most solemn office of government to protect society?
I come now to another important measure of selfculture, and this is, intercourse with superior minds.
I have insisted on our own activity as essential to our
progress; but we were not made to live or advance
alone.  Society is as needful to us as air or food.  A
child doomed to utter loneliness, growing up without
sight or sound of human beings, would not put forth
equal power with many brutes; and a man, never brought
32*




430                SELF-CULTURE.
into contact'vith minds superior to his own, will probably run one and the same dull round of thought and action to the end of life.
It is chiefly through books that we enjoy intercourse
with superior minds, and these invaluable means of
communication are in the reach of all. In the best
books, great men talk to us, give us their most precious
thoughts, and pour their souls into ours.   God be
thanked for books.  They are the voices of the distant
and the dead, and make us heirs of the spiritual life
of past ages.  Books are the true levellers.  They
give to all, who will faithfully use them, the society, the
spiritual presence, of the best and greatest of our race.
No matter how poor I am.  No matter though the
prosperous of my own time will not enter my obscure
dwelling. If the Sacred Writers will enter and take
up their abode under my roof, if Milton will cross my
threshold to sing to me of Paradise, and Shakspeare
to open to me the worlds of imagination and the workings of the human heart, and Franklin to enrich me
with his practical wisdom, I shall not pine for want of
intellectual companionship, and I may become a cultivated man though excluded from what is called the
best society in the place where I live.
To make this means of culture effectual, a man must
select good books, such as have been written by rightminded and strong-minded men, real thinkers, who instead of diluting by repetition what others say, have
something to say for themselves, and write to give relief to full, earnest souls; and these works must not be
skimmed over for amusement, but read with fixed attention and a reverential love of truth.  In selecting books,
we may be aided much by those who have studied more




SELF-CULTURE.               431
than ourselves.  But, after all, it is best to be determined in this particular a good deal by our own tastes.
The best books for a man are not always those which
the wise recommend, but oftener those which meet the
peculiar wants, the natural thirst of his mind, and therefbre awaken interest and rivet thought.  And here it
may be well to observe, not only in regard to books but
in other respects, that self-culture must vary with the
individual. All means do not equally suit us all. A
man must unfold himself freely, and should respect the
peculiar gifts or biases by which nature has distinguished him from others. Self-culture does not demand the
sacrifice of individuality.  It does not regularly apply
an established machinery, for the sake of torturing every
man into one rigid shape, called perfection. As the
human countenance, with the same features in us all, is
diversified without end in the race, and is never the
same in any two individuals, so the human soul, with
the same grand powers and laws, expands into an infinite variety of forms, and would be wofully stinted by
modes of culture requiring all men to learn the same
lesson or to bend to the same rules.
I know how hard it is to some men, especially to
those who spend much time in manual labor, to fix
attention on books.  Let them  strive to overcome the
difficulty,by choosing subjects of deep interest, or by
reading in company with those whom they love. Nothing can supply the place of books.  They are cheering
or soothing companions in solitude, illness, affliction.
T1he wealth of both continents would not compensate
for the good they impart. Let every man, if possible,
gather some good books under his roof, and obtain
qccess for himself and family to some social library.
Almost any luxury should be sacrificed to this.




432                 SELF-CULTUR1E.
One of the very interesting features of our times,
is the multiplication of books, and their distribution
through all conditions of society.  At a small expense,
a man can now possess himself of the most precious
treasures of English literature.  Books, once confined
to a few by their costliness, are now accessible to the
multitude; and in this way a change of habits is going
on in society, highly favorable to the culture of the people. Instead of depending on casual rumor and loose
conversation for most of their knowledge and objects of
thought; instead of forming their judgments in crowds,
and receiving their chief excitement from the voice of
neighbours, men are now learning to study and reflect
alone, to follow out subjects continuously, to determine
for themselves what shall engage their minds, and to
call to their aid the knowledge, original views, and reasonings of men of all countries and ages; and the results must be, a deliberateness and independence of
judgment, and a thoroughness and extent of information, unknown in former times.  The diffusion of these
silent teachers, books, through the whole community,
is to work greater effects than artillery, machinery, and
legislation. Its peaceful agency is to supersede stormy
revolutions.  The culture, which it is to spread, whilst
an unspeakable good to the individual, is also to become
the stability of nations.
Another important means of self-culture, is to free
ourselves from the power of human opinion and example, except as far as this is sanctioned by our own deliberate judgment. We are all prone to keep the level
of those we live with, to repeat their words, and dress
our minds as well as bodies after their fashion; and




SELF-CULTURE.               433
hence the spiritless tameness of our characters and lives.
Our greatest danger, is not from the grossly wicked
around us, but from the worldly, unreflecting multitude,
who are borne along as a stream by foreign impulse, and
bear us along with them. Even the influence of superior minds may harm us, by bowing us to servile acquiescence and damping our spiritual activity.  The great
use of intercourse with other minds, is to stir up our
own, to whet our appetite for truth, to carry our thoughts
beyond their old tracks.  We need connexions with
great thinkers to make us thinkers too. One of the
chief arts of self-culture, is to unite the childlike teachableness, which gratefully welcomes light from every
human being who can give it, with manly resistance of
opinions however current, of influences however generally revered, which do not approve themselves to our
deliberate judgment. You ought indeed patiently and
conscientiously to strengthen your reason by other men's
intelligence, but you must not prostrate it before them.
Especially if there springs up within you any view of
God's word or universe, any sentiment or aspiration
which seems to you of a higher order than what you
meet abroad, give reverent heed to it; inquire into it
earnestly, solemnly. Do not trust it blindly, for it may
be an illusion; but it may be the Divinity moving within
you, a new revelation, not supernatural but still: most
precious, of truth or duty; and if, after inquiry, it so
appear, then let no clamor, or scorn, or desertion turn
you from it.  Be true to your own highest convictions.
Intimations from our own souls of something more perfect than others teach, if faithfully followed, give us a
consciousness of spiritual force and progress, never experienced by the vulgar of high life or low life, who
march, as they are drilled, to the step of their times.
KK




4!34               SELF-CULTURE.
Some, I know, will wonder, that I should think the
mass of the people capable of such intimations and
glimpses of truth, as I have just supposed. These are
commonly thought to be the prerogative of men of genius, who seem to be born to give law to the minds of
the multitude.  Undoubtedly nature has her nobility,
and sends forth a few to be eminently "lights of the
world."  But it is also true that a portion of the same
divine fire is given to all; for the many could not receive with a loying reverence the quickening influences
of the few, were there not essentially the same spiritual
life in both. The minds of the multitude are not masses
of passive matter, created to receive impressions unresistingly from abroad.  They are not wholly shaped by
foreign instruction; but have a native force, a spring of
thought in themselves. Even the child's mind outruns
its lessons, and overflows in questionings which bring
the wisest to a stand.  Even the child starts the great
problems, which philosophy has labored to solve for ages.
But on this subject I cannot now enlarge. Let me only
say, that the power of original thought is particularly
manifested in those who thirst for progress, who are
bent on unfolding their whole nature. A man who wakes
up to the consciousness of having been created for progress and perfection, looks with new eyes on himself and
on the world in which he lives.  This great truth stirs
the soul from its depths, breaks up old associations of
ideas, and establishes new ones, just as a mighty agent
of chemistry, brought into contact with natural substances, dissolves the old affinities which had bound their
particles together, and arranges them anew.  This trutl2
particularly aids us to penetrate the mysteries of human
life. By revealing to us the end of our being, it helps




SELF-CULTURE.               435
us to colnprehend more and more the wonderful, the infinite system, to which we belong. A man in the common walks of life, who has faith in perfection, in the
unfolding of the human spirit, as the great purpose of
God, possesses more the secret of the universe, perceives more the harmonies or mutual adaptations of the
world without and the world within him, is a wiser interpreter of Providence, and reads nobler lessons of duty
in the events which pass before him, than the profoundest philosopher who wants this grand central truth. Thus
illuminations, inward suggestions, are not confined to a
favored few, but visit all who devote themselves to a
generous self-culture.
Another means of self-culture may be found by every
man in his Condition or Occupation; be it what it may.
HIad I time, I might go through all conditions of life,
from the most conspicuous to the most obscure, and
might show how each furnishes continual aids to improvement. But I will take one example, and that is,
of a man living by manual labor. This may be made
the means of self-culture.  For instance, in almost all
labor, a man exchanges his strength for an equivalent
in the form of wages, purchase-money, or some other
product. In other words, labor is a system of contracts,
bargains, imposing mutual obligations. Now the man,
who, in working, no matter in what way, strives perpetually to fulfil his obligations thoroughly, to do his whole
work faithfully, to be honest not because honesty is.the
best policy, but for the sake of justice, and that he may
render to every man his due, such a laborer is continually building up in himself one of the greatest principles
of morality and religion. Every blow on the anvil, on




436                 SEL-C'ULTUR&
the earth, or whatever material he works upon, contributes something to the perfection of his nature.
Nor is this all. Labor is a school of benevolence as
well as justice.  A man to support himself must serve
others: He must do or produce something for their
comfort or gratification.  This is one of the beautiful
ordinations of Providence, that, to get a living, a man
must be useful. Now this usefulness ought to be an end
in his labor as truly as to earn his living.  He ought to
think of the benefit of those he works for, as well as of
his own; and in so doing, in desiring amidst his sweat
and toil to serve others as well as himself, he is exercising and growing in benevolence, as truly as if he were
distributing bounty with a large hand to the poor. Such
a motive hallows and dignifies the commonest pursuit.
It is strange, that laboring men do not think more of the
vast usefulness of their toils, and take a benevolent pleasure in them on this account.  This beautiful city, with
its houses, furniture, markets, public walks, and numberless accommodations, has -grown up under the hands of
artisans and other laborers, and ought they not to take
a disinterested joy in their work? One would think,
that a carpenter or mason, on passing a house which he
had reared, would say to himself, "1 This work of mine
is giving comfort and enjoyment every day and hour to
a family, and will continue to be' a kindly shelter, a domestic gathering-place, an abode of affection, for a century or more after I sleep in the dust; " and ought not a
generous satisfaction to spring up at the thought? — It is
by thus interweaving goodness with common labors, that
we give it strength and make it a habit of the soul.
Again. Labor may be so performed as to be a high
impulse to the mind, Be a man's vocation what it may,




sm~tLr-C'ro Vi.tt            437
his rule should be to do its duties perfectly, to do the
best he can, and thus to make perpetual progress in his
art. In other words, Perfection should be proposed;
and this I urge not only for its usefulness to society, nor
for the sincere pleasure which a man takes in seeing a
work well done.  This is an important means of selfculture. In this way the idea of Perfection takes root
in the mind, and spreads far beyond the man's trade.
He gets a tendency towards completeness in whatever
he undertakes.  Slack, slovenly performance in any department of life is more apt to offend him.  His standard of action rises, and every thing is better done for his
thoroughness in his common vocation.
There is one circumstance attending all conditions
of life, which may and ought to be turned to the use
of self-culture; Every condition, be it what it may,
has hardships, hazards, pains.  We try to escape them;
we pine for a sheltered lot, for a smooth path, for cheering friends, and unbroken success. But Providence ordains storms, disasters, hostilities, sufferings; and the
great question, whether we shall live to any purpose or
not, whether we shall grow strong in mind and heart, or
be weak and pitiable, depends on nothing so much as on
our use of these adverse circumstances. Outward evils
are designed to school our passions, and to rouse our
faculties and virtues into intenser action.  Sometimes
they seem to create new powers. Difficulty is the element, and resistance the true work of a man. Selfculture never goes on so fast, as when embarrassed circumstances, the opposition of men or the elements,
unexpected changes of the times, or other forms of
suffering, instead of disheartening, throw us on our inward resources, turn us for strength to God, clear up to
33            KK*




i  SELF CULTTR.
as the great purpose of life, and inspire calm resoIdtior.r
No greatness or goodness is worth much, us less tried
in these fires.  Hardships are not on this account to be
sought for.  They come fast enough of themselves, and
we are in more danger of sinking under, than:of needing
them. But when God sends them, they are noble means
of self, culture, and as such, let us meet and bear them
cheerfully. Thus all parts of our condition may be
pressed into the service of self-improvement.
I haves time to consider but one more means of selfculture.  We find it in our Free Government, in our
Political relations and duties.  It is a great benefit of
free institutions, that they do much to awaken and keep
in action a nation's mind.  We are told, that the education of the multitude is necessary to the support of a
republic; but it is equally true, that a republic is a powerful means of educating the multitude.  It is the people's University. In a free state, solemn responsibilities
are imposed on every citizen; great subjects are to be
discussed; great interests to be decided.  The;individual is called to determine measures affecting the wellbeing of millions and the destinies of posterity. He
must consider not only the internal relations of his native land, but its connexion with foreign states, and
judge of a policy which touches the whole civilized
world. He is called by his participation in the national
sovereignty, to cherish public spirit, a regard to the general weal. A man who purposes to discharge faithfully
these obligations, is carrying on a generous self-culture.
The great public questions, which divide opinion around
him and provoke earnest discussion, of necessity invigorate his intellect, and accustom him to look beyond




SELF-CULTURF                 439
himself. He grows up to a robustness, force, enlargement of mind, unknown under despotic rule.
It may be said that I am describing what free institutions ought to do for the character of the individual,
not their actual effects; and the objection, I must own,
is too true.  Our institutions do not cultivate us, as
they might and should; and the chief cause of the failure is plain.  It is the strength of party-spirit; and so
blighting is its influence, so fatal to self-culture, that 1
feel myself bound to warn every man against it, who
has any desire of improvement. I do not tell you it
will destroy your country. It wages a worse war against
yourselves.  Truth, justice, candor, fair dealing, sound
judgment, self-control, and kind affections, are its natural and perpetual prey.
I do not say, that you must take no side in politics.
The parties which prevail around you differ in character, principles, and spirit, though far less than the exaggeration of passion affirms; and, as far as conscience
allows, a man should support that which he thinks best.
In one respect, however, all parties agree.  They all
foster that pestilent spirit, which I now condemn. In
all of them, party-spirit rages.  Associate men together for a common cause, be it good or bad, and array
against them a body resolutely pledged to an opposite
interest, and a new passion, quite distinct from the original sentiment which brought them together, a fierce,
fiery zeal, consisting chiefly of aversion to those who
differ from them, is roused within them into fearful activity. Human nature seems incapable of a stronger.
more unrelenting passion.  It is hard enough for an
individual,.when contending all alone for an interest or
an opinion, to keep down his pride, wilfulness, love of




440                 SELF-CULTURE.
victory, anger, and other personal feelings.  But let
him join a multitude in the same warfare, and, without
singular self-control, he receives into his single breast,
the vehemence, obstinacy, and vindictiveness of all.
The triumph of his party becomes immeasurably dearer
to him than the principle, true or false, which was the
original ground of division.  The conflict becomes a
struggle, not for principle, but for power, for victory;
and the desperateness, the wickedness of such struggles,
is the great burden of history.  In truth, it matters little
what men divide about, whether it be a foot of land or
precedence in a procession.  Let them  but begin to
fight for it, and self-will, ill-will, the rage for victory, the
dread of mortification and defeat, make the trifle as
weighty as a matter of life and death.  The Greek or
Eastern empire was shaken to its foundation by parties,
which differed only about the merits of charioteers at
the amphitheatre.  Party spirit is singularly hostile to
moral independence. A man, in proportion as he drinks
into it, sees, hears, judges by the senses and understandings of his party.  He surrenders the freedom of a
man, the right of using and speaking his own -mind, and
echoes the applauses or maledictions, with which the
leaders or passionate partisans see fit that the country
should ring.  On all points, parties are to be distrusted;
but on no one so much as on the character of oppor
nents.  These, if you may trust what you hear, are
always men without principle and truth, devoured by
selfishness, and thirsting for their own elevation, though
on their country's ruin. When I was young, I was accustomed to hear pronounced with abhorrence, almost
with execration, the names of men, who are now hailed
by their former foes as the champions of grand princi



SELF-CULTURE.               441
ples, and as worthy of the highest public trusts.  This
lesson of early experience, which later years have corroborated, will never be forgotten.
Of our present political divisions I have of course
nothing to say.  But among the current topics of party,
there are certain accusations and recriminations, grounded on differences of social condition, which seem to me
so unfriendly to the improvement of individuals and the
community, that I ask the privilege of giving them a
moment's notice. On one side we are told, that the
rich are disposed to trample on the poor; and on the
other, that the poor look with evil eye and hostile purpose on' the possessions of the rich.  These outcries
seem to me alike devoid of truth and alike demoralizing.
As for the rich, who constitute but a handful of our
population, who possess not one peculiar privilege, and,
what is more, who possess comparatively little of the
property of the country, it is wonderful, that they should
be objects of alarm. The vast and ever-growing property of this country, where is it? Locked up in a few
hands? hoarded in a few strong boxes? It is diffused
like the atmosphere, and almost as variable, changing
hands with the seasons, shifting from rich to poor, not
by the violence but by the industry and skill of the latter class.  The wealth of the rich is as a drop in the
ocean; and it is a well-known fact, that those men among
us, who are noted for their opulence, exert hardly any
political power on the community. That the rich do
their whole duty; that they adopt, as they should, the
great object of the social state, which is the elevation
of the people in intelligence, character, and condition,
cannot be pretended; but that they feel for the physical
sufferings of their brethren, that they stretch out liberal
33*




442                 SELF-CULTURE.
hands for the succour of the poor, and for the support
of useful public institutions, cannot be denied.  Among
them are admirable specimens of humanity.  There is
no warrant for holding them up to suspicion as the people's foes.
Nor do I regard as less calumnious the outcry against
the working classes, as if they were aiming at the subversion of property. When we think of the general
condition and character of this part of our population,
when we recollect, that they were born and have lived
amidst schools and churches, that they have been brought
up to profitable industry, that they enjoy many of the
accommodations of life, that most of them hold a measure of property and are hoping for more, that they possess unprecedented means of bettering their lot, that
they are bound to comfortable homes by strong domestic affections, that they are able to give their children an
education which places within their reach the prizes of
the social state, that they are trained to the habits, and
familiarized to the advantages of a high civilization;
when we recollect these things, can we imagine that
they are so insanely blind to their interests, so deaf to
the claims of justice and religion, so profligately thoughtless of the peace and safety of their families, as to be
prepared to make a wreck of social order, for the sake
of dividing among themselves the spoils of the rich,
which would not support the community for a month?
Undoubtedly there is insecurity in all stages of society,
and so there must be,'until communities shall be regenerated by a higher culture, reaching and quickening all
classes of the people; but there is not, I believe, a
spot on earth, where property is safer than here, because, nowhere else is it so equally and righteously dif



SELF-CUUrURE.               443
fused. In aristocracies, where wealth exists in enormous
masses, which have been entailed for ages by a partial
legislation on a favored few, and where the multitude,
after the sleep of ages, are waking up to intelligence,
to self-respect, and to a knowledge of their rights, property is exposed to shocks which are not to be dreaded
among ourselves.  Here indeed as elsewhere,- among
the less prosperous members of the community, there
are disappointed, desperate men, ripe for tumult and
civil strife; but it is also true, that the most striking
and honorable distinction of this country is to be found
in the intelligence, character, and condition of the great
working class.  To me it seems, that the great danger
to property here is not from the laborer, but from those
who are making haste to be rich. For example, in this
commonwealth, no act has been thought by the alarmists
or the conservatives so subversive of the rights of property, as a recent law, authorizing a company to construct a free bridge, in the immediate neighbourhood of
another, which had been chartered by a former legislature, and which had been erected in the expectation of
an exclusive right. And with whom did this alleged
assault on property originate? With levellers? with
needy laborers? with men bent on the prostration of the
rich? No; but with men of business, who are anxious
to push a more lucrative trade.  Again, what occurrence among us has bben so suited to destroy confidence, and to stir up the people against the moneyed
class, as the late criminal mismanagement of some of
our banking institutions? And whence came this? from
the rich, or the poor? From the agrarian, or the man
of business? Who, let me ask, carry on the work of
spoliation most extensively in society? Is not more




444      -         SELF.CULTURE.
property wrested from its owners by' rash or dishonest
failures, than by professed highwaymen and thieves 
Have not a few unprincipled speculators sometimes inflicted wider wrongs and sufferings, than all the tenants
of a state prison? ~Thus property is in more danger
from those who are aspiring after wealth, than from
those who live by the sweat of their brow. I do not
believe, however, that the institution is in serious danger
from  either.  All the advances of society in industry,
useful arts, commerce, knowledge, jurisprudence, fraternal union, and practical Christianity, are so many
hedges around honestly acquired wealth, so many barriers against revolutionary violence and rapacity. Let
us not torture ourselves with idle alarms, and still more,
let us not inflame ourselves against one another by mutual calumnies.  Let not class array itself against class,
where all have a common interest. One way of provoking men to crime, is to suspect them of criminal
designs. We do not secure our property against the
poor, by accusing them of schemes of universal robbery; nor render the rich better friends of the community, by fixing on them the brand of hostility to the
people. Of all parties, those founded on different social
conditions are the most pernicious; and in no country
on earth are they so groundless as in our own.
Among the best people, especially among the more
religious, there are some, who, through disgust with the
violence and frauds of parties, withdraw themselves from
all political action. Such, I conceive, do wrong. God
has placed them in the relations, and imposed on them
the duties of citizens; and they are no more authorized
to shrink from these duties than from those of sons,
husbands, or fathers.  They owe a great debt to their




SELF-CULTURE.              445
country, and must discharge it by giving support to what
they deem the best men and the best measures.  Nor
let them say, that they can do nothing. Every good
man, if faithful to his convictions, benefits his country.
All parties are kept in check by the spirit of the better
portion of people whom they contain. Leaders are always compelled to ask what their party will bear, and to
modify their measures, so as not to shock the men of
principle within their ranks. A good man, not tamely
subservient to the body with which he acts, but judging it
impartially, criticizing it freely, bearing testimony against
its evils, and withholding his support from wrong, does
good to those around him, and is cultivating generously
his own mind.
I respectfully counsel those whom I address, to take
part in the politics of their country.  These are the
true discipline of a people, and do much for their education.  I counsel you to labor for a clear understanding of the subjects which agitate the community, to
make them your study, instead of wasting your leisure
in vague, passionate talk about them.  The time thrown
away by the mass of the people on the rumors of the
day, might, if better spent, give them a good acquaintance with the constitution, laws, history, and interests
of their country, and thus establish them in those great
principles by which particular measures are to be determined. In proportion as the people thus improve
themselves, they will cease to be the tools of designing
politicians.  Their intelligence, not their passions and
jealousies, will be addressed by those who seek their
votes.  They will exert, not a nominal, but a real influence on the government and the destinies of the country, and at the same time will forward their own growth
in truth and virtue.  LL




446                 SELF-CULTURE.
I ought not to quit this subject of politics, considered
as a means of self-culture, without speaking of newspapers; because these form the chief reading of the
bulk of the people.  They are the literature of multitudes.  Unhappily, their importance is not understood;
their bearing on the intellectual and moral cultivation
of the community little thought of.  A newspaper ought
to be conducted by one of our most gifted men, and its
income should be such as to enable him to secure the
contributions of men as gifted as himself.  But we must
take newspapers as they are; and a man, anxious for
self-culture, may turn them to account, if he will select
the best within his reach. He should exclude friom his
house such as are venomous or scurrilous, as he would
a pestilence. He should be swayed in his choice, not
merelyr by the ability with which a paper is conducted,
but still more by its spirit, by its justice, fairness, and
steady adherence to great principles. Especially, if he
would know the truth, let him hear both sides. Let
him read the defence as well as the attack. Let him
not give his ear to one party exclusively. We condemn ourselves, when we listen to reproaches thrown
on an individual and turn away from  his exculpation;
and is it just to read continual, unsparing invective
against large masses of mien, and refuse them the opportunity of justifying themselves?
A new class of daily papers has sprung up in our
country, sometimes called cent papers, and designed
for circulation among those who cannot afford costlier
publications.  My interest in the working class induced
me some time ago to take one of these, and I was gratified to find it not wanting in useful matter.  Two things
however gave me pain.  The advertising coiumns were




SELF-CULTURE.               447
devoted very much to patent medicines; and when I
considered that a laboring man's whole fortune is his
health, I could not but lament, that so much was done
to seduce him to the use of articles, more fitted, I fear,
to undermine than to restore his constitution.  I was
also shocked by accounts of trials in the police court.
These were written in a style adapted to the most uncultivated minds, and intended to\ turn into matters of
sport the most painful and humiliating events of life.
Were the newspapers of the rich to attempt to extract
amusement from the vices and miseries of the poor,
a cry would be raised against them, and very justly.
But is it not something worse, that the poorer classes
themselves should seek occasions of laughter and merriment in the degradation, the crimes, the woes, the
punishments of their brethren, of those who are doomed
to bear like themselves the heaviest burdens of life,
and who have sunk under the temptations of poverty?
*Better go to the hospital, and laugh over the wounds
and writhings of the sick or the ravings of the insane,
than amuse ourselves with brutal excesses and infernal
passions, which not only expose the criminal to the
crushing penalties of human laws, but incur the displeasure of Heaven, and, if not repented of, will be
followed by the fearful retribution of the life to come.
One important topic remains.  That great means of
self-improvement, Christianity, is yet untouched, and
its greatness forbids me now to approach it.  I will
only say, that if you study Christianity in its original
records, and not in human creeds; if you consider its
clear revelations of God, its life-giving promises of pardon and spiritual strength, its correspondence to man's
reason, conscience, and best affections, ana its adapta



448                SELF-CULTURE.
tion to his wants, sorrows, anxieties, and fears; if you
consider the strength of its proofs, the purity of its precepts, the divine greatness of the character of its author,
and the immortality which it opens before us, you will
feel yourselves bound to welcome it joyfully, gratefully,
as affording aids and incitements to self-culture, which
would vainly be sought in all other means.
I have thus presented a few of the means of selfculture. The topics, now discussed, will I hope suggest others to those who have honored me with their
attention, and create an interest which will extend
beyond the present hour. I owe it however to truth
to make one remark. I wish to raise no unreasonable
hopes. I must say, then, that the means now recommended to you, though they will richly reward every
man of every age who will faithfully use them, will yet
not produce their full and happiest effect, except in
cases where early education has prepared the mind for
future improvement. They, whose childhood has been
neglected, though they may make progress in future
life, can hardly repair the loss of their first years;
and I say this, that we may all be excited to save our
children from this loss, that we may prepare them, to
the extent of our power, for an effectual use of all the
means of self-culture, which adult age may bring with it.
With these views, I ask you to look with favor on the
recent exertions of our legislature and of private citizens,
in behalf of our public schools, the chief hope of our
country.  The' legislature has of late appointed a board
of education, with a secretary, who is to devote his
whole time to the improvement of public schools. An
individual more fitted to this responsible office, than




SELF-CULTURE.               449
the gentleman who now fills it,* cannot, I believe, be
found in our community; and if his labors shall be
crowned with success, he will earn a title to the gratitude of the good people of this State, unsurpassed by
that of any other living citizen. Let me also recall to
your minds a munificent individual, t who, by a generous
donation, has encouraged the legislature to resolve on
the establishment of one or more institutions called
Normal Schools, the object of which is, to prepare accomplished teachers of youth, a work, on which the
progress of education depends more than on any other
measure. The efficient friends of education are the
true benefactors of their country, and their names
deserve to be handed down to that posterity, for whose
highest wants they are generously providing.
There is another mode of advancing education m our
whole country, to which I ask your particular attention.
You are aware of the vast extent and value of the public lands of the Union. By annual sales of these, large
amounts of money are brought into the national treasury,
which are applied to the current expenses of the Government.  For this application there is no need.  In
truth, the country has received detriment from the excess of its revenues. Now, I ask, why shall not the
public lands be consecrated (in whole or in part, as the
case may require) to the education of the people?
This measure would secure at once what the country;nost needs, that is, able, accomplished, quickening
teachers of the whole rising generation.  The present
poor remuneration of instructors is a dark omen, and the
only real obstacle which the cause of education has to
* Horace Mann, Esq.     t Edmund Dwight,;Esq.
34           LL*




450               SEL.-CUITURE.
contend with. Wc. need for our schools gifted men ano
women, worthy, by their intelligence and their moral
power, to be intrusted with a nation's youth; and, to gain
these, we must pay them liberally, as well as afford other
proofs of the consideration in which we hold them. In
the present state of the country, when so many paths of
wealth and promotion are opened, sulperior men cannot
be won to an office so responsible and laborious as that
of teaching, without stronger inducements than are now
offered, except in some of our large cities.  The office
of instructor ought to rank and be recompensed as one
of the most honorable in society; and I see not how
this is to be done, at least in our day, without appropriating to it the public domain. This is the people's
property, and the only part of their property which is
likely to be soon devoted to the support of a high order
of institutions for public education.  This object, interesting to all classes of society, has peculiar claims on
those whose means of improvement are restricted by
narrow circumstances. The mass of the people should
devote themselves to it as one man, should toil for it
with one soul.  Mechanics, Farmers, Laborers! let the
country echo with your united cry, " The Public Lands
for Education." Send to the public councils men who
will plead this cause with power. No party triumphs,
no trades-unions, no associations, can so contribute to
elevate you as the measure now proposed. Nothing
but a higher education can raise you in influence and true
dignity. The resources of the public domain, wisely
applied for successive generations to the culture of
society and of the individual, would create a new people, would awaken through this community intellectual
and moral energies, such as the records of no country




SELF-CULTURt.               451
display, and as would command the respect and emulation of the civilized world. In this grand object, the
working men of all parties, and in all divisions of the
land, should join with an enthusiasm not to be withstood. They should separate it from all narrow and
local strifes. They should not suffer it to be mixed up
with the schemes of politicians. In it, they and their
children have an infinite stake. May they be true to
themselves, to posterity, to their country, to freedom, to
the cause of mankind.
III. I am aware, that the whole doctrine of this discourse will meet with opposition. There are not a few
who will say to me, ", What you tell us sounds well;
but it is impracticable. Men, who dream in their closets,
spin beautiful theories; but actual life scatters them, as
the wind snaps the cobweb. You would have all men
to be cultivated; but necessity wills that most men shall
work; and which of the two is likely to prevail? A
weak sentimentality may shrink from the truth; still it is
true, that most men were made, not for self-culture, but
for toil."
I have put the objection into strong language, that
we may all look it fairly in the face. For one I deny
its validity. Reason, as well as sentiment, rises up
against it. The presumption is certainly very strong,
that the All-wise Father, who has given to every human
being reason and conscience and affection, intended
that these should be unfolded; and it is hard to believe,
that He, who, by conferring this nature on all men, has
made all his children, has destined the great majority to
wear out a life of drudgery and unimproving toil, for
the benefit of a few. God cannot have made spiritual




452                 SELF-CULTtJRE.
beings to be dwarfed.  In the body we see no organs
created to shrivel by disuse; much less are the powers
of the soul given to be locked up in perpetual lethargy.
Perhaps it will be replied, that the purpose of the
Creator is to be gathered, not from theory, but from
facts; and that it is a plain fact, that the order and prosperity of society, which God must be supposed to
intend, require from the multitude the action of their
hands, and not the improvement of their minds. I reply, that a social order, demanding the sacrifice of the
mind, is very suspicious, that it cannot indeed be sanctioned by the Creator.  Were I, on visiting a strange
country, to see the vast majority of the people maimed,
crippled, and bereft of sight, and were I told that social
order required this mutilation, I should say, Perish this
order. Who would not think his understanding as well
as best feelings insulted, by hearing this spoken of as the
intention of God?  Nor ought we to look with less
aversion on a social system, which can only be upheld
by crippling and blinding the Minds of the people.
But to come nearer to the point. Are labor and selfculture irreconcilable to each other?  In the  first
place, we have seen that a man, in the midst of labor,
may and ought to give himself to the most important
improvements, that he may cultivate his sense of justice,
his benevolence, and the desire of perfection.  Toil is
the school for these high principles; and we- have here
a strong presumption, that, in other respects, it does not
necessarily blight the soul. Next we have seen, that
the most fruitful sources of truth and wisdom are not
books, precious as they are, but experience and obser.
vation; and these belong to all conditions. It is another
important consideration, that almost all labor demands




SELF-CULTIURE.              453
intellectual activity, and is best carried on by those who
invigorate their minds; so that the two interests, toil and
self-culture, are friends to each other. It is Mind, after
all, which does the work of the world, so that the more
there is of mind, the more work will be accomplished.
A man, in proportion as he is intelligent, makes a given
force accomplish a greater task, makes skill take the
place of muscles, and, with less labor, gives a better
product. Make men intelligent, and they become inventive. They find shorter processes. Their knowledge of nature helps them to turn its laws to account, to understand the substances on which they
work, and to seize on useful hints, which experience
continually furnishes. It is among workmen, that some
of the most useful machines have been contrived.
Spread education, and, as the history of this country
shows, there will be no bounds to useful inventions.
You think, that a man without culture will do all the
better what you call the drudgery of life.  Go then to
the Sduthern plantation. There the slave is brought up
to be a mere drudge. He is robbed of the rights of a
man, his whole spiritual nature is starved, that he may
work, and do nothing but work; and in that slovenly
agriculture, in that worn-out soil, in the rude state of the
mechanic arts, you may find a comment on your doctrine, that, by degrading men, you make them more
productive laborers.
But it is said, that any considerable education lifts
men above their work, makes them look with disgust on
their trades as mean and low, makes drudgery intoleraile. I reply, that a man becomes interested in labor,
just in proportion as the mind works with the hands.
An enlightened farmer, who understands agricultural
34*




454                 SELF-CULTURE.
chemistry, the laws of vegetation, the structure of plants,
the properties of manures, the influences of climate,
who looks intelligently on his work, and brings his knowledge to bear on exigencies, is a much more cheerful, as
well as more dignified laborer, than the peasant, whose
mind is akin to the clod on which he treads, and whose
whole life is the same dull, unthinking, unimnproving toil.
But this is not all. Why is it, I ask, that we call manual
labor low, that we associate with it the idea of meanness,
and think that an intelligent people must scorn it? The
great reason is, that, in most countries, so few intelligent
people have been engaged in it.  Once let cultivated
men plough, and dig, and follow the commonest labors,
and ploughing, digging, and trades, will cease to be
mean. It is the man who determines the dignity of the
occupation, not the occupation which measures the dignity of the man.  Physicians and surgeons perform
operations less cleanly than fall to the lot of most mechanics. I have seen a distinguished chemist covered
with dust like a laborer. Still these men were not degraded.  Their intelligence gave dignity to their work,
and so our laborers, once educated, will give dignity to
their toils. —-et me add, that I see little difference in
point of dignity, between the various vocations of men.
When I see a clerk, spending his days in adding figures,
perhaps merely copying, or a teller of a bank counting
money, or a merchant selling shoes and hides, I cannot
see in these occupations greater respectableness than in
making leather, shoes, or furniture.  I do not see in
them greater intellectual activity than in several trades.
A man in the fields seems to have more chances of im
provement in his work, than a man behind the counter,
or a man driving the quill. It is the sign of a narrow




SELF-CULTURE.               455
mind, to imagine, as many seem to do, that there is a
repugnance between the plain, coarse exterior of a laborer, and mental culture, especially the more refining
culture.  The laborer, under his dust and sweat, carries
the grand elements of humanity, and he may put forth
its highest powers.  I doubt not, there is as genuine
enthusiasm in the contemplation of nature, and in the
perusal of works of genius, under a homespun garb'as
under finery. We have heard of a distinguished author,
who never wrote so well, as when he was full dressed
for company. But profound thought, and poetical inspiration, have most generally visited men, when, from
narrow circumstances or negligent habits, the rent coat
and shaggy face have made them quite unfit for polished
saloons. A man may see truth, and may be thrilled
with beauty, in one costume or dwelling as well as another; and he should respect himself the more, for the
hardships under which his intellectual force has been
developed.
But it will be asked, how can the laboring classes
find time for self-culture? I answer, as I have already
intimated, that an earnest purpose finds time or makes
time.  It seizes on spare moments, and turns larger
fragments of leisure to golden account.  A  man, who
follows his calling with industry and spirit, and uses his
earnings economically, will always have some portion of
the day at command; and it is astonishing, how fruitful
ef improvement a short season becomes, when eagerly
seized and faithfully used. It has often been observed,
that they, who have most time at their disposal, profit by
it least. A single hour in the day, steadily given to the
study of an interesting subject, brings unexpected accuJnulations of knowledge. The improvements made by




4.56                SELF-CULTURE.
well-disposed pupils, in many of our country schools,
which are open but three months in the year, and in our
Sunday-schools, which are kept but one or two hours in
the week, show what can be brought to pass by slender
means. The affections, it is said, sometimes crowd
years into moments, and the intellect has something
of the same power. Volumes have not only been read,
but written, in flying journeys.  I have known a man of
vigorous intellect, who had enjoyed few advantages of
early education, and whose mind was almost engrossed
by the details of an extensive business, but who composed
a book of much original thought, in steam-boats and on
horseback, while visiting distant customers.  The succession of the seasons gives to many of the working
class opportunities for intellectual improvement.  The
winter brings leisure to the husbandman, and winter evenings to many laborers in the city. Above all, in Christian countries, the seventh day is released from toil.
The seventh part of the year, no small portion of existence, may be given by almost every one to intellectual
and moral culture. Why is it that Sunday is not made
a more effectual means of improvement? Undoubtedly
the seventh day is to have a religious character; but religion connects itself with all the great subjects of human
thought, and leads to and aids the study of all.  God is
in nature. God is in history. Instruction in the works
of the Creator, so as to reveal his perfection in their
harmony, beneficence, and grandeur; instruction in the
histories of the church and the world, so as to show in
all events his moral government, and to bring out the
great moral lessons in which human life abounds; instruction in the lives of philanthropists, of saints, of men
eminent for piety and virtue; all these branches of teach



SELF-CULTURE.               457
ing enter into religion, and are appropriate to Sunday;
and, through these, a vast amount of knowledge may be
given to the people.  Sunday ought not to remain the
dull and fruitless season that it now is to multitudes.  It
may be clothed with a new interest and a new sanctity.
It may give a new impulse to the nation's soul. - I have
thus shown, that time may be found for improvement;
and the fact is, that, among our most improved people,
a considerable part consists of persons, who pass the
greatest portion of every day at the desk, in the countingroom, or in some other sphere, chained to tasks which
have very little tendency to expand the mind. In the
progress of society, with the increase of machinery, and
with other aids which intelligence and philanthropy will
multiply, we may expect that more and more time will
be redeemed from manual labor, for intellectual and
social occupations.
But some will say, " Be it granted that the working
classes may find some leisure; should they not be allowed to spend it in relaxation? Is it not cruel, to
summon them from toils of the hand to toils of the
mind? They have earned pleasure by the day's toil,
and ought to partake it." Yes, let them have pleasure.
Far be it from me to dry up the fountains, to blight the
spots of verdure, where they refresh themselves after
life's labors. But I maintain, that self-culture multiplies
and increases their pleasures, that it creates new capacities of enjoyment, that it saves their leisure from being,
what it too often is, dull and wearisome, that it saves
them from rushing for excitement to indulgences de
structive to body and soul.  It is one of the great benefits of self-improvement, that it raises a people above
the gratifications of the brute, and gives them pleasures
MM




4.3S               SELF-CULTURE.
worthy of men. In consequence of the present intellectual culture of our country, imperfect as it is, a vast
amount of enjoyment is communicated to men, women,
and children, of all conditions, by books, an enjoyment
unknown to ruder times. At this moment, a number
of gifted writers are employed in multiplying entertaining works.  Walter Scott, a name conspicuous among
the brightest of his day, poured out his inexhaustible
mind in fictions, at once so sportive and thrilling, that
they have taken their place among the delights of all civilized nations. How many millions have been chained to
his pages! How many melancholy spirits has he steeped
in forgtfulness of their cares and sorrows! What multitudes, wearied by their day's work, have owed some
bright evening hours and balmier sleep to his magical
creations! And not only do fictions give pleasure.  In
proportion as the mind is cultivated, it takes delight in
history and biography, in descriptions of nature, in travels, in poetry, and even graver works.  Is the laborer
then defrauded of pleasure by improvement? There
is another class of gratifications to which self-culture
introduces the mass of the people.  I refer to lectures,
discussions, meetings of associations for benevolent and
literary purposes, and to other like methods of passing
the evening, which every year is multiplying among us.
A popular address from an enlightened man, who has
the tact to reach the minds of the people, is a high
gratification, as well as a source of knowledge.  The
profound silence in our public halls, where these lectures
are delivered to crowds, shows that cultivation is no foe
to enjoyment. I have a strong hope, that by the progress of intelligence, taste, and morals among all portions of society, a class of public amusements will grow




SELF-CULTURE.               459
up among us, bearing some resemblance to the theatre,
but purified from the gross evils which degrade our
present stage, and which, I trust, will seal its ruin.
Dramatic performances and recitations are means of
bringing the mass of the people into a quicker sympathy
with a writer of genius, to a profounder comprehension
of his grand, beautiful, touching conceptions, than can
be effected by the reading of the closet. No commentary throws such a light on a great poem or any impassioned work of literature, as the voice of a reader
or speaker, who brings to the task a deep feeling of his
author and rich and various powers of expression. A
crowd, electrified by a sublime thought, or softened into
a humanizing sorrow, under such a voice, partake a
pleasure at once exquisite and refined; and I cannot but
believe, that this and other amusements, at which the
delicacy of woman and the purity of the Christian can
take no offence, are to grow up under a higher social
culture. - Let me only add, that, in proportion as culture spreads among a people, the cheapest and commonest of all pleasures, conversation, increases in delight. This, after all, is the great amusement of life,
cheering us round our hearths, often cheering our work,
stirring our hearts gently, acting on us like the balmy
air or the bright light of heaven, so silently and continually, that we hardly think of its influence.  This
source of happiness is too often lost to men of all classes,
for want of knowledge, mental activity, and refinement
of feeling; and do we defraud the laborer of his pleasure, by recommending to him improvements which will
place the daily, hourly, blessings of conversation within
his reach?
I have thus considered some of the common objec



460                 SELF-CULTURE.
tions which start up when the culture of the mass of
men is insisted on, as the great end of society.  For
myself, these objections seem worthy little notice. The
doctrine is too shocking to need refutation, that the
great majority of human beings, endowed as they are
with rational and immortal powers, are placed on earth,
simply to toil for their own animal subsistence, and to
minister to the luxury and elevation of the few. It is
monstrous, it approaches impiety, to suppose that God
has placed insuperable barriers to the expansion of the
free, illimitable soul.  True, there are obstructions in
the way of improvement.  But in this country, the
chief obstructions lie, not in our lot, but in ourselves,
not in outward hardships, but in our worldly and sensual
propensities; and one proof of this is, that a true selfculture is as little thought of on exchange as in the
workshop, as little among the prosperous as among those
of narrower conditions.  The path to perfection is difficult to men in every lot; there is no royal road for rich
or poor.  But difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage.  The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict.  And how much has it already overcome! Under what burdens of oppression has it made its way for
ages!  What mountains of difficulty has it cleared!
And with all this experience, shall we say, that the
progress of the mass of men is to be despaired of, that
the chains of bodily necessity are too strong and ponderous to be broken by the mind, that servile, unimproving drudgery is the unalterable condition of the
multitude of the human race?
I conclude with recalling to you the happiest feature
of our age, and that is, the progress of the mass of the
people in intelligence, self-respect, and all the comforts




SELF-CULTURE.               461
of life.  What a contrast does the present fori- with
past times! Not many ages ago, the nation was the
property of one man, and all its interests were staked
in perpetual games of war, for no end but to build up
his family, or to bring new territories under his yoke.
Society was divided into two classes, the high-born and
the vulgar, separated from one another by a great gulf,
as impassable as that between the saved and the lost.
The people had no significance as individuals, but
formed a mass, a machine, to be wielded at pleasure
by their lords. In war, which was the great sport of
the times, those brave knights, of whose prowess we
hear, cased themselves and their horses in armour, so
as to be almost invulnerable, whilst the common people
on foot were left, without protection, to be hewn in
pieces or trampled down by their betters. Who, that
compares the condition of Europe a few years ago, with
the present state of the world, but must bless God for
the change.  The grand distinction of modern times is,
the emerging of the people from brutal degradation, the
gradual recognition of their rights, the gradual diffusion
among them of the means of improvement and happiness, the creation of a new power in the state, the
power of the people. And it is worthy remark, that
this revolution is due in a great degree to religion,
which, in the hands of the crafty and aspiring, had
bowed the multitude to the dust, but which, in the fulness of time, began to fulfil its mission of freedom.  It
was religion, which by teaching men their near relation to God, awakened in them the consciousness of
their importance as individuals.  It was the struggle
for religious rights, which opened men's eyes to all
their rights.  It was resistance to religious usurpation,
35           MM*




462                SELF-CULTURE.
which led men to withstand political oppression.  It
was religious discussion, which roused the minds of ab
classes to free and vigorous thought. It was religion,
which armed the martyr and patriot in Enrgland against
arbitrary power, which braced the spirits of our fathers
against the perils of the ocean and wilderness, and sent
them to found here the freest and most equal state on
earth.
Let us thank God for what has been gained. But
let us not think every thing gained.  Let the people
feel that they have only started in the race. How much
remains to be done! What a vast amount of ignorance, intemperance, coarseness, sensuality, may still
be found in our community! What a vast amount of
mind is palsied and lost! When we think, that every
house might be cheered by intelligence, disinterestedness, and refinement, and then remember, in how many
houses the higher powers and affections of human nature are buried as in tombs, what a darkness gathers
over society! And how few of us are moved by this
mnoral desolation? How few understand, that to raise
the depressed, by a wise culture, to the dignity of men,
is the highest end of the social state?  Shame on us,
that the worth of a fellow-creature is so little felt.
I would, that I could speak with an awakening voice
to the people, of their wants, their privileges, their responsibilities. I would say to them, You cannot, without guilt and disgrace, stop where you are.  The past
and the present call on you to advance. Let what you
have gained be an impulse to something higher.  Your
nature is too great to be crushed. You were not created what you are, merely to toil, eat, drink, and sleep,
like the inferior animals.  If you will, you can rise.




SELF-CULTURE.              463
No power in society, no hardship in your condition can
depress you, keep you down, in knowledge, power,
virtue, influence, but by your own consent.  Do not be
lulled to sleep by the flatteries which you hear, as if
your participation in the national sovereignty made you
equal to the noblest of your race.  You have many
and great deficiencies to' be remedied; and the remedy
hies, not in the ballot-box, not in the exercise of your
political powers, but in the faithful education of yourselves and your children.  These truths you have often
heard and slept over.  Awake! Resolve earnestly on
Self-culture.  Make yourselves worthy of your free
institutions, and strengthen and perpetuate them by your
intelligence and your virtues.








THE
IMITABLENESS OF CHRIST'S CHARACTER.
1 PETER ii. 21: " Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps."
THE example of Jesus is our topic. To incite you to
follow it, is the aim of this discourse. Christ came to
give us a religion, - but this is not all. By a wise and
beautiful ordination of Providence, he was sent to show
forth his religion in himself. He did not come to sit in
a hall of legislation, and from some commanding eminence to pronounce laws and promises. He is not a
mere channel through which certain communications
are made from God; not a mere messenger appointed
to utter the words which he had heard, and then to disappear, and to sustain no further connexion with his
message. He came, not only to teach with his lips, but
to be a living manifestation of his religion, - to be, in
an important sense, the religion itself.
This is a peculiarity worthy of attention. Christianity
is not a mere code of laws, not an abstract system such
as theologians frame. It is a living, embodied religion.
It comes to us in a human form; it offers itself to our
eyes as well as ears; it breathes, it moves in our sight,
It is more than precept; it is example and action.




466             THE IMITABLENESS OF
The importance of example, who does not understand? How much do most of us suffer from the pres.
ence, conversation, spirit, of men of low minds by
whom we are surrounded! The temptation is strong,
to take as our standard, the average character of the
society in which we live, and to satisfy ourselves with
decencies and attainments which secure to us among the
multitude the name of respectable men. On the other
hand, there is a power (have you not felt it?) in the
presence, conversation, and example of a man of strong
principle and magnanimity, to lift us, at least for the
moment, from our vulgar and tame habits of thought,
and to kindle some generous aspirations after the excellence which we were made to attain. I hardly need say
to you, that it is impossible to place ourselves under any
influence of this nature so quickening as the example of
Jesus.  This introduces us to the highest order of virtues. This is fitted to awaken the whole mind. Nothing has equal power to neutralize the coarse, selfish, and
sensual influences, amidst which we are plunged, to refine our conception of duty, and to reveal to us the perfection on which our hopes and most strenuous desires
should habitually fasten.
There is one cause, which has done much to defeat
this good influence of Christ's character and example,
and which ought to be exposed. It is this. Multitudes,
I am afraid great multitudes, think of Jesus as a being
to be admired, rather than approached.  They have
some vague conceptions of a glory in his nature and
character which makes it presumption to think of proposing him as their standard. He is thrown so far from
them, that he does them little good. Many feel that a
close resemblance of Jesus Christ is not to be expected-;




CHT'S CHARACT                  467
that this, like many other topics, may serve for declamation in the pulpit, but is utterly incapable of being
reduced to practice.  I think I am touching here an
error, which exerts a blighting influence on not a few
minds.  Until men think of the religion and character
of Christ as truly applicable to them, as intended to be
brought into continual operation, as what they must incorporate with their whole spiritual nature, they will
derive little good from Christ. Men think indeed to
honor Jesus, when they place him so high as to discourage all effort to approach him. They really degrade
him.  They do not understand his character; they
throw a glare over it, which hides its true features.
This vague admiration is the poorest tribute which they
can pay him.
The manner in which Jesus Christ is conceived and
spoken of by many, reminds me of what is often seen
in Catholic countries, where a superstitious priesthood
and people imagine that they honor the Virgin Mary
by loading her image with sparkling jewels and the
gaudiest attire.  A Protestant of an uncorrupted taste
is at first shocked, as if there was something like profanation in thus decking out, as for a theatre, the meek,
modest, gentle, pure, and tender mother of Jesus.  It
seems to me, that something of the same superstition is
seen in the indefinite epithets of admiration heaped upon
Jesus; and the effect is, that the mild and simple beauty
of his character is not seen. Its sublimity, which had
nothing gaudy or dazzling, which was plain and unaffected, is not felt; and its suitableness as an example to
mankind, is discredited or denied.
I wish, in this discourse, to prevent the discouraging
influence of the greatness of Jesus Christ; to show, that,
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468             T11: AMIATMLEFNS  OF
however exalted, he is not placed beyond the reach of
our sympathy and imitation.
I begin with the general observation, that real great.,less of character, greatness of the highest order, far
from being repulsive and discouraging, is singularly accessible and imitable, and, instead of severing a being
from others, fits him to be their friend and model. A
man who stands apart from his race, who has few points
of contact with other men, who has a style and manner
which strike awe, and keep others far from him, whatever rank he may hold in his own and others' eyes,
wants, after all, true grandeur of mind; and the spirit
of this remark, I think, may be extended beyond men
to higher orders of beings,'to angels and to Jesus Christ.
A great soul is known by its enlarged, strong, and tender
sympathies. True elevation of mind does not take a
being out of the circle of those who are below him, but
binds him faster to them, and gives them advantages for
a closer attachment and conformity to him.
Greatness of character is a communicable attribute;
I should say, singularly communicable. It has nothing
exclusive in its nature.  It cannot be the monopoly of
an individual, for it is the enlarged and generous action
of faculties and affections which enter into and constitute all minds, I mean reason, conscience, and love, so
that its elements exist in all.  It is not a peculiar or exclusive knowledge, which can be shut up in one or a few
understandings; but the comprehension of great and
universal truths, which are the proper objects of every
rational being.  It is not a devotion to peculiar, exclusive objects, but tbhe adoption of'public interests, the
consecration of the mind to the cause of virtue and hap.




CHRIST'S \CHARACTER.            469
piness in the creation, that is, to the very cause which
all intelligent beings are bound to espouse.  Greatness
is not a secret, solitary principle, working by itself and
refusing participation, but frank and open-hearted, so
large in its views, so liberal in its feelings, so expansive
in its purposes, so beneficent in its labors, as naturally
and necessarily to attract sympathy and cooperation.
It is selfishness that repels men; and true greatness has
not a stronger characteristic than its freedom from every
selfish taint.  So far from being imprisoned in private
interests, it covets nothing which it may not impart.  So
far from being absorbed in its own distinctions, it discerns nothing so quickly and joyfully as the capacities
and pledges of greatness in others, and counts no labor
so noble-as to call forth noble sentiments, and the consciousness of a divine power, in less improved minds.
I know that those who call themselves great on earth,
are apt to estrange themselves from their inferiors; and
the multitude, cast down by their high- bearing, never
think of proposing them as examples. But this springs
wholly from the low conceptions of those whom we call
the great, and shows a mixture of vulgarity of mind with
their superior endowments. Genuine greatness is marked
by simplicity, unostentatiousness, self-forgetfulness, a
hearty interest in others, a feeling of brotherhood with
the human family, and a respect for every intellectual
and immortal being as capable of progress towards its
own elevation. A superior mind, enlightened and kin.
dled by just views of God and of the creation, regards
its gifts and powers as so many bonds of union with
other beings, as given it, not to nourish self-elation, but
to be employed for others, and still more to be communicated to others.  Such greatness has no reserve, and
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470              THE IMITABLENESS OF
especially no affected dignity of deportment. It is too
conscious of its own power, to need, and too benevolent to desire, to entrench itself behind forms and ceremonies; and when circumstances permit such a character to manifest itself to inferior beings, it is beyond all
others the most winning, and most fitted to impart itself,
or to call forth a kindred elevation of feeling. I know
not in history an individual so easily comprehended as
Jesus Christ, for nothing is so intelligible as sincere, disinterested love.  I know not any being who is so fitted
to take hold on all orders of minds; and accordingly he
drew after him the unenlightened, the publican, and the
sinner. It is a sad mistake, then, that Jesus Christ is
too great to allow us to think of intimacy with him, and
to think of making him our standard.
Let me confirm  this truth by another order of reflections. You tell me, my hearers, that Jesus Christ is so
high that he cannot be your model; I grant the exaltation of his character.  I believe him to be a more than
human being. In truth, all Christians so believe him.
Those who suppose him not to have existed before his
birth, do not regard him as a mere man, though so reproached. They always separate him by broad distinctions from other men.  They consider him  as enjoying
a communion with God, and as having received gifts,
endowments, aid, lights from him, granted to no crher,
and as having exhibited a spotless purity, which is the
highest distinction of Heaven. All admit, and joyfully
admit, that Jesus Christ, by his greatness and goodness,
throws all other human attainments.into obscurity.  But
on this account he is not less a standard, nor is he to
discourage us, but on the contrary to breathe into us a




CHRIST'S CHARACTER.             471
more exhilarating hope; for though so far above us,
he is still one of us, and is only an illustration of the
capacities which we all possess.  This is a great truth.
Let me strive to unfold it.  Perhaps I cannot better
express my views, than by saying, that I regard all
minds as of one family. When we speak of higher orders of beings, of angels and archangels, we are apt to
conceive of distinct kinds or races of beings, separated
from  us and from  each other by impassable barriers.
But it is not so. All minds are of one family. There
is no such partition in the spiritual world as you see in
the material.  In material nature, you see wholly distinct classes of beings.  A mineral is not a vegetable,
and makes no approach to it; these two great kingdoms
of nature are divided by immeasurable spaces.  So,
when we look at different races of animals, though all
partake of that mysterious property, life, yet, what an
immense and impassable distance is there between the
insect and the lion.  They have no bond of union, no
possibility of communication. During the lapse of ages,
the animalcules which sport in the sunbeams a summer's
day and then perish, have made no approximation to the
king of the forests.  But in the intellectual world there
are no such barriers. All minds are essentially of one
origin, one nature, kindled from one divine flame, and
are all tending to one centre, one happiness. This great
truth, to us the greatest of truths, which lies at the foundation of all religion and of all hope, seems to me not
only sustained by proofs which satisfy the reason, but to
be one of the deep instincts of our nature.  It mingles, unperceived, with all our worship of God, which
uniformly takes for granted that he is a Mind having
thought, affection, and volition like ourselves. It runs




472             THE IMITABLENESS OF
through false religions; and whilst, by its perversion,
it has made them false, it has also given to them whatever purifying power they possess. But passing over
this instinct, which is felt more and more to be unerring
as the intellect is improved, this great truth of the unity
or likeness of all minds, seems to me demonstrable from
this consideration, that Truth, the object and nutriment
of mind, is one and immutable, so that the whole family
of intelligent beings must have the same views, the same
motives, and the same general ends. For example, a
truth of mathematics, is not a truth only in this world,
a truth to our minds, but a truth everywhere, a truth in
heaven, a truth to God, who has indeed framed his creation according to the laws of this universal science.
So, happiness and misery, which lie at the foundation
of morals, must be to all intelligent beings what they are
to us, the objects, one of desire and hope, and the other
of aversion; and who can doubt that virtue and vice
are the same everywhere as on earth, that in every
community of beings, the mind which devotes itself to
the general weal, must be more reverenced than a mind
which would subordinate the general interest to its own.
Thus all souls are one in nature, approach one another,
and have grounds and bonds of communion with one
another. I am not only one of the human race; I am
one of the great intellectual family of God. There is
no spirit so exalted, with which I have not common
thoughts and feelings.  That conception which I have
gained, of One Universal Father, whose love is the
fountain and centre of all things, is the dawn of the
highest and most magnificent views in the universe,
and if I look up to this being with filial love, I have the
spring and beginning of the noblest sentiments and joys




cHiS'r'S CHARACTER.           473
which are known in the universe. No greatness, therefore, of a being, separates me from him or makes him
unapproachable by me. The mind of Jesus Christ,
my hearer, and your mind are of one family; nor was
there any thing in his, of which you have not the principle, the capacity, the promise in yourself.  This is
the very impression which he intends to give.  He
never held himself up as an inimitable and unapproachable being; but directly the reverse.  He always spoke
of himself as having come to communicate himself to
others. He always invited men to believe on and adhere to him, that they might receive that very spirit, that
pure, celestial spirit, by which he was himself actuated.
"' Follow me," is his lesson. The relation which he came
to establish between himself and mankind, was not that
of master and slave, but that of friends.  He compares
himself, in a spirit of divine benevolence, to a vine,
which, you know, sends its own sap, that by which it is
itself nourished, into all its branches.  We read, too,
these remarkable words in his prayer for his disciples,
"I have given to them  the glory thou gavest me;"
and I am persuaded that there is not a glory, a virtue,
a power, a joy, possessed by Jesus Christ, to which his
disciples will not successively rise.  In the spirit of
these remarks, the Apostles say, " Let the same mind
be in you which was also in Christ."
I have said, that all minds being of one family, the
greatness of the mind of Christ is no discouragement to
our adoption of him as our model. I now observe, that
there is one attribute of mind to which I have alluded,,
that should particularly animate us to propose to ourselves a sublime standard, as sublime as Jesus Christ.
I refer to the principle of growth in human nature. We
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474             THE IM1TABLENES OF
were made to grow. Our faculties are germs, and given
for an expansion, to which nothing authorizes us to set
bounds.  The soul bears the impress of illimitableness,
in the thirst, the unquenchable thirst, which it brings
with it into being, for a power, knowledge, happiness,
which it never gains, and which always carry it forward
into futurity.  The body soon reaches its limit.  But
intellect, affection, moral energy, in proportion to their
growth, tend to further enlargement, and every acquisition is an impulse to something higher. When I consider this principle or capacity of the human soul, I
cannot restrain the hope which it awakens.  The partition-walls which imagination has reared between men
and higher orders of beings vanish.  I no longer see
aught to prevent our becoming whatever was, good and
great in Jesus on earth.  In truth, I feel my utter inability to conceive what a mind is to attain which is to
advance for ever.  Add but that element, eternity, to
man's progress, and the results of his existence surpass,
not only human, but angelic thought. Give me this,
and the future glory of the human mind becomes to me
as incomprehensible as God himself. To encourage
these thoughts and hopes, our Creator has set before us
delightful exemplifications, even now, of this principle
of growth both in outward nature and in the human
mind. We meet them in nature. Suppose you were
to carry a man, wholly unacquainted with vegetation, to
the most majestic tree in our forests, and, whilst he was
admiring its extent and proportions, suppose you should
take from the earth at its root a little downy substance,
which a breath might blow away, and say to him, That
tree was once such a seed as this; it was wrapped up
here; it once lived only within these delicate fibres, this




CHRIST'S CHARACTER.           475
narrow compass. With what incredulous wonder would
he regard you! And if by an effort of imagination,
somewhat Oriental, we should suppose this little seed
to be suddenly endued with thought, and to be told that
it was one day to become this mighty tree, and to cast
out branches which would spread an equal shade, and
wave with equal grace, and withstand the winter winds;
with what amazement may we suppose it to anticipate
its future lot! Such growth we witness in nature.  A
nobler hope we Christians are to cherish;' and still more
striking examples of the growth of mind are set before
us in human history. We wonder indeed whe,n we are
told, that one day we shall be as the angels of God.  I
apprehend that as great a-wonder has been realized already on the earth.  I apprehend that the distance between the mind of Newton and of a Hottentot may
have been as great as between Newton and an angel.
There is another view still more striking. This Newton, who lifted his calm, sublime eye to the heavens,
and read among the planets and the stars, the great law
of the material universe, was, forty or fifty years before,
an infant, without one clear perception, and unable to
distinguish his nurse's arm from the pillow on which he
slept.  Howard, too, who, under the strength of an allsacrificing benevolence, explored the depths of human
suffering, was, forty or fifty years before, an infant
wholly absorbed in himself, grasping at all he saw. and
almost breaking his little heart with fits of passion, when
the idlest toy was withheld.  Has not man already
traversed as wide a space as separates him from angels?
And why must he stop? There is no extravagance in
the boldest anticipation. We may truly become one
with Christ, a partaker of that celestial mind. He is
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476             THE IMITABLENESS OF
truly our brother, one of our family.  Let us make him
our constant model.
I know not that the doctrine now laid down, is liable
but to one abuse. It may unduly excite susceptible
minds, and impel to a vehemence of hope and exertion
unfavorable in the end to the very progress which is proposed. To such I would say, Hasten to conform yourselves to Christ, but hasten according to the laws of your
nature.  As the body cannot by the concentration of its
whole strength into one bound, scale the height of a
mountain, neither can the mind free every obstacle and
achieve perfection by an agony of the will.  Great effort
is indeed necessary; but such as can be sustained, such
as fits us for greater, such as will accumulate, not exhaust, our spiritual force.  The soul may be overstrained
as truly as the body, and it often is so in seasons of extraordinary religious excitement; and the consequence
is, an injury to the constitution of the intellect and the
heart, which a life may not be able to repair. I rest the
hopes for human nature, which'I have now expressed,
on its principle of growth; and growth, as you well
know, is a gradual process, not a convulsive start, accomplishing the work of years in a moment. All great
attainments are gradual.  As easily might a science be
mastered by one struggle of thought, as sin be conquered
by a spasm  of remorse.  Continuous, patient effort,
guided by wise deliberation, is the true means of spiritual progress.  In religion, as in common life, mere force
of vehemence will prove a fallacious substitute for the
sobriety of wisdom.
The doctrine which I have chiefly labored to maintain
in this discourse, that minds are all of one family, are all




CHRIST'S CHARACTER.            477
brethren, and may be more and more nearly united to
God, seems to me to have been felt peculiarly by Jesus
Christ; and if I were to point out the distinction of his
greatness, I should say it lay in this. He felt his superiority, but he never felt as if it separated him from mankind.  He did not come among us as some great men
would visit a colliery, or any other resort of the ignorant
and corrupt, with an air of greatness, feeling himself
above us, and giving benefits as if it were an infinite condescension. He came and mingled with us as a friend
and a brother. He saw in every human being a mind
which might wear his own brightest glory. He was severe only towards one class of men, and they were those
who looked down on the multitude with contempt. I Jesus respected human nature; he felt it to be his own.
This was the greatness of Jesus Christ. He felt, as no
other felt, a union of mind with the human race, felt that
all had a spark of that same intellectual and immortal
flame which dwelt in himself.
I insist on this view of his character, not only to encourage us to aspire after a likeness to Jesus; I consider
it as peculiarly fitted to call forth love towards him.  If
I regard Jesus as an august stranger, belonging to an entirely different class of existence from myself, having no
common thoughts or feelings with me, and looking down
upon me with only such a sympathy as I have with an
inferior animal, I should regard him with a vague awe;
but the immeasurable space between us would place him
beyond friendship and affection. But when I feel, that
all minds form one family, that I have the same nature
with Jesus, and that he came to communicate to me, by
his teaching, example, and intercession, his own mind, to




478             THE IMITABLENESS OF
bring me into communion with what was sublimest, purest, happiest in himself, then I can love him as I love no
other being, excepting only Him who is the Father alike
of Christ and of the Christian.  With these views, I
feel that, though ascended to Heaven, he is not gone
beyond the reach of our hearts; that he has now the
same interest in mankind as when he entered their dwellings, sat at their tables, washed their feet; and that
there is no being so approachable, none with whom such
unreserved intercourse is to be enjoyed in the future
world.
Believing, as I do, that I have now used no inflated
language, but have spoken the words of truth and soberness, I exhort you with calmness, but earnestness, to
choose and adopt Jesus Christ as your example, with
the whole energy of your wills. I exhort you to resolve
on following him, not, as perhaps you have done, with a
faint and yielding purpose, but with the full conviction,
that your whole happiness is concentrated in the force
and constancy of your adherence to this celestial guide.
My friends, there is no other happiness.  Let not the
false views of Christianity which prevail in the world,
seduce you into the belief, that Christ can bless you in
any other way than by assimilating you to his own virtue,
than by breathing into you his own mind. Do not imagine that any faith or love towards Jesus can avail you,
but that which quickens you to conform yourselves to his
spotless purity and unconquerable rectitude.  Settle it
as an immovable truth, that neither in this world nor in
the next can you be happy, but in proportion to the
sanctity and elevation of your characters.  Let no man
imagine, that through the patronage or protection of Je



CHRIST'S CHARACTER.            479
sits Christ, or any other being, he can find peace or any
sincere good, but in the growth of an enlightened, firm,
disinterested, holy mind.  Expect no good from Jesus,
any faither than you clothe yourselves with excellence.
He can impart to you nothing so precious as himself, as
his own mind; and believe me, my hearers, this mind may
dwell in you.  His sublimest virtues may be yours.
Admit, welcome this great truth. Look up to the illustrious Son of God, with the conviction that you may become one with him in thought, in feeling, in power, in
holiness.  His character will become a blessing, just as
far as it shall awaken in you this consciousness, this hope.
The most lamentable skepticism on earth, and incomparably the most common, is a skepticism as to the
greatness, powers, and high destinies of human nature.
In this greatness I desire to cherish an unwavering faith.
Tell me not of the universal corruption of the race.
Humanity has already, in not a few instances, borne
conspicuously the likeness of Christ and God.  The
sun grows dim, the grandeur of outward nature shrinks,
when compared with the spiritual energy of men, who,
in the cause of truth, of God, of charity, have spurned
all bribes of ease, pleasure, renown, and have withstood
shame, want, persecution, torture, and the most dreaded
forms of death.  In such men I learn that the soul was
made in God's image, and made to conform itself to the
loveliness and greatness of his Son.
Mly Friends, we may all approach Jesus Christ.  For
all of us he died, to leave us an example that we should
follow his steps.  By earnest purpose, by self-conflict,
by watching and prayer, by faith in the Christian promises, by those heavenly aids and illuminations, which ho
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480    THE IMITABLENESS OP CHRIST'S CHARACTEBL
that seeketh shall find, we may all unite ourselves, in
living bonds, to Christ, may love as he loved, may act
from his principles, may suffer with his constancy, may
enter into his purposes, may sympathize with his selfdevotion to the cause of God and mankind, and, by likeness of spirit, may prepare ourselves to meet him as our
everlasting friend.