On this page
-
Text (2)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
pares it to a sentinel quitting his post , without the order of his commander . Polytheism and idolatry were indeed prodigious evils ; and it was one principal design of the gospel to abolish them : yet , under this
wild and fabulous system , ( the corruption of natural religion , ) were couched many important lessons and sublime truths , as it hath been well illustrated by Lord Bacon and other writers on the ancient Mythology . The grosser absurdities of the system ,
were however , obvious to every reflecting mind : their best writers ridiculed them in private , though , in public , they indolently gave way to the popular superstitions . Thus , the language of Plato respecting the Deity , is the same with that of the
sacred writers : he calls him , O IZi $ , The One : and in general , the wiser heathens , though they appeared to coincide with the notion of inferior and subordinate divinities , held the existence of one supreme , original ,
infinite Mind , the great Ruler and Lord of all things , his Providence ( Epicurus excepted , ) and moral government , together with the doctrines of a Diviiie afflatus , or assistance to the virtuous , and of a future state of retribution to all mankind . *
But it is happy for those who have no leisure or inclination to read the works ofcC those old , wise spirits , who preserved natural reason and religion in the midst of heathen darkness , " - ) - that the sacred writers have
ascertained these principles beyond all reasonable exception . In the 19 th Psalm which needs no comment , David lays down this great principle , that the works of nature , lead us to the God of nature * " All people , '' says M . Henry , " may hear these natural ,
immortal preachers speak to them in their own tongue , the wonderful works of God . " St . Paul , Rom . i . and iL , is more precise and determinate . He clearly distinguishes
between the actual state of the heathen , and their capabilities , or , what they might and ought to have done . He represents them as " holding or discerning the truth , in unrighteousness : for that which may be known of God
* See Dryden ' s Fref . to Plutarch ' s Lives , and Swift ' s incomparable Letter to a young Clergyman . t Bish . Tavlor .
Untitled Article
is manifest in them , " ( mind the words ) " for God hath shewed it unto them : for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world , are clearly seen , being understood by
the things that are made , even his eternal power and Godhead , ' that is , the other essential perfections of his nature , especially his wisdom and goodness ; or if with the modern
versions , we translate ( qelotyj ^) his " Providence , " it amounts to the same : for Providence implies wisdom and goodness as well as power : external power is the first principle that
strikes us in contemplating the works of nature , then wisdom and goodness * "These , " says the Apostle , ** are clearly seen * by the attentive observer ; and that , from these abundant manifestations of the existence and leading attributes of the Deity , they might , by the due exercise of their rational faculties , have arrived to a further competent knowledge of his moral perfections and government , is
evident , from the principles which the apostle lays down in the 2 nd chapter respecting the " law in the mind , written in their hearts , " and their " consciences excusing or accusing" by which , those that have not the " written law" are hereafter
to be judged , and are now , a law unto themselves . " Besides these passages of scripture , many others might be cited , upon which it would "be superfluous to enlarge , " Behold , all souls are mine , " saith the Lord , by the prophet Ezekiel . David says , " God hath fashioned the hearts of
men alike , and considereth all their works . " Now , to what end doth he consider them , btit to call them to account ? And , hath he thus determined , and yet given them no inward intimation of it ? Impossible . "The voice of conscience is the voice of
God ; pointing out an hereafter , an < J intimating eternity to man ; for if there be a God , he must delight in virtue , and that which He delights in must ( ultimately ) be happy . "J The
book of Job furnishes a sublime specimen of the chief arguments for natural religion ; and'it does not appear upon the lace of the history that the hero of it was any thing more than a simple Theist . The History of Cornelius , recorded
t Addiaon ,
Untitled Article
On Natural Religion . Ggj
Untitled Article
? OL . I , 4 X
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1815, page 697, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1766/page/33/
-