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being , or be an introduction to a better state of existence than the present . And much as this argument has always affected the mass of mankind , Plato seems to have felt its force but feebly , when he wrote his Phaedon ,
or he would not have taken-so much pains to establish the natural immortality of the soul ; which he conceived , and , I think , justly in his circumstances , to be essential to the proof of a life to come . As it is not ,
I presume , an article of natural religion that a time will come when the whole human race will at once be raised from their graves , and restored to life and action , he who shall attempt , without the light of revelation , to establish the future existence of
the human species , will fail in a material point if he omits to shew that there is something in man which 7 nitst or mat / survive the stroke of death . It would not have satisfied
Plato , nor would it satisfy me to say , ** It is in vain for me to inquire how I am to exist hereafter , since I am utterly unable to comprehend how I exist at present "
But to return to the argument under consideration . It rests upon the position that the phenomena of human life , without a future being , imply a defect of wisdom and goodness in the Creator . Thus far , then , the perfection of
the Divine character is sin hypothesis unsupported by fact . And unless it can be established by certain abstract reasonings , ( and these , while they may appear satisfactory to some , will seem nugatory to others , ) it will be precipitate to draw from it an inference
so contrary to present appearances * as the future existence of the human race . But , says our Author , admit a future state , " and we at once obtain a view of the scheme of Divine Providence , comprehensive , luminous and delightful . '' This I am by no means
disposed to deny . But unless this view of it be confirmed by the authority of that God who alone knows his own counsels , it is only an hypothesis , and an hypothesis , which in many minds would not prevail against that
universal analogy , which seems - to forbid the hope that life , when otice extinct , will ever be restored . Setting revelation entirely out of the question , we might say , that as a mat-* $ r QfJwU OqA seems * to consult not
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so much for the individuals 'of mankind as for the species , and that it would be difficult to prove that the continuation and progressive improve * merit of the species would not answer all the ends which the Creator had
in view in their formation . Man , it might be said , is a noble work , but not so noble , perhaps , in the eyes of the Creator as in his own ; and as for the waste of intellectual and moral attainment , which is implied in the destruction of the individuals of the
species , it may be no great object amidst the immensity of creation , and in the estimation of a Being whose power , no doubt , is perpetually employed in producing life , intellect and happiness throughout his vast
dominions . And were the whole human race what the great majority have thus far been , their extinction might not seem to form a much stronger objection to the plan of Providence , than that of the beasts that perish .
But our Author ' s argument , as stated above , seems to resolve itself into this simple proposition , that a perfectly wise and good Being could not form a rational agent without making him
immortal . The fact , however , that man dies and is heard of no more , seems to negative the proposition ; and that reasoning must be powerful which shall overcome this stubborn objection . * 1 am by no means
pre-* Even granting * the perfections of the Deity , it would be difficult to shew that such a being * as man , even though the individuals of the species should perish , would not be a desirable link in the chain
of animated existence ; and it has always appeared to me something * like presumption to affirm that God cannot he wise and good , unless A . B . and C . should be immortal . My view of the subject is well expressed in p . 18 of Mr . , 1 . Kenrick " s admirable Sermon on the Necessity of
Revelation to teach the Doctrine of a Future Life . In a word , the constitution of the world differs , in various respects , froin what our limited understandings would have led us to expect from the combination of infinite power , wisdom and benevolence ; and being * thus , as it should seem ,
convicted of ignorance , ( if these are in truth the attributes of the Deity , ) we go beyond our province , when we confidently pronounce that the ^ future existence of the human race is necessary to make the scheme of Providence complete . Oiu : Author ' s error ( for if I had not
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jftfr . Cogans Strictures on some of the Arguments in Apeleutherus ^ 223
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1819, page 223, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1771/page/11/
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