On this page
-
Text (1)
-
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
Had just reasoning on the subject $ fotV it it perfectly clear that ntyth « ig cam undergo any Change in its n&liife tvithout an adequate catise . Pain , therefore , cannot alter its essential attributes , arid be traristtmted into !
pleasure , unless it be made todo so , by some superior and countervailing influence . If then , the Deity possess the power of effecting * this beneficial change , he might by an exertion of
the same energy , have prevented the original intrusion of pain ; but if , on the contrary , he has not this power , then pain must continue its progress , and will admit of no remedy , either here or hereafter .
To these formidable objections , Mr . H . has not attempted any regular answer , except to the first , and in this instance , he has so qualified his meaning , and so completely reduced the force of his position , as to make it amount to a mere nullity . After
admitting that " the perfection of the righteous in a future state may be far more exalted than perhaps even the highest intelligence can now possibly conceive , " he observes , that €€ some small degree of alloy must be admitted , since it is contrary to the hypothesis upon which these inferences
are drawn , that any created intelligence can exist without some portion of evil ; although the portion of evil * vhich may then be necessary by its counteraction to produce pleasure , may be so almost infinitely refined as not at present to be capable of
conception as distinct from purity and bliss . " Really after this concession , his whole theory seems to vanish like a summer ' s dream . It is , indeed , totally destitute of proof , and can be regarded as nothing more than a fiction of the brain . But the statement
itself involves a contradiction of which Mr . H . is evidently not aware ; for , admitting for one moment that the hypothesis is founded on fact , then the axiom recognized in Natural Philosophy respecting matter , may be regarded as equally applicable to the pteseat case : — «« That action and
reaction are equal and contrary , " that is , the greater the ^ ctiou , the greater must . be the re-action , and the converse . Hence it is clear that according as tKe action of evil is powerful or weak , Jo the same degree will the re-action of its opposite good < possess
Untitled Article
{Either of these btiiflltieV- Biitf since Mr . H . ^ uppb&ss thefc 6 &i dh ^ % ^ teracting evil , necessary , in a figure stfete , to be infinitely refined , or
diminished , the happiness resulting from this counteraction must likewise be infinitely small;—* a ^ bnejusioh precisely contrary to that which he means to establish .
With respect to Mr . H / s remarks on the infinite duration of future happiness , as Idng as he admits the power of the Deity to carry his promises into execution , it is certainly not a matter of essential importance to mankind td ascertain the precise nature of tlie means adopted fbr the
purpose . At the same time , I consider his assertions ( for reasoning it can scarcely be called ) respecting the impossibility that the Almighty should confer absolute iiniiiortality on any of his creatures , as nugatory ,, and destitute of evidence . If the great Author of nature can continue human
existence for one year , ( f 6 r example , ) what is thei * e in the range of physical Causes vfitli whieh we are acquainted , to disable him from protracting it , for an interminable series of years ? If renelval be necessary at all , it must be as necessary at the end of a day , an hour , or a second , as at the end
of any longer period ; and , indeed , the vital principle , ( as far as our limited faculties will allow us to reason on so obscure a subject , ) must require the unintermitted support of the Divine energy as well in one part of our existence as in another . Should any
one consider it as an assistance to his Conceptions , this continuation of sustaining energy may be regarded as a perpetual series of impulses or renewals , similar to the notions entertained by philosophers respecting the
power of gravitation . FVoin Mr . ff / s mode of arguing , however , we might almost imagitfe that he bdteves the Divine jB ^ ing unable to exclude from his worts the ravages of death ; but surely the same exertion of power
which can ward off its approaches m Any human being for seventh tfr eighty years , can with eqital ease ' proauce this effect for any indefinite period of time . Nor is it possible to sk ^ , why hfr'vivifying inffltiettcef sliotild ever € &Iter&nce aa ? - oth&r ¦¦ Ifalttj /' thto . those which hi ? iireslftlble ' Hviil nW prompt him ta > assign . ! > '
Untitled Article
7022 Arguments against the supptiierf fmpodiii ^ bjr excluding Evil , 8 fc .
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1823, page 702, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1791/page/22/
-