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    MY attention having lately been directed ifcore than usual to the « nj > erstitions of Pagan Idolatry , I have been Ie 4 into a : train of reflection

    w&ich , if it may at all contnbute to illostrate the evidences of Christianity , will ho& be regarded as unprofitable . ; Th £ question which . arose in my mind ^ as this ^ whielther" there be reason to think that without a divine interposition these superstitions could have been banished from the- world ,, and

    a purer religion substituted in their place . In considering this question the natural inquiry is , by what means , exclusive / of Divine interference , such a revolution must have

    been effected , if effected at all . And the only means on which the imagination can . fix : are these , that men of superior talents * who should have seen the folly of the popular worship , would have endeavoured to enlighten . the

    jnaore intelligent of their countrymen , and that as / knowledge descends from the wise to the ignorant , the illumination would at length have reached die lower orders of society , till none should have been left to believe what

    men of sense had universally rejected . And when the absurd theology which had been received by inheritance had been shewn to be as groundless as it was irrational , it may be supposed

    that , juster views of religion would easily have found their way into minds no longer occupied by prejudices which Height prevent their reception . But he who knows any thing of human nature , he who is aware of the force of

    religious prejudice , and who also , considers how little of the knowledge which enlightens the mare intelligent members of a community ever makes its way to the vulgar , will see reason to doubt whether superstitions so deeply rooted as those of ancient

    Paganism could have been eradicated by the means ; supposed . To have effected such a work , must have required a long succession of intelligent and reflecting men , who should have employed their labour upon the

    undertaking , and who should not have suffered themselves to be discouraged by the opposition which they would have encountered , or by the slow progress of the reformation which they were endeavouring to effect . For that its progress must have beeu slow , we

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    may safely infer from the pertinacity Wicli which the most gross corruptions of Christianity have been retained for ages , anil are still retained , by the great majority of its professor And one thiffg appears certain , that unless

    a theology , ' which should have taken strong hold * of the feelings , had been substituted for that which had been displaced ^ the supposed subversion of idolatry would have beeii followed fry n period of general scepticism : a fid $ t-

    veligion . But where was this theology to be found , or whence was it to be sought ? The boasted philosophy of the ancients supplies no system which could have been brought home to the minds of men with sufficient

    authority to supply the place- ' of opinions rendered venerable by their antiquity , and confirmed by every thing that can strengthen the impression * of' that which men deem sacred . Indeed , the philosophers scarcely differed more 4 rom the vulgar in , their opinions than

    from each other ,- and had they all agreed , their arguments were too < subtle , and their conclusions too uncertain , for general acceptance and utility * Nor could they have possessed any influence which might have ensured the admission of their doctrines , while

    their arguments were not understood . Some , perhaps , will say that idolatry having been once dismissed , the religion of nature inu-st of necessity have prevailed , or rather that the religion

    of nature must ultimately , by its own evidence , have banished idolatry from tlie world . Of the religion of nature much has been said both by Christians and Unbelievers , and if we are to believe what we are sometimes told

    concerning it , its truths are emblazoned in the heavens in characters which all can read and which none can misunderstand . This religion is said to teach with the utmost clearness the unity and perfections of God , the doctrine of a universal providence ; and the future existence and immortality of man . I believe that the world is

    wiser than m days of yore , and that juster modes of thinking have been adopted in modern , than what prevailed in ancient , times . But 1 do not believe that it is owing to this advancement in wisdom that men of talents , not greatly above the common level , can now with a sipgle glance of the intelject clearly see the evidence

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    Mr . Cvganon the Necessity and Evidence f * f Revelation * 11

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1824, page 11, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2520/page/11/