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may , after loug and frequent coritemplations and endurance of discipline , be more appalled by the conception of sin than of a flaming world ; but when men's minds are as yet unawakened to this detestation of sin , what mode of access have we to their hearts but by material images ? The images by which the last judgment is described are not the growth of the preacher ' s imagination , but are taken from the Scriptures ; and the awful intimations
there delivered , the descriptions of the blaziug world , the clangour of the trumpet , the crash of the pillars of the earth , the awful arrangements of the tribunal , are evidently intended to affect the heart through the imagination , and thus point out to the preacher the mode of working on the minds of his hearers . To dwell on so exciting a picture without making an application
of its warnings to the conscience , would be guilt and unspeakable folly ; but to insist on sin as the only horror of that hour to those who see not the horror of sin , would be worse than useless . And to those who have a deep hatred of it , it cannot be unavailing to bring in every circumstance intimated in Scripture which can arouse fear and quicken diligence . True as it may be , that at that awful time " no moment of leisure will be found for the
discursive eye ; and that oae perception , qi * e smotioo ., will doubtless rule exclusive in tbe soul , " it is not so at the pjesent time . . It is now that the mind is to be awakened or stimulated ; and it surely cannot be wrong tQ make use of the imagery which the New Testament affords , as it seems , for this very purpose . Our author does not expressly condemn alt such modes of affecting the imagination ; but he declares that " the humblest eloquence
of a purely moral kind , of which the only topics are sin and holiness , guilt and pardon , takes incomparably a nearer and a s ^ fej road towards the attainment of the great object of Christian instruction , than the most overwhelming oratory that addresses itself chiefly to the imagination . " True ; but for a mixed audience , why should not the two kinds be united ? The criterion of enthusiasm is declared to be the agreement or disagreement of the moral constitution with the Christian rule :
" No other method of determining the most momentous e £ all questions is given to 113 ; and none otker is needed . We can neither ascend iub © the heavens , there to inspect the book of . life , nor satisfactorily descend into the depths of the heart to analyze the complex and occult varieties of its emotions . But we may instantly and certainly know whether we do the things which He has commanded whom we call Lord . "—P . 59 .
We do not remember ever to have seen the doctrine of Divine Influences more beautifully treated than in the third section of the work before us . It is not the intention of the writer to discuss the difficulties of ihe doctrine , or to controvert opinions which differ from his own . As his object is to point out the perversions of the doctrine to which enthusiasts are liable , nothing more than a previous statement of his own belief is required ; and this statement is clear and , we think , satisfactory . Having described the belief of the stability and permanency of the material world , which is generated in us by the aspect under which we view external nature , he continues ,
*< A strange revulsion of feeling takes place , if suddenly it is recollected that tbe massy pillars of creation , with its towering superstructure , and its high-wrought embellishments , and its innumerable tenants , are absolutely destitute of intrinsic jfoermttnency ; and that the stupendous frame , with its nice and mighty movements , is incessantly issued anew from the fount © f being . Apart worn the * Divine volition , perpetually actjive , tJfeer * cub be no
Untitled Article
Natural History of Enthumixm . 423
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1829, page 423, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2573/page/55/
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