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III . The most cursory observation of the various religious systems which have existed in the world affords a proof that the . belief in a future life forms a
stage in the spiritual progress of every nation . It has been and is perpetually disputed , whether the conception originated in a revelation made to the fathers of the race , or whether it has been obtained by the exercise of unassisted reason . Whatever may be the fact with respect to the Gentiles , there is little difficulty in ascertaining the state of the case as it regards the chosen people .
It is clear , not only that the doctrine of a future state formed no part of the Mosaic system , but that , at an early period of their history , the people had no idea of such a doctrine . In every instance in the history of other nations where the belief of a future state is received , we find traces of the doctrine in all institutions , and references to it in all ci re u instances ; it influences the will , modifies the moral code , and is a prominent object in the
delineation of the national mind . The few fragments which remain of the songs of the ancient northern nations bear a constant reference to this great article of belief . It is interwoven with the religious and political constitutions of all the civilized nations of Europe , and forms the principal bond of moral union among the savage tribes of Asia and Africa , the source of religious hope and fear among the Aborigines of America , In euery nation where the belief has been known to exist , its influence has been
incalculable . It has stimulated to war , characterized the Jaws , modified the customs , pervaded the literature of the whole people so remarkably as to afford a strong general presumption that where the national records bear no trace of the doctrine , the doctrine is not known . The early Jewish records bear no such traces . We have a very circumstantial history of the Jews from their separation as a people ; and during its earlier periods there is an absence of all reference to a future state . We have , says Warburton , ** not only a history of public occurrences , but of private adventures , in the lives of
particular persons of both sexes , and of all ages , stations , characters , and complexions ; virgins , matrons , kings , soldiers , scholars , merchants , husbandmen . They are given too in every circumstance of life , victorious , captive , sick and in health ; plunged in civil business , or retired and sequestered in the service of religion ; in full security , and in the most imminent and impending dangers . Together with their story , we have likewise their compositions . Here we find them singing their triumphs , there their Palinodia ; here enforcing their moral precepts , and there the promises and denunciations of heaven . Yet in none of these different circumstances of life , in none of
these various casts of composition , do we ever find any of them acting on the motives , or influenced by the prospect , of a future state ; or indeed expressing the least hopes and fears , or even common curiosity concerning it . Every thing they say or do respects the present life only , the good and ill of which are the sole objects of all their pursuits and aversions . And yet the ? Sacred Writings , as we say , are of all kinds . An account of the creation and original of the human race ; the history of a private family , of a chosen people , and of exemplary men and women ; hymns and petitions to the Deity , precepts of civil life , and religious prophecies and predictions , — Now , is it possible to conceive that in works so various both in their sub-
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THK EDUCATION OF THE HUMAN RACE .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1830, page 453, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2586/page/21/
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