Maker,' and that sin brought death into the world, together with all the miseries to which the human race is now obnoxious: but that the merciful Parent of our being, in his great goodness and compassion, was pleased to make such revelations and discoveries of his grace and mercy, as laid a proper foundation for the faith and hope of his offending creatures, and for the exercise of religion towards him. (Gen. iii.) Accordingly, the religion delivered in the Scriptures is the religion of man in his lapsed state: and every one who impartially and carefully investigates and considers it, will find that one scheme of religion and of moral duty, substantially the same, is carried throughout the whole, till it was brought to its full perfection and accomplishment by Jesus Christ. This religion may be considered principally under three periods, viz. the religion of the patriarchal times, the doctrines and precepts of the Mosaic dispensation, doctrines and precepts of the Christian revelation.2 and the 1 The particular injunction, which (Moses tells us) was laid upon our first parents, not to eat of the fruit of a particular tree (Gen. ii. 17.) has been a favourite subject of sneer and cavil with the opposers of revelation. A little consideration, however, will show that it had nothing in it unbecoming the supreme wisdom and goodness. For, since God was pleased to constitute man lord of this inferior creation, and had given him so large a grant and so many advantages, it was manifestly proper that he should require some particular instance of homage and fealty, to be a memorial to man of his dependence, and an acknowledgment on his part that he was under the dominion of a higher Lord, to whom he owed the most absolute subjection and obedience. And what instance of homage could be more proper, circumstanced as man then was, than his being obliged, in obedience to the divine command, to abstain from one or more of the fruits of paradise? It pleased God to insist only upon his abstaining from one, at the same time that he indulged him in full liberty as to all the rest and this served both as an act of homage to the Supreme Lord, from whose bountiful grant he held paradise and all its enjoy. ments, and was also fitted to teach our first parents a noble and useful lesson of abstinence and self-denial, -one of the most necessary lessons in a state of probation; and also of unreserved submission to the authority and will of God, and an implicit resignation to the supreme wisdom and goodness. It tended to habituate them to keep their sensitive appetite in subjection to the law of reason; to take them off from too close an attachment to inferior sensible good, and to engage them to place their highest happiness in God alone and finally, to keep their desire after knowledge within just bounds, so as to be content with knowing what was really proper and useful for them to know, and not presume to pry with an unwarrantable curiosity into things, which did not belong to them, and which God had not thought fit to reveal. Leland's View of the Deistical Writers, vol. ii. pp. 144, 145. The objection here briefly answered is fully treated and refuted by the same learned writer in his Answer to Christianity as old as the Creation, vol. ii. ch. 15. 2 To avoid unnecessary repetitions of references to authorities, the reader is informed that (besides the authors incidentally cited for some particular topics) the following sections are drawn up from a careful examination of Dr. Leland's View of the Deistical Writers, vol. ii. pp. 377-416. and his incomparable work on the Advantage and Necessity of the Christian Revelation, 2 vols. 8vo.; Bp. Gibson's Pastoral Letters, 12mo.; Dr. Randolph's Discourses, entitled The Excellency of the Jewish Law Vindicated,' in the second volume of his View of our Blessed Saviour's Ministry,' &c.: the Encyclopædia Biblica of Alstedius, 8vo. Francofurti, 1625; the Breviarium Theologiæ Biblica of Bauer, 8vo. Lipsiæ, 1803; Mr. Faber's Hora Mosaicæ; Dr. Graves's Lectures on the Pentateuch; the Collection of the Boylean Lectures; Abbadie, Traité de la Vérité de la Religion Chrétienne, tome ii.; and Vernet, Traité de la Vérité de la Religion Chrétienne, tomes ii. iii. See also Mr. T. Erskine's Remarks on the Internal Evidence of Christianity (London, 1821, 12mo.); which an eminent professor justly says, “are written with unction and eloquence, and are designed chiefly to show that the doctrines of the Gospel are taught not abstractly, but by facts on which they are grounded; that they are thus more easily apprehended and retained, and produce 1. A CONCISE VIEW OF THE RELIGION OF THE PATRIARCHAL TIMES. Patriarchal Doctrines concerning, I. The nature and attributes of God; II. His Worship; and, III. The moral duties of man. I. THE book of Genesis exhibits to us a clear idea of the patriarchal theology. We learn from it that God is the creator of all things (i.), as well as the governor of all things by his general and particular providence (xiv. 19. xlv. 5. 7, 8. I. 20. xxii. 8. 13, 14.); that He is everlasting (xxi. 33.); omniscient, for none but God can know all things, whether past or future (iii. 8-10. xv. 3—16. xviii. 18. compared with Exod. i. 7.); true (Gen. vi. 7. compared with vii. xvii. 20. compared with xxv. 16. xxviii. 15. compared with xxxii. 10.); almighty (xvii. 1. xviii. 14. xxxv. 11.); holy and just (xviii. 25. with xix.); kind (xxiv. 12.); supreme (xiv. 19.); merciful (xxxii. 10.); and long-suffering (vi. 3.); gracious towards those who fear him (vi. 8.); and that, though he sometimes tries them (xxii. 1.), yet he is always with them (xxvi. 3. xxviii. 15. xxxix. 2, 3. 21, 22.), and has an especial regard for them. (xv. 1. xviii. 17. 26-32. xix. 22. xx. 6. xxv. 21. xxvi. 12. xxviii. 15. xxix. 32. xxxi. 42.) We learn further, that God is not the author of sin (i. 31.); and that, since the fall, man is born prone to evil. (v. 5. vi. 3. viii. 21.) The patriarchs cherished a hope of the pardoning mercy of God towards penitent sinners (iv. 7.), and confided in him, as the judge of all the earth (xviii. 25.), and the great rewarder of them that diligently seek him; which reward they expected, not merely in this present evil world, but in a future state: for we are told that they sought a better country, that is, an heavenly. (v. 22. 24. compared with Heb. xi. 5. xxviii. 13. compared with Matt. xxii. 31, 32. xxv. 8. and xlix. 29. et seq. compared with Heb. ix. 10. 14-16.) To the preceding points we may add, that a hope was cherished from the beginning, originally founded on a divine promise of a great Saviour, who was to deliver mankind from the miseries and ruin to which they were exposed, and through whom God was to make the fullest discoveries of his grace and mercy towards the human race, and to raise them to a high degree of glory and felicity. (iii. 15. xii. 3. xvii. 19. xxii. 18. xxvi. 4. xlix. 10.) II. These were the chief principles of the religion of the patriarchs, who were animated by a strong sense of their obligation to the practice of piety, virtue, and universal righteousness. They held that it was the duty of man to fear God (xxii. 12. xxxi. 53. xlii. 18.); to bless him for mercies received (xiv. 20. xxiv. 27. 52.); and to supplicate him with profound humility (xvii. 18. xviii. 22. et seq. xxxiv. 9-12.): that the knowledge of God is to be promoted (xii. 8. xxi. 33.); vows made to him are to be performed a more powerful effect on the mind and conduct; that they remove every obstruction out of the way of our access to God; they encourage our attachment to him, and stimulate us to serve him by a holy obedience. In a word, their object is. to bring the character of man into harmony with the character of God." (Dr. Ranken's Institutes of Theology, p. 330.) (xxviii. 20. xxxv. 1-3.); and that idolatry is to be renounced. (xxxv. 2-4.) With regard to the external rites of religion, the most antient on record is that of offering sacrifice to God, (iii. 21. iv. 3, 4. viii. 20, 21.); and its having so early and universally obtained among all nations, and in the most antient times, as a sacred rite of religion, cannot be otherwise accounted for, than by supposing it to have been a part of the primitive religion, originally enjoined by divine appointment to the first ancestors of the human race, and from them transmitted to their descendants. The Sabbath also appears to have been observed by the patriarchs. There is, indeed, no direct mention of it before the deluge; but, after that catastrophe, it is evident that the observance of it was familiar to Noah: for he is represented twice as waiting seven days between his three emissions. of the dove, (viii. 10. 12.) And if Noah was acquainted with the consecration of the Sabbath, his ancestors could not have been ignorant of it. III. The moral duties between man and man are likewise clearly announced, either by way of precept or by example: more particularly the duties of children to honour their parents (ix. 23, 24.), and of parents to instil religious principles into their offspring, and to set them a good example (xviii. 19.); and of servants to obey their masters. (xvi. 9.) Wars may be waged in a good cause. (xiv. 14-20.) Anger is a sin in the sight of God (iv. 5, 6.); strifes are to be avoided (xiii. 8, 9.); murder is prohibited (iv. 8-12. 15. ix. 6.); hospitality to be exercised (xviii. 1. xix. 1.), and also forgiveness of injuries. (1. 18-20.) Matrimony is appointed by God (i. 28. ii. 18. 21-24.), from whom a virtuous wife is to be sought by prayer (xxiv. 7. 12.); and a wife is to be subject to her husband. (iii. 16.) All improper alliances, however, are to be avoided. (vi. 1, 2.) Children are the gift of God (iv. 1. xxv. 21. xxx. 2. 22.); and adultery and all impurity are to be avoided. (xx. 3. 7. 9. xxix. 9. xxxiv. 7. xxxviii. 9.) The patriarchal religion, as above described, seems to have been the religion of Adam after his fall, of Abel, Seth, Enoch, and the antediluvian patriarchs; and afterwards of Noah, the second parent of mankind, and of the several heads of families derived from him, who probably carried it with them in their several dispersions. But, above all, this religion was signally exemplified in Abraham, who was illustrious for his faith, piety, and righteousness, and whom God was pleased to favour with special discoveries of his will. From him descended many great nations, among whom this religion, in its main principles, seems to have been preserved, of which there are noble remains in the book of Job. There were also remarkable vestiges of it, for a long time, among several other nations; and indeed the belief of one supreme God, of a providence, of a hope of pardoning mercy, a sense of the obligations of piety and virtue, and of the acceptance and reward of sincere obedience, and the expec1 An outline of the patriarchal doctrines of religion, as contained in the book of Job is given infra, Vol. IV. Part 1. Chapter III. Sect. I. § X. tation of a future state, were never entirely extinguished. And whosoever among the Gentiles at any time, or in any nation, feared God and was a worker of righteousness, might be justly regarded as of the patriarchal religion. But, in process of time, the nations became generally depraved, and sunk into a deplorable darkness and corruption; and the great principles of religion were in a great measure overwhelmed with an amazing load of superstitions, idolatries, and corruptions of all kinds. $2. A SUMMARY VIEW OF THE DOCTRINES AND PRECEPTS OF THE General observations on the Mosaic dispensation. -I. Statement of its doctrine concerning God: 1. By Moses; and, 2. By the prophets.II. Concerning the duty of man towards God. - III. The belief of a future state. IV. The expectation of a Redeemer.-V. The morality of the Jewish code delineated. VI. The Mosaic dispensation introductory to Christianity. THE second view of religion, presented to us in the Scriptures, is that which relates to the Mosaic dispensation. This was really and essentially the same, for substance, as that which was professed and practised in the antient patriarchal times,' with the addition of a special covenant made with a particular people; among whom God was pleased, for wise ends, to erect a sacred polity, and to whom he gave a revelation of his will, which was committed to writing, as the safest mode of transmission: religion having hitherto been preserved chiefly by tradition, which was more easily maintained during the long lives of men in the first ages. This special covenant was in no respect inconsistent with the universal providence and goodness of God towards mankind: nor did it in any degree vacate or infringe the antient primitive religion which had obtained from the beginning, but which was designed to be subservient to the great ends of it, and to preserve it from being utterly depraved and extinguished. The principal end of that polity, and the main view to which it was directed, was to restore and preserve the true worship and adoration of the one living and true God, and of him only, in opposition to that polytheism and idolatry, which began then to spread generally through the nations; and to engage those, to whom it was made known, to the practice of piety, virtue, and righteousness, by giving them holy and excellent laws, expressly directing the particulars of their duty, and enforced by the sanctions of a divine authority, and also by promises and threatenings in the name of God. Another essential part of the Mosaic dispensation was, to keep up the hope and expectation 1 The Mosaic law repealed or altered nothing in the patriarchal dispensation, beyond what the progressive developement of the design of Infinite Wisdom absolutely required. Hence it adopted several particulars from patriarchism, such as sacrifice, the distinction between clean and unclean animals, the priesthood, the payment of tithes, certain moral precepts, and the observance of the Sabbath. These points are fully proved by Mr. Faber, Hore Mosaicæ, vol. ii. pp. 25–33. VOL. I. 49 of the Redeemer who had been promised from the beginning, and to prepare men for that most perfect and complete dispensation which he was to introduce. And whoever impartially examines that constitution, must be obliged to acknowledge that it was admirably fitted to answer these most important ends. I. The theology of Judaism was pure, sublime, and devotional. The belief of one supreme, self-existent, and all perfect Being, the creator of the heavens and the earth, was the basis of all the religious institutions of the Israelites, the sole object of their hopes, fears, and worship. His adorable perfections, and especially the supreme providence of Jehovah,as the sole dispenser of good and evil, and the benevolent preserver, protector, and benefactor of mankind, — are described by the inspired legislator of the Hebrews in unaffected strains of unrivalled sublimity; which, while they are adapted to our finite apprehensions by imagery borrowed from terrestrial and sensiLle objects, at the same time raise our conceptions to the contemplation of the spirituality and Majesty of Him, who dwelleth in light in accessible.' 1. The law of Moses, however, will best speak for itself. It was the avowed design of that law to teach the Israelites that there is only ONE God, and to secure them from that polytheism and idolatry which prevailed among all the nations round about them. And accordingly his essential unity is especially inculcated, no less than his underived self-existence, eternity, and immutability. Hear, O Israel, says Moses, the Lord our God is ONE Lord. (Deut. vi. 4.) Again, The Lord, he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath; there is none else. (iv. 39.) And the first commandment required them to have no other gods besides him. (Exod. xx. 3.) Idolatry, or the worship of any other gods but the ONE SUPREME GOD, was prohibited under the severest penalties. They were strictly required not to bow down to the gods of the heathen nations, nor serve them, nor so much as to make mention of their names. (Exod. xxiii. 24.) The law punished idolatry with death, (Deut. xiii. 6, &c.) and denounced the curse of God and utter destruction against all those who went after other gods. (vi. 14. xi. 28. xxviii. 14, &c.) The Pentateuch begins with an account of the creation of the world by the one God, who in the beginning created the heaven and the earth. He said, Let there be light, and there was light. He made the beasts of the earth, and the fowls of the air, and every living creature that moveth upon the earth, or in the waters. And at last he created man in his own image, after his own likeness ; and gave him dominion over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Gen. i.) This ONE GOD is described as necessarily selfexistent-I AM THAT I AM-is his name. (Exod. iii. 14.) He is called the God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible. (Deut. x. 17.) Who is like unto thee, O Lord, amongst the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. (Exod. xv. 11.) He is called the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth: (Gen xiv. 22, |