Page images
PDF
EPUB

sole being, therefore, on this globe who is subjected to moral responsibility; the sole being on this globe whose moral conduct can have had a particle of even indirect influence on the general condition of the globe which he inhabits."

Another instance is supplied from the general deluge. After proving from a number of geological facts, that such a phenomenon must have occurred, the author observes :

"Thus, while the exterior strata of the earth, by recording in characters unquestionable and indelible the fact of a primeval and penal deluge, attest from age to age the holiness and the justice of God; the form and aspect of its surface are, with equal clearness, testifying from generation to generation his inherent and not less glorious attribute of mercy. For they prove that the very deluge, in its irruption employed as the instrument in his dispensation of vengeance to destroy a guilty world, was, in its recess, so regulated by him as to the varying rapidity of its subsidence, so directed by him throughout all its consecutive operations, as to prepare the desolated globe for the reception of a restored succession of inhabitants; and so to arrange the surface, as to adapt it in every climate for the sustenance of the animals, for the production of the trees and plants, and for the growth and commodious cultivation of the grain and the fruits, of which man, in that particular region, would chiefly stand in need.

of his wondrous hand, he is continually varying and enhancing the attractions by the diversified modes and accessions of beauty with which he invests them, by the alterations of seasons, by the countless and rapid changes of light and shade, by the characteristic effects of the rising, the meridian, the setting sun, by the subdued glow of twilight, by the soft radiance of the moon: and by the hues, the actions, and the music of the animal tribes with which they are peopled."

The human frame supplies another illustration: -"Consider the human frame, naked against the elements, instantly susceptible of every external impression; relatively weak, unarmed: during infancy totally helpless; helpless again in old age; occupying a long period in its progress of growth to its destined size and strength; ungifted with swiftness to escape the wild beast of the forest; incapable, when overtaken, of resisting him; requiring daily supplies of food, and of beverage, not merely that sense may not be ungratified, not merely that vigour may not decline, but that closely impending destruction may be delayed. For what state does such a frame appear characteristically fitted? For what state does it appear to have been originally designed? For a state of innocence and security; for a paradisiacal state; for a state in which all elements were genial, all external impressions innoxious; a state in which relative strength was unimportant, arms were needless; in which to be helpless was not to be insecure; in which the wild beast of the forest did not exist, or existed without hostility to man; a state in which food and beverage were either not precarious, or not habitually and speed

"During the retirement of the waters, when a barrier of a rocky stratum, sufficiently strong for resistance, crossed the line of descent, a lake would be in consequence formed. These memorials of the dominion of that element which had recently been so destruc-ily indispensable. Represent to yourself man as innotive, remain also as memorials of the mercy of the Restorer of Nature; and by their own living splendours, and by the beauty and the grandeur of their boundaries, are the most exquisite ornaments of the scenes in which we dwell.

"Would you receive and cherish a strong impression of the extent of the mercy displayed in the renewal of the face of the earth? Would you endeavour to render justice to the subject? Contemplate the number of the diversified effects on the surface of the globe, which have been wrought, arranged, and harmonized by the Divine benignity through the agency of the retiring deluge and combine in your survey of them the two connected characteristics, utility and beauty; utility to meet the necessities and multiply the comforts of man; beauty graciously superadded to cheer his eye and delight his heart, with which the general aspect of nature is impressed. Observe the mountains, of every form and of every elevation. See them now rising in bold acclivities; now accumulated in a succession of gracefully sweeping ascents; now towering in rugged precipices; now rearing above the clouds their spiry pinnacles glittering with perpetual snow. View their sides now darkened with unbounded forests; now spreading to the sun their ample slopes covered with herbage, the summer resorts of the flocks and the herds of subjacent regions; now scooped into sheltered concavities; now enclosing within their ranges glens green as the emerald, and watered by streams pellucid and sparkling as crystal. Pursue these glens as they unite and enlarge themselves; mark their rivulets uniting and enlarging themselves also; until the glen becomes a valley, and the valley expands into a rich vale or a spacious plain, each varied and bounded by hills and knolls and gentle uplands, in some parts chiefly adapted for pasturage, in others for the plough; each intersected and refreshed by rivers flowing onwards from country to country, and with streams continually augmented by collateral accessions, until they are finally lost in the ocean. There new modes of beauty are awaiting the beholder; winding shores, bold capes, rugged promontories, deeply indented bays, harbours penetrating far inland and protected from every blast. But in these vast and magnificent features of nature, the gracious Author of all things has not exhausted the attractions with which he purposed to decorate inanimate objects. He pours forth beauties in detail, and with unsparing prodigality of munificence, and for whatever other reasons, for human gratification also, on the several portions, however inconsiderable, of which the larger component parts of the splendid whole consist on the rock, on the fractured stone, on the thicket, on the single tree, on the bush, on the mossy bank, on the plant, on the flower, on the leaf. Of all these works

[ocr errors]

cent, and in consequent possession of the unclouded favour of his God; and then consider whether it be probable, that a frame thus adapted to a paradisiacal state, thus designated by characteristical indications as originally formed for a paradisiacal state, would have been selected for the world in which we live. Turn to the contrary representation; a representation the accuracy of which we have already seen the pupil of natural theology constrained, by other irresistible testimonies which she has produced, to allow regard man as having forfeited by transgression the Divine favour, and as placed by his God, with a view to ultimate possibilities of mercy and restoration, in a situation which, amid tokens and means of grace, is at present to partake of a penal character. For such a situation, for residence on the existing earth as the appointed scene of discipline at once merciful, moral, and penal, what frame could be more wisely calcu lated? What frame could be more happily adjusted to receive, and to convey, and to aid, and to continue, the impressions, which, if mercy and restoration are to be attained, must antecedently be wrought into the mind? Is not such a frame, in such å world, a living and a faithful witness, a constant and an energetic remem brancer, to natural reason, that man was created holy; that he fell from obedience; that his existence was continued for purposes of mercy and restoration; that he is placed in his earthly abode under a dispensation bearing the combined marks of attainable grace, and of penal discipline? Is not such a frame, in such a world, a preparation for the reception, and a collateral evidence to the truth, of Christianity?"

The occupations of man furnish other instances:"One of his most general and most prominent occupations will necessarily be the cultivation of the ground. As the products drawn from the soil form the basis, not only of human subsistence, but of the wealth which expands itself in the external comforts and ornaments of social life; we should expect that, under a dispensation comprehending means and purposes of mercy, the rewards of agriculture would be found among the least uncertain and the most liberal of the recompenses, which Providence holds forth to exertion. Experience confirms the expectation, and attests that man is not rejected of his Creator. Yet how great, how continual, is the toil annexed to the effective culture of the earth! How constant the anxiety, lest redundant moisture should corrupt the seed under the clod; or grubs and worms gnaw the root of the rising plant; or reptiles and insects devour the blade; or mildew blast the stalk; or ungenial seasons destroy the harvest! How frequently, from these and other causes, are the unceasing labours and the promising hopes of the husbandman terminated in bitter disap

pointment! Agriculture wears not, in this our planet, the characteristics of an occupation_arranged for an innocent and a fully favoured race. It displays to the eye of Natural Theology traces of the sentence pronounced on the first cultivator, the representative of all who were to succeed; Cursed is the ground for thy sake. Thorns, also, and thistles shall it bring forth to thee. In sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.' It bears, in its toils and in its solicitudes, plain indications that man is a sinner.

"Observations in substance corresponding with those which have been stated respecting tillage, might be adduced concerning the care of flocks and herds. The return for labour in this branch of employment is, in the ordinary course of events, sufficient, as in agriculture, both to excite and sustain exertion, and to intimate the merciful benignity with which the Deity looks upon mankind. But the fatiguing superintendence, the watchful anxiety, the risks of loss by disease, by casualties, by malicious injury and depredation, and, in many countries, by the inroads of wild beasts, conspire in their amount to enforce the truth which has been inculcated. They inscribe the page of Natural Theology with the scriptural denunciation: that the Jabour and the pain assigned to man are the consequences of transgression.

God is good; or, in other words, according to the hy pothesis above stated, as good as the stubbornness of matter, and the necessity that vice and misery should exist, would allow. His goodness is limited by moral not by physical reasons, but still, considering the globe as the residence of a fallen and perverse race, that glorious attribute is heightened in its lustre by this very circumstance; it arrays itself before us in all its affecting attributes of mercy, pity, long-suffering, miti. gation, and remission. It is goodness poured forth in the richest liberality, where moral order permits its unrestrained flow; and it is never withheld but where the general benefit demands it. Penal acts never go beyond the rigid necessity of the case; acts of mercy rise infinitely above all desert.

The above observations all suppose moral evil actually in the world, and infecting the whole human race; but the Origin of evil requires distinct consideration. How did inoral evil arise, and how is this circumstance compatible with the Divine goodness? However these questions may be answered, it is to be remembered that though the answer should leave some difficulties in full force, they do not press exclusively upon the Scriptures. Independent of the Bible, the fact is that evil exists; and the Theist who admits the existence of a God of infinite goodness, has as large a share of the difficulty of reconciling facts and principles on this subject as the Christian, but with no advantage from that history of the introduction of sin into the world which is contained in the writings of Moses, and none from those alleviating views which are afforded by the doctrine of the redemption of man by Jesus Christ.

"Another of the principal occupations of man consists in the extraction of the mineral contents of the earth, and in the reduction of the metals into the states and the forms requisite for use. On the toil, the irksomeness, and the dangers attendant on these modes of life, it is unnecessary to enlarge. They have been discussed; and have been shown to be deeply stamped with a penal character appropriate to a fallen and guiltying opinions which have been held. Necessity, arising

race.

"Another and a very comprehensive range of employment consists in the fabrication of manufactures. These, in correspondence with the necessities, the reasonable desires, the self-indulgence, the ingenuity, the caprices, and the luxury of individuals, are diversified | beyond enumeration. But it may be aflirmed generally concerning manufactures in extensive demand, that, in common with the occupations which have already been examined, they impose a pressure of labour, an amount of solicitude, and a risk of disappointment, such as we cannot represent to ourselves as probable in the case of beings holy in their nature, and thoroughly approved by their God. The tendency, also, of such manufactures is to draw together numerous operators within a small compass; to crowd them into close workshops and inadequate habitations; to injure their health by contaminated air, and their morals by contagious society.

"Another line of exertion is constituted by trade, subdivided into its two branches, domestic traffic and foreign commerce. Both, at the same time that they are permitted in common with the modes of occupation already named to anticipate, on the whole, by the appointment of Providence, such a recompense as proves adequate to the ordinary excitement of industry, and to the acquisition of the moderate comforts of life, are marked with the penal impress of toil, anxiety, and disappointment. Natural Theology still reads the sentence, In the sweat of thy face, in sorrow, shalt thou eat bread.' Vigilance is frustrated by the carelessness of associates, or profit intercepted by their iniquity. Uprightness in the dealer becomes the prey of fraud in the customer. The ship is wrecked on a distant shore, or sinks with the cargo, and with the merchant, in the ocean."(2)

Numerous other examples are furnished by the author, and might be easily enlarged, so abundant is the evidence; and the whole directly connects itself with the subject under consideration. The voluntary goodness of God is not impugned by the various evils which exist in the world, for we see them accounted for by the actual corrupt state of man, and by a righteous administration, by which goodness must be controlled to be an attribute worthy of God. It would otherwise be weakness, a blind passion, and not a wisely-regulated affection. On the other hand, there is clearly no reason for resorting to notions of necessity, and defects in the essential nature of created things, to prove that

(2) Testimony of Nature, &c.

As to the source of evil, the following are the lead

out of the nature of things; the Manichæan principle of duality, or the existence of a good and an evil deity; the doctrine that God is the efficient cause or author of sin; and finally, that evil is the result of the abuse of the moral freedom with which rational and accountable creatures are endowed. With respect to the first, as the necessity meant is independent of God, it refutes itself. For if all creatures are under the influence of this necessity, and they must be under it if it arise out of the nature of things itself, no virtue could now exist: from the moment of creation the deteriorating principle must begin its operation, and go on until all good is extinguished. Nor could'there be any return from vice to virtue, since the nature of things would on that supposition be counteracted, which is impossible.

The second is scarcely worth notice, since no one now advocates it. This heresy, which prevailed in several parts of the Christian world from the third to the sixteenth century, seems to have been a modification of the ancient Magian doctrine superadded to some of the tenets of Christianity. Its leading principle was, that our souls were made by the good principle, and our bodies by the evil one; these two principles being, according to MANI the founder of the sect, coeternal and independent of each other. These notions were supposed to afford an easy explanation of the origin of evil, and on that account were zealously pro pagated. It was however overlooked by the advocates of this scheme, that it left the difficulty without any alleviation at all; for "it is just as repugnant to infinite goodness to create what it foresaw would be spoiled by another, as to create what would be spoiled by the constitution of its nature."(3)

The dogma which makes God himself the efficient cause, or author of sin, is direct blasphemy, and it is one of those culpable extravagances into which men are sometimes betrayed by a blind attachment to some favourite theory. This notion is found in the writings of some of the most unguarded advocates of the Calvinistic hypothesis, though now generally abandoned by the writers of that school. A modern defender of Calvinism thus puts in his disclaimer, "God is not the author of sin. A Calvinist who says so I regard as Judas, and will have no communion with him."(4)

(3) KING'S Origin of Evil.

(4) Scorr's Remarks on the Refutation of Calvinism.-Few have been so daring, except the grosser Antinomians of ancient and modern times. The elder Calvinists, though they often made fearful approaches

that all created rational beings, being finite, and endowed also with liberty of choice, must, under all circumstances, be liable to sin. It is argued by Archbi

The general abandonment of this notion, so offensive and blameable, renders it unnecessary to enter into its refutation. If refutation were required it would be found in this, that the first pair who sinned were sub-shop King, that "God, though he be omnipotent, canjected to punishment for and on account of sin; which they could not in justice have been, had not their crime been chargeable upon themselves.

The last opinion, and that which has been generally received by theologians, is, that moral evil is the result of a voluntary abuse of the freedom of the will in rational and moral agents; and that, as to the human race, the first pair sinned by choice, when the power to have remained innocent remained with them." "Why is there sin in the world? Because man was created in the image of God; because he is not mere matter, a clod of earth, a lump of clay, without sense or understanding, but a spirit like his Creator; a being endued not only with sense and understanding, but also with a will exerting itself in various affections. To crown all the rest, he was endued with liberty, a power of directing his own affections and actions, a capacity of determining himself, or of choosing good and evil. Indeed, had not man been endued with this, all the rest would have been of no use. Had he not been a free, as well as an intelligent being, his understanding would have been as incapable of holiness, or any kind of virtue, as a tree or a block of marble. And having this power, a power of choosing good and evil, he chose the latter, he chose evil. Thus 'sin entered into the world.' "(5)

This account unquestionably agrees with the history of the fact of the fall and corruption of man. Like every thing else to its kind, he was pronounced "very good;" he was placed under a law of obedience, which, if he had not had the power to observe it, would have been absurd; and that he had also the power to violate it is equally clear from the prohibition under which he was laid, and its accompanying penalty. The conclusion therefore is, that "God made man upright," with power to remain so, and, on the contrary, to sin and fall.

not make any created being absolutely perfect; for whatever is absolutely perfect, must necessarily be self-existent; but it is included in the very notion of a creature, as such, not to exist of itself, but of God. An absolutely perfect creature, therefore, implies a contradiction; for it would be of itself, and not of itself, at the same time. Absolute perfection, therefore, is peculiar to God; and should he communicate his own peculiar perfection to another, that other would be God. Imperfection must therefore be tolerated in creatures, notwithstanding the Divine Omnipotence and goodness;-for contradictions are no objects of power. God indeed might have refrained from acting, and continued alone self-sufficient and perfect to all eternity; but infinite goodness would by no means allow of this; and therefore since it obliged him to produce external things, which things could not possibly be perfect, it preferred these imperfect things to none at all; from whence it follows, that imperfection arose from the infinity of Divine goodness."(6)

This in part may be allowed. Imperfection must, in comparison of God, and of the creature's own capacity of improvement, remain the character of a finite being; but it is not so clear that this imperfection must at all times, and throughout the whole course of existence, imply liability to sin. God is free, and yet cannot " tempted of evil." "It is impossible for God to lie;" not for want of natural freedom, but because of an absolute moral perfection. Liberty and impeccability imply, therefore, no contradiction; and it cannot, even on rational grounds, be concluded, that a free finite moral agent may not, by the special favour of God, be placed in circumstances in which sinning is morally impossible. Revelation undoubtedly gives this promise to the faithful, in another state; a consummation to be effected, not by destroying their natural liberty, but by improving their moral condition. This was not however the case with man at his first creation, and during his abode in paradise. His state was not that of the glorified, for it was probationary, and it was yet inconceivably advanced above the present state of man; since, with a nature unstained and uncorrupted, it was easy for him to have maintained his moral rectitude, and to have improved and confirmed it. Obedience with him had not those clogs, and internal oppositions, and outward counteractions, as with us. was, however, a state which required watchfulness, and effort, and prayer, and denial of the appetites and passions, since Eve fell by her appetite, and Adam by his passion and slight as, in the first instance, every external influence which tended to depress the energy of the spiritual life, and lead man from God, might be, and easy to be resisted; it might become a step to a farther defection, and the nucleus of a fatal habit. Thus says Bishop Butler, with his accustomed acuteness: "Mankind, and perhaps all finite creatures, from the very constitution of their nature, before habits of virtue, are deficient, and in danger of deviating from what is right; and therefore stand in need of virtuous habits, for a security against this danger. For, together with the general principle of moral understanding, we have in our inward frame various affections towards parti

It

Nor was this liberty to sin inconsistent with that perfect purity and moral perfection with which he was endowed at his creation. Many extravagant descriptions have been indulged in by some divines as to the intellectual and moral endowments of the nature of the first man, which, if admitted to the full extent, would render it difficult to conceive how he could possibly have fallen by any temptations which his circumstances allowed, or indeed how, in his case, temptation could at all exist. His state was high and glorious, but it was still a state not of reward but of trial, and his endowments and perfections were therefore suited to it. It is, indeed, perhaps going much too far to state, in their writings to this blasphemy, yet did not, openly and directly, charge God with being the author of sin. This Arminius with great candour acknowledges; but gives them a friendly admonition, to renounce a doctrine from which this aspersion upon the Divine character may, by a good consequence, be deduced: a caution not uncalled for in the present day. "Inter omnes blasphemias quæ Deo impingi possunt, omnium est gravissima qua author peccati statuitur Deus: quæ ipsa non parum exaggeratur, si addatur Deum idcirco authorem esse peccati à creatura commissi, ut creaturam in æternum exitium, quod illi jam antè citra respectum peccati destinaverat, damnaret et deduceret:cular external objects. These affections are naturally, sic enim fuerit causa injustitiæ homini ut ipsi æternam miseriam adferre posset. Hanc blasphemiam nemo Deo, quem bonum concipit, impinget: quare etiam Manichæi, pessimi hæreticorum, quum causam mali bono Deo adscribere vererentur, alium Deum, et aliud principium statuerunt, cui mali causam deputarent. Qua de causa, nec ullis Doctoribus reformatarum Ecclesiarum jure impingi potest, quod Deum authorem peccati statuant exprofesso: imo verissimum est illos expresse id negare, et illam calumniam contra alios egregiè confutasse. Attamen fieri potest, ut quis ex ignorantia aliquod doceat, ex quo bona consequentia deducatur, Deum per illam doctrinam statui authorem peccati. Hoc si fiat, tum quidem istius doctrinæ professoribus, non est impingendum quod Deum authorem peccati faciant, sed tantum monendi ut doctrinam istam, unde id bona consequentia deducitur, deserant et abjiciant."

(5) WESLEY's Sermons.

and of right, subject to the government of the moral prin ciple, as to the occasions upon which they may be gratified: as to the times, degrees, and manner in which the objects of them may be pursued: but then the principle of virtue can neither excite them, nor prevent their being excited. On the contrary, they are naturally felt, when the objects of them are present to the mind, not only before all consideration, whether they can be obtained by lawful means, but after it is found they cannot. For the natural objects of affection continue so: the necessaries, conveniences, and pleasures of life remain naturally desirable, though they cannot be obtained innocently; nay, though they cannot possibly be obtained at all. And when the objects of any affection whatever cannot be obtained without unlawful means, but may be obtained by them; such affec tion, through its being excited, and its continuance

(6) Origin of Evil.

some time in the mind, be it as innocent as it is natu- | of defection, which necessarily arose from propension, ral and necessary, yet cannot but be conceived to have a tendency to incline persons to venture upon such unlawful means; and, therefore, must be conceived as putting them in some danger of it. Now, what is the general security against this danger, against their actually deviating from right? As the danger is, so also must the security be, from within; from the practical principle of virtue. And the strengthening or improving this principle, considered as practical, or as a principle of action, will lessen the danger, or increase the security against it. And this moral principle is capable of improvement by proper discipline and exercise; by recollecting the practical impressions which example and experience have made upon us; and instead of following humour and mere inclination by continually attending to the equity and right of the case, in whatever we are engaged, be it in greater or less matters, and accustoming ourselves always to act upon it; as being itself the just and natural motive of action, and as this moral course of behaviour must necessarily, under Divine government, be our final interest. Thus the principle of virtue, improved into habit, of which improvement we are thus capable, will plainly be, in proportion to the strength of it, a security against the danger which finite creatures are in, from the very nature of propension, or particular affections.

the other part of it. For, by thus preserving their integrity for some time, their danger would lessen; since propensions, by being inured to submit, would do it more easily and of course: and their security against this lessening danger would increase; since the moral principle would gain additional strength by exercise: both which things are implied in the notion of virtuous habits. Thus, then, vicious indulgence is not only criminal in itself, but also depraves the inward constitution and character. And virtuous self-government is not only right in itself, but also improves the inward constitution or character; and may improve it to such a degree, that though we should suppose it impossible for particular affections to be absolutely coincident with the moral principle, and consequently should allow, that such creatures as have been above supposed, would for ever remain defectible, yet their danger of actually deviating from right, may be almost infinitely lessened, and they fully fortified against what remains of it: if that may be called danger, against which there is an adequate effectual security. But still, this their higher perfection may continue to consist in habits of virtue formed in a state of discipline, and this their more complete security remain to proceed from them. And thus it is plainly conceivable, that creatures without blemish, as they came out of the hands of God, may be in danger "From these things we may observe, and it will far- of going wrong; and so may stand in need of the secu ther show this our natural and original need of being rity of virtuous habits, additional to the moral principle improved by discipline, how it comes to pass, that crea-wrought into their natures by him. That which is the tures made upright fall; and that those who preserve ground of their danger, or their want of security, may their uprightness, by so doing, raise themselves to a be considered as a deficiency in them, to which virtuous more secure state of virtue. To say that the former is habits are the natural supply. And as they are natuaccounted for by the nature of liberty, is to say no more rally capable of being raised and improved by discipline, than that an event's actually happening is accounted for it may be a thing fit and requisite, that they should be by a mere possibility of its happening. But it seems placed in circumstances with an eye to it; in circumdistinctly conceivable from the very nature of particular stances peculiarly fitted to be, to them, a state of disciaffections or propensions. For, suppose creatures in- pline for their improvement in virtue."(7) tended for such a particular state of life, for which such It is easy, therefore, to conceive, without supposing propensions were necessary: suppose them endued that moral liberty, in all cases, necessarily supposes liawith such propensions, together with moral understand- bility to commit sin, how a perfectly pure and upright ing, as well including a practical sense of virtue, as a being might be capable of disobedience, though conspeculative perception of it; and that all these several tinued submission to God and to his law was not only principles, both natural and moral, forming an inward possible but practicable without painful and difficult constitution of mind, were in the most exact proportion effort. To be in a state of trial, the moral as well as possible; i. e. in a proportion the most exactly adapted the natural freedom to choose evil was essential; and to their intended state of life; such creatures would be as far as this fact bears upon the question of the Divine made upright, or finitely perfect. Now, particular pro-goodness, it resolves itself into this, "whether it was pensions, from their very nature, must be felt, the ob- inconsistent with that attribute of the Divine Nature, to jects of them being present; though they cannot be endow man with this liberty, or, in other words, to gratified at all, or not with the allowance of the moral place him in a state of trial on earth, before his admisprinciple. But if they can be gratified without its al- sion into that state from which the possibility of evil is lowance, or by contradicting it; then they must be con- for ever excluded." To this, unassisted reason could ceived to have some tendency, in how low a degree so-frame no answer. By the aid of revelation we are asever, yet some tendency, to induce persons to such for- sured, that benevolence is so absolutely the motive and bidden gratification. This tendency, in some one parti- the end of the Divine providence, that thus to dispose of cular propension, may be increased, by the greater fre- man, and consequently to permit his voluntary fall, is conquency of occasions naturally exciting it, than of occa- sistent with it; but in what manner it is so, is involved sions exciting others. The least voluntary indulgence in obscurity: and the fact being established, we may in forbidden circumstances, though but in thought, will well be content to wait for the developement of that great increase this wrong tendency; and may increase it far-process which shall "justify the ways of God to man," ther, till, peculiar conjunctures, perhaps, conspiring, it without indulging in speculations, which, for want of becomes effect; and danger of deviating from right, all the facts of the case before us, must always be to a ends in actual deviation from it: a danger necessarily great extent without foundation, and may even seriously arising from the very nature of propension; and mislead. This we know, that the entrance of sin into which, therefore, could not have been prevented, though the world has given occasion for the tenderest displays it might have been escaped, or got innocently through. of the Divine goodness, in the gift of the great Restorer; The case would be, as if we were to suppose a straight and opened, to all who will avail themselves of the blesspath marked out for a person, in which such a degree ing, the gate to "glory, honour, immortality, and eterof attention would keep him steady: but if he would nal life." The observations of Doddridge on this subnot attend in this degree, any one of a thousand objects,ject have a commendable modesty. catching his eye, might lead him out of it. Now, it is impossible to say, how much even the first full overt act of irregularity might disorder the inward constitution, unsettle the adjustments, and alter the proportions, which formed it, and in which the uprightness of its make consisted: but repetition of irregularities would produce habits. And thus the constitution would be spoiled; and creatures made upright, become corrupt and depraved in their settled character, proportionably to their repeated irregularities in occasional acts. But, on the contrary, these creatures might have improved and raised themselves to a higher and more secure state of virtue, by the contrary behaviour; by steadily following the moral principle, supposed to be one part of their nature; and thus withstanding that unavoidable danger

"It will still be demanded, why was moral evil permitted? To this it is generally answered, that it was the result of natural liberty; and it was fit that among all the other classes and orders of beings, some should be formed possessed of this, as it conduces to the harmony of the universe, and to the beautiful variety of beings in it. Yet still it is replied, Why did not God prevent this abuse of liberty? One would not willingly say, that he is not able to do it, without violating the nature of his creatures; nor is it possible that any should prove this. It is commonly said that he permitted it in order to extract from thence greater good. But it may be farther queried, Could he not have produced

(7) Analogy.

that greater good without such a means? Could he not have secured among all his creatures universal good and universal happiness, in full consistency with the liberty he had given them? I acknowledge I see no way of answering this question but by saying, he had indeed a natural power of doing it, but that he saw it better not to do it, though the reasons upon which it appeared preferable to him are entirely unknown to us."(8)

CHAPTER VII.

ATTRIBUTES of God.-Holiness.

IN creatures, Holiness is conformity to the will of God, as expressed in his laws, and consists in abstinence from every thing which has been comprehended under the general term of sin, and in the habit and practice of righteousness. Both these terms are properly understood to include various principles, affecThe MERCY of God is not a distinct attribute of his tions, and acts, which, considered separately, are renature, but a mode of his goodness. It is the disposi-garded as vices or virtues; and collectively, as consti. tio whereby he is inclined to succour those who are tuting a holy or a polluted character. Our conception in misery, and to pardon those who have offended. "In of holiness in creatures, both in its negative and its posiScripture language," says Archbishop Tillotson, "it is tive import, is therefore explicit; it is determined by the usually set forth to us by the expressions of pity and will of God. But when we speak of God, we speak of a compassion; which is an affection that causes a sensi- being who is a law to himself, and whose conduct cannot ble commotion and disturbance in us, upon the appre- be referred to a higher authority than his own. This cirhension of some great evil, either threatening or op- cumstance has given rise to various opinions on the subpressing another; pursuant to which God is said to be ject of the holiness of the Divine Being, and to different grieved and afflicted for the miseries of men. But modesofstating this glorious attribute of his moral nature. though God be pleased in this manner to convey an idea But without conducting the reader into the profitless of his mercy and tenderness to us, yet we must take question, whether there is a fixed and unalterable naheed how we clothe the Divine Nature with the infirmi- ture and fitness of things, independent of the Divine ties of human passions: we must not measure the per- will on the one hand; or, on the other, whether good fections of God by the expressions of his condescension; and evil have their foundation, not in the nature of and because he stoops to our weakness, level him to things, but only in the Divine will, which makes them our infirmities. When, therefore, God is said to pity us, such, there is a method, less direct it may be, but more or to be grieved at our afflictions, we must be careful to satisfactory, of assisting our thoughts on this subject. remove the imperfection of the passion, the coinmotion It is certain that various affections and actions have and disturbance that it occasions, and then we may been enjoined upon all rational creatures under the geconceive as strongly of the Divine mercy and compas- neral name of righteousness, and that their contraries sion as we please; and that it exerts itself in a very have been prohibited. It is a matter also of constant tender and affectionate manner. experience and observation, that the good of society is promoted only by the one and injured by the other; and also that every individual derives, by the very constitution of his nature, benefit and happiness from rectitude; injury and misery from vice. This constitution of human nature is therefore an indication, that the Maker and Ruler of men formed them with the intent that they should avoid vice, and practise virtue; and that the former is the object of his aversion, the latter of his regard. On this principle all the laws which, in his legislative character, Almighty God has enacted for the government of mankind have been constructed. "The law is holy, and the commandment holy, just, and good." In the administration of the world, where God is so often seen in his judicial capacity, the punishments which are inflicted, indirectly or immediately, upon men clearly tend to discourage and prevent the practice of evil. "Above all, the Gospel, that last and most perfect revelation of the Divine will, instead of giving the professors of it any allowance to sin, because grace has abounded (which is an injurious im

"And therefore the Holy Scriptures not only tell us, that the Lord our God is a merciful God,' but that he is the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; that he 'delights in mercy,-waits to be gracious,-rejoices over us to do good,-and crowneth us with his lovingkindness: to denote the greatness and continuance of this affection, they not only tell us, that his mercy is above the heavens;' that it extends itself 'over all his works,-is laid up in store for a thousand generations, and is to endure for ever and ever:' to express the intenseness of it, they not only tell us of the 'multitude of his tender mercies; the sounding of his bowels,' the relentings of his heart, and the kindlings of his repentance; but to give us as sensible an idea as possible of the compassions of God, they compare them to the tenderest affections among men; to that of a father towards his children, as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him;' nay, to the compassion of a mother towards her infant: can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, she may forget,' it is possi-putation cast upon it by ignorant and impious minds), ble, though very unlikely; but though a mother may become unnatural, yet God cannot prove unmerciful. "In short, the Scriptures every where magnify the mercy of God, and speak of it with all possible advantage, as if the Divine Nature, which does in all perfections excel every other thing, did in this perfection excel itself: and of this we have a farther conviction, if we lift but up our eyes to God, and then turning them upon ourselves, begin to consider how many evils and miseries, that every day we are exposed to, by his preventing mercy are hindered, or when they were coming upon us, stopped or turned another way; how oft our punishment has he deferred by his forbearing mercy, or, when it was necessary for our chastisement, mitigated and made light: how oft we have been supported in our afflictions by his comforting mercy, and visited with the light of his countenance, in the exigencies of our soul and the gloominess of despair: how oft we have been supplied by his relieving mercy in our wants, and when there was no hand to succour, and no soul to pity us, his arm has been stretched out to lift us from the mire and clay, and by a providential train of events, brought about our sus-guile found in his mouth. And as Christianity appears, tenance and support: and above all, how daily, how hourly, how minutely we offend against him, and yet, by the power of his pardoning mercy, we are still alive: for, considering the multitude and heinousness of our provocations, it is of his mercy alone that we are not consumed, and because his compassions fail not. Whoso is wise will ponder these things, and he will understand the loving-kindness of the Lord.' "(9)

(8) DODDRIDGE's Lectures (9) Sermons.

its chief design is to establish that great principle, God's moral purity, and to manifest his abhorrence of sin, and inviolable regard to purity and virtue in his reasonable creatures. It was for this he sent his Son inte the world to turn men from their iniquities, and bring them back to the paths of righteousness. For this, the blessed Jesus submitted to the deepest humiliations and most grievous sufferings. He gave himself (as St. Paul speaks) for his church, that he might sanctify and cleanse it, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, but that it should be holy and without blemish; or, as it is elsewhere expressed, he gave himself for us, to redeem us from our iniquities, and to purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. In all this he is said to have done the will of his Father, and glorified him, that is, restored and promoted in the world the cause of virtue and righteousness, which is the glory of God. And his life was the visible image of the Divine sanctity, proposed as a familiar example to mankind, for he was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. He did no sin, neither was

by the character of its author, and by his actions and sufferings, to be a designed evidence of the holiness of God, or of his aversion to sin, and his gracious desire to turn men from it, so the institution itself is perfectly pure, it contains the clearest and most lively descriptions of moral virtue, and the strongest motives to the practice of it. It promises, as from God, the kindest assistance to men, for making the gospel effectual to renew them in the spirit of their minds, and to reform their lives, by his Spirit sent down from heaven, on

« PreviousContinue »