member, that the opposite cause is not supported altogether, or for the most part, by years, experience, and learning. No, these are far from being exclusively our opponents: The young, the inexperienced, and the illiterate, have united with the sage and the philosopher, against the claims and obligations of revelation. While even school-boys daringly renounce a system which they have not examined, which they cannot, alas! appreciate, and embrace one which they do not understand, may it not be permitted to a young man to say something in favor of a volume, which, if he should not succeed in defending it, he can truly say he admires and loves? Let the wise and the learned rouse to action, and produce their "strong reasons"--I shall be among the first to sit at their feet: but upon persons of my own age, I feel that I have a peculiar claim; I trust that they will hear me with candor and respect; and for them principally I have suffered this engagement to be announced to the public. Let youth be opposed to youth, age to age, talent to talent. Let the enemies of revelation know, that we can ascend to their eminence, or sink to their level. Let it be seen, that some are growing up to support the Redeemer's kingdom, while others. finish their course, and are gathered to their fathers. It may be said, that so many have undertaken this cause, and acquitted themselves so ably, that neither any thing new can be advanced, nor is it indeed necessary. It is readily granted, that I am to tread in a beaten track; but while skepticism continues to press upon us old objections in new forms, we must follow their example in refuting those objections: and it is as necessary as it ever was to oppose the standard of truth to that of error, so long as our adversaries determine to keep the field, and to maintain the combat. So far from flattering myself that I am striking out a new path, I shall profes sedly set before you, from time to time, such arguments and testimonies as I am able to collect from others; and shall freely use every author that may be servicable to the cause which I attempt to defend. And if I shall be able to set an old argument in a new light, or even to bring one to remembrance only, I shall be satisfied to be regarded a compiler of evidences, rather than a creator of them; I shall be amply rewarded for my labor, nor will you regret your attendance. When however, I recollect, that we all gather our stores of knowledge from the writings or conversation of others; that the experience and observation of the wisest of men could furnish him with comparatively little intelligence, were it never permitted to advance beyond its own immediate sphere; and when in addition to these considerations, I remember that every man has his own train of thinking, and a mode of expression peculiar to himself, I flatter myself that all which shall be said, will not be borrowed, if all is not exclusively my own; and that something may be advanced in the course of these lectures, which, if it should not surprise by its novelty, may be candidly received for its justness, and attract by its simplicity and sincerity.. It will be proper, in a few words, to state the immediate purpose of these lectures, and the object of the plan which I am about to suggest: it is simply to meet skepticism on its own ground in relation to first principles. Is it asserted that the facts recorded in this volume have no evidence? We shall endeavor to prove that they are furnished with all the evidence which events so remote can have, and which reason. ought to require of time. Is it said that Christianity is a modern invention? On the contrary, if our pur pose be established, it will appear as old as the creation. Is the authority of the scriptures questioned? We will produce other testimonies. Is its history condemne as absurd? We shall attempt to shew that it is perfectly rational; and that all evidences weighed, and all circumstances considered, it is clear that events could not have taken place otherwise than as they are recorded. Is it objected, that it claims support from miracles? It will follow from our representations, if they are made with the strength and clearness which we desire, that such a book, so written, and so supported, could it be proved to be false, would be of itself a greater miracle than any which appears upon its pages. The facts which it records, are the immediate subjects of examination in the present course of lectures; and these will be considered in connexion with their history, and confirmed by foreign and ancient testimony, under the following arrangement. 1. The present lecture, which is merely introductory, will be an attempt to prove the necessity of a divine Revelation. 2. The Creation: that the Mosaic account of it is the only rational one which we have received: 3. The Deluge: 4. The destruction of Babel, the confusion of language, the dispersion of the people, and the origin of nations: 5. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha: 6. The history of Joseph; which will bring us to the close of Genesis: 7. Intermediate Lecture: a scriptural representation of the nature and destination of man: 8. The slavery and deliverance of Israel in Egypt: 9. The journey of the Israelites in the wilderness; their establishment in Canaan; and the circumstances attending these events: 10. The government of the Jews; including the theocracy and monarchy, to the building of Solomon's Temple; with a confirmation of some subordinate facts recorded in the scriptures. 11. The captivities of Israel and Judah: 12. The life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, proved as matters of fact: 13. The character of the writers of the Old and New Testament: 14. Concluding Lecture the unsearchable God; or, an attempt to prove an analogy between the religion of nature and that of the Bible, by shewing that the same obscurity which overshadows revelation, equally overspreads nature and providence. The present subject of discussion is, THE NECESSITY OF A DIVINE REVELATION. A fair trial of the powers of human reason was made during that long and dreary period in which the scriptures were confined within the walls of Jerusalem, and the world at large was left in the unmolested exercise of all the means furnished by nature and philosophy, to conduct the mind to God. To that period we shall therefore recur; and shall endeavor to ascertain what were the discoveries made by the most enlightened among the Heathens, respecting the nature of Deity, the relation which he bears to us, the obligations under which we are laid to him, the consequences of death, the secrets of futurity, and all those things which are so interesting to man, as an immortal being. It is fair to judge of the powers of nature and of reason, from the effects produced by their agency, when they were left altogether to themselves. It is unfair in the advocates of skeptiscism to avail themselves of the superior intelligence afforded by revelation, and to use this knowledge against the volume from which they derived it. It is not possible to determine with any degree of precision, what discoveries the unassisted light of reason is capable of making, while it is aided, and indeed absorbed, by the superior illumination of revealed religion; it must therefore be admitted, that a fair and accurate investigation of its powers, can only be made by looking at it as it really appeared when it was seen alone. We ask with confidence, whether at that period of the world, when science unveiled all her splendors, and irradiated the discovered globe from pole to pole; when philosophy sat upon her throne enjoying the zenith of her power; and when reason had attained the meridian of her glory; a system more honorable to God, more adapted to the wants and the felicity of man, and more productive of moral excellence, than that which is suggested in the Scriptures, was produced? We defy skepticism to answer in the affirmative. Did the mild philosophy of Socrates and of Plato; did the elegant mind of Cicero; did all the heathen philosophers in their combined exertions, ever produce such affecting elucidations of divine goodness, such consoling demonstrations of divine mercy, such delightful discoveries of life and immortality? They never did. And we shall attempt to prove to you the necessity of a divine revelation from the state of the world, at that very period when these eminent persons flourished. We shall not cause to pass before you, rude and barbarous nations; but we shall bring to the test scientific Greece, learned and polite Athens, polished, proud, imperial Rome. We solicit your attention to |